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ENVY OF THE PRIDE

by linzy bruno
1/14/2023 / Short Stories

“We’re here!” Ariel’s husband shouted, as they pulled into the parking lot of the Pride Rooms & Cabins.

“Wow. Isn’t it beautiful here……at least the grounds anyway,” she exclaimed, as she stepped out of their older model Oldsmobile, in which they were grateful for, even with it being so long overdue for a tune-up. “Ten minutes from the beach in a quaint New England town. I think we’re gonna like it here.”

“Yeah the town and the work, and hopefully the people,” Derek replied, as he brought the last suitcase in from the car.

“I know what you mean, but just because we just came from a place where people are not exactly friendly doesn’t mean we should have a bad or negative attitude about the people here,” Ariel reminded him.

“Yes Dear,” he replied in jest.

“It sure is a sweet deal we have here……just think, decent pay with no bills whatsoever and fully furnished….We’re finally gonna get back on our feet,” Ariel proclaimed dreamily, as she practically floated around the imperfect, but adorable cabin.

“It sure beats what we were headin’ toward,” Derek replied, as he grabbed the door knob.

“Going somewhere Honey?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna drive up to the office, then I’m just gonna walk around the grounds to check things out ya know and probably go into the office to check in with the Coswells. I’ll have to get used to saying that. Yes, our new bosses the Coswells are lovely people, hahaha….See ya later Sweety,” He happily replied, as he closed the door.

But then Derek rushed quickly back inside. “So I just went to start the car, and well……It’s dead and it’s not the battery. Isn’t it funny; I’m not allowed to come and go as I please anyway; being on call twenty-four seven.”

“Yeah right. Hahahaha! Anyway, it’s not so surprising. We knew it was a miracle it made it here from Indiana. And God has it covered anyway…..He provided us these jobs where we live right on the grounds of our workplace and really don’t even have need of a car, plus there’s a grocery store right down the street!”

“Yeah, it sure is good to know God now and His Goodness! I’m so glad I got outta of that drug lifestyle!”

“Yeah. I remember how it all started. That guy from your work gave you that meth and you brought it home and we tried it together. I ended up hating it and you loved it, but God called me toward Himself. I could feel it so strong and then I told you all about it and you became a believer too, and we determined to never do another drug again and we haven’t!”

“YUP! And you’re right Honey! We can manage just fine without a car and Troy did say I have a work truck that I can use around here, but I can also go on short errands with it; especially if he sends me for something,” her replied, with a smile. “Well, I gotta go back up,” he replied; heading back toward the door.

“Oh okay see you later Sweetheart.”

“Oh God it’s so good to see Derek like this……It’s been a long and hard road to recovery and we came so close to having to live in our car. Thank you for this opportunity to make good and to please You,” she prayed, as she finished putting away the few belongings they were able to bring with them from Indiana.

“We’ll have to go shopping soon for housewares for this place, now that we have an income again,” she told Derek that evening.

“Oh yeah for sure…..but just don’t fall too in love with this place,” he replied to her surprise.

“WHY?”

“Well, I don’t know, both Trudy and Troy told me that the washer is unusable right now and so is the shower….They also kept bringing up the name of the last manager, Steve and how great he was and that he would still be here if he hadn’t of died a few months back,” Derek informed her, as he slowly sat down on the couch, as if in a trance.

“Oh no. No washer or shower and having to live up to the image of a dead guy…..I guess our spiritual challenges have started already, but let’s not panic Honey.”

“I won’t…..They did say we could use the Pride’s washer, as well as any vacant rooms or cabins for showering. The thing that really gets me is that they didn’t mention any of this during our cyber-interview with them.”

“Yeah…..They sure didn’t,” Ariel replied, also in somewhat of a state of shock. “Well, cheer up Sweety. Everything’s better when challenged! It’ll all work out! We have a roof over our heads. God got us here and He’ll take us through the next hurdle too.”

“Well yes, but I guess I did need to be reminded. Thanks Sweety,” he replied with a smile.

