He - Hello."
"Amelia," Nick's voice was as smooth as melted chocolate, "we were wondering if you were alright? You didn't answer our texts," Nick said.
Oh shit, they weren't from Pearl. She thought.
"Er... sorry I er... forgot to pick my phone up and left it on the kitchen table, and I was cleaning upstairs." She said shakily.
"You need to keep it with you all the time, we need to be in contact with you," he paused, and Millie wondered if he was waiting for her to say something she was just about to apologise again when he said, "We might need you to do something for us."
"Yes, yes, of course, I'm sorry," she said, feeling very warm again. Could this man do nothing except make her feel like a bumbling idiot all the time?
"We will be home at about four."
Oh hell, what was she going to give them to eat?
"So you will want dinner. What would you like?
"Dinner? Hmm..." there was another pause and then, "I'm sure you will think of something, you can surprise us. We usually eat about seven."
"Okay, I'll find something."
"Are you going to have lunch now?" Nick asked.
"Oh no, I don't eat lunch, I'll have something later. "
Just then she could hear Gabriel calling to Nick. " Amelia, you must have lunch, did you have breakfast?"
"Er, no, not really I didn't have time."
"Amelia, you must look after yourself," Nick was persistent, "You must have breakfast Amelia, you must eat."
" I just wanted to get on with the cleaning," she mumbled.
"Right," Nick said, letting out a sigh full of despair. "I'll send you lunch; please make sure you eat it and keep your phone with you. Gotta go. Bye, Amelia." The phone clicked.
"Oh, er...bye"
Millie looked at her phone in disbelief. Lunch! Was he sending her lunch? What the hell would he send, a Boots Shapers Sandwich? An M&S salad? What was he playing at, and when did he become her dad?
She finished cleaning the hall and moved into the sitting room, it was still dark from yesterday with the curtains drawn, and Millie opened them wide letting in the early Spring sun. She dusted and polished and vacuumed and was tidying things away when the doorbell rang.
"Miss Ashton?" The well-dressed portly gentleman standing on the doorstep queried
"Yes,"
"I've brought your lunch," he said with a smile, holding up a thermal carrier.
"Oh," Millie lost the use of speech as she showed him to the kitchen, at which point he proceeded to set the table with the crockery he had brought with him. Millie sat back wholly astonished at what was going on in front of her. Shining crockery, sparkling silverware and crystal glasses were set upon the table.
"I can't think that you are going to serve me a Boots Shapers Sandwich are you?"
"Good Lord, no!" He looked most offended as he polished a wine glass and set it on the table.
"Black truffles with soft organic polenta and aged Parmesan to start with."
Millie's mouth watered.
"Then wild line caught sea bass, salsify and trompette mushrooms and for pudding warm chocolate tart with spiced orange and rice pudding ice cream."
Millie's mouth fell open in awe, "Oh my goodness! Mr...er"
"Clayton, Ernest Clayton partner in Clayton and Philpotts Home Services."
Millie looked slightly puzzled.
"I'm a mobile butler, and my partner David Philpotts is a chef. Mr Henderson called and ordered lunch for you, and you don't say no when Mr Henderson needs something doing."
Millie nodded and got on with her lunch. She wasn't going to argue with Mr Clayton, if he could bring this fantastic lunch to the house within an hour of her telling Nick that she didn't eat lunch, then it stood to reason that Nick must be very well thought of in all circles.
Millie picked up her phone, "Thank you for lunch; it was amazing!"
A reply came quickly "I'm glad you enjoyed it, you'll be eating three meals a day from now on."
"Oh no, really I'm fine on breakfast and dinner, thank you."
Millie had barely put her phone back on the table when another text came through.
"Do not argue with me!"
Millie felt the butterflies revving up again. Did that text warrant a reply? There was only one that she could send.
"Yes, sir."
In the middle of the afternoon, Millie was halfway through making the meatballs for their dinner, and her hands were full of sticky meat mixture when her phone rang. This time she knew it was Pearl the ringtone of Carly Simon's You're So Vain chimed through the kitchen. Millie used her knuckle to turn it hands-free.
"What do you want Pearl?"
"Oh charming, that's not a very nice way to greet your sister!"
"I'm busy making meatballs, and I don't have time to chat with you." Millie rolled another ball.
"We want an invitation; we want to come and see if our sweet little sister is looked after. I mean you are sharing a house with a man you don't know!" Pearl giggled Millie's wellbeing was the last thing on her mind.
"Not a chance Pearl, you aren't interested in what I'm doing, or even if I'm well looked after. It's never bothered you before!" Millie cut her off, and the grabbed a load of mincemeat mixture in her hands and squeezed as if she was squeezing Pearl's neck the meat burst through the gaps between her fingers.
She felt pleased with herself for not cowering to Pearl's demands; it was about time that she stood up for herself. There was absolutely no way that she would ever invite either of her sisters to this house.
By three O'clock, the only room she had left was Nick's study. Most of the rooms were reasonably tidy and just needed the inch of dust removing.
