I parked my pontiac at the end of the curved driveway just inside the open, iron wrought gates of the estate. The edifice was sickeningly lavish, I could not help noticing, approaching the multi-storied residence with an overwhelming sense of dread and anxiety, but I figured this must only be its pomp and beauty. There had always been something terrifying about the truly beautiful. It had been painted a charcoal gray which made the white shutters and columns seem even crisper, sharper. The greenery was lush and well manicured, but did nothing to soften the over all jaggedness the entire place made me feel. It did not feel like a home, but a mausoleum.
I made my way up the porch to the painted oak french doors and began to worry that I had not dressed appropriately for the appointment. I had never been a housekeeper, much less interviewed to be one, and I had not the slightest idea what formality would be expected. I decided on a white button up, tucked into a black pencil skirt, and nude pumps. It felt standard, cliche, average. My thin, boyish frame fit oddly in the truly feminine attire and suddenly I grew self conscious and silly as I stood next to the wide, long white columns on the porch. I held all my papers, including my cover letter and resume, in a green folder across my flat chest, opting to leave my blue backpack in the car. My makeup was done lightly, but now I was beginning to wonder if I should have covered my freckles, or used a darker shade of red for my lips.
I rang once.
I could see the vague outline of a man through the frosted inlaid glass of the door and my breath caught in my throat as the dark figure moved toward me through the wood. I had never met Mr. Dunbar, never seen in him the flesh. Of course, I had seen him in a magazine or two, occasionally making an appearance on a celebrity gossip show for being seen with a gaggle of models, but that had all stopped with his second marriage.
The door clicked heavily.
The man inside was much different than the image I had of Mr. Dunbar in my mind. That man had been much older, and would be older still, than this man, who upon first appearance could only have been twenty five years old. Mr. Dunbar, even in the glossy cheap photos, was recognizable by his woody brown hair, his chestnut eyes, and unwitting half smirk. This man had blonde hair that was slicked back with a messy ease and empty, shallow blue eyes. His face was boyish, full lips and smooth pale pink skin, but something about him, a scowl, his low brow and tightly clenched jawβsomething about him hurt.
Those blank eyes moved up and down my body and his glare was pressed against my skin, and I could feel it against my nerves, lingering on my throat, my clavicle, breasts, stomach, myβI became strangely aware of each part of my body his harsh gaze wandered, as if he were skimming over them with his fingers.
I wanted to say something and I held the words in my mind, running through them like singing a song: Hello, I am Chastity Woodworth, I am the one who called about the interview... But now, I could only stutter awkwardly as if my voice had been stollen, like Ariel.
"Well." The man had waited a very long time to say it, observing and leaning coolly against the door frame, and then he ran one large hand through his blonde locks. "Shows promise, at least. All the other girls where either fat, old, or did not understand english."
I momentarily forgot what was happening and thought I should respond, but failed.
"You do understand english, don't you?
"I..I.. Yes, I amβI am Chastity Woodworth. I am the one who called about the interview."
"You have a quiet voice. Good. Alex will love that." He was starring at my breasts now and then shrugged nonchalantly. "For a while at least. You pass the front door test," the man said, blankly, and stepped aside so I could enter, "but now the real audition begins."
I moved past him and tucked my hair behind my ear while I went to hide my face from his view, but I could still feel him watching me. I could smell his light cologne as he forced me into slipping beneath his arm into the foyer, my pumps echoing off the wooden floors.
The house seemed to be decorated modernly, tastefully, with a feminine touch. I had almost forgotten that Mr. Dunbar was married but it became evident in the decor. I had been expecting something cold, but instead found a foyer ripped out of a magazine, draped in taupe and turquoise.
The mysterious man who was not Mr. Dunbar began to lead me into another room off of the foyer, a sitting room with two love seats and a winged back chair, mirroring the color pattern and style of foyer: warm neutrals and soft blues, touches of gold for accent. The furniture was quality, the decorations were detailed, everything pristine, painfully precise in location and orientation, staged.
"Have a seat," the man said, not with casual politeness, but a stern commanding tone and I found my knees buckling before I had even considered the request, and soon I was sitting opposite of him on one of the love seats, him the other, separate by a glass island of a coffee table, three books laid across it in a perfect geometric alignment. Momentarily, the man retrieved a thin stack of papers from the table and began to shuffle through them absently before saying, "Chastity Woodworth." I nodded. "20 years old." I continued to nod. "No previous relevant experience." I nodded.
He looked up without moving his head, as if we were sharing a conversation only through our eyes, and now he was telling me that this wasn't good for me, that Mr. Dunbar expected experience from their housekeepers, that I would not make the cut, that I had wasted both of our time.
"I.. I have a resume," I told him suddenly feeling him lose interest in me. I desperately fumbled with my green folder and leaned over to hand him the resume. It hovered over the glass coffee table as he sat down his papers and just starred at him, coldly, tiredly.
"A resume? I did not ask to see a resume. Put it, away, Ms. Woodworth."
I complied.
"College?"
"Excuse me?" I mumbled.
"College. I assume you do not attend? Did not attend? Education, Ms. Woodworth, do you have it? What about high school? GED? Anything."
"High school, yes," I began and cleared my throat, smoothed my hands against my skirt, regaining control. "Some college. I was going to attend Brown, but thenβ."