Chapter 10: Money Problems

Maria entered through the side door of the house humming softly. It was Friday morning and it was her job to clean the house for the weekend. She was the maid.

"Hello, Amber."

"Hello, Maria. How's it going?"

Maria answered, "It's going okay. My son is in the spelling bee this afternoon. I'm going to his school to watch him."

"Is he a good speller?"

"He's good. He'll do well, but I don't think he'll win."

"That's a shame," Amber said.

"He likes the sports too much."

"All boys like sports too much," Amber said with a smile.

Maria entered the kitchen and looked around. As always, the kitchen was spotless. The floor looked like it had been mopped that morning.

She said, "It's clean. What am I supposed to do here?"

"Nothing," Amber said.

"You've got to start leaving me something to do or Mr. King will fire me," Maria said.

"It'll be our little secret," Amber said.

"You're a good girl," Maria said.

Amber shrugged her shoulders and replied, "I'm not so good. Do you want to dust or vacuum?"

"I'll vacuum," Maria said.

"Great. I'll dust."

The two women worked through the living room, the sex room, and the entertainment room. Maria vacuumed while Amber dusted. Amber had the easier job of the two. Of course, Maria would never know that Amber went through the house to make sure that there were no signs of sex left out for Maria to find. There were a few times when Amber discovered a tube of lube, a sex toy, or a piece of clothing left from the previous night.

While Maria cleaned the bathroom, Amber went into the kitchen to make some tea. It had become a little ritual for them to have a cup of tea and chat a bit before Maria left to her next cleaning job. Maria appreciated the break and Amber enjoyed the company.

Amber made hot tea in the proper manner. She boiled a pot of water. Once the water was boiling, she then poured a little of the water into the porcelain tea pot to allow it to warm up. She would let it sit there covered for a few minutes with a towel over it to keep the heat in. Depending on the kind of tea she was making, she'd let the boiling water cool down. It was important to achieve a temperature suitable for the tea she was making. She preferred the whole leaf Oolong tea, but occasionally would make a pot of green tea. The green tea was to be prepared with cooler water than Oolong tea.

Once the tea pot was warm, she'd pour out the water and put in one heaped teaspoon of loose tea for each cup. She would then fill the teapot with hot water in proportion to the amount of tea she had put in the teapot. She would let the tea steep for fifteen seconds and then pour the water out to get rid of any surface contaminants. She often poured the water into the teacups and then emptied the teacups once they had warmed up. She would then refill the pot with the proper amount of water and allow the tea to steep the full proper amount of time.

While the tea was steeping, Amber would set out the teacups along with some little cookie or sweet treat for them to eat with their tea. She normally made the treat although she did at times bring something home from a bakery. Today, she put out sugar cookies that she had made the previous day.

Maria, finished with cleaning the guest bathroom, returned to the kitchen. She watched Amber finish her little ritual with making tea. She didn't know if all of the little steps that Amber performed improved the flavor of the tea, but it was always good.

"Your tea is the best," Maria said taking a seat.

Amber said, "Thank you. I enjoy making it."

Amber poured a cup for tea for Maria. She then added a little cream into her cup and filled it with tea. Both women added a little sugar to their cups. They took two cookies each.

Maria took a sip of her tea and sighed in satisfaction. "This is the best tea I've ever had."

"It isn't an expensive brand. The secret to good food is in preparing it properly."

Maria laughed at hearing words that she had spoken to Amber said back to her. She said, "It still helps to start with good ingredients."

"That's true."

Maria asked, "Did you try the recipe I gave you?"

"Yes, I did. It was heavenly," Amber said. "Everyone loved it."

It was rather strange getting a recipe for an Italian dish from a Hispanic cleaning lady. Amber had discovered that Maria loved to cook and experimented with all kinds of foods. One meal might be German and then next one Thai. To Maria, food was a gift from God and was to be appreciated in all of its forms. It was a miracle that Maria didn't weigh three hundred pounds considering some of the dishes she prepared.

"I'm glad," Maria said.

She dug into her purse and pulled out a recipe card. Handing it over to Amber, she said, "Here's a recipe for a very easy fruit crumb cake. You can make it with peaches, blueberries, cherries, or even apples."

Amber looked over the recipe. She said, "That looks easy."

"It is. You can throw that together at the last minute if company shows up unexpectedly," Maria said.

