Mom-Well honey, they are going to need spending money for incidentals and whatnot. You just transfer it to my account and I’ll give it to them.
I decide that this is as good a time as any to confront what’s going on with her. In the past she’s been more interested in getting me to buy her things, but lately it seems there’s been a heavy focus on getting actual cash from me. It has me worried. The last time this happened, it’s because she was using. Something that she promised me would never happen again.
Me-What’s going on, mom? You seem to be pretty intent on having me send you cash. I remember what was going on the last time this happened.
Since I know I won’t get a straight answer from her, I also text both of my sisters. They were a lot younger last time mom was using but now that they’re older they probably can recognize what’s going on.
Me-hey Sadie, hey Amanda. Is everything ok with mom? I’ve assured her I’ve already paid for all your school and stuff, and she’s pushing for me to send money for you guys. Is there anything you two need? Just let me know and I can buy it for you. I want to make sure you have what you need.
Sadie gets back to me immediately.
Sadie-no, I’m good. I have everything I need. Thank you again, so much, for paying for school and everything. I can’t wait to get out of here.
I wait around for ten minutes, but mom and Amanda don’t get back to me. After taking another look around for moving trucks on this street, I decide its time to just go. I turn the car on and start driving. Guess I’ll just go home for now and this afternoon I’ll give Mike and the pizza place a call. I’ll call Devon later too, to see if he’s had any luck tracking Alex down. If none of these things pan out, I’m not sure what I can do. That private investigator thing is sounding better and better. Or maybe I’ll put out a general call during my next interview? Of course I’ll have hundreds of crazy people calling and saying they are Alex, but maybe the real one will actually get through too.
Chapter 28
Alex - Solo Pool Party and Preparation
It takes me, Becca, and Pops an hour to unpack all my stuff and get my room set up the way I like it. The first order of business is unpacking my coffee maker and brewing a pot for the three of us. Once it’s done, we take our cups out onto the small back deck to drink while we enjoy the quiet.
“I can’t believe how quiet it is out here. We’re still in the city, right? We didn’t somehow drive further than we thought?” Becca says from the comfort of a wooden porch swing that’s hanging from the roof over the deck. Pops is sitting opposite her on an old-fashioned rocking chair, holding his cup in his lap while his eyes slowly drift closed.
“It is peaceful, isn’t it? I think I’m going to like it here.” I’m curled up on a well-padded loveseat. “Don’t you love how you can hear the leaves in the trees rustling in the wind? I’m going to need to make sure the volume on my phone is turned way up because I’m going to be napping out here a lot. I’d hate to miss the client’s calls because I’m asleep on the deck of the house they’re living in.”
“Yeah, that might be an awkward conversation. ‘Sorry I didn’t come cook for you. I was napping at the beautiful house you’ve allowed me to live in for the sole purpose of my being available to cook for you as required. My bad.’” Becca laughs. “That might breach the terms of the contract or something.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to do that. This seems like the perfect position for me. After the six months, I’m going to be sad to have to find something else.”
“As long as you don’t rush into anything that your heart isn’t really in. You’ll make enough money from this contract to take your time deciding what you really want to do.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Plus, I’ve got six months here to figure out my next move, right? So I will do some soul searching and see what really lights me up.”
“That’s all I ask.” Becca stands up. “On that note, I think it’s time to get Pops back to the gym and to let you get settled in. Make sure you get my forms to your lady so that I can come hang out soon. I need to get a swim in that pool.” She smiles as she leans over to tap on Pops’ shoulder. “Time to go, Pops. Can’t leave those meatheads in charge of the gym too long. Never know what they’ll do to the place if you’re not there to keep them in line.”
“What?” Pops grumbles a bit while he wakes up. “Oh yeah, right. Better get back then.” He turns and gives me a huge squeeze. “Love you, Lexi Girl. Call me when you find out who you’re working for, so I know you’ll be fine.”
