“And look at that pool,” Becca says longingly. “Let’s just get in our suits and lounge around it for the rest of the day.”
“Here.” Pops hands me a fresh coffee. “We stopped for some more coffee. I wasn’t sure what the coffee machine situation would be like. That Xena girl at the coffee shop sure is a pistol. I called her ‘warrior princess’ and she pulled a sword on me.” He laughs as he relays the story. Xena is the owner of Bump & Grind and rumour has it she hates to be reminded of the character she shares her name with. She has a sword she threatens people with when they forget and call her ‘warrior princess’.
“Thanks, Pops. I hear you’re not the first person Xena has threatened with that sword. I’m pretty sure it’s not real, though. Anyway, you guys go on in the pool house and have a look around. I’ll be right behind you.” I pass my coffee back to Pops to bring inside for me.
I bring in a few boxes while they take themselves on the tour. When I’m dropping off boxes, I can hear both of them marvelling at the master bath. I’m outside grabbing another box when I turn around and find them both coming out to join me.
“Did you see the view off the deck in the back?” Pops asks. “It’s like a private retreat. You can’t even see the main house from there. You’ll have your own little oasis.”
“Yeah, it’s beautiful, isn’t it? I think I really lucked out with this job. The accommodations are beautiful.”
“Ok yeah, but what about the client? Who is it? I’m right, aren’t I? It’s definitely a movie star.” Becca is positive she’s right.
“I actually still don’t know,” I tell her. “Denise had a client emergency she had to attend to. She was only here long to give me the keys and alarm codes. Oh, and she left forms if you want to fill out a background check and NDA so you are allowed to come visit me and hang out by the pool.” I have a gigantic smile on my face while I give Becca a brief nod in the envelope’s direction.
“Yeah!” Becca cheers. “Time for a pool party, bitches!”
“You don’t know who you’re working for yet?” Pops sounds concerned. “It must be someone horrible if they’re hiding it for this long.”
“I don’t think so, Pops. I honestly think it just slipped her mind. She seems pretty busy.” I talk as I unpack a box of books onto a shelf in the living room. I may only be here for six months, but I will need some reading material.
“Well, I don’t like it,” he grumbles on his way out the door. “She’s hiding something.”
“Meh, I think it’s fine,” Becca says to me, following Pops. “I have a good feeling about this one. I think this job will bring nothing but good things.”
Pops and Becca go out to grab the last couple of boxes while I bring all my clothes upstairs. I really don’t have that much stuff to unpack. This place is fully furnished. I even noticed my preferred kitchen utensils when I was looking in the cupboards and drawers. All I really need for cooking is my knives, which is perfect.
I’m with Becca on this one. I think this job is going to be great. For now, I’m going to finish unpacking and then I think I might go for a swim.
Chapter 27
Connor - Finding Fans and Not Finding Alex
“Hey, is Mike around?” I ask the guy behind the counter when I don’t see Mike anywhere.
“No, sorry, dude.” The guy says, then looks up at me. “Oh shit, are you Connor Ashley?”
Shit, I forgot my hat and my long sleeve shirt. “Yeah, that’s me. How are ya? What’s your name?” Gotta be polite to the fans, right? Especially here. Mike would be pissed if I were an ass to one of his employees. He doesn’t care how famous I am. He’s exactly what I imagine a grandfather should be like.
“Great, man, this is awesome. I’m Ryan. I was at your show last week, man. It was amazing. You guys were great!” The guy seems to be really excited to see me. “What do you need Mike for? Can I help you train or anything? My girlfriend would probably die if I told her I was training with you today.”
“That’s a nice offer, Ryan, thanks. I really just need to ask him a question. Or maybe you know? Do you know of a woman named Alex that lives nearby here?”
“Oh no, sorry, I don’t.” he says. “I’m pretty new here at the gym and I don’t live that close.”
“Ok, no worries. Just let him know I stopped by, if you could?” I’m already on my way out the door. “It was nice meeting you, Ryan. I’m sure I’ll see you around the gym sometime. Maybe next time I’ll take you up on that workout offer.”
I’m out the door before he can start asking for selfies or autographs or anything. Since I’m not able to talk to Mike, I decide to try my luck with just walking down the street and stopping in at a couple of businesses to ask around for Alex. Maybe if someone recognizes me, it will get them to trust me enough to tell me where she lives. And if not, maybe I’ll see the moving truck. It’s not here right now, and it’s still early enough that I don’t think she’d be done moving yet.
I spend the next while walking up and down the four blocks surrounding the gym. I’ve decided that is the area that I would be willing to walk with pizza so I don’t explore any further than that. The pizza place isn’t open this early, so I can’t ask there. I keep an eye out for moving trucks while I’m walking, but I don’t see one at all. After about an hour and a half with no leads, I decide that maybe it’s just time to go home. I’ll call the pizza place later and see what they say. I’ll call Mike too, just to check in with him. I’m still sure he would know something, just because he’s been in the neighbourhood for so long.
As I get back into my car, my phone dings with a notification. There’s a text from Denise.
Denise-Hey Connor, I’ve had to go take care of something with Ryder. The idiot got too drunk last night and got himself arrested. The new chef is moving in today. She’s been told not to bring anyone to the main house, but she may come in on her own to familiarize herself with the kitchen. Don’t ask her for anything. She doesn’t start until Monday.
Okay, well, at least that part of my life is going as planned. I just hope this chef isn’t as obsessed with the band as the last one. We told people that her boyfriend made her quit because he was jealous, but I actually needed to have her fired. She kept showing up naked in our beds. And since I’m the one at the house the most, she was always in my bed. It was getting so annoying to get her out that I finally just had to have Denise fire her. I just want the chef to cook for us, not warm my bed at night.
Looks like there is a message from my mom too.
