Sweep Me Off My Feet

*****

After packing, Angela drove her new car to Michael’s penthouse. She had only been there once before, on the evening of their make-up dinner date and she had only seen the kitchen, living and dining rooms, and the guest bathroom. And even though that was like ten percent of the house, she was still very impressed with what she saw. Her entire apartment could fit in half the kitchen twice over. However, seeing the property in daylight, Angela was even more impressed than ever. The house was empty save for the housekeeper they found in there.

“Hello, you must be Mrs. O’Brien,” the short, middle-aged brown woman said, and Angela smiled.

“Please, just call me Angela.”

The woman smiled.

“Okay, Mrs. Angela. I am Valeria,” the woman said. “This must be the little man, your son, Brandon, yes?”

Angela nodded.

“Yes, this is my son. Brandon, say hello to auntie Valeria,” she said as she put a hand on his shoulder.

Brandon waved at her shyly and hid behind his mother.

“Don’t worry. I am sure we will be great friends,” Valeria said as she took the bag Angela was holding.

“No, it’s fine…” Angela said, but Valeria was not giving in.

“Please, let me,” she insisted, and Angela handed her one bag, the lighter one.

“I can carry this one, Valeria. Thank you.”

“Welcome, please… feel at home.” Valeria seemed more excited than Angela was to be there. “I just finished with Brandon’s room. I hope he will like it.”

Angela looked around the familiar house. Everything looked so different in the daylight. As she walked on the rich marble floor, she noticed that the place did not only look different because of the lighting. Michael had taken the steps to toddler proof the space. The last time she had been there, she noticed that the penthouse was the epitome of a bachelor pad. The furniture was all white and there were glass tables… a remote controlled gas fireplace, but all that was gone. The white sofa and glass coffee table were gone as was the glass dining table. In their place was a grey sectional sofa complete with throw pillows and a snuggle blanket. The glass tables had been replaced by a mahogany dining tables and a matching coffee table. She could not help but wonder how Michael had pulled everything off in such a short period of time.

When they got upstairs, Valeria led them to Brandon’s room and Angela felt her heart skip a beat when she saw how excited her son was to see the Spiderman-themed room. It was beautiful. It was what she had always thought of doing for her son if she could afford it. A beautiful cozy room with a small study desk on one end and a toy center on the other side. A small bike was parked on that corner, and it was no wonder that Brandon rushed there first. Angela looked at Valeria and shook her head.

“Did you do this?” she asked, and Valeria nodded.

“Mr. Michael told me to get the house ready and he sent me all the instructions… I have been working on it for the past three days,” she said proudly.

“And downstairs? The furniture?” Angela asked, and Valeria nodded. “But it doesn’t look like anything Michael would do…”

“He asked me what he needs to do to prepare the house for his new wife who had a four-year-old son, and I just did what felt natural. It is what I would have done for my children.”

“Oh wow, how many kids do you have?” Angela asked, and Valeria put up three fingers.

“They are all grown up now. The youngest just went to college,” she said, proudly. “Cherish these moments because one day you will wake up alone in this house when he is away at college and wonder where all the time went.”

Angela smiled.

“A friend of mine told me the same thing just recently.”

“She is right, you know,” Valeria started as she led Angela out. “Come, I want you to see the other bedrooms.”

“Just how many bedrooms are in here?” she asked.

“Three, but one is more of a study. It is downstairs.” Valeria opened a door on her right. “This is the master. The closet and bathroom are through here.” She opened another door that led to a huge his and hers walk-in closet and Angela gasped in awe. “This is beautiful… the whole place is perfect.”

Valeria clasped her hands together and gave her a satisfied smile.

“I am so glad you like it.”

They then checked out the guest room and laundry before going back downstairs. Brandon was too busy playing in his new room to pay attention to anything else.

“Mr. Michael asked me to pick up some brochures of local schools. I put them in the junk drawer in the kitchen,” Valeria said, and Angela frowned.

“Junk drawer?” she asked, raising an eyebrow over the other.

Valeria smiled.

“The bottom drawer in the kitchen. That’s my junk drawer, but feel free to change it.”

Angela shook her head.

“No, not at all… Thank you. For everything.”

“My pleasure, mi amor. I am just happy that Michael finally found a good woman.”

Angela smiled and pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear.

“Do you come here often?” she asked, and Valeria shrugged.

“Three times a week.”

“Oh.”

Angela did not really see the need to have a housekeeper, but at the same time, she knew that telling Valeria not to come was literally taking food out of her mouth. She was not about to do that to the woman who had broken her back turning that former bachelor pad into a home for them.

“Did you need anything?” Valeria asked, and she shook her head.

“No… I’m just so surprised at what you did.”

“I already told you, mi amor, it was a pleasure.” She smiled at Angela and exhaled loudly. “I have to get going.”

“But we just got here,” Angela said, and Valeria shrugged.

“I’ll be back. I was only supposed to stay until you got here so that you could have someone to welcome you.”

Angela smiled at her as she got her purse and walked to the door.

“Welcome home, Mrs. O’Brien,” Valeria said again before she walked out leaving Angela standing in the kitchen. She looked around wondering what she was supposed to do and then it hit her. Dinner. She was going to go unpack and then make dinner for her new family. She walked to the fridge and opened it, hoping that what she saw in there was going to give her an idea of what to make.

“Of course, there is nothing in the fridge,” she said to no one in particular as she looked at the mostly empty shelves in the fridge save for a few boxes of Chinese takeout and pizza. “Guess the first thing on my itinerary is do some grocery shopping,” she thought as she closed the fridge.