Generation 02, Chapter 17: I Said "No Comment!"

The next morning I answer the door and am nearly blown over by the energy of this unexpected guest.

"Hello!  I'm here with The Bridgeport Times.  Are you Calla Cohen?" She asks me wide-eyed.

Before I can respond, she bombards me with questions.

"Is it true that you chose housekeeping over full partnership at Gainsboro?"

"What kind of advice would you give to other housekeepers?"

"For years women have fought for equality and independence.  Are you tell them to go back to being housewives?"

"Ugh!  No!  Go away!!" I scream and shut the door in her face.

"Calla, what is going on out there?" Myrtle asks cautiously as she and her husband appear at the bottom of the stairs.

"Nothing, just a politician," I lie and quickly leave the seen.  The sound of Fir's voice just brings me back again.

"Blanche!  Come here!  They're looking for a lawyer.  It must be you!"  He calls to his niece.

"OMG!  I cannot believe this is happening.  It must have been that paper I wrote for my torts class. Do I look alright?"  She starts fiddling with her hair.

"What?" Myrtle asks.

"That's what she said," Fir explains.  "She asked me if I knew that I had such a high-flying lawyer in the house."

"That's amazing, Blanche darling."

There's a pause as Blanche continues to fix her hair.  I take this opportunity to speak up.  "Um, Mrs. Dhaval, I should have told you something earlier but..." I get cut off by the racket that is outside the front door.

"Here she is!  Our legal star!" Fir and Myrtle beam at Blanche.

"Not her.  Her!" the reporter states, pointing at me.

"What?  Our housekeeper?  Now why would you want to talk to her?" Myrtle asks, aghast.

"Don't you know that your housekeeper is a top city lawyer at Gainsboro?  She has an I.Q. of over 160 and is the youngest ever partner.  Except she turned down the six-figure partnership to work for you."

I smile sheepishly and Blanche's jaw has dropped.

"You're a lawyer?  You work at Gainsboro?"

"Yep, that's me," I grin.  Then add, "Does anyone want tea?"

Of course, not one is paying any attention to that.

"You're a lawyer?  But I don't understand.  How did you have time to train at the cooking academy and still manage to get a law degree?" Myrtle asks blankly.

Oh God.  Are they really that dense?  "The thing is, I'm not an actual housekeeper.  I lied.  I'm a fraud.  A fake.  I'll... I'll go if you want me to."

"No!  Don't go!  We don't want you to leave.  We love having you here, Calla," Myrtle and Fir both cry out.

"Thank you, both of you.  I'm really grateful."

"'I'm grateful,'" the reporter echos.  "Now could you elaborate on that more?"

"No!  I am not doing an interview.  Please, no comment on everything."

God these people are crazy.  No scratch that.  The WORLD is crazy.  Blanche and the Dhavals are scanning a large newspaper article that one of the reporters hands them.

"You charged §500 an hour and you turned it down?!" Blanche asks as though I'm a lunatic.

"Yes, I enjoy what I do here and I love it.  My life is different in a way I never imagined it could be."

"...in a way I never imagined it to be," repeats the reporter.

"STOP IT!  I told you to get out.  Shoo!  Leave!"  Finally I bolt the door shut but the reporter still hang around, looking through the windows and snapping photos.

Champ comes in chomping on an apple.  "These are really delicious.  Is there some sort of recipe you could make that uses these?  We have a ton from the back."

"Champ, there's something I need to tell you," I begin.

He looks at me after looking out the windows.  "What's going on?  Who is that?"

Myrtle interrupts.  "And who are you?  A rocket scientist?"

"What the hell?  Pardon my language but what the fuck is going on here?"  Champagne asks again.

"I'm... I'm a lawyer," I finally admit.  "I had been meaning to tell you but... I was scared, Champ."

"You're... a lawyer." Champ echoes slowly, then he snarls, "Why would  you lie to me like that?  For God's sake, I thought you had been abused, Calla.  I was extremely worried for you."

"Champ, I didn't mean to not tell you the truth like that.  Please, don't get mad." I beg.

"Why didn't you just tell me?"  He asks more calmly.

