Big Bangs, Prohibition, and a Sugar Daddy

Teaching the Staff

I found I liked my job, I didn't want to go back to the clinic I worked at before. If I didn't sleep with Luke, would he tire of me anyway and dismiss me? If he was going to tire of me either way, at least I could leave this place with my virtue intact.

At seven in the morning my alarm clock rung. The manual night stand clock was loud. My head hurt. Not from alcohol this time, it was the lack of sleep. Possibly the thoughts that raced through my mind all night contributed to my headache as well.

Luke had eaten breakfast already. Sara fixed me some scrambled eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns. Clara served it to me with orange juice. "Sara, could you sit with me a moment?"

"I'm busy." Sara sounded disrespectful, rude, but it was her nature to be abrupt. It wasn't meant to be rude or disrespectful. "I can hear you well enough."

That was true. "Clara can handle anything that needs to be done, now come sit with me."

Annoyed at being interrupted from cleaning up her station after cooking breakfast. "Yes, Miss Cross."

"Do you like Clara? Is she efficient when she helps you?" I asked as Sara settled in the seat to my right.

"If you are thinking of dismissing her, I should tell you that you won't find a better worker. I know she talks out of turn sometimes, but that's just her nature. She's talkative, I'm a critic, Rita is ambitious, Allie Nala tends to be a little dense. Joey and Mike are just poor men and act like it." Sara elaborated. "We all have our faults and if you fire us for our faults, well, you won't have no one left."

"I'm not firing anyone. Not yet. From what I've seen I won't need to." I assured Sara. No doubt, despite her outer nature, she felt some feelings for the staff she had managed. "You did a good job of managing the staff before I got here. I hope I do half as well."

Sara beamed. I never saw her smile before.

"I want to know." I continued. "If you would like to have Clara as your assistant. She will assist you, serve Mr. Mason his meals, and any other duties that pertain to that."

"What about the upstairs bedrooms? Who will care for them?" Sara asked.

"I'll make arrangements for the two downstairs maids to clean those rooms." I had observed the last few days that the downstairs maids had time on their hands. They could handle the upstairs as well.

"It seems right. Clara is also the only live in maid. Mr. Luke brought her with him from down South. She's been here as long as me." Sara liked my change. If she approved, it had to be right. She had more experience with the staff than I did. "Clara often performs little duties that must be done after the regular staff go home. She ought to get more pay too for that."

If Clara had room and board, I didn't see why she would need more pay, but I would talk to Luke all the same. I would get his opinion. It might help me to learn more about Luke's business if I asked him how Clara came into his employ from down South.

This task done, I went outside. Pretending to take an interest in the garden or orchard that was in the backyard. I looked at the pool. What I was really doing was watching what the two men were doing work outside. Which I found wasn't much. Partly because they had maintained the garden and yard well. But, I wouldn't let them use this as an excuse for standing around.

I went into the house and began to make notes concerning what needed to be repaired, touched up, or possibly changed. These two men were handy men as well. I'd use them inside and outside the house. One of the things I considered was painting my room any color other than pink.