House of Papyrus

My Ordinary Life

You pace back and forth in your small apartment, phone clutched in your hands as tears filled your eyes. You'd worked so hard to become self-sufficient, to have the funds to cover all of your own living expenses and food and other things, and yet...

And yet, today was pay day. But you couldn't walk into work to get your paycheck.

Because, today?

Today you'd been fired.

Really, you should have seen it coming. Your boss was a tool; not only did he hate the way you dressed, the way you acted, the way you spoke, he also hated everything he considered "foreign" and "bad." Hell, you'd only been hired to be diversity—something that really shouldn't have mattered in the long run. You knew he had it out for you ever since you'd corrected some of his math, even though that was your job. You knew that, behind closed doors, he ranted and raved about how you had it out for him, when all evidence that HR had pointed to the contrary. You'd spoken with HR more times than you could count, exhausted beyond belief by his behavior, and let yourself get led along by a string by them.

Your co-workers didn't help, either. They told your boss everything you did, from when you left to take your lunch break to how hard you worked. They liked you, really, but they had their hearts set on getting a management position one day. From Jerry, the man who'd been there longer than you had, to Allison, the woman who you'd trained to be your replacement, they loved and respected you.

Yet they'd fed your boss lies. So maybe they didn't like you as much as you thought they did.

You were used to back-stabbing, knew the ropes—but this?

This was the last time you'd let it happen.

Sure, you could call your "other job" and get your rent, but you'd done that enough already.

So, it was time to cry, and then pull yourself together and find a new job.

-----

You'd been fired a few days ago. Rent for your cozy, one-room apartment was due in about two weeks and you knew you'd be kicked out this time. Shmoozing Amy, the little old woman who owned the building, wouldn't cut it. She'd already cut you some slack with payments as is, and you knew you wouldn't handle the guilt well on top of everything else.

Amy was a lovely woman, the kind who would bake cookies for her grandkids every day if she'd had any. Her tenants had become her children, you thought. She always made sure everybody was doing alright and had even offered to cut your rent in half so that you could afford it--you'd refused, stating that she still needed to eat. Still, she'd lowered the amount that you had to pay in the contract for the upcoming year. You'd planned to sign it, but now...

Now, you would have to leave.

Knowing Amy, though, she'd ask for phone calls and meet-us to make sure you were doing alright.

---

"Darlin'..."

"Yes, ma'am. I know."

The conversation had been hard. So, so hard. Between the two of you, you'd both used up a box of tissues and an entire plate of the world's best chocolate chip cookies. She'd given you Earl Grey, your favorite tea, while she bustled about to give you the job listings from the local newspaper and to find a list of all her contacts to try and land you something good. If you had to guess, based on the new monsters soul-color shebang, she'd be a kindness soul. Maybe Justice, but probably kindness.

She'd let you live in her apartment building with a reduced rent, both because you insisted that you pay rent and because of your father. He'd saved her from some burglars breaking into her home and killing her; from that point forward, she made it her life's goal to try and help your family whenever she could.

"Even if you can't afford to live here, I still want to hear from you. You're one of my favorite tenants. You stop by and say hello every once in a while, y'hear me?"

"Yes, ma'am, or course."

Hopefully, you'd get a new job soon that'd pay you enough to stay here.

---

After a week and a half, finding that job seemed like a pipedream. Sure, you'd make a killing with your "other job," but it wasn't like you could just drop everything and go back to it. You had your research to do on top of everything else; besides, doing things that way wouldn't be so great for you. Especially since there were monsters on the surface again; you'd heard through the rumor mill that there had been issues with almost getting caught by one.

For real jobs, you seemed to be shit out of luck. All the well-paying jobs required more experience than you had, and a cashier's job wouldn't give you enough money to pay rent. Amy was letting you stay for an extra two weeks after pay should be due in case you found a job that would let you stay there, but you knew it wouldn't happen.

There was, however, one job that had stayed in the listings the entire time you'd been searching, one that had peaked your interest. It was a listing to be a maid in a monster-filled house, for some sort of "social experiment" or something. You pulled out the scrap of paper you'd written the number for it down on and stared long and hard at it.

There was no lie that it paid better than your old job. The pay rate had steadily but slowly gone up the longer they'd been without someone to take the job and by now it was easily thirty dollars an hour. All you had to do was clean stuff and live there, and they'd pay you for each hour you lived there. A full 24 hours every week, seven days a week, 365 days a year. It was some serious money, that's for sure.

You could recall the exact wording by heart. You'd read over it so many times that you could recite it in your sleep.

Human wanted for maid position in a house with monsters. Also will be part of social study between the two races. Housing, food, and pay will be provided as a part of the job. House located on 999 Tantabus Drive. Contact Dr. Alphys at (XXX)XXX-XXXX for more information or to schedule an appointment for an interview and to meet the tenants.

For the first time since you'd been handed the job listings by Amy, you called the number.

---

"I-I-I'm sorry, b-b-but the job has j-just been taken." The tinny, nasally voice on the other side of the line stuttered, sounding rather upset. You assumed it was Dr. Alphys, since that's who the advertisement said to call.

"Oh. That... That's fine." You try your best to not sound upset, but it sounds fake even to your ears. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you."

"W-wait!!!" Your finger hovered over the hang up button. "W-We have a, uh, second s-social study that we're about to do. I-If you can wait a few days, you can be a part of that one... The, u-uh, the pay would be the same." You nod.

"Sounds good to me. Do you need to interview me, or is that going to happen on the move-in day?"

"I-if it's not too much trouble, could I meet you for a super informal interview about an hour from now at a coffee shop called, u-uh... Shoot, what was it called?" You smiled, relief filling your heart. Not only were you probably going to get the job, you were sure that she was a rather nice individual. Maybe you and her could become friends... You wondered if she liked anime. And video games. Maybe she plays Portal....

"Tsarbucks?" You offer, trying to jog her memory as well as clearing your own thoughts. You were going to need two copies of your resume, a notepad, a working pen...

"Yes, that's it!!! It'll be on 32nd and Main Street; you can't miss it." You glance out of your apartment's dirty window; you lived on 32nd street, and you could just barely see the coffee shop from where you sat. You had plenty of time to pick an outfit and meet this monster woman.

"Sounds good to me. Don't worry if I show up a bit late, though; the street gets crowded around then."

"O-Okay. See you then!!!" The call ended, and you realized that you'd forgotten to tell her your name.

Still... Things were finally looking up for you