Topic: Elderly woman seeks companion...

Margaret Cavendish · Date: 2012-11-04 03:01 EST

The things some people will pay you to do were astounding. Although, after a few years of picking up any job, anywhere, nothing really surprised Angel Delaney anymore. She'd done everything from dog-walking to aquarium cleaning to serving drinks at a posh dinner party. She'd even done a little modelling, which was how she'd gotten her current job. It was modelling with a twist, and she was going to be very lucky if no one she knew recognised her while she was working. But then, how many of the people she knew passed this particular fetish boutique between 9 and 11 at night, when she and another girl were employed to put on a pole dancing show for the passers by' It was good money, but not something Angel wanted to be doing for the foreseeable future, always on the lookout for something a little better suited to her tastes than the temporary job she was in at any given time. Every morning found her settled at her favorite little cafe, poring over the personal ads and job advertisements in search of something new.

Which was how she had come across this particular advertisement: Lively older woman seeks friendly companion, for company, help with organisation, mobilty, daily chores, etc. Live in position; holiday negotiable. Generous rates. Men need not apply; Serious offers only. Not entirely sure what a companion was in this context, nonetheless it was something better than being a glorified lap-dancer in a public place for two hours a night, and Angel had been quick to call the number. After getting over the surprise of speaking to Lady Margaret Cavendish's butler, she was referred to woman's current companion, Elouise Markham, who had arranged an interview for the next day.

Dressed as smartly as she thought she could get away with, without looking as though she was trying too hard or wiping her personality away from her appearance, Angel made her way up along the long drive to the Cavendish town house, which was something of a mansion in itself. She had to walk up a full floor's worth of steps just to reach the front doors, which were huge and set in a marble archway on a covered walkway that seemed to wrap around the manor's first floor. Using the heavy knocker, she announced herself, and waited to be let in, escorted by the butler from the front door to the White Parlor, which was exactly as it sounded.

"Wait here if you please, Miss Delaney," the old man told her calmly, gesturing for the young woman to make herself comfortable. "Ms Markham will be with you shortly. She will take you to see Lady Cavendish."

Ever so slightly overawed by the sheer wealth of the place she was standing in, Angel just about managed to nod in agreement, watching the butler out through the door before turning her attention to her surroundings. The White Parlor was just that, a medium-sized sitting room decorated and furnished in white with warm yellow accents in the soft furnishings. There were some odd hints, though - like storm shutters that looked as though they were more often close than open, thick and sturdy enough to cut out all light from the outside, and a fire in the grate that looked as though it constantly burned, rather than being lit for a purpose. But then, this was an old posh woman's house. She was bound to have a few weird habits.

Margaret Cavendish · Date: 2012-11-04 03:03 EST

The Lady Cavendish was getting up there in the years. She'd built up a fortune by living frugally, even with the millions she'd inherited from her parents. That had been more than a lifetime ago, though. The home, as well, was inherited and the furnishings kept in nearly mint condition by the loving and caring hands of the second and third generation house and grounds keepers. They were all family, and were looking forwards to meeting the newest member. With Eloise' retirement, and her having no time nor inclination to having children of her own, that left the position as Lady Cavendish's companion open. It was an exciting day at Royal Oaks, indeed.

Known throughout her life as a fun-spirited and kind hearted woman, she was also known for her tight fisted accounting and brutally efficient way of keeping men at arm's length. Now that she was in her golden years, her manner had changed from strange to eccentric. So when she came hopping through the house and into the white room with a white bunny suit on, with pink ears and a black, lacey teddy adoring the bunny costume, nobody that had lived in the home for any length of time gave it a second thought. "Oh, I'm so glad you're here!" Her blue eyes sparkled with life and her smile beamed as she saw Angel. "Just in time!"

Angel jumped when she heard the door open, guiltily setting down the ornament she had been inspecting curiously as she turned to find herself faced with a lovely smiling old lady dressed as a rabbit in lingerie. To her credit, she didn't laugh, simply blinking slowly and owning her smile, which was decidedly wider than a normal greeting smile should be. "Lady Cavendish, I presume?"