The next morning, he was up before the sun and started the coffee so it would be ready when Ariel got up.

“Thanks so much,” she said, as she sat down for a cup.

“Well, I gotta get up there for my first day of work,” Derek declared, as he opened the front door. “Oh and they told me they want you to start your housekeeping job tomorrow at nine a.m. You have to punch in.”

“No problem,” she said with a smile.

Then Ariel gathered some clean clothes for a shower and their laundry to take up to the Pride’s laundry room and then walked down the street to the tiny market to purchase burgers and salads for their dinner with the last few dollars they had to their name. ‘It’s SO not worth it…… doing drugs and watching your whole life fade away in the process,’ she thought; reminiscing about the recent and still painful past.

‘No. I’m not gonna let myself go down this depressing mental road….God is providing and He’s right here right NOW,’ She reminded herself. ‘God is with us. He helped us get passed the past and start anew and we are here now in the new…. It’s a new day,’ she thought, as she checked her meager wardrobe for something suitable for her first day of work, as soon as she got back home with her clean clothes.

The next morning, Ariel got up before the sun and prayed. Then she dressed and walked up the hill to the office to begin her first day as senior housekeeper and met with Trudy and Troy. The woman who handled the job last season, she was informed was not coming back, at least not this year. She was also told what a great job this Tina did with the hope she would be at least as good.

“I certainly hope you will perform at least as well as Tina did last year,” Trudy remarked; lifting her nose a bit higher.

“You don’t have to worry! I am incredibly experienced at cleaning up after people; having done this sort of work before and especially after raising three kids and we’re talking cloth diapers,” she remarked, with her silliest grin, in the hopes that her new employers would get a kick out of her sense of humor and great work ethic.

“Hahahaha,” they both laughed, but mockingly instead of humorously. Then, thinking they were sly, they quickly flashed one another that look couples sometimes flash each other when they are secretly trying to laugh at people, instead of with them. Then they turned back to Ariel and Trudy said:

“So like I said before, Tina is amazing! Oh Ariel! I wish you could have met her! Maybe she’ll be back again next year. Oh you will love her! She’s SUCH a great housekeeper and knows this place so well….She always knows exactly what to do,” she replied mischievously. “She’s family too, just like you and Derek,” she added, with a phony smile. “Of course I’ll hire someone else to help you. Ten rooms and ten cabins is too much for one person,” she continued with a sneer.

Ariel nodded; wondering what she should believe and not believe from this woman. “I’m just gonna do my work and not allow Trudy’s comments to upset me,” she thought, as she knocked on her first door, room eleven.

“Hi! So you’re the new housekeeper. Welcome to the Pride! I’m Chris and this is my dog, Duke,” said the tall, frail-looking man with bright blue eyes and a round, jolly face; leaning contently against the opened door.

“You guessed right! Hi! I’m Ariel. Can I come in or is this a bad time?”

“No, of course not. C’mon in!” He shouted; getting out of the way. “Hey, let me help you carry those things,” he said, as he made a bee-line for the vacuum.

“Oh thank you. You’re so nice!” she replied, as she raced into the bathroom with a bottle of Windex and a roll of paper towels and some rags.

Chris helped her and she was done a less than forty-five minutes. “Wow I have enough time to pet Duke for a minute before I go. Thanks for your help, but you do know you don’t have to do that. It’s my job and my pleasure!”

Chris just smiled and nodded graciously, as he shut the door to his room and went back to watching “The View” on TV.

Next, Ariel knocked on the door of room twelve. A man of thirty-five, but quickly aging, due to his excessive drinking use, hollered incoherently, “Come in if you’re here to clean,” and went back to his coma.

Ariel worked as quickly as she dared; trying not to make a sound and slipped out the door with a heavy sigh of relief and noted the many areas of concern in the room, like a broken screen and a few tiles sitting in on the bathtub floor that she suspected the guest may have caused and the empty liquor bottles scattered around the room. Then, there were also bolts that protruded out the sides of the bed, light stains on the sheets and a generalized dingy appearance to the room, that didn’t seem like a good idea to mention to Trudy. But she determined to report the screen, bottles and the tiles.

