In the House of Spite Ch. 01

It made her belly and thighs quiver.

"Sit in the living room to fold laundry! Go easy on your feet!!"

Her fingers tightened on the basket's cold, firm handles. Her socked feet tingled and flexed against the tiles in the floor.

That had sounded like a strict order. The tone was the meanest thing she'd heard from him. However, he was clearly demanding that she sit down and rest while folding the clothes. He wasn't berating her.

"Uhm ... Yes Sir?" She padded on over to the living room and sat at the far end of the couch Mr. Booker was on. Baby Blue was off somewhere. Gunner hopped off of his place on the armchair and took a spot near Pearl's feet. When she playfully poked his side with her toe, he looked up at her and gave one of those doggy grins. Then he sniffed his way over to her foot to tap it with his nose.

Aside from these little moments with Gunner, Pearl didn't do much else, just folding clothes, practically ignoring Mr. Booker. That was fine. He was practically ignoring her too, lost in the show on the television screen. It was a pretty big TV.

Eventually Pearl had to get up to put the clothes away in the bedroom. Then she had to go back to the laundry room. The comforter looked great. She rushed to get it on the bed upstairs, then she went back downstairs to put the towels in the dryer. Still, she remembered to empty the lint tray. Lint trays were one of her obsessions. In her opinion, they NEEDED to be checked out before and after using a dryer.

The dishes had to be done. Thank goodness there weren't many in the sink. She had plenty of time to wipe the counters and stove down.

His voice was behind her!

Pearl literally jumped in place. When did he show up? He was really fast!

"Hey, I think you did enough for today. Come play with the dogs for a little bit. I'll put the towels away later."

A hand on her throat, spinning around to blink up at him, Pearl had to grab her breath again. Mr. Booker was looking down at her with happy winces under his eyes.

"Yes ... yes Sir," Pearl quietly said. She followed him into the living room, pretending she didn't want to admire his long legs.

"I need the boys to be used to you," he said as he knelt down on the carpet in the living room. The dogs were looking pretty chill. He reached over to hug Gunner close. That dog looked up to lick his chin and then snuggled. Petting his head and back, Mr. Booker went on. "You really won't be able to do much if they go crazy every time you show up."

Pearl sat down on the couch and reached over to gently scratch around Baby Blue's ear. His pretty eyes closed in bliss, and he yawned a little. His tail beat against the couch's cushions. "They're really sweet," she said. "No complaints so far." A rope toy was suddenly tossed into her lap. She was startled, but then she looked up at Mr. Booker's casual smile and said, "Oh, okay."

She lowered herself to the floor and lured Baby Blue to her level for a game of tug-of-war. That put some zip in his mood, and Pearl soon found herself almost struggling to keep the dog from dragging her body across the room.

Eventually, after both dogs had their time jumping around and enjoying Pearl's company, Mr. Booker announced that she should probably clock out. Pearl brushed as much hair as possible off her clothes and followed him back into the kitchen.

He watched her clock out. Then he bent over the kitchen table to count the hours and minutes. Pearl could see his rather soft looking lips mouth out silent numbers. He pulled his cell phone out of a pocket and pulled up a calculator app. Then he said, "Wait here," and went upstairs. Pearl stood like a statue as she waited.

He had a wad of cash and a handful of change when he was back in the kitchen, and he gave it all to her. She counted it all in front of him. Then she grinned and put it in the wallet in her purse. "Thank you, Sir!"

"So," he said as he put the heel of a hand on the tabletop, his fingers curled over the edge, "you think you'd mind keeping my house straight for me?"

"Sounds like exactly what I need," Pearl said. An occupied mind could help keep someone from falling into depression, and Pearl didn't want to walk on that road again.

Contract, signed. Spare house key, right in her purse. A new sense of purpose, earned. Regular income, on its way.

Pearl thanked Mr. Booker and left out the front door. As she walked to her Daddy's truck, she thought she saw, and maybe heard, some movements in the trees. Her feet halted. Her head jerked towards the distraction, but she saw nothing.

Probably a wild animal.

She got in the driver's seat and started the ignition.

***