by Pea Jung
I’m getting quite a queasy feeling. “Does that mean you didn’t have to be quite so…. attentive… to the other women?”
“I have no idea how he picked the women, but if you ask me, they were pretty hard-nosed women. There was never a protective instinct with them.”
“Henry, don’t get me wrong, but do you believe he’s interested in me?” I can’t believe that I’m actually asking this question.
“Josi, why don’t you ask him yourself?”
I nod and press my lips together. Yes, why not?
As I sink down into my thoughts, Henry smiles at me and says: “You really like him.”
“Yes, I can hardly believe it, but I like him, a lot actually. It’s just that, the circumstances of how I got to know him are a bit awkward.”
Henry grins broadly. Amazingly, I’m really glad that I can finally talk openly to someone, even if it is a half-stranger. “How did you met him?” I ask.
“I applied to an advertisement.”
I have to laugh. “What was he looking for?”
Henry understands and laughs as well. “Not a naked cleaner in any case.”
My smile dies away as I become aware that Henry knows about my employment.
Immediately he adds: “he trusts me, and I’ve become a friend to him. That’s why I’m aware of quite a few things.”
“Oh, that’s a little embarrassing,” I confess sheepishly.
Henry grabs my hand and presses it briefly: “you shouldn’t be embarrassed by anything. He told me no details. I believe he protects your privacy very closely.”
“Tell me, can you please explain, what Adam has to do with anything?”
“You should discuss that with my boss too.”
I respond “if I trust myself,” quietly.
“I will tell you this. You should not make the mistake of getting involved with Adam.”
“I understand,” I mutter, although actually, the opposite is true.
Then I get up and reach out a hand to Henry: “so, Jörg will be here soon. I think we should say goodbye now, otherwise, it will look strange.”
“Goodbye,” He growls.
“Goodbye, Henry, and thank you for looking out for me.”
Henry pays just before I finish my shift, and when he gets up from his table, he waves to me briefly. I wave back and a wistful feeling falls over me, as he turns his back.
In the parking lot, I am pleased to see that Henry’s car is still there. This has never happened before, I would have noticed. He probably doesn’t find it necessary to hide from me any longer. It doesn’t feel so bad, to have a protector in the background! I could get used to it. It is at least a better situation than being followed by a stalker.
Henry is also there when I leave home to head over to Alfons Mader’s apartment. Who thought of this alias?
“My last visit to this apartment!” I think as I open the front door with my thumb.
A little surprise is waiting for me in the bathroom. It’s not a costume, but rather pajamas: particularly fine pajamas. My eyes fall on the label. Oh, Victoria’s secret! I’ve never had anything like it. The dark blue satin fabric feels pleasantly smooth and it shines. Quickly, I slip into the beautiful items. The top has very narrow straps and is held together in the front by only three small buttons. The fabric is only partially opaque, which given the deep cut of the neckline, is of no consequence. The shorts sits loosely and comfortably, but look indescribably sexy. On the sink, there is a hair clip with which I put my hair up high at the back.
Shivering, I patter into the cool kitchen. Hopefully, I will not be working here! He appears on time, as always. And I take up the usual posture.
“Hello, Kitty!”
“Hello, Sir!” I try to look at him with my head bowed. He looks very chic today. His black pants sit as perfectly as if they were custom-made. He’s wearing a dark blue satin shirt, ironic due to my outfit. He is, of course, wearing the mask as well.
“You look good enough to eat – like a present waiting to be unpacked.” He walks around me slowly and I am at the mercy of his shameless gaze.
“Mmh,” I hear him hum again when he is finished with his tour. Then he asks surprised: “Is my kitten cold?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“What a shame! I thought that my presence was having this effect on you.”
Since I can already think what he is alluding to I spare a look at my breasts.
“I’ve turned the heating on in the living room. There it’s snug and warm.”
He goes ahead and I tiptoe barefoot behind him. In the living room, in front of the huge wall, is a ladder I already know well.
My employer unbuttons his shirt sleeves and rolls them up. In doing so he looks at me and says: “you can now clear the entire shelf and clean it. Then put everything back. You know what I like to see. Any more questions?”
“No, Sir,” I answer, while he settles into his chair.
He has provided me with a bucket of water and a cloth. Was he here before me?
First I move the ladder into a position in which he can see me from behind, and then climb up in slow motion. He watches me from his chair for a while, as I wipe forwards and backward excessively slowly, and move my hips a lot more than is strictly necessary.
Engrossed in my work I don’t notice that he has left the chair and sat down on the ground next to the ladder. I actually only notice because a hint of his aftershave reaches me. I take a look around and discover him on the floor behind me.
“Hey!” he says sounding relaxed and waving at me. He has probably noticed that his closeness irritates me.
“Hey!” I reply, and then quickly add “Sir”.
He chuckles and shakes his head.
I carry on working. What view do the loose cut panties grant him? They sit pretty low on the hips and have a slit on the outside all the way upwards!