As she was approaching room fourteen (thirteen being left out, due to superstitious reasoning), there was Derek heading toward her, with a bright smile. “How’s your day going Sweetheart?”

“Alright….You never know what you’re going to encounter, I’ll tell ya that!” she exclaimed.

“True dat,” he replied under his breath. “So as soon as you finish the rooms, we have to start opening the cabins. Troy said to start today and keep going until we get them ready for the season to start next month.”

“Okay yeah sure, as soon as I finish, but what about lunch?”

“Oh yeah, you can take a half an hour break first. But be ready because this is going to be one long day”

“Okay,” she said, as she turned back to her cleaning caddy. ‘Pretty strange having my husband be my boss, but….. I think I sorta like it,’ she thought, as she walked down the hill to her cabin.

Then after lunch, as she headed back up the hill to punch back in and start the cabins, she was shocked to see a woman, who fit Tina’s description heading quickly toward her.

“Hi, I’m Tina,” she announced. “Trudy told me you were starting today.”

“Oh wow, I’m so surprised; she didn’t tell me you were starting back today. I’m Ariel,” she replied.

“Yeah I know….So, she didn’t even mention I was starting today! Hahahahaha…..Well that’s Trudy for ya! Ya know the Coswells are pretty old and they really need help with this place and they really love their help….They consider me family and last season, they called me family, like every day. And what with the cabins having to be opened and the ten rooms to do as well; it’s a lot of work! So they asked me to start up again and I could certainly use the money, so I said yes. I’m single ya know with a handicapped child,” she disclosed; looking away for that dramatic effect. “So you’re living in one of the cabins huh? That must be nice."

“Well, so far so good,” Ariel replied, with a hesitant smile. “Well I gotta get up there. Derek’s waiting for me.”

“Is that your husband?”

“Yes.”

“And your boss now too huh?”

“Yeah, but it’s cool. Well, see ya later,” Ariel said; hoping she would not.

Then Derek entered the office and he and Ariel headed down the hill to start working in cabin One, since Tina was working on the rooms. On their way down they heard footsteps behind them and turned around.

“Hey, you must be Ariel and Derek. I’m the new grounds-keeper. This is my first day. My name’s Reggie. It’s nice to meet you both,” he said; sticking out his hand.

“Nice to meet you too,” Derek replied, as he shook his hand.

“So you guys get to live in a cabin rent free huh? Must be nice!” he said; enviously.

“Yeah, but there’s no perfect situation. We can’t even use the shower right now and we have to lug all our laundry all the way up the hill because the washer is out of order too,” Derek replied; trying to deter him.

“Still man,” he mumbled, as he turned and headed into the flower garden.

“Don’t worry about it Arie, just let’s get started already,” Derek told her.

“Boy I can’t wait to take a shower. I’m gonna try and take one after this. Room fifteen and sixteen are both vacant; I’ll check with Trudy,” she said, as she took inventory on the kitchen items on the itemized list Troy gave Derek.

“Yeah…..I’m sure you can take a shower” he replied.

It took them only three and a half weeks to get all of the cabins up and running, water, internet, hooking up appliances and inventory. Now it was up to Ariel and Tina to clean all ten of them in the sweltering heat, and the ban from their cabin shower continued.

That's why it was particularly upsetting when Tina failed to show up one day. "What do you think the problem is? Has she called or anything?” she asked Derek.

“Yeah, she called Trudy and said she had to take her sick kid to the doctor or something.”

“Oh yeah. She mentioned she had a handicapped child. Well that’s the way she put it……guess I’ll have to do all the cabins myself.”

Then the next day, as Ariel was finishing up cabin seven, Tina appeared at her side, as she was vacuuming.

“Oh my gosh you scared me,” Ariel shrieked, as she pulled the plug.

