You can change the width of the story text shown below:
Use how much percent of the screen width?
Options: Plain text or PDF (fanclub only!) version | Mark story | Mark author
Don't forget to vote for this story, in the yellow voting box below the story!
The previous 48 hours had been bad enough, with my husband mysteriously ‘disappearing' with his phone turned off leaving me to run a busy pub, but I couldn't believe my eyes or ears when three people from the brewery and two bailiffs arrived at 8am to evict me and my daughter from the pub I'd managed, quite successfully I'd thought for 7 years.
I knew that he had a bit of a ‘drinking problem' which meant that my (now) bastard ex-husband regularly stayed out of view in the background, doing the books and making sure that the beer lines etcetera were clean and working, but it turned out that he had developed a ‘gambling habit' too and hadn't been paying the bills or rent for months.
Thankfully they gave me a couple of hours to gather my worldly belongings and three suitcases of clothes that filled the back of the car, then we made for my parents' home, who had readily agreed to take us in.
I was angry, heartbroken and confused as to why at 35 my life was being turned upside down and I was back to where I'd started ... my parents back bedroom.
He mysteriously turned up late at night a week later, full of apologies and cheap whisky. I wasn't very sympathetic, telling him it was all over, and it was ... especially after my Dad and brother kicked him all over the street for his troubles.
That was seven years ago, and I've now moved house six times, eventually settling in a town a few miles from my parents, living in a two bedroom flat and working in the office of a small bedding manufacturer as an admin assistant... until a year ago when it was announced that it was closing.
I was devastated again, mostly because my daughter was finally settled in school and doing well.
As the weeks flew by and I didn't have a job to replace it with, and my redundancy money was running out, I reluctantly visited the offices of the housing company that I rented my flat from to see if there was any help that they could offer. I poured my heart out, telling the attractive and immaculately dressed, female office manager that I'd applied for tens of jobs and ‘would do anything' ... but needed to keep the flat at all costs.
"Anything? Do you mean that?" she asked, and I gasped, "Yes." To confirm. "Well," she paused, "we are about to advertise for a cleaner ... for the office here, some of the serviced houses and flats as well as offices we rent out and become vacant.... How would that suit you?" She looked sympathetic and embarrassed at the same time.
"God yes!" I gulped, "seriously ... yes ... anything to keep the wolf from the door." She smiled and said she'd have to speak to the ‘boss', Mr Baker before fully committing. She then spoke on the phone before going into an office along a short corridor.
I sat nervously fighting back tears for what seemed an hour but was more likely a couple of minutes. "Fiona.... Fiona!" she called out, holding the office door open, "can he have a little chat now?"
I had to force myself not to skip along the corridor. It shouldn't have been a surprise, but the office was expensively decorated and very swish, and the man behind the desk looked about 50 and rakishly handsome with swept back greying hair.
"Fiona?" he smiled and offered me a seat, "Charlotte says you are looking for a job?" I nodded. "You already rent your flat from us too?" I agreed again. There was something about the way he ‘looked' at me which was a bit unnerving but thrilling at the same time.
When Charlotte arrived back with coffees, he asked me about my ‘life' and jobs I'd done... commiserating with my recent problems.
"I think she's already told you that we have a vacancy for a cleaner ... are you sure ... that it's not ... beneath you?"
Click here to read the rest of this story (306 more lines)
Options: Plain text or
PDF (
fanclub only!) version for easy saving or printing
ESmail: Click here to send a private message to MagpieAmy69 (with ESmail, the site's internal message system)
Profile for MagpieAmy69, incl. 35 stories
Email: writer@gmail.com
Add this author to your favorite author list
Add this story to your favorite story list