Manage Me

I knew as soon as Jack stumbled into me in the kitchen that he was drunk.

“Mr. Barakat!” I exclaimed, shocked.

As if his difficulty standing wasn’t obvious enough, he absolutely reeked of tequila. I gagged at the scent. He stared at me as I pulled out my headphones and I realized he was so far gone he didn’t even know who I was. He smirked at me. Well this was going to be fun.

“Hey there. What is such a fine piece of ass doing in my house?” He slurred, his glassy eyes raking over my body.

He pulled me to him and I cringed. I pushed myself away from him violently. Even as drunk as he was, he was still strong.

“I’m your maid, remember? I’m going to go now, Mr. Barakat. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I said gently.

There was something in his eyes that was scaring me. I knew he wasn’t completely in control of himself right now, and I didn’t like it. I had to get out of there and fast. I pulled off the stupid gloves and hurried to the door. He called out for me to wait and then tripped over his own feet. I caught him, almost tumbling to the ground myself. He clung to me and I gagged again.

“Stay.” He was grinning like a fool. “We could have some fun. Maids are fucking sexy.”

He winked at me and I shoved him off. I shuddered.

“You’re drunk and that is not my job.” My voice shook.

“Aren’t I like your boss or something? Don’t you have to do what I say?”

He reached for me and I moved out of his way quickly. I had to leave now. His last remark had hit a little too close to home and now I was pissed.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Barakat.” I said, firmly this time.

I bolted from the house and into my car. Now that I was away from him I felt the fear start to settle in. I suddenly burst into hysterics. I knew it was just from the stress and exhaustion. I had spent close to four hours scrubbing his house clean after all. And I had barely scratched the surface of the mess. I managed to calm myself down before I arrived home. I took one last deep breath and turned off the car.

I scurried into my small dingy apartment and slumped on the floor without even turning the light on. I sat for a few moments before pulling myself up and flicking the switch. The room was flooded with light and I peeled off my apron, hanging it next to the door. I dug my phone out of the pocket and tossed it onto the couch. I looked down and realized I still had the fucking booties on. I ripped them off and threw them into a corner, slipping out of my Chucks. I made my way to the bathroom, stripping down on the way. I stood in the water for half an hour as it alternated from scalding to freezing. Fucking shitty ass pipes. I wrapped myself in a towel and moved back into the main room. I pulled the couch out into a bed and flopped down on it. Sighing, I grabbed my phone and stood up. As I waited for an answer, I hunted down some lotion and a pair of panties.

“This is Martha. Leave a message and I’ll call you back.”

I sighed again and glanced at the clock. 9:30. Damnit. I’d missed it by half an hour.

“Hey, Mom. It’s me. Katie. I know I’m late, I’m sorry. Just. I love you. Tell Kade I love him too. I’ll do better tomorrow, I promise. Oh, and I got a new job today. Fully paid for the week, in advance. I’ll send some money tomorrow. Bye.”

I hung up and buried myself under the blankets. I breathed deeply, refusing to cry. I turned my thoughts to Jack. I wasn’t really looking forward to going back there tomorrow, but I had to. I prayed that he had been so wasted he wouldn’t remember the night’s events in the morning. I also prayed that he hadn’t puked all over the shit I had just started to clean. After a few moments the exhaustion took over and I found myself drifting to sleep.