"Oh, just call me Peg," she slid her furry feet along the smooth as glass floor over to the new girl on the block. "Everybody else does. Come along now. I was just preparing for tea." She curled her arm through one of Angel's to lead her from the White Room. "We're all very excited to meet you. It's not often that we get new blood around here." She laughed happily, her head going back and leaning to the side with the effort of it.

Even if she'd wanted to, Angel couldn't have made a run for it. The butler had absconded with her coat and bag almost the moment she'd stepped into the house. With her arm wrapped up in Lady Cavendish's grasp, she found herself propelled along by this charming, if slightly unnerving, elderly woman, unable to keep herself from smiling. "I didn't realize I already had the job, Lady - uh, Peg," she corrected herself with a faint laugh. "I was under the impression that this was an interview - I'm sorry, everyone" How many people are here?"

Margaret Cavendish · Date: 2012-11-04 03:04 EST

"You'll get the job if you stick around through tea," said with a nod. "The three before you ran from the house like their hair was on fire." She looked at Angel in a curious way. "I can't see why." She shook her head then, as if dismissing this perplexing question. "Oh, we have a dozen or so housekeepers, six or seven grounds keepers and their families. Once they come to work here, nobody wants to leave." She laughed at this, too. "The girl that presses my sheets took the job from her mother and she took it from her mother." Peg found this thought hilarious and laughed again. "But you'll see one big happy family!"

How Angel kept herself from laughing aloud at the old woman's perplexity was beyond her comprehension. She had a pretty shrewd idea what had sent the three former girls running, but at least Peg was wearing the teddy over the bunny costume. Eccentric, but modest, was fine in Angel's book. "You must run a very happy home, to keep people generation after generation," she offered, at something of a loss as to how to keep the conversation going. She was slightly gob smacked by what she was seeing, but at the same time, she couldn't see this charming old duffer minding at all that she was currently dancing in underwear to pull in punters to a fetish boutique.

"We only have one rule here at Royal Oaks," she nodded again, her bunny ears bouncing with the effort. Big blue eyes flashed with a moment of clarity. "We don't go into the basement." There were very few allowed into Joshua's chambers. It was for his protection that it remained that way. "Other than that, you can even use my bathtub!" She was smiling happily again and they finally made their way into a small setting room. The table in the middle was laden with a silver tea set, a plate of scones and a large clay jug sitting near it. "There now, have a seat and make yourself comfortable." The chairs that sat on all four sides of the table were oak, stained in deep cherry. And while there hadn't been even a scratch or mar to any of the furnishings in the rooms they'd travelled through to get to this one, the table and chairs in here were dinged and a little on the rough side. "I'll just go get the supplies. Sit, sit." She flapped her hands and arms towards the table and chairs before she hurriedly left the room.

"Oh, but ..." But Lady Cavendish was gone before Angel could point out that there was a full pot of tea on the table, as well as everything else she could possibly want in order to have afternoon tea. As the door closed behind the bouncing bunny of a woman, Angel finally let herself laugh a little. "Someone's gotta be playing a trick on me," she muttered to herself, but she wasn't so sure. Still, she had to wonder, both about the darling Lady Cavendish and her injunction not to enter the basement. Was she protecting some ancient supply of wine or something? Not quite comfortable enough to sit and wait for the lady's return, she turned her attention to looking around the room, wondering why she'd been brought to a room with no windows when it was such a lovely day for sunshine.

Margaret Cavendish · Date: 2012-11-04 03:04 EST

When she did return, Peg had lost the bunny costume and was wearing an old, beat up, stained t-shirt, a pair of denim Capri's that rolled to her knees and black tube socks that came to just below the cuff of the Capri. She had thickly soled leather sandals upon her feet and bright yellow scrubbing gloves on her hands. She was carrying a bucket in one hand and a stack of rags in the other. "I told you to sit," she looked a little put off that Angel wasn't in a chair. She sat the bucket down beside a chair and then sits herself into the chair. "Please, don't run away like the others."

