Sincerely, Yours

Chapter One

"I got my first job!"

I screamed with excitement to my mother, however her mood did not match my own. She was always hesitant for me to leave the nest and venture into the world on my own.

"I'm happy for you", she said, even though her face did not match her tone, "but I want you to be careful." My mother, always the pessimist. She bore a special fear in her heart for the world but who could really blame her? After all, these days, the outside proved to be rather skeptical.

I on the other hand, wanted to get out there. Most of my life was spent inside, behind closed doors and away from people. Books and the internet were my friends besides the few I made in school and there was nothing wrong with that to me ; but I knew there was more out there to be experienced.

****

"Okay Raquel, I'm not giving you a lot to do today. Just water the plants and ensure you pick up a few packages for me from the mailbox. I'm expecting some important documents to come in and I would not want them to stay outside too long," my new boss, Mrs. Madell said to me in her soft, tiny voice.

I gave her a brief nod. "I understand, ma'am. You can consider it taken care of, I said with what I thought was my most reassuring tone. Or maybe that sounded a bit more fearful that I would f**k this up. Mrs. Madell gave me a warm smile. She was a short, plump lady with a bright red hair. Her freckles on her little face gave her an almost child-like demeanor with big, bright brown eyes to match. The lady was literally adorable. Her hand touched my shoulder and she said, "Call me Rose, please child. Don't make a little lady feel older than she is."

I chuckled a bit and gave her another brief nod. Honestly, I was afraid my mouth would betray me and I would say something that would get me fired at that exact moment. I didn't want to mess this up. It was my first job after all. I mean, it would look pretty f*****g bad to get fired on the first day.

Mrs. Madell left me for the day and I was alone in her extremely large house to care for the few tasks she had left me. Basically, as you may have already figured, I'm something like a house sitter. A maid probably might be an easier term for it but I prefer not to use it (no offense). Honestly, this actually wasn't what I thought my first job would be like but she looks nice, pays $12 an hour and allows me to work in jeans. I think I'm pretty blessed right now if you ask me.

****

12:00PM struck on Mrs. Madell large grandfather clock and I rushed to the kitchen to check on my cookies in the oven. I was practically done with the tasks she left me and even completed some other household tasks that caught my eye. Her house was almost spotless so I don't see why she would really even need someone to clean for her but I'm not complaining. She had given me permission to use her stereo system and cook if I got hungry. Lord, I feel like this lady is spoiling me.

I had Roy Woods playing softly around the house to set my baking mood. My hips swayed ever so slightly to the song titled 'BB', which also happened my favorite at the time. As I grabbed the mitten to pull the cookies out of the oven, I also heard the doorbell echo throughout the house. That must be the packages she mentioned. I turned the oven off and went over to the door quickly. As I opened it, I was greeted by a young man who looked like he was ready to be done for the day and go home.

"Rosetta Madell?", he asked me ain't dreary tone which almost made me feel a little sorry for him that he must be so miserable.

I shook my head. "I'll be accepting them for her," I told him and stretched out my hands to take the boxes and few envelopes.

"Sign here," he told me and practically threw the pen at me. I raised a brow at him and he couldn't seem to be bothered. I let it go. He's probably had a very bad day but don't throw it at the customer, bruh.

I signed the paper on his clipboard and he turned to leave after dropping everything in my hands. "Bye to you too," I mumbled. Using my foot, I shut the door and I carefully placed Mrs. Madell's packages neatly on the table near the front door. She'll deal with that when she gets back. I danced my way into the kitchen as the next song playing on the stereo transitioned to another favorite of mine by Davido and Chris Brown. As 'Blow My Mind' played on the speakers, I turned up the volume a little and proceeded to take my vanilla cookies out of the oven. My phone rang in my back pocket and I grabbed it when I put the tray down. It was my mother for the 12th time today, checking to make sure that my new boss wasn't a soul sucking witch and that I was doing fine. I didn't want to laugh at her because her concern was genuine but I wish she would relax a little. However as they say, time is a healer.

***

Mrs. Madell returned around 3:30PM and her return also indicated the end of my shift. We spoke briefly about how my day and she asked me if I had any trouble finding my way around the house I reassured her that it was quite fine and I also left her some cookies in the kitchen. She smiled at the mention of that and gave me a few cute thank yous. We said our good byes and I made my way to leave.

As I closed the door, I walked through Mrs. Madell's large front yard to make my exit. You could obviously tell this lady had a love for flowers and hedges. I plucked a red rose from its vine and brought it to my nose and at that moment, I caught someone going into the back yard in the corner of my eye. It didn't alarm me much as it was probably the gardener. I turned my head to see the dark skinned figure move quickly to the back with a hose dragging behind him. His build did catch my eye in the brief glance I got. He looked to be about 5'7 and i could see he worked out as his muscles - while they were not large - did show defined in his dirty, white t-shirt. He disappeared behind the house to the back and I found myself curious about what he looked like.

I wanted to see his face.

I needed to see his face.

But little did I know, the amount of trouble that peak of curiosity would throw me into.

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