Chapter 12
Getting Comfortable
It was Victoria’s second time at Sebastian’s house, but it still took her breath away.
Somehow, in her new clothes, she felt less like a mouse creeping in from the street into the elegant home and more like a professional going to work. She was in slacks and a silk blouse, and it did give her a little more confidence all day.
“Benson isn’t in yet, Ms. Slade,” said the woman who let her in. She was dressed in the grey slacks and black blouse that was the uniform of all the household staff except Mrs. Sellers. “But I can show you to your room now if you’d like to settle in first. I’m Nina, by the way.”
“Thank you, Nina. But please call me Victoria.”
“Certainly. This way, please.”
Victoria glanced around her as she followed the woman up to the second floor. When she noticed Nina looking at her, she smiled. “Sorry, I’m just trying to familiarize myself with the place so I don’t get lost,” she said.
“Yes, it is quite a massive house,” Nina said. “I nearly got lost in here my first week. Here we are.” They had gotten to the end of a brightly lit, heavily carpeted hallway. She opened a pair of double doors and lead her into the most beautiful room Victoria had ever been in.
The floors were hardwood, and beautiful lamps lit up the high ceiling. There was a living room facing the door, with cream and gold upholstery, set upon a white carpet. On her left to the far end of the room was a large canopy bed, and a dresser beside it. On the far end at the right was a five-foot wide glass desk and a leather chair. Shelves half-filled with books lined one wall.
Where was her room? “I’m sorry,” Victoria said. “Where ...” She stopped when she realized this was her room.
“Do you like it? Luckily Mr. Chase’s interior designer was available on short notice to spruce it up a bit.”
“Uhm ... yes, it’s very nice. Thank you,” Victoria managed to blurt out. There must be some mistake. The room was three times as big as her apartment. “Are you sure this is my room?”
“Did you want a bigger room? This is the biggest one close to Benson’s study—”
“Oh no! I mean, it’s huge, actually. It’s a little too big. Are you sure there wasn’t a mistake?”
“Mr. Chase checked on it himself this morning and he seemed satisfied,” Nina said. “Oh, and the computer and tablet has been set up with the wifi.” She gestured towards the desk, and Victoria only then noticed there was a Macbook and iPad on it. “Those are yours, but if there’s any software you need, just let me know and I’ll set that up.”
“Right. Okay, thank you.”
A door beside the dresser led to the bathroom, and Nina led her in to take a look. It was the size of Victoria’s entire apartment. There were no tiles - the walls and floor looked to be entirely made of green and gold marble. The free-standing bathtub in front of a glass window that took up almost the entire wall was unlike anything Victoria had ever seen. It looked like a tub inside another tub.
Nina noticed her interest. “You’ll really like this. It’s an infinity bath. Have you ever had one?”
Victoria shook her head. “Is that like the pool?”
“Yes. It overflows to the outer tub continuously. I’ve never been in one, but I hear it’s quite a treat.”
“It all looks ... so nice,” Victoria said, still overwhelmed.
“Bathrobes and towels are over there on that closet. Oh, and I nearly forgot,” Nina said, leading her back to the room, where she opened another door into a smaller room. Racks lined three of the walls, on which hung some women’s clothes. In the middle of the room was a tiered stand like a wedding cake, except it seemed to be made of wood, and there were shoes on it.
“Ms. Deborah sent the clothes over,” Nina said.
“But... she already sent clothes over to my apartment,” Victoria said. “A lot of them. Tons.”
“Mr. Chase thought you should have some things here for when you need to spend the night,” Nina said. “I think they should all be in your size.”
“Oh,” was all Victoria could say. It suddenly hit her that she was standing in the middle of her own walk-in closet.
“If there’s anything else you need, I’ll be glad to help you,” Nina said, leading a stunned Victoria back to the room.
“I think I have everything I need, thank you,” Victoria said. What was she here for again? Oh, right. “Will you please tell Benson I’ll meet him at the study at five?”
“Certainly, Ms. Slade.”
“Oh, and Nina? Would you know what time Mr. Chase will be coming home?” Victoria asked. “I, uh, need to speak to him about something.”
“I believe Mr. Chase will be joining you and Benson for dinner, Ms. Slade.”
