"Jesus Christ, the art collecting life-style lives up to the movies..." Becca said to herself as she parked her car and looked up at the white mansion. She walked up one side of the marble stairs that looped around a large water fountain. She knocked on the large oak doors and waited for a response.
Becca was home for the summer from college, fresh off her junior year and a week removed from her 21st birthday. She tried doing her best to avoid getting a summer job so she could enjoy her last summer of true freedom before going back for her senior year, but when you are finally old enough to go out to the bars the tabs pile up. Her sparkling green eyes, mischievous smile, and large, perky breasts could only get her so far when it came to getting free drinks and ducking entry charges.
It was her mom who had suggested reaching out to the Tellers for work. They were a youngish couple that Becca's mom had been doing some redecorating for over the last few months and only lived about 20 minutes away from them. Apparently the husband, Jackson, dealt in rare antiques and art, and his wife was a former model in the process of becoming an agent. Their jobs required a lot of travel from the both of them, and while they had all the security in the world, apparently they were looking for a pet sitter. Becca jumped at the chance, thrilled with the chance to make a good chunk of change for only a few hours of work a day.
The door opened and Becca was greeted by the dazzling smile of Hilary Teller. She was short and very shapely, with almost startling blue eyes and short, stylish blonde hair. She happily reached out to grasp her hand.
"Becca, it's great to finally meet you! Your mother has told us so much about you, come on in," she said warmly, guiding her through the front door and into a large room with white marble floors and a long stairway that had to go up at least four levels.
"All good things I hope, my mom can be a talker," Becca said as she admired the high ceilings and cathedral-style windows. Hilary chuckled.
"Oh yeah, that woman can certainly hold up her end of a conversation, but we love her to death, such a sweetheart and a great decorator- she single-highhandedly saved our living room from my husband putting multiple Foosball tables and a dartboard in it."
"Ok, the Foosball I understand now," a mans voice came from the stairs, "But there is no reason the dartboard had to go.
Jackson Teller descended the stairs. He was wearing a full suit and had his dark hair cut short, with a thin goatee framing a warm smile that reached his soft brown eyes. Hilary shook her head as he shook Becca's hand.
"Once again, Jackson, you wanted to put it directly next to the aquarium, i refuse to spend my days mopping that carpet and resuscitating Angel Fish."
Jackson put his hand behind his head somewhat sheepishly. Becca could tell she was going to enjoy working here.
"Speaking of the aquarium, Mrs. Teller, how many animals are there to care for total?"
"Well first off, it's just Hilary, I'm 25 years old, Becca, if i would have failed Calculus one more time we might have ended up sharing a class or two at FSU. But including all the fish as one unit and ignoring the horses who will be going with the trainers for the week, there are five," Hilary said.
"Six, babe, you're forgetting Kay," Jackson said as he walked back upstairs, a small smile on his face.
"Only because I pretend he isn't here," Hilary said under her breath.
"Who is Kay?" Becca asked.
"He's Jackson's newest pet, a rare snake from Africa, he cost us more than most game shows give out in yearly prize money to cut through the red tape to get him here, but once Jackson has something in his sights he doesn't give up," Hilary said, somewhat exasperated, "Why don't you follow me and I'll give you a run down," Hilary said, leading her up the stairs.
Hilary showed her the aquarium in the living room, followed by a room on the first floor that had a large tank with two huge turtles in it, and finally a room on the top floor next to the Teller's bedroom that housed two parrots in it. There was also a large, wooden desk with some small tools and computers and tech gear.
Becca and Hilary left that room rather quickly blushing deeply as they hurried out, while the parrots kept repeating phrases they must have heard the previous evening.
"Such wonderful, intelligent creatures," Hilary mumbled, not meeting Becca's eyes as the parrots loudly repeated, "Harder, Daddy, harder!" as she shut the door.
"So, um, what was all the computer stuff?" Becca asked, speaking quickly and hoping to avoid any more embarrassment on Hilary's behalf.
"Just an old hobby of Jackson's, he moves through them so quickly. Two months ago it was antique toy trains, a month ago its was fiddling with computer programs and sound equipment- that's what you just saw- and now it's gone on to rare animals," Hilary replied, face finally returning to it's normal color as they continued descending stairs.
"Although I have noticed he's been fooling around with the recording equipment again lately, hopefully he sticks with that one. I'm terrified that he's one too many glasses of whiskey away from buying a crocodile at this point, not that we'd have room after this," she said, gesturing to the basement door.
The two next went to the basement of the house and into a dark lit room. The light was soft, barely more illuminating than a few scattered candles, and there were a few comfy looking armchairs and a large sofa inside as well. The room would have been oddly cozy, had it not been for the massive tank filled with a huge snake in the middle of it.
"This is Kay," Hilary said, unnecessarily pointing at the snake. "He really won't require much attention, he won't need to eat until after we're supposed to get back, Jackson just wants someone down here a couple times a day to check on him and call if anything goes wrong, sound good?"
Becca nodded as she looked at the snake. It was massive, at least 20 feet long when uncoiled, she assumed. She wasn't afraid of it, but she couldn't say she was sorry she would miss out on meal times with it.
"Well, that's it. We leave in about 15 minutes, so do the first round of feeding tonight, then twice tomorrow, once Sunday morning, and we'll be back by noon." Hilary told her as they walked up the stairs and back into the entry room. Jackson was there with a large collection of suitcases that he had just finished bringing downstairs.
"Wow, that's a lot of luggage, where are you guys going? Los Angeles? Tokyo?" Becca asked excitedly.
"Ha!" Jackson practically barked, leaning against the wall and wiping the sweat off his brow.
"Tampa Bay," Hilary replied, glaring at Jackson.
"Oh, well Tampa Bay is still nice, i hear," Becca said, trying to recover, but Jackson just chuckled.
"Normally it's fine, but not when you are going for the sole purpose of inviting a demon into your home," he said as he began taking the suitcases outside. Becca looked at Hilary quizzically.
"My little sister just finished her first year of college, and she's a bit of a hellion," Hilary said, sighing.
"My parents were already in their 40's when they had me, and they just can't handle the partying and bitching and childishness anymore, so she's spending the summer with us. Most of this luggage is actually empty, it's for her to pack."
"You mean for us to pack while she does her nails," Jackson interjected as he walked back into the room to grab the last of the luggage.
