Crash! The sound of shattering glass should have made Bailey jump in terror or at least suspicious of what was going on, but she wasn’t. She was now used to the sound of things breaking. She just kept on with her work. Her head was down, her eyes were on whatever she was dusting or washing, and she paid attention to where he was at all time.
That was how she survived life in the Connley Mansion. That was how she was going to get herself the savings she needed to get back her daughter.
It had been two weeks since she had accepted Jonathan Winters’ offer to work as a caretaker to the estate. Hours after signing the contract, he'd paid off her current landlord for the debt she owed, sent movers to her place to grab the few items she still had, and purchased her an entire wardrobe full of expensive clothing to outfit her for months.
At the time, she had no idea why she needed anything but sweats and t-shirts to do the cleaning. However, it became clear as she pulled her car up to the black iron fence with its security cameras and gates that this wasn’t just someone’s home. This was someone’s palace.
The main driveway was flanked by rows of huge spruce trees that created a canopy over the cars as they pulled in. The parking lot featured a water fountain in the pull around and rose bushes just starting to blossom with pink and red blooms hid the home’s white brick facade.
Jonathan had waited for her as she exited her car with a tiny backpack in hand. He leaned up against a large wooden french door texting away on his phone’s keyboard. He did not even bother to look up as she exclaimed in total wonderment and awe, “What is this place?”
“This, my dear,” He said slyly as he placed the phone back into his pants pocket, “Is Connelly Estate. It wasn’t always Leo’s. It was owned by his family since the 1910s or 20s. He inherited it about seven years ago and has lived in it ever since. He has other properties in New York and LA, but his Chicago home is his residence.”
Bailey stepped back to try to take in the whole scene. The soft brick had massive cutouts for the three floors worth of antique windows, and the connected garage and pool house sat adjacent to the main building. Jonathan went on to explain that there was a workout center underneath the garage, an uncovered pool in the backyard, and a small stable in the north lawn that was no longer in use.
Despite the lavishness of it all, Bailey kept her attention on one feature of the place: the ivy that covered most of the west side, the same as it had at her grandmother’s place.
Jonathan had tracked her eyes and made a disapproving sound as he said dismissively, “I hate the look of that green stuff. A gardner staff comes in every Tuesday to do upkeep, but they never get around to taking that crap down. Don’t worry. It won't be your responsibility to care for it.”
He turned back towards the door and unlocked it slowly. Immediately, the sounds of the door shutting behind them echoed and filled the entryway with much needed sound. A gold and crystal chandelier overhead rattled and swayed. “This building,” Jonathan continued, “is yours to do the upkeep. Obviously, you won’t be able to do the whole place every day. We don’t expect you to work miracles. But like I said, only a few rooms are actually being used. Just do a light dusting here and there of the empty rooms and keep the main areas clean, so you shouldn’t have any problems.”
Jonathan led her through the rest of the house pointing out each room and its former function. He was right. The majority of the rooms had been untouched in years. White sheets protected the furniture and other rooms remained locked up completely. Her area was the huge galley kitchen that led out to the living room, the library, and the lounge. She would also be responsible for cleaning the owner’s bedroom and bathroom daily.
“He’ll be difficult. But it has to be done. He expects quality, but he doesn’t know what he’s looking for until he’s found it. Just be persistent. He’ll eventually get used to you.” He smiled sympathetically at her. She didn’t have a clue what she was signing up for.
Bailey was growing tired of Jonathan’s vague warnings, “Eventually get used to me? What does that mean?”
Jonathan sighed. He could feel that this was not going to work out. “He’s a drunk, Bailey. A washed-up, has-been, drunk. He’s got more money than he knows what to do with, yet he locks himself up in those rooms every day drinking. He’s gonna be an asshole to you. Can you handle it or not?”
Bailey thought about her own experience with drunks. Her husband Joe’s drinking problems were the reason she'd divorced him in the first place. It was why he was no longer allowed to see Lily under any circumstance. Now she had managed to get herself paired up with another alcoholic again. And this time, the man seemed even worse.
Still, the contract was in her hand. The money was more than she had ever seen in a lifetime, and it only covered a month’s worth of work. All she had to do was get through a couple months of this and then she could get her daughter back and start her life all over again. She could manage a couple of months, right?
