Just to Live

The 25-year old woman walked out of their office, scoffing. Brian could immediately point out the young woman was too high maintenance for such a job as a house cleaner. He devised that she only applied for the job because she wanted one of the men in the mansion to fornicate her.

“This isn’t going as planned,” Matthew groaned, sliding the folder into the shredder sitting quietly at the foot of his desk. He watched as the last recipient’s chances at working at the mansion crumbled to nothing but strips of paper and a low hum emitted from the shredder.

Brian ran his fingers through his gelled hair. “You’re telling me. I didn’t think hiring a new maid would be this difficult.”

“We did grow up with Miss Annabelle,” Matthew contemplated, “then she decided to retire. Who does that?”

“She does, duh,” teased Brian. “It’s alright though, there’s hired help looking after her.”

“That’s good. After all the work we forced on her, I’d feel bad if she was living by herself without anyone to help her.”

“Yeah,” Brian agreed. He sat back in his chair and thought back to the times when he was a little boy with big dreams.

“Miss Annabelle!” Brian cried, running into the kitchen.

Annabelle, the warm-hearted red haired woman in her early thirties turned her attention away from her pot of chicken noodle soup to find little Brian Haner Jr. with an ecstatic smile on his troublemaking yet adorable face.

“What is it dear?” she asked in a loving tone.

“My friends and I created a band!” Brian squealed, clapping his hands together.

“Did you now? What kind of music will you play?” she continued to question, humoring the young boy.

“Metal,” Brian replied with certainty. “Dad’s gonna be so proud of me when I become famous one day!”

And indeed Brian became famous. He along with his best friends Matt, Zacky, Jimmy, and Johnny formed their band—Avenged Sevenfold—and leaped to worldwide stardom after five years since the band’s creation. From there, they reveled in hit albums and successes.

However, as time passed on, Avenged Sevenfold realized that they needed a much required hiatus. They loved creating music and performing for fans, but they needed a break from it all. The constant touring poured pounds of stress unto their shoulders. They all agreed that it would be best to inform their fans that it would be a few years before a new album was in the works.

In the mean time, the five men took over their fathers’ business: 6661 Records. The five men of Avenged Sevenfold worked proficiently to discover new music and sign bands that had potential. Jimmy and Johnny were the talent scouts, constantly scouring across the United States and sometimes abroad to find unique singers and bands. Zacky was the top member in merchandising, creating designs for 6661 Records’ signed artists and publicized them. Finally, Matthew and Brian were the two who decided who would make the cut. Brian attended the Musicians Institute while Matthew had the ear for truly talented vocalists.

In the music industry, if one mentioned power, one also had to mention these five men. They did their damned best to keep the music pure unlike the mainstream pop music anyone could find on the radio. The music they helped produce had no subliminal messages of any sort.

Matthew cleared his throat, catching Brian’s attention. “Okay, this is the last person. She’s only 17. What the hell? Isn’t she supposed to be in school?”

Brian shrugged. “She’s a dropout then. Do you still want to interview her?”

“She’s already here. This job doesn’t require a diploma in anything anyways.”

The last interviewee walked into the office. She held a No. 2 pencil in her thin hand. Matthew assumed she thought she would have to take some sort of written test to qualify for the job. He chuckled. Perhaps to humor himself, he would create an exam of all the cleaning products in the world.

Brian on the other hand, noticed how shriveled the girl’s physical appearance was. He noticed her clothes looked worn and old. Her face told him that she did not eat enough. He wondered if they were dealing with an anorexic or bulimic girl.

Matthew cleared his throat, offering the girl a polite smile to calm her nerves. “I’m Matthew and this is Brian,” he explained. “We’re only two of five people that own this mansion. You are?”

“Tabitha Escobar,” she replied in the meekest voice of the day. All the other applicants flashed Matthew and Brian a white smile, practically shouted their name, and fidgeted in their seats.

“Escobar,” Brian mused, tapping the eraser end of his pencil against his chin. “That’s not a name you hear everyday. What nationality are you?”

“Filipino and Puerto Rican.”

“Weird mix Brian,” Matthew noted.

“It is. Anyways why did you apply if you’re only 17? You should be in school.”

Tabitha swallowed the saliva formulating in her mouth. “I’m homeless. I need the money to survive. Any kind of work is better than having to stay out on the streets. There’s nasty men out there, rapists.”

Matthew suddenly looked at the girl in concern. “Don’t tell me that you’ve had to deal with these men.”

She sighed, “I have…”

“Oh boy. How much do you have in house cleaning? Efficient cleaning that is,” Brian finished for his friend, trying to keep the interview light and friendly instead of heavy and morbid.

This was when Tabitha smiled. She seemed confident in her answer. “I’m practically OCD. If I notice something is out of place, I have to put it back to its rightful place. I like cleaning everything, but my own room. I’m used to strenuous work.”

“You sound truthful. How about we hire you for a day and see how you do?”

“That sounds perfect sir.”

“I’ll take you to get a uniform and take you to the other maids.”

Without the approval from Matthew, Brian walked out of the room, waiting for Tabitha to follow him. She did so after a few seconds of mindless blinking. It took some time for her to understand that all it took was a 15-minute interview for her to have a job after all those years. It was truly invigorating for her.

Brian smiled politely, walking at a slower pace so he wouldn’t lose Tabitha. They walked down to the first floor where there were few doors, but many large rooms. Brian purposely led her through the living room, game room, kitchen, and dining room. He wanted her to know how rich he and his best friends were. He figured that if she knew the powerful people she was dealing with, then an attempt to pilfer anything in the house that was not rightfully hers would cause severe punishment.

Finally, they reached the clothing supply closet only for the maids in the house. Pink paint coated the door along with a small plaque that stated, “CLOTHES.”

‘That’s pretty fancy,’ Tabitha thought to herself as she stepped to the side to let one of her new bosses, Brian find whatever he pleased.

Placed in Tabitha’s awaiting arms was an unusual maid uniform. She held a long sleeved burgundy thermal shirt, dark gray sweatpants that stopped at the kneecaps, and fabric moccasins meant for trips inside the house and nowhere else. She might have watched too many shows when she was younger, but Tabitha thought that most maids that worked in mansions adorned the typical French maid uniform, clad with white lace, white gloves, nude stockings, close-toed black shoes, and all the smuttiness the entire outfit exuded.

“You can change in the bathroom in a bit,” Brian informed her, walking again. Hurriedly, Tabitha followed him like an obedient puppy, slightly curious and excited to see what lay before her.

Brian knocked on a mahogany colored door. A plaque was also on this door. Instead of “CLOTHES,” it read, “RELAXATION.”

The second the door opened, Tabitha witnessed more than a dozen women wearing the same attire jogging around to tie their hair up in ponytails. Once they realized Brian was at the door, they ceased their actions and chorused a “Mister Brian!”

“Hello girls,” he smiled. “I expect you all ready to work in one more hour. In the mean time, you have a new member. Her name is Tabitha and she’s 17 years old. Please inform her of the cleaning ways of this mansion.” He turned to leave, but before doing so, looked back at all the women, “Girls, treat her well.”