"You must be Lara."

Lara was caught by surprise. "Yes, I'm Lara."

"I was expecting an introduction from my new lady but she never showed." He was in a blue shirt and grey trousers.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Lara put the glass down, "We had to clean up after the welcome party and it took forever."

"That's okay." He withdrew his hands, "Come to my room and tell me all about you."

"Right now?" She stared into his dark blue eyes and he nodded. "I think it's a little late for that. We can talk when I serve you breakfast tomorrow."

"I'll have breakfast with the family." He leaned in.

She felt uncomfortable with his closeness and took two steps back, "Um, when I'm cleaning your room then."

"I won't be home after breakfast." He took two steps forward. He was a couple of inches taller than her.

She didn't know what to say. Even if his intentions were good and devoid of other plans, it sounded wrong to be with him in his room at that hour.

"I-"

Her voice was lost when he closed the gap between them and brought his head down to her ear.

He whispered, "I don't like butter. I'm allergic to peanuts."

He lingered over her for some seconds before withdrawing and caught her gaze.

She managed to say, "Sure," oblivious to how it might have sounded due to her nervousness.

He smelled absolutely incredible, a dash of mint sitting in the air that denied her a bit of her sanity. His dark hair was ruffled, tresses dancing along his temples as his dark blue eyes twinkled in amusement like bright stars in the night. His stubble was neatly presented, hugging his sharp jawlines.

Jayden then turned and also poured himself a glass of water. When he was done drinking it, he said, "Good night." and walked out of the kitchen, his strong back coming into Lara's view.

Lara remained stiff and tried to process the whole situation. Had he been trying to flirt with her?

And how was an Adonis the son of Mrs. Benson? Why hadn't she been warned?

How was she supposed to attend to him without developing any inch of attraction?

His dull pink lips had been so close to her skin that she shuddered at the mere thought of encountering their contact.

She vigorously shook her head, as if that would enable her to get rid of persisting images, as she headed back to her room to try to catch some sleep before her alarm woke her up at 5:30 am.

***

Brianna and Katy decided to begin going for early morning walks since their new duties were less involving as compared to the first.

Brianna was tall, slender, had light brown hair and hazel eyes whereas Katy was shorter, thicker, and had darker hair with chocolate brown eyes.

It was 6:30am and they were already walking back home when a man jogged right past them.

"Mr. Benson!" Brie called out, and he turned around.

"Brie, Katy." He breathed as he walked to them, "I didn't see you back there."

"Looking good Mr. B." Katy said and he chuckled.

"Thank you. I see you're embarking on an early morning walk."

They both nodded, and Brie asked, "Where's Mrs. B?"

"Still asleep." He drank some water from his bottle. "I didn't want to wake her. But you should probably get back before she wakes."

"Yeah, we want to walk with you." Katy blurted out and Brie looked at her.

"Sure, why not?" Mr. Benson smiled and he joined them walk back home.

"Brie, how's your mother?" He asked Brianna, who was on his right.

She pushed her hair behind her ear and answered, "She's alright. Getting better everyday."

"That's good to hear. Send my regards when you talk to her next. And Katy, how are the college applications going?"

Katy sighed and was hesitant for a few seconds.

"I don't think I want to push on with it."

"Why is that?" He looked at her.

Katy sighed twice, and Mr. Benson noticed her uneasiness surrounding the subject.

"Don't worry. We can talk about it later."

Katy nodded and forced a smile.

***

Dana, Tess and Bo had finished preparing the breakfast for the family which included Mrs. Benson, Mr. Benson, Jayden, two of Jayden's friends who had spent the night over because they lived far and had come for the welcome party and an uncle spending the weekend at the house.

Mrs. Benson, Jayden's uncle and his two friends were already at the table when the maids were serving breakfast.

"Jayden tells me you are quite the impressor." Mrs. Benson smiled at Jayden's female friend whose skin was as smooth as a baby's buttocks.

She returned the smile, "He's quite the exaggerator." She said and Mrs. Benson laughed.

Just then, Jayden came down to join the family in a pair of jeans, a grey T-shirt and a pair of sneakers.

Lara quickly served him, devoid of any butter as per his revelation of dislike for it.

"Jayden," His mom began, "This is Lara, your personal maid, the one I was talking to you about."

Jayden looked up at Lara and their eyes met, this time in broad daylight.

She was absolutely beautiful, he thought, scrutinizing the nervous way she sucked in her pink lower lip, her chocolate eyes glowing when he returned his gaze to hers.

"Hi, Lara."

"Hi," she said, and his mother chipped in,

"Lara, you'll address him as Sir."

I'm going nuts, Lara thought. All the formality. And hearing how Mrs. Benson pronounced 'maid' made Lara cringe all the time.

She made it sound so worthless and insignificant. If Lara didn't need the money badly, she wouldn't have put up with it.

"Yes, Madam," she replied.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Mrs. Benson asked.

"Huh?" Lara blurted out and quickly rephrased her question, "Sorry, I beg your pardon?"

"Don't just stand there. Go do some cleaning. When he eats at the table, you start cleaning early. When he doesn't, you clean when he's done eating in his room. So go now."

"Oh, yes, sure." Lara left the dining area and headed upstairs to Jayden's room.

Before getting out of sight, she heard Mrs. Benson calling for Brianna.

"Brianna's in our room tidying it up." Mr. Benson raised his voice so his wife could hear, as he descended the stairs.

He met Lara on the way.

"How are you doing?" He smiled without pausing.

"Fine, Sir. Thanks for asking."

Lara reached Jayden's room and entered, closing the door behind her.

"Wow." She stared at the breathtaking view first, before she admired the classic adjoining bathroom and the King sized bed which wasn't laid.

His suitcases were open, and it was obvious he had not finished unpacking. Some clothes had been spread out on the bed.

She entered the bathroom and loved the scent of his shower gel.

"If I don't take some of this before I leave here..." She slowly walked around the bathroom, then entered the bedroom again.

She strolled towards the glass doors and opened them, then walked towards the balcony with a beautiful view of the garden.

"I love this view." She said to herself, stayed there admiring it for two minutes then walked back into the room.

She deliberately fell on the bed which was bouncy, making her get attached more.

She turned to her right side and noticed a bunch of papers, books and items.

She sat up and went through some of his textbooks and notes. He had a very nice handwriting, she admitted.

She picked up another book, and noticed something else in the pile of papers and books.

Her eyes widened when she picked up the items. "These are condoms. Five of them."

She stared at them with a semi opened mouth and heard the door close.

She immediately shot her head up and he was standing at the door.

"Sir..." She trailed off and couldn't move.