Chapter Text
“The Rozanovs. Big house in the middle of Westmount. They need someone who is able to come twice a week for cleaning - they would prefer Wednesdays and Sundays at 1pm. They do not have any children, but they do have a really kind dog. Not included in the contract to need to take care of her, but it is possible to play with her once in a while. A dress code is necessary - uniform is included with the job. The pay is 500$ per cleaning day for a total of 1000$ per week. They expect the total cleaning time of the house to be around 2-3 hours, depending on the person’s speed. No need to rush - the cleaner can take their time - pay will be the same…..”
Shane blinked many times when he saw the amount of money on his phone. 500$ for one day of cleaning? He had never seen that since he created his account on the cleaning site. The highest it had been was 300$ per day, and even that was a lot of money. Not much information was available on the Rozanov’s ad, because Shane needed to accept the request before he got the address. But, he knew that the houses in the middle of Westmount were the rich kinds. He went to nursing school with some people that were living there, and they were always dressed with branded clothing, fancy watches and gold jewelry, and got food for lunch that was probably made by their personal chef.
Shane was in his 20s, still living with his parents in the most normal town of Montreal called Verdun - nothing extraordinary compared to Westmount. It was crazy for him that two towns could be this close but also polar opposites. His parents made a pretty good salary, so their house was decent enough, and Shane was totally fine with it. Shane wanted to be happy in life and follow his dreams - he did not want in any way to only follow money, because it would not make him happy in the slightest. That’s why he was going to McGill in the nursing program not to become a doctor but a nurse, because this was the job in his domain that he was most attracted to - even though it wasn’t the best paying one. He had always appreciated nurses in his childhood - he was in the hospital a lot due to his heart problems, and they always took great care of him. It had pushed him enough to want to become a nurse and to himself take care of others.
His heart problems had gotten under control over the years, so he stopped going to the hospital as regularly when he was a teenager, around 14 years old. He still went once every three months for checkups, but nothing was alarming. He was considered healthy, was going to the gym often, ate good food and was taking his medicine. Everything was in order, as Shane liked it to be.
Shane liked order, so Shane liked cleaning. He loved to put his headphones on, getting lost in the music, while cleaning another’s person space. He liked to take care of people even if it was indirect, like making them food or cleaning their house. He liked acts of service, as it was more difficult for him to express his love or admiration with words.
He looked at the ad a little bit more, the cursor of his mouse hanging on the “apply” button. He only had one class on Wednesday morning, so he could easily go to the Rozanovs house after. On Sunday, he was usually seeing Hayden and JJ to play hockey recreatively, but this was also early in the morning, around ten. So he would still have time to go, take a shower and clean himself up, eat and go to the Rozanovs. He only had one other cleaning job at the moment, on Tuesday night, but he could let it go if it worked well at the Rozanovs’ home - 1000$ per week was more than enough, and he still needed time to do his homework.
Before thinking too far into it, he clicked on the “apply” button, which got him an automatic DM, telling him that if the Rozanovs were interested, they would send him interview information in the following week. Shane could do this, this wasn’t his first rodeo - he had gotten a total of 5 interviews due to this site, and he landed all the jobs. He was just so good like that.
He was sure the Rozanovs wouldn’t be able to resist him and his immaculate CV.
—
He woke up Monday morning, around 5 am, which was his usual. He liked having a routine in the morning even though his first class was only at 8. He had the time to go on a 5km run, take a quick shower, eat a healthy breakfast (which mostly consisted of a smoothie and some kind of protein bar), say hi to his parents before they got to work, get ready for his first class of the day and finally, catching the metro. Shane Hollander’s routine was dear to him and everyone around him knew that. What they didn’t know was that Shane also liked to wake up and feel like he was the only person in the world; he would see the first rays of the sun, the birds chirping, the first cars on the highway probably full of high caffeinated people. He loved his mornings just like this - calm and peaceful. He had nothing to worry about in those early hours in the day, even though later, he would need to worry about his future and his incoming projects or his incoming lab—
So yeah, Shane loved waking up alone in the mornings and being able to capture the first beats of the day - alone. In complete silence. No anxiety in sight.