"I was going to.  But then I found out that you hate lawyers.  I thought if I told you, you wouldn't like me.  I was going to tell you eventually, but you seemed so happy and I didn't want to ruin your life with my problems.  But now the lawyer part of my life is over.  These people will give up eventually," I gesture to the reporter outside.  "I'm sure of it."

I look Champ in the eye but all I can see is anger and disgust.

Tears start to form.  "I thought that if I told you, you'd treat me like you're treating me now," I confess.  I bit my lip to prevent the tears from falling out but it's no use.

Champ sighs.  "I'm sorry.  You're right.  Come here, darling."  He holds out his hands and I fall into them with relief.

"Trust me, it should die down soon," I assure him again.  "They'll get bored.  I mean, how interesting can one woman be?"

Despite my belief, I must be pretty interesting because the reporter does not go away.  Other reporters come too, but they're not as persistent as the fairy.  I walk past the front door the later that morning and notice that she is still standing out there.  I bend down to sneak past the door so she doesn't see me.  So far so good, I think as I reach the kitchen.  I begin to get ready on the morning drinks.

"Calla, you're awake!  Fir, make her a cup of coffee."

"No, really Mrs. Dhaval.  I'm still your housekeeper.  I can make the coffee."

"Nonsense, you're our guest.  Blanche, get some toast ready for Calla."

"Mrs. Dhaval," I recite her name firmly.  "I told you that I'm your housekeeper and I want you treating me no different than before.  Please."

"Oh, alright...." she shrugs.

"Calla, you're in every newspaper in the entire country," Blanche reveals as Fir scrolls through articles presumably about me on his phone.

"Oh I'm not surprised.  Now if you'll excuse me, I have my household duties to complete," I dismiss myself without looking at a single paper.

The doorbell rings but I ignore it.

"Calla!!  You have another guest," Myrtle informs me.

I let out a groan and walk to the entry.  Standing in front of me is the immaculate, obviously out-of-place Blake Nero.

"Blake," I murmur.

"Wow, you weren't lying," he notes, gesturing to my housekeeper outfit.

"Nope, I wasn't. Do I ever lie?" I ask sweetly.

I lead him into the kitchen where I begin to prepare lunch for today.

"I have a job offer for you.  I think you should look into it."

"No, I'm happy as a housekeeper, thank you very much.  You really don't need to help me."

"You haven't even looked at it.  Here."  He shoves his phone in my direction.  I glance at it and then return to the meal.

"I'm not interested.  I'd rather you not help me.  I'm happy here."

"Calla, you have a fucking law degree.  You shouldn't be throwing away your brain just to be some... domestic.

"Excuse me, but I have a job to do so if you're just going to keep criticizing me on what I do, please leave."

He sighs, pulls up his sleeves, and speaks.  "Then I'll help.  What do we do?"
I can't help but laugh at the hilarity of the situation and the confusion and... fear on his face.

"Alright, if you want, please help me carry out these dishes,"I instruct him and we walk out into the dining room."

"Calla," Blake tells me after we've served lunch. "Do you understand what your leaving has done to Gainsboro?  They're going berserk.  The company looks bad to the press and they'd pay big money just to see you walk back into your office."

"I'm not interest.  I already told you."  Why is he still here?

"They'll pay big money," he continues.  "You could retired in fewer than five years. Then you could go back to... this.  You've earned your partnership, you should use it," he adds.

The conversation is now over.  That night, I think about Blake's words as the tumble around in my brain.  Then I make my decision and call Blake, who comes straight to the Dhaval's house once I tell him my decision.

I say farewell to the Dhavals before going to pack and Mrs. Dhaval gives me my uniform as a farewell gift to remember them by.  I really have no use for it but the sentiment is nice.

Blake arrives after I've said good bye.  He stops at the restroom and I catch Champ before he leaves for the night.

"Champ, I'm going to go back.  I'm going to be a lawyer again.  I'm trained to be a lawyer.  A fellow colleague of mine was able to convince me.  He... he made me realize that I'm a lawyer and that is what I am meant to be.  And, in a few years, I'll be able to retire and come out here and live with you."

My plan sounds convincing, until I see the look on his face.