Chapter One

 

The best part about graduating was... graduating. I mean, it meant an end to twelve years of education - fourteen if you counted kindergarten and junior kindergarten. And that had been my life for... my whole life! In fact, it had been the focus of my life.

But now it was over and it was all meant to prepare me for the work world. Only it wasn't all that good at preparing me for a good job in the work world. Those needed years more education - which my mother couldn't afford. She worked as a secretary. She made enough to pay the rent on our two bedroom apartment, but that was it.

Anyway, I had little idea what I wanted to do. Maybe I had no ambition. People had always called me a dreamer, and I'd often had my nose stuck deep in a book of some sort, usually about people with fabulous lives, living in castles or such.

What did I want to do? Well, the question really was what could I do that people would pay me to do? And the answer was; not much.

At least, not much payment.

The biggest employer in town was, ironically, the college. But it was a private college for rich people, a really snooty ivy league college called Benton's Academy. I had heard it cost fifty thousand dollars a year in tuition, so the idea of actually attending there hadn't even entered my mind.

Going there, on the other hand, was another matter. I drove my mother's fourteen year old economy car onto the campus and then to the administration building where I applied for work. After all, a college like that needed a lot more people to keep it running than just teachers. Maybe, I figured, I could get work in one of the cafeterias or book stores or something.

Certainly they weren't going to be getting a lot of applicants from among the students!

I was sent to the book store, which was great since I loved books, but they only had a part-time position available. I took it, on the theory that it could develop into more. It did, but not in the way I had imagined. In fact, in a way I could never have imagined. And I had always had a great imagination!

It was only my second shift there when I noticed a man staring at me. He was staring in a kind of familiar manner. I mean, in the way of men who liked what they saw. He wasn't leering or anything, but he sure didn't care if I noticed him looking. What was more he was old! With graying hair!

I thought that was kind of rude. And also icky. But I didn't really think much of it. Sometimes men looked at me rudely. Sometimes they even said rude things. That was something I'd gotten used to years ago.

The thing is, he looked very dignified, very... stern, in a very expensive three piece suit. He looked like a guy who could be running the college, and shouldn't be ogling teenage girls. He was definitely not the sort that I was used to being stared at by.

I kind of casually inspected myself a little to see if I had popped a button on my shirt or had my jeans unzipped or something, but no, everything seemed okay. My blouse wasn't all that tight, though my jeans were form fitting. My hair was drawn back in a loose pony tail. There was on great reason for him to be staring.

Pervert, I thought.

But he didn't really seem like one. Then again, what did a pervert look like? I doubted they were all wearing raincoats with no pants and drooling down their chests.

I went down another aisle and got some more books off the counter, where I had stacked them, and decided to ignore him as I carried them to the shelves and set them up.

But then when I had put the last book there I straightened up to find him standing right next to me, looking at me.

"What is your name, girl?" he asked.

I looked at him indignantly, at first, but then his tone registered, and I immediately began to think I had done something wrong and maybe he actually was the guy who ran the college.

"Uhm, Haley, sir," I said.

"How old are you?"

I frowned. Did he think I was working under-aged or something?

"I'm eighteen," I said uncertainly.

"Good. How would you like a job?"

"Wh.... what?" I stared at him in confusion.

"What are you paid here? Ten dollars an hour? Twelve?"

I just stared at him, confused.

"I would like to pay you a thousand dollars a week. How does that sound?"

I continued to stare at him. Was he crazy!? Why would he even be offering me any jobs? He didn't know me!

"I ... don't understand," I said.

"You're a local, correct?"

I nodded my head slowly.

Understand that usually I would ignore this sort of thing. I mean, who the hell was some stranger to demand information from me!? But he was seemed like... like I said, a responsible, well-heeled, uhm, businessman type. He didn't seem drunk or crazy or anything. And I was used to being polite and deferential to adults anyway. I'm normally a very polite girl!

Actually, I'm normally a very quiet girl, kind of shy, and really had no idea how to cope with people accosting me like this.

"My son is attending Benton this year. I've purchased a house for him off-campus. He will need a personal assistant to take care of the house, drive him to school and around, and do various chores and run errands for him. A girl who works in a book store would seem quite suitable."

I was just starting to register the 'thousand dollars a week'. That was way more than my mom made! It was sure way more than I was making, or that I would make even if I was full time! For that matter, it was way more than any other job I could imagine doing would pay.

Was this guy serious!?

"My name is Joseph Brandt."

He handed me a business card.

