Ellie didn't get a good look at Jonathan Conrad's Suite upon their first encounter. Even though it is a sight she looks forward to, she very much dreads being in the same space with him. It's daunting enough that he is that successful, not to mention handsome. No, it's more than that.
The underlying possibility is that he loathes her completely because of her blood. Ellie intends to call her parents to finally have them spill the bad blood between them and Mr. Conrad, but she figures that'll make them poke into her whereabouts.
In this battle, she will have to fight alone and blindly too. Abigail left the same day she visited after introducing Ellie to Mr. Conrad. She dreaded that she would call her out and ask her to pack her things, but thankfully that never happened. Instead, she gave her a rule of dos and don'ts and told her good luck.
The next day, she resumed her duty by knocking on the decorated door of Suite A, where Jonathan Conrad dwells.
"Come in," he responds.
Ellie goes stiff for a second, then slowly pushes the door open, marveling at the artistry that envelopes her eyes. The place was painted crimson and had semi-gold designs all around. How she missed all this on her first entrance is quite baffling. Her eyes trace the outlines around to meet Mr. Conrad's peering gaze.
She composed herself but could swear she'd heard Mr. Conrad scoff at her mindlessness. She walks swiftly to the suite's mini-store containing the tools she needs to clean. There, she shopped out a duster and started to dust the furniture, mindful of Mr. Conrad's presence.
One thing is sure. Cleaning and trying to be as quiet as possible are opposites. She can almost feel his burning gaze on the back of her head as she cleans. She glances at him; thankfully, he isn't even paying attention to her. The VIP seemed very lost in his thoughts. She realizes the semi-gold outline could be real gold. She heaves at the realization but continues her job.
She passed the Three sitters where Mr. Conrad was and needed to greet him again.
'What's your middle name?' Mr. Conrad asks suddenly.
Ellie is so startled that she almost doesn't get what he says. She recovers quickly from her stun and responds.
" Hazel, Sir," Ellie replies nervously, which goes to her bladder.
Jonathan Conrad scoffs and continues to watch TV.
"Of course it is," he says.
Ellie isn't sure what that means, but she cannot exactly ask him, can she? She continues to dust, but it is so clean already.
"You're a long way from a home, kid," he says, not even glancing at her.
"Yes, sir," Ellie says, squinting her eyes as she does.
Mr. Conrad chucked softly to Ellie's puzzlement. It must be the TV. There was silence again for a few minutes until Ellie cleaned the center table before him.
"So why to be a maid?" he asks.
The question feels strange to Ellie. In truth, no one has ever asked her that before, but she has never been a maid. The strangeness of the stranger's question and her desire to yell out that she deserves more led to more pressure down there. She soon figured that if she thought too much about her answer, she might pee herself, not to mention the risk of offending Mr. Conrad.
'I... like cleaning,' she stutters.
Mr. Conrad's expression was blank, even though she didn't look. She knows he must have been wondering if anyone enjoys cleaning. No stereotype is involved. Ellie will not clean if she isn't getting paid.
Her apartment back home is average looking normally but could surely use one or two touches, which she'll never give unless someone pays her. She laughs, but in her head, wondering who'd pay her to clean her room.
'Get me a drink in the fridge,' Mr. Conrad says
Ellie looked at him to be sure she heard right, and she did. She walks towards the fridge, which was placed beside the dining section, and opens it to see a variety of drinks she has never laid eyes on.
'Which one' she asks from the short distance between them.
Mr. Conrad looks up and gestures 'whatever.' Jane gulps and reaches her hand in for a bottle of whiskey. She walks back to Mr. Conrad and hands him the chilled bottle.
He looks up from his seat briefly, scanning her attire. He grabs two cups beside him, and Ellie is sure he will offer her a drink. She had to decline. Not only is she on duty, but her bladder is also already about to burst.
'I'm on duty, sir,' Ellie objects before he offers.
He scoffs but not angrily. He continues to pour into both glasses
"Who said it was for you?" he says calmly, handing her the filled cup.
Ellie was visibly puzzled but twice as much embarrassed.
"My friend is in the room" He gestures to the bedroom door as he sips his glass.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Ellie apologized, but Mr. Conrad already had his eyes fixed on the TV.
