Maid for Me (7 page)

Mina stood by the doorway, waiting for Jaiden’s next order. She swayed her head as if the music he played mesmerized her.

A minute later, someone knocked on the door. Jaiden opened his eyes and rose from his seat and said, “Come in.”

Bunion walked through the door with Madison following behind him. Bunion gave Mina a look that made her want to cower.

“Young Master Jaiden, Miss Helwick is here.”

“Thank you, Bunion.”

Before Bunion exited the room, he gave Mina a I’m-watching-you glare. Mina returned his look with an apologetic one.

Then she checked out Jaiden’s guest and wondered if she were an actress. Miss Helwick wore a white lacey summer dress. Her attractive toes were painted black and white.

Mina scratched the back of her head.
Do
I have a problem? I seem to like nice feet.

Madison approached Jaiden and gave him a peck on the right cheek.

“Good morning, Jai-Jai. I’ve been dying to hear you play again.” Madison batted her eyes. She glanced over at Mina and puckered her brow.

“Why is your maid just standing there, Jai-Jai? I’m parched.” Madison licked her upper lip.

“What would you like to drink, Miss Helwick?” Mina asked, a la perfect maid mode.

Madison fanned her face. “Chilled pomegranate juice, please. Five ice cubes.”

Do the cubes have to be perfect squares too? Crap.
Nodding, Mina asked, “Okay. Would you like something to drink too, Boss?”

“No thank you. After you bring back the drink, you can go vacuum my room. I’ll summon you again when I need you.”

“Okay.”

The minute Mina left the room, Madison chuckled. “Your maid looks funny. She even waddles a bit, don’t you think?”

“I didn’t notice,” Jaiden said.

Madison, as a child, waddled, he remembered.

“She’s a bit young to be a Daniels maid, don’t you think? What is she, thirteen?” Madison tilted her head.

“She’s probably around our age.” Jaiden smiled and cracked his knuckles. “What do you want me to play?”

“Something fast and lively so I can dance.”

“You got it.” Jaiden closed his eyes and played a jazzed-up version of
Mary Had a Little Lamb
. Madison wrinkled her brow, chuckled, and danced.

Five minutes later, Mina returned with a frosty glass of freshly squeezed pomegranate juice. Like Jaiden’s breakfast, she had the glass on a platter with a silver lid over it. Taking care not to spill the juice, Mina walked over to the pretty socialite dancing. She set the platter down on the coffee table and removed the lid before leaving the privileged couple alone.

A handsome match made in heaven, Mina would admit.

Outside the room, she finally took a breather. Down the hallway stood Bunion waggling his thick forefinger.

“Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t from the agency, Miss Lin? Thank god my Young Master wasn’t upset.” He pouted.

“I’m sorry, Bunion. I didn’t mean to lie to you.” Mina patted Bunion’s shoulder. “I hope we can still be friends.”

Bunion shot his chin skyward and brushed away her hand. “We weren’t friends to begin with . We’re also not paid to chit-chat. Please be more professional.”

Mina bowed her head. “Right. Sorry about that.”

Bunion turned away, head still held high. Mina lugged the vacuum cleaner upstairs to Jaiden’s room. First day on the job and she had already royally pissed off her coworker.

~*~

Jaiden took a seat next to Madison on the sofa. They engaged in idle chit-chat about the weather and their childhood. Then silence engulfed them. Jaiden tapped his fingers on the sofa and stared at the orchids in the vase.

Madison sipped her glass of juice before she gagged, dropping the glass, spilling dark red juice all over her dress
.
As sudden as the spill was, Madison’s eyes overflowed with tears. She threw herself at Jaiden and hugged him, pressing pomegranate juice onto his light blue shirt.

“What’s wrong, Madi?” he asked.

Madison wiped her eyes and sniffled. She hugged him again, almost crushing his ribs. “Promise me you’ll help me no matter what, Jai-Jai. Promise me you’ll always take care of me.”

Jaiden pried Madison’s surprisingly strong, skinny arms away from him. He wondered what all these girls were eating that made them so strong.

“Before I promise you anything, I have to know what’s wrong first,” he said.

“Well… I’m pregnant, Jai-Jai and you’re the father of the baby.”

“What?” Jaiden didn’t even make out with Madi yesterday. Besides, the last time he checked, he was still pristine.

“What I mean is I want you to pretend you’re the father of my baby. I want you to marry me.”

Jaiden stared at Madison and laughed.

“I’m not joking, Jaiden.” She slapped his shoulder. “If you don’t help me, Daddy will kill me. You know how Daddy is.”

Jaiden touched his temples. Michael Helwick cared more about his reputation and face than Jameson Daniels, threefold. “Who’s the real father?”

Madison buried her visage in her hands. “The problem is, I don’t know.”

Jaiden coughed. “You don’t know?”

“I was blitzed at a party last month. You remember how I used to look like, Jai. From an ugly duckling, I turned into a swan.” Madison unburied her face. “I loved the way boys finally looked at me. That night at the party, I think I hooked up with at least five guys.”

“Five guys? At least?” Jaiden looked away, his eyes stormy. Irresponsible women vexed him. They reminded him of Emma Daniels, the woman who had walked out of his life thirteen years ago.

Jaiden stared at his piano and shook his head. “I really don’t think I can help you, Madi.”

Madison grunted. “What am I supposed to do then?” Fat tears rolled down the sides of her face. “I swear I’m going to kill myself.”

Jaiden ran his fingers through his hair, his brow furrowed. “Let’s get you cleaned up first. We’ll talk about this later.”