The change of clothing was something of a relief, but the bucket and rags brought a new uncertainty into the picture. Still, Angel found herself hurrying to apologies as the Lady's face fell. "I'm sorry, I'm not used to being in such a beautiful old house," she admitted with a warm smile, lowering herself into a chair at the table. "I'm trying to curb the urge to explore. I didn't mean to offend you."

"Wonderful! I know it must be scary, a house so big and being with a crazy old bint." She smiled and laughed, slapping the table. Taking the cloths, she divided the pile and sat half of them in front of Angel. Peg reached for the bucket then and brought out the silver polish. The bucket remained on the ground for the dirty cloth to be tossed into. "I love cleaning the silver. It sparkles so when you're done." She picked up the lid to the sugar bowl, and dipped her cloth into the polish. "So tell me about yourself, Angel." Her concentration had an already crowded forehead creased with another wrinkle.

This time, Angel laughed with her, feeling ever so slightly helpless in the gale that was Lady Cavendish. "It's certainly not something that happens to me very often," she told the old lady, automatically reaching to take up the milk jug and a cloth from the pile in front of her. If the lady was going to polish, she might as well join in. "About myself" That all depends on what you want to hear," she shrugged lightly, her dark eyes on the ornate silver as she rubbed the polish into the metal. "Do you want my qualifications, my life story ....why I'm trying to get this job?" She smiled; the expression lighting up her face as she did so, casting a sideways glance at the old woman sat so near.

Peg lowered the lid and cloth together and she looked up at Angel with a gleeful gleam in her eyes. "Tell me the good stuff, love and romance. Without that, life is such a bore, don't you think?" Already, she was pleased that Angel picked up without having to be asked. Setting the cloth wrapped lid down, Peg reached for the clay jug and the two crystal tumblers that had sat hidden behind it. She pulled the cork from the jug with her teeth and spat it away. She then poured the dark amber liquid into the glasses. "Nothing like a bit of rum! Do have some, Rosalie and her husband Garland do make the best!" She then gently nudged the tumbler to Angel.

Margaret Cavendish · Date: 2012-11-04 03:06 EST

"Love and romance?" Angel laughed softly, feeling her cheeks pink under the elderly dear's gleeful grin. She hadn't been expecting this when she'd come here today. "There hasn't been that much of that, I'm afraid. Not for lack of wanting it to happen," she added, wondering why she was being so honest with this woman she didn't know. "I mean, I'm not a virgin, but it's a little hard to hang onto a man when you don't seem to be able to hang onto a job for more than two months at a time." She hadn't actually intended on sharing that little bit of information, but this was so informal, it had just slipped out. She blinked at the tumbler being edged her way. "I can only have a little, I can't really be drunk at work tonight," she admitted, but she didn't completely deny the woman her desire to have someone to drink with, lifting the crystal to her lips to take a sip. The alcohol burned and soothed in the same action, leaving her gasping ever so slightly. "Lovely," she rasped, laughing at her own reaction.

"I remember," she sighed wistfully, her eyes glazing over with the memories of years past. "Hanging out in every hooch and juke joint, looking for that perfect man." She sighed again and then leveled her gaze onto Angel. "And then he came along and I didn't have to look, ever again." There was a tiny trace of sadness in her voice and in that gaze. Too many years had gone by. Too many wasted years. And then her smile came back in full force. "I'm glad you like the rum. Eloise said she cleaned the copper pots with it." Hunching up her shoulders, she laughed until she shook, the distant memory faded back into the dark recesses of her mind.

"He?" Angel's interest was piqued by this allusion to a past she was pretty sure by this point had been well worth the toll it had taken on Margaret Cavendish's attachment to reality. The smile and laughter that followed that moment, though, broke her away from the curiosity, engaged by the lady's gleeful outlook on life. "I do believe, Lady Cavendish, that you are deliberately trying to scare me off," she accused in a warm voice, having absolutely no intention by this point of being scared away at all.

