China Maid, Chapter 1

Jocelyn's maid disappeared suddenly, and for some reason it was the big story in the school that week.
	Alice never heard details of the the maid's absence, and she wasn't close enough friends with Jocelyn to ask about it. All she saw was that Jocelyn Zuang came to school the next day acting reserved instead of her usual bubbly self. Even her nails were painted black, which Alice assumed was Farrah's work. Farrah was Jocelyn's other maid – a quiet Middle Eastern beauty barely older than Alice's own 18 years.
	Jocelyn and Alice were not close, but they shared a social circle and sat at the same table at lunch. It was a gloomy day, and the mood of the table was somber even if none of their friends were close with the maid. For her part, Alice thought Jocelyn was kind of overreacting.
	"It's so weird how she's gone," Jocelyn said in her signature vocal fry.
	Alice, Ciara, Julia and even Delfina nodded sympathetically as they picked away at their food that day.
	"Like, I'm in shock," Jocelyn said, and ate a piece of her bluefin tuna sushi roll. "Why would she just run away back to Iceland like that? Was it something I did?"
	Her friends agreed and murmured consoling phrases. Alice couldn't help but feel that Jocelyn's tone towards losing Lisebet was like she had lost her beloved smartphone, or had totalled her car. Every comment Jocelyn made about Lisebet was about how well she served the family, or the specific tasks she was good at. Jocelyn was rich, beautiful and had perky boobs that were the envy of the school (Alice in particular). Was she just struggling with rejection for the first time in her life?
	Alice had long since learned to overlook Jocelyn's attitude: the young Chinese girl was from one of the wealthiest families in the People's Republic and she was notoriously materialistic. Alice looked at the girl's Hermes bag that must have cost thousands – didn't she bring a different Hermes to school last week? Aside from Jocelyn's desire for the finest things, she was sweet if a bit ditzy.
	"This really screws up my plans for the China trip," Jocelyn murmured inwardly.
	Alice felt her usual sense of embarassment when Jocelyn mentioned the China trip.
	Jocelyn had several months ago invited all her friends to visit China and stay at her family's various mansions across the country. Her eyes lit up whenever she spoke of her home country, and she kept building it up as the trip of a lifetime. They would see the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, Shanghai and other spots all while receiving the utmost hospitality and service wherever they went. Alice had been over to Jocelyn's house a few times before and knew to believe her when she said they would have servants waiting on their every need. She imagined the summer of her life getting massages in Imperial palaces and sipping rice wine with all her friends.
	Her hopes were crushed when she discussed the trip with her parents.
	"How much do they want for the trip, sweetie?" her father asked when they were sitting at the dinner table.
	"Just four thousand dollars, plus whatever I would spend on my own," Alice answered. She felt her heart sink when she saw the way her father furrowed his brows. That was never a good sign.
	"I don't know, Alice. That's a lot of money for a vacation," her mother responded, giving her a sympathetic look.
	In her mother, Alice saw reflected her own emerald green eyes and light blonde hair, but at the time she didn't appreciate her beauty. She was too embarassed that her family didn't have the money to send her on a trip that all her friends were going on. This was really just the latest episode in the defining drama of Alice's life.
	It was always her biggest problem: that her family somehow owned property in one of the richest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, but they were solidly middle class while all her friends were wealthy. Alice was constantly impressed by her friends' mansions and the cars they would drive to school, which only deepened her shame of her own modest means. Only Julia, her best friend, had been over to her house. Otherwise, she preferred to hang out at the other girls' places enjoying their fine food and feeling wealthy herself.
	Her parents just last month pleaded with her to stop eating at such expensive restaurants when they saw her credit card bill, and she reluctantly complied. For the most part, her friends were understanding of her situation and still enjoyed her company.
	They had all gone on other trips abroad together to places like Nice and Paris, but this was the first one they had invited Alice on.
