“DO YOU really have to do this, Selen? Seriously, you look like an idiot.” Reinald scoffed and left his side.
Selen put the binoculars down and sighed.
She was now in her friend’s room, and from there, she watched Sage.
“You know what—”
“I don’t know.” He rolled on his bed.
“I’m doing this because I need to get close to Sage, okay. If you’re my friend, just support me.”
“Isn’t this showing my support? I let you stay in my room for two days and one night now.” His lips twitched. “Why are you so obsessed with Sage? He’s gonna make you cry, believe me.”
She breathed exasperatedly. “When will you stop being an anti-fan of Sage?”
“Until you get a tight grip on reality.” Reinald buried his face on the pillow.
“Rei… My grandmas gave me the blessing to make him my husband.”
“Oh, really?” He did not even move an inch, and the tone of his voice showed that he was not interested.
Selen could not help but think that something was going on between his friend and Sage. Ah, she must find out soon. But before that, she had to proceed with the most important plan. She raised her binoculars again and watched Sage from afar.
She saw him kicking and tossing the dirty laundry on the floor of his room. Ah, he was a messy creature without a housekeeper. After a few seconds, his bedroom door opened, and his manager came in. It looked like they were talking about something that, of course, she could not hear.
“I think I should approach his manager now if I want to be hired as his housekeeper. What do you think?” She turned in the direction of the bed, but it was already empty. “When did that dummy leave his bed?”
Then, she heard a car honking outside. Selen looked down from the balcony and saw Reinald’s car exiting the garage. She fished her phone and abruptly called him.
“Where are you going?” she asked when he answered the call.
“Out. Isn’t it obvious?”
“Buy some food on your way home. Forget about it and you’re dead.” She giggled.
“You—”
Selen ended the call when she saw Marceline coming out of Sage’s house.
I need to talk to her. This is my chance!
She stormed out of her friend’s room and went out of the house. Sage’s manager was about to get on her car when she arrived outside.
“Hey!” she greeted breathily. Running down the staircase was really exhausting.
Marceline looked at her with furrowed brows but immediately changed her expression after recognizing her.
“Oh! It’s you again.” She closed the door. “So, what can I do for you?”
“Are you busy right now? Can you spare me some of your time?” There was no need to hesitate. She was determined to get into Sage’s world.
Marceline checked her wristwatch. “I still have spare time.”
“Good.” She beckoned Sage’s manager to follow her inside Reinald’s house.
“You live here?” Marceline asked after they got in.
“Yes. But not in this house.”
“I see.” Marceline sat on the sofa.
“Wait for me here. I’ll go get you something to drink.”
She nodded at her.
Selen ran to the kitchen to make coffee. Reinald and his parents would not mind if she moved around the house as if it was hers because they were almost like a real family since then.
While waiting for the coffee maker to finish making coffee, she looked back to the living room to check on Marceline and found her busy with her phone. Then, she fished the small bottle from her pocket and mixed the powdered charm into the coffee. She had to do that to make sure that Marceline would not say no to her.
You can do this, girl! Selen cheered herself as she walked to the living room, carrying the cup of coffee.
“Here. Have some coffee.” She handed the cup to Sage’s manager.
“Oh, thank you.” Marceline accepted it but put it down on the center table.
Perhaps it was too hot to carry.
“Anyway, I would like to apologize for my friend’s behavior last time. He was always overprotective of me,” she told Marceline.
“Don’t worry. It’s no big deal.” She smiled at her.
Selen clasped her hands. “Thank you for understanding.”
“I already talked to Sage and told him that there’s no need for you to sign that confidentiality agreement. You don’t look like someone who would take advantage of him.” Marceline brought the cup to her lips and took a couple of sips.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Selen smiled.
Marceline crossed her legs and looked at her as if she was trying to read her mind. “What’s your agenda? You won’t ask me for my time if you only wanted to apologize for what happened last time.”
Selen was not sure if the charm had already taken effect.
There’s only one way to find out…
“You’re looking for a new housekeeper, right?” Selen hid her hands behind her. They were shaking out of nervousness.
“Ah, yes.” Marceline leaned against her seat. “Sage always fires his housekeepers, so I’m in need of a new one.”
“Let me in—I mean, hire me.” Selen cocked her head to the side.
Marceline caressed her chin and gave her a once-over. “Can you do it?”
“I can do a lot of things, you know.” She grew up doing a lot of errands. Keeping Sage’s house clean and organized was easy-peasy. “Don’t worry, I’m more than willing to sign a contract. Also, you can easily track me down if ever I breached the contract since we live in the same neighborhood. How does it sound to you?”
A smile curved on Marceline’s lips. Selen knew she got what she wanted.
“Can you start by tomorrow?”
“Yes.” She grinned from ear to ear.
SAGE was still sound asleep when Selen arrived at his house the next morning. His manager was the first to welcome her.
“Good morning.” She bowed. “Selen Cano, reporting for duty.”
Marceline laughed and waved her hand dismissively. “No need for that.”
“Oh. Okay.” Selen straightened her back.
“I’m afraid to tell you on your first day that this house is a total mess.
“I know—” Marceline arched a brow. “I mean, I kinda expected that since he has no one to clean his house for the past days.”
Whew, I almost got caught!
“Clean the house and shop for groceries and food stocks in the afternoon,” Marceline instructed. “Wait for Sage to wake up. He is the one who will make the grocery list.”
She nodded. “Noted.”
“Oh, you got a new housekeeper.”
They both turned in the direction of the voice. Sage dressed in his sleepwear appeared in the kitchen. His eyes immediately widened when he saw her.
“You—”
“Selen is your new housekeeper. Don’t think about firing her. Only I have the power to do that,” Marceline cut him off.