Personal Housekeeper: Start!

Mr Morales and I sat at the table in an arrangement similar to how we were at breakfast. We were both wearing loungewear — we were both wearing a white tee-shirt, but I was wearing black sweat shorts while he was wearing black jogging pants.

“Th-thanks for the food.”

I know I told Mr Morales that I wasn’t hungry, but since he prepared a meal for me, I’ll eat it — I wouldn’t want all of his hard work to go to waste. In front of me was a simple baked chicken cutlet meal. Wow, he can cook? I sliced off a small piece with a knife and ate it. Wow, he can’t cook… The taste was just so bland. It wasn’t bad by any means, it’s just that there wasn’t a lot of flavour. And that other taste — the blandness just made it stick out. I thought that I’d get used to it by now, but I didn’t — I just couldn’t. I think the memories associated with it made the taste exponentially worse. I reached for my cup of water and drank a lot; it didn’t fully get rid of the taste, but it made it fade a bit.

Regardless, I just kept eating. I was forced to lessen the amounts of water I consumed after every bite to assure that I had enough water for every bite. It was tough for me, but I endured. I didn’t see any in his fridge when I looked for lunch, but I wonder if he has more chocolate milk.

…

When we finished, we sat at the table for a little longer.

“Um… Mr Morales? I have a question.”

I thought that I could talk to him normally now; I was talking to him timidly.

“Yes?”

“Um, you have a job, right? That means you won't be home a lot of the time, right? Since that’s the case, I think… I-I’ll be your personal housekeeper — a housewife!”

I’d prefer a personal housekeeper. I would tend to his condo when he was at work; it was the only thing that I could think of to compensate him for letting me stay at his place. Honestly, it isn’t much since he doesn’t seem to own a lot of things and his condo is pretty neat, but it’s the only thing I could think of besides doing anything pleasurable.

“A housekeeper? Yeah, that is fine.”

Woah, a quick response.

“Since this is a job, you need compensation for this. I can-”

I shook my head and smiled widely.

“Oh, no need Mr Morales. I think you’re already doing a lot for me by providing a place to stay and food and stuff. So paying me won't be necessary.”

“I-is that so? Then okay.”

When he said that, why did he seem a bit shocked? I mean, all of this is payment.

“Really? Okay, starting now, I am your personal housekeeper.”

It must’ve seemed weird to Mr Morales that I was excited to do his chores. I think I seemed that way because I also felt a little relieved. I mean, his allowance turned this situation into less of an unfair gift and more of a trade — I wasn’t freeloading.

“Then I will leave most of the chores to you.”

“Most? No, I’ll do all of them!”

He shook his head and turned it away from my direction, scratching the back of his neck.

“Well, you do not really have to push yourself; just do all that you can and I will do the rest. And, no offence, but I doubt a teenager would want to do chores.”

“Wha- no!”

I strongly refused him. I wasn’t mad about his comments, but… I think I just needed this.

My smile left for a bit, but I quickly brought it back.

“Leave the chores to me — I insist. You can just focus on stuff like relaxation and work. Besides, I like cleaning, I have experience with washing machines, and I… am decent at cooking…”

Nothing in this world is free — I knew the truth all too well. I’ll never slack off. Even if everything is clean, I’ll find work to do!

Mr Morales slowly nodded his head.

“Is that so? Then… okay.”

“Yes, I’ll do my best!”