	Alice, although modest in many ways, thought of herself as a delightful girl: bright, friendly, and she had learned how to use her big green eyes to disarm people and get her way. The only thing she was self-conscious about was her bust size. While all her friends had developed boobs, she never did and was left wanting. She spent many years measuring her small breasts, vainly hoping for a growth spurt that never came. Beach trips and swim classes were deeply humiliating, and a few girls had even made fun of her for having small boobs. Over time, Alice adapted to her lack of endowment. In adddition to padded bras and dresses, she had learned to emphasize the best of herself: her gorgeous if youthful face, her toned butt, and her dazzling intellect.
	In spite of her good looks, she wasn't the type who skated by on being hot. She was class Valedictorian, a gifted athlete, and she was even picked for Homecoming queen.
	Well, maybe that last one had to do with her looks but Alice only looked back on that night with happiness. She didn't even notice the death glare that Delfina had given her when Alice beat her in the competition, or the girl's fury at losing this contest in front of the whole school.
	Bad thoughts ran through Delfina's mind that evening: did she lose because she was too tall? Too enviable? How did that flat bitch win out over her? Was it that the school liked Alice's stupid blonde hair more than her own brown hair? She remembered it as one of the worst nights of her life, wearing a sash that said "RUNNER UP" in front of everyone, and she cursed Alice silently for making her feel this way.
	Delfina kept all of her dark feelings hidden beneath an inscrutable smile, though, and that was the night she resolved to get even with Alice.
	**
	Delfina was careful that the idea seem to come from Julia, someone Alice trusted. It was easy enough for the scheming girl to get Jocelyn on board with the idea of taking Alice on as her new maid. She fit the profile that Jocelyn looked for in her maids: petite and small-chested, from modest means with a powerful intellect. Now she just had to get Alice to agree to it.
	She knew that being Jocelyn's maid was a crushing comittment, and it seemed like the perfect way to humble the haughty Alice. Delfina felt truly excited as she imagined a summer of ordering around her former rival, making the girl polish her shoes and wash her laundry among other humiliating tasks. She had no idea how profoundly the experience would change Alice, except for a strange inkling that it would help Alice would find her rightful place in life.
	A few days after school let out, while Alice and Julia were having coffee together, Julia breached the subject.
	"Hey, Alice, I know how badly you wanted to come to China with us, and I thought of a way you might tag along," Julia told the girl. Alice's heart skipped a beat.
	"Really?! How do you think?" Alice asked, trying to control her excitement. She had been researching places to see in China and was more determined than ever to go even if she had to take out a personal loan.
	"Well, you know how Jocelyn lost her maid recently. She and I have been talking, and we thought you might agree to work for her in exchange for her paying your way on the trip!" Julia said, stirring her latte.
	This gave Alice pause.
	She thought of Farrah, Jocelyn's current maid. The first thing that came to mind was her outfit. She always wore the same thing: a  tight-fitting black sleeveless maid's tunic with white trim, 4 " high heels in a black or nude color, and a short black skirt that went about halfway down her thighs. The tall Middle Eastern girl was always wearing stockings, even on blisteringly hot days. Alice admired the girl's ability to keep her seams straight even as she carried out Jocelyn's endless demands.
	"Uh, you mean like how Farrah works for her?" Alice asked, with less enthusiasm. She emphasized the word "Farrah" in a way that was unflattering to the young maid.
	"Pretty much. I mean, Jocelyn has been short-staffed since she lost Lisebet so it would be helping her out a lot. And it would only be for like a month, then you'd just be in China and free to hang out with the rest of us," Julia explained using the pitch that Delfina had given her.
	Alice thought back to the few times she had gone over to Jocelyn's house – a palatial mansion with eight bedrooms by the country club. It stuck out in her mind that even when Farrah wasn't fetching the girls drinks, or snacks, she was always standing at attention somewhere nearby. She barely spoke, curtseyed almost obsessively, and there was no task that was beneath her. Whenever Jocelyn wanted to get up, she would have Farrah approach and offer her a hand, even though Jocelyn was an accomplished athlete.
	Alice had to admit that she admired Farrah's patience. Delfina had been there that day, and she seemed to take a special pleasure in running Farrah ragged.
	"Farrah, this lemonade is too sour for me. Could you get me another?" Delfina asked, holding out the glass she had barely sipped.