“I can handle it, Jonathan. Show me where I'll be staying.” She held her head up high as she followed the agent outside to the pool house where her apartment was. It was as grand as the house itself with its large wooden furniture, wide bay windows, and mini-sized chandelier lighting.
The few boxes with her things had already arrived and were sitting out in her new dining room. Jonathan took a look at the small pile and shook his head annoyed. “I'm sure the rest of your things will be arriving shortly. I can call them if you like.”
Bailey was still transfixed by the whole place as she walked around the plush carpet slowly, taking in every bit of the apartment. “No, that won’t be necessary. This is everything.”
He went over a few details more and then handed her the keys to the home, the pool house, and the front gate. “Mr. Connelly will be home from the hospital tomorrow. He'll need as much peace and quiet as possible. I'd like you to do me a favor, one which I assure you we will compensate you for, by letting me know if he has any visitor, male or female, and if he drinks. Just write down his activities and visitors for me and then report back to me when I check in. Can you do this?”
Bailey smiled and took the small spiral notebook he'd left for her on the counter. This job may not be easy, nor may it be glamorous, but it would be worth it.
***
2:15 pm. LC drinks ¼ bottle of whiskey.
3:45 pm. Visit from woman (did not get her name)
5:45 pm. Woman leaves. LC drinks another ¼ bottle of whiskey.
Bailey was scribbling fast and furious as the sound of glass breaking made her eyes flutter rapidly from the stress. It was just another day for her, another notebook page being full with Mr. Connelly’s “activities.”
When she closed the notebook, she turned around towards the kitchen and grab the tray of food and walked towards the master suite where the noise was coming from. She knocked gently, knowing that no one would answer. He never did.
“Mr. Connelly, this is Bailey. I have your dinner ready for you. It’s a pork loin with mashed potatoes and broccoli along with some soup. It’s my grandmother’s french onion soup recipe. I'll set it outside your door for you. Please call me when you’re ready for your room to be cleaned. I’ll just be in the second floor cleaning a bit.” She waited for a reply with her ear pressed up against the door like a child listening to their parents. When she heard nothing, she sat the tray down and walked out towards the staircase.
An alarm buzzed on her handheld security system monitor. She spoke into the receiver, “Hello? Who is this?”
“This is Lyanna Michaels here for Mr. Connelly. He’s expecting me.”
Bailey went through the list of contacts that Leo had approved. Her name was there at the top of the ‘M’s.’ “I’ll let you in Ms. Michaels.” Bailey pressed the receive button as she listened for the faint sound of the iron gate opening and closing behind Lyanna’s car. She then raced down the hallway to the front door where she smoothed out the folds of her black shirt and silk gray top and adjusted the pearl necklace around her neck.
She opened the door to see a white luxury car pull up to the front and a woman with blonde flowing hair exit. She was wearing a skin tight purple mini-dress that just barely covered the curve of body. Her gaudy gold necklaces bounced upon her chest as she walked in stiletto heels. Bailey opened the french door for her and then began to explain how to get to Leo’s bedroom.
“No need, honey. I know very well where it was.” She winked at Bailey as she walked through the living space through the hallway to the master bedroom. She knocked on the bedroom door and then called in when he did not answer right away. Suddenly, the door flew open and a shirtless man with long dark hair walked out. He looked Lyanna up and down approvingly and then ushered her into the bedroom. Bailey could hear the woman let out a girlish giggle as Leo looked at her from the doorway.
He did not immediately go inside though. Instead, he stood there looking across the hallway at where Bailey stood. Moments passed in which both stared blanky at one another, each struggling to make out the other’s figures in the dim light. Neither knowing why or what they were looking at.
It was Bailey who realized her place, that she was staring into something private. She put her head down, back to the work at hand, as she shuffled up the stairs to the third floor. But her hand shook as it grasped the staircase’s ledge. Her mind raced but into no specific direction. The encounter had her rattled.
Leo too had felt the same pull. He had listened to the woman’s voice every day since had returned, he'd watched her from the corners of the hallway when he asked her to clean, and he'd eaten her food eagerly. Each day, he found something seemingly more fascinating than the next about how extraordinary she was. Yet he couldn’t place exactly what made him watch.
