Manage Me

I felt like shit the minute my eyes opened the next morning. I looked around frantically and let out a relieved sigh when I saw I was alone. The house was quiet. My head swam with guilt as I remembered the events from the night before. I ran to the bathroom and threw up everything in my system.

You’re a fucking idiot.

I couldn’t argue with myself there. The only thing that was making me feel like I wasn’t a total piece of shit was the fact that I hadn’t brought a girl home with me. It was bad enough I’d fucked one at the party. I rested my head against the porcelain. I knew why I felt so awful and it wasn’t just the hangover. The reason was a tiny blonde-haired, blue-eyed maid by the name of Katie.

I groaned and pulled myself up. This was just fanfuckingtastic. I grumbled my way into the shower, staying in longer than normal. It was as if I was trying to wash away my indiscretions from the previous night. But that didn’t even make any sense! It wasn’t like Katie and I were anything other than employer and employee.

Even if I wanted it to be more.

But I didn’t want that! Did I? No, definitely not. I barely knew her and I still wasn’t over Holly, right? But…I hadn’t thought about Holly since that night at the club with that blonde girl. What was it about that night that had changed everything? I sighed and pressed my forehead against the shower door, the water still raining down on my back. I heard a faint knock on the door. My ears perked up at the sound. It was probably Katie. I quickly turned off the water and threw on the first outfit I saw.

I jumped down the stairs, but the knocking had stopped. I walked to the door, wondering if maybe it hadn’t been Katie after all. But with a glance at the clock, I knew it had to be. A smile sprung up on my face and I yanked on the handle. My smile faltered at the sight in front of me. Katie had her eyes on the ground, quiet sniffles coming from her nose. She looked up and plastered a fake smile on her pretty mouth.

“Hello, Mr. Barakat.”

I moved to the side and she shuffled in. She looked like absolute shit. Her blue orbs were bloodshot and puffy, from crying no doubt, and I wondered what the hell had happened. There were purple bags underneath her eyes and it looked like she hadn’t slept a wink.

“Is everything okay?” I asked. I had to stop myself from pulling her into my arms for a hug.

“Of course. I’m going to get to work on the upstairs.”

She scurried away and I stared after her. Something was wrong. A weight settled in my stomach. I didn’t like this. I didn’t like Katie being upset. Without a second thought I followed after her. I discovered her in my bedroom, picking things up off of the floor. She looked up when I came in before quickly averting her gaze. Her eyes were watery.

“So, I still have nine questions you know.” I stated as I flopped onto my bed. She didn’t respond. “Or you could ask me questions.” I tried.

“Mr. Barakat, I really need to get this work done.” She said quietly.

“Will you please stop calling me that?” She looked up. “I hate it. It makes me feel old.”

“Okay, Jack.” She said with a small smile.

My grin stretched across my entire face. The way she said my name…it made me happy. Extremely happy. Something about it coming out in her soft voice, the way it just rolled off of her tongue, felt good. It felt right.

“So, the questions?”

“Fine.” She sniffled again. “But now you only have seven, so you had better make them last.” I cursed under my breath and she laughed.

“Okay, okay. What’s your favorite color?”

“Really?” I nodded. “Yellow. Sunshine yellow.” I smiled. She struck me as a sunshine yellow type of person.

“What’s your favorite song?”

“At the moment? Ours by Taylor Swift. Actually…” She paused for a moment as if she was thinking about the answer she had just given me. “That’s been my favorite song for a while now.”

“Taylor Swift huh? I was kind of hoping you’d say something by All Time Low.” I teased.

“You caught me.” She said, straight faced. “I actually have a secret obsession with you guys and keep a shrine of your faces made with your chewed up bubblegum hidden in the back of my closet. One time I found your phone number online and then called you to leave you a love declaration, but chickened out and had to dress up like a Girl Scout to steal the tape.”

I stared at her for a moment. She kept her expression completely serious for a good 10 seconds before bursting out in hysterical laughter. I continued to stare at her as she rolled to her side clutching her stomach.

“You should see your face!” She said between giggles.

I started laughing with her. Eventually I was on the ground as well, both of us rolling around with tears in our eyes. We finally settled down and she started hiccupping.

“Did you seriously just make a Hey Arnold! reference?” She nodded, covering her mouth with her hand as another hiccup came out.

“I couldn’t resist. It was my favorite television show when I was little.”