Sobbing, Madison said, “Thanks, Jaiden. I knew I could count on you.” She kissed Jaiden on the cheek and then trailed kisses down his neck. As good as her kisses felt, Jaiden had no intention of marrying her and being the foster father of her baby. He didn’t need someone else’s child to suck away his freedom. He pushed Madison away.

“We’ll think of something, something that doesn’t involve marriage between you and me. Go upstairs, take a shower, and change.” Jaiden walked over to his piano. To Jaiden, as a child Madison was strange and annoying. As a young adult, she seemed semi-psychotic. Jaiden played his piano like the Energizer Bunny on steroids, drowning out Madison’s squealing protests with beautiful music.

*SIX*

Madison stormed upstairs into Jaiden’s bedroom, tripping on an extension cord attached to the vacuum cleaner Mina used. Madison cursed and kicked the vacuum cleaner across the room. She kicked the dogs and cats she owned the same way when her mood deemed it necessary for her to physically vent.

“Can I help you with something, Miss Helwick?” Mina stared at the red stains on Madison’s dress. At first, she thought Jaiden had stabbed Madison.

I have to stop watching ninja assassin films.

Madison removed her dress and walked into Jaiden’s bathroom in nothing but her bra and undies. She was stick-thin, like she had had all her fat sucked out with a lipo-vacuum.

“Start by shutting up and getting me something to change into,” Madison snapped.

Unless Jaiden liked to cross-dress, Mina had no idea where to get the princess something to change into. She walked into Jaiden’s closet- a space large enough to house four hobos- and rummaged through it, taking out a light pink t-shirt. She left the shirt outside the closed bathroom door.

“I left a shirt for you, Miss Helwick, outside the door.”

“I’ll call if I need you. You may go.”

“Uh, okay.” Mina scratched the back of her head.
Am I Miss Helwick’s maid or Jaiden Daniels’s maid? Jaiden never said anything about me having to serve his girlfriend too.
As Mina finished cleaning the carpet stains, the loud vacuum vroom-sounds hogged her eardrums. Five minutes later, someone tapped Mina’s left shoulder. Mina shut the vacuum and spun around. Madison, wearing Jaiden’s pink shirt, stared sabers at Mina. Her dripping wet hair dampened the carpet. She flung her dirtied dress at Mina.

“Why didn’t you clean my dress? It’s one of a kind, you know? Daddy bought it for me. What kind of a maid is fat and lazy like you?”

Mina opened her mouth to speak. People could call her fat, but how dare the socialite call her lazy. At first, Mina thought her voice grew manly when a male’s voice filled the bedroom.

“Mina’s my maid, Madi,” Jaiden said, leaning on the doorway of his bedroom. “She only listens to me.”

What am I, a ping-pong ball?
Mina thought.

Jaiden closed the distance between him and Mina with long strides. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward him. Her hands pressed against his solid chest. Jaiden sent her a fast signal with a wink of his eye.

This will hurt me more than it’ll hurt you
, Jaiden thought. Without a warning, he bent his head and covered his lips over Mina’s. A brief electric shock running from her lips to her toes prevented her from pushing Jaiden away or slapping him. Jaiden wondered if his maid’s eyes would be stuck in a permanent state of widened shock.

“Sorry,” he mouthed. Mina raised her hand to slap him silly for stealing her first kiss and making her heart run a marathon. He seized her hand before it landed on his cheek. Holding it in the air like a trophy about to slip from his hands, Jaiden faced Madison.

Mina tried to free her hand but failed. She had underestimated Jaiden’s strength. That and her heart’s violent reaction weakened her.

“Madi-Mina here is actually my girlfriend. She just likes to pretend to be my maid. You know-roleplaying and stuff.” Jaiden hugged his arm around Mina. “She’s also pregnant. So you see why I can’t really help you since I can only marry one girl.”

“What?” Mina and Madison said in unison with both their jaws dropped.

“Who the hell is she anyway? Jameson is going to be furious.” Madison grunted.

“No, my father will be fine with her,” Jaiden said. “And he definitely won’t be as furious as Michael if he knew about you-know-what.” Jaiden eyed Madison’s belly.

“Slut,” Madison screamed at Mina, shoving her as she ran out of the bedroom.

“
I hate you, Jaiden Daniels!” Madison projected from the hallway.

“Ditto,” Mina said, wiping her mouth and pointing at Jaiden. “I can sue you for sexual harassment.” She berated her heart for thumping.

“Hold that thought.” Jaiden walked into his bathroom to brush his teeth for exactly two minutes. He returned to his bedroom with minty fresh breath and zero Mina-germs.

“Fifty-grand,” he said.

“Excuse me?”

“I’ll pay you fifty-grand if you pretend to be my pregnant girlfriend.”

At first, even Jaiden couldn’t believe the words that had just come out of his mouth. For one, Madison was right. Jameson Daniels would dig his own grave if he believed his son had really impregnated a girl like Mina Lin. Jaiden knew he would have to work out some of the kinks later. He analyzed the girl before him.

With a miraculous makeover, she could faintly resemble an heiress or princess from somewhere make-believe.

Happens all the time on TV and in movies
, Jaiden mused.

He could technically lie to the world about Mina’s identity. Jameson Daniels would accept her if he believed she was someone of importance. Like the Princess of Prunai-Pudai, an unknown island somewhere between Dubai and Brunei. Then, after Madison would stop bothering Jaiden, they would drop the act, pay Mina, and everything would return to normal again.