Read Online On the Auction Block by Ashley Zacharias - Free Book Online

in
it?”
    “Stupid, useless cunt. Put in a cup of
vinegar.”
    “Yes, ma’am.” Flame returned to the laundry
room and found a bottle of vinegar under the sink. She didn’t have
a cup measure, so she poured a generous amount into the bucket.
    The tiles were hard on her knees but she
ignored that and scrubbed with vigor. While she was scrubbing, she
kept an eye on Mrs. Dodge’s boot.
    Recipes. Of course. Mrs. Dodge had laid out
recipes on the counter and consulted them as she cooked. If Flame
had realized that, she would have tried to follow them rather than
admitting to Mrs. Dodge that she was helpless in the kitchen.
    She saw Mrs. Dodge add spices to oil in a
bowl and then put the chicken into it and leave it there. That must
be the marinating that she had mentioned.
    Next, she chopped vegetables. Two tomatoes, a
long red pepper, and half an onion went into a bowl. Mrs. Dodge
poured oil and vinegar into another, smaller bowl and whisked in
various herbs and spices. When it was well mixed, she poured it
over the vegetables.
    Then she left the room.
    It was easier for Flame to clean the floor
when she didn’t have to dodge around Mrs. Dodge’s kicks.
    Her knees and back were aching by the time
she finished the kitchen floor but she couldn’t stop. She still had
the service hallway, laundry, and bathrooms to clean. The remaining
rooms had rugs over wood flooring. She was sure that she’d be
cleaning those, too, before long. But not with a scrub brush and
vinegar water. Most likely with a vacuum cleaner.
    In James’ manor, they had machines to clean
floors and chop vegetables. She had assumed that everyone had the
same and was surprised that the Dodges scrubbed their floors on
their hands and knees with a brush. Surely they weren’t that
poor.
    When she opened a closet in the service
hallway to clean the tile inside, she found the floor-cleaning
machine. Mrs. Dodge didn’t scrub her floors on their hands and
knees. Only Flame deserved that special treat.
    When Mr. Dodge came home and found Flame
scrubbing the bathroom floor, he said nothing about it. Housework
was his wife’s business.
    But he did reach down and fondle Flame’s cunt
for a minute while she continued to scrub. That was his
business.
    When he went to the kitchen to greet his
wife, Flame had to go back down the hallway and clean up his dirty
boot prints.
    She could hear the Dodges speaking in the
kitchen but their voices were too low for her to make out the
words.
    A few minutes later, Mrs. Dodge told her to
get cleaned up and serve them in the dining room.
    Flame’s back and knees were stiff but she
forced herself to get moving as quickly as she could. She had never
served dinner before but she knew exactly how it was done because
she had been served her whole life.
    It took her a few minutes to find a
tablecloth, dishes, and cutlery because she didn’t want to bother
the Dodges with her incompetence any more than absolutely
necessary. She set the dining room table for two and then announced
dinner.
    She served the wine and then returned to the
kitchen.
    She was hungry – lunch had been her only meal
in more than twenty-four hours – and working with the food made
her mouth water. But she dared not sample even a bite. There could
be hidden cameras and the punishment for stealing food would be
severe.
    She plated two salads as neatly as her own
staff would have done and carried them to the dining room. Serving
from the left was automatic.
    While the Dodges were eating their salad, she
carved the chicken and put the potatoes and asparagus in serving
dishes. As soon as the Dodges had finished their salad, she cleared
the salad plates from the right and then served each of the main
dishes in the proper order.
    She stood in attendance until the dinner was
done. Watching the Dodges eat was a torture in itself. When they
were finished, she cleared the dinner service and returned to the
kitchen to fetch the crème caramel. She found them in