“Hi! I just got here! I’ll start in the next cabin,” she declared; trying to catch her breath.

“Wait a minute. You’ll need a key to get into the storage room to get your caddy,” Ariel informed her.

“I know and I have my key it’s right here in my pocket. It’s been there since last season. Not everyone wears them around their neck ya know,” Tina replied in a snit, as she walked off.

“Oh boy. Here we go,” Ariel whispered to herself, as she picked up her caddy and vacuum cleaner and headed to cabin eight.

‘I can’t wait to take a shower,’ she thought, as she finished up for the day. As she headed down the hill to her cabin, Tina caught up with her; embarrassingly over anxious to ‘chat,’ even though she was supposed to be working in cabin nine.

Ariel tried to keep up her pace, but Tina was making it impossible.

“Ya know the old guy that used to do your husband’s job was so awesome! Trudy and Troy really miss him,” she said with a menacing smile.

“Yeah so I’ve heard, but what I want to know is why you’re so insistent on telling me about it,” Ariel replied, with a serious look on her face.

“Oh no reason really……just sayin’,” she replied sheepishly, but not sincerely.

“Well I’m done for the day. I’m headin’ to take a shower,” Ariel informed her.

“Why you feel the need to report taking a shower to me seems unnecessary, though, I have to say,” Tina snapped, with a smirk and an unfriendly chuckle.

“We aren’t supposed to use ours; it’s out of order,” Ariel hollered back, as she hurried down the hill; thinking maybe if Tina knew it wasn’t all a bed of roses living free and easy, perhaps she would give up on the jealousy she was displaying.

The next morning, Chris just happened to open his door as Ariel was running by and called out, “Can I help you with anything?”

“No Chris, but thanks!” Ariel shouted back. ‘That Chris simply must be a born-again Christian. Even when I’m not working up here, he still wants to help’ she thought, as she worked through the morning.

Then, while in the middle of cleaning cabin ten, Derek appeared in the doorway.

“How’s it going Honey?” she inquired.

“Terrible actually. Troy won’t stop comparing me to Steve! It’s pretty hard living up to a dead guy! AND it looks like I have to kick out that guy in room twelve?”

“Oh yeah. Wow that’s too bad; how sad. That must make you feel so weird. I mean having to do that to someone you probably understand pretty well being you’ve been there yourself and not too long ago either, but I guess you don’t have much choice. You do have to kick him out if he’s not paying his rent and wrecking the place,” she replied.

“That’s for sure. Troy would never let a dead beat drunk who can’t even make his motel bill continue to stay here, especially with all the damage he’s been causing.”

“Yeah! I reported a few things I noticed in that room.”

“Well that’s the business we’re in now,” Derek replied, with a shake of his head, as he left to go back to work.

Then late afternoon, Ariel couldn’t stop thinking about how hard it is to have to wait and not being able to use the shower in their cabin, just everything about their new situation and how stuck they actually were. ‘If they ever kicked us out, we’d be in so much trouble! Trudy pretends to care; calling us ‘family’ when she clearly doesn’t! Poor Derek, having to continually be compared to a dead guy and to kick out dead beats and Tina acting so obviously jealous of us. “God help us to have wisdom with all these matters and how bout that Trudy, neglecting to tell me Tina IS working this season. God it seems like so many people here just want to step on us; to use and manipulate us…..well….except for Chris. Please help us respond to it all using Your Ways Lord,’ she prayed.

Then the next morning, while discussing her day off with Trudy, Ariel encountered even more unfairness from her new employers.

“Well, couldn’t you work your days off until Tina works out her problems at home? She isn’t available every day right at the moment and I can’t seem to find anyone else right now to take her place,” Trudy pleaded; manipulatively.

“Sure,” Ariel replied, with a troubled smile.

Ariel continued to encounter nothing but grief from Tina for the next several months. Then Tina disappeared for a while, apparently dealing with all sorts of problems with her child, according to Trudy. But then one quiet afternoon while she was working in cabin seven, which just so happened to be the cabin furthest from the office, Tina came running in with her cady.