Around 7:20, he got in the metro (on the green line), received a text from Rose telling him she would be waiting at their usual spot with her new boyfriend (Marcus? Shane did not remember). Rose’s boyfriend's roster was hard to follow these days - she got sick of them after a couple of weeks, so better for Shane to not care or get attached, because any day now Marcus would be a stranger to them again.
For Hayden it was the contrary - he had been with Jackie for years now, since they were 16. High school sweethearts you might say. They were disgustingly in love with each other and would definitely be at the same table as Shane and Rose (and Marcus, whatever) this morning. The gang loved to get their coffees together in the morning before their respective classes, hence why Shane was going to school in advance, knowing he would be there in 15 minutes.
To pass time in the metro, he got his book of the moment out - Yaga, a Canadian theatre piece that Miles, a cinema student and one of Rose’s dear friends, recommended to him. He was able to read a couple chapters before he got to the McGill station on the green line, and walked a couple of minutes before he found his friends at their usual spot.
“Shane!” Rose said, full of energy, as if she didn’t just wake up 30 minutes earlier. She still had a trace of eyeliner (or mascara? Shane wasn’t good with those things) under her eyes, giving her a kind of tired look.
“Hi.” Shane replied, voice strained even though he had been up for hours - he still had not had his coffee today. He tried to minimize his caffeine intake to one coffee a day, as early as possible, so he could go to bed early.
“Here’s your coffee. Marc bought it for you.” Rose continued, putting a cup of coffee Shane was pretty sure was dark with no sugar. Rose knew his coffee preferences pretty well now - it wasn’t difficult because he was always having the same thing, and would complain if there was even a gram of sugar in his morning drink.
Marc. So that was Rose's boyfriend's name. Shane told himself he would not forget it again, even though he probably would. Whatever, would probably be another boy next week anyway.
“Thanks Marc.” Shane said, taking a sip of his way-too-hot coffee, almost burning his tongue in the process.
“No problem.” The boyfriend replied, taking a sip of his ice coffee with wiped cream on top.
A couple of minutes later, Hayden and Jackie arrived at their table, hand-in-hand, still grossly in love.
“What’s up dude!” Hayden screamed, clapping Shane’s back in a welcome motion. His friends were definitely way too excited, especially before their coffee intake.
“Hey y’all.” Jackie said, sitting down with a cup of green tea, per usual.
They started talking about their respective classes in the morning, Shane sipping his coffee and fifth wheeling two couples. He talked a little bit about his biology class, which was one he really enjoyed. Rose told him that the only science stuff she liked was in science fiction movies, while Hayden said this biology stuff was way too intelligent complicated bullshit for him to understand.
Shane’s phone buzzed on the table, so he clicked on the screen to see what the notification was about - it was a message from the cleaning site, so it instantly got his attention, all sounds around him disappearing. He took his phone between his hands and opened the notification, leading him to a message from the Rozanovs ad he had applied to.
“The Rozanovs would be interested in meeting you on Wednesday at 1pm. Their address is : 1221 Wolfbird street, Westmount. If you are still interested by this contract, please click on the ACCEPT button. If you are not interested anymore, click on the REFUSE button, so we can keep this add available.”
ACCEPT
REFUSE
Knowing how big the salary was, Shane didn’t even hesitate before putting his index on the ACCEPT button. A smile hung in the corner of his lips - he was truly excited about this job. Mostly for the salary, yes, but also because the landlord of the house he was cleaning on Tuesdays was insufferable, and he would be more than happy to quit this job.
“What got you smiling like that?” Of course Rose would notice his change of behavior, even as small as it was. She had been his friend since kindergarten basically. They even tried dating in middle school - it had been a huge fail. No one was surprised when Shane came out as gay a couple of years after.
“I just got an interview for a really good paying job.”
“You still working as a maid?” Hayden teased, knowing using that particular word describing his job annoyed Shane.