"Call me."

He walked away, leaving me staring after him, astonished and confused. I looked down at the card. It was a very fancy one, thick and slick and gold embossed. Of course, he could still be crazy.

I shook my head and put the card away, but I sure didn't stop thinking about it.

A thousand dollars a week!?

I could buy my own car! I could rent my own apartment!

But I was cautious. I looked up the name of the company on the card - Red Wolf. It turned out it was an oil exploration and development company. And it said in the entry that the CEO was - Joseph Brandt.

Not really thinking I would get a job that would pay so much, I called him anyway.

"Mister, uhm, Brandt? My name is Haley Sommers," I said hesitantly.

"Miss Sommers. Have you decided to take the job?"

"Uh, uhm, like, where is it and... what all would I have to do?" I asked cautiously.

"As I said, you'll take care of a house, which includes buying groceries, cooking simple meals, and then driving my son to and from the campus and anywhere else he wants to do. You'll also run whatever errands he wants.

"When uhm, would I... I mean, what would my hours be?"

"You'll be working as many hours as it requires to do what I've already told you. However, I would suggest that most of your time would be your own. Think of it as a live in housekeeper slash chauffeur."

"Live in!?"

"Yes, it's quite a large house with a pool and garden. But Gregory won't need more than one room. You can choose any other. And, of course, your room and board would be in addition to your salary."

Seriously!?

"You would also have the use of the car whenever you chose."

"Uh...."

"I intend for my son to concentrate on his studies. I will pay you to take other matters off his mind and attend to them yourself."

I didn't really know what else to ask, though it sounded... astonishingly good!

"I uhm, well..."

"Yes or no, Miss Sommers. I have other girls in mind. It's not a complicated job and there are innumerable people with the required skill-set."

"Okay! Sure!"

"Very well. You start on Tuesday. The local realtor will meet you there and give you the keys. My son arrives on Friday."

***

So that was how I got the job! Amazing, isn't it!? I guess sometimes you're just in the right place at the right time!

It never really occurred to me to wonder why Mister Brandt had seen me in the book store and automatically wanted me to be the person he wanted. I guess I was just kind of innocent.

I met the realtor, and got the keys, and he showed me around the house. It was big!

"Now, Mr. Brandt has already arranged to have the gas, the power, and the other bills taken care of," the realtor said. "Also, the landscaping company that cuts the grass and trims the hedges will continue on, and the pool company as well.

The house. It was old, but big. It had a huge front porch with big pillars on either side of the door. The door led into a hallway with high ceilings and a chandelier overhead. On the right was the library and on the left the parlor - or so he called it.

Further in was a study, a kitchen, formal dining room, family dining room, a living room, a sun room, and then a screened in porch. Upstairs were five bedrooms, including the master, which was ridiculously large. But the second biggest bedroom was also huge, by my standards, and had its own en-suite bathroom.

It was clearly to be 'mine' because the realtor made a point of giving me a key and saying Mr. Brandt had a lock put on it.

That was reassuring!

Brandt was an efficient man. He'd not only had all that done but he'd had furniture purchased and already moved in. The place was fully furnished with brand new furniture. And in the case of my room that included an old fashioned four poster canopy bed. I was delighted! It looked so cool!

And it went with the house, which, like I said, was quite old.

In addition there were a couple of lovely night tables, a desk which already had a computer placed on it, a flat screen TV on the wall, a sofa and upholstered chair and coffee table, and two dressers, one with a big mirror on it.

There was also a full-length mirror on the inside of the closet door. And then, I saw that there were things hanging in the closet. That surprised me. I wondered if someone had left them behind. But when I examined them they turned out to be uniforms. Sort of. There were three of each.

One was a pinstriped suit, complete with vest and silk tie. There was a little tag on it that said 'chauffeur'. The second was labeled 'personal assistant' and consisted of a tight black pencil skirt, a tight silk blouse with ruffled collar and cuffs, and a black jacket. The third was clearly a maids outfit. It said 'housekeeper'.

Mr. Brandt hadn't said anything about uniforms! On the other hand, I suppose it made a kind of sense. Except it was a bit more formal than I had expected things would be.

I tried on the chauffeur outfit first. The pants were tight and thin, but not terribly so. I mean, they were very form-fitting, but not uncomfortable. And anyway, the jacket would cover my butt. The shirt was tight and almost sheer, but the vest meant that didn't matter. I thought I looked pretty sharp in it!

