The Cleaning Job

by Pea Jung

  “Does she plan to blackmail you?”

  “She has let me know that she’s got something of that sort in mind, yes. It seems I am being made into a scapegoat for some things within the company which have transpired without my knowledge. First, we assumed it was Adam, he is the usual suspect, but he was filmed when he was in the apartment as well.”

  “He was also… oh God! You mean…” I stutter.

  “Yes,” Marek whispers to me and looks me in the eye with pity.

  “Have they filmed everything?”

  “Yes,” Marshall answers now. I stare at him for a moment confused, since I had forgotten he was present.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll fix it,” Marek tries to cheer me up.

  “Don’t worry? You can talk. You always had the mask on after all,” I yell. This seems to surprise Mr. Marshall, as he lifts his eyebrows slightly.

  “Not the last time,” Marek reminds me and adds: “probably the perpetrator was trying to get a shot without the mask the whole time, and that’s why they got mixed up in your life. When nothing came of it, Mrs. Preu had to act.”

  “And you fell right into it,” I snarl at Marek.

  “Yes, I fell for it.” I’ve never seen him so meek.

  “Mrs. Preu is currently being questioned, but denies everything,” I hear Mr. Marshall saying.

  “Where were these cameras?”

  “In the bedroom and in the living room,” Marek responds. “At least, that’s all we found.”

  “Why only there?”

  “We don’t know,” I hear the stern voice of Viktor Marshall.

  “I have to tell you something,” I whisper to Marek and squint to Viktor Marshall.

  “You can talk openly in front of me,” Viktor Marshall intervenes and Marek nods.

  “I think that Alfons Mader is behind the whole thing,” I say and feel uncomfortable, accusing someone I barely know. What if I’m wrong?

  “Interesting!” notes Viktor Marshall.

  “What? Alfons? Why do you say that?” asks Marek puzzled.

  “He was the one who called The Black Widow,” with a sidelong look at Mr. Marshall I make sure that he knows what I’m talking about. “He rubbed it under my nose that you had organized my reinstatement while acting as if he wanted to speak to Jörg. When he spoke to Jörg though, he babbled something about a survey.”

  Viktor Marshall strokes his stubble and seems to be sunk deep in thought, while Marek moves very close to me. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you realize the implications of your statement? We are in the midst of the investigation,” Marek probes further.

  “Yes,” I say with a firm voice.

  Viktor Marshall stands up. “I should provide this information to my staff immediately. Excuse me?” He’s already gone.

  It feels strange to be alone with Marek.

  “I’m sorry, Kitten,” he whispers to me before I can even think about our togetherness.

  Because I do not immediately answer, he pulls me in close and kisses me delicately. Then he suddenly lets me go and hums thoughtfully: “Although, maybe it’s better if you never forgive me. If this goes badly, I’ll have to answer for all this in court. I am also considering taking the plunge and going public. It’s better if I am open about my preferences before any images or videos circulate. It would be not good to be the girlfriend at my side then.”

  “Why not?”

  “Are you really asking that?”

  “I was there, Marek, and shared your preferences. I also prefer being your girlfriend than your paid maid, if the images do become known to the public.”

  “That’s your reason?” He growls angrily.

  “No, I love you still. Although I would like to be mad at you, because you stared at Preu’s butt, I love you, Marek. It’s a fact. I can not just turn it off,” I say quietly.

  “Kitten… you don’t know how much I love you.” Marek’s features have brightened a little and he looks at me tenderly. “Then we’ll get through this together?”

  Without considering, I answer: “Yes, together.”

  Marek and I merge in a seemingly never-ending kiss, which is interrupted by a loud cough.

  “Mr. Mader is not in the building. Should we search his office?” asks Viktor Marshall. He’s carrying square reading glasses with black frames and is holding a stack of documents in his hand.

  “Yes,” sighs Marek and stands up. “Will you wait here, in case we find something?” he asks me on his way out.

  I nod and press my lips together.

  Alfons Mader is really lucky that he is not in the building. He would probably immediately buckle before Viktor Marshall. The profiler is a very nice man, but his hard facial expression would probably break any man.

  Mr. Marshall returns to Marek’s office after some time and trawls through the documents on the table. He looks so slick in his suit, it wouldn’t surprise me if a photographer came to the door to photograph him. Furtively, I watch him as he concentrates, rummaging through the documents with his glasses on his distinctive nose.