“Hi Ariel! Trudy told me to start here. She didn’t mention you were already doing this cabin. I wonder why?” she asked no one in particular, as she began to pace back and forth; throwing her fists around.

“Well so what? It’s no biggie; just go ahead to eight and I’ll go to nine after this and we’ll meet up in ten,” she reasoned, as she worked.

“Ya know, I don’t know where you get your nerve? Who put you in charge?”

“Trudy did actually when she hired me for the job of senior housekeeper, but if you don’t want to listen to reason, just go ahead and tell Trudy AND DEREK all about it,” Ariel calmly replied, as she turned her attention back to her dusting.

“Oh senior housekeeper,” she repeated; mockingly. “You’re a jerk ARIEL!” she shouted and stormed out of the cabin.

That night, Ariel shared her frustration with her husband. “I can’t believe I can’t have any days off because of Tina and I don’t believe Trudy sent Tina down to cabin seven when she knew I was working in there, and I also cannot believe she didn’t warn me about Tina and her obvious jealousy of our living here for free!”

“I know! I understand Honey! It does seem that no one is on our side. It’s been hard for me too. They seem to see us as lesser than them, like peasants because we don’t have all their money and prestige in the community. And this comparing me to Steve! It’s really hard to take,” Derek admitted. “Even still, we have to be grateful to God that we have a roof over our heads,”

“Yeah! I know God led us here and I am very grateful and I understand we’re just being met with spiritual challenges, but it started right away all this silly and unnecessary drama. And the Coswells’ intention really is to use us for as long as they feel they can get away with it. The only good thing is we can bank up some money….. But, what security do we really have here? If they ever decide to let us go, we’ll be right back where we started…..maybe we could afford another motel room for a while, but we’ll still be close to homelessness. I guess we are really at their mercy,” Ariel replied.

“Well, I know there are some issues here, but God is on our side…..He’ll help us,” Derek replied, as he made himself comfortable in bed.

Then around two a.m., Derek’s work phone rang; waking them from sleep.

“Derek something must be wrong,” Ariel declared, with a pounding heart.

“Ok, I’ll be there as soon as I get some clothes on,” Derek said; hanging up.

“So you know that guy in room twelve?”

“Yeah,” she replied in frightful wonder.

“Well I explained that he owed three weeks in back rent and pointed out the two thousand dollars’ worth of damage he caused and explained that’s why I had to kick him out, but I guess he’s back again; starting trouble.”

“What trouble?”

“Oh he’s up there making quite the ruckus; screaming how wrong we were to kick him out. He’s just up there waking everybody up with his carrying on. They want me up there NOW to help talk to him and make him see reason,” Derek explained, as he pulled on his jeans.

“Well Honey, be careful! This is potentially dangerous!” Ariel called out to him as he went out the front door.

Then she prayed for Derek’s safety and the whole ugly situation and tried to go back to sleep.

Then the next day, as they were enjoying their lunch break together, there was a knock on their cabin door.

“It’s Troy!” Derek called out, as he opened the door.

“Hi, can I come in. I have something important to talk to you both about,” he said, with a worrisome look on his face. “Reggie was just up at the office punching in and he told me a very interesting little story about something that happened over here between the two of you,” he said; pointing the remark at Derek.

“Nothing happened between me and Reggie,” Derek replied.

“Oh no? Well according to him, you two showed up at his room the other night and threatened to hurt him in some way and you apparently stole some money he had sitting on the dresser.”

“Well that isn’t true! That’s crazy! Right Ariel?”

“YEAH! That’s ridiculous!”

“Well why would he make up something like that?”

“How bout jealousy?” Derek asserted.

“Jealousy!” Troy replied, with a look of disbelief and like he was holding back a laugh.

“YES!” Derek retorted; confidently.

Troy grunted and glared at Derek and stormed out of the cabin.

“Oh no it looks like they’re just looking for an excuse to fire us!” Derek said; beginning to panic.

