Chapter 1

Amanda and David were happily married.

With two incomes in one household, they were able to afford the finer things in life: a luxury car, flat-screen TVs, the newest clothes... While they were well-off, they remained good, well-liked people in the community. They were good friends with the neighbors and regularly hosted get-togethers at their home. They loved to workout, usually going on jogs or walks around the neighborhood together. Both had well-toned bodies and they always ate healthy.
David was a lawyer and Amanda worked in pre-natal care at the hospital. Two-incomes kept them comfortable; however, it did cause a strain on the regular household upkeeping. The two did their part but the never-ending pile of dirty clothes and dishes, the vacuuming and dusting, the constant errands to run... It exhausted the both of them.

The morning everything began to change, they were sitting at the kitchen table sipping orange juice and chewing on toast, hastily prepared while they both fastened buttons and tightened ties before heading off to work.

"A maid?" David asked, surprised but not exactly opposed.

Amanda nodded, scrunching up her nose as if to say "unfortunately".

"Would she...live here?"

Amanda shrugged. "Sometime they do. We could save money giving her room-and-board of course. And we have the guest bedroom not being used now that my parents live in town. But if it would be weird--" "It would be weird," David interrupted.

"You don't know that," Amanda argued. "Either way, I need this. We need this. It would make our day so much simpler. No more stopping to pick up dinner after work. Could you imagine a hot, home-cooked meal waiting for us when we got home?"

David began to daydream. It was one of those things you didn't realize you needed until someone spelled it out.

"And how about actually relaxing on the weekends for a change? You know, instead of doing laundry and a hundred other tasks only to realize that when it's all done it's Sunday night."

David was convinced. They both went to work and Amanda made all the arrangements. She called around to a few local businesses at first, but was ultimately unhappy with the prices. So, she ventures online. She skimmed sites and finally landed on a message board for freelance maids. She read through a few profiles, but one finally caught her eye: Candice. She was perfect: a young, bright girl trying to earn money to go to law school. Amanda made the call that afternoon and, by that night, there was a knock at the door.

Candice introduced herself at the door. The first thing Amanda noticed was that she was much prettier in person than her profile picture. Online she looked like an unassuming brunette, but this vixen standing on her porch was much curvier and sexier than she was expecting. For a split second, Amanda wanted to act like it was the wrong house and slam the door in her face, but before she could act, Candice spoke first, "Hi, I'm Candice."

Amanda made eye contact. As Amanda looked into her eyes, she hesitated. They were grey, and almost seemed to glow. She felt herself relax slightly.

"Could you show me the kitchen?" Before Amanda could answer, she stepped aside, seemingly of her own volition, and allowed Candice to enter their home.

Candice immediately began cooking. She insisted that David and Amanda sit at the kitchen table and allow her to work. They found they couldn't refuse her.

"So, Candice," David began, breaking the awkward silence, "Do you have family in town?"

Candice smirked while she stirred the pot on the stove. She's been smirking since she got here, Amanda noticed. Something seemed off to Amanda and she was determined to find out what it was before this went too far.

"No, David," Candice answered. Her voice was very calm and soothing. Like a warm bath. "I was hoping to start a family soon though."

David glancing at his wife. Both were weirded out.

"Do you have a boyfriend or anything?" Amanda asked.

Candice was setting food on the plates. Without answering Amanda, she placed a plate in front of both of them. "We'll talk about that later. You two need to eat up."

David's plate was a healthy cut of seasoned salmon and long-stemmed green beans. Amanda's plate was buttery mashed potatoes, a hot roll, and three big pieces of crispy, fried chicken.

Amanda was confused. "Wow, this looks great, but I would really rather have something more like what you made Davi--"
Before Amanda could finish, Candice placed a big slice of chocolate cake down next to her plate and, almost out of nowhere it seemed, dropped a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

"Oh, I really couldn't--" Amanda began.

She glanced at Candice. Candice's eyes glowed with a visible gray light. "Take a load off and enjoy a good old fashioned home cooked meal. This is what you've always wanted."

Wordlessly, Amanda stared wide eyed at the decadent meal on the table and her hand slowly reached out for a chicken thigh.
"That's it," Candice sighed. "Eat."

Amanda and David immediately stopped talking and began devouring their dinner. The meal went by in a blur but when Amanda was finished stuffing her now-greasy face, she found that she was alone in the kitchen. She was so wrapped up in eating that she didn't even notice that Candice had taken David into the kitchen to give him a backrub. He was smiling with his eyes closed as if he was floating on a cloud. She wanted to go in there and break them up but her stomach was so full she could hardly move. Instead, she sat there with ice cream running down her chin wondering what she had just invited into her home.