Like Buttons On A Shirt

Chapter 1

How did I end up like this? 
I don't belong here. 
Everything's so fancy, so why am I here? 
I shouldn't have answered to this stupid ad in the newspaper. 
Why the hell did I think this was a good idea? 
I mean... It pays a hell of a lot and I could really use that money. And it didn't require any special skills. 
So basically the perfect job for me. 
But something seemed off. 

This job almost seemed too perfect to be true. 
There had to be some kind of downside! 
Also... Who says I'm going to be the one getting it? 
There probably were thousands of people who applied for this job. 
People who were better than me. 
People who at least graduated Highschool and didn't drop out, like I did. 
People who would be perfect, for this perfect job. 
So why did I even try? 

Before I could keep thinking about why the Way family would never take me, the door to the living room I was sitting in swung open and a blonde woman with a nice smile on her face entered. 

"Mr. Iero, right?" she asked and I quickly got up to shake hands.
I only sat back down, when she did the same.
Now she was sitting in a chair across from me, her legs crossed. 

"I hope you didn't have trouble finding our residence," she said, and even though I'd normally say that calling your house a 'residence' is arrogant, Mrs. Way somehow managed to sound anything but that. 
Even though she was talking to somebody like me. 
I had put on my fanciest clean clothes (black jeans and a white shirt), but I still must seem like a homeless boy to her. 

"No, Mrs. Way, I found it right away," I tried to flash her a smile but I was so nervous, that it was probably more of a stupid looking smirk, "you have a really really nice home!" 

"Thank you! My husband and I put a lot of work into this house..." she sighed, "even though we don't even live here" 

I already knew that Mr. and Mrs. Way lived on the other side of town. 
One of their sons lived here all by himself, his brother travelling around the globe for work most of the time. 
Gerard, the older son, never seemed to be part of this family. He almost never appeared on the media and I've read that he hardly ever leaves the house. 
But on the other hand... Internet articles don't always tell the truth, so I decided not to believe everything they said. 
Still... It was weird that I had never heard anything about the first son, even though the whole family was treated like royalty. 

I tried to remember what exactly I had read in the newspaper, where I had found this job offer, while Mrs. Way talked about why they decided to decorate this room the way they did. 

The article said that the Way family needed a caretaker for the house, and some kind of chaperone for their son. 
I think that's what made me curious. I knew for a fact that their oldest son couldn't be younger than 25, so why should he need somebody to look after him? 
But I decided not to be bothered by that, because once I saw what price they'd pay me, I instantly knew that I wanted this job. No matter what I would have to do for it. 
And if I'd have to look after an adult, then I would. 
Maybe he had some sort of handicap... That would also explain why he never left the house... 

"So... Mr. Iero... Why did you apply for this job?" Mrs. Way asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. 

I didn't want to lie to her, but actually saying that I was only here because they paid a lot of money wasn't an option either. 

"I found this job offer in the newspaper." I explained, of course not telling her that I had stolen said newspaper from a local kiosk, "it instantly caught my attention. I like working with people, so I thought that this would be perfect for me" 
I gave her a smile, trying not to blush. 
I am a horrible liar. 

"Interesting," she said. 
Then she leaned forward to push the flower bouquet, that was standing on the table between us a bit to the right, even though I thought it was perfectly centered. 
"And do you have any experiences with... work like that?" 

"Yes I do!" I said and sat up straight a bit, "I run a household myself and I'm taking care of my mother. She's very sick. Cancer. So I know how to deal with people who are... handicapped"

Mrs. Way frowned. 
"Handicapped?" 

"Oh... I thought... Your son... isn't he...?" I stuttered. 
Great, now I had probably offended the nice lady. 
But all she did was laugh. 
"Oh dear no!" she giggled, "Gerard is perfectly fine. He's everything but handicapped!" 

"Oh shit..." I hissed, mentally scolding myself for not keeping my mouth shut. 
Then I realised what I had just said and wanted to slap myself because a fancy woman like this probably didn't want to hear me swear. 
But my nervous mouth just spilled everything that was running through my mind. 
"Fuck! Shit... oh my god... I'm so sorry! I swear I don't normally swear that much!" I lied. 

Mrs. Way finally stopped giggling and sighed, looking straight into my eyes with a stern glance. 
"Would you be okay with living here? If I give you this job, you'd have to be here as much as possible. Of course you can go home on the weekends, but during the week, you'd have to stay here. Do you think that would work out with your mother too?" she asked. 

"Yes!" I choked out. 
Mom was staying in a hospital anyway, so she wouldn't miss me at home. 
"Yes that'd be perfectly fine with me!" 
If I understood this the right way, she was going to give me this job! 
Fucking awesome! 

Mrs. Way's eyes seemed to sparkle in the dim sunlight, as she clapped her hands a few times. 
"Amazing!" she exclaimed. 
Then she pulled herself together and cleared her throat: "Mr. Iero, out of all applicants you seem to be the best for this task. I would be happy to accept you for this job, if you want to" 

I couldn't have been happier! 
Even though I was anything but suitable for this, she still thought I was the best of all candidates! 
Oh my god. 

"Yes, yes please!" I cheered and smiled, "Thank you so much, Mrs. Way. This means a lot to me. Thanks a lot!" 

Mrs. Way giggled again and waved me off in a friendly way. 
"If you're doing your job right, then we'll be the ones thanking you." 

She got up and I did the same. 
"So now that you accepted this, I can give you the contract you'd have to sign. But before you do that, I think it's just fair to show you what you're getting yourself into first. Just in case..." 

"What... I'm getting myself into...?" I asked with a sceptical look on my face, "what do you mean?"

She smiled innocently and walked over to the door that led into the rest of the house.

"Let's go and greet Gerard!" she said with forced cheer in her voice. 

Now?! 
After all I had heard (or rather read) about him, I wasn't all that keen on meeting him straight away. 
And even Mrs. Way seemed to think that meeting her son would change my mind about the job!
Something about this man must be off. 
And I really didn't want to find out just now.

But all I could do was gulp and follow her into the hallway. 

*A/N*

Welcome, welcome to my new fanfiction!

There's nothing much to say, but I hope you'll just enjoy it as much as my other two :)

Thanks for reading