R Is For Roleplay

Chase Abernathy was exhausted.

A combination of a heavy meal and a long flight had conspired to make him feel as if he’d just completed a triathlon. His shoulders ached from carrying his on-flight bags, his legs were sore from standing most of the day and his mind was numb from the effort of completing and presenting his company’s annual report to the shareholders. He had hit a homerun, which he was very proud of, but he was just so tired now. So very tired.

The cab pulled up outside of his condominium and he stared in confusion at the lights that filtered through the windows and dotted the half-melted snow on the sidewalk below. He squinted to check the address and it was his home. The tattered rainbow flag his nephew Jack had given him waved limply on the front porch and his yellow-handled spade leaned in the small walkway alcove. It was home all right. But who the hell was in it?

Chase paid the cabbie and trudged up the stairs, noting that the steps had been swept clean of snow and salted to break up the ice. The porch chairs had been de-iced and stacked neatly in the corner and the graveyard of dead plants from summer and fall had been disposed of. He dropped his garment bag and opened the screen door.

His oak and beveled glass door swung open and a tall Spanish woman stood there, her uniform smudged with dust. “Mr. Abernathy?”

“Yes.”

“I am Melora. Welcome home.”

He was still confused but stepped into his foyer, watching as she dutifully closed the door and took his garment bag from his weary shoulder. “Thanks, but who are you?”

“I am from Maids In America, the cleaning service. I was hired to welcome you home.”

Just then, the most wonderful smells assailed his nostrils. “Is that … dinner?”

“Yes, sir.” Melora took his bag. “My instructions were to prepare steak with peppercorn sauce for your meal.”

“Wow, I … I hope I don’t sound too strange, but I really didn’t expect this.”