"Oh goodness!" She picked up on the humor in Angel's voice and her vivid blue eyes danced. "You've caught me at my game. And being so clever, you've earned the position. Now put down that nasty rag. That's the porter's job." She stood up then and opened her arms, waiting for an embrace. "You'll start immediately and can get completely faded off of your a$$ tonight! We're celebrating!"

Margaret Cavendish · Date: 2012-11-04 03:08 EST

The joyful response to her gentle prodding for a little truth brought another smile to Angel's face, only too happy to put silver and cloth down before she dirtied her hands anymore than she had already. "I dread to think what you did to the other three girls," she chuckled softly, rising to her feet and bending a little to let Lady Cavendish embrace her, since that's what the little old woman seemed to want to do. "I'd love to start immediately, but I should at least work my shift tonight before quitting," she said reluctantly. "There's no time to get someone else to take over this evening, and, uh ....well, the ad said something about the position being live-in" Wouldn't I need to pitch my stuff over here?"

She hugged the girl warmly, and just kept hanging on, as if forgetting she was embracing the poor girl. "We can get your belongings moved. Plenty of strong hands for that. And the stripper's pole won't miss you, but if you must then you must. It's very unusual to find a young lady who stands by her commitments. It's very refreshing. You'll fit in like one of the peas in the pod." She was smiling happily, and still hugging Angel. "I'm so happy you're here!"

"Uh, well, I'm not a stripper, but ..." Angel laughed helplessly once again, her arms hugging but holding her dirtied hands away from Lady Cavendish, unlike the lady herself. There were likely a pair of dirty hand prints on her back now. "Um, Peg? I'm not going anywhere, you can let go." She smiled at the little woman encouragingly.

"Oh, yes," a little flustered, she let the girl go and took a step back. "I'm terribly sorry," she clasped her hands together and held them in front of her chest. "I always check into my potential employee's background." She smiled then, releasing her hands and circling one finger near her temple. "Crazy, not stupid. Now! Let's show you your room before we set you on your way to tie things up."

Margaret Cavendish · Date: 2012-11-04 03:09 EST

"I wouldn't say you're crazy," Angel told her, amused and relieved that the woman was at least in enough control of her faculties to know she was several screws loose. "So I guess you know about all the different jobs I've then, huh?" She caught up a cloth from the table to wipe her hands as clean as she could. "No one's going to mind if I just ....move in?"

"Oh no," she shook her head and led the way out of the room and through the maze that was the downstairs of the mansion. "We took a close look at your background and then set up the interview. If you can withstand having job after job and still have enough sense of humor to figure out what?s going on and not be angry' You're a natural fit here at Royal Oaks." And it was true, one by one as they passed housekeepers and the kitchen staff, they all greeted her with wide smiles and friendly waves. "You're the first, in years, and it was so much fun setting this all up! You should have seen your face when you first looked at me!" She had to stop then, holding onto a table to get under control. The laughing had brought on a fit of coughs that left her winded and red in the face.

It certainly did look as though Angel was going to fit in here; she'd not been made to feel so welcome anywhere else. The sheer sense of fun and mischief in her new employer was an encouraging sign, but the coughing was a hint toward the reason why Peg needed a companion. Angel moved swiftly to her side as she coughed, taking one of the old lady's hands and laying her other palm on Peg's back, encouraging her to straighten up and loosen her lungs - nursing auxiliary was one of the jobs on that long list of previous employment. "Easy there, Bunny," she murmured gently. "Don't go employing me and then drop dead, it's very rude." Smiling, hiding her concern behind the warm expression, she breathed with Peg. "Slowly in and out, that's it."

Margaret Cavendish · Date: 2012-11-04 03:09 EST

Peg was slowly coming around until Angel cracked a funny. She slapped her own thigh and went into gales of laughter once more. "Oh, oh, oh! Rude!" She had to wipe the tears from her eyes. And with Angel's help, she gained control once again. She pats Angel's hand and began to lead the way once more. "Funny and kind, such a huge improvement over Eloise. She was one crazy bitch." And with that, Peg climbed into a chair that was mounted to the wall. "Come, sit in my lap and we'll ride up the stairs together!"

