If You Tell Me to Stay, I Will Stay Right Through

I woke up bright and early the next morning, the sun wasn’t even out yet but Mark had insisted I get there at 6am. I quickly showered and got dressed, putting on some black tights and a loose off the shoulder sweater. Comfortable clothes that I could move around in. I put my hair into a high bun and headed out.

I punched in the gate code and drove up. As I pulled into “HE’s” driveway I noticed a big black truck.

Oh no, was “HE” home? I groaned and pulled my purse close to my chest as I got out of my car. Mark had instructed me not to ring the doorbell, ever. Following his instructions I pulled out the spare key he had given me and let myself in. I stopped just inside the foyer and listened for noises. I didn’t hear anything.

Maybe he wasn’t here? I went around turning all the lights on. I needed light in the fucking mansion.

My first task was the kitchen. Wait, was I supposed to cook breakfast? No. I wasn’t even sure if he was here. Maybe he was asleep.

The kitchen wasn’t too dirty. It had a pile of dishes and crumbs here and there but it needed some serious mopping. I quickly got busy with the dishes. I decided to look under the sink for cleaning supplies because that’s where normal people keep them. If he didn’t have his in there then I was leaving because that meant he wasn’t normal. I opened it and to my surprise it was filled with cleaning supplies, which gave me a small feeling of normalcy. “Thank goodness,” I muttered to myself.

It took me nearly two hours to clean the kitchen counters. They were dirtier than I thought. I scrubbed them vigorously, my arms quickly got tired.

I reached for the mop to start on the floor after I swept it. The floor looked like it needed to be scrubbed too. I sighed and rolled my eyes, I thought this guy had a wife.

I got on my knees and started scrubbing the floor. It was nearly 9 am and I had scrubbed half of the kitchen floor, my arms felt like they would fall off. Nonetheless, I continued scrubbing.

I hummed to myself, I needed music. I needed to bring my iPod next time. I stopped mid-hum when I felt a slight tingle down my back, the same one I felt when I knew someone was watching me.

I stopped scrubbing and sat up. God, I needed to stop being so paranoid. I sighed and continued scrubbing.

“Hello there,” said a deep raspy voice, almost a growl. I quickly spun on my knees and looked up.

Standing at the doorway to the kitchen was a tall man. At least 6ft, covered in tattoos and extremely muscular. He was holding an apple in his hand. He took a bite out of it and grinned down at me, exposing dimples on his cheeks.

“Hi,” I managed to get out, my face heating up.

“You must be Natalie,” he said smiling as he walked towards me with hand stretched out.

I quickly stood to offer my hand as well, “Are you “He”?” My eyes widened at the realization of what I had just stupidly said. “I mean-You-sorry-I just,” I began blurting out incoherently.

He let out a chuckle. “He? Please explain,” he raised his eyebrows in amusement. I was so stupid. I had never hated myself more.

“Well Mark never said your name, just referred to you as “He.” I quickly explained. I looked up at him, he was probably pissed I had made up a nickname for him.

Instead, he let out a booming laugh. “So you call me He? That’s fucking hilarious. Well, I go by Matt. It’s nice to meet you Natalie,” He smiled warmly. “Sorry for all the weirdness and secrecy. I just wanted to introduce myself and what not.”

I nodded vigorously. He was fucking handsome. Drop dead gorgeous. “It’s nice to meet you too,” I smiled back shyly.

“Mark said you were shy, but I thought he was exaggerating. I can’t remember the last time I saw a girl blush,” he said grinning. “Listen, I don’t want you to feel like you have to tiptoe around here, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask. If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know. Okay? Oh and the reason I asked for you not to go into some rooms is because I use them for writing. I have a mess in there and only I know where I left off or where to find what I need.”

“You’re a writer?” I asked raising my eyebrows. He didn’t look like one.

“Hey don’t look so surprised. I’m not the kind of writer you’re thinking of though. I write music for my band, which reminds me, they come around often. They can be weird and annoying so if they bother you let me know, you’ll learn to love them though,” he said laughing.

I nodded and looked down. His gaze made me feel self-conscious.

He crossed his arms, “Is that all you do? Just nod in agreement for everything?”

“No,” I shook my head as once again I felt the blood rush to my face.

He looked at me intently for a few seconds while I awkwardly shuffled my feet side to side.