I grinned. She was so cute. I don’t think that anything had ever seemed as endearing as her little Hey Arnold! rant just had. And the fact that she had actually done it made me ecstatic because it meant she was warming up to me. She had agreed to call me Jack and she was teasing me and she had just told me about her favorite television show without me having to ask.

“So why Taylor Swift?” She shrugged.

“I listen to her a lot. She’s wholesome, so I can play her songs whenever I want and not have to worry about who hears it.”

She was lying and I knew it. Well, maybe she wasn’t completely lying, but she was definitely hiding something. I wanted to know why, but I was afraid I’d scare her off again. For now, I’d have to settle for her half-truths until she decided to trust me. I watched her for a minutes, contemplating my next question. She was slowly organizing the things on my dresser. She walked over to me and tugged on the blankets beneath me.

“C’mon, Mr. Barakat, it’s time for you to learn how to make a bed.” She smirked.

“Only if you call me Jack.”

“Fine.” She sighed dramatically. “Time for you to learn how to make a bed, Jack.”

I beamed at her and moved off of the sheets. She walked up to me, pushing her way between me and the bed. My breath hitched in my throat as I stepped backwards. She smelled like coconuts. I stared at her ass as she bent over to grab the blankets and nearly groaned. Those shorts she was wearing weren’t helping the situation either.

“Are you paying attention?” I snapped out of my trance at the sound of her muffled voice.

“What?”

“I said, are you paying attention.” She giggled.

“Oh, uh…no.” I admitted sheepishly. She glanced over her shoulder with a smile.

“Okay, come here.” I took a step forward so that I was standing next to her.

I watched as she gripped the bottom sheet and pulled it up and over my pillows. She surveyed it and then frowned.

“Go around to the other side.” She ordered. “Now, pull on the sheets so that it’s equal, okay?” I pulled a little until she stopped me. “Now do the same with the comforter.” I did as I was told and she stopped me again.

She flipped the sheet down over the comforter and then pulled it tight. I watched as she quickly went around the edges of the bed, tucking the overhanging blankets underneath the mattress. She beamed proudly at me once she was done.

“Congratulations, Jack, you’ve just made your first bed.”

“I have to say, all of these things you’ve been teaching me are a lot easier than I thought.” She giggled.

“Shocker, huh?”

I nodded. She moved into my bathroom and I followed. I saw her nose wrinkle slightly and then I remembered I had puked in there this morning.

“Oh, shit, I’m sorry.”

“Jack, do you know what your house looked like when I first got here? I think I can handle a little puke.” She teased. I felt my cheeks burn.

“I’m sorry about that too. And about treating you like shit. You didn’t deserve it.”

“I’ve dealt with worse. Believe me, you are one of the nicest bosses I’ve ever had, even when I first met you.” She shrugged.

“That’s dumb.” She shrugged again.

“I’m a maid. It’s my job to be invisible.”

“Still. Everyone deserves to be treated like a human being. And you’re a pretty awesome one at that.” I smirked at her. She blushed, but didn’t respond.

Instead, she pulled some cleaning supplies out of her little basket and sprayed it on the counter, toilet bowl, and inside of the shower. I sat Indian style on the tile and watched her. I didn’t really care how creepy it was, I liked watching her. She finally sat down in front of me.

“You still have one question.” I opened my mouth but she cut me off. “Ah, ah, ah. I’ve been counting. Don’t waste your last question asking ‘what’.” She smiled at me innocently.

I tapped my chin, thinking. She stood up and turned around, beginning to wipe down the counter. She blew away a falling strand of hair only to have it fall back in her face. I chuckled at the annoyed expression on her face. She reached up and tugged the band out of her hair, letting it tumble down, before pulling it back up again. I caught a flash of color behind her right ear as she piled the hair high on her head.

“Is that a tattoo?” The question was out before I could stop it. She clapped a hand over it and spun around.

“Yes.” I stood and moved to her, pulling her hand away to study the ink. She flushed a bright red but didn’t move to stop me.

It was simple, just two letters and a date surrounded by a heart. The script was feminine, but not the overly curly type I normally saw on girls. The color was a traditional black and I had to stop myself from running my finger over it.



KF. Why did those initials seem so familiar? It came flooding back to me in a rush. KF Those were the exact same initials that had been on the key the blonde girl had left behind. The key that was attached to a sunshine yellow holder. Katie’s last name was Feist. That made her initials KF. Katie’s favorite color was sunshine yellow. Katie’s eyes were the same piercing blue color the girl from the club had. She had a tattoo in the same exact place that girl did.

Holy motherfucking shit.

Katie was the blonde from the club.