"She didn't sound like the friendliest woman in the world over the phone, I'll admit that," Angel conceded, not really wanting to speak ill of her predecessor. She was pleased to see that whatever afflicted Peg's lungs wasn't too serious, not yet, pausing at the bottom of the stairs as the old woman settled herself into her stair lift. Some sixth sense raised the hairs on the back of her neck with a sensation of someone watching her, but when she glanced around, there was no one there. Shrugging it off, she snorted at Peg's invitation. "Thanks, but my backside is way too boney to inflict on your legs," she assured the old woman. "You ride, I'll run. Race you."

For a moment, Peg's eyes rested fondly somewhere over Angel's shoulder. Her smile faded into something not unlike admiration. And then she came back to herself. "You're on!" She pushed the joystick to the right and began to rise up the stairs a bit faster than was allowed. She giggled madly and somewhere an echo of that giggle, but much deeper and masculine in pitch, sounded. "Oh, what fun!"

"Hey, hold on!" Angel laughed, hurriedly bending to slip her feet out of her shoes before hitching up her skirt, taking the steps three at a time in an effort to keep up with the speeding old lady's stair lift. "You cheated!" Somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered the echoing laugh from below, but frankly the race was too much fun for a male voice to distract her from straightaway. She assumed it was one of the staff passing through the main hall.

"Wee!" Her eyes danced wildly and she giggled like a school girl. And while her chair was fast, Angel proved to be faster. And though she didn't win the race to the top of the stairs, she was pleased with the outcome. Her chair came to a screeching halt and the inertia brought her out of the chair and tumbling onto the thickly carpeted landing. She tumbled in a tangle of limbs, laughing at herself.

Margaret Cavendish · Date: 2012-11-04 03:11 EST

"Peg!" The young woman lurched forward, too late to save her new employer from sprawling on the thick carpet, dropping down onto her own knees to make sure no injury had come from the little bit of play. "Are you okay' Nothing broken" No fractured sense of humor?"

Peg lay flat on her back, looking up at Angel, still giggling madly. "Oh no, this part of the floor is more thickly padded just because that happens, a lot." She sat up then, and spritely got to her feet. "Well then, would you like to see your room?" She brushed herself off and pat down her now mussed up hair. "It's right beside mine. I think you'll love it," she gushed with a wave of her boney hand.

Angel snorted with laughter again. "I can tell you're going to be a handful," she predicted in a wry tone, rising onto her feet and slipping her shoes back on as Peg patted her mussed hair back into place. "First things first - if we're gonna race, you're gonna learn how to stop without crashing." Without thinking, she offered her arm to the eccentric little woman. "And I'm sure I'll love it. Just no bouncing in on me when I'm naked."

Peg stopped a moment once they were arm in arm and looked back at the stair lift and the unused seatbelt, then up at Angel with a grin and a shrug. Then she moved forwards. "I can promise I won't be bouncing on you when you're naked," she very nearly cackled. "But with a gorgeous young woman like you I can't make that promises for anybody else in this house!"

She rolled her eyes, unable to keep the grin from her face under Peg's persistent good humor. "I highly doubt Jeeves down there is the type to molest women in their bedrooms," she chuckled. After all, the old butler was the only man she'd seen so far. "He doesn't look like he could manage the stairs without having a heart attack."

"Oh Gods no!" Peg looked well and truly scandalized, and then scrunched her shoulders a bit to whisper conspiratorially. "He fancies the young lads, you see." She lit up like a Christmas tree then. "There are much younger and more handsome men around. Never know, you might not mind them bouncing on you when you're naked." Her hand went to the knob of the door and she pushed it open. The bedroom inside was larger than most two bedroom apartments and had its own full ensuite bathroom adjoining. "And here we are," she said, happily and a little anxious, hoping that Angel liked it.

