The Love Hotel

Chapter 9

Everything had gone smoothly. Rochelle had taken the contract to the lawyer just like she had been planning to. Nothing had changed, after all. She was still going to have to make sure that the contract that she was about to sign would not trap her in something that she did not want to be in. She needed to make sure that she would not end up regretting her decision to start working for Bradley. It did not matter that they had been so intimate, that intimacy was gone now and it was up to them to start acting in a way that people were supposed to act when they were planning to initiate a professional relationship with one another. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do, though. Was she supposed to just pretend like it had never happened? Was she supposed to mention it in passing but be civil about it?

None of this mattered in the end. All that mattered was that the contract was solid and she had no reason not to work for Bradley. The way was higher than would be expected for a job of this level but he needed secrecy and there was no way she could get hurt while she was in his employ without getting an enormous cash settlement. She did not think that she was going to need this contract to protect her anymore. As much as they could deny it, there was something between them that could not be made to disappear. She was going to feel it whenever she saw him and she knew that it was going to be the exact same way for him. That was a good thing, in a way. As long as they could control it, the fact that they felt this way for each other would mean that Rochelle was completely safe while she was working for Bradley.

She went to work, getting there right on time. Bradley greeted her, saying, “Hello, Rochelle. It’s nice to see you. You’re right on time, I really appreciate that. I do so detest tardiness. It makes me feel like the person in question does not care about the job that they are doing. It makes me feel like the person in question is taking the job that I have given them for granted and this is never the kind of thing that you want to feel if you are an employer that has just hired a brand new employee. Now, come right in and make yourself comfortable. I am not going to make you work all that much today, I am just going to get you acquainted with the various aspects of the house.”

Rochelle came in. She was glad that he was being formal but civil. It was going to make it easier for her to be the same way with him. They went around the house and he showed her the various aspects of her work that she would have to do while she was in his employ. She did really like the house, it was a wonderful place and she really liked every single thing that he had done with it. It was going to be nice to come here every Saturday, and she knew that the work load was going to be quite light. She appreciated that he was so straightforward about everything.

“Alright,” said Bradley. “You are going to be cleaning every single one of the rooms that I have shown you. There are a lot, I know, but I am paying you a lot and even if you take your time you are not going to end up taking more than eight hours cleaning them up. You don’t have to start today if you don’t want to, you can just sit here and get a feel of the place.”

“Where is the rest of the staff?” asked Rochelle. “I mean, these rooms aren’t all that dirty. I assume that means that there is a maid that comes in apart from me. What about the cook? What do you do for food? I can’t be the only one that’s in your employ.”

“You’re not,” said Bradley, “you’re just the first person that is going to come in on Saturday. Or rather, you are the only person that is going to come in on Saturday, do you understand? It’s basically because Saturday is a rather special day, but I’ll tell you more about that later. It’s nothing to worry about. You don’t even really have to worry about cleaning up or anything. There is just one thing that I would really appreciate you do. I would really appreciate that you do not go upstairs. The first floor is yours to clean or use or whatever you want, but the top floor is off limits. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” said Rochelle. She wondered what was going on there. The fact that he had made that particular room of this house off limits had only served to whet her appetite, she was more curious than ever before about what this job entailed. She wanted to know what was going on. She wanted to know how she was going to be cleaning up an entire house once a week and she would be getting paid such a hefty sum in order to do this. She knew that it had something to do with that room. She knew that it had something to do with the fact that the top floor of this house was off limits.

However, she didn’t press the point. She did not want to make Bradley uncomfortable in any way. She didn’t want him to feel like she was being nosy or prying. She did not want him to think that he could not trust her with this secret because he could. She was not going to try and find out what was there. She might try to take a peek but even those would be perfunctory, and of course he couldn’t blame her for that. It was human nature to be curious. It was human nature to want to find out what was behind a locked door, and Rochelle was completely and utterly human.

Bradley bade her a good day and left for work. He was very excited about everything he was doing that particular day and it was quite endearing to see him so excited about every single thing that was going on. Rochelle was glad to see him like that, but it was the part of her that felt for him as more than a boss so she quickly stifled the feeling as soon as it came to her.

She walked around the house after he had left. She thought about cleaning but there really was nothing left to clean. She didn’t want to do anything anyway, she had had a very difficult week at the hotel and she had been looking forward to the weekend. Besides, Bradley had said that she could simply not do anything today and that would be completely fine. She decided that there would be nothing whatsoever wrong with her just lazing around today, especially since her employer had told her that she could do exactly that.

She kept wondering what was on the top floor. She kept wondering what was going on up there. She didn’t go to the third floor of the house. She kept to the first two floors because she knew that if she went up there and saw a locked door she would be tempted to peek through the keyhole or try to listen to what was going on by pressing her ear to the door.

Hence, she kept to herself, and the day passed. Eight hours later, Bradley returned and asked her if anything odd had happened. Rochelle said no, and that all she had done had been eat lunch that she had found in the kitchen with a note saying that it was for her and sat around reading books.