The personal assistant thing made me wrinkle my nose. It seemed kind of old fashioned. The upper chest was lacy sheer, but you couldn't see anything through it since that started above my breasts. And besides, there was the jacket.

The housekeeper outfit, though, had my eyes wide!

First off it was short! Second, it was kind of low cut! It was black, with tight white laces up the front. It had poufy short sleeves, with white lace around the cuffs, and a square collar with more white lace around it. Under the hips it spread out like a tutu, though not so bad. And it had lots and lots of white lace around the hem.

But the hem was way up my thighs! I mean, it covered my butt fine, but even then I was thinking if I bent over much I'd have to be careful! And the collar... was low. I don't mean it showed a huge amount of cleavage. But I wasn't used to showing any!

White stockings went with it, stockings that went up just past the knees, and had little black ribbons there at the top. Geeze Louise! I had to wear this!?

I tried calling him but only got his answering machine.

Well... it wasn't indecent. Mostly it was kind of corny. Did people really wear this sort of thing these days? Did I have to wear it whenever I was in the house cleaning or making him dinner?

All three outfits had shoes going with them and all three pair were high heels, very high heels, with stiletto heels.

Who had bought this stuff anyway!? And how had they even known my size!?

I walked around in one of the pair of shoes, trying to get used to it. I went through the library, which somehow or other was fully stacked with books. I wondered where Brandt had bought them. I went outside and looked at the pool and thought of how nice it would be to take a dip whenever I wanted.

Then I went back inside and checked out the master bedroom. Wow! It had an even bigger four poster bed, with thicker posts. There was no canopy, though. And there was a huge walk-in closet. The en-suite was twice as large, too.

I went back downstairs, and then into the garage. It was large, and it had two cars in it. Both were BMWs. One was larger than the other, but both were incredibly sleek and luxurious! Finally, just out of curiosity, I went downstairs to the basement.

There was a huge room there with a high ceiling. It had a pool table, a card table, various pinball games, a flat screen on the wall, a dart board, and sofas, as well as a bar. Nice!

Through a door was a bathroom and also the laundry room. Past that was a kind of storage room with metal shelves, and across from that a home gym which was brightly lit, had lots of mirrors, and half a dozen pieces of expensive looking exercise equipment on a blue carpet.

Past that was a home theater that looked super cool, and another storage room, then were the furnace and other HVAC equipment, and electrical stuff on the wall. Past that was a locked door I didn't have a key to. I wondered about that.

I went back upstairs and tried on the various outfits again, pensive about them, but starting to get used to the idea. Really it was only the maid outfit that bothered me, and mostly because I was afraid I'd look silly in it.

I moved my stuff in and then went around making sure everything was in tiptop shape. It was, which didn't leave me a lot to do. I took the two cars for a spin to get used to driving them, but I worried all the time I was about what would happen to me if I put a dent in one. I was willing to bet they weren't cheap to repair!

I slept for the first time in my big canopy bed, and loved it! I was able to lay in bed watching TV with the remote in hand, access any number of channels through the satellite dish on the roof, and then turn it off and go to sleep without getting out of bed!

The next day was Thursday. I decided to vacuum, just in case. And because I didn't have a lot else to do but watch TV or surf the internet. After that I lounged around, surfing the internet, looking for what car to buy for myself for a time, then took pictures with my phone and put them on Facebook so my friends would be jealous.

I took a picture of me in the chauffeur outfit, and one in the personal assistant outfit. I did not take one in the maid outfit!

Then, after lunch, I decided to go swimming.

The house had a big yard, and it was completely enclosed in tall, perfectly trimmed hedges. The lawn was like a carpet of green, and obviously took effort on the part of the landscaping company. The pool was extra large, blue, with a large, wide stone ledge around it, and a pool house at the far end that looked like something from ancient Greece.

Normally when I swim I wear a one-piece. That's because of experiences in the past which have been...uh... horribly embarrassing.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not huge on top. But I am kind of... largish... When I wear bikinis boys stare, and often say rude things. Which is bad enough. Worse is when I'm diving or playing around in the water and one or the other of my boobs pops out!

But I did have a bikini, even though I hadn't worn it in a while, and since things were so private I decided to wear it. The bottom was kind of tight and low and cheeky, and the top was... revealing. I mean, it wasn't immodest, exactly. But I'd bought it a few years earlier when I had ambitions of taking pride in my body.

I did take pride in my body! Kind of! But it was mostly a secret pride. I didn't like being stared at so I didn't tend to wear things which were revealing. Today I could wear it and feel sexy because no one was watching, so I did, and enjoyed myself thoroughly.

