Summary: Mismatched. That's all Sarah believes she'll ever be with her boss' new boyfriend. But different people have different opinions. A popstar and housekeeper couldn't lead more different lives.
Rating: PG
Categories: Long Stories
Characters: Justin Timberlake
Genres: Romance
Warnings: adult language
Challenges: None
Series: None
Published: 11/23/04
Updated: 03/20/05
Perfect Mismatch by sarahj
Chapter 1: Beginnings
Author's Notes: “Oh…and Sarah, do you think you could maybe bring in the groceries before 6 this evening, I mean, I have this really important ‘do’ tonight and I’m gonna be really under pressure and it’s going to be really…”
“Really? Is it gonna be really hard?” Sarah’s head became a blur as she gazed out the window, her head in a daze, while Angela’s voice morphed into a background noise. It was almost dark outside and in a few hours everything would settle into a daily routine. Collect groceries, clean, make dinner, clean, wash-up, clean and then the odd task Angela would slip in as it came close to the early hours of the morning. Round about this time Sarah was coming close to slapping someone if she didn’t get sleep. Nothing new. Of her twenty-two years, five had been spent like this. Not that she hated it. Ever since Angela’s father John moved to New York on business and never returned, Angela was a mess. At first, housekeeping wasn’t such a painful experience. Good pay, free apartment joined onto the house. Only recently, she couldn’t describe it. Angela was….
“Sarah…are you listening?” This is really important stuff! What do you want guests to think?!”
…such a bitch? Not so much that she ever did any harm to Sarah. But there was definitely only so much I’m-more-superior-than-you she could take. She new Angela only ever meant good, but things were changing…fast. Only last week she had to tend to Angela’s needs after a night in the city, and for the first time since her father left she had become only what could be described as trashed. Never before had Sarah seen so messed up, losing her ‘business women’ touch. What her required in her job was sometimes stressful, granted. But not so much Angela had to forget slavery was abolished decades ago.
“So…you think I’ll need anything else?” Angela concluded, Absent-mindedly picking grapes from the fruit bowl.
“Um…no no. I think I’ll be fine.” Sarah muttered, not having listened to the last ten minutes of Angela’s instructions for the evening.
“Good good. Well, I’m off to get changed and then if you could have dinner ready for seven that would be great.”
Making it clear she was dismissed now, Sarah drifted through to the hallway, picking up the keys of the table and smiled at the realisation that a job like collecting groceries was practically time off.
******
It was a breezy evening on the outskirts of Montgomery, Alabama. A luminous glow hung over the city ahead, creating the illusion of a large beacon of light. A cool wind was seeping into the car through a window in the back and she shivered in her thin overalls. So it wasn’t exactly her idea of escaping but for an extra 5 minutes out of the house it felt good to be free. A sign emerged into her view welcoming her into the small village. It was ironic how cheery the sign indicated the town was, yet the streets were dead. A few shop lamps flickered on and off, dancing in the shadows of the dirty sidewalk.
Sarah sighed, retrieving the list of items from her back pocket and entering a small corner shop. Finally after what seemed like hours choosing between low-fat yoghurt and semi or full fat milk, she gathered up her belongings and prepped herself up for the weekly chat with Anita behind the counter.
"Chilly night huh?"
Another normality. The weather always proved an ice breaker and Sarah could tell this was going to be like any other hour long conversation in which they discussed who was stealing who’s apples in the village.
“Yeah, pretty cold. Typhoon season soon.”
“Hope it’s not bad for the guests though…”
“Hmmm?”
“You not heard? Ahhh…Pretty exciting stuff happening in Montgomery tonight. Celebrity’s in town.”
“Who?”
“Psht! Like I can remember any of their names…”
“Ahem” someone from behind cleared their throat impatiently, stamping their foot to indicate their impatience.
Sarah mentally relieved she was spared from discussion nodded her head as a sign she was leaving and made her way to the door. Deciding against a drive around for fun tonight in Angela’s business car, she headed straight back up to the house.
******
“So what do you think? I mean the blue top’s nice and all but then again the green one…”
“Urgh NO! The green is so ugly. What the hell inspired you to buy that..” Sarah frowned.
“So the green one you think?”
“Make her put on the green. Make her put on the green. That would be a cheap laugh.”
“Um…no. The blue one’ s much more flattering. Suits your shape...” Sarah muttered. Going against her will to voice her true opinion. “So, where are you going tonight anyway?” Attempting to look interested, actually not caring less.
“Oh just some party a friend is throwing. Apparently there’s going to be celebrities..”
So Anita was right. Whether this meant Angela’s fangled image of a failed daytime TV presenter qualifying as a ‘celebrity’, she couldn’t be sure she didn’t deny the prospect of someone famous spending their time in Montgomery surprised her.
“Christ! It’s nine Sarah, you should have said something. Well basically, I know you’re going to be busy tonight but if you could tidy up the front lawn, I don’t know…mow it or something?”
“In the dark!? God what the hell are you thinking…” “Right. Well, have a nice time. I’ll be ready to hear all about it when you get back Angela.”
Angela grinned. “Thanks Sarah. You’re a sweetheart. See you tomorrow!”
Sarah sighed. “Tomorrow.”
After various disastrous attempts at cutting the grass, in the dark, Sarah finally gave in and began the laborious job of arranging all of Angela’s clothes of which she had hundreds.
For years Sarah had watched Angela’s empire of personal belongings grow. It wasn’t that she earned all of her income to buy everything she owned. When her mother and father left, Angela sided with her father purely for the money, earning the deeds to the house and robbing her sister and brother of everything. When Angela’s elder brother Andrew died in a motorbike accident, she lost touch with her mother altogether and now left them to fend for themselves. Going over the familiar story in her head, she plugged in the vacuum and wondered for the fiftieth time that time what she was still doing here.
It was as 4am rolled around that Sarah heard the front door slam. Angela’s giggling voice drifted up the stairs and from the rate at which she was talking, Sarah knew she was drunk. It was the mumbling of another person that caught her attention however. It was a man’s voice and worry spread over Sarah. Angela only brought men home if she trusted , knew they weren’t after her money, was prepared to take some time off work…..or was drunk.
“SARAH!”
She heard Angela attempting to climb the stairs and from the sound of things, she wasn’t doing to well. Stumbling into the bedroom she plonked down onto the bed and beckoned Sarah over. Her mouth was frothing with the effort to speak and her words were jumbled. “Guy…downstairs…Justin name, gorge…….”
“GorgeOUS!” Sarah wanted to scream. Christ, if there was one thing that pissed her off it was stupid catch phrases such as “sweetheart” and “chica”. “Gorge” could definitely be added to the list. But it really wasn’t the time to correct Angela’s grammar, as she lurched forward, missing Sarah by inches and leaving even more to clean up. Collapsing backwards onto the bed, Angela sighed before her eyelashes fluttered shut, leaving Sarah to go downstairs and deal with Justin.
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