“It’ll be alright,” Ariel replied, with tears streaming down her face, which somehow soothed him.

And, the next day, just as they predicted, Derek was called up to the office to have a talk with Troy.

“We decided to sell this place……You guys are gonna have to be outta here by the end of month.”

“But that only gives us three weeks to find some place to go!” Derek shouted.

“Well I can’t help it. It isn’t my fault. We’re getting older now and we can’t keep up with all the work of this place anymore and Trudy is all excited about moving into this place we’re going to…..It’s a retirement home,” he said, matter-of-factly.

Derek just got up from his chair and walked out, with a slam of the door.

"Well they did Ariel. They kicked us to the curb. We only have like three weeks to get out."

After hours of crying, Ariel finally got out of bed and went to see if there was anything to eat.

Derek was sitting at the table, just staring at the wall.

“Derek, Honey….. I’m so sorry this is happening to you and to us, but somehow we will be alright ya know,” she said stroking his hair.

The next morning, both Derek and Ariel headed down the street to find new jobs and perhaps another motel room.

They were quickly hired at the Hilton only a few yards away. They stayed in the rooms their until they were able to get a furnished apartment.

Then one day, as they were reminiscing about the old days, Derek received a strange phone call.

“Hey, do you remember me from the Pride? It’s Chris.”

“Oh! Hey Chris! What’s up Buddy?” Derek asked enthusiastically; putting his phone on speaker, as Ariel sat next to him on the couch.

“Oh not much, but I was just thinking about you guys and how the Coswells treated you so badly. And I also found out why Reggie was so jealous that he made up that story about you guys stealing from him to try and get you guys out. It turns out, he was desperate to take your job from you so he could house his baby momma and their two year old son!

And they lied about selling the place. They only said that to get you guys out and give your jobs to this other couple they met and conveniently never mentioned…..Oh and the washer wasn’t broken and neither was the shower! They just told you guys that because they were worried about something happening to their stuff, with such lower class people living there! And you were right about Tina wanting your cabin too, for her and her son.”

“Oh my gosh” they both replied in shock.

“Oh yeah and get this! They told me that they were gonna stop you from getting unemployment if you tried to put in a claim.”

“Oh my gosh!” They both said again; both thanking God privately for taking them out of that whole deal and giving them a much better and safer one at the Hilton.

“Well Chris, God actually turned our bad into good because we are much better off now. Before we had no security, but now we both have jobs that actually provide insurance and those who pay rent have at least some rights, without rent or any bills, we were actually not as well off as we thought; we were left with nothing to bargain with. You can really have the rug pulled out from under you when you live in someone else’s shadow. God taught us a valuable lesson, helped us to find another cute, furnished place and provided much better jobs. And what I wonder is what has happened to them after living in such a dishonest and ungodly manner?”

“Well they still have the Pride; selling it was a lie too and things are a mess. They are losing money every day and even worse now that tourist season is over. Oh and did I say, they DID cave and let Tina move into your cabin with her son. They can’t even stick by their own rules…..I guess they expect Tina to do both jobs!”

“Yeah, they told me during my interview that they always hire a couple for the job of manager and senior housekeeper and that they always live in that same cabin. And, also…. Reggie has shown himself to be a total nut job, so they had to fire him! They’re in a real jam and certainly not happy right now,” Chris replied.

“Well I feel sorry for them about all those things but most of all because they are living without GOD, cuz if they did have faith in Him, they would have problems, sure, but they would also find God’s Answers to their problems. I feel sorry for all of them because they are living without faith in God and are void of a relationship with Him through Christ Jesus, our Lord.”

“It's very sad,” Chris and Derek agreed. “We should make a point to include them in our prayers.

“Definitely,” Ariel nodded, with a smile.

Linzy has been writing for many years; seriously since her 3 kids were still young and inspirational. She has taken 2 courses in Bible studies and completed "Four Soils" Bible study course in a 26-month period; earning her certification in Bible Counselling.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

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