“Hayd. Seriously. You know I prefer the term house cleaner.”
“Yes whatever, same thing. You clean houses, that’s maid stuff.”
“Okay maybe, but that maid stuff pays more than your part time job at the grocery store.” Shane’s comment made Hayden’s mouth shut right up. His friend opened his mouth a second time, but no words came out. Here you go for mocking my job..
“So, what is this job about?” Jackie asked, trying to show that at least one person in the couple was not an asshole.
“Hm, seems like a rich couple in Westmount. They got a dog. I don’t have much information yet, but I usually get more during the interviews. The site tries to keep most of their profiles private before you meet them in person, but they are verified and stuff.”
“I love dogs.” Marc said, as if this was the most important thing Shane had just said. Yeah, he was definitely not going to be sitting with them next week.
“Seems nice.” Rose replied, smiling. “When is your interview?”
“Wednesday 1pm. So I’ll go after class.”
“Dudeeee, we were supposed to go train together that day.” Hayden whined, in a childish tone.
“I think Shane having the possibility of getting a new high paying job is more important than y'all going to the gym or something.” Rose continued, eyes in the sky in exasperation.
“I could go to the gym with you if you want.” Marc said, which made everybody around the table go silent. Well, clearly no one wanted to hang out with Marc outside of the mornings. Poor Marc.
“So, we going out Saturday night?” Hayden said, completely changing the subject, and also only looking between Shane, Rose and Jackie. “JJ wants to go to Apt 200. There is like a 90s event or something. We could get wasted for once.”
“Uh, I don't know. If I land this job, I'll probably need to work on Sunday.”
“Shaneeee! Buddy! You act like a perfect student, perfect employee all the time! Don’t you wanna have a little fun or something?” Hayden continued, being a bad influence on Shane, as always.
“Y’all know this isn’t a good idea right? Rose? Jackie? Anyone?” Shane asked, looking around the table to find someone on his side.
Shane maintained the longest eye contact with Rose, trying to convince her that this wasn’t reasonable. She would know what was best for Shane right?
“Shane… Hayden is kinda right though… you never go out with us… like ever…”
“You too Rose? Seriously?”
“Maybe you can have some fun for a while! We are only at the beginning of the semester. You can’t have that much homework to do right? What are you gonna do on your Saturday night if we don’t go out?”
“Ugh…” Shane made a grumpy sound, exhaling loudly before answering. “If we go out, I cannot get home too late. No pregame. And no more than 2 shots.”
“That’s it! That’s my boy!” Hayden screamed, getting up from his seat and putting his hands in the hair in excitement.
“Babe omg sit down! No one wants to hear you scream this early.” Jackie said, putting her hand on Hayden’s shoulder and putting him back in his seat.
“That’s not what you said this morning.” Hayden replied, sending an air kiss to his girlfriend.
“Ewww.” Rose said, disgust showing on her face.
“Fuck Hayden seriously?” Shane sent a death stare at his friend. Shane didn’t need to hear about Hayden’s sexual life at this hour. Well, ever really. Marc only laughed and took another sip of his sugary drink (Shane didn’t even know if he could call it coffee at this point).
“Shaneee, don’t act so innocent. It wasn’t even that bad.” Hayden replied, scoffing, before finally shutting the hell up and drinking his coffee.
Shane had gotten teased enough about being a virgin by Hayden so many times, but at least, it had made Hayden not open up about his own experiences. Anyways, it probably wouldn’t help him, because all his friends knew that he was gay. Shane imagined that heterosexual sex and gay sex must be two polar opposites, or at least, really different. Shane was really curious to know but well, sex wasn’t in his list of priorities. It was first and foremost school, getting a new part time job and staying healthy. The rest could wait for later… in like a couple of years.
—
Wednesday
Shane checked the address on his phone for a second (third? fifth?) time just to be sure he was at the right place. Google Maps was telling him he was in front of 1221 Wolfbird, but honestly, he was not ready to be confronted by such a big house. It was almost a castle, like a fairytale castle. There were big metal gates in front of the house for god's sake. Shane wondered why he had been sent a code earlier in the day, it all made sense now.