“Jimmy is going to love you, fucking hell he’s going to have a shit load of fun with you,” he let out a chuckle.

“Who’s Jimmy?”

“Ahhh she has questions! Jimmy is the drummer,” he responded still smiling. God, did ever stop smiling?

“I saw your guitars. They’re nice,” I offered a little conversation.

He grinned, “Thanks! Do you play?”

“Oh no, I just like the sound of them,” I said shaking my head.

“Beautiful sound huh? Well maybe one of the guys can teach you if you want. But anyway, I’ve bugged you enough…well for today. I’ll let you get back to it. You’re doing a good job by the way, for having no experience,” he winked and walked out of the kitchen.

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. Well, he definitely wasn’t as intimidating as he looked.

I got back on my knees and finished scrubbing the kitchen.

Finally it was time to move up to the bathrooms upstairs. As I placed my foot on the first step, the front door swung open making me jump back.

It was a guy, I’m guessing a bandmate. He froze nearly bumping into me. I looked up and I immediately took notice of his green eyes.

“Ummm hi,” He said as we awkwardly stood in front of each other.

“Hi,” I said. He took a few steps back, making me take a few steps back as well.

“MATT!!!! THERE’S A WEIRD CHICK IN YOUR HOUSE!!!!” He ran around me and bolted upstairs.

My mouth dropped open, he called me weird. What the fuck? I’m not fucking weird.

I heard muffled voices and then Matt’s booming laugh.

I decided to go upstairs and ignore his rude ass. As I reached the top, I was met by both of them.

“Okay okay, listen dude, this is my new housekeeper Natalie. Natalie this is Zacky, the rhythm guitarist,” He motioned towards him.

“Oh.” Zacky said as he blushed. “Sorry.”

I stretched my hand out, “Truce?”

Matt chuckled and nudged Zacky. Zacky grinned and took my hand, catching me off guard by pulling me in for a hug.

I smiled at both of them and proceeded towards the master bath.

“Dude she’s pretty,” I heard Zacky say when I closed the door.

“I know,” Matt replied. I couldn’t help but feel flattered and grin. He thought I was pretty.

He has a wife, I reminded myself. I shrugged off the compliment and started cleaning.

By noon I had finished the bathrooms that had surprisingly been clean, so I only had to slightly go over them.

I heard them playing guitar as I passed the music room.

I knocked softly, “Come in,” I heard Matt say.

I opened the door and peeked in, “Hey, you guys want some lunch?”

“Fuck yes,” Zacky quickly answered.

“What do ya’ll want?”

“Ya’ll? Did she say ya’ll? Where are you from?” asked Zacky.

“She’s from Texas dude,” Matt answered as he strummed his guitar and smiled at me, “Mark told me.”

“Oh. Well I’m in the mood for a sandwich,” Zacky said.

“Okay, I’ll get started right now,” I responded and shut the door softly.

I put the bread in the toaster and got out some tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, bacon and ham.

I heard them coming down the stairs, they were in a heavy discussion about music. Making guitar sounds with their mouths.

“Dude, Syn has a sick fucking solo for that song,” Matt told Zacky excitedly. Hm, I still didn’t know what band they were in or anything, but then I figured it was none of my business.

“Fuck yeah man, he sent it to me this morning-“ Zacky got cut off by the front door slamming shut.

We all looked towards the hallway to see who was going to come in.

“Heard there was food,” a guy with spiky hair said as he plopped down at the kitchen table.

I quickly put more bread in the toaster as I finished Zacky and Matt’s sandwich.

“Woahh…who’s this?” asked spike head.

“My new housekeeper, Natalie. Natalie this is Brian,” Matt introduced us as I handed him his sandwich.

Brian quickly stood and shook my hand, “Nice to meet you Natalie!”

I responded with a simple “Likewise.”

“Yeah she doesn’t talk much and she’s shy,” Matt explained with his mouth full.

“Ohh Jimmy will have a grand old time,” Brian smirked. I was starting to think I should be scared of this Jimmy person.

“This is a fucking bomb ass sandwich!!!” Zacky yelled suddenly, making me jump.

“Dude give me a bite,” Brian said reaching for the sandwich.

“Fuck off,” Zacky replied holding his sandwich up high.

Brian looked at me expectantly, “Here you go,” I said as I handed him his sandwich.

“Thanks! I need a housekeeper too,” he winked at me.

