Kings and Queens of Promise

I was awoken the next morning by the ding of the elevator. In my small, echoic room, it was abnormally loud. I jumped so badly that I fell out of bed. Sitting up, I looked at the doors as they slid open. Laying on the floor of the elevator was a piece of paper, which I snatched up.

Meet me in my closet at nine. Dress warmly.

Glancing at my Droid, I saw that it was only 7:30 AM. With a groan, I stood up, stripping out of yesterday’s clothes and finding something fresh. After a quick shower, I blow-dried my messy black curls and straightened them before applying a little makeup and getting dressed. I was just pouring Lily some food when the elevator dinged at my level.

“Breakfast call,” Pierre said cheerfully.

“Wow, you’re an early riser,” I commented. “Does everyone get up this early?”

“Only me, Syn, and sometimes Jared,” Pierre said. “I figured you’d be in a hurry, so I brought you simplicity,” he said, handing me a Starbucks frappuccino, a couple donuts, and a single serving container of Fruit Loops. “You have to come to the kitchen if you want milk.”

“This food’s gonna be the death of me,” I said. “Grocery shopping needs to be done immediately. You guys need to eat fruits and stuff, not this stuff!”

“We’re men. What do you expect?” Pierre shrugged. “Coming downstairs?”

“Yeah, sure,” I said, following him downstairs. I quickly finished my breakfast before telling Pierre about last night.

“Hmm, well, Jack’s a little…sensitive. He’s got a lot going on right now and he’s the newest addition to the mansion, so it takes adjusting,” Pierre shook his head. “And, yeah, if the guy went into the room under the stairs, then that was Jared. He does a lot of strange stuff and I think he’s the only one that pays rent. He had some sort of woman-related issue and she got the house, so he came to Syn and he lets him live here.”

“Wow,” I said, shaking my head. “Oh, crap, it’s 8:55. Where should I go?” I asked, showing Pierre the note

“Um, follow me,” Pierre said, leading my through the great room. Instead of going into the foyer, he led me to the left, into an enormous bedroom. “Go through there, it’s on the right.”

“Thanks,” I said before following his directions. I entered the closet, blushing red as I saw Syn, wearing nothing but a towel hanging loosely on his hips. My eyes traveled from the plain white towel, over his broad chest, and finally to his face, which held a satisfied smirk, as if I’d reacted exactly the way he’d wanted me to. “A-Am I too early again?” I stuttered.

“No, you’re right on time,” he said smugly. “We have a busy day ahead of us.”

“Will you tell me what we’re doing?”

“We will be outside most of the day.”

“Okay,” I said, understanding how this was going to go. “What do you want me to do?”

“Firstly, pick my outfit,” Syn said, gesturing to the many rows of clothes. “Remember, it’s December and we’re going to be outside a lot.”

“Alright,” I said, beginning to look at the rows of clothes. “Do you just want shirt and pants, or do you want everything, underwear to hat?”

“Well, I don’t have to wear underwear.” Choosing to ignore this, I picked out a pair of jeans that looked like they would be snug on him and a flannel shirt. I grabbed a pair of black and white shoes and then looked at an enormous rack of fedoras. Biting my lip, I picked up a gray one and then went into Syn’s bedroom for a pair of socks and some plain black boxers. “Go nuts,” I said, handing him the stack of clothes and turning to leave.

“What, you’re not going to dress me?” I froze, turning to look at him. He just laughed and shooed me out. After a few minutes, he walked out, fully dressed, except for the underwear.

“You picked such tight pants, I couldn’t wear these,” Syn laughed, walking with an extra swing in his step. I hadn’t failed to notice that his pants left nothing to the imagination.

“So, now what?” I asked, following him to his dresser.

“Go tell Pierre to fix me some food,” he said. “I have to fix my face.”

“What’s there to fix?” I mumbled before leaving.

“Syn wants breakfast,” I said to Pierre as I entered the kitchen.

“Of course he does,” Pierre chuckled, reaching for the cabinets. “So, what’d he want in his closet? Someone to confess to?”

