Manage Me

I was woken up the next morning by Lily shoving me off the bed. I rubbed my head and glared at her from the wooden floor. She was still sleeping, now laying spread eagle on my bed. I sighed and surveyed my apartment. There were two empty cartons of Ben and Jerry’s lying sideways on the floor next to my computer. What little ice cream there was left in them had melted and then hardened onto the floor. I wrinkled my nose in disgust before picking them up. I snatched the spoons off of the ground as well and placed them in the sink. I chucked the cartons and began scrubbing the ice cream up.

Lily finally woke up just as I finished making a pot of tea. I handed a mug to her and she gave me a bleary smile. She scooted over, making room for me to sit next to her and wrapped the blanket around my shoulders. I leaned my head into the crook of her neck and yawned.

“You pushed me off the bed this morning.” Her giggle reverberated throughout my body.

“I’m kind of an asshole when I sleep, aren’t I?”

I nodded and she giggled again. We stayed like that for a moment, before I finally moved. Lily sipped her tea quietly and I glanced at the clock. It was only 10:00, but Lily had class today so we wouldn’t be going out.

“What time is your class?”

“11:30.” She replied, checking the clock. “Fuck, I’m sorry, Kates, but I gotta go. I’ll call you later, yeah?” She scrambled off of the bed and placed her mug in the sink before grabbing her keys off the hook by the door.

“Yeah.” I smiled. “Love you.”

“Love you too!” She called as the door slammed shut behind her.

I slumped back onto the bed, curling into the blankets. I didn’t know why, but I felt off. I really hoped I wasn’t getting sick. It was probably just because of yesterday. I sighed, my eyes drifting shut. A nap would do me a world of good right now.

My alarm went off just two and a half hours later, but I was feeling remarkably better. I fixed myself a quick peanut butter and jelly sandwhich before slipping into some work clothes. For some reason, I wanted to look good today. I took a little extra time deciding what to wear, choosing shorts over leggings for once, and even applied mascara. I felt silly when I looked at myself in the mirror, but I didn’t change. I slipped into my Converse and pulled my hair into its usual bun before grabbing my supplies and slipping out of the door.

My car started up easily and I rolled the windows down, cranking the volume on my stereo. I hummed along, driving on autopilot the now familiar house. The air was warm and I found myself smiling. I was determined to make today a good day. I would simply pretend nothing had happened yesterday. Chances are Jack would leave again. For some reason I think he felt uncomfortable around me. It was a little upsetting since we had slept together, but he still didn’t know that and I wasn’t about to tell him.

I pulled up next to the curb and shut my car off. I knocked lightly on the door three times and was surprised when it opened almost immediately. I was even more surprised to see that Jack didn’t look hungover. He smelled like he had just showered and he was wearing some of the clean clothing I had placed on his bed. He looked really hot.

Well fuck.

“Hey, Katie.” He smiled.

Since when has he started calling me Katie? Or smiling?

I quickly wiped the emotions off of my face, lapsing into my role as nothing more than a maid almost immediately. I smiled back politely and he moved to the side to let me in the house. I stood there awkwardly for a moment to see if he was going to leave or not. He didn’t, opting to move into the living room instead. I shifted my weight uncomfortably. I had wanted to scrub the floors today, and there was still the matter of folding the laundry in the dryer and finishing up the last load. I sighed and began climbing the stairs. I could finish the laundry and then maybe look around outside. Jack had mentioned a pool and a pool house and I had yet to see either. I doubted they would be as bad as his house, but it was already obvious that Jack wasn’t someone who cleaned by any means.

The laundry machines hummed to life. I let the dryer run for a few minutes, heating the wrinkles out of the clothing I had left in there yesterday. It was warm when I pulled it out and I held a shirt to my nose, breathing in the cozy, clean scent.

“Do you always go around smelling your boss’ clothing?”

I jumped at the sound of Jack’s voice and whipped around. He was leaning against the side of the wall at the top of the stairs, a smirk adorning his mouth. I blushed and dropped the shirt.

“You blush a lot.” He pointed out. That only made me flush darker.

His smirk transformed into a smile and he hopped up on top of the washer. I gazed at him stupidly for a moment. He just looked a me, smiling his ass off. I took a deep breath and turned back to the laundry, folding it quickly.

“Damn, you do that really quickly.” I glanced at him. “I don’t even know how do laundry.” He admitted sheepishly. “Usually I just take it to my mom’s house.”

“How do you not know how to do laundry?” The question was out before I could stop it. “I-I’m sorry, Mr. Barkat.” I mumbled quickly. He laughed.

“I was a spoiled child I guess.” He shrugged. Then his eyes lit up. “Maybe you could teach me!”

I just stared at him. He beamed back at me, excitement dancing through his brown orbs. I couldn’t help but giggle.

“It’s pretty easy actually.” I stepped towards him. I reached over the dryer, standing on my tipy toes to reach the shelf. I held up a bottle of Tide and a bottle of Downy. “Tide is detergent, like soap, and Downy is softener. It makes your clothes super comfy.” I was lapsing into the voice I used when I was teaching Kade something new. Jack nodded reverently. “All you do is pour a capful of Tide and a capful of Downy and then turn it on.”

“Seriously? That’s it?”

“Yup. That’s it.” I giggled again.

“Well damn.”

I moved back to the basket of clean clothing that had cooled significantly. I continued folding in silence, Jack still sitting atop the washer. The buzzer on the washer went of and Jack looked around, confused.

“It’s the washer.” I told him, motioning for him to move. “That means its done.”

He nodded and hoped off. I walked over to the machine. My breathing hitched at how close we were standing. He smelled so freaking good. I bent over slightly to pull all of the clothing out and avoided looking at him while I loaded it into the dryer. Jack resumed his previous seat and I quickly returned to fold the last few items. When I was finished I looked up to see him staring at me intently. I blinked, furrowing my brow in confusion. He seemed to snap out of some kind of stupor and smiled at me again.

“Do you want me to put these away or…?” I lifted up the folded clothing.

“I got it.”

He launched himself off of the washer and nearly knocked me over. His hand steadied me and I felt a tingle at his touch. I groaned internally. This was going to end really, really badly. He took the clothes from my hands and disappeared into his bedroom. I took the chance to run a hand over my face, sighing as I did so. I also took the chance to disappear down the stairs. Maybe while he was sorting through his laundry I could actually get some floor scrubbing done.