	"Yes, Miss Delfina," Farrah responded, smiling and curtseying before leaving to get the brunette another glass. Alice rolled her eyes as Delfina found a problem with the next one too, sending Farrah back to the kitchen. The click-clack of Farrah's heels faded down the hallway as she left the girls, and Alice wondered how she managed to stay on her feet all day in such high heels. 	Jocelyn was nicer, but no one seemed very concerned with Farrah's wellbeing. As soon as she completed a task for one girl, another would ask her to do something. Alice was guilty of this herself, but only because Jocelyn insisted that if she wanted something it was the maid's job to get it for her. Delfina even had the maid curl her hair for her, which Farrah showed considerable skill in doing.
	"So what do you think, Alice? It's fine if you don't want to," Julia said, snapping her out of her reminiscing. Alice felt a little put-on-the-spot.
	"I just think it'll be so amazing to go there," Julia added. "We won't have to worry about school or work, and we can just have the best summer ever!"
	Alice was still on the fence. Julia saw her hesitation, and added the last piece.
	"Also, Jocelyn's mom mentioned how she would give you a bonus for signing up on such short notice. At the end of your contract, they could provide money towards whatever school you get into."
	That was enough for Alice, who was waiting to hear back from several expensive private universities.
	"Okay, sure. Let's do it. I mean, it's only for a little while. Worst case, I have a boring job in an amazing country," Alice replied. She suspected that Jocelyn wouldn't even be that demanding of her, and that Farrah would do most of the work as usual.
	"Great! Just get ahold of Jocelyn, you should get moving on this as soon as possible. I mean, we leave in a month. I'm so happy you're coming to CHINA!!!" Julia practically shouted, and Alice giggled at her friend's goofy sense of humor.
	Alice called Jocelyn up that afternoon, and said she was interested in taking the job. To her surprise, Jocelyn didn't seem too enthusiastic.
	"Wow, so you're really interested in working as my maid for the trip? You know that I have really high standards, right?" Jocelyn asked. Alice tried to keep up her enthusiasm.
	"Yeah! Totally! I have really good work ethic and I think this would work out for both of us," Alice responded in her practiced pitch.
	"It might not be the perfect fit for you though," Jocelyn argued. "I mean, you were class valedictorian and this job would require a lot of like, humility. Are you sure you could put up with it?"
	Somehow, the way Jocelyn was witholding the job only made Alice want it even more. She was resolute to get it now.
	"Absolutely, Jocelyn. I can keep my mouth shut if I have to, even for five minutes at a time!" she joked. Jocelyn laughed a little.
	"Okay, Alice, I'm willing to take you on," Jocelyn relented. "We should meet for coffee tomorrow. I will email you a list of information and documents to bring, and we can sign a contract by to make it official."
	Alice could have danced with happiness, even ignoring the abrupt way Jocelyn hung up without saying goodbye. The email followed shortly, asking for an exhaustive amount of information about Alice. Jocelyn wanted to know some pretty personal stuff, but Alice filled it out fully. She gave her height, weight, waist size, shoe size, and then... Bust size.
	Alice gasped when she saw that she had to put her bust size: it was her deepest secret, her greatest shame. After some deliberation, she put "A cup" then deleted it. With a resigned sigh, she put in "A cup" again then saved the document, feeling like she had betrayed herself. She had a paranoid sensation that the whole world would know the truth now, but she dismissed the thought.
	If Alice had thought about it, she would have remembered that Farrah had quite small breasts as well, and her maid's outfit only emphasized this fact.
	Alice finished the form by putting in more mundane information such as known allergies. The form took a while to fill out, and she had to enlist her mom's help to get some of the information. There was an excited attitude around the house, with Alice rattling off the different things she would do in China and her mom cautioning her about things to avoid while travelling. Alice's mom had tried to talk her out of being Jocelyn's maid, but found it impossible, and so just focused on instilling caution into the naive girl.
	She knew that her daughter, being a blonde white girl would stick out in China, and she certainly didn't like the idea of her working as a servant for her supposed friends. But she loved to see her daughter happy, and just focused on the good things instead.
