by Abbi Glines
Maisie and I had ended things after I found her coming on to Stone in her bra and panties. He’d been turning her down of course, but she’d been after him. That was the last straw for both of us. She wasn’t the first girl in my past to want Stone.
He was my best friend, and not once had he ever taken one of my girlfriends up on their flirting and propositions. He’d ignored their advances and been cruel until they were gone from my life. Once he knew they would cheat, he made sure to make their lives hell. I never realized what he was doing until it was done.
Beulah was different though. She was nothing like the others. He didn’t need to mistreat her. She would never come on to him. She was here. Tucked against me, trusting me. I had the power to hurt her, and not just her heart, but through her income. She loved Heidi above all else. And she trusted me even with that. It was humbling.
When I had started drinking last night I’d thought that her fear for Heidi’s security might be the reason I could never have her. That she’d not let us have more. That all I would ever get was a good employee and possibly a friendship.
She’d surprised me. With that trust she’d handed over, I would make sure that she was taken care of. Heidi would never be without her home. And Beulah would be secure in that. I’d handle it today. I could pay in advance for the next ten years. It would ease any concerns or fears Beulah might harbor.
We would be free to enjoy this. I’d found her and I wanted it all with her.
Beulah stirred in my arms and I watched as her eyes slowly blinked open. A sleepy smile spread across her face as she stretched and stared up at me. “So that wasn’t a dream,” she said in a voice thick from sleep.
“It was very real,” I assured her, bending to kiss her nose.
She turned closer and buried her head in my chest. “How can this work?”
“When you’re in love, you find a way. We can work it out together. Starting with my handling your worries about Heidi. I’m going to pay for her care, ten years in advance today.” Before I could say more, Beulah’s head shot up and she looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
“What? You can’t do that . . . that’s a fortune!”
“I’m sure they’ll give me a discount. Although I don’t care about the cost. I want Heidi taken care of regardless of what happens with us. I don’t intend to let you go, but if you ever want to walk away, I want you to have that freedom. I don’t want you staying with me because you are scared of losing your employment. I want you to want me. Because God knows I don’t want to think about life without you.”
Beulah sat up and pushed her hair back out of her face with both hands, then pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “Jasper, that’s not okay. I mean the idea of Heidi’s care and home being secure is . . . completely amazing. But it is a fairy tale. I don’t live in that world. And just because we,” she paused and looked at me. “We are doing this, and that’s my gamble to take. You shouldn’t have to pay me to have me in your life. That’s . . . well, it’s wrong. It’s unfair.”
Every girl before her had started expecting gifts. Expensive gifts, trips, and luxury from me the moment we got together. I wasn’t offering Beulah any of that. Just security for her sister. And this was her response. Would it always be like this? Would she make me love her more every day? I was going to be so damn wrapped up in her that I’d have to make sure she never left me. I had a taste of her and I wanted to hold on tight.
“Beulah, do you love me?” I asked her although she had already told me she did.
“Yes.”
“Then let me do this. Let me give Heidi security. To make us work, we need to make some changes. You not killing yourself with three jobs is one of those changes. I will take care of Heidi. You can work with me at the office and I’m going to get another housekeeper to work here. And before you say anything, let me finish. You are with me now. We are a couple. I don’t want to see you cleaning my house. I want to sit with you at night and watch movies, talk, make love. I want to watch you eat breakfast and enjoy you. If you’re waiting on me it’s going to kill me. I love you. Please give us a chance.”
She laid her forehead on her knees that were tucked up close to her chin and closed her eyes. I saw her sigh, and I waited. She needed a moment to process. I gave it to her.
My heart was pounding in my chest as the seconds ticked by. Beulah was independent. She was proud. She didn’t want to take any help from me. She wanted to work for what she got. She had a beautiful heart, but if we were going to make this work, we had to make some changes.
“The job I do at the office isn’t enough. I need to do more,” she said without looking up at me.
“I have another position I need filled. I want a private secretary. The one we have now isn’t exclusively mine. I’ve been hesitant to hire one because I needed someone I could put up with for long hours, and be able to work with one-on-one. You’d be the perfect answer to that. The position would come with a salary and benefits.”
I had already thought of this. I just hadn’t planned on laying it on her this soon. But it seemed like the right moment.
She finally lifted her head and sighed again. Her shoulders rising and falling in one heavy breath. “Okay. If that will help you. Then okay. I want us to work too. I just don’t want to be a leech. I need to make my own money. Help pay the bills and for food.”
There was no way on earth I was letting her pay the bills or for food, but we’d deal with that later. I didn’t want to argue all morning. “Good.”
“Most people don’t start a relationship living together,” she said frowning.
“Yes, but we were living in the same house before we started a relationship. Different rules.” I wasn’t about to let her get the idea she needed to move out.
She leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder. Nothing was said. I held her and we watched the early morning sun through the windows.
This was what I wanted and I finally had it.
Beulah
THE EASIEST THING I’D DONE today was quit my job at the club. I’d barely been an employee there. I felt guilty about that. However, they hadn’t seemed to care that I wasn’t coming back.
