Juliette made a face at the question. “It’s a house that I live in, not much else I can say,” she answered simply. She was never fond of moving around and staying in houses that weren’t her home but what choice did she have?

As they reached the door, Juliette made a gesture to open it but before she could put her hand on the handle the door swung open. “Oh, you’re back from your trip, miss!” The woman who opened the door cheered. She was rather short with brown hair and brown eyes, almost mousy looking. She was wearing a common maid’s outfit with a duffel bag thrown over her shoulder.

Juliette grinned at the woman. “Off for the day?” She chirped back. The woman nodded then proceeded to carry on out the door with a little kick in her step. Juliette gently pushed Alicia through the door and followed after her. Once they were inside and the door was closed, Katherine took Juliette’s jacket to hang it on the coat rack. She gestured to take Alicia’s coat.

“Oh my, I completely forgot,” Juliette gasped. “I hope you’re not allergic to cats.” She was looking to the room to the right. The interior of the house almost matched the exterior with dark wood floors and white walls. The surroundings were pristine clean, like there wasn’t a speck of dust on the floor. Off to the left was the staircase, the banister was a fancy design and swirls and flowers that matched the wood of the floor. To the right, the living was set with a white couch and luxurious looking throws and pillows. A large fireplace faced the couch with a flatscreen hanging above it.

Alicia decided to steer clear of any more remarks of Juliette living in the house. Maybe Juliette didn't realize how lucky she was to have a place like this. Alicia shrugged it off. She was now a guest and didn't want to be rude.

The interaction between Juliette and her maid was interesting. Alicia never thought Juliette would have additional assistants other than Katherine. But now that she saw the size of the house she understood. As beautiful as it was it would be difficult for one person to clean in a day, let alone to be able to maintain such a high level of cleanliness.

"Oh, thank you," Alicia said and took off her own coat. She didn't enjoy the pampering, it made her feel guilty. She handed her coat to Katherine and repeated her thanks. She looked around the house again. It was so gorgeous. She wished Jake was there to see it. For a second she considered going home to get him, but remembered. The excitement on her face faded into sadness once more.

In hind sight, Juliette didn’t have many assisstants. She had a maid for each house she owned and a property manager to keep maintance on the houses up to date, but other than that, she only had Katherine. Her and Katherine’s relationship was complicated, to say the least. They had been working together for many, MANY years.

Katherine mumbled a soft “you’re welcome” to her as she hung up the coats. The tall, brooding woman barely spoke a word to anyone other than Juliette, or at least tried to. “Katherine, could you please prepare the guest room?” Juliette asked her with a smile. The woman nodded then proceeded to do the task.

“We can sit in the living room,” Juliette suggested to Alicia, gesturing towards the large, white couch. “Do you want anything to drink?”

"Um, may I have some water please?" Alicia asked. Although she much rathered to drown her sorrows in some sort of strong liquor, Alicia was still a bit under the legal drinking age. Not only that, but she figured water would help her out much more than any other substance could.

She looked over to the white couch. It looked like a pillow and she wondered if it felt like one too. The house seemed so empty and lonely, despite all of its beauty. Maybe this was why Juliette wasn't so excited about living here. Alicia made her way to the couch and took a tentative seat. She didn't want to be rude, but figured Juliette might be happy to see her warming up to the place quickly even if she wasn't. The couch was as soft as it appeared. The somewhat persistent pain in her back seemed to melt away into the fabric.

"I can't believe he's gone," Alicia murmured. She struggled grasping the concept that her younger brother was dead. After all the time and energy she spent trying to keep him alive and happy, he died anyway. She got nothing in return except for exhaustion and painful memories.

“Of course,” Juliette cooed, watching her make her way to the couch. She tapped over to a rolling cart tucked away in the corner with many fancy glass bottles filled with various liquids. Next to the line of glasses was a metallic pitcher. She poured a glass of water then returned to Alicia, holding it out to her.

Once she took the glass, Juliette slowly sat next to her. She heard the mumble and a small look of empathy washed over her face. “I know,” she sighed. “It’s a lot to process right now.” A soft meow came from behind the couch after she finished speaking. Juliette peeked over the back and made a clicking sound. An abnormally large, fluffy cat leapt up to balance on the back. The soft meow seemed delicate for the size of the cat. It’s fluffy white fur had speckles of light brown and ginger spotted its back.