Right to the gates, there was a little plaque with numbers on it, hence where he should put the code. He got closer to it and typed it - it was still fresh enough in his memory for him to type it without looking at his phone screen. It was just 4 simple numbers after all.
“1410”
The little plaque made a buzzing sound before the gates opened just enough for Shane to squeeze his body between them. Not wanting to act like an idiot, he put his hands on the gates and opened them a little bit more to be able to pass them like a grown up.
There was a stone path leading to the front of the house and everywhere on the sides of it was beautiful vegetation - flowers, big beautiful trimmed trees and also some weird Greek God and Goddesses sculptures. Shane wondered how it all survived in Winter (Montreal Winter was ferocious). Shane almost felt like a prince walking that brick road. Completely ridiculous. No one should be allowed to have a house as big as this.
The house was truly beautiful though. Shane wondered how much it was worth. Probably more money than what he would ever make in his life. The Rozanovs were not just rich - they were extra rich. Billionaires.
Soon enough Shane stood in front of the door - his brain froze for a moment, not knowing what to do. Should he just knock like a normal person? There was no doorbell. Maybe just wait for someone to come and allow him entry? They must know he was there, they had opened the gates for him so…
Shane brought his fist to the door but didn’t have time to knock, because it slowly opened, escaping from his fingers. Once the door was fully open, he was able to focus on the person in front of him, who carried a smile as if it weighed nothing.
A tall blond woman, probably in her 30s, who could not be anyone else but Mrs.Rozanov.
“Shane?” Her soft voice said, while she put the most delicate touch on Shane’s shoulder, bringing him in the house and closing the door behind the both of them.
“Yes.” Shane delicately replied, matching the tone of the woman in front of him.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Erika Rozanov. Please come in.” The blonde woman said, leading the way to the leaving room.
On his way to the leaving room, he noticed a big chandelier which seemed like pearls (or diamonds) were hanging from it. He was pretty sure he had never seen a chandelier like that in real life - as far as he could remember, he had only ever seen them in movies like the Titanic (which Rose forced him to watch. She cried. He had tears in his eyes).
First thing Shane noticed when he arrived in the living room were the big brown couches right in the middle, facing each other. There were two of them, but each could probably fit 3-4 people with no problem. There was one smaller couch to Shane’s left, facing a big fireplace - he could see a remnant of ashes at the bottom of it, probably from yesterday night. There was a polished wood table in the middle with some plants and fancy books on it. The plant looked real but the books were probably only for decoration - Shane was almost sure they were completely untouched. Rich people always had a lot of untouched things in their houses just for show, to impress their guests.
The room was mostly red and brown, giving it a cozy and relaxing vibe. It made Shane feel a little bit less anxious of his interview to come.
“Please, get comfortable.” Mrs. Rozanov said, choosing a couch and pointing to the other one in front of her.
Shane was far from being attracted to women, but he was hypnotized by her. She had an unmatchable charisma. Or maybe she was just wealthy, Shane didn’t really know. At least, she seemed kind. Way more kind than his last employer - this was more than enough for him.
Shane noticed the big flamboyant ring on her finger, with a big diamond in the middle. Clearly a ring she didn’t want anymore to miss.
“So, Shane. What made you want to apply here?” She asked, still with a delicate tone.
The money, Shane thought, but it’s not like he could say that. He didn’t know if she wanted him to be honest or if she was waiting for a particular response - she was hard to read, he didn’t know her yet. He chose to be honest after all, he was really bad at lying.
“I’m a nursing student, so I got little time to work, but twice a week seemed reasonable. I’m working at another house right now, but I don’t think it’s a great fit. So I would stop working there if I can work with you. In all honesty, I just love cleaning, it’s therapeutic for me. So I’m sure you will be satisfied with my work. If you’ve seen my profile, I only got positive reviews from past employers, so I’m reliable.”
“Hm okay, I know all that. But what really got you here today?”