Today, it was the soup. It was how she said my grandmother’s recipe as the bowl made a clink sound when she placed it upon the ground. It was the taste of it. He had never had someone cook him something homemade. Even when his old family caretaker cooked for him, it was always boxed meals or something from his trainer’s meal plans. No one had ever offered him such a thing.
He retrieved the tray and placed it upon the small cafe table in the corner of his room and watched it from afar as if it were some bomb about to explode. The knock from Layanna was the only thing that had brought him out of the spell.
The moment with the housekeeper in the hallways was what brought him back to life.
He had forgotten completely that she'd begged him to come over. An old girlfriend, she still paid her calls when she was feeling lonely or he had been in the news. She strut into the room with her hair, hair, and boobs. She didn’t say a word, just sank into his massive king sized bed waiting for him to join her from his stay in the hallways.
When Bailey had passed, Leo walked into the room, looking more haggard and tired than ever. He quickly strutted over to his mini bar and took another shot of the whiskey and then poured his company a glass. As he handed it to Lyanna, he asked, “Why are you here today?”
Her high pitched voice teetered on playful teasing and moronic. “I saw the news. 3 days in the hospital, a hooker, and some housemaid found you? Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. I thought I taught you to hold your liquor better after that fight in Memphis.”
“I don’t wanna talk about that.” He cut her off almost instantly; it was just another thing in his life that was off-limits.
“Well, I’m not in much of a talking mode either.” She sat up and began to crawl to the edge of the bed. She began to slowly slip off the straps of her purple dress. Her body danced as she reached behind her to unzip. She stood in her expensive lingerie with the lace and the see through mesh. He knew he should want nothing more than to unwrap the rest of her, to take her on that bed.
But the thought of the housekeeper had him seeing through the girl on the bed. She was just like the one in the hotel. Always wanting something, never there for nothing. As she eased off of the bed and stood before him, Leo brought it up once more, “You didn’t answer my question.”
She began to place gentle kisses upon his bare chest, tracing the lines of the tattoos. She murmured in between the touches, “What question?”
His head drooped back in pleasure and his body tensed and eased at the same time. But he looked down at her with her doe eyes and her pouty lips and grew more persistent. He turned his body away from her with a force that knocked her back. As she recoiled, he repeated, “Why. Are. You. Here?”
“For you, Lionheart. I’m here for you.” She tried once more to place her hands upon his neck. But again, he spun away. It was becoming clear that he was not going to bend to her will like he usually had. “Why are you asking? Isn’t this what you want.” She gestured to her body and the bed.
“No. Not with you.” He walked back towards his bar and pulled out a bottle of water. The cool, undefined liquid was a relief from the sweet and sour taste of alcohol.
Lyanna’s frustration boiled over. “What the hell, man! What the fuck is your problem?”
“You’re my problem. You and every single girl who tries to get something from me. You’re just here for the press, or maybe you think that I’m your permanent meal ticket. But I’ve got news for you. I’m not it. You picked the wrong fighter. So I’m asking you nicely to take your skinny ass out of my house now.”
The honesty poured out of his mouth. He was more than aware that his fame and wealth had cost him real relationships with women and friends that actually cared. But now, he was ready to clean house—starting with her.
She looked at him with narrow eyes and clenched fists as she grabbed the dress from the side of the bed. She slipped it on and then walked towards the door. Before leaving, she sneered to him and said, “You know what you’re problem is ‘Lionheart?’ You’re a loser. A washed up fighter who can't even pretend that he’s not past his prime. You’re living off your dead mommy and daddy’s wealth in their gated up mansion. And all you want is pussy and booze to get you through your day. But the time is coming when Jonathan won’t be able to convince the girls to give you want you want. And you’re going to run through your liquor faster than you can spend. And you’re going to die here. Penniless and alone. Enjoy, Leo. Enjoy.”
Lyanna closed the door behind her and walked into the hallway. Bailey had just come down the stairs in time to see her walk away in the huff, just slightly slipping on the waxed floors. Her watching the waddling woman struggling to zip up the back of her dress was interrupted by the sound of a man’s scream and then a crash louder than ever before.
Bailey knew that she should leave it alone, but she couldn’t ignore a cry like that one. She raced downstairs and towards the hallway. She didn’t bother to knock or to announce herself to the man. Instead, she threw open the door to see Leo quickly and abruptly turn her way, a book in his hand. The large hardcover flew at her with such force, she did not have time to duck from his anger.