"I'll try it out Sunday. I was thinking of making a roast beef. I found a new recipe and it looked intriguing. I'll give it to you if it is any good," Amber said.

"Men love a good roast beef," Maria said.

"Yes, they do."

Maria frowned and then said, "It is nice that Mr. King is helping you young ladies out, but ... uh ... you should be careful."

"Why?"

"Don't take this the wrong way. I mean, Mr. King is a very nice man. He's a good man, but, he is a man. Men are tempted by having attractive young women around. Sometimes they do things that are inappropriate," Maria said.

Trying not to laugh, Amber said, "I can say with utmost confidence that Mr. King is a gentleman. He has never made an unwanted advance on any of us or done anything we've ever found to be inappropriate."

"I'm sure you're right. I can't help but worry about you. You're such a nice young lady," Maria said.

"Thank you, Maria. That means a lot to me," Amber said smiling brightly.

Maria asked, "How is the sewing coming?"

"I'm picking up a used sewing machine later today," Amber said.

"Used?"

Amber said, "I want a machine that will last forever. I figure one that has already lasted forever is a good bet."

"You might be right," Maria said.

The women took a moment to enjoy their teas and cookies. Amber had made the cookies from scratch and was quite proud of them.

Amber asked, "I meant to ask you something earlier and I keep forgetting. What church do you go to?"

"Saint Pauls over on Broad Street," Maria answered. "Why?"

"You know Cat."

"Yes. She's one of the other young ladies Mr. King is helping."

"Well, she's Catholic. I thought I would let her know of a good church in the area," Amber replied.

"You're so thoughtful," Maria said. "Where is she?"

"She's off taking care of some of her financial matters," Amber answered.

"I hope that she's making progress on clearing up her debts," Maria said.

"She is."

Maria said, "Too many people want too much and they want it too quickly. They get into debt and then spend the rest of their life trying to get out of it. In the long run, they end up worse than if they had just waited."

"Wiser words were never spoken," Amber said.

Maria finished her cup of tea. She said, "I must get to my next job."

"I understand."

"Thank you for the tea and all of your help."

"It's always a pleasure to talk with you," Amber said.

"Thank you," Maria said.

Amber called out, "I wish your son luck in the spelling bee."

The cleaning lady left having enjoyed her time in the house. Cleaning houses was not the kind of job that one dreamed of doing when a child, but it paid fairly well. Having people like Amber around made a bad job a whole lot better.

Amber got up and rinsed off the dishes. She hummed merrily enjoying her work. Today was payday and she was going to be very busy. She had to stop by the office to pick up her check, stop by the bank to deposit it, and then swing by the place where she had found the sewing machine.

It was time for the Friday project meeting and Sue Ellen, Dave, and Andrew were gathered around the conference table to discuss any issues that might have come up. Usually, there wasn't much on the agenda other than a few questions about how the girls were doing and if there were any new prospects. It was a rare occasion when the meeting lasted more than fifteen minutes.

They had already covered the typical business when Andrew said, "I've got a problem. I was wrong about the penny a box money."

Looking worried, Sue Ellen said, "Oh, that doesn't sound good. Are you going to have to cancel the project?"

Andrew shook his head. "No. I thought the figures they gave on sales were the annual figures. It turns out that they were the quarterly figures."

In a way, he should have realized that. The company had an international presence. Two million units of powered donuts spread out over fifty states and twelve months would represent sales of less than eight thousand boxes per state per week. That might sound like a lot, but it actually wasn't much. A state with a thousand stores would mean that a store only sold eight boxes of donuts a week. Most places sold that many a day. There were always twenty or so boxes at the store where he shopped.

Dave said, "That's a good thing, right?"

"Yes, it is," Andrew said. "I have all that money allocated to Project GML."

"It'll be hard getting more women," Dave said.

"I know. I was thinking we could give Amber, Bambi, and Cat a raise," Andrew said.

"How much of a raise were you thinking?" Sue Ellen asked.

"Well, the hundred a day would remain the same. I was thinking seven-fifty for the days when they had sex with me."

"That's very generous of you," Sue Ellen said.

"Yes, it is," Dave said fully approving of the proposal.

Sue Ellen said, "I think it would be appropriate to pay Amber an extra hundred a day."

She knew how Amber watched every dollar she spent. Amber was obsessed with getting as much money saved as possible. An extra hundred dollars a day would really be appreciated.