	Alice's meeting the next day was quicker than she envisioned. Jocelyn showed up with her mom and an older Chinese man, with Farrah opening the door for them. Jocelyn was radiantly happy, and Ms. Zuang had a reserved smile. Alice realized that she had never really talked to Ms. Zuang, although she was struck by the woman's beauty and sense of style. She wore a fetching blue dress and strappy high heels that contrasted sharply with her daughter's torn jeans and white T-shirt.
	The Chinese man wore a simple suit, said nothing.
	Farrah pulled out a chair for Jocelyn and Ms. Zuang, then handed them a stack of papers and went to stand in line for coffee.
	"I hope you will enjoy your time with us, Alice," Ms. Zuang said in a voice that showed worldliness. Alice couldn't help but notice her fantastic boobs, feeling her usual surge of jealousy.
	"Thank you Miss Zuang, I'm happy for the opportunity," Alice replied, glancing over the papers that were her employment contract. There were more than a dozen sheets, all stapled together, and Alice only skimmed them over in her excitement.
	There were pages explaining her duties, which included things like housekeeping and driving, but had provisions for practically anything else that could come up. Alice specifically saw the phrase, "any other duty or responsibility that the employer could reasonably want."
	She looked at the "compensation" page a little more carefully. It said that Alice would be paid the "prevailing wage" for her services whether in the United States or in China, and that this would be applied towards the principal of her loan. Alice winced when she saw the word 'loan.'
	"Excuse me for asking, but what do you mean by 'loan', here?" Alice asked, showing the page to Jocelyn and her mom. She noticed that Ms. Zuang had on subtle red eyeshadow as the woman glanced down at the contract.
	"That is how it works," Ms. Zuang answered, genuinely puzzled that Alice would ask such a question. "It is not free money. It is a loan we give to you and you repay by working for us. The way it is structured, you should pay it back within a month and a half."
	Alice continued looking at the contract and noticed the mention of a demerit system, where mistakes, failures or poor attitude could count agaist her compensation.
	"Could you tell me a little more about this demerit system?" Alice asked. She could tell Ms. Zuang was losing her patience – the woman fluttered her eyelids in barely-disguised annoyance. Alice felt her cheeks redden in shame for annoying this woman.
	"That is to make sure our employees don't just take the money and slack off, which we've seen before. If you have the proper attitude towards work, there will be no problem," Ms. Zuang answered, then took her cup of coffee from Farrah.
	Alice knew this was a big decision and she had a lot more questions, but she ignored her instincts and signed the agreement figuring that this was the only way she could go to China. Ms. Zuang looked on with her serene smile, directing Alice towards each place she should sign and initial.
	"This is so exciting, Alice!" Jocelyn said when Alice had signed everywhere. The Chinese man asked for Alice's I.D., and stamped the documents with an official-looking seal. Alice guessed he was a notary. With that done, Farrah retrieved a textbook and handed it to Alice.
	"What's this?" Alice asked, feeling the weight of the hardcover book. It seemed like it was made by a university press, and it was titled "Rules and Responsibilities: Zuang Family" The cover had a photo of a Chinese mansion in the spring, with a happy-looking maid scrubbing the stairs with a rag and water.
	"That's like the house manual," Jocelyn explained. "It tells you the best way to do things, what your duties are, and what we expect from you as an employee. Go ahead and look it over so you're ready for your first day next week!"
	Alice smiled to disguise her nervousness at being expected to read such a heavy text. Ms. Zuang, Jocelyn and the man all departed, with Farrah opening the door for them on the way out. Alice remained in the cafe, leafing through her new book.
	It smelled new, and looking at the authors she noticed many of them had Master's degrees, even Ph.Ds! Its format was similar to a college textbook, with the first chapter dedicated to the Zuang family history, and each subsequent chapter after discussing a specific part of the job. Alice thought it was a little overboard to have an entire section dedicated on how to make a bed, and most other tasks were broken down into standardized steps. She wondered if she was going to be tested on this, then smiled nervously at the thought.
