Audreys suprise

Once Upon a time in a very busy city lived a modestly sweet young woman known as Audrey.

On a bustling street full of Character and charm, amongst unusual book shops, hipster cafes with thriving plants and eccentric art stores sat a kooky apothecary.

Above the apothecary was a tiny humble apartment which was now Audreys new dwelling.

Audrey had only moved into the apartment a week ago and she was still trying to adjust to all the noise coming from the bustling street down below.

You see Audrey had been raised as an only child in a quiet country town by the seaside. But her life- long dream was to be a fashion designer. Audrey had not long turned 18 and she’d been working a part time job back in her home town, in a small convenience store since she was 14. She’d saved up enough for a car and a little extra to get her life started. After she purchased her wheels and got her licence it was time to hit the road. She packed all of her prized possessions including her quirky little Jack Russell “Olive”, Kissed her folks farewell and headed to the big smoke to fulfil her dreams.

Audrey had enrolled in classes to study Fashion designing. What she really needed now was some part time work. She scanned the local newspapers for weeks, calling for different positions. but not much came of it. She handed her resume’ out at different stores and shops along the busy street she lived on and she still heard of nothing. Audrey was starting to get a bit desperate for a job, any job as her money was starting to dwindle and she was a bit too proud to call up her folks and ask for a little dosh.

One evening after a hard day of studying, Audrey decided to treat herself and Olive. They went for a walk down the street to her new found favourite café “Pepitos” for dinner. They dined out on the side walk as Olive of course was not allowed inside. Olive was tied to Audreys chair so she couldn’t wander. After sharing a delicious woodfire pizza and a Vanilla Milk shake, Audrey went inside to pay. As she was paying she noticed a small little notice board on the back wall of the café. She made her way over to it and there was a notice looking for a part-time cleaner for an elderly lady with a phone number. The notice didn’t give a lot of information other than that. Now Audrey wasn’t very fond of the idea of cleaning for someone else, however she was not in a position to be choosy. So Audrey took the phone number and went on her way.

The next Morning Audrey called the number that was on the cleaning notice and she was asked if she could go for an interview at the house that very afternoon at 2pm, Audrey agreed to the meeting and was given the address for the house.

The afternoon had come around quickly and Audrey was all ready for her interview. “wish me luck Olive” she said as she closed the door behind her. It just so happened the house wasn’t too far from Audrey’s street. As she arrived to the front of the house or shall I say mansion Audreys jaw dropped.

The house was massive and she was starting to dread the amount of cleaning she would have to do. She scurried to the massive wooden front door and knocked with big knocker bang bang. A little old man answered the door , the butler he was. “You must be Audrey” He hastily exclaimed. “Yes that is me” replied Audrey. “ come on in this way ” says the butler.

Audrey follows the little butler into the house and is seated in the living room. She awaits Lady Mabel, the owner of the mansion, the one she is to clean for. Lady Mabel enters the room glaring at Audrey suspiciously. She begins to speak and fill Audrey in of what the position entails. Lady Mabel lives in the large house all by herself. Her Butler “Edward” spends most of his time in the house but lives a few doors down

Other than that she has nurses, carers, gardeners and maintenance men that come and go. Most rooms in the mansion go unused and she just needs someone to thoroughly clean the ones that she does use. She has a terminal Illness and isn’t quite sure how long she has left to live. Mabel is very pedantic about cleaning and germs and she mentions that her last cleaner got caught stealing from her and she will not tolerate a thief. Mabel was a very stern old lady, which Audrey didn’t really mind at all. She continued that she needed Audrey to clean for 3 hours, three times a week. She was willing to pay a generous hourly rate and she needed Audrey to start as soon as possible. Audrey didn’t hesitate to agree to the position as the money was much needed and it was much better pay than she expected.

As days rolled into weeks and weeks into months, Audrey and Olive had settled nicely into their little city abode. They went for many walks and adventures in the city, they dined out often. Audrey kept herself very busy with study and work.

At her job she was often left alone to clean the rooms in her own way, as Mabel was quite often lying in bed resting because of her illness and Edward the butler was always busy preparing food and delivering cups of earl grey tea to Mabel.

One cold winters afternoon Audrey was busy dusting the bookshelves in Mabels Library as usual and she happened to accidentally knock a few books flying off the shelf. As she knelt down and picked them up there was one book in particular that grabbed her attention. It was a little black book with no writing on the cover. As she opened it up on the first page read; “To my dearest Mabel, this little book holds all the secrets to true happiness, Love from Mum.” This instantly intrigued Audrey as she turned to the next page. She heard a loud interrupting cough at the door. It was Edward the butler. “Is there something you’re looking for dear?” he asks. “ No, not at all!” replies Audrey as she quickly places the little black book on the shelf and continues dusting and cleaning until it’s time for her to go home.

Later that night when Audrey is sleeping at home in her bed, she has a very strange dream about the little black book. She wakes up startled and covered in sweat. These dreams continue every couple of nights. The next time Audrey is back in Mabels library dusting, she looks intently for that little black book, but it’s gone she can’t seem to find it anywhere. After a few weeks and a few more times searching the library for the book, The dreams stop and Mabel stops thinking about the book.

A couple of months later it’s spring. All the flowers are out and the days are starting to get longer and warmer. Audrey makes her way over to Mabels mansion as usual to do her cleaning and as she enters the house Edward the butler and another man are sitting in the living area waiting for Audrey. They let her know that Mabel had passed away a few hours ago and Audrey no longer had a job at the mansion cleaning. But Mabel had left a brown rustic looking package for Audrey. After Shedding a few tears and saying her goodbyes to Edward and the mansion, Audrey went home. She made herself a cup of earl grey tea in memory of Mabel and sat on her bed with Olive the dog. Audrey slowly opened the brown parcel with her hands shaking a little, inside was a little black book and a very generous $20,000 cheque. As Audrey opened the little black book, the lights flickered and the power went out. The End.