Page 1 of Maid to Desire
ChapterOne
My hands shookas I ended the call with my baby sister, Luna. Her words still seemed like a dream. No. They were a damn nightmare. Mom was sick. The woman, who was like a warrior and raised eight girls on her own.
“This can’t be happening!” I screamed as I set my phone down on my desk. “The doctor is wrong. We’ll get a second opinion.”
A sigh of defeat escaped me. Luna had just told me moments ago that mom had gotten a second opinion. The diagnosis was the same both times… cancer.
“Get it together, Melinda. Now isn’t the time to be weak,” I sniffled. “Mom needs you.”
I stood up, wiped the tears from my eyes, and then headed out of my office. I needed to speak to my boss, Caroline. She was going to lose her mind at what I was about to say, but family would always come first. Always.
Standing in front of her door, I knocked three times and waited for her to respond. When she didn’t reply after a minute, I knocked on the door again.
“Caroline,” I called out. I knew she was in there. Chances were she was in there with our new intern, Travis. “Caroline, I need to talk to you. It’s important.”
“Jesus, Melinda!” she snapped. The door opened, revealing her and Travis. “Can’t it wait? I’m super busy.”
“I see this,” I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest and taking in her appearance.
Her blonde hair looked like a rat’s nest on top of her head and her cheeks were flushed. Her skirt was hiked up mid-thigh. Her white blouse was wrinkled and untucked from her skirt. The red lipstick she wore earlier was now all over Travis’ face, neck, and collar. He was buckling his belt. Our eyes met and he smirked.
“Hey, Melinda,” he half-ass waved.
“Hello,” I replied flatly then looked at Caroline. “I need to take some time off.”
“Absolutely not!” she shook her head.
“Caroline, I don’t ever ask for time off. This is an emergency,” I pleaded.
“We have deadlines to meet.”
“Fine,” I huffed. “What if I work from my laptop? I can meet those deadlines using my--”
“No. Not happening. I need you here in the office,” she snapped, shaking her head and sitting on the corner of her desk. “My answer is no.”
“Caroline, I bust my ass for this company. I don’tevercall out. I’m usually the first one here and the last one to go home.” My heart raced as I rapped off my defense. I could tell by the look in her eyes, she wasn’t going to budge. “Caroline, please, give me at least two weeks to work from home. My sister just called me--”
“Don’t you have like twenty sisters or something?” she scoffed then looked back at Travis. “Her mom’s legs were open more than7-11.She popped out a lot of kids,” she laughed.
“Caroline!” I yelled. She and Travis both looked at me. “Don’t even go there! Don’t you dare say another word about my mother! Mydyingfucking mother!”
Travis looked remorseful. Caroline on the other hand seemed unphased by my words. In fact, she looked annoyed by me.
“I have a business to run. Not a charity,” she said snidely.
Charity?I repeated to myself.
My hands balled at my sides as my blood pressure raised. My heart pounded so loudly that it sounded like my heart was in my ears. The woman had crossed the line. My elder or not, she was about to get a piece of my mind.
“Then I guess you can take this job and shove it straight up your ass because I fucking quit,” I growled.
“Quit?” she gasped dramatically. “You can’t quit. How else are you going to make a living in this city? Stripping?”
“What!” I shrieked.
“I mean, I guess you’d be good at that. You do have the Latina curves,” she grinned likeCruella de Vil.
“Caroline,” Travis whispered. She glanced back at him.