Becca grabs up all the boxes that we unpacked, probably to store them until the next time I need them, and then waves goodbye again as she walks out to her car with Pops. I stand at the door and watch until they drive back around the main house and out of sight. Well, now that I’m alone in my new place, what should I do? After very little deliberation, I decide it’s time for a swim, so I go back inside and up to my bedroom. I change into my swimsuit, grab a towel, and then head out to the pool.
I swim laps for a bit, then I get out to lie on one of the deck chairs. Swimming is a good workout, but if you’re not actively swimming, then hanging out at a pool is pretty boring all alone. After a few minutes of lounging, I decide to go back inside and grab a book. While I’m in there, I also grab my phone and headphones and start one of my Spotify playlists. I’m sure there’s a sound system out there somewhere, but I don’t want to disturb anyone in the main house, so my headphones will be just fine. I grab myself a drink and go back out to my lounge chair. Now I’m ready to spend the afternoon relaxing. Unfortunately, I relax a little too hard. I take less than 15 minutes to fall asleep and that’s where I stay for the next three hours.
* * *
I have no idea where I am when I wake up. It takes a few minutes to remember that I’m laying by the pool at my new place. Thank god I had the sense to lie in the shade or my not so brief nap would have turned into a really nasty sunburn. I gather up my things and go back into the pool house. Stripping out of my suit as I walk through my place, I go jump in the shower to wash off the pool smell. I love swimming, but I do not love the smell of the chemicals used to keep the pool clean.
I throw on denim shorts and a loose white tank top over a strappy blue yoga bra. I leave my hair down today, to give it a chance to air dry, the loose dark blonde waves reaching down past my bra line and soaking the back of my tank.
My stomach loudly growls and reminds me I haven’t eaten lunch and that I have no groceries. I guess now is as good a time as any to go shopping. I sit down to make a shopping list. There’s literally nothing in here besides coffee, so it’s a pretty quick list. I don’t really need to write ‘everything’ after all.
While I’m at it, I may as well do the shopping for the main house too, so I look in the envelope Denise left me. There’s a list of requested meals and favourite foods in there. Whoever these people are, they don’t eat very fancy so I should be able to get most of the ingredients I’ll need at a regular grocery store. That’s nice. Cooking gourmet meals all the time can be exhausting. I should go to the main house to check on what will need to be stocked, though, so I can do all the shopping at the same time.
After slipping on a pair of pink Chucks, I grab keys, the alarm code to the main house, and my phone, and slip the company credit card into my wallet. I set the alarm when I leave my place and walk over to the main house. The entrance at the side of the house should lead directly to the kitchen, if I remember correctly. There is another entrance at the back, but it’s a walkout basement and I haven’t been to that part of the house, so I just stay away. I don’t want to walk into a stranger’s bedroom or something.
I use my key and disarm the alarm at the side door. I was right. This door does lead to the kitchen. I put my phone, wallet, and keys onto the bar height counter and start looking around the kitchen. After checking out the fridge and pantry, I notice this house is going to need almost a complete restock as well. It makes more sense to make a list of what we already have as opposed to what I will need to buy. The easiest way to do this is to just take pictures of what’s here already, so I go back to the counter and grab my phone.
With my phone in my hand, I begin by taking pictures of each shelf in the pantry. These people don’t even have most of the staples, which makes me wonder if maybe this is a vacation house for them? It would make sense to clear most items out before closing up the house for half the year. Because even if the last chef they hired was only mediocre, she should have at least had things like flour and rice on hand.
Once I’m done in the pantry, I move on to the rest of the kitchen cupboards. May as well make sure I have all the kitchen gadgets I need while I’m going shopping too. So far, so good in that regard. I will only need to buy a garlic press and a handheld lemon juicer, which is nice. This kitchen is much nicer than any other home kitchen I’ve worked in. It even has stainless steel work surfaces, so it’s clear that they made it for actual cooking, not just looking nice. I turn and open the fridge, ready to take pictures of its contents, when I hear voices coming from the front of the house. Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to meet the people I’m actually working for. I’m not exactly professionally dressed but I also don’t really start until the day after tomorrow so hopefully they don’t mind. Here goes nothing.
