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teens & problems

-

I MUST'VE BEEN the worst spy ever. While the prospect of spying on my bosses had been interesting when it was proposed to me by Teddy Burke, I had been back at work so many times since and I still hadn't picked up any leads. Thankfully after dispelling the notion that just because I would sell out my boss didn't mean I was easy in other ways, Teddy dropped the idea that I should seduce George - at least just temporarily. So now we were back to square one, which was taking every possible chance I could get to snoop around the house. But I had no idea where to start. The sisters were always onto me and when they weren't, I was actually doing something that required my focus.

Like now, I was trying to fish one of Sadie's bras out from behind the bed where she lost it.

"Why is one of your bras behind the bed anyway," I asked after refraining to for so long. It seemed rude of me to ask, but the curiosity was just eating at me alive and this was the only way to get rid of it.

"Jackson came over," she said with a shrug as if that answer explained everything. At my questioning look, she added, "we made out and he accidentally threw my bra behind the bed when he was taking it off."

I nodded, accepting that much. I didn't need to know anymore before her parents found out she had guys over and then found out that I knew she had guys over.

"Well why am I the one picking it up? Can't he do it? Or better yet, you?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's literally your job to do these things. Maybe not these things, but you're like our servant."

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. But to play on her level would be to act like a child - nothing that wasn't within my reach, but also not the best way to handle this kind of situation. So I just took it with a smile and regard of the fact that her power over me had the possibility to be stripped away from her and that she might as well enjoy it while she could. Even if the embezzlement accusations were just accusations and they weren't grounded in reality, I didn't plan on working here for more than a month anyway. I was sure that Teddy would help me find a job either way.

There were plenty of dust and cobwebs behind the bed, and I felt my skin crawl as my fingers felt around through them. Thankfully there were no spiders because I had already checked for them with a flashlight before accepting this task in the first place.

With some serious stretching, I finally found the damned bra and withdrew it from behind the bed. It was covered in dust, but still looked better than anything I could ever afford to own. I held in a sigh, tossing it onto her bed before taking a bow.

"At your service," I said when I came up. Sadie scoffed in annoyance, making me chuckle as I walked out.

-

THE HALLS OF the Gates' household were the last place I felt like walking through, but this was my golden opportunity to make some progress with my mission. I knew Selena was in the kitchen right now and I had formulated a good enough excuse to be in their bedroom, so that was my first plan of attack. Everyone kept their personal stuff in their bedrooms, meaning that there was a high possibility of George keeping some of his business-related documents in there.

Pushing the door open, I was greeted with the sight of a large king-sized bed in the middle of the massive room. On one side, it was furnished with a more masculine aesthetic with a wooden desk and plain black leather armchair. The dressers were made of dark oak as well and they were adorned with pictures of George and the children. I was certain this was George's side of the room, so I started there, scanning all of the documents on the desk.

There were only letters that were unopened - and therefore out of the question if I wanted to keep my job - and his personal computer as far as things worth investigating went. The rest of the items on his desk were mail-in advertisements for colleges that I was guessing were for Sadie, knick knacks, and a flyer about a company retreat that was coming soon. I was just about to give up and head back when I noticed a ripped out piece of scratch paper with a phone number on it. The number belonged to someone named Martin Feldman, according to the paper, and something about that felt oddly familiar.

I would have to run it by Teddy, of course. I took a picture of it with my phone quickly before turning on my way out, but I was met with an unfortunate surprise.

"What are you doing in here?" It was Jacob who had asked that, although it was not in the accusatory tone I would expect when you caught your maid snooping around your house and you were livid with them. No, it was more of the tone when you caught your maid snooping around your house and you wanted to get something out of it. I had no clue which one was worse.

"I got lost," I blurted on accident, my mind too startled to articulate the excuse I had came up with before I got here, making me sound like a total idiot. "I mean, I got lost with my preparations for the party that's being thrown here. I needed to find the number for the ice sculptor and call them back to make sure they're working with the right design." That was better. Much better, Marilyn,

Jacob frowned, scratching his head. "Mom called him yesterday to confirm it because she didn't trust you. Did she not tell you that?"

I was unsure as to why he had to add that last part, but I guess it didn't matter because I still did my job right and I knew I did. I couldn't worry about that now, of course. Now, I had to worry about getting myself out of Jacob's way and hoping he forgot that he saw me in his parents' bedroom in the first place.

"No," I answered, stepping around him. "But thanks for telling me, Jacob. I really appreciate it."

"Well, maybe I could get something out of this," he said slyly and I felt my mind easily go to the worst places. "Can you take a picture with me for my socials?"

