Page 10 of Play of Love
Chapter 4
Amy
* * *
It wasn’t.
I woke up with a headache but I still had a positive attitude. Mom sounded good on the phone and that gave me some added energy, but when I got to work I saw that Mr. Mancini had trashed the living room again.
Mr. Mancini.
Addressing him like that in my mind, or just by thinking about him, didn’t seem right at all. It seemed too formal for someone like him who’d come home, saw that the place was clean, then thought to trash it all again. Like an animal would.
And when I said trash, I meant it. The place looked like he must have had some wild party. Again, there were pizza boxes, bottles of beer and drinks, and bits of potato chips and Cheetos wedged into the cream carpet. And, that nasty smell I managed to tone down yesterday was back again.
What the hell was I going to do?
I hadn’t even touched my actual work yet. I’d managed to go over the list of my duties and I could see that there was a lot. The first and foremost thing being that I needed to make sure he was at the ESPN show. Since the show was early, like ten o’clock early, Zelda suggested trying to get him into a routine of waking up at around eight or nine. She’d cautioned that he liked to sleep in till all hours of the day because of his party lifestyle.
He was upstairs now and I knew those women were with him. I highly doubted that they’d playedwhose shoe is thisall night.
There was no way that I was even going near that room. There had to be another way, and as for this mess I didn’t think I could stand it. Particularly if it was going to be an everyday thing. The last PA left over a month ago so I was expecting a lot of administrative work. I always liked to sort that out first before dealing with events or other activities.
Deciding to leave the living room for later, I made my way through the sitting room in search of the office. I wanted to see what I was up against and maybe make a list so I could prioritize.
As I walked through the room the mess grieved me even more as it seriously damaged the appearance of the house. This was such a beautiful home with its floor-to-ceiling windows, which provided an abundance of natural light and a fantastic view of the beach. The vaulted ceilings and wide-open spaces were refreshing and attractive. I could imagine having dinner parties and opening the sliding doors to let in the sea breeze and gorgeous sunshine.
I marveled at the antique-looking fireplace in the corner with logs set neatly inside. If this was my house I’d sit there at sunset with the fire on, even though it was always warm in Malibu. I’d sit there and get cozy with a good book and my special blend of hot cocoa and cinnamon, watching the sun go down.
It was a nice thought. Perhaps one day I could have a nice place of my own. I’d never be able to afford somewhere like this even if I got the position at Dior, but I’d get a nice place.
I moved on to the study and immediately felt like I’d invaded his privacy. The room was filled with family photos. There were lots of pictures of who I guessed were his mother and sister. They looked very similar, but he looked exactly like his father. I walked out of the room, resisting the temptation to snoop around. It didn’t feel right.
The room next to it had to be the office. The door was closed but the giveaway was that he’d thrown all his mail at the entrance of the door. It looked to me like there was at least a year’s worth of mail there and I wasn’t looking forward to sorting through it. I gathered up what I could and moved it to one side so I could open the door, which only exposed more filth.
The wooden floor was covered in bits of paper, as if someone had bit it up and spat it out. It was weird. That was how the whole floor looked. There was also dust and cobwebs all over the desk. This didn’t look like it hadn’t been used in over a month. It looked like it hadn’t been used in years.
I walked in and switched on the lights. As I did, I was certain I heard something scuttle past me, but there was nothing there when I looked.
I grimaced at the sight of open files all over the place, in disorder just like the rest of the house, but since this was within my job description I thought I’d keep myself in here today.
Then maybe I’d brave the task of getting him up early tomorrow. He was an athlete and looked in great shape, so I was sure he wouldn’t be averse to a morning jog or stroll, especially if that was on the beach.
Right now I’d clean up the floor a little and then get on to sorting through the documents, files, and mail. After that I’d deal with the emails.
I went to get the vacuum cleaner from the cupboard where I left it yesterday and wheeled it into the office. I then plugged it in and started going over the floors, sucking up the bits of paper. Within five minutes I had to empty the holder because it was so full, and I wasn’t even a quarter way across the room.
I honestly needed to speak to Zelda about a maid. This was completely ridiculous. Sure, I was getting paid for doing something a tad easier than my job, but by doing so I wasn’t getting to do what I was required to do.
“Hey, what the hell is this damn noise !”
I whirled around so fast I nearly tripped over the vacuum’s cord. Joshua Mancini stood in the doorway looking like he would incinerate me with his fiery gaze. Even though he’d just gotten out of bed he still miraculously managed to look good, with his hair ruffled, a white jersey top showing off his defined muscles, and loose sweatpants that hung low on his hips.
The vacuum was still going so he moved over to the plug and yanked it out of the socket.
“What the hell are you doing here again?” he yelled, returning his gaze to me.
“Work,” I replied, trying my best to keep my tone under control.