"Why?"

"Who does all of the grocery shopping, cooks all of the meals, and keeps the house clean?" Sue Ellen asked.

"Amber," Andrew answered.

Resting his elbows on the table, he folded his hands and held them in front of his mouth. He thought about Amber's contributions around the house for a minute trying to remember if there was a day when she didn't help out. He was aware that Amber also dealt with any problems Bambi and Cat had with their activities in the house. He figured he owed her something for that.

He rubbed his chin and then said,"You're right."

"I'll start the new pay scale starting this week," Sue Ellen said.

He said, "Make that extra hundred a day retroactive to when she moved in. Give it to her as a bonus."

"That's a nice bonus," Dave said.

"It's fair," Andrew said.

"Yes, it is," Sue Ellen said thinking that Amber would be happy to stash away an extra six thousand or so into her bank account.

"Oh. Since both of you are on the project, you should include a fifty percent raise in your project pay."

"Thank you," Sue Ellen said.

Her job was primarily as a secretary and she was on the books as a full time employee. On top of that, she spent about six hours a week dealing with Project GML for which she was paid fifty dollars an hour. She'd be getting paid seventy-five an hour.

"Thank you very much," Dave said.

Dave's involvement in the project was ten hours a week. He did all of the bookkeeping, dealing with the emails, making sure that everything was legally done, and basically keeping Project GML going. He was the 'official' owner of the video company. He was paid a thousand a week for that. He also worked part-time for Andrew's game company doing the bookkeeping for it.

"Is there anything else?"

"No," Dave said.

Andrew said, "I better get back to work."

After Andrew left, Sue Ellen looked at Dave. She asked, "What are we going to do with the extra money?"

"I don't know. What do you think?" Dave answered.

"You should finish your degree and get the CPA certification."

Dave said, "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"What about kids?" Dave asked.

"Once you get your degree, then we can have kids. If you don't do return to school now, you'll never be able to do it. God knows that everyone needs a college degree now a days," Sue Ellen said.

"You might have a point."

"We're doing pretty good now, but that might not last. A college degree might mean that we could afford to send the kids to college."

Dave said, "I'll think about it. It's just that it might put back having kids by three or four years."

Sue Ellen said, "That's three or four more years that we'll be able to have monkey sex in every room of the house."

"How can I argue against that and keep my union card for the Union of Red Blooded American Men?"

"You can't," Sue Ellen answered with a smirk.

Amber looked at her paycheck and smiled. She said, "This is going straight to the bank."

"I've got another check for you," Sue Ellen said handing Amber a check.

Amber looked at it. It was for a significant amount of money. Wondering if it was a severance check, she asked, "What's this for?"

"It's a bonus for all of the work you've done around the house. You know, the cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping," Sue Ellen answered happy to give Amber the good news. "From now on, you'll be getting an extra hundred dollars a day."

With anger in her voice, Amber shouted, "No!"

Sue Ellen sat back in her chair as if she had been slapped. That was the last thing she expected to hear from Amber. It wasn't a polite refusal, but an angry no.

Weakly she asked, "What do you mean, no?"

"I don't want it. I won't take it," Amber said flatly.

She threw the check on the desk. She crossed her arms and glared at Sue Ellen.

Shocked by Amber's reaction, Sue Ellen asked, "Why not?"

"Because you're turning something that is important to me into a job."

"I don't understand," Sue Ellen said.

"I cook for me. I clean for me. I shop for me. I take care of the yard for me. I enjoy doing those things. I take a lot of pride in serving up a good meal. I find it relaxing.

"If I get paid for it, then it becomes a job. I'll wake up knowing that I have to cook breakfast. I won't enjoy cooking breakfast any longer. I don't want that job."

"I guess that makes sense," Sue Ellen said weakly.

Waving her check around, Amber said, "I'm going to the bank and deposit my hard earned wages."

"I'm sorry if we upset you," Sue Ellen said.

Amber stormed out of the office. She slammed the door behind her. Sue Ellen stared at the door open mouthed. Amazed at Amber's reaction, she sat there staring at the bonus check.

With Andrew's business in one office with the adult video business in an other office across the hall, Sue Ellen had to go from one office to the other depending on what she working on. The two offices were to help keep the others from finding out that Andrew was the investor in the video. As far as she knew, the ruse worked except with Amber who had figured out Andrew was the investor a long time ago.