Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

~ALEX'S POV~

I felt small and intimidated as Big Harry sized me up. The tiny office that contained a large mahogany desk with chapped edges, and two plastic chairs, was stuffy and had a stale, musky smell. Big Harry's eyes finally decided to stop its wandering and fixated on my small bo0bs.

"Are you going to help me or not?" I snapped, finally overcoming my irritation. His response was a smirk, and a raised eyebrow. He raised up his eyes to look into mine, I held his gaze, trying to show him I wasn't intimidated by his bulk.

"It's going to be hard." He finally replied. His big shoulders rolled underneath his monster T-shirt as he picked out a stick of cigarette from its pack.

"How hard?"

He didn't reply immediately, he took his time lighting up his cigarette, by the time he was done, I was already tapping my feet impatiently on the bleached, tiled floor.

"Listen Susan..."

"Alex." I cut him off. One of his brows shot up. In surprise? That I cannot tell.

"Alex? Isn't that a man's name?" Big Harry puffed out perfect thin rings of cigarette smoke.

"Alexandria is not a man's name." I enunciated the 'not'. He didn't say anything, and I was fast loosing the tiny bit of patience I had left.

"Listen Big Harry, I'm sorry if I sounded brief with you. But I'm desperate. I need a job badly. Please help me." I put all the sadness I could muster into my voice hoping he'd pity me at least.

Big Harry helped local people like us secure jobs in the home of rich folks. A nanny, a gardener, a cook, a housekeeper, any kind of services the big men required the poor people to do, Big Harry was your surest plug.

I'm not the type of person that easily asks for help, but I'm desperate. My mom's health is deteriorating, and my younger sister's school fees had to be paid. I had lost my job as a waitress in a local restaurant, because I had poured dirty water on one of the customers. The b!tch had made a scathing remark about my mom, coupled with the fact that I was having a bad day too. I couldn't help myself, I lashed out at her smirking face, screaming all the obscene words I know. And crying when my Madam came out and took one long look at the scene, and then told me to 'fuck off and never set your filthy legs upon this premises again'. And I wondered why people were so mean to other people.

"The problem I was talking about..." Big Harry's voice startled me. I looked at him hopefully. He obviously knew how desperate I was, and he was getting immense satisfaction from it. I cursed him inwardly.

"You see, the job slot I have currently is gender based. And that's a huge problem."

I held my breath and counted from one to ten, before letting out a long sigh. I suddenly felt tired. Everyone had been so optimistic that Big Harry would help me get a job, and somehow everything will be alright. I wasn't expecting to be disappointed.

"A family in the estate urgently needs a housekeeper." He paused to let tendrils of cigarette smoke drift out of his lips.

"I was surprised at first, 'cos this is the first time I'm specifically asked to bring a male housekeeper. You know females are the one always sorted after for that kind of job."

I nodded, not knowing what to say. I stood up wearily, murmured my thanks to him. I was already at the door when he stopped me with;

"Wait Alex, just a minute. "

Rolling my eyes, I turned around,expecting him to suggest that I have sex with him so that he'd be able to convince the rich guys to take a female housekeeper.

He had leaned in conspiratorially, his eyes wandering all over my body again. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes again.

"What's your bra size?"

My cheeks became hot when I heard the question and I couldn't help it. I rolled my eyes and kissed my teeth.

"And why are you interested in knowing my bra size?!" I snapped furiously at him. His eyes shone in amusement, a smirk etched to his lips.

"I'm trying to get you a job."

"You're trying to get me a..."

I gasped loudly as it finally clicked somewhere in my brain.

"Oh...no, no, no..." I shook my head, trying to absorb the ridiculousness of Big Harry's idea.

"Yes. It will work."

He reached out to a half empty bottle of gin and opened it, tilting his head back and taking a long swig.

"But.. "

"But you're skinny. Your small boobs can be taken care of, efficiently." His eyes lingered leeringly on my chest.

I crossed my arms, protectively, over my bosom , feeling my cheeks burn in embarrassment.

I opened my mouth to protest again, but he waged his index finger and shook his head.

"All you need is a manly haircut, some bandage for your boobs and a change of wardrobe."

"Hmm..," it was just so suspiciously easy. Like I'd just walk into a billionaires lair, with a male haircut and flattened boobs, and just expect to get away with it?

"You should be thankful for once that you were not created to be curvy and thick."

I frowned and said nothing. But my mind was racing, weighing the risks involved. If I was caught, what would happen? Rich families could get very nasty when they find out they've been played. They might arrest me and jail me for a very long time.

They might even make sure I don't get a job ever again. Or they might just have a good sense of humor, and laugh it off.

Big Harry seemed to be reading my mind, because the next thing he said helped to speed up my decision making process.

"I'm not usually allowed to disclose the pay before hand, but this family is willing to pay a whooping sum of two thousand dollar."

I whipped my head up immediately to look into his face, to make sure he was not smirking and teasing me. His face was damn serious. Two thousand dollar? A year? That was a very handsome pay, compared to the miserly 200 dollar per month I was receiving in my previous job.

"Per month."

"Per month?" I repeated in confusion.

"Two thousand dollars, per month."