Manage Me

I was sitting on the couch watching some mindless television when Katie made her way down the stairs. I had to consciously stop my jaw from dropping to the floor at the sight of her. Something about seeing her in my clothes turned me on, especially considering it was one of my JAGK shirts. Something felt right about seeing her wearing a shirt with my name on it. Even if it wasn’t exactly my name. She smiled at me and I swallowed hard. I could hear the dryer thumping away upstairs and tried to focus on that sound to distract myself from the fact that I had just realized Katie wasn’t wearing the basketball shorts I had given her. She reached the couch and blushed as she handed them to me.

“I couldn’t get the string tight enough.” She mumbled, looking down. I chuckled and she looked up, glaring slightly. “For someone who is so damn skinny you buy huge ass shorts.”

“That’s cause I’m straight up G.” She rolled her eyes playfully as I grinned up at her.

“Whatever you say.”

I patted the couch next to me and she bit her lip. She looked around, like there might be someone ready to burst into the room and judge her. I just looked at her and she slowly settled herself down next to me. I watched her pull the shirt down, tucking it around her legs. I gulped and redirected my attention to television. The space between us suddenly felt like it was too much. I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible as I shifted so that we were closer. I peeked at Katie out of the corner of my eye. She was biting her lip again, smiling slightly.

“So.” She said after a few more quiet moments. I turned to her and watched her gnaw on her lip some more. “How is this going to work?”

“Uh…” I stared at her for a moment before realizing she was talking about working for me. “Oh, well, I don’t really know…How is it supposed to work?”

“I don’t know.” She giggled. “I’ve never actually been hired as a live in maid before.”

“You work for an agency right?” She nodded. “Quit.”

“I…uh…but…” She sputtered, her eyes wide. “I can’t do that!” I frowned.

“Why not?”

“Because…” She screwed up her face. “Just because!”

I chuckled. She huffed and crossed her hands over her chest. The shirt she was wearing rid up slightly at the movement. There was a flash of lace on her upper thigh and I felt my pupils dilate. She didn’t seem to notice and I forced my eyes to meet her face instead. She sighed and moved her arms away.

“Look, I need that job. The agency can draw up a contract or whatever and I’ll work for you through them, okay?”

“Why do you need it? You’re not going to be working for anyone except me.”

“I just…” Her cheeks turned a soft pink color. She mumbled something I couldn’t hear and looked away.

“What?” She met my gaze again.

“I just need the security. If things don’t work out here…I can’t risk not having a job. This way, if something happens, I’ll be able to find another place to work.” I frowned.

“What would happen?” Katie shifted uncomfortably.

“Anything could happen, Jack.”

The buzzer on the dryer sounded and Katie jumped at the chance to run up the stairs. I sighed. I wasn’t about to tell her, but I wanted Katie to quit working at the cleaning agency because I wanted her to be mine. I felt like I was going about this is a completely round-a-bout, and kind of wrong, way but I just wanted Katie all to myself. I knew I should have just told her when she left yesterday, but I had been too afraid. And now I was even more afraid because I had already freaked her out once.

Ugh, this was so fucked up. I shouldn’t be sitting here convince Katie to quit her job and move into my pool house to be my maid. I should be asking her out, taking her on dates and introducing her to my friends as my girlfriend. After all, that’s what it had felt like earlier, when we were in the backyard and then the pool. It hadn’t felt like Katie was my maid then. It felt like we were a couple. Fuck, we had been acting like we were a couple! At least, that’s how it felt to me. And being like that with her had felt so right.

Which is why the more I thought about it, the worse I felt. But I was too much of a pussy to say something and lose what small piece of Katie I had right now. I felt a small pressure on my shoulder and looked up to meet Katie’s bright eyes. She was dressed in her own clothing and held her usual basket of cleaning supplies.

“I’m gonna go home. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

I nodded. She smiled and I stood up to follow her as she walked to the door. She told me goodbye as I held the door open for her and I stood there for a moment watching her make her way to the car.

“Katie!” I called out as she unlocked the door and began to get inside.

She looked up and tilted her head to the side. I quickly jogged down the steps. She waited patiently until I was standing next to her. I didn’t say anything and her eyebrows furrowed.

“What is it?”

“You’re still moving in tomorrow, right?”

Idiot! That wasn’t what you were supposed to say!

Katie simply smiled again and nodded before getting in her car and driving off. I growled and yanked on my hair. I was such a fucking chicken! I had wanted to tell Katie to stay. I had wanted to tell her that she was beautiful and meant a hell of a lot more to me than just a maid. I had wanted to tell her to forget the job, what I really wanted was for her to let me take her out to a fancy restaurant. Instead, I said the first thing that popped into my head because I was a moron.

I made my way back inside and up the stairs before flopping down on my bed and pulling out my phone. I needed to talk to someone. As much as I wanted that someone to be Alex, I was still feeling uneasy with him after what had happened with Katie. So I typed in Cassadee’s number instead. She was a girl after all, so maybe she would be more helpful in this situation than Alex could be. Hell, she had already been helpful.



I waited anxiously for her response. It took a moment, which had me tapping my fingers against my thigh with impatience.



It was another long minute or so before she replied. I had moved on from finger tapping to pacing.



This is what I had been afraid of. Cassadee was saying exactly what I had been feeling. Actually hearing it out loud, well I guess more like reading it, made it seem more real. And that upset me. I felt like I had dug myself into too deep of a hole though and I couldn’t just jump out of it. I chose not to respond since Cass was basically reading my mind right now and I didn’t quite like my thoughts. I stripped down to my boxers and buried myself under the blankets. I tossed and turned for a while before finally forcing myself to stop focusing on all of the things that seemed wrong about this situation. Instead, I pulled up the image of Katie in my mind and studied it over, letting her wash away everything else. I fell asleep with a smile on my face, ecstatic to see her tomorrow and finally have her moved into the pool house.