Chapter 3 - a slow day

Jim woke up at around one in the afternoon to the ringing of his phone. It was Sarah.

"Hey babe, took you long enough."

"Haah, just checking in to see whether you've managed to survive without help," replied Sarah in an equally mischievous tone. "How's the housekeeper?" She asked.

"Formal, polite and pretty great with cooking. He's already cleaned up most of your mess."

"MY MESS?!" Sarah replied with mock anger, "Blessed be his hands when he reaches your mess."

Jim chuckled, he loved his wife for all her lightheartedness, "How's your work going? Frustrating enough to make you wish you were home?"

"Thought you'd never ask. I love the place, the people are great and the work is manageable." she answered enthusiastically, without any hint of sarcasm Jim noted.

"I'm jealous of this 'work' that my wife keeps talking about."

Sarah gave a light chuckle in reply, "I miss you too sweetheart."

"As you should."

"Oh, you cheeky bastard!" she exclaimed, "I'll see to your punishment when I'm home!"

"I love you."

"As you should." she answered lightheartedly and cut the call.

Jim looked at the time, it was quarter past one and he had absolutely nothing to do. While living with his parents, there were social gatherings that he was expected to attend and in the neighborhood before, he had all his friends a mere walk away. It also did surprise him that none of the neighbors had held a welcome party in the honor of his moving in. That reminded him, he would have to organize a housewarming party. Now, that did give him something to do.

Soon as he sat up on the couch, Adam walked up to him and with a polite smile said, "The lunch is ready, sir."
Being called 'sir', despite having instructed Adam otherwise, irked Jim but that was that. The major point of confusion was lunch. Lunch was never a thing at home, there were just healthy snacks throughout the day and two big meals but he was hungry and the slowly wafting heavenly smell from the dining room enticed him. He could instruct Adam to serve snacks instead of lunch the next onward but for the day, Jim decided to give in to his stomach and have lunch.

As he sat at the table, he noted that the table had been set for two.

"We don't usually do lunch," Jim instructed to Adam, who was plating the food, and he continued, "we usually have snacks around the house and Sarah usually comes back later in the evening."

"I will make a note of that, sir."

"My mother will also make arrangements to provide you with a means for payment of groceries, upkeep and the like. So, I want you to ensure that the house is always ready for guests."

Adam merely nodded in acknowledgement.

"I would also like you to make arrangements for a housewarming party."

"When would you prefer it to be?"

"Within this week, Sunday perhaps. I'll mail the invites to a few friends but it would be an open house so, I want the house to be staffed and ready for guests from, say, 11 to 4. If you need help organizing, do ask. An open bar would be good too, I suppose." Jim paused to think, he had never organized a party before but the housekeeper was supposed to be experienced. So, he shrugged and said, "Know what? Organize the party at your own discretion, just make sure that the house is ready for guests from 11 to 4 and also, prepare for any contingencies."

"Yes sir, I'll make the arrangements." Adam answered, noting the instructions on his phone, "If you have no tasks for me at hand," he continued, "May I go to purchase some essentials for the kitchen and the bathrooms?"

"Yeah, sure." Jim said, dismissing the housekeeper, who shortly left through the backdoor. Jim assumed that his mother had already made arrangements for the payment of the purchases.

He finally turned his eyes to the platter that lay before him and remembered that on the first day of moving in, the only food that the house was stocked with was frozen meats and sweets. The house was indeed missing some essentials.

He picked his fork and stabbed at the peppered chicken on his plate, hoping to god it was cooked well, he took a bite.

It was way better than he had imagined, cooked in olive oil and well-seasoned with pepper and some other herbs, he was enchanted. It tasted better than his usual raw green food. There was also a hint of butter.

He was impressed with the food, although it was just the peppered chicken with some bread and pasta, the chicken was heavenly and the pasta sauce out of the world. He was impressed with his mother's choice of servant. He was also tempted to take a second serving from what was meant for Sarah but, he had had enough.

He finished his portion, left the table and went straight back to the couch, turned on the TV and began mindlessly surfing through channels. Instinctively, his hand reached out to the coffee table for snacks.