“Dude fuck off, she’s my housekeeper,” Matt quickly said. “Find your own.”

“HONEY I’m FUCKING HOME!!!!” The front door slammed shut once again and in walked in two guys. A tall lanky one and short one with a Mohawk.

“Guys this is Natalie, Natalie that’s Jimmy and Short Shit,” Matt quickly introduced before getting back to his sandwich.

Short shit? I quickly looked at the Mohawk guy to see if he got offended but it didn’t seem to phase him at all.

The taller one looked at me with a glimmer in his eye, before suddenly running to me and hugging me like no one had ever hugged me before. I swear I heard my back pop. Nonetheless I hugged back.

He planted a kiss on my forehead before being shoved over by the smaller guy who stretched his hand out with a soft smile, “I’m Johnny.” I smiled back and shook his hand before getting out more bread.

“Since when do you have a housekeeper?” asked Johnny.

“Since now Short Shit,” Matt replied as he tipped back in his chair. I hated when people did that, I always felt like they were gonna fall.

“Val said not to tip the chairs back cause they break dude,” Johnny reminded him.

Immediately the mocking ensued. They all began mocking him in high pitched voices. I rolled my eyes. Poor guy. Who was Val though? Must be the wife.

I handed them their sandwiches and started cleaning up the mess I made.

“So what’s going on with that?” Brian asked in a more serious tone. They all quieted down to listen.

“We’re divorcing man. It’s just not the same anymore. Ever since she started the whole acting thing, it got to her head,” Matt shook his head looking down sadly.

“Don’t give up dude, you guys have been together forever. Don’t just let it go to waste like that,” Jimmy offered. They must all be fond of her, I thought. Any other guys would give him the “fuck her and move on” speech.

“I can’t man, even if I wanted to. She said herself she’s not “in love” with me anymore,” Matt made quotations with his fingers before running a hand through his buzzed head.

“How do you feel Shadz? Like honestly,” asked Johnny quietly. Shadz? Must be a nickname. I was analyzing all of them in my head. It was second nature to me, I couldn’t help it.

Matt sighed, “Done I guess. I did everything I could to spark it up again but she wasn’t having it.”

Zacky who had been quiet decided to speak up, “Okay so there’s this rumor floating around.”

“What rumor?” Matt quickly asked and sat up in his chair.

Zacky cleared his throat, “Well Austin says he saw her at some party with someone else, he even said there’s pictures online.”

Matt slammed his hands down, making me jump. Why do I have to be so jumpy?

He must have noticed, “Sorry Natalie. Dude see what I mean? She’s already moving on! She doesn’t give two fucks. We haven’t even filed for a divorce!”

“Yeah but I haven’t seen the pictures myself, it may not be true,” Zacky reasoned with him.

“AUSTIN told you. AUSTIN. We all know the guy is a legit source, he’s not about the gossip and drama bullshit. Plus he’s one of our closest friends,” Matt exclaimed his voice slightly raised.

No one said anything for a few minutes.

I cleared my throat. “Matt?” I said hesitantly. He looked over at me. “I’m done for today, is there anything else you would like me to do?”

“Hang out with us!” exclaimed Jimmy excitedly.

“No, actually you’re coming with me,” Matt said standing up.

The guys all looked at him. “You guys keep working on the music, Natalie and I are going on a little mission.”

“Ohhh a mission?!! I wanna go!!” Jimmy said standing up as well.

Matt sighed, “I don’t know Jimbo.”

“We all wanna fucking go,” Brian stated.

“I need Natalie because Val won’t recognize her car,” Matt explained. What kind of mission was this?

I couldn’t help but grin. This sounded like my cup of tea.

“We won’t all fit Syn,” Johnny said.

“Uhh yes we fucking will,” Brian said as he stood up. “Let’s go.”

I grabbed my purse and followed them out to my car.

“Alright Natalie, I’ll tell you which way to go. Sorry to involve you but I’m tired of my wife trying to pin this shit on me,” Matt explained as he got in the passenger’s seat. I looked in the rearview mirror and watched as the other guys piled in the back, Johnny sitting on Jimmy’s lap. Totally illegal. I used to pull people over for shit like this. “What’s wrong?” Matt asked noticing my nervousness. This was definitely not in the job description, but he was my boss.

“Nothing. Which way do I go?”