Her reply made Shane brows frown. What exactly did she want to know and why was his response not enough for her? He had never gotten this kind of question from his past employers. Shane thought about it a little bit, hoping the silence wasn’t too uncomfortable.
Why did he choose this ad? Was it only from the money? Or was there something more? Something deeper than that?
“I think… I think I got intrigued. You see, I come from a middle class family, so I’ve never really known what it’s like to be on the rich side. So maybe having the opportunity to work with you and understand this world better made me… curious.”
Shane saw a smile slowly making its way on her lips. She replaced her arms on her leg before talking.
“Okay Shane. That seems good for me. I would be interested to work with you.”
“You don’t need more information before…?” Shane asked, surprised by the quickness of this interview.
“No, I got everything from your profile, don’t ever worry.” She continued smiling as if she had not one worry on her shoulders. “Some things you should know before starting: we require a dress code here, we’re going to leave it for you on your first day. It’s going to be clean and everything, so don’t even worry. You will probably not see our dog often, because we bring her to a special dog spa on Wednesdays and Sundays, hence why we chose those as your cleaning dates. Also, due to my work, I travel a lot, so I won’t be the one to welcome you Sunday. I probably won’t see you a lot in the next couple of weeks sadly: big contract overseas.”
Shane took all that information in, shaking his head to show that he was actively listening. He was a bit disappointed that she would not be the one welcoming him most days, because he already felt comfortable with her. But what could he do? If she was this kind, he was sure the person who was going to welcome him was mostly going to act the same.
“So who will welcome me this weekend?” Shane wondered, sitting as straight as he could on a couch to show his confidence and his professionalism.
“My husband, Ilya. He usually prefers Mr. Rozanov, but you’ll see with him. He will give you your uniform, so I’ll just need your measurements so we can order them. The uniform is black and white, is that okay with you?”
“Of course, that seems fair.” Shane didn’t see any inconvenience of having a dress code. He liked it, in fact, it only made the job more professional.
“My husband can seem, how you say… harsh, but it’s just how he is. Once you get to know him better, you’ll see his kindness. Don’t worry, he doesn’t bite, it just takes him some time to get acclimated when we get new staff.”
Shane wondered if their staff rotation happened often, because usually, it was a sign that the job was not great or too demanding. He hoped this wasn’t the case - if it worked well with the Rozanovs, he would love to keep the job until the end of his studies, in 2 years.
“Oh okay, I understand.”
“Now that we got this settled, I will show you around the house and explain a little bit more about the cleaning chores. Seems good?”
“Yeah, totally… I mean yes Mrs. Rozanov.”
“Erika is fine with me.”
Erika Rozanov started the tour, taking her time to show and explain every room to Shane. He stayed in the house for approximately 30 minutes more, and it was truly incredible. He had certainly never been in a house this big and as well maintained. It was true that he felt a little bit intimidated by all this, but he was mostly excited.
At the end, Erika accompanied him to the door, holding her hand in front of him.
“It was nice to meet you Shane. Hopefully we will see each other again soon.”
Shane took her hand and shook it, matching the smile she already had on her face.
“I hope so too. You won’t be disappointed with my work here, Mrs. Rozanov.”
“I don’t even doubt it.”
—
Shane was moving his body to the rhythm of the music, beer in hand. He wasn’t sure if it was his second, or third… or fourth. He had lost count. They had definitely done more than 2 shots too. Shane didn’t remember how much. He felt so good right now though, so relaxed and light and… he felt something unpleasant coming in his mouth. Water. He needed water.
Shane got off the dancefloor and went into the bathroom of the place, trying to not bump into people on the way. He went in front of the sink, turned the cold tap and started to splash water in his face. It felt so good to his warm face when he felt this cold sensation caressing his cheeks. He drank some of the water too, and it felt incredible going down his throat. He was almost not drunk anymore. Well, he was, but he would stop drinking from now on.
After a couple of seconds, when he felt like he had cooled up enough, he looked at himself in the mirror. He looked wrecked. And drunk. His cheeks were pink from the heat of the club and all the alcohol he had drank. His gaze was fuzzy as if he had taken drugs, which he hadn’t - he just had always gotten drunk way too easily. He hated it, felt like it made him weak for some reason.