The hardest thing I’d done today was move my things upstairs. Jasper had given me the yellow guest bedroom across from his. He said I wouldn’t be sleeping in there but he wanted me to have my own space. He was trying to make our relationship easy on me.
Every time I had thought about Heidi and that she was going to be taken care of for the next ten years, the relief I felt almost brought me to tears. No more worrying if she was going to have to leave her safe home. The place she’d come to love. I would have loved Jasper even if I was still sleeping downstairs and working three jobs to pay for Heidi’s care, but his desire to take care of her made me love him even more.
I would be the best assistant in the world. I’d make it up to him, if that were even possible. If something happened between us, I would find a way to pay him back. I wasn’t going to tell him that now, but I would if that time came.
Believing in fairy tales wasn’t smart. I’d never lived one and trusting anyone was hard. It wasn’t smart, but he made me want to believe.
I stood in the yellow bedroom, looking at my limited wardrobe that didn’t even take up a tenth of the closet space. I could put a bed in that closet and still have room. Heidi would think that was the coolest thing she’d ever seen.
I could visit her more now. Both Saturday and Sunday. Yet another thing to love Jasper for. He’d gone to the office and told me to stay home to move my things where I wanted them. Tomorrow I’d start the new job. I had tried to argue until he said please. So, I agreed and stayed home. Now that I’d moved everything, I felt lost with nothing left to do.
We needed groceries. I would do that and dust. Then I could make dinner. That should keep me busy. Heading downstairs, I heard voices and I paused. I was supposed to be the only person here. Had Portia returned? I listened careful
ly as I made my way down the stairs. It was a guy and a girl. No, it was two guys.
“I’ll call Jasper and find out what the code to the pool house is,” one of the guys said. I relaxed a little realizing it was just Jasper’s friends.
I followed the voices and found them in the sunroom. I recognized Sterling and Tate. However, the girl I’d never seen. She was tall, slender, and gorgeous. Long, dark, almost black hair hung in loose curls down her back. Her high cheekbones and perfect nose gave her the look of wealth.
“There she is,” Sterling said smiling at me. “I was about to call Jasper. The pool house is locked and we are starving. Could you tell me the code and fix us lunch?” His smile was friendly.
“Yes, of course. 49287 is the code,” I told him.
“I want to lay out. Bring the lunch outside please. And I’d like a martini,” the girl said as she stared at me the same way Stone did. Except she seemed more annoyed with my presence than he did.
“Okay,” I said. “Can I get either of you a drink too?” I asked.
“Bourbon,” Tate said, then winked.
“Whatever good beer Jasper has,” Sterling replied.
“I’ll have those out shortly,” I told them and went to make their drinks. I wouldn’t be going to the grocery today after all. From the looks of the woman I’d be busy. She reminded me of Portia. She was going to be hard to please, and would keep me hopping.
I made the drinks, then delivered them. Just before I walked inside I heard Tate call the woman’s name. “Maisie.”
I paused and my stomach knotted up. That was the girl Jasper had broken up with before he returned here. Why was she here now? Had he known she was coming? If he did, why didn’t he tell me?
This was what I had been scared of. His world and mine. We didn’t fit. I wasn’t anything like her, and I never would be. I tried not to think of our drastic differences as I made a strawberry avocado salad to serve them while I made pasta for their main meal. No matter how hard I tried to push my worries away, the more they plagued me.
Each time I took something out to them, she found something else for me to do. She needed a towel that was plusher than the ones in the pool house. She wanted her martini dirtier. She needed tanning oil. Then that was the wrong kind. She needed one with less SPF. She wanted a sparkling water. She hated avocados. She wanted a spinach salad with pine nuts and strawberries. She was driving me crazy.
The more she asked for—or rather demanded—the less time I had to think about why she was here. The day went by quickly. When I was headed outside with her third martini order, I saw Jasper before I heard him. Taking a deep breath and reminding myself to smile. I went outside.
“The hard to get thing isn’t attractive, Jasper. You wanted space. We had space. Don’t be ridiculous,” Maisie said sounding amused with him.
“There’s Beulah,” Sterling said with a bright grin. “Bring Jasper a drink. He needs one.”
Jasper turned then to see me carrying a tray with Maisie’s martini on it. He looked at the drink, then at me. “Have you been doing that all day?”
I glanced around to see all their eyes on me. “Yes.” I wanted to crawl to my basement room about now. This was something I hadn’t thought about. Facing his friends about us.
“Fuck,” he said walking over to take the tray from me. “She’s not your goddamn servant. He tossed the tray and the drink went flying, glass shattering everywhere.
“Jesus, Jasper! What is the deal?” Tate asked, climbing out of the pool, his eyes wide.
“My deal is you come into my house. Bring her,” he said pointing at Maisie, “and don’t think to fucking ask me. That’s the deal. And you boss my girlfriend around like she’s your slave. And because Beulah is the sweetest person I know she takes it.” He looked back at me. “Did you feed them?”
I nodded, almost nervous to say yes. He winced. “God. I’m so sorry,” he said to me before turning back to them.