His proposition caught me off guard, but it wasn't the worst thing I could think of. Definitely an odd request, but my adult mind could think of many stranger things and his teenage mind could think of many more.

-

I HAD SPOKEN way too soon, actually.

Because by a picture with him for his socials, he meant us posing by the pool for a selfie - him in just his trunks and me in one of Sadie's swim suits that he stole from her closet. We were sitting together on the ledge with our feet in the water and his arm around my waist, the other one raised to take a selfie of us. He kept angling it to get as much of my face in there as well as my cleavage - he said my neck was too long - and I knew then that I would've rather gotten fired than this. All of my social media was art related, so I wasn't exactly sure what I was expecting.

"Thanks Marilyn," he said, his face lighting up with glee after getting what he had wanted. I scoffed. Men.

"Please tell me again why do you want that picture of all pictures to post online," I asked, terribly curious as to why this was happening to me of all people.

"Like I said," he said without even looking up from his phone screen as he typed away at it, "it's cool. That's all. What do you think of the caption 'pool hoes'?"

I narrowed my eyes. "No, tell me the real reason why. Because I didn't have to take this picture with you, especially when I realized exactly what kind of picture you were taking. No, I feel I deserve much more of an answer than just that. Plus, wouldn't that be misleading? I'm only one hoe as far as I remember."

Jack was five years old, so if he wasn't happy than he was sad, and Sadie was constantly moody. But Jacob was the least likely out of the three children of George Gates to show his grey moments. During college, I was probably one of the most moody people in the world, so I knew sadness when I saw it. And right now, Jacob was definitely upset. I could see a cloud pass over him, hanging above his head as it released into downpours, leaving him with no shelter but the truth.

Jacob sighed. "Okay, I'm just feeling pressure, you know? Peer pressure. Because all of the guys at school are banging these hot ass sluts, except me, and I just thought that people would think you're my hoe if we took that picture together. You never really see the people at my school anyway, you just drop us off at the front, so you don't have to worry about people seeing you in real life."

"What?" I was incredulous. "Look, kiddo, you're only fifteen. Those boys are either lying to you or they have some serious issues. You don't want that yet, Jacob. Maybe when you're seventeen or eighteen, it'd make sense, but you're still a kid. Enjoy it."

"So I shouldn't post it," he asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion.

"No," I said, rolling my eyes. "For starters, I could get fired or your parents could get into big trouble with the school. And secondly, if I were your 'pool hoe' then I'd have to park a block away from the school to drop you guys off. There's no way in hell I'd risk being caught like that."

"Well I still want a girlfriend," Jacob said.

Was he talking about me? I scoffed, "shop's closed, son."

"No, I mean a girl my age," he corrected, totally dissing me, but I was fine with not being his interest. "Like someone I could be serious with for awhile and then someday we can have sex."

It was a surprisingly mature request on his part, so I felt I had no choice but to honor it in the best way that I could. "Sure, if by any chance I meet any fifteen year old girls, I'll send them your way, bud." I got up from out of the pool, making my way back to the house. "Now it's time to get this thing off of me before your sister finds out that I'm wearing it."

-

A FEW HOURS later, I finally had the kids out of my hair and the sisters were nowhere to be seen, so I doubled back to Selena and George's bedroom. The door was still left open, so I made my way in without a second glance, thankful for my carelessness after all.

The last time I had been in here, I found a phone number, but that wasn't good enough for right now. I needed something more solid, something in the house that would show contempt, like a bank statement or some form of evidence that company funds were being wrongfully misdirected.

I sighed, pressing a hand to my temple, trying to think. If he had anything of that sort, then where would it be? I was, in no sense of the word, a criminal so I was entirely unsure as to how to get into the mindset of one.

"Yeah, I'm going to steal this money," I whispered to myself, trying to see what it was like to think like a criminal. Of course that sounded terribly cringeworthy, making me groan. "I'm George Gates and I'm a greedy billionaire. And I'm going to take a little off the top from everybody's paychecks - or however you embezzle from a company, shit I am not good at this at all."

"Not good at what?" I heard someone ask from behind me, making me curse my carelessness now. Because I had realized just then, that I closed the door behind me when I left with Jacob to go to the pool.

I spun around to find George Gates standing in front of the doorway to his room, his hair slicked wet and a towel wrapped around his waist, meaning that he had just taken a shower. Despite the fear pounding in my chest, I couldn't help but take note of how both he and his wife were keeping it rather tight at their age. But that was neither here nor there at the moment.

"I was -" I started, but then his towel dropped, causing us both to gasp.