Kathleen had left work earlier than usual on Friday evening so she could beat traffic and get some rest before the church vigil she was to attend that night. She had barely managed to fall asleep when someone knocked on her door sometime past 7 PM. She had assumed it was one of her neighbors coming to borrow something from her, so she didn't bother to check the mirror as she walked over to the door, an opened it slightly, allowing only her head to pass through the door.
Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Pete standing there with his daughter, while he looked around the corridor with displeasure written all over his face.
"S--ir?" She asked in confusion. What was he doing here? How had he gotten her home address? Why didn't he call her? Kathleen wondered as Pete turned to look at her.
"This is where you live?" He asked distastefully.
Kathleen was almost tempted to ask if he had a problem with it, but she decided otherwise, "Did you miss your way?" Kathleen asked in a tone that said, 'I won't tolerate you looking down at me.'
"I'm supposed to spend the night with you because daddy has to go somewhere." Amanda piped in.
"Spend the night with me?" Kathleen asked with a raised brow as she looked at Pete. Maybe she had made a mistake in accepting the job without having some sort of agreement with him about imposing on her privacy.
"Unfortunately I don't think my daughter can live in such a place." Pete said as he looked at her directly in the eyes.
"Then I suppose you can take her along with you to wherever you're going. I have plans for the night anyway." Kathleen said, not understanding why she was feeling irritated by his action.
"I suppose you'll just have to cancel whatever plans you made for the night. We signed an agreement, remember? You're to be present WHENEVER you're needed. You're my employee after all." Pete said with a challenging glint in his eyes, making Kathleen grit her teeth.
She hadn't realized that she had signed a deal with the devil himself. He had been all sweet and nice just some days ago, but now he was obviously beginning to show his true colors.
"I'll just have to take her with me to the vigil..."
"You will do no such thing! Pack whatever you need for the weekend, you're spending the weekend at my house, I can only trust you to take good care of my daughter in the comfort of my home." Pete said making Kathleen's mouth drop wide open.
Was he kidding her? "I beg your pardon?" Kathleen asked in disbelief.
"I said pack a bag, we are going over to my house. I have to be somewhere and you're wasting my time." Pete said impatiently.
"I can't..."
"You will. You signed the contract. You agreed you would drop every other thing and do this if called up on." Pete lied, and thanked his stars that she hadn't read the terms of her employment.
"Can I refuse the job?" Kathleen asked.
"I'm afraid it's a little too late for that. The terms of the contract you signed also said you can't stop working for me without giving me at least a six months notice." Pete lied.
"I..." Kathleen shut her mouth. This was her fault. She shouldn't have signed a contract she didn't read, and she definitely shouldn't have lied about it either. She couldn't risk getting into an argument or quareling with him. What if he got angry and decided to fire her from her job at the office? She couldn't afford to be jobless.
"Fine." She said as she tried to shut the door so she could go in and change her clothes.
"You can't leave us out here, we have to come inside." Pete said.
"It's a single room, unless you want to watch me change my clothes, I'd suggest you wait for me in your car." Kathleen said curtly and shut the door in his face.