“No,” I said, “Though I did literally watch him come out of the closet.”

“Then what’d he want?”

“We’re going somewhere outdoors and he made me pick out his outfit,” I shrugged.

“Nice,” Pierre laughed.

“P…am I the first person he’s hired like this?” I asked.

“Well, technically, no. The past ones, he’s just had cleaning the house and doing laundry. He’s been playing with idea of a personal assistant for awhile, but just waiting for the right candidate.”

“Well, don’t I feel special,” I said sarcastically.

“Where’s my food?” Syn’s voice boomed as he came into the kitchen. He sounded scary, but he was smiling.

“In a second, Gates,” Pierre said, flipping over a pancake.

“Hey, I saw you had a truck,” Syn said to me. “Go take all those guitars and that motorcycle out, okay?”

“You have a motorcycle?” Pierre asked.

“Yeah. Bikes are my passion,” I said jokingly.

“We’ll need your trunk space, so go clear it out,” Syn repeated. “Get Zacky to help.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, quietly leaving the room. After wandering around upstairs a bit, I managed to find a sort of secluded room with a big sign on the door that read ‘ZACKY VENGEANCE’S LAIR: DO NOT ENTER’. “What, am I living with a bunch of teenagers?” I muttered, opening the door. Zacky was sitting at a desk, typing away on his computer. “Hey, Zack, I was wondering if you could help me unload my bike and guitars from my truck?”

“Sure,” he said distractedly. “Gimme a minute.”

“Okay,” I said, backing out of his room. I slowly went over to Jack’s room, pressing my ear against the door. When I heard no noise, I quietly opened the door. Jack was curled up on his bed, one arm curled around the empty bowl from last night. “Oh, Jack,” I sighed quietly. He had a few dried up tear streaks on his face, making me feel bad. I quietly went into his bathroom, laying out a fresh bar of soap and a washcloth for him to wash his face when he woke up. I went back, gently removing the bowl from his grasp and brushing his hair out of his face. I furrowed my brow as I felt how hot his skin was. Going back into the bathroom, I wet the washcloth with cool water and took it into Jack’s room, laying it on his hot forehead. He mumbled in his sleep, but didn’t wake up. I covered him up with his blankets, which were half fallen off the bed, before leaving with his empty bowl.

“Oh, hey,” Zacky said as I almost collided with him. “What were you doing in Jack’s room? Isn’t he scared shitless of you?”

“Unfortunately,” I said, shaking my head. “I went to see if he had put his bowl in the dishwasher, like I told him to. When I touched his head, he had a bit of a fever, so I’m gonna ask Pierre to take care of him while Syn and I are gone.”

“Oh, so you’re coming, too?” Zacky asked.

“Coming where?”

“Oh, if Syn hasn’t told you, yet, then he doesn’t want you to know,” Zacky said mysteriously. “So, I see you’re an Avenged Sevenfold fan. Pretty hardcore?”

“I’ve learned a few songs, but I’m not a crazy, ‘learn all the band members’ names and families’ type,” I said.

“Shame,” Zacky chuckled before moving ahead of me on the stairs.

“Hey, Pierre!” I called into the kitchen.

“Eh?” he replied, sticking his head out. He had a splotch of flour on his face.

“Make Jack some soup, please. He’s got a pretty high fever. Could you keep an eye on him today?”

“Sure thing,” he said before ducking back into the kitchen. Zacky and I hurried out to my truck, unloading my vast guitar collection.

“Jesus, how many guitars do you have?” Zacky exclaimed.

“Um…six here, one up in the room.”

“This is more than six.”

“Oh, and three bass guitars.”

“You’re one crazy chick.”

“Why, thank you,” I smiled, grabbing two cases to carry upstairs. Zacky, being the macho man that he was, swung one guitar over his shoulder and carried two in each hand.

“Do you have enough guitars?” Syn asked, entering the garage.

“We’ll have to make a second trip,” Zack said. “There’s still two more.”

