Don't Break The Rules

Chapter 3 - Rules

1. Keep the house clean.

2. Only use the bathroom in your room.

3. Always check underneath the toilet seat.

4.No chewing gum; they're hazardous.

5. Do my laundry.

6. Act like you're not here if I have guests.

7. Call me Master Jamie.

8. You can only wear my clothes, get rid of yours.

9. Greet me whenever I come home.

10. No back-talking; this is my home.

11. We're not friends.

12. Do not sneeze or cough without covering your mouth with your elbow; that's immediate fire.

13. Go to bed when I tell you to.

Joe's eyes repeatedly read the list Jamie had given him in the morning before heading to work. This list was piled with rules that it was borderline outrageous. The list went on for hundreds of rules, and Joe even raised an eyebrow at rule #101: No falling in love; promise you, it's one-sided.

Jamie had two jobs and took classes, online and in-person. Strangely, Jamie offered to pay Joe six hundred a week and pay for all his needs, such as groceries, transportation money, and best of all, alcohol. Jamie had promised to buy all the alcohol in the world for Joe if he agreed to live with him, and although Joe did not really agree with all the criteria, being a housemaid until Jamie returned home and having the night to himself while getting everything paid, sounded almost surreal.

The best part was that the apartment was already clean, which meant maybe two plates in the sink, making his bed and picking up his clothes from the floor. Other than that, the toilet was barely used, and when Joe lifted it to clean it, it was the whitest of whites he had ever even seen. Only four clothes that were dirty and he left them in his basket; doing an entire machine of four clothes not only seemed pointless but wasted money, at least that was what he though. Another bonus was that although he was somewhat upset he had to trash his clothes, Jamie's clothes were much more comfortable than his own. He grabbed his sweater and his sweats and laid on the sofa the entire day.

When Jamie returned, he was clearly tired, lethargically walking through the house with droopy eyes and a slumped figure. However, when he reached the kitchen, he furrowed his brow and eyed the counter bizarrely. Joe watched him as he tilted his head sideways, examining the counter of the counter from the side before slowly wiping his pinky across the surface.

"No, no, no...." Joe heard him mumble under his breath. When he raised his pinky, his entire heart dropped. "You didn't clean the counter."

Joe raised a confused eyebrow.

Then, Jamie, as if he had drank an energy booster, burst through the cabinets and wiped his finger across every single plate. "None of them have been cleaned. This must mean..." He knelt down, wiped his hand across the floor and expelled a horrified gasp. "You didn't even sweep the floor."

Anybody that walked into the apartment could visibly see the twinkle from all those spots since they were spotless. But for Jamie, they were much too dirty.

He headed for the bathroom and gagged when he lifted the toilet seat. "You definitely didn't clean this."

"Jamie, there's nothing on the—"

"Yes, there is." He turned away, checking other parts of the apartment before reaching the basket in his room and seeing a few clothes. He lifted the basket and motioned it towards Joe. "You couldn't even put these in the washer?"

"There's four things," Joe laughed, which Jamie did not appreciate. He mumbled a curse word under his breath before storming out of his bedroom and heading for the bathroom. He pulled a mask over his mouth, shoved gloves on, grabbed his cleaning products and began scrubbing the entire home.

Joe watched as he wiped clean surfaces once again, mopped the floors and every single corner of anything was scrubbed. Even underneath the table was spotless and he did that for every room in the apartment. Joe only watched in shock as Jamie shoved his clothes in the washer, and when he was finally finished, he removed his gloves and mask, narrowing his eyes in Joe's direction. He threw them in the bucket he had used.

"If you ever let me down like that again, you're fired."

That had taken four hours.

For an apartment.

"If you stay here all day, the least you could do is clean the damn house."

"Jamie," Joe chuckled quietly, but when he noticed how Jamie's eyes only grew angrier, he instantly sealed his lips for a second. "The house was already spotless—"

"It's not about it being spotless, it's about keeping it that way." He threw his hands up on the air. "Yes I know I'm a clean fanatic, but that's why I hired you. And regardless of what you think, I'm paying you to stay home all day, aren't I?"