He remembered that the housekeeper had gone to buy the essentials which meant he would have to walk to the fridge and get some ice cream. The food on the table was equally tempting but he was in the mood of something sweet.

After about an hour later, Adam returned to the sight of his employer sleeping on the couch with an opened tub of ice cream, the dining table with used plates on one side and the other serving untouched. He had worked some places and seen some things and with his experience he knew that this man was a massive slob and just days away from showing it on his body.

He got to work and arranged the necessities, all the while hoping that the mistress of the house wasn't as big of a slob. He went to retrieve the open tub of ice cream which was almost full save for a few spoonfuls missing, definitely consumed. Restocked the fridge and removed anything over two days old. He then placed the snacks, that he deduced from his observation, consisting mostly of chocolates, cookies and cakes, in the accessible parts of the house and got to cleaning and making the rest of the house presentable.

Jim woke up again at 5 in the evening, it was his phone again.

"Sarah?"

"Did you spend the entire day sleeping?"

"Organizing takes energy, babe."

He heard a chuckle from the other end.

"Are you coming home late?" he ventured, hoping she wouldn't be late.

"Sadly, yes." She answered, "I have to make a great impression."

Jim sighed internally, he hadn't done anything the entire day and was really looking forward to having Sarah home. She really brightened up the day. Being a trophy husband was hard.

"Do come home or I'll have to find a new wife."

"I wish you luck on that endeavor, you'll need it."

"Hey hey hey, I'm quite a catch!"

"You wish."

Jim smiled to himself as he cut the call. His moment was interrupted as Adam came up to him with a tray with a shiny new teapot and two teacups, two small plates with cake, accompanied with tiny dessert spoons.

"Sarah will not be joining us," he said as Adam set the tray on the table, "two cubes of sugar please." he added to the questioning glance of Adam. "And please leave the other cake too, I quite like this flavor." He added as he tasted the banana flavor on his tongue, just like his mom's maid used to make it for him.

As he was eating, he recalled that he hadn't gone for his run the morning and decided to head out for an evening run. At six, perhaps. Or whenever his stomach would feel lighter. He had eaten a lot today but it felt comparatively less than his usual snacking on greens and fruits. He reasoned that perhaps he did eat lesser than daily, having never been taught about nutrition and solely surviving on whatever his servants fed him.

He finished his tea and laid back on the couch, noticing the bowl full of chocolates on the coffee table.

"Adam!" he called.

"Yes, sir?"

"My wife does not like sweets as much so, I do hope that you have some fruits and nuts for her."

"I'm sorry sir, I will ensure that soon as possible."

"No worries."

Adam laid back on the couch, having dismissed the servant. He typed and sent out invites to his friends and, through his mom's connections, almost all of his neighbors. Still hoping that they would throw a welcome party of some sort.

It was half past six by the time he was finished with the invitations and the tea. Once again, left with nothing to do, he picked up the remote and began channel surfing, picking up chocolates from the bowl.

Snacks at home would usually consist of fruits, dry nuts or some healthy form of baked goods. He appreciated the change and definitely loved the chocolates.

Adam retrieved the empty teacup and plates and replaced it with a bowl of french fries, which Jim found to his pleasure, were well seasoned and flavorful.

Sweet and Savory.

His stomach definitely didn't feel light by the time Sarah reached home, paddling on her bike, at 8.

"Finally!" Jim pulled her into a bear hug, as bear-ish as he could manage with his spare body, "I missed you!"

"Awww, love, you smell as sweet as you sound." she answered, wiping the remaining smudge of chocolate off his face. "You look like you had a great time."

"Not without you."

Sarah changed into comfortable clothes, after having requested Adam to make her a salad for dinner. Jim on the other hand, asked for the bacon and french french fries, in addition to the salad.

As they dined, Sarah noted that Jim looked definitely more enthusiastic about food than before and was more enthusiastic about her work. She was also pleased to hear about the housewarming party that he was planning.

That night, as she snuggled next to him, she could feel his rock hard stomach, tight with all the food he had consumed. She accounted it to the stress of him having moved away from everything familiar and being reduced to a house husband, a trophy house husband.

Just a bit of comfort eating, she reasoned.