Chapter Six
“A change of plan? What do you mean?” queried Annabelle. Her stomach clenched at the horrible thought that for some unforeseen reason the job here was gone and bitter disappointment flooded through her.
Grabbing a lock of damp hair which had escaped the towel she mechanically twiddled it between her fingers: over, under, over, under. Feeling the sharp sting on her scalp, she dropped the now faux dreadlock and flicked it back over her shoulder.
Salomè turned her back and smiling tightly she walked outside saying over her shoulder, “I’ll tell you all about it over breakfast.” Cursing Lucifer under her breath for his pendulum-like-nature, she placed the tray down and beckoned to Annabelle who stood rooted to the spot staring at her, her violet eyes flinty and her hands planted on her hips.
Lucifer was right, she’s a feisty one. She grinned. It’ll do him good to not have his own way all the time.
“Come my dear, your tea is getting cool.”
Compressing her lips Annabelle huffed and stepped outside. The air was warm, but not uncomfortably so. It was still early though and she had no doubt that it would heat up by morning-tea-time. She made a mental note to slather her arms and legs in plenty of sunscreen when she went in to do her makeup and hair.
Fair skin burnt so easily and after suffering painful blisters from falling asleep in the sun at the beach years ago as a stupid teenager, she was in no hurry to repeat the performance. She chewed her lip as she remembered the agony of her beetroot coloured skin and the awful peeling that had followed. She’d looked like a sloughing snake, not an attractive look.
Shaking her head she pushed that nasty memory to the back of her mind, she’d learnt her lesson that day, the hard way.
Taking a seat she gazed out over the balustrade lost in the expansive views of Dis that were now exposed to her. The property from this angle was enormous. Vast emerald paddocks liberally dotted with she-oaks, gumtrees, wattles, and jacarandas stretched on forever, but strangely no stock of any description grazed on the lush feed.
“It’s very green here, you must get a lot of rain,” she said taking the towel off and running the comb through her hair, wincing as it snagged in the knots. “What business is this mysterious owner involved in? I can’t see any cattle or sheep. Do you grow crops then?” She frowned. “You don’t grow anything illegal, do you? I don’t want any trouble.” As she waffled on she tugged on the comb, swearing as she saw the long strands of hair caught in-between the plastic teeth.
Pulling them out she rolled them into a ball and flicked them over the railing. “By the way, when am I going to meet him, my mysterious new boss? What’s he like anyway? A gentleman or a proper arrogant bastard?”
Holding her hand to her forehead Salomè grimaced at Annabelle’s choice of wording. She was well aware that Lucifer would be listening and as a meeting between the pair was not on his agenda for today she’d been ordered to keep Annabelle occupied. And, on pain of punishment she was to keep her away from his residence. She heaved a sigh. This was going to be harder than she’d anticipated.
“Your tea,” she said in a low voice, the delicate china held between her thumb and fingers.
Swivelling, Annabelle took the proffered cup and sipped at it as she studied her new – she hoped – home. Looking down at the slice of lemon which floated in her cup she scrunched her brows together. “How did you know that I like lemon in my tea and that I prefer it black and unsweetened?”
Salomè paused, the teapot held aloft as she considered her answer. Looking up she gave Annabelle a bright smile before placing the pot down and laughing softly. Leaning in conspiratorially she whispered, “It was in your top-secret file.”
“What file?” Annabelle shifted in the chair and placing the cup down she felt her heart race. Standing up she crossed her arms and cocking a brow she demanded, “Why would you have a file on me?”
Reaching out Salomè patted her arm and Annabelle saw her eyes twinkle.
“It was a joke my dear. Please forgive my poor taste in humour, I was only trying to break the ice. I apologise if I’ve offended you in anyway.” She heaved a sigh of relief as the tension drained away from Annabelle’s face and her posture relaxed.
“That’s alright, no offense taken,” said Annabelle sitting down. Taking up a slice of toast she bit into it. Her mouth watered up as the tangy spread danced on her tastebuds and as her stomach growled she quickly polished off the plateful.
“Would you like some more toast? Tea?” offered Salomè.
“No thank you. That was delicious, I hadn’t even realised I was hungry. I don’t usually eat breakfast, just fill up on coffee.” Getting up she retrieved her cigarettes. “May I?”
“Of course. I don’t mind at all. Actually the owner is a smoker as well,” she replied and then bit her lip as she realised that she’d let a personal detail slip. One that she probably had no right mentioning. It was up to Lucifer to tell Annabelle about himself, it wasn’t her place.
I’ll get a tongue-lashing tonight over that I’m sure, she groaned internally not looking forward to it.
Annabelle lazily exhaled and crossing her legs she looked to her right. In the morning light the driveway snaked off into the horizon like a glittering river of coal-dust. Leaning forward she caught a glimpse of the main house and her mouth dropped open, it was stunning.
From this angle she could only see the back and side view but what she saw took her breath. A bull-nosed verandah gracefully encircled a cream brick homestead. French doors opened onto the verandah and around the edges of the roof, lacy black wrought iron hung like delicate spider’s web. White, pink and blue hydrangeas were planted in colourful clusters around the exterior, while jasmine wove in and out of the verandah’s wooden slats like living latticework.