But he seems to have no inhibitions when it comes to getting a good view. Because now he is almost sitting on the step ladder. He says nothing, which is exactly what I expect of him. One wrong word and I would certainly squeeze my legs together! However, he would still have a beautiful view: the top is also cut deeply and barely covers my breasts. And underneath the top, I am wearing – nothing.
In the meantime, I’ve cleaned so far down the wall that I no longer need the ladder. Now come the big drawers at the bottom. With a questioning look, I turn to my observer.
“But of course the drawers, Kitten, on all fours.”
I put the ladder to the side and get down on my knees. But before I can open the first drawer, I hear his voice again: “Would you crawl around me once, my little Kitten?”
“Yes, Sir,” I breathe and slowly make my way to him.
His frozen gaze fixes on my face, then his eyes sink deeper and get stuck there. This is why my hair is up! It would have been in the way otherwise.
I slowly circle the man seated on the ground, his legs crossed loosely. I do not turn my gaze away from his face, his mask. Finally, I crawl back to the first drawer. I hope I’m not too wet as I stretch out my ass!
“Oh, Kitty!” he moans and my hope is nipped in the bud. Carefully I squint backward towards him: he has unbuttoned his shirt.
“It is so hot, and you’re not exactly cooling me off. Can I take off my shirt?”
If I say yes now, what exactly am I consenting to?
He guesses my thoughts. “Don’t worry, I just want to take off the shirt, and maybe the socks.”
“So be it. It’s your apartment,” I murmur and correct myself immediately: “Alright, Sir.”
All of a sudden he approaches me and I become hot all over as well because his shirt is completely open. “Kitten, I do not want you to make fun of me. I am incredibly horny and my erection is alrea
dy pressing painfully against my pants. So pull yourself together!”
“Yes, Sir.” I have to swallow. His upper body attracts my eyes. He shouldn’t dwell on my body hair!
“You like what you see, Kitten?”
Quickly I turn to the drawer. From the corner of my eye, I perceive that he is pulling the shirt from his body. I gasp. Because the smell of this sweaty man does not disgust me, but instead has rather an erotic effect on me, especially in combination with his aftershave.
Nevertheless, I somehow manage to empty and clean the drawer very slowly. There were only a few woolen blankets inside. Useful, if someone gets cold.
As I sit back on my heels he complains immediately: “Don’t hide yourself from me!” I look at him amazed.
The muscles around his eyes are twitching, as he barely audibly whispers: “I’ve seen all of you, Kitten.”
I freeze and drown in his eyes. Surely my nipples under the Pajama top betray what I feel.
He does not seem to be finished with his verbal touches yet: “you are incredibly beautiful, everywhere. I wanted you to shave, not because I am against your natural hair growth, but because I do not want you to hide your perfection from me.”
As my mouth opens, he immediately raises a hand. “No contradiction.”
My mouth falls shut and I reach for the cloth.
“Come on, get back on your knees!”
This time, I follow him and kneel in front of the drawer. As I wipe the drawer, my pelvis moves forward and back. He gasps, and I am ashamed of my agitated condition. Would I fight him if he grabbed me under my pants now?
On the other hand, he has had cleaners before me, and actually, ‘I’ don’t turn him on. He becomes uncorked watching scantily clad women clean. It all has nothing to do with me. Every other woman probably brought him to wheezing as well. Maybe he called them kitten and whispered the same words as he has to me.
Without realizing it, I wipe faster and faster. My thoughts have encouraged me towards the decision that I will not renew my contract. My life has got out of hand since I met this man.
“Oh, man. What is it now?” he cries behind me and I turn around to him. “Something has changed. What’s going on?”
How can he be so sensitive despite his lust? How is he doing that? “Excuse me, Sir,” I whisper.
“I asked you a question.”
“I just don’t feel good, if I’m one of many,” I answer honestly.
“You don’t feel good? I’m sorry, you receive a lot of money for being here. You don’t feel good? Ha!”
“Not everything is about the stupid money. It’s simply that I can’t help imagining, that’s it’s not me that excites you, but rather these clothes and the endless cleaning.”
“Exactly. That’s why you’re employed here. Have you already forgotten?”
“Then stop whispering pseudo compliments in my ear. It’s just a lie.”
“That’s enough. Stop immediately. Get dressed. My mood is ruined,” he says roughly.
I get up and go to the bathroom faster than necessary. If these pajamas were not so beautiful, I would gladly pull them from my body. My twisted thoughts revolve around the fact that I l like this man much too much.
As I pull my sweater on over my head, I am shocked by the red face, looking at me from the mirror. My hair falls down over my shoulders and sticks to my back, probably because I’m sweating. I fix myself in the mirror and build my courage: “Go in there and say goodbye politely!”
In the living room, the windows are now open. Cool night air blows against me as I open the door. He has pulled on his shirt again. As always, he is sitting on the sofa, the tip already waiting on the table.
It is a quarter to nine, so I sit down in the chair. He has a hand over his mouth and is staring into a corner of the room, lost in thought. I wouldn’t survive five minutes beneath that mask, without getting heatburn.
