Maid for You

Chapter 2

The next morning Marc was met in the kitchen by a cheerful Jocelyn. "What would Sir like for breakfast?"

"My name is Marc."

"Yes Sir. I remember. You told me yesterday. And, what would Sir like for breakfast?"

Marc rolled his eyes. He was obviously not going to get Jocelyn to loosen up any time soon. And worse than that, she was obviously one of those people who were cheerful in the mornings. Marc was convinced that there were worse sins, but he couldn't think of one right now.

"Coffee. Black. If it starts to erode the ceramic, then it might just be strong enough."

"Ah, that would explain the coffee stains on the mugs then Sir. I'll get you one right away. Would you like anything to eat for breakfast?"

"No thanks. My stomach is used to being purged by strong coffee every morning. Anything else before 10 am is likely to confuse it."

"OK Sir, just the coffee it is then."

Marc watched Jocelyn operate his coffee machine. He had shown her how to use it yesterday. He was pleased to see that, even if she was a little slow, she had taken all his instructions to heart. When Jocelyn passed Marc his coffee, he sipped at it carefully. It was just how he liked it. Marc nodded to Jocelyn with a slightly raised eyebrow and the hint of a smile. "Perfect. Thank you."

Jocelyn glowed at the praise, mumbled a "You're welcome" and turned around to start cleaning the coffee machine. After the detailed instructions that Marc had given her for the coffee machine yesterday, it was clear that the coffee machine was his pride and joy and he expected it to be looked after carefully.

Marc wandered off to his office with the steaming coffee still in his hand. The usual flurry of emails had arrived in his inbox. Most business owners were too busy working on their business during the week to have much time for him. They typically dealt with his questions over the weekend. Of course, that changed when it came close to closing the deal. Then he normally had their full attention and was expected to reply to questions immediately. He was pleased to have closed off a deal last week. That left him with a little extra time to deal with two other clients who were slowly but steadily moving along the path to selling their businesses. The extra time now would give him the chance to nudge them, and their buyers, one step closer to an agreement.

+ + +

Jocelyn walked slowly around the house. Her eyes darted everywhere as she tried to get a feel for the building and its owner. Marc had asked her to start on the kitchen and the bathrooms, but she was curious to find out more about Marc and the house that she would, hopefully, stay in for the next twelve months. She often found it quite surprising just how much she could pick up about a person just from looking at their belongings.

The front of the house had an entry way with stairs going up to the bedrooms and down into the cellar. Marc's office was on the left. Marc had made it very clear that he was not to be disturbed while he was working under any circumstances short of the house burning down. On the right of the hallway was a meeting room. Marc had said that it was rarely used, but when it was used it needed to be immaculate. She was expected to clean it every week.

The back half of the house was in an "L" shape with the kitchen placed in the right angle at the middle of the "L". The larger part of the remainder of the room was an open plan living room with a couch, TV, and a long book case filled from top to bottom with books. The shorter part of the L held the dining area. Opening the doorway from the dining area outside led Jocelyn out onto a screened porch overlooking the garden.