Stubbing out her butt in the ashtray which Salomè had seemingly whipped out of thin air for her she turned and faced her. “Did you put me to bed last night?”
Salomè coughed and taking a sip of tepid tea she waited a moment before answering. The question had caught her off-guard and glancing towards the main house she saw his eyes flash.
Watch your answer Salomè, she heard his silky voice echo in her mind.
“Yes, I did my dear. I hope you don’t mind. You were so tired after your long drive and in my defence I did attempt to wake you, but….” Her voice trailed off and she shrugged.
“That’s alright. Thank you. I do tend to sleep very heavily, once I fall asleep,” Annabelle acquiesced. “Oh, and I want to thank you for putting all my stuff away. The way you’ve done my wardrobe is fantastic. I’d never have thought to hang my clothes like that.”
Salomè saw her face light up and she didn’t have the heart to tell her that she’d been ordered to do it. If it was up to her she’d probably just have shut her eyes and thrown the lot in. She blushed and a rush of guilt bubbled through her making her stomach churn. Leaning back she crossed her legs, resting her hands on her thigh. If Annabelle could see her private quarters and wardrobe, she’d most probably run out screaming.
Annabelle chattered on, not noticing the subtle change in her companions demeanour.
“There were some items in a draw that weren’t mine though, beautiful silky nightwear. Are they yours? I’d love to borrow one, but only if you don’t mind,” Annabelle said. Looking away she laced her fingers and attempting to keep her voice casual she said, “In the bathroom I found other things that definitely weren’t mine.” She cleared her throat and murmured, “Condoms and lube. I think they must have belonged to a previous employee. I put them under the sink.” Salomè swallowed and catching her pearls she worried them between her fingers, the act soothing.
“Ah. Alright. I’ll have Samuel our handyman, come and collect them,” she finally answered, her voice low and slightly wobbly. Into her mind drifted a low chuckle and she shook her head.
“The nightgowns are yours by the way,” she added, noticing the wide-eyed look that Annab
elle threw her. “They’re a welcome gift from the owner. And as to his business, I can tell you that it’s nothing illegal. We breed stock horses, nothing more sinister than that.”
She smiled brightly and Annabelle felt the worry that had been tying her stomach in knots earlier dissipate, only to be replaced with a sense of confusion.
“Oh. Ok.” She lit another smoke and looking away she released a thin blue stream before saying in a small voice, “That’s very generous of him but I wouldn’t feel right accepting such an expensive gift. Those nightgowns must have cost a small fortune. Anyway, what was this change of plans you mentioned earlier?” Flicking the ash off the end of her cigarette she stared into Salomè’s sapphire coloured eyes and gathering her nerve she asked, “Do I still have a job Salomè?”
“Yes of course you do my dear. But, the job description has changed somewhat.” As Annabelle went to interrupt her Salomè held her hand up and continued, “The children you were hired to nanny have gone. Their parents received another offer of employment which was, to put it bluntly, much to financially valuable to refuse.” She smoothed her dress and placing her hands in her lap she waited for the questions to erupt. Right on cue they started.
“So where does that leave me then? If there’s no kids to look after I don’t really have a job do I? I don’t know the first thing about horses, so I can’t help there. Shit.” She rubbed her forehead the frustration at this new unexpected turn of events giving her a headache.
“No, it’s not like that at all Annabelle my dear. The owner wants you to work as his personal secretary. His last one left to work overseas for some huge racing conglomerate and he hasn’t had a chance to hire anyone new.” She leaned across the table and took up one of Annabelle’s hands in her own. “Don’t you see, this works out perfectly? Your office skills are just the thing he needs.”
Annabelle pinched the bridge of her nose. “I suppose you’re right. An office job is better than no job at all. Although I was looking forward to testing out my new childcare skills.”
I’m sure gorgeous, that Lucifer will give you the chance to do that sooner rather than later, going by the look of lust I witnessed on his face last night, she thought with amusement.
Annabelle stood and turning to go back inside she did a double take as a hulking shape scampered past a row of crepe myrtles twenty metres away. Gasping she turned to Salomè and pointed. “Do you see that? It’s the huge dog I saw last night. It came from out of nowhere and jumped on my bonnet, scaring the shit out of me and poor old Percival.” She held her breath. Percival where is he? Spinning around she clasped her hand to her chest as she spied her cat curled up on the bed still asleep and completely unaware of the lurking canine.
“That’s Bedlam, he’s the owner’s dog. You don’t have to be scared of him, he’s a giant softy.”
Turning away from the sight of the massive dog loping casually across the groomed lawns towards the main house Annabelle shook her head.
“You’re shitting me aren’t you? A softy? No dog that huge is a softy. I’ll withhold my opinion on that until I meet….What did you call him?”
“Bedlam,” answered Salomè, laughing at Annabelle’s mock seriousness.
Now it was Annabelle’s turn to laugh.
“Bedlam? Who calls a dog Bedlam? I’m going to fix my hair, will you still be here when I finish?”
“Of course, I thought you might like to see some of Dis today. Or perhaps you’d like to go and see the stables? The horses are magnificent, and who knows I might be able to convince you to have a ride,” Salomè said purposely ignoring Annabelle’s raised brow.