Shane shook his head, brought his hands to his face to spread the water that was still there, wishing that it would dry as fast as possible. Maybe now was a great time to go home and sleep, and also get ready for tomorrow.
Fuck, he worked tomorrow. His first shift at his new job. In a fucking mansion. Why had he accepted to go out tonight? He knew his friends (especially Hayden) would be a bad influence on him. But still, Shane didn’t say no when Hayden paid him his fourth shot… or five. Anyways, it didn’t matter anymore. Shane would say goodnight to his friends, get home and…
“You’re cute.”
The voice came from behind him. Shane was surprised because he hadn’t heard anyone come into the bathroom. But maybe he had been too focused on himself (and his state) to notice anything that was happening around him.
Shane turned in the direction of the voice, and saw a man, arm around the dryer. The man was probably a bit older than Shane, maybe in his thirties. He had golden curls and blue piercing eyes. He looked at Shane with a crooked smile, one Shane had only seen on really confident people. People who thought they were better than anyone else. It annoyed Shane to see such a pretty face with such an annoying rictus. Okay, maybe the man wasn’t that pretty and maybe Shane was just drunk. Or maybe the man was indeed really pretty and had a really kissable face. This wasn’t the point.
“Sorry… what?” Shane asked, wishing all the water had dried from his face - he felt like he would look ridiculous if it hadn’t. He maintained eye contact with the man a couple of meters away from him, as if daring him to repeat himself.
The man in front of him made a little sound of approval, as if he found the situation funny. He put his hand away from the dryer and took a step in Shane’s direction.
“I said you’re cute. What’s your name, cute boy?” The man said. Shane could now hear a heavy accent in his voice, one he had not picked up before.
“And why should I tell you?” Shane replied. He didn’t know why he felt like defying the man, but he did it anyway.
“Interesting.” Was the only word the stranger whispered to Shane’s response.
“What is interesting?” Shane could choose to stop talking to him. He could ignore him. But he just couldn’t. He needed to get to the end of this interaction.
The man took another step in front of him. The distance was getting shorter and shorter between them.
“I see it in your eyes.” The man continued. His smile disappeared but it was replaced with this weird expression on his face - one Shane couldn’t decipher.
“See… what?” Shane continued, maintaining eye contact with him. He couldn’t lose this fight.
“Lust. Want. It must have been a long time since you slept with someone.”
The words sent a shiver down Shane’s spine. What the stranger said was true - it had been a long time since he slept with someone. In fact, it had never happened. But it’s not like Shane was going to tell him that, right?
“You… don’t even know me.” Shane said, trying to not fumble with his words. Oh, he was really drunk. He wondered if this interaction was a hallucination, the way it didn’t feel real.
“Is that why you came here tonight? To find someone to fuck?” They were really close now. Mere centimeters were separating the two men.
“I… no. I came here to have a night out with my friends and…” Shane continued, now looking at the ground, finding this interaction too much.
“What is your name?” The stranger repeated himself, with all the confidence in the world. The man took Shane’s chin in his hand, so that the two of them were looking at each other again. The man’s lips were so close to Shane. They were pink and looked well moisturised - lips that must be nice to kiss.
No, enough. Shane hated that. Shane hated that attitude. He hated him, but…
“Shane. My name is Shane.”
“Good. What about I kiss you first and then, I bring you home. What do you think?”
This could not be happening. A stranger asking him to go home with him after a minute of weird talking? This felt so wrong.
Shane quickly got away from the stranger’s grasp and shook his hand, as if trying to erase the hand that had been on his chin seconds ago.
“No. Absolutely not! Who do you think you are? I won’t fucking go home with you and your stupid grin and kissable face!”
Shane could feel his face heating up from rage. He also regretted saying his last sentence the moment he said it. He could not believe he had told this… over confident prick that he had a kissable face.
