Читать книгу Accidental Eyewitness - Alice Zogg - Страница 10

Domenica Cortes had been Kurt Nobel’s live-in housekeeper at his Beverly Hills estate for many years, ever since the divorce from his first wife. She was a widow with two grown daughters, one living in nearby Culver City with husband and elementary school age kids, the other in Guadalajara, Mexico, with a no-good-husband and two teenagers.

At the moment, Domenica was laundering the master bedroom sheets. Fortunately, the task did not require her full attention, as her mind was stuck on the conversation she’d had that morning with Señor Nobel. He had asked her to be in charge of the household on his little island while he entertained guests there. She had come up with all sorts of excuses why she could not go there in April, and he had managed to overturn them all.

Assuming that she worried the job was too much work for one person, he had assured her that he didn’t expect her to take care of the domestic needs of him, his new wife, and a dozen guests all on her own. He would leave it up to her to hire more help as she thought fit. Señor Nobel had it all wrong, none of that had entered her mind. She was too embarrassed to let him know that the reason she was reluctant to do the job was her fear of flying. In all of her sixty years, she had avoided traveling by air, and hoped to keep it that way. Her motto was, if God intended us to fly, we would have wings.

While switching sheets from washer to dryer, Domenica thought, so why did I end up agreeing to his offer? Money, of course. Señor Nobel will pay me double the salary for that week in April and an extra-large bonus, for what he called “my trouble.” True, her employer was, and always had been, generous. Since having few expenses - - being a live-in, her board and food was taken care of - - she was able to put a large part of her earnings in the bank. In another two years, she should have enough saved to retire and buy a nice house in a good neighborhood of Guadalajara. Her plan was to share that house with her older daughter, who could then afford to get rid of that savage husband of hers.

Domenica tried not to dwell on the scary five-hour flight that awaited her. Instead, she concentrated on the practical side of the undertaking. She recalled the end of her talk with Señor Nobel. He had said, “It is your decision who and how many helpers you want to take along. I trust your judgement. The only requirement is that they are legally documented in the US. I will pay them more than the going rate for domestics, and of course take care of their travel expenses. I haven’t yet talked to Hermina Tovar, our cook, but see no reason why she’d refuse to come on board.” To that, she had answered, “With Hermina in charge of the kitchen, I’ll only need one person to help me. Between the two of us, we can cope with a dozen people.” Then Señor Nobel had asked if she had someone in mind, which she did. And now she needed to ask that person and then report back to him.

Domenica’s choice was her friend Rosa, a homemaker who would welcome earning some extra money. She was sure her friend was going to jump at the chance but uncertain whether her husband, Carlos, would let her go. He was old-fashioned regarding his wife. If Rosa couldn’t come, she had at least three other people in mind who would be more than happy to fill the spot.

My daughters won’t believe me when I’ll tell them that I’m flying to Honolulu, Hawaii, she thought. In fact, she had a hard time believing it herself.