Housesitting for the rich
I had answered an ad for a housesitter wanted, and got the job but apparently it was a last minute thing and I hadn’t actually met the people who owned the place. Somehow I got the key and all the important information, and Bridgie and I went to check it out the next day, which was apparently the first day they’d be gone.
The house was massive, set back next to some empty land, and it looked like some kind of duplex. The other part looked empty and my first thought was how great it would be if the owners really liked us and let us move in the other part. All that space for the four of us to spread out. There was a note addressed to Rey Mehlhorn on this table on the covered porch so I opened that first (We were feeling a little hesitant around this glorious house that complete strangers gave us a responsibility to watch). It said the door should just open and, sure enough it was unlocked. We were shocked at how trusting the owners were. What’s the point in getting someone to house sit if you leave the damn front door unlocked? We went in and set our stuff down, and marveled. Huge windows with the morning light streaming in, poufy cream furniture, pale finished wood. There were a couple of cats who came straight to greet us, very trusting too. I started to explore right away while Bridgie was petting the cats. The living room had pale wood paneled walls, with a weird sculptural alcove that faint pan pipes music was pumped from. There were broad sliding doors and screens and everything was airy and light. I got to the third or forth room when I head piano music and I called Bridgie to me. It was coming from behind a particular door, and I decided on just going straight in because hell, we were supposed to be there. I opened the door and there was a massive room the length of the house, with musical instruments and windows all along the far wall. Unfortunately this was what I mistook for a second living area from outside. There were two people, both black and heavyset and only about in their early twenties. The woman was in a green dress, seated at the piano to the left and lost to her music. The other was a man on the right side of the door, just sitting down on a bench carefully and using a white cane. He turned sightless eyes to us and nodded. His expression was open and friendly, and he said ‘Hello, you must be… Rei?’ (Rye) I corrected him on the pronunciation as politely and gently as I could and said the house was amazing. Bridgie and I went in and sat by him, and he told us that the owners gave him and his sister music lessons. He started to talk about them and I got restless and wandered to a window to look out at the sea of grass, but Bridge came over and told me gently that I was being rude, and led me back over. The man started asking if we sang or played music. I tried to explain that mostly I draw, but he was really only interested in musical ability. I told him Bridgie sings, a trained soprano, and he got her to sing for us. She chose something latin and airy and perfect in that acoustical airy room. Then she started urging me to sing something, and the man was insistent too. I sat there by the door and sang ‘house of the rising sun’, because I was feeling so horribly aware of how outclassed the place made me feel.
The light woke me and it was time to get up for work, so unfortunately I never knew their reactions.
The house was massive, set back next to some empty land, and it looked like some kind of duplex. The other part looked empty and my first thought was how great it would be if the owners really liked us and let us move in the other part. All that space for the four of us to spread out. There was a note addressed to Rey Mehlhorn on this table on the covered porch so I opened that first (We were feeling a little hesitant around this glorious house that complete strangers gave us a responsibility to watch). It said the door should just open and, sure enough it was unlocked. We were shocked at how trusting the owners were. What’s the point in getting someone to house sit if you leave the damn front door unlocked? We went in and set our stuff down, and marveled. Huge windows with the morning light streaming in, poufy cream furniture, pale finished wood. There were a couple of cats who came straight to greet us, very trusting too. I started to explore right away while Bridgie was petting the cats. The living room had pale wood paneled walls, with a weird sculptural alcove that faint pan pipes music was pumped from. There were broad sliding doors and screens and everything was airy and light. I got to the third or forth room when I head piano music and I called Bridgie to me. It was coming from behind a particular door, and I decided on just going straight in because hell, we were supposed to be there. I opened the door and there was a massive room the length of the house, with musical instruments and windows all along the far wall. Unfortunately this was what I mistook for a second living area from outside. There were two people, both black and heavyset and only about in their early twenties. The woman was in a green dress, seated at the piano to the left and lost to her music. The other was a man on the right side of the door, just sitting down on a bench carefully and using a white cane. He turned sightless eyes to us and nodded. His expression was open and friendly, and he said ‘Hello, you must be… Rei?’ (Rye) I corrected him on the pronunciation as politely and gently as I could and said the house was amazing. Bridgie and I went in and sat by him, and he told us that the owners gave him and his sister music lessons. He started to talk about them and I got restless and wandered to a window to look out at the sea of grass, but Bridge came over and told me gently that I was being rude, and led me back over. The man started asking if we sang or played music. I tried to explain that mostly I draw, but he was really only interested in musical ability. I told him Bridgie sings, a trained soprano, and he got her to sing for us. She chose something latin and airy and perfect in that acoustical airy room. Then she started urging me to sing something, and the man was insistent too. I sat there by the door and sang ‘house of the rising sun’, because I was feeling so horribly aware of how outclassed the place made me feel.
The light woke me and it was time to get up for work, so unfortunately I never knew their reactions.