“Did you call the help your girlfriend?” Maisie asked, her tone had gone from amused to angry. She was sitting up straight now from her lounged position. There was fire in her eyes.
“Holy shit,” Tate said in a whisper loud enough for us all to hear him.
“Wow. Wasn’t expecting that,” Sterling added.
“You need to leave. Pack your shit and get the hell out of here. We broke up, Maisie. Do you not remember that? I thought it was very clear. You coming into my home uninvited and acting like you own the place is typical of you. One of the many reasons I’d never want to try that again. Go.”
He turned around and walked toward me. His arm went around my shoulders. “I’m so fucking sorry,” he said as he walked us back inside the house.
“You threw the drink.” That was all I could think to say.
He chuckled. “Yeah. I might have lost my shit for a minute.”
“I didn’t mind serving them.”
He shook his head. “You might not have, but I did. She shouldn’t be here. You live here, you do not work here. I wish you’d called me. “
“I thought you knew.”
“If anyone ever comes in this house and I haven’t spoken to you about it, I don’t know. I’ve not had time to talk to anyone. No one knows about us yet. But they will now. Which is good. They all need to know.”
“She’s beautiful, but she’s not nice.” I told him.
“She was in the beginning. I had been searching, hoping she was different. She wasn’t. She was a fantastic actress.”
I could see that.
“I’ll deal with them. You don’t have to see them again. If you want, just head upstairs. Take a bath, relax.”
Other than Maisie, these were his friends. If I had any hope of fitting into his world I had to fit in with his friends. Running from them wasn’t fitting in. “I’d like to stay. They’re your friends. I need to get to know them.”
He studied me a moment. He looked unsure. Concerned. I couldn’t have him protecting me all the time. He’d get tired of that. Finally, “Okay. Let me make sure Maisie is gone. Then you can come out and join us. I won’t run them all off. Just her.”
“Thank you.”
His frown increased. “Why are you thanking me?”
“For allowing me to find my place in your world.”
He chuckled then. It was soft and the look in his eyes said so much. “You are my world, Beulah.”
I didn’t have any words that seemed adequate to respond to that. Instead, I managed a nod and a smile. One I felt deep inside.
“Let me go out there and deal with Maisie. Then I’ll come get you. Sterling and Tate can get to know you as my girlfriend. Not the help.”
“Okay,” I agreed. I started to clean the kitchen from earlier when I had cooked dinner.
“Don’t do that,” Jasper said walking up and wrapping his arms around me.
“Why?”
“Because you aren’t the help.”
I leaned back into him. “If we were normal. If you were a regular guy and this was your apartment, would you argue with me about cleaning up after entertaining your friends?”
He was quiet as he held me. I gave him time to think it through. He’d never been a regular guy. It was something I wondered if he could comprehend. Did he know how normal people lived at all? Had he ever been around it?
“I think I understand what you’re saying. If this makes you feel good, then do it. I won’t dictate what you do. I just don’t want you to do things because you think you’re supposed to.”
I nodded. Because I understood. Even if deep down he didn’t.
Jasper
TATE AND MAISIE WERE BOTH gone when I stepped back outside. Sterling remained. He was sitting on the lounger with a beer in his hands and lifted his head to meet my gaze when I returned.
“Tate helped her take her things to her car. She drove. We’ll need a ride when we leave.”
I didn’t care what they needed if that meant she was gone. I just needed her to be gone.
I nodded. I hadn’t told them or anyone about my catching her coming onto Stone. I’d let them all believe she ended things with me. My funk had been about returning here. Facing my life, the one I had no choice in. The one that was always empty. The void I had countless parties to try and fill. They had all assumed I was in a mood over Maisie. They knew now.
“So, the help,” Sterling said with his eyebrow raised.
“Don’t call her that. She has a name. Beulah. And she’s not the help any longer. Although you all treated her like it today.”
“Sorry about that too. In our defense, last time we were here she was, in fact, the help. Why didn’t she correct us? She just let us order her around.”
Because she was Beulah. She was kind. She didn’t have an ego. “She’s the most genuine person I’ve ever known. She didn’t wait on your asses because she thought she had to. She did it because you’re my friends, and this is my home. She was making sure you felt welcome.”
Sterling frowned. “Really? That’s . . . different.”
“That’s Beulah,” I replied.
“Damn, man. When you change shit up, why don’t you let us know? That was completely unexpected,” Tate said as he walked back through the entrance gate.
“I was unaware you would be coming unannounced for a visit.”
“We always come unannounced,” Tate reminded me. He was right. I’d never had an issue in the past. I wanted them here. Anyone to help me deal with this place. With my mother.
“I know. And it’s fine. I should have told you but things changed fast. There wasn’t time to tell anyone.”
“Can’t say I blame you. I’ve thought she was smoking since the first day I saw her. Couldn’t figure out how she’d managed to get Portia to hire her,” Sterling grinned as he took a drink of his beer.
They didn’t get it. I could try and explain that she was more than just gorgeous. But I knew them well. They wouldn’t understand. They hadn’t had a Beulah walk into their lives. They’d lived similar lives to my own and it was foreign to them.