Victoria The Billionaires Maid

Kenzie’s [POV]

“Dear Lord, please tell me that you’ve at least gotten your stuff packed?” I asked Reece, my best friend, and sous chef.

“It’s not me that you should be worried about,” she replied before pulling her dress over her head, then discarding it into a pile with what appeared to be at least five others.

My bestie was completely beside herself over staying at the swanky new hotel on the Seaport to help me try to land what would be a life-altering opportunity for the two of us. We’d been best friends since I’d arrived in Nebraska, after being sent away from my home in Houston at the end of my senior year of high school. It’d been a very dark period, and one I tried not to think too much about. It was still hard with so many reminders, but cooking allowed me to focus on a creative outlet that distracted me from all that was wrong in my world.

Reece had been there beside me the entire time, and it was why when I moved to New York to expand my culinary expertise, she followed me, and we’d been together in a small one-bedroom apartment ever since. What I lacked in style, however, my bestie didn’t. Upon moving to the city, she engrossed herself in anything fashion-related she could while still helping me. She cared about appearances, and she knew about the latest fashion and accessories, whereas I was more laid back and basic, as she liked to say.

At her words about my dress, I frowned at her. There was nothing wrong with what I had chosen for myself. It was a black dress with no frills, but I preferred it that way. We had to impress this Oliver guy, and I didn’t want him to look at me and automatically dismiss me as some society girl. It was already hard enough to stand out in a male-dominated industry, so I wanted to draw attention to what mattered and minimize the attention I received for things that didn’t.Original from NôvelDrama.Org.

As I looked at the pile of dresses on the floor, I nervously bit my lip. I had planned to change for tonight’s party once we arrived at the CHG Seaport hotel, and maybe it was for the best that Reece was taking her sweet-ass time making up her mind when it came to what she’d wear. I could see the general direction my friend was going in, and I now wondered if my choice was too basic after all. I didn’t want to have the attention focused on my attire instead of my skill, but I did need to at least attract some attention, or else I ran the risk of being overlooked altogether.

I needed this job more than I’ve ever needed anything else in my life. As a private chef, I worked with a few clients, mostly meal prepping, along with catering their soirees and such. Having my actual restaurant would put me on a completely different level in my career and set me up for life, especially since it would be located in a luxury hotel chain. I hadn’t done much research on it, but I did know it was renowned, which in turn would make me much of the same. It just sucked that so many other chefs were all vying for the same thing.

“I hope you’re not planning to wear that to the festivities tonight,” Reece remarked, interrupting my thoughts.

“Of course not,” came the quick reply. “I have a dress in the other room.”

Because Reece had commandeered the bedroom for her private fashion show, I grabbed the few I owned off the rack, dumping them into the living room where I had decided on one.

“Which one?” she asked, and any other time, the concern in her voice would’ve been comical.

“It’s the one I wore to that girl’s birthday dinner a few months ago.”

I was very introverted most of the time, and I had been that way all my life. Many had tried to get me out of my proverbial shell, but only one had ever been successful, and even he had encountered resistance. Maybe it’d been the challenge, or perhaps he was that shallow and cruel, but my social awkwardness hadn’t managed to turn off my high school nemesis. It’d been a terrible time in my life. I was a junior in high school and Houston had been the seventh move since ninth grade that my family made. My father was a minister, so we often traveled wherever his job took him. Sometimes, he’d land a more permanent gig, but often it was just fill-in work, which made it hard on his children who always had to be uprooted. I never really got a chance to get to know other kids, so I bided my time by myself.

After meeting Jonas Courtland, however, my entire life went to hell in more ways than one. He didn’t just use me, but he destroyed something deep inside of me, and my mind had never been the same again. After what happened on the roof that day at Spencer Academy, my parents shipped me off for a short stay in the psych ward before having me finish my last year in Omaha. I eventually moved to Lincoln where I enrolled in classes at a local community college, and that was when Reece and I first became friends. I could’ve never made this move to New York City, or put myself out there enough to audition for this contract, without her.

“That would be more fitting for a funeral, and it will be your social one if you don’t take this more seriously,” Reece lectured, causing me to snicker. “What’s so fucking funny?”

I picked up a silky dress with what appeared to be fur on the collar and shook my head. It looked more like something one would wear to bed, so I dangled it in front of my friend’s face. “Something more serious like this?”

She grinned, then snatched the dress out of my hand. “I have plenty of others you can borrow. You need something sexy and memorable.”

Before I could even open my mouth to protest, Reece deposited a few into my arms. “This isn’t necessary,” I tried telling her only to be shushed.

Reece was like a woman possessed as she started pulling various dresses down at such a quick pace my head begin to spin. I didn’t even know when she bought all of these, but I kept my arms outstretched until I’d had enough.

“I’m sure I can find something among all of these.” With that, I turned around and escaped into the safety of the living room. This apartment was so small, and as I looked around at the cramped quarters, I realized I could use a change of scenery and more space. Maybe if I land this gig, I could get a kitchen designed for a chef instead of a student or vacationer. And best of all, I could get two bedrooms, which would allow me some privacy.

I tossed the dresses onto the couch, then stared exhaustedly down at the rainbow of colors, sequins, and lace. My heart rate began racing as I looked at the daunting task ahead of me. If things were this difficult just trying to get ready for the audition, I couldn’t imagine how much more stressful everything else would be during it. Knowing that I should’ve just thrown in the towel. If I allowed this to get to me, more than my feelings and aspirations would be dashed. I couldn’t afford any mental setbacks.

“You’re impossible,” I muttered under my breath about my friend. Thankfully, I was nowhere near as picky as Reece when it came to fashion, so I’d still likely find one before she did.

Needing to choose something, I flipped through the selections. We had a mirror on the back of our front door, so I would take each one and move in front of it. I would hold a dress up, and on occasion, I’d even press one against me as I stared at my reflection. I could tell by the material that these dresses weren’t your normal department store type, so I made mental note to abstain from red wine or anything else which might ruin some of the delicate fabric.

I had looked through almost half of them when Reece entered the room and grabbed a red one from my hand. “I’ll be wearing this one.”

I shook my head, then looked at a gold, sequined one. It was gorgeous and quite revealing. I could never pull something like that off so I went to set it down, but before I could, Reece grabbed the remaining dresses and tossed them into the pile with the others. “This one will be perfect, and I even have heels to match it.”

Even though we had moved from the Midwest, Reece always had a glamorous side to herself, so it was not surprising in the least to hear her tell me that. Following my bestie back into the room, it didn’t take long to locate the aforementioned stilettos I now hoped I could walk in without breaking my neck.

“I hope I don’t break my damn leg.” When I mentioned that, she laughed but otherwise told me she was ready. Not wanting to give her enough time to change her mind, I put our dresses into the luggage bag, then went into the living room to put the heels in my suitcase.

Neither of us had a car, not that this city required the use of one. From the taxis and subways everywhere you turned, public transportation was the least stressful way to go. Years earlier, I was diagnosed with a few different things, and stress was one of the main factors that impacted my mood. It was more detrimental to me than to someone who was not bipolar. I usually managed to keep things even-keeled, and I just hoped this audition wouldn’t set me back.

We took our bags and went downstairs. We didn’t have elevators or even doormen like so many other buildings did, and I was nearly out of breath when we managed to make it out onto the streets. I already had an irrational fear of being late, so I didn’t want to take the subway. Grabbing Reece’s hand, I dragged her with me to the nearby cab, then rattled off the address of the hotel.