Right, Ellie thought. She bows her head slightly, mumbling another apology as she walks to the room and knocks on the door. No one answered. She was about to knock again, but Mr. Conrad ordered her to enter.
She clicks it open, met with ruffled bedsheets and a half-naked woman. She'd been sleeping, but her knock must have woken her up. She looks very tired.
'Good morning, ma'am, Mr... Conrad asked me... '
She interrupts Ellie's explanation by gesturing for her to come closer. She did. She leans toward Ellie and takes the glass. While Ellie stood there, she downs the whole thing and put the glass back in Ellie's hand.
Impressed by her drinking skill, Ellie mumbles a wow and smiles. She flushes at her comment and begins to walk back out.
'Don't come back in here,' The lady says and turns to face the other side of the bed, using her mobile device.
Ellie cringes at the order and quietly closes the door behind her. When she returned to the parlor, Mr. Conrad was now at his window, still sipping his glass. He looks at her when she rinses the used glass from a small sink beside the dinning section.
Mr. Conrad watches her, amused by her work or TV. Perhaps her nervousness is very unladylike to him. He sat back down on the sofa and switched on the TV. It blared some hip-hop music which he changed immediately to a classic live performance.
Ellie dusts, occasionally glancing at the TV to see what's showing. When she was done, she picked up the broom from the mini-store and began to sweep. It is very neat normally, but she still has to.
'So, what do you love about cleaning' Mr. Conrad asks.
Ellie was taken aback by the question again, but she regained her composure quickly and answered.
'I just... like to keep things tidy,' she lies.
'So you don't need the money?' Mr. Conrad asks.
'Well... I do, but... I could get money doing something else.' she lies again.
'Like what?'
'Well... There's uh... Well, I could be a waiter,' she defends.
"You're setting the bar low," he says and chuckles.
He brings his cup towards his face and drinks his entire cup. He pours another one. And starts watching the TV again. He does that until Ellie is done sweeping, then turns back to her when they show commercials.
'How old are you?' he asks bluntly.
Ellie is visibly surprised but tired of hiding it from her expression.
'21 sir,' she lies.
'Shouldn't you be in college?' he inquires further.
"Um, got in early, finished early, sir," she says and cringes at her truthfulness.
Mr. Conrad says nothing. Now that the topic of age is in the air, Ellie observes Mr. Conrad closely, mindful of being unnoticed, she realizes he would probably be about the same age as her dad, but his skin looks much softer. Well, he's a billionaire. She supposes his skincare routine will be a fortune.
She observes the patterns on his pajamas and concludes it is probably her net worth. She shudders at the idea until she looks back at his face to find he'd been looking right back at her. She almost peed right then.
'I'm sorry... Sir, ' she apologizes incoherently. She isn't even sure why.
He says nothing. She started at the mini-store and began going through the items. Since she'd already dusted and cleaned the dining section and the room was off limits courtesy of the naked lady, all that was left was the restroom.
She began to walk towards it until she heard Mr. Conrad snap his finger from the couch. She looks at him, and he gestured for her to come. She obeys and walks to the front of the TV, where he wants her.
'You've done enough today. You can be on your way,' he says calmly.
She nods, saying nothing and trying to avoid his eyes. She bows slightly and takes her to leave, aware that Jonathan Conrad probably tells her to 'get out.'
And that is her life now. The first day is one of the nicest he has ever been to her. The more he has to see her every day, the pissed he gets. Of course, he could reassign her or stay in the other suites if he hates her so much, but no. Ellie is almost convinced that he likes tormenting her. From spiteful glares to the Never ending tasks that she never does well to him. It is beyond frustrating. Ellie wishes she could run to Chloe and tell her how demanding he is, but knowing Chloe and how highly she thinks of her Godfather, she knows nothing will come of it. If at all, anything will. It will not end in her favor.
Not to mention that Abigail has high hopes for her. Ellie learned that when they had a very personal conversation during her interview. There, Ellie made sure she realized how much she needed the job and what she was willing to do for it. Still, she expressed her concern about the situation, knowing fully that Mr. Conrad does not think highly of her.
Abigail brushed off the topic and told her to do her job and make no mistakes so he would have no excuse to fire her. He owes her that much. She told her that day that she is very much like her granddaughter, whom she cares about deeply.