The study was at the back of the house; it was so quiet in there. One wall lined with bookcases and Nick's desk was at the far end of the room, the backdrop of gold, silver and platinum discs provided the glamour on the wall behind it.
At each side of the tall window were a series of four pencil drawings arranged in a square. The pictures told a story, and they started at the left-hand side of the window with the upper left image.
The first picture showed a woman, slim and sexy in a slinky red dress. The dress was the only colour in the picture; the rest of it was all pencil drawing. She had her back turned to the artist, and she was looking over her shoulder. Her hair hung down, covering most of her face, all you could see was part of her profile and just the upturned corner of her mouth.
The main point of interest was that a man's hand was starting to unzip her dress. The next three pictures showed how the man eventually took her dress off. Millie was entranced, you never saw the man, just his hand or arm which was dressed in only a rolled-up shirt sleeve, his fingers were long and beautifully shaped, and Millie loved the dark hair on the back of his hand and arm, a sharp contrast with the snowy white shirt sleeve.
Millie gently flicked her feather duster over the pictures and moved on to the next set at the other side of the window. This time you saw just the back of the man, his hand flat on the girls bare back as if he was stroking her. It also showed her beautiful perky bottom in black lace panties; Millie sniffed, she would never have a bottom like that no matter how much she calorie counted, my God she would need radical cosmetic surgery to look like that!
She looked at the next picture, this time the girl was facing the front, and she had the most fabulous breasts, not too small, not too big, just a nice - handful. Again to have breasts like that Millie knew she would need surgery, her breasts felt like barrage balloons compared to this drawing.
The most exciting thing about the picture was that you could only see the man's hands which he had slid under the sides of her black lace underwear. He was standing behind her, and you could just see the top of his head as he rested his forehead on her shoulder, and it was apparent that she would be completely naked in the next picture.
Millie closed her eyes; these drawings were very sensual; they were shocking too, especially as she thought the man in them was Nick. Although you didn't get much of a view of him, it was the way he stood and his whole attitude that made Millie sure that it was him. That thought made her feel very warm again, especially as in the next picture, the girl's hands were bound behind her back. The man had even used his striped tie to bind her wrists together. She was kneeling next to his seated figure her head down in supplication. Millie caught her breath as she took in the full meaning of the picture.
Millie hardly dared to look at the next picture, and she'd never even thought about sex in this way, this was not the kind of foreplay she had ever envisaged, and she had certainly never felt so turned on. Her core was heavy, throbbing almost, as her eyes dropped to the next picture. She drew in a sharp breath; the girl was laid face down across his lap, Nick's lap she had decided. His hand rested on her bottom, it looked as if he was stroking, soothing, deciding just where his hand was going to fall. She could almost feel his hand stroking her skin. He tenderly held one of her tied up hands, which were resting on the small of her back.
Millie couldn't wait to see what happened next. Whoever the JN was who had drawn these pictures was a genius she could see the raw sexual tension in the girl, she could almost feel her desperate wanting too, or did that feeling of want belong only to her?
The final picture was of his raised hand, Nick's raised hand?
For a moment, Millie leaned against the desk catching her breath. It was as if a whole new world had opened up for her.
Millie went back to the kitchen; her mind was reeling. She had been introduced to so many new things today, the forfeit jar, the...objects in Nick's dressing room, Nick's insistence that she ate lunch, and now those very naughty drawings.
She had to stop thinking about those pictures; she would go and make the sauce for the meatballs.
Millie went into her apartment and tidied herself up, brushed her hair and changed back into her skirt, stockings and pretty top, all she had to do was serve dinner and then her time was her own. A deep bubble bath would be an excellent end to the day.
Millie took one last look around the house, plumping cushions and straightening curtains. Everything looked perfect. She glanced at the vintage muppet clock featuring the Swedish chef, and it was nearly four. To calm her nerves, Millie looked at some new recipes she wanted to try on her iPad. She wondered if they liked cakes, she would never eat them herself but maybe she could try this recipe out for apple crisp cake.
She was halfway through reading the recipe when Pearl called again.
"No Pearl, whatever it is you want the answer is no." Millie carried on reading her recipe.
"Listen you fat slobby girl, Ruby and I want an invitation, and if you don't get us one we will make you lose that job, and we will make sure that you will never get another job again!"
Millie shuddered at the awful name that Pearl and Ruby had always called her, why couldn't they have been propèr sisters that loved each other.