"Oh, so you're not hiding them away for your own guilty pleasures, then ..." Angel's teasing faded away as she looked around the huge space she'd been ushered into, feeling her jaw drop in amazement. "Whoa." Dark eyes blinked wide as she looked around, noting the sitting area, the desk, the frankly enormous bed, and the luxurious ensuite. "Are you sure you want me to sleep here" I mean, it's not a guest room?"

Margaret Cavendish · Date: 2012-11-04 03:13 EST

"Well, you know..." she fluttered her hand and giggled. Truly there was only one man for her, and she slipped into the basement to see him. And while she was youthful in spirit, there was only so much a body could do at her age. Sheathing Joshua's length and girth, much less having the stamina to last, was something she was no longer able to do. The thought took the smile from her face, briefly. She could remember, clearly, the last time they had attempted to make love. It was a heart breaking experience, but she was determined that her beloved never had to suffer for her lack of ability. Setting her shoulders as if she'd decided something, she stepped behind Angel as the girl looked around the room. "Yes, this is your room. Mine is right through those doors. You'll see the monitoring equipment that the great dictator insisted on using in that panel, just there." She made her way around the room, pointing out different things that really didn't need pointing out. A dresser was a dresser and a closet was a closet, after all.

"The great dictator?" Angel queried curiously as she was shown around, not minding having the obvious pointed out. She was desperate to know what it was that was taking the smile from Peg's face every now and then, but she didn't dare ask. Perhaps in the weeks to come, the old woman would volunteer the information herself. As they walked about the room, her eye was caught by wrongness with the perception of space. "Is there something behind here?" she asked Peg, laying a hand against the walnut paneling that lined the wall between the sleeping area and the bathroom. "This wall seems wider than it needs to be. Don't tell me, let me guess ....this house is so old it's got secret passages from when the Spanish Inquisition used to raid houses looking for heretics."

"Eloise," she rolled her eyes and grimaced as if saying the woman's name was painful. "Oh, she had me putting on sensors and wires and if she had her way I'd be wearing diapers so she could measure the intake and output, too!" She laughed then, a genuine laugh. Eloise had been tough, but had to be, and deep down Peg loved her for it. When asked about the panel in the wall, Peg nodded her head. "I've not discovered them all, and I've lived here nearly all of my life. Won't it be fun to discover them together?" And it was only part true. There were hidden passages, but she knew every one of them. She also knew how to avoid the passage that led to Joshua's basement apartment, so she was confident that her little secret wouldn't make itself known for quite some time.

Angel laughed at the transparent innocence on her employer's face. "You're humoring me again," she accused Peg fondly. "But it will be fun to explore with you. I'm getting the distinct impression that my life is not going to be boring while I'm here." She turned to move toward Peg with a smile. "I guess I should get things in motion to move in, then, shouldn't I" Unless you have more tests for me to take, Bunny."

Peg gently took Angel's hands between her own and pat slowly. "In time, Angel." Looking into the girl's eyes, she begged for understanding. "No, life here is rarely boring. And no more tests, you're in like Flynn." With a smile, she let go of Angel's hand. She loved the new nickname and couldn't wait to share notes with Joshua about the afternoon's events. "I'll have a moving truck, with men to pack your things, at your place tomorrow. I know I'm a pushy old broad, but I just can't wait for you to be here. This afternoon's been such fun."

"I guess now would be a good time to tell you I have no idea what a companion is supposed to do?" the young woman suggested with a smile, torn between pleasure and alarm at how fast Peg was moving to get her moved in and settled. "Is there a dress code or anything" Because I don't dress like this every day."

"You do what you do naturally," Peg explained as if it were the simplest thing in the world. "You've been doing it all afternoon!" She waved off the dress code question. "So long as you're comfortable, it doesn't matter much what you wear. I mean, when we go in public you can't run about in painted on latex..." she smiled again, that mischievous little grin that made bright blue sparkling triangles of her eyes. "Go now, shoo so we can talk about you behind your back." She giggled, but it wasn't a falsehood. She and Joshua had much to talk about.

(A shout out to the most fantastic partner in the world! Thank you for helping me find my muse! Love ya muchly!!)