“I got ‘em,” Syn said, grabbing the remaining two cases. We carried them all to the elevator and put them in my room before returning to the garage, where Zacky got my bike down all by himself. “Alright, let’s go,” Syn said, climbing into the passenger seat of my truck. “You’re driving.”

“What? I don’t even know where we’re going!” I protested.

“Then you’ll just have to trust my directions,” Syn smiled as Zacky climbed in next to him. With a slight groan, I got into the truck and started it up, looking expectantly at Syn. “Well, you’ve gotta pull out of the driveway first.” Feeling a little flustered, I turned on the AC before pulling out of the garage and down the driveway. The gates opened for us as we approached, allowing us out onto the street. As we drove, I saw the lady from yesterday and waved at her. She didn’t wave back, just stared at me with a shocked expression. For awhile, the car was pretty quiet, Syn and Zacky chatting about random things while Syn randomly told me things like ‘turn here’ and ‘nearly there’. “Oh, oh, we’re here!” he shouted, pointing to the left. It was just someone’s house.

“Where are we?” I asked, pulling up.

“Honk twice,” Syn said, ignoring my question. I honked twice and then watched the house. Out trooped three men, all tall, all covered in tattoos, and all talking and laughing loudly. “Get out so Jimmy can hug you,” Syn said, unbuckling my seatbelt and pushing me toward the door. I stumbled out of the truck, stopping as the three guys stared at me. I gave an awkward wave, just before the tallest one came running at me. I didn’t know whether to run or scream. Next thing I knew, I was being squeezed half to death by this giant person.

“Jimmy. Jimmy, you’re crushing her!” the most muscular guy said.

“Yeah, lighten up,” the shortest guy said, tugging on Jimmy’s arm.

“I’m Jimmy, and you and I are going to be best friends,” Jimmy said to me.

“N-Not if you st-strangle me,” I choked. He finally let me go so I could meet the other two.

“I’m Johnny,” said the short one. He was a little shy, but offered me a hug anyway. Then, the huge guy introduced himself as Matt and pulled me into a practically bone-crushing hug. They loaded several guitar cases and a drum set into my truck before they all piled into the back and I figured getting back in was my only option at this point.

“So, now where are we off to?” I asked.

“You’ll see!” sang Syn. The truck was much louder now, the three new characters all being loud and exuberant.

“Oh, turn here!” Jimmy shouted, pointing out the window.

“McDonalds?” I asked, turning in.

“I’m hungry,” he shrugged. We all got out and went in. The guys ordered outrageous amounts of food and then turned to me.

“Oh, I’ll pay for mine,” I said, reaching for my wallet. They all protested, grabbing my wallet away and pointing at the menu.

“Go on,” Syn said, draping his heavy arm around my shoulders. “Pick something. My treat.”

“Okay,” I said shyly, trying to hide my blush. Luckily, it was very cold outside, so maybe that would excuse my pink cheeks. After a sickening hour at McDonalds (these guys really need to work on their table manners!), we all piled back into the truck and set off for new destinations. We stopped at Guitar Center and the guys all spread out, leaving me alone in there for an hour while they messed with random instruments. By then, it was about two in the afternoon and I was getting worn out by these hyperactive people. As we were leaving, my phone vibrated in my pocket as a familiar name flashed across the screen, making me smile.

“Hey, sissy.”

“Hey, Alex,” I smiled.

“Where are you?”

“Out with Syn and his friends,” I said.

“Oh, well, do you think you could do me a solid?”

“Sure.”

“Get a guitar and meet me at the local amphitheater, okay?”

“Why?” I asked suspiciously.

“Just do it, sis. Please?”

“Alright, I’ll see you soon-ish. It depends on what Syn says.”

“If he says no, tell him to call me. This is an emergency!” He hung up very abruptly, making me wonder.

“Alex wants me to meet him at the local amphitheater,” I said to Syn.

“Well, then, it’s a good thing that’s where we’re headed,” Syn grinned.

“No shit,” I laughed. “Okay, gimme directions.”

“We’re only about five minutes away. It should be on your right soon.” So, my day working for Syn was almost over. It had been a lot easier than I’d expected my first day. It was almost easy.