It’s the Christmas season and Maggie still had a lot to do. She had charity events to go to, and red carpet meet and greets, before Christmas Eve. Her usual driver George, was called out of town due to a family emergency so, Maggie had to hire a new one. She interviewed five different drivers in one day and decided on the last one. His name was Joseph and he arrived as requested by seven the following morning.
Maggie was known by many people as a famous teenage television star. She got her start on television when she was six years old because of her parents being movie stars. Now, because her parents worked a lot and were often out of the country, Maggie was raised mostly by the staff of their estate. There was Charles, the senior butler, Claire, the senior maid, and George the driver. Maggie also had a teacher that came once a week to give her basic schooling.
Because the whole family was successful with television or movies, some days the teenage fame would go to Maggie’s head. But other times she just wished that she had a life like most kids and teenager’s with less stress and more fun. Fun such as amusement parks, school dances, and occasional sleepovers.
It was just about seven when Joseph rang the doorbell. Charles answered the door and recognized Joseph from the previous day and asked him to come inside.
“Is that my new driver?” Maggie called out.
“Yes Miss, it’s Mr. Joseph,” Charles said.
“Good, bring him in please.”
As Charles guided Joseph to the living room, he glanced around at all the Christmas decorations. The house was huge and decorated with expensive taste but festive. When they entered into the living room, Maggie, still in her Rudolph pajama’s, was lounging in a chair checking her email.
“Good morning Joseph, I trust that you are doing well this morning?” Maggie said while staring at her computer screen.
“Good morning Miss Strum. Yes, I’m fine, thank you.”
Maggie looked up and at Joseph standing just inside of the room, “come in and sit down for a while. Oh, and please call me Maggie not Miss Strum. You make me sound like my mother otherwise.”
“Yes Miss, I mean Maggie,” Joseph walked over to the sofa and sat down on the edge of the cushion.
Maggie went back to reading an email and then noticed Joseph fidgeting with his jacket sleeve like he was uncomfortable.
“Joseph, you can relax. I’m just a teenager who needs your assistance for a while. It’s not like I’m the president or someone important like that,” Maggie smiled at him.
Joseph smiled and sat all the way back on the sofa. He crossed his arms and patiently waited for her instruction. Maggie then closed her laptop and told him that she had to go upstairs and get ready for a meet and greet. She said that she would be back down in about an hour and that they can’t be late.
Maggie got up and handed Joseph a sheet of paper with an address on it, “we need to go here so find out where it is please,” Maggie then left the room and hurried upstairs.
Now, Joseph was fairly new to the area and was still learning his way around. He put the address into his cell phone and did a search. He found out where the place was but it still concerned him if he could find it okay. After all, Joseph wanted to make a good impression for his future references.
After about forty-five minutes of Joseph looking at various things in the living room, Maggie casually walked back down stairs.
“Charles… Claire, we’re leaving now,” Maggie called out as she stood in the living room doorway.
Joseph turned around and saw a lovely young lady dressed in a red jumpsuit with a short green jacket. He smiled at her and thought that she didn’t look like that young teenager he saw about an hour ago.
“Will we be serving dinner for you tonight dear?” Claire walked up to Maggie and asked.
“Well, I’ll have Joseph call you later to let you know,” Maggie said.
“Very well. Oh, and please try to enjoy yourself today Maggie,” Claire smiled.
“I’ll try,” Maggie gave Claire and Charles each a kiss on the cheek.
Joseph didn’t realize it but Charles pulled the limousine out of the garage for them. He was told yesterday that he would be driving a limo but wasn’t expecting what he saw.
“Wow, a Hummer?” Joseph stopped and gazed at it.
Maggie giggled, “come on we have to go.”
“But I’ve never driven a hummer before,” he rushed over and opened the door for her.
“How hard can it be? George drives it all the time,” Maggie climbed into the back.
Joseph closed her door and then rushed up to the front seat. He climbed inside and looked at the instrument panel, “well, here it goes,” he turned the ignition on.
Joseph found out that the Hummer limo was fairly easy to drive once he got used to how large it was. Maggie didn’t interrupt Joseph’s concentration until she looked at the time on her cell phone.
Maggie hit a button to lower the drivers window and called out to Joseph, “are we almost there?”
Joseph glanced back, “yes, I think so… The GPS just said it’s the next left.”
“Okay,” Maggie said and then re-applied some lip gloss.
After Joseph made the turn, they saw a lot of people from various ages standing along the entrance and clapping. He even saw a ten foot Christmas tree all decked out just for Maggie based on her television show.
“I guess we made it,” Joseph said.
Joseph slowly drove up the driveway and came to a stop near the sidewalk. The policemen tried their best to keep the kids and teenagers calm and under control. Joseph shut the Hummer off and then quickly got out and made his way to Maggie’s door. Slowly Joseph opened the Hummer door to reveal Miss Maggie Strum. The crowd cheered as she stepped out of the Hummer limo and onto the red carpet. Maggie shook some hands, gave some hugs and spent most of the afternoon talking and singing to her fans. Some parents even expressed their gratitude to Maggie because of how her television show has helped their children be more respectful. Hearing that from the parents made Maggie feel good about her performances and the meaning behind them.
