When Mr. Lombardi finally let go, he pulled the door wide open but didn’t say anything. He just stared at me as if waiting until I stepped inside his house. When I did, he immediately pushed the door shut again. An audible click told me that his door and probably all the doors in this house have automatic locks.
Bet the engineer that built this impressive abode forgot about sensory lights. His house may look so damn perfect but it didn’t have lights on. Lamps were unlit and the massive chandelier hung by the ceiling glowed so dull and dim. Just enough so I could see through the place without bumping to any furniture.
“You have a beautiful place, Mr. Lombardi,” I told him.
“Beautiful, indeed.” Mr. Lombardi agreed but his eyes were trained at me.
I looked away to hide my blush. It would be stupid to assume he’s referring to me, right? I continued scanning the living room and noted everything was put into their perfect place. As in perfectly clean and fresh. Given how huge his house was, he must have a lot of house help to maintain the place.
I finally turned to face him again and was startled once more by his open staring. I felt my face burned but I fought back the urge to look away and bravely met his gaze this time instead.
“So…” I started with a smile and I swore I heard him grunted. “Where’s the kid I’m going to look over?”
“Not yet here.” He answered which made me frown. “He’ll arrive soon. Meantime, I want you to get comfortable and familiarize the house. I don’t really have much time to give you a tour. I hope it’ll be alright with you if you do it all by yourself?”
“Oh, sure! No problem.” I smiled though I was a little bit disappointed that he’s obviously telling me he’d no enough time to get to know me more.
“Thank you. You can go about the house, pick any room you want on the second level, I don’t mind. Just don’t wander in my working room. It’s in the third level, east wing.”
“Ok.” I nodded but frowned. “So uh… You mean, I’m going to start now?”
“Living here, yes. But the babysitting duty isn’t starting until my kid has arrived.”
Oh, no! I didn’t bring any clothes with me. I thought this would only be a simple screening or some initial interview whether he’d take me or not. But by the looks of it, I’m really going to start living in this plush house right there and then. A sudden excitement rushed into me at that thought.
But I really need my things. Maybe I should excuse myself so I could pack in my apartment and come back here quickly without him noticing. But then again, there are the automatic locks in his house I didn’t know how to operate.
“Where is he? Is it a son or a daughter?” I asked my employer with curiosity because of how vague his explanation was about his kid. “And how old is he?”
“I’ll introduce you soon when he comes.” Was all Mr. Lombardi said.
Oh, wow. He suddenly sounded so standoffish at the mention of his kid. I wondered what the problem is. Maybe he had a broken marriage and he only had visiting rights to the child? But according to the contract, my duty was needed within weekdays that meant he had the child’s custody.
So where was the kid now? Maybe the ex-wife only had the visiting rights which would be during weekends? I silently nodded to myself. Maybe. I wondered why I wanted to insist on Mr. Lombardi having a broken marriage.
I whipped my head from side to side. Was there anyone else in this huge place? Gardener? Butler? But even the house helps I thought earlier didn’t come out from the corners of the house when they should be the one answering the door. This was beginning to feel strange to me.
But all of my negative thoughts were temporarily whisked away when I saw the pool through the floor to ceiling awning window at the side of the house. The window was obviously a one-way glass because it was tinted in such a way that the sunlight outside wouldn’t stream inside the house. Another weird thing I noticed. If I hadn’t known better, I would’ve thought Mr. Lombardi was a vampire. The silly idea actually made me smile which in return made the man in question hiss.
My eyes flew at him and caught him staring right into my smile. No, I didn’t think he was actually looking at the smile. He was looking down my mouth as if he wanted to devour it. His eyes were hooded, his teeth were bared between his thinning lips and a tic on his jaw was pulsing like a tic-tock of the clock.
I looked away again and cleared my throat. “Will it be alright if I come back tomorrow? I didn’t bring anything with me other than my wallet. I really thought we’ll just be going on an interview. I didn’t bring a change of clothes.”
“What if you’re not coming back?”
“I need the money I’ll get from this job, Mr. Lombardi. I’m definitely coming back.”
“I’ll give you money now but you have to stay. There’s a room at the second level that has a closet full of clothes. They’re new so you don’t have to worry if you want to use them.”
I gawked at him in disbelief. I wanted to ask if why he would have a room with new clothes that didn’t belong to anyone. But I held my tongue because I knew he would only give me another of his reticent response again.
“I know I stated in the contract that you’ll be going home during weekends but I need you now.” He paused to scan my entire body that made me shiver before he settled his gaze back to my eyes. “I hope it’ll be ok if you stay until the next weekend comes.”
“Well…” I shrugged and thought that if I started early, the more money I’d be paid even if I haven’t started my work. “Of course. I’ve got nothing to do at home, anyway.” I gave him a smile and a nod.
He blew a ragged breath before stepping to the side away from me. “Thank you. And while my kid hasn’t come, will it be alright if you act as my aid around the house? My cook left me. I had someone cleaning the house but only on Wednesdays. I don’t really know how to make my meal. I’ve been living with cereals for days now.”
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