	**
	That weekend, Alice went out to an upscale Italian restaurant with her friends to celebrate 'her last weekend of freedom.' She had  learned that being Jocelyn's maid was a full-time comittment, and that contrary to her expectations she would be living at Jocelyn's house for the duration of her contract. So, with her parents' permission, Alice invited Julia, Ciara and Anna to get dinner at Brunaldi's.
	"Is she going to make you wear a maid's cap?" Ciara teased, grabbing a piece of bread from the basket. Alice smiled.
	"I'll wear whatever Farrah wears, I think," Alice answered. Ciara could be thoughtless sometimes. It took effort for Alice not to think of her as the stereotypical blonde who was just interested in fashion and music festivals. Even at this fancy restaurant Ciara was wearing her usual workout clothes: yoga pants and a form-fitting mesh jacket.
	"But like, what are your responsibilities?" Julia asked. "I mean, one time I went over there after soccer practice and Farrah gave me a foot and leg massage for like, an hour. It was heaven!"
	Alice laughed but couldn't shake the mental image.
	What Julia didn't mention is that she wanted to wash her feet beforehand, but Jocelyn said that Farrah wouldn't mind. Julia felt sympathetic as Farrah toiled over her sweaty feet, but Farrah used these essential oils that covered up any scent, and Julia had very clean feet to begin with. Farrah had even redone Julia's pedicure, which made her feel fantastic.
	"I'll just kind of do whatever Jocelyn or her family needs. It could be anything, really," Alice offered.
	Julia and Ciara exchanged meaningful glances, which Alice didn't like one bit.
	"Hey, sorry I'm late!" Anna said, taking a seat with the rest of the girls. She was the tanned, wealthy daughter of a Colombian politician. People said that her mom may have won Ms. Colombia, but Anna was Ms. Escaped from Colombia. She had very white teeth, wavy brown hair, was utterly gorgeous. She also had a habit of wearing high heels and stockings, but unlike the ones in Jocelyn's maid's outfits, Anna's attire just made her seem more mature.
	"It's okay! Sit," Julia said, moving over to make room for the exotic girl. Compared to Anna, Julia was much whiter, although people admired her thick sandy blonde hair and high cheekbones. Julia also had fuller lips, compared to Anna's. The girls had spent a lot of time comparing their features and complimenting each other – it was kind of a bonding ritual.
	"So, Alice, everyone's talking about your new job! The homecoming queen slash maid. It's like a fairy tale!" Anna ribbed. Alice smiled as best she could. She knew they were all joking, but she was beginning to feel singled out.
	"Yup, that's the gig! And I'll be going with you all to China!" Alice said, trying to change the subject.
	"You don't think that will be a little weird?" Anna asked. She always had a habit of saying what other people were thinking and judging by the other girls' reactions, she was definitely doing that now.
	"I mean, I have a hard time picturing you as a maid," Anna went on, furrowing her brow in a cute way. "You've always been so... willful."
	When Anna noticed the look on Alice's face, she scrambled to cushion what she was saying.
	"I mean, you are a natural class president," she went on, referring to the fact that Alice held the office for the past two years. "Do you think you'll put this on your resume?" she joked.
	All the girls laughed, and the mood lightened.
	"Actually, my feet kind of hurt from these high heels. Could you give me a foot massage?" Anna asked, slipping her feet out of her Loisvitton patent leather high heels and resting them on Anna's lap. Alice noticed that her stockings had a reinforced heel and toe.
	"No way! I don't start until Monday, missy!" Alice yelped, pinching the girl's soles in a way she knew would tickle unbearably. Anna yanked her feet back, banging her knee on the underside of the table and the each girl erupted in laughter.
	The other patrons in the restaurant glared at them, and the friends all did their best to tone down their behavior. The conversation changed to other subjects, but Alice distinctly remembered the look that Anna gave her when she requested a foot massage, and the sensation of having a wealthy girl's feet on her lap.
	As Anna slipped her heels back on her slender feet, Alice wondered what it would be like if she had said 'yes' to the girl's request.  Anna, Ciara, and even Julia were wondering the same thing, and each girl had her own way of envisioning it.
	They all looked forward to Monday.