Nick unlocked the front door they had enjoyed lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon at the Groucho club where they knew that they wouldn't be disturbed. They had decided to give Millie a week to see how they got on with each other, though judging from the conversation yesterday evening they both knew in their hearts that it would take something drastic to let her go. They walked towards the kitchen stairs and then stopped."Listen," Gabriel whispered."We can't listen to her conversation." Nick tried to pull Gabriel away from the top of the stairs. Gabriel stayed put. "Shh, something's wrong."Nick stopped and listened."Pearl, please don't do this, I like this job, I won't stop you from getting photo shoots and catwalk jobs. Just leave me alone!" Millie's voice was getting louder."No I can't invite you, how can I just invite you here on my first day? No, I'm not keeping them all to myself, I'm not so deranged that I think they might actually
A minute later Millie heard the front door bang shut, oh my God they were home! She ran to her apartment to recheck her face and taking slow and deep breaths she tried to calm down."Hello!" Gabriel called as he came down the stairs. "Hey, how're things?"Millie came out from her apartment, "Hello, can I make you some tea?" She said, forcing a smile onto her face."Thanks that would be great, how has your day been, did you find everything?" He sat in his usual place at the breakfast table."Yes thanks, I've made a list out of the things that I will need." She said, filling the kettle."Okay you'd better have this, it's the credit card for the house." He took his wallet out and flipped through the cards, I'll only forget to give it to you if I don't do it now."Millie took the card and put it in her skirt pocket, she memorised the pin number Gabriel gave her.
She felt beautiful to hold, her soft, plump curves fitted against his hard muscles, and he gently rubbed her back, trying to soothe the upset away."Now let's try again, who was on the phone?"Millie gulped, she would have to tell them who it was at least. She would just say they had argued."It.." she hitched breath, "it was my sisters, my twin sisters."Nick put his hands on her shoulders and held her away from him so that he could see her face. "Your twin sisters? They frighten you that much?""Nick" Gabriel shook his head. "Come and sit down, love."Nick grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge "would you like a drink Amelia?"She shook her head "no, thank you.""So you have twin sisters, are they older than you?" Gabriel asked, knocking the top off his beer."They are three years older than
Claire Henderson was just tidying her desk, she'd had a reasonably quiet afternoon considering that she was the go-to woman for several high profile people. She had uploaded a couple of photos and a link for an interview for an up and coming singer who had just won a national competition. She had spoken to the social media assistant who worked for her firm and who was in charge of the Facebook profile of one of the biggest British heartthrob actors Sebastian Drake and had a conversation with a detective from Scotland Yard over a woman who was stalking him.When she got home she would call Nick, find out how the meeting went this morning, it was a pity she couldn't make it, she usually would have been there. The police had been called after she had spent time talking to Seb this morning.The poor lamb was quite shaken up after reading some vile and threatening messages and had flown to a Bali to have some peace and qui
When Gabriel went back down to the kitchen, Amelia was draining the pasta."Hey, you okay?" Gabriel leaned against the counter, "that smells delicious, do you want me to set the table?"Millie nodded "yes, please."
Wednesday eveningNick reached across to the switch above the bedside table and dimmed the lights in his bedroom. He made himself comfortable in bed, and resting against the pillows he watched his naked lover of five years walk from the en suite bathroom to the bed. He cocked his head appreciatively and couldn't help smiling at Gabriel's Greek god-like form of broad shoulders and narrow hips as he lifted the deep red cover and got in beside him.Nick lifted his arm and Gabriel moved up to lay under it and rested his head on Nick's chest, he wriggled and shifted a bit getting comfortable, their legs entwined and Gabriel's arm rested on Nick's abdomen.Nick stroked the back of Gabriel's neck squeezing it a little to ease the tension of the day, his fingers playing with his hair, winding it around his fingers, Gabriel sighed, it was so soothing."What did Claire say about Amelia?"Gabriel stroked his hand down over smooth skin and hard m
Millie lay in the dark, she had tossed and turned for most of the night. Before she got into bed she had opened the curtains, she didn't like the dark, too many nasty things happened in the dark. Even though it wasn't dawn, yet there was some light outside as the moon shone on the clouds turning them misty white. It was quiet though, and Millie knew she must have fallen asleep at one point because she didn't remember the radio turning itself off.She had certain rituals that she had to adhere to before she went to bed, the curtains would be opened, and the radio would be put on, only very quietly, but some noise was essential. The wardrobes had to be opened and checked to make sure that there was no one hiding in them. She knew it was stupid, but it had become a habit, and she did it without even thinking about it anymore.Millie shuddered, she drew the blind down in her mind's eye and locked the thought of her troubles away. Instead, she thought of something pleasant,
Millie opened Nick's bedroom door, just a nose width, just enough that she could see into the room. The bedside light was on and dimmed, giving the room a golden haze. Millie's eyes opened wide at the vision in front of her. Nick lay on the bed, his back to her, he must have been hot as the bedclothes had been pushed back to his waist.Millie couldn't take her eyes off his arm as it rested on his side, she watched his arm going up and down as he breathed, he made no sound, and she felt utterly hypnotized by the movement. His bed-head hair gently ruffled. She knew he had broad shoulders, but to see them in the flesh was...was awesome. Her gaze followed his backbone and the smooth skin surrounding his muscles, he gleamed golden in the soft light. Then he moved. He kicked the cover off, and he bent one leg to rest on top of the quilt.Millie pressed her hand hard to her mouth to stop the slightest sound as she looked upon his body. His completely naked body. He was beauti