As mid-afternoon came, it was time for Maggie to leave. She expressed her thanks and said her goodbyes to her fans and then headed toward the limo. Joseph was near her the entire time as if he was her hired body guard. It was a good thing too because before Maggie could make it to the limousine, a crazed male fan ran up to her. The man grab her arm and tried to pull her away when Joseph stopped him.
“Let go of her sir,” Joseph grabbed onto Maggie’s other arm.
Just like that, one of the policemen saw the incident and rushed the man. The man was handcuffed and escorted to the nearest police car.
“Are you alright?” Joseph looked at Maggie.
“That’s never happened before,” she said.
Joseph put his arm around her and guarded her as they walked to the Hummer.
“I would like to ride up front with you if that’s okay,” Maggie held on tight to Joseph’s arm.
“Oh, okay,” Joseph walked her up to the driver door.
Maggie carefully climbed inside and scooted over to the passenger seat. Joseph then climbed in and closed the door. He could tell that the incident upset Maggie.
“That man could have kidnapped me,” Maggie looked at Joseph.
“Yes, he could have, but I wouldn’t have let that happen.”
“Thank you. I’m so happy that you were there with me,” Maggie said.
“I’m sure that George would have done the same thing for you,” Joseph started the Hummer and slowly pulled away.
“George has been my driver for five years and he usually stayed with the car. I like the idea that you stayed with me.”
“Well, it’s you that’s most important, not the limo.”
Maggie smiled at Joseph and then was quiet the rest of the ride home. But when they arrived at the estate, Maggie asked him if he could stay for awhile. Joseph didn’t have anyone in the area and was still getting to know people so he graciously accepted Maggie’s invitation. Joseph first dropped her off at the front door and then carefully parked the limo in the garage.
Claire didn’t expect Maggie to be back already so she didn’t have any food prepared for her. But Maggie told her that she wasn’t hungry. Maggie was still thinking about the man that grabbed her at the meet and greet. She went upstairs, changed her clothes and came back down. Joseph was then in the living room waiting for her. Maggie walked in and plopped down on her favorite chair.
Joseph noticed that Maggie was unusually quiet.
“Are you still thinking about what happened earlier?” Joseph asked her.
“Yes, it was very scary. And those policemen should have been paying more attention.”
“That’s true, they should have been. So, maybe you should hire a body guard. You are at an age now where obsessed fans are going to find you attractive,” Joseph sat down on the sofa.
“I never thought about that. My focus has always been for the children’s joy not the adults,” Maggie said.
“Well, there can be some strange people out there. But, enough of this kind of talk. Miss Maggie, you have a lot of Christmas decorations up but no tree, how come?” Joseph asked.
“Oh, George was going to get one like he does every year but he had a family emergency. So, we hadn’t gotten one yet,” Maggie explained.
“Well, how about I go get one and we can decorate it tonight?”
“You would do that for me?”
“Sure,” Joseph got up, “I’ll be back in an hour.”
“Okay,” Maggie smiled.
Maggie’s attitude changed for the better and asked Joseph if he liked pizza. Without a doubt he said yes, so Maggie told him that she would order some for them. Joseph left and found a place that sold beautiful Balsam Christmas trees. While he was on his way back to Maggie’s with the tree, she had ordered two pizzas.
Joseph parked his SUV near the front door and untied the tree from the roof. He rang the doorbell and stood there with the wrapped up tree. Charles let Joseph inside and smiled. He was happy to see that Maggie had a new friend. Even though Joseph looked like he could be an older brother to her, Charles believed that a real friendship might be forming between them.
Joseph carried the seven foot tree into the living room and placed it in the tree stand that Maggie had Charles bring in earlier. He cut the wrapping off, and the tree then showed it’s full beauty. Maggie was in awe of how perfect the tree looked. Joseph could see the much needed joy back in Maggie’s face. He wasn’t sure at that moment if he would still have a job when George got back, but he felt that if anything, he made a new friend.
Maggie and Joseph spent the evening decorating the Christmas tree, eating pizza, and laughing a lot. Because Maggie was home alone a lot, except for the staff, she didn’t do much laughing. Joseph seemed to bring out the innocent joy in Maggie which they both liked. Having fun with the simplest things was something that they both appreciated. Yes, Maggie Strum was a rich and famous television star, but once Joseph saw the normal innocent teen in her, he liked what he saw.
Do you find joy and pleasure in simple things or do you need fancy and expensive things to be happy? I hope that you enjoyed this story. I just wanted to point out that being rich and in the spot light doesn’t always bring happiness. With Maggie, she enjoyed her job as an actress but was lonely for companionship.
This is a wonderful story ! ! I hope you continue to write more about Maggie , Joeseph, Claire, Charles and George.