Carter
I did not know what to make of Lana Morrison.
During our interview, she made herself sound confident. After going through two cleaners previously, I figured she would have been the best replacement. After all, when I laid down my expectations, she didn’t cower away. Instead, she gave me a smirk and assured me that she was the best fit for the job.
Seeing her in action, I was pretty sure she made a fool out of me. Tricked me all the way until I signed her on.
With cleaning, the bar was set pretty low from the very beginning. Somehow, Lana managed to trip over the bar and stumble, falling face first. Whenever I was looking, she was pretty good at putting up an act. When she thought I wasn’t watching, I got to see a more true side of her.
She didn’t realize that I was always watching.
If I wanted to be honest with myself, I’d be able to admit that it was hard not to look at her when she entered the same room. The woman was too young for me, half my age. I didn’t need to get caught in that mess. I’d try to keep my eyes away when I could.
While her appearance drew me in, seeing her abilities was a nice splash of reality.
The woman acted as if she had never cleaned in her life. I could see it in the way her face scrunched up each time she had to clean a different mess. The hesitation in her actions spoke volumes. Hell, I even caught sight of her looking green the first time she had to clean my bathroom.
I wasn’t even a disgusting client. If she had experience with the career, she would have seen far worse.
My cleaner was a pretty little liar and she had no idea that I already knew. Eventually, I would call her out on it. For now, I could wait it out and see how long she could hold out before spilling the truth.
Technically, it wouldn’t be very hard to find a replacement. I had already done it so many times before. For some reason, I let her stick around. After all, she did finish the tasks she started. At the end of each day, my home was cleaner than the day before.
For now, I didn’t have many complaints. Three weeks now into her employment, I realized she hadn’t improved by much. Though, that didn’t stop me from keeping my mouth shut. I didn’t need to be a dick to her to get my point across.
She had yet to do anything extreme enough to ruin my tolerance for her.
Though, it was a bit annoying when she hardly knocked on my office door before making her way in without hardly an answer each time she needed something to help with her cleaning. She walked around like she owned the place whenever it came to being in front of me.
Today, I was busy staring at my two displays. Having watched certain stocks for the last week, I had been hiding away from the world in my office, waiting for the perfect time to strike when she chose to make another appearance.
“What can I do for you, Miss Morrison?” I asked, tearing my eyes away from the screens.
“I came to see if it would be okay to clean your art room.”
Registering her question, I realized for the first time addressing me, that a little bit of that confidence she liked to show wasn’t there.
I had warned her early on that my art room was off limits for many reasons. She’d grown curious once before, asking and getting denied at the very beginning.
Whenever I bought any piece that cost a good chunk of money, I stuck it inside that room. Sure, I had some pieces here and there throughout my home but none held the value of which I hid away inside there.
One piece of art could be sold and set someone off for life. Was Lana nervous because she planned on taking something for herself? I hardly knew the woman long enough to know if she would try to steal.
Or, could she have been nervous for a different reason? Having always watched her, I noticed the way she looked at certain paintings I hung up on the walls of my home. She had a certain look in her eye that showed appreciation.
Maybe she was just looking for an excuse to look at the other pieces I had hidden away.
If anyone else would have asked, the answer would have been an automatic no. Even now, I felt the word on the tip of my tongue.
Seeing the way her hands were clasped together in the way she bit on her bottom lip, I felt a slight hint of hesitance. I was not a hesitant person.
If I went inside there with her, I knew I wouldn’t have a problem letting her into the untouched room. Though, I couldn’t exactly afford to leave my desk. I was in the middle of working, and even now, I risked missing out on a potential buyout.
Forcing out a sigh, I collected myself up. Instead of taking the easy way out and telling her no, I moved to stand.
“Ten minutes,” I warned her. “You can dust inside the room for ten minutes.”
I didn’t expect for such a large smile to form on her lips. Looking absolutely thrilled by my answer, she didn’t even try to hide her excitement. As always, she was absolutely readable.
For some reason, I couldn’t look away.
Lana Morrison was a breath of fresh air and for some reason, I forgot how to breathe.
“Well, I can go grab what I need and I’ll meet you there.” Spinning around, she left my office and silence crept back into the room.
Rubbing at my chin, my eyes lingered toward the door. In the back of my mind, I had a feeling that what I had just agreed to was a bad idea. I had never let someone else inside the special place and silently going against that felt wrong.
I had yet to tell Lana no on anything since she had been employed with me. Silently denying one of her requests didn’t feel quite right. Was I growing soft around the younger woman?
I just hoped I wouldn’t regret my decision. For now, I would try to ignore the bad feeling settling in my gut. I didn’t have any sort of explanation of why I felt the way I did.
Ten minutes. I would be inside with her for the entire time and I trusted myself to make sure nothing could possibly go wrong. There was no way Lana would try to do something so brave.
She’d fooled me once at the very beginning. I wouldn’t let it happen a second time.