  His cell phone rings and he answers annoyed. “Yes?” He remains quiet for a while and I can see no reaction on his frozen face. At some point, he says: “don’t worry. I’ll be there. I’ll be glad when we finally go our separate ways.”

  He ends the call and dedicates himself to the documents again.

  “How did you meet Alfons Mader?” he asks suddenly, without looking at me.

  I’m still mentally stuck on his phone call. “Are you getting divorced?” I ask back, even though I only really meant to think it.

  Now, he looks at me briefly, completely straight-faced. What I would give for a camera! This look, incredible!

  “Yes,” he drones briefly. “Now do I get an answer to my question?”

  “Shame… uh… the divorce, I mean.” Could I imagine marrying Marek? Yes, definitely.

  Completely impassive, Viktor Marshall retorts: “I understand that you are in a different phase of the relationship and obviously share some…. preferences with Mr. Held. Nevertheless, my marriage is at an end and I’m not here to pour my heart out. So, how did you meet Alfons Mader?”

  I swallow and answer: “he was eating in The Black Widow. He dropped a glass on the floor and I picked up the pieces.”

  “Could he have thrown the glass on the ground intentionally?”

  “You’d have to ask Marek. He was sitting next to him” I mumble because his currish ways are slowly draining me.

  An employee storms into the room and I relax. “Vito! We’ve found something,” blusters the employee and Mr. Marshall rushes with him out of the office. Vito? Sounds like he can be quite friendly.

  Marek comes in and paces restlessly up and down. His cheekbones work like mad. “It looks like you were spot on,” he breathes stunned.

  “What did you find?”

  “He must have felt damn sure of himself. He just dropped all sorts of documents in his desk drawer, along with the videos.”

  I jump up as if I’ve been bitten by a tarantula. “Are they looking at them now?”

  “No, don’t worry. Mr. Marshall is treating it confidentially. He is trying to sift through the material, alone.”

  “What?” I cry and make a move to rush out of the room.

  Marek stops me. “Let him. He’s looking at everything from beginning to end. He’ll only glance at it all briefly.”

  I would quite like to disappear into a hole in the ground now. But there’s never one there when you need it. Marek has not released me from his embrace and secretly, I am grateful to him. After all, what would I do if I caught Viktor Marshall watching me, disguised as a cleaning fairy, crawling across the room?

  “Oh God!” I whine.
r />   “It could be that Alfons dropped the glass on the floor intentionally. However, I cannot insinuate that he had targeted you as a possible cleaning lady. After all, shortly before that, your colleague had been serving us. You seem to have been a random victim. He must have known from Angelika Preu, that I hadn’t extended the contract with my old cleaning lady. Apparently, he orchestrated the situation to provide me with a new one….. for which I am very grateful.” A smile plays around his lips.

  “Are you going to jail?”

  Marek laughs out loud and I feel that this time he can laugh freely. “No, I don’t think so, Kitten. I don’t think I’ll be locked up for my perverse inclinations.”

  I hit him on the chest. “You know exactly what I mean.” Still smiling, he pulls me into him. “Mr. Marshall and his people have found documents which exonerate me. The scope of the whole thing is slowly becoming clear. Alfons bribed people and concluded contracts under false pretenses, and added hidden conditions. I’m just glad that I took the initiative before the District Attorney had a chance to. Apparently it was all about money and, having me ready to take the fall in case it was discovered.”

  “What about your lawyer?”

  “She’s not my lawyer anymore. Of course, she has to answer for her involvement in so many things. I personally will sue her for her breach of contract to me.” Marek sighs. Then we hug until he says: “Come on, let’s go home.”

  “Home?”

  “Yes, to our place. I want you to move in with me.” And because I’m about to open my mouth in protest, he puts his finger on it instantly. “Think about it.”

  Silently, we leave the office and the building. For Viktor Marshall and his people, there is still much to be done, but the police have already been notified and it’s certainly good work. Marek and I will have a few turbulent weeks. But I’m confident that we can overcome it, together.

  END

  XMAS WARS –

  Crazy About Han

  A Christmas short story for every season and every galaxy far, far away.

  Christmas has never been her thing. On this very special Christmas Lea unexpectedly meets the best friend of her brother again. Not only does Julius bring back a lot of unpleasant memories, he also plunges Lea’s emotional world into chaos. Their common history with Star Wars play a role as well.

  PEA JUNG

  XMAS WARS –Crazy About Han

  76 Pages · Paperback/eBook

  ISBN: 978-1-5071-5273-7