The man in front of him only continued to smile, hand in his hair to replace the little hair lock that had escaped his perfect haircut.
“Well, that’s a real shame.” He said, going in the direction of the exit. “Have a good night, Shane.”
—
Sunday
Shane woke up with a headache, which wasn’t a surprise at all. He groaned as he turned on his side, finding his water bottle and gulping most of it in one go. He definitely regretted the decision to go out with his friends yesterday. At least he didn’t feel sick, so he guessed it could have been worse. Still, his body ached and he felt like shit, and he needed to look presentable for his first shift today.
Fuck, his first shift. What time was it?
He searched his phone in his bed in a hurry, finding it hidden under one of his pillows. He took it in his hand, almost escaping his grasp, but it didn’t. He clicked on the screen twice to open his phone, and saw it was 11:37. He had way less time to get ready as he planned to. His morning routine was fucked, he needed to scrape it and make it with the little time he had.
First shower, then breakfast (lunch?) if he could even eat something, dressing up and getting out of here. He definitely wasn’t going to be late for his first shift, that was for sure. He hurried outside of his bed and went in the bathroom’s direction. He was in and out of the shower in 5 minutes, hair cleaned and dried. He went into the kitchen to make himself something quick, maybe a bagel or a smoothie. His parents were nowhere in sight, probably out to some weekend activities.
Shane put a bagel in the toaster, hearing his phone ding at the same time. It’s not like he had time right now to scroll, but he could at least see what the notification was.
Hayden: was so fun yesterday bro!!! Me and Jackie are going for brunch, you wanna join us? I was gonna invite Rose too and her annoying boyfriend. JJ is too hungover to come.
Shane let out an exasperated noise. His friend annoyed him so much that honestly, he had no other choice but to respond, either way the message would stick in his mind.
Shane: I’m working today. In like an hour. I told you this week. So no Hayd, I can’t come. Yesterday was a bad idea.
Hayden: did you throw up? Omg you threw up!!! That’s why you are mad.
Yeah no, Shane was not going to reply to this one. He put his phone in night mode and continued his disturbed morning routine.
—
Of course, it was the day the metro decided to be late and partially shut down. Shane tried to sit still, but as the minutes passed way too fast, he just got more stressed. He started tapping his foot thinking about how much of an idiot I will look coming late on my first shift???
The metro started working 20 minutes later, but it fucked his ETA - he was now going to arrive at the Rozanovs’ household 10 minutes late. This was probably unacceptable. What if he got fired without even proving how good at cleaning he was? What if Mr. Rozanov decided this was bad behavior from his new employee and just decided to fire him on the spot?
Shane ran to the bus stop, and of course the driver was slow, so slow. Shane tried to calm his brain right now, telling it there was nothing else he could do right now. He would arrive late and that was it. It sucked so bad, but there was nothing he could do to avoid it.
Once the bus dropped him where he wanted to go, it was a 5 minutes walk to the Rozanovs’. Shane made it in 2. He could feel his heart beat fast and some sweat on his face, so he took a deep breath and passed a hand on his forehead before clicking on the little button near the gates. Everything was going to be all right. He would explain himself to Mr. Rozanov and all was going to be okay.
The gates opened and he did not waste any more time to enter the property. Soon enough, he was standing just in front of the door, eyes on his hand that was going to knock on it. Shane took one last deep breath and tried to stand tall, ready for his apologies. The door opened 5 seconds later and Shane instantly started to talk.
“I’m so sorry the metro stopped working but I came as fast as I could and…”
Shane looked up at the man in front of him and his words escaped him. He swore that this man looked familiar. Really familiar. As if he had seen him really recently. Those golden curls, those piercing blue eyes and this…
cocky smile.
Shane completely froze. He could not believe that this was happening to him right now. How bad his luck must be that he was now standing face to face with a man he clearly rejected and probably offended just yesterday?
The man showed no sign of anger though. He stood there, perfectly calm, still looking at Shane with that indescribable gaze.
“Well… this will be interesting.” The stranger replied, who took the shape of his boss from now on.
—