Patiently I wait for him to pay attention to me. My gaze is focused on the carpeted floor and the pattern swims in front of my eyes. I have a slightly guilty conscience because he actually did speak the truth: I’m here because he pays me. It really doesn’t need to matter to him, how I feel. When I look up our eyes meet. Restless, I slide around on my chair and mumble: “our argument is really bothering me. I really didn’t want that.”
“Excuse me?” He bends towards me, although I am sure that he understood every word I uttered.
“I’m sorry, okay?” I continue. “I am simply not the right person for this strange working relationship.”
“Could be. Even though I have to admit that I was never so happy as I have been with you. Of course, you never used the agreed upon two hours. But once you put me in your spell, that was it!” After a short pause, he adds: “I’m not interested in extending the contract anymore.”
“What?” I cry out.
“I will not see you again.”
“You’re unbelievable!” I say outraged. “I’ve already said that I won’t come anymore. And now you make it look like you ended things. That’s not true. What a nerve!”
Completely relaxed, he replies: “you just said that to make sure my interest in you didn’t drop. Kitten, I’m sorry, your pathetic attempt failed, unfortunately.”
He gives an impression of being completely relaxed as if he were enjoying the situation. This guy! I stand up and grab the money: “I’m only taking it so that I won’t get another completely useless voucher. You’re making it really easy for me to leave. Goodbye, my dear Alfons Mader.”
I look at him hatefully. I actually expect a few parting words to come out of his mouth. But he turns away from me. Great. Then I can go now. I storm out of the room, which has become a kind of habit, and leave the apartment.
Chapter 18
At home, I give in to the sense of frustration, which is broadly mixed with a dose of sadness and anger. I didn’t know that I was able to feel so many different sensations at the same time.
There’s a ringing at my front door. I’m a little surprised when I spy Adam through the peephole. I open the door with the safety chain on.
“Adam, what do you want?”
“I would just like to talk to you. This whole thing is so awkward for me, honestly,” Adam growls to me through the small gap.
I’m probably not quite sane after this evening. Why else do I let him into my apartment? Maybe it’s also the suffering look he has.
“Thank you,” I hear him mumble behind me as I lead him into the living room. There I indicate the couch. “Sit down. Would you like a drink?”
“No. I want to apologize for my behavior.”
Once he has sat down, I look for a place beside him with slightly more distance between us than necessary.
“I should have told you I recognized you from the beginning,” he begins.
“What?”
“I knew from the outset that you were the new cleaning lady. From the moment we danced together at the bar.”
“What is this perverse game, are you playing with Alfons Mader?”
He laughs and repeats mockingly: “Alfons Mader!” Then he turns serious as he says: “we aren’t playing a game. I really think that you are something special Josefine, that’s why I danced with you in the bar. And the meeting in the fast-food restaurant really was just a coincidence. But I was more than just happy to meet you there, to be honest.”
I’m inclined to believe him, even though the warnings of the masked man, and also those of Henry, collect at the back of my mind.
Adam moves a bit closer to me. When he grabs my hand, I look at him surprised. His gaze is rigidly focused on my mouth while he speaks. “My boss, the killjoy, tried from the outset to prevent a possible relationship between us. He prevented me from going to the cinema with you. And then… when he burst into your
workplace and dragged me outside…”
Oh. My. God. Do I see tears shimmering in Adams’ eyes? “Adam!” I cry out baffled.
“He knew exactly how much I was falling for you.” He approaches me and when we kiss, I’m surprised by my passion. However, I try to grasp a clear thought from underneath the increasingly demanding kiss.
He wears no mask, I know his name, he is nice, I’m attracted to him physically, and except for the warnings from some rather dubious contemporaries, I have no reason not to sit here and kiss this man.
Only Henry’s warning sits heavy in my stomach, which is why I want to stop Adam now. He makes no move to respond to my attempts.
He pushes against me and tries to force me into a lying position on the couch. His hand moves under my sweater and I notice that I’m not getting any further with my delicate attempts to push him away.
“Stop,” I yell at him. But he kisses me again and now starts touching my chest.
“Oh, Josefine, I want you”. He whispers to me.
“Stop!” I yell at him and push him away with all the strength I can muster. He moves back.
“I won’t sleep with you, Adam. Did you truly believe I would?”
He looks at me amazed, but with a wicked grin on his face, and presses forward: “You are nothing more than his discarded cleaning slut.”
“Are you crazy?”
“They all want to be fucked by him, but he leaves them to me. That’s our deal,” he explains muttering and moving closer to me again.
I jump up off the couch and straighten my sweater. “You should go right now. And never come back,” I say as loud and confident as I can while indicating in the direction of my apartment door.
“We could have a lot of fun together. I’m not as bad in bed, as you might think.”
“I have absolutely no interest in having fun in bed with you. Go, now, otherwise I will scream the whole house down,” I warn him seriously.
He seems to understand. His sardonic grin dies down and as he gets up, I increase my distance from him. “Frigid bitch!” he scolds and leaves my apartment, slamming the door as he goes.