When Joe failed to respond, Jamie hissed, "And it's Master Jamie."

"Why do I have to call you Master—"

"Okay," Jamie shook his head impatiently, "you're fired." Each of his footsteps resounded as he stormed towards the front door, pulling it open and motioning for Joe to leave.

Joe started sweating, no longer wanting to leave this place. This work was barely anything for the amount of money he was getting, and there was no way he was letting himself get fired this easily. "No, hold on—"

Jamie pointed outside, not letting him explain himself. "Get out."

"I was just—"

"You failed on the first day, completely and you're just judging me." Jamie folded his arms over his chest, appearing a bit saddened as well.

Joe stepped towards him, using the softest voice he could. "Listen, Jamie—Master Jamie," he fixed quickly, reaching for him and placing his palms on his shoulders, noticing the way Jamie's muscles seemed to loosen the moment he felt his touch. "I'll do it, I didn't know this today but I'll have it done tomorrow, I promise."

Jamie's eyes' had softened when he had called him master, and he tilted his head, observing the desperate gaze of Joe. After a few seconds, Joe biting his bottom lip as he waited for a response, Jamie pushed his arms away and walked towards his bedroom. "I'm going to bed, prove me wrong tomorrow."

The next morning, in order to be on Jamie's good side, Joe woke up earlier than him and cooked breakfast. Jamie was surprised by the fresh smell of an omelette with sausages and stormed to his kitchen, seeing Joe squeezing bacon in the pan.

Jamie was much taller than Joe, therefore he was quite intimidating when his emotions couldn't be read. Even worse, it was pretty stressful when Jamie stood terribly close behind him, eyeing the sizzling bacon with all its juices seeping out. Joe couldn't bring himself to look over his shoulder, and instead turned the bacon around with the spatula, trying to buy extra time until Jamie left.

Joe almost choked when he saw Jamie's bare fingers reached towards the pan and grabbed a slice of bacon. The pan had been terribly hot, and Joe could not stop himself from staring this time, seeing Jamie casually taking a few bites of the bacon, nodding his head in satisfaction.

"It's pretty good." When he noticed the petrified eyes of Joe, he glanced behind him before raising an eyebrow. "What?"

"That slice was really hot—"

"Did you just call me hot?"

Joe's cheeks was suddenly warmed with blood, a light pink shade covering them as he choked. "T-That is n-not what I—"

Jamie burst into a series of laughter, noticing that Joe's face grew a darker shade of pink. "I'm teasing ya'," his laughter died down into chuckles, stepping towards Joe and stealing another slice that was ready, "you got flustered easily. By the way, please clean everything after? I'll be able to find any drop of grease."

"I-I will," Joe mumbled, his voice still trembling as he handed him a plate. Eventually, when they both sat down st the dining table, his face did not feel as warm. Jamie seemed to enjoy the food, tearing pieces of the omelette before plopping them in his mouth, even grinning as he took another slice of bacon with his fingers and shoved them in there too.

He seemed carefree and Joe took this opportunity to say what he wanted to say since yesterday. He cleared his throat, seeing Jamie's eyes instantly glance towards him. "I apologize for yesterday, Master Jamie."

Jamie felt his heart thump, almost choking on his food before lowering his gaze, mindlessly his next piece of omelette from side to side. He didn't answer right away, making Joe even more nervous as it had taken all his courage to even say that. Eventually, in a quiet voice and avoiding Joe's gaze, he said, "It's alright."

He left for work soon enough and from the very moment the door shut, Joe started combatively cleaning everything in the apartment. For him, it took seven hours since he was also attempting to remember all Jamie had gone through, not wanting to forget anything. Jamie had wiped down all the appliances in the home, even the laundry room. He was seriously a fanatic, but he was right; he paid Joe for this work. It was not strenuous either and everything else was provided.

Therefore, Joe cleaned all he could, and slumped on the sofa when he was done.

He was shocked when his eyes opened and he saw bright blue ones staring back at him. They seemed to be studying him, and when he jumped from his position, they blinked. Jamie had found him passed out on the couch and instead of waking him, allowed him to sleep.

Joe was startled when Jamie raised a bottle of liquor. "You up for it?"