I lay back on the extra comfy lounge chairs and pretended like this was my house and I was some kind of rich chick, like a Hollywood movie star.

That was quite enjoyable right up until I turned my head and saw a guy standing there grinning at me.

I was... shocked. I yelped, and acted, for a few moments, as if I'd been caught naked, kind of jumping to my feet and covering myself with my arms while he looked at me in amusement.

"You're Miss Sommers?" he asked.

"Uhm. Uh... y-yes!"

"I'm Gregory Brandt. I came a bit early to get settled in."

"Oh ah, uhm, sure! I'm sorry! I wasn't expecting you!" I gulped.

"No reason you should have. No need to apologize either. When you do something wrong I'll let you know."

He had his father's looks and his father's look. I mean, he was tall, with wide shoulders, and very athletic looking. He was about my age, but the look on his square jawed face was far more mature, more... confident. It was the look of someone who had it all and took it for granted that whatever he wanted he would get.

"The place looks comfortable," he said, looking around.

"Your father said there would be no problem with me using the pool sometimes," I said anxiously.

He turned and looked me up and down.

"What matters now is what I say. And as it happens, I have no issue with that. Now, suppose you show me around."

"Oh ahm, I'll get dressed first and - ."

"I don't have a lot of time. What you're wearing now is fine. It certainly doesn't offend me."

I wasn't worried about offending him!

But what was I supposed to say? He was young but he had that air of authority his father had! So despite myself I had to show him around the house in my bikini!

It wasn't super revealing but it felt super weird! The bikini top showed half my boobs! Yes, I know that's normal on a beach, but not in a house alone with a guy! Especially one who was, to be honest, kind of hot!

He was way out of my league, though. I mean, he was a rich boy. Rich boys from the college didn't mix with townies except for the obvious. And I wasn't that kind of girl!

But I showed him around the library and study and all that and then upstairs to his room. And yes, I felt self-conscious standing half naked next to his bed as he inspected it! Then we went downstairs to the basement, with me leading the way of course. I was fairly sure he was staring at my ass from behind on the way down too! I mean, what guy wouldn't!?

I showed him the games room, then the gym. He seemed quite interested in the equipment.

"You can use it as well," he said.

"Oh uhm, thanks."

"I've had a trainer much of my life," he said. "My parents believe in physical fitness."

He examined one of the machines, then looked me up and down appraisingly.

"Stand straight," he said. "Shoulders back."

Whaat?

He moved fluidly, and then his hand was gripping my pony tail behind my neck. He tugged it, not ungently, and then put his other hand against my stomach!

"What are you - ."

"Yes, as I thought," he said. "You could use some exercise."

I felt stung by that, though he didn't say it as if he were insulting me.

"Your body looks fine," he said. "But that's because you're young. You need more underlying muscle here," he said, poking his fingers into my stomach.

Before I could push him away he'd moved away.

"Come here, Sommers."

Blushing, I moved over and he made me use one of the machines. It involved sitting, straddling a padded bench. Then I had to put my arms up and out to the sides, and work a pair of padded levers in and out while he explained how to set the strength. Then I had to do the same for a lower set of paddles, which was... embarrassing because, like I said, I was in a bikini! And it involved spreading my legs wide to the sides, then using my thigh muscles to pull the things in and out.

Then he had me pull on these levers attached to cables, pulling my fists out as if punching again and again, drawing the cables forward. And then came the roman chair! I was really uncomfortable there and I don't mean physically!

Although.. that too.

The roman chair is basically something you bend forward across. There's a place for the feet, and a padded angled place for your hips. You put your body across it face down and then kind of lift your upper torso up repeatedly.

Of course it also leaves your butt in the air! And he was standing right next to me. And I was really worried about the way my chest was... not upside down, but definitely bent downward. Because the cups of the bikini bra were designed to keep my boobs from going down, not up!

But he insisted and led me through the exercises, here and on other machines, until I was sweating and breathless.

"Do this every day," he said. "Your body is your temple. You want it to be at peak performance."

I was getting more used to being around him in a bikini. I wasn't feeling embarrassed now so much as very much aware of how little clothes I wore. And that partly made me self-conscious and partly was making me a little uhm... breathy.

I mean, being around this handsome rich guy and only wearing my little bikini, well, and while he wasn't flirting he definitely wasn't ignoring my body either!

I wondered... whether I might allow something to happen between him and me!