Chapter 2

Peter was up early the next morning. He had an idea the last night and worked on putting it in practice today. One of these plans involved installing two hidden cameras in the swimming pool. He had already bought the equipment a month before, but had not had the time yet to install these cameras. Similar cameras were already installed in the BDSM room and, although on a separate circuit, in various places around the house as part of the security system.

Installing the cameras took half an hour per camera and testing the feed took another fifteen minutes. It was six-fifteen by then and it his daily workout was long overdue. The gym had a small bathroom with a shower of its own and after Peter changed into his regular clothes, he went to the kitchen. To his surprise, Judith was already fixing breakfast for the entire family.

“What are you doing up so early? It’s only seven, you ought to sleep in while you can to catch up on some sleep,” Peter said, while checked out Judith’s body.

Now that she had showered and cleaned her hair, she looked much better already. Without all the winter clothes she wore the day before, he also got a much better look at her figure. It was less curvaceous than he remembered, but she still looked hot.

Judith glanced over her shoulder, catching Peter as he check her out. She smiled, as she said, “I figured it’s the least I could do to return the favor. It’s nice to be appreciated again.”

“Ah-, yeah,” Peter muttered, as his eyes shot up to hers while his face flushed red for a moment, “just don’t overdo yourself, alright?”

“Don’t worry, Peter, this feels like a vacation to me. You have no idea how bad it is living on the streets and not having an idea when, or if, you get your next meal.”

“Point taken, I’ll leave you to it then. I need to check my e-mail and the news.”

He left the kitchen while leaving Judith to her devices. The businessman knew that his wife liked to sleep in and he did not expect her to be up before eight, especially on a Sunday. Time flew by and before he realized, it Judith called him to breakfast. She had outdone herself and prepared a full breakfast for the entire family, including pancakes and eggs, either boiled or baked.

The three adults sat down in the den after breakfast with a hot cup of chocolate milk while Kieran played with his stuffed animals.

“So, Judith, what are your plans for today?” Peter started.

“Gosh, I suppose stay here until after lunch and maybe after that you could drop me off downtown?”

“Yes, I could do that, but I may also have another option for you to consider.” This seemed to catch Judith’s attention and she waited for Peter to continue. “We’re leaving on vacation to Mexico for three weeks the day after tomorrow.” Peter shot a quick glance at his wife, who nodded for him to continue. “How would you feel about taking care of our cats and watching the house for that period? You’re free to make use of all our facilities and you don’t even have to leave the house to get food; we have an account with one of the nearby supermarkets to deliver food at the door. It’d give us the certainty that we won’t have to worry about burglars while you can have a roof over your head for a while longer.”

Judith blinked and shook her head for a moment. “S-sorry, could you repeat that? You want me to look after your house while you’re gone for three weeks?”

“Yes, that is correct. We were going to send our cats to a board kennel tomorrow, but they don’t take well to the changes, not to mention they’re pretty cramped there compared to all the space they have here. Since it’d also save us quite a bit of money, I figured we could also give you two-hundred euros when we’re back for watching our house and taking care of the cats. It’d also help if you could vacuum clean the living room once a day to take care of all the cat hairs.”

Judith’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head. Tears started to trickle down her cheeks and Julia took a seat next to her, putting her arm around the woman’s shoulders to comfort her.

“It’s alright, Judith,” Julia said, “we just want to make sure you’re safe and don’t have to face the cold alone. We figured that after we get back the weather will be much better again and you’d have some spare money for a shelter.”

Judith turned and hugged Julia, quietly sobbing, as she could not believe her good fortune.

“I’m sorry,” she sniffed, “it’s just that-, I never expected something like this to happen. I mean, it feels like I’m getting my life back together, even if it’s just for three weeks.”

“We know, dear,” Julia said, who rubbed Judith’s back, “you can take the time to rest and recover for a while. I know that you’re a very proud woman, so we figured we’d give you some chores to do, but really, it’d be a big help to us. Peter trusts you and although I don’t know you quite well yet, I can see that you’re a good person who just happened to have rotten luck.”

Peter offered Judith a paper handkerchief and the woman blew her nose, wiping her tears away as well, before saying, “I’ll gladly accept your kind offer.”

“Great,” Peter said, “then it’s settled. I’ll call the board kennel tomorrow to cancel the appointment.”

