Mom and dad’s predicament wasn’t enough for me to get frustrated. Seeking a job was also on my neck. Vicki had also lost her job, due to some crazy reasons that were unknown to me. So, there was really no way we could both survive if we kept staying at home. In a month, we would completely run out of money. To worsen it all, we had to bear the cost of paying our parents’ medical bills. Though a couple of days had passed by, they were still unconscious.
“Hey, buddy.” Vicki walked into my room, and used her elbow to shut the door behind her. As soon as she hopped on the bed, she unpacked the food she had kept in a small bag, then started slurping it.
Quite furious to know that she had spent some money on ice cream, chips, and some ugly burgers, I rolled my eyes, and slammed my pen against the furnished stool in front of me. “Seriously? Ice cream?” I threw a glare at her.
She snorted. “Hey, calm down. My baby got them for me. I won’t spend money on such a thing right now. Don’t judge me, okay?”
Frustrated, I groaned a little, throwing my back into my bed. Looking up at the ceiling, I exhaled. I had never been this scared of the future. Never.
“Serene, you really need to relax. I’ve also lost my job, but I’m being positive,” Vicki encouraged me.
I gave her a sideways glance, and just closed my eyes. “There’s nothing to be positive about. It’s been a while since we’ve been seeking a job. Don’t you think it’s taking too much time? What if there’s an impromptu treatment mom or dad needs to take? What’re we gonna do in such a case? Anna’s got a family to take care of, so we can’t let her bear the costs.”
“Good point,” she remarked.
I opened my eyes, squeezed my face, and just kept staring at the ceiling. “This is so frustrating.”
“Anyway…” she dropped her empty plate of ice cream on the stool, and cleared her throat. “I’ve got some good news.”
Swiftly, I sat straight, my eyes widened at her. “What? Good news? Did you find us a job? Or, did you get a job? Huh?”
She smiled, those honey brown eyes glinting. “Yeah, I found us a job. Congratulations.”
“Are you serious?!” I jerked her arms, pulled her to me, grinning so hard. “How come you didn’t state it?”
She sighed. “Calm down, girl. Well, you see, since we’re both desperate to find a job, I’ll advise us to go for the job I found.”
“Of course! Why’d I refuse to do it?”
“Er…” She scrunched her nose, shaking her head a bit. “Well, the job’s kind of awkward. We haven’t ever done it.”
“Hm?” I cocked a brow at her.
She looked down, her facial expression changing completely. Her eyes darkened, gloom running through them. “I’m sorry that life has brought us to this point. Serene, we’ll be working as maids. There’s this cute and influential billionaire. He needs new maids.”
“Oh.” I was quite disappointed. “Maids. Uh, should we do um?”
She turned to me. “If you’re good with it, let’s do it. The pay is pretty good.”
“How did you find the job?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Had gone to visit a friend around the dude’s estate. Passing through his luxurious house, I saw a vacancy poster on the fence. I called the number on the poster. Luckily for me, they needed just two maids. I filled in our information, so we’ve been asked to come for an interview tomorrow. If we pass the interview, we’ll begin working immediately.”
I nodded to denote that I had understood all she had said. “That’s good. Um, do you know the guy? I mean, is he some kind of famous dude?”
She nodded. “Sort of. He’s the owner of that company. Um… is it Rab-fire?”
For a moment, my heart stopped. I had been so excited to work as a maid, not even paying attention to the type of job it was. But, now that she had mentioned Rab-fire, I was so not interested in working as that dude’s maid.
“No, no, no,” I rebuked. I shook my head crazily, laughing awkwardly. “I’m so sorry, but we can’t work there. Rab what? Definitely not doing it.”
She creased her eyebrows like she was confused, her lips pursed at me. “Shut up.” She slapped my arm. “We’ll do it. The pay is pretty high. It’s in the range of 25-30 bucks per hour. You think that’s chicken cash?”
Oh, goodness. Why did the pay have to be that high, compared to my previous job? This was tempting.
I folded my arms around my chest, sulking at myself. “Can’t do this.”
“Do you have a problem with the James Robert guy? Huh?” She inquired.
I turned to her, and sighed. “Kind of.”
“Hm?” She wiggled a brow at me.
“You see…” I grabbed my pen and book, started writing things on the book, although I didn’t have anything to write. “James is Ryan’s friend. And, he likes me, I guess. Yeah, yeah, he’s some kind of Playboy. He just wants to use me as an off and on girlfriend. Working at his place would seem so gross. Though he knows I’m his friend’s babe, he troubles me when our paths cross. Just can’t work there.”
She sighed hard, and took my hands. “Serene, is that what’s important? All you care about is him? Do you realize that we’ve got dying parents in the hospital? It’s been a week since they’ve been in a coma. Whenever the doctor sends us a call, we both know how tense we get, though he has no bad news to state.”
“I know, but—”
“No.” She shook her head at me. “You don’t know. In fact, we don’t know. We don’t know where fate is taking us to. We don’t know how long they’ll be unconscious. We don’t know how long we’ll keep paying their hospital bills. We don’t know how long we’ll live without a job. We shouldn’t misuse this rare opportunity.”
I nodded gently. “But, I don’t feel good about it. My mind is rejecting the idea of working as his maid.”
“Come on.” She cupped my jaw with her hand, and smiled warmly at me. “Let’s do this, okay? If we don’t take the risk, we’ll never know the outcome. It’ll be fine.”
I nodded. Narrowing my eyes at her, I kind of pouted. “But, if he tries to do something funny to me, I promise to slit a knife across his throat, and maybe murder him.”
She chuckled. “Agreed. In fact, I’ll help you cut off his balls.”
“Oh, shut up.” I threw my head back, and laughed.
She stood up from the bed, and walked towards the door. “Will be right back. Wanna get something from my room.”
“No problem,” I said.
As soon as she stepped out, I grabbed one of the burgers she had bought, and ate it gently. As I did so, I stared at the blanket on the bed, feeling so uneasy. I was going to work for James Robert? Absolutely ridiculous.
Anyway, I would do it. This wasn’t a life and death situation, after all. Besides, the pay was really good. There was no need for me to be worried.
It would be fine. I would just have to be positive.
***