Chapter 4: The NamePlate

“Well?” He was already moving toward the door, unbothered, as if her answer were a formality.

Amy’s mind raced through the numbers without her permission. 

Three months behind on rent. The eviction notice folded on her kitchen counter. The dead plants she hadn’t had the heart to throw out yet. Her hands had gone a little cold around the polishing cloth.

“Yes.” It came out faster than she meant it to, almost breathless.

 “Yes, I’ll do it.”

“Good. Tomorrow, four o’clock. We’ll sign the contract.”

“Contract?” Her stomach dipped again, this time with something closer to nerves than excitement.

He paused at the door without turning around. All she could see was the back of his black suit, the edge of a grey shirt cuff, the glint of gold at his wrist.

“I’m a businessman, Miss Carter. Nobody works for me without one.”

“I’ll be there,” she said, forcing steadiness into her voice.

“Four o’clock. Don’t be late.”

Then he was gone, and Amy stood alone in the hall, still holding the cloth she’d forgotten she was clutching, her heart going twice as fast as it had any right to for a conversation that lasted less than two minutes.

She didn’t waste any time. She dropped her supplies at the agency, collected her pay for the day, and went straight to Gabby’s.

“Five thousand US dollars?” Gabby said, somewhere between shock and delight.

“Yes, Gabby.”

“Girl. Are you sure this isn’t some billionaire serial killer situation?”

Amy laughed.

“Oh my God. I am so happy for you.” 

They hugged, and the rest of the evening disappeared into talk of new clothes and restaurants they’d finally be able to afford.

Neither of them had any idea that the Williams mansion was about to offer Amy far more than five thousand dollars a month.

“You’ve worn that blouse to three job interviews already,”

 Gabby said the next evening, while Amy fastened the buttons on her dark blue long sleeve blouse.

Amy looked down. “It’s my lucky blouse.”

Gabby laughed. “Girl, your lucky blouse got you unemployed.”

Amy threw a pillow at her, and they burst out laughing.

The two girls talked deep into the night, late enough that Amy ended up spending the night there. That wasn’t the first time, and it certainly wasn’t going to be the last. Half of Gabby’s closet was filled with Amy’s things, clothes, shoes, a few of her essentials scattered among her own.

Gabby’s apartment wasn’t luxurious, but it was a step up from Amy’s place. Still a one bedroom, but a little more spacious.

Gabby had invited Amy to move in with her once the eviction went through, and it had already become something like a second home. Amy had started planning around it.

But with the way things were going now, she might not need to move in with a friend anytime soon. Maybe not ever.

In the back seat of her assigned cab, Amy sat lost in her own thoughts.

‘What if he meant five thousand dollars for the whole six months?’

“No, that can’t be right,” she said softly to herself, biting her fingernail, the thing she always did when she was nervous.

The cab pulled up in front of the Williams mansion. Her heart skipped, like she hadn’t just been there running her mouth to two brothers a few hours ago. 

But this time she wasn’t there to clean. She was there for business. She had to put her serious face on.

She wore her black corporate suit trousers with her lucky blouse, and for the first time in months she let her hair down, curls bouncing against her back with a few loose strands framing her face.

Clear lip gloss, no makeup. She didn’t want to overdress, this was just a contract signing for a cleaning job, not her old office position back, though she suspected she might already be a little overdressed regardless.

She rang the doorbell this time. She wasn’t here to clean. This was an official meeting.

While she waited, she couldn’t help but wonder.

‘Who even is this man who wants to hire me? Is he the one in charge of hiring staff or something?’

The door swung open.

It was Zach.

For a split second he didn’t recognize her, not until she spoke.

“Ugh. Not you being the first person I run into today.”

“Wait. You’re back?” he asked, genuinely thrown.

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

“And why are you here? You’re just here to clean for a day. Which somehow turned into two.”

“You think I wanted to be here twice?”

“Then what are you doing here for a third time?” Zach paused, scanning her outfit. 

“Planning to clean the house, or buy it?”

“Ha ha,” Amy said flatly. “Funny.” Then, “I have a contract to sign.” She let herself in and turned to face him.

Zach had known someone was coming to sign a contract. He hadn’t known who, or for what.

“It was you?” he asked, confusion mixed with reluctant disbelief.

“Can you please point me in the direction I’m needed?” she asked, her voice syrupy with sarcasm.

Zach ignored the tone and pointed toward a corner beneath the staircase she’d never noticed before.

She followed his direction and found a door marked OUT OF BOUNDS.

Something in her stomach lurched. It could have been the sudden weight of the sign, the realization that this was more serious than she’d let herself believe. Or it could have just been that she hadn’t eaten anything that morning and was starving.

Her stomach grumbled.

Yes. It was hunger.

She knocked twice, softly. A response came almost immediately, like she’d been expected and was already running late.

“Yes, come in,” a voice said firmly from the other side.

She turned the knob, and a well furnished office opened up in front of her. For a moment she forgot she was standing in a house at all, it felt more like walking into the office of a CEO at some prestigious company.

It was the man from yesterday. He sat behind a large desk and gestured for her to take a seat across from him.

She noticed the family portrait hanging on the wall behind him, a younger version of the man beside his wife, flanked by two boys who could only have been Zach and Jacob.

‘Oh. He’s their father,’ she thought.

Sitting down, she noticed a row of awards arranged carefully around the office. A nameplate sat on the desk in front of her.

RICHARD WILLIAMS