The rest of the day flew by while Peter and Julia prepared for the trip to Mexico. It was partially vacation and partially business for Peter, who wanted to open a new factory in that country for his company.

He called Judith into his office the next day, several hours before he had to leave, to go over some last minute details. “I wrote my phone number down on this paper. Don’t hesitate to call me if there is any sort of emergency. We’ll also Skype call you every day to see how you’re doing. The closest village is six kilometers away and although you’re free to use Julia’s bike, there isn’t a whole lot to do there. Feel free to make use of the sauna, gym, and swimming pool as much as you want. It has a self-cleaning system, so don’t worry about that. I’m afraid I don’t have time to buy you a bikini or anything, but that skinny dipping is still an option, right?”

“Right,” Judith grinned.

“Do you have any questions?”

“Mm, yeah, just one I suppose. Is there a limit to the amount of food I can order every day?”

“None whatsoever, order as much as you need. I’ve already shown you how to clean the litterbox and everything, and I’m sure that our cats will take a quick liking to you. They’re always dying for attention.”

“Alright, that was my only question really. Thank you again for giving me this opportunity.”

“No problem,” Peter said, “I’m glad I was there on the right time and in the right place.”

Peter, Julia, and Kieran left several hours later with Judith waving them goodbye. She did not do a lot the first day other than laying down in the comfort of two furry monsters and watching television the entire day while enjoy a generous amount of snacks. Peter called in through Skype on the computer in the living room that evening to see how she was doing and they talked for a short while before he had to board the plane.

Judith decided to go skinny-dipping in the pool late afternoon the next day. Unknown to her, Peter had set the hidden cameras up with motion sensor detectors. He had also programmed the system in such a way that a secure connection transported the video feed directly to his smartphone.

“Will you look at this,” he exclaimed as he lazed on a beach chair. He just had breakfast and was checking out the news when a pop up appeared on his screen. The businessman passed his phone to his wife who checked the feed out as well.

“Sweet, is this live?”

“Yup, right now, Judith is swimming nude in the pool. She seems to be quite enjoying herself.”

“Nice ass,” Julia remarked.

“Yeah, I think that was always one of her best features.”

“Let’s give her some privacy, alright?”

“Sure,” Peter said, tapping the app away. He knew that all the images were recording on his PC and an offsite back up location anyway, just like all the other security camera footage. Seeing the woman swim by itself was not very special anyway, although he did enjoy getting a good look at her body.

Meanwhile, Judith had the time of her life. She ate healthy, exercised, had plenty of entertainment on both the computer as well as the television and found that the days soon blurred into one another. She talked with Julia and Peter every morning when it was midday for them and even got to talk with Kieran several times, making her miss her own sons all the more. Before she realized it, however, the three weeks were over. It was not until she checked the calendar that she realized that Julia and Peter would be home later that day. She kept true to her word and kept the house tidy while caring after the cats, but it hit her hard that after a life of such luxury for three weeks that she had to return to the street as a common beggar later that day once more.

The Wagner family returned home several hours later with Judith greeting them. They exchanged hugs and Peter noticed that Judith was looking a lot better already.

“Wow, I can tell that you’ve taken care of yourself. You look great!”

Judith blushed and stared at her feet for a moment, before meeting his gaze. “Thanks, I couldn’t have done it without the opportunity you’ve given me.”

“Come, we got you a present from Mexico,” Julia said, after Peter brought all the baggage into their home.

The three adults sat in the den while Kieran played with some of the new toys that he had gotten during their trip. Julia handed Judith a box, which the woman carefully opened.

“It was pretty warm there, so it was hard to find a good sweater, but I managed to find you two nice pairs of jeans which I think will fit you well.”

“Oh wow, thanks! You shouldn’t have,” Judith exclaimed, who was busy checking out the fabric. The jeans were of a high quality and with good care they’d last for long time.

Peter opened his wallet and pulled five twenty-euro and ten ten-euro bills out, giving them to his former classmate. “I figured I’d get you smaller bills. It’s probably easier to pay for things with than with a couple of large bills.”

“Y-, yeah, you’re right,” Judith said, putting the bills carefully away in her wallet.

It was not until now that realization really seemed to sink in that her life of luxury was really over. Peter could see that she had trouble holding her tears back. It was as if somebody had just told her that both her parents had died.