***
The study session with Benson went well, and after they were done at seven, Victoria went to find Nina to ask her what time Sebastian was expected home.
“He’s already in, Ms. Slade,” Nina said. “I’ve told him you would like to speak with him, and he said to send you up to his study after Benson’s session.”
Victoria thanked her and set off to find Sebastian’s study, with Nina’s directions.
One of the heavy wooden double doors was ajar, but she knocked on it lightly.
“Come in.”
Victoria took a deep breath and let herself in.
Sebastian was standing behind his desk, facing the windows, his back towards her. He had a drink in his hand.
“Mr. Chase, I hope I’m not bothering you,” Victoria said.
“Is your room satisfactory?” he asked, turning to face her. “Nina tells me you’ve settled in.”
She nearly caught her breath when Sebastian’s face came into view. “It’s ... beautiful.” My room is pretty nice too, she thought.
He nodded. “Those are the clothes Deborah picked out, I take it?”
Victoria instinctively ran a hand down her pants. “Yes. That’s what I needed to speak to you about.”
“You don’t like them?”
“I do! They’re so beautiful,” she said, then mentally kicked herself as she realized she just described both her room and her clothes as “beautiful”. You’re so articulate today, Slade. Way to go. “It’s just that there seems to be a lot of them.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I tried out a dozen outfits yesterday, but the ones sent to my place plus the ones in the room upstairs seem to be, like, five times that number.”
“Ms. Slade, I think Deborah would have wanted you to fit all of them yesterday, but we would have been there all night.”
“Yes. I mean, I know what you mean. I just thought I’d only be getting the ones I tried on. Not that there’s anything wrong with the others,” she added quickly.
“I still don’t understand. I thought you liked them.”
“I do. But ...” Victoria paused, wracking her brain for the right way to say what she wanted. “They’re just too many clothes, Mr. Chase. I appreciate your generosity, but I’m not ... comfortable with it.”
“Ms. Slade, you said you’d take the clothes. You said you understood that it was part of your job.”
“I did but—”
“You didn’t specify how many you would be comfortable with. Frankly, that’s not my concern.”
“I see.” She reddened. He made her seem like a spoiled, whiny brat. Like she was complaining about having too many clothes. Which she was. “I’m sorry. I did say... Thank you, I guess. I mean, I do appreciate it. The clothes are quite lovely. I’d never had anything so nice.”
“You’re welcome.” He set down his glass. “Would you like a sherry?”
“Oh.” She wasn’t expecting to be offered a drink. “Yes, thank you,” said Victoria, although she wasn’t sure if she actually wanted one.
Sebastian poured some wine in a tiny, delicate glass. “It’s an Amontillado. I’m not particularly fond of the lighter stuff.” He moved closer to hand it to her.
His cologne wasn’t particularly strong, but the scent of him from such a close distance made her heady. “Thank you,” she said, fighting the strong desire to close her eyes and lean in to breathe in more of him.
Instead, she took the glass and sniffed the contents discretely before taking a sip.
“What do you think?”
Victoria cleared her throat. “I don’t really know much about wine,” she said. “There are one or two I like, and I just keep buying those.”
“But surely you can have an opinion on that wine you’re drinking now.”
“I like it.” She smiled, a little embarrassed she didn’t have anything more profound to say about it. “I’ve never had chilled red wine before.”
“How was today’s session with Benson?” he said, setting his glass down and sitting. He gestured for her to do the same.
“Good. I think.” Victoria sat down on the nearest chair. “He seems to be paying attention in class, and takes a lot of notes. I notice he does have quite a lot of homework for a fifth grader.”
“His school prides itself in challenging their students,” said Sebastian.
“I would imagine so. Is there anything I need to prepare for tomorrow?”
“No. Their homeroom teacher just wants to get to know her students’ tutors, maybe discuss the curriculum and the child’s school activities.”
“I see. You won’t be needing me after that, will you?”
“I don’t think so. You have plans Friday night?” He seemed mildly interested.
“No. My roommate and I usually do something together if she has the day off, but she has to work late tomorrow. We don’t get to see each other so often. Her schedule is ... “ Victoria paused, realizing she’d rather her boss didn’t know what Nicolette did for a living. “... rather hectic.”
“Yes, I imagine it would be. Escorts usually work nights, don’t they?”