Four o'clock in the morning. The town of Daccron is hallow, everyone is tucked in between the warmth of their comfortable beds. Unlike Graffield town which was as busy as it was in the day time, if not even more. It was Fajr prayer time, Fajr being the only Muslim's prayer all of the town's people are able to pray on time and they made sure to wake up for it, even if it meant cutting their sleep short and going to the mosque in the coldest hour of the day.
Most of the men in Graffield were not allowed to pray during their working hours. Any form of religious practice in the work places led to immediate firing. Poor Ahmed Arbaz didn't know this information when he noticed the sun burning his skin one afternoon on the field indicating him that it was Dohr prayer time. He did his wudo' and prayed his prayer in peace.
He didn't disturb any worker or his supervisor with his prayer, on the contrary, he was very quiet and very polit. He just took three minutes from his work time to pray thinking nothing of it. After all, he was a free man, and free men had the right to practice any religion, right?
Wrong!
The second Mr. Jack Whitehall saw what that poor man was doing he flipped, he had the supervisor fire that poor man without even a second thought on the subject and the word got out that the Muslims were trying to 'spread their diseased ideas' in the great land of Daccron after the kind people there took them in, put a roof over their heads and landed them jobs to put food in their ungrateful mouths.
And that was the last time anyone heard about Ahmed Arbaz. He had to take his family and leave Graffield once he was unable of paying for food or rent. He became an example for all of those Muslims out there thinking of defying the great people of Daccron.
Zayn was no different than any other Muslim man in Graffield. Now that he is a working man as well, he made sure to wake up for Fajr with his father. But unlike most of the men in town, he wasn't coming back for another two hours of rest before heading to work. He had to hurriedly eat the breakfast his mother made before starting his hour long walk to the Payne's residence.
The shirt he worn yesterday was barely dry but Zayn had to wear it again. It was his only piece of clothing that wasn't ripped and poorly sawed by his mother, or had a faint stain that wasn't coming off no matter how much it was washed.
"Eat your stew before you go. You will need all the energy you could get." His mother poured him a bowl of warm stew and placed it on the table.
"Thank you, mother." Zayn smiled at his mother kindly. He then put on his shirt and sat to enjoy a warm meal preparing himself for the long day ahead.
"No matter what that woman says, son, just brush it off. If you do your job like you're supposed, she would have nothing to say." Yaser gave his son the best piece of advice he could think of. Although his heart was heavy for making Zayn work at the Payne's after what Zayn had told him off Mrs. Payne yesterday, he had faith in his son and he knew he could handle her. Yaser had raised him well, after all. But he still hated the fact that he had to face that kind of people.
"I'll, father." Zayn answered after swallowing what he had in his mouth. He was nervous of course but moments like this with his parents made him relax a little.
"Did Gamal show you the road you would be walking to the Payne's house?" Yaser had asked that same question at least ten times before, but he wanted to leave nothing for chance. He can't have Zayn get lost and be late on his first day.
"Yes father. I know it." Zayn reassured his worried father again.
"Good." Yaser breathed as he sat on the couch next to the dining table where Zayn and Trisha were sat at.
Once Zayn had finished his food, his mom got up taking the bowl to wash it as she spoke softly to him, "Take care of yourself today, Zayn."
"I will." He kissed his mother's cheek then said goodbye to his parents before hiding to his way.
The road Mr. Asaad had shown Zayn was easy. All he had to do was go behind the mosque and walk straight ahead with the fields on his left for about an hour. Once the field ends he would notice the gas station followed by the huge houses and shops that line the border of Daccron city. He then would walk for another thirty minute to reach where the Payne's live.
Walking didn't really bother Zayn, not at all. He enjoyed walking, it cleared his mind on most occasions but today it just made him more nervous. He had a lot of expectations to what Mrs. Payne would have him doing all day. He tried not to think about it but he couldn't. He had nothing else to think about.
Once he reach the Payne's house, he took a deep breath and knocked gently on the door. A few seconds later the door was opened revealing a very elegantly looking Mrs. Payne. She was wearing a perfectly ironed plain white dress that was fitting on the upper part and fluffy from the waist down. Her hair was done as if she just returned from the salon and Zayn wondered when did she wake up to look this perfect this early in the morning.
Mrs. Payne gave Zayn a thorough look, making Zayn feel small under her gaze, "Follow me." She finally spoke after a minute of just inspecting his appearance.
Zayn quietly nodded getting inside and gently closing the front door behind him, then he followed Mrs. Payne to the kitchen where she stood, "You told me you were taught how to cook, right?" She asked raising one eyebrow at him.
"Yes, ma'am." Zayn nodded.
"Good. Make breakfast for four." She said then took a seat on the breakfast table in the kitchen. She had a weird looking bottle in her hand that smelled like paint and a very small brush holding red paint in it as she started to apply the color on her nails.
The whole process was foreign to Zayn as he didn't know why a classy lady like Mrs. Payne would want to dirty her hands with paint but he didn't dare make any comments as he knew it was none of his business. Instead, he focused on the task on hand for him. He opened the fridge and took a look at what's inside of it. He noticed some pieces of bacon, a few eggs, cheese, jam, milk, juice and many other ingredients. He decided on making his famous egg and bacon, his old master used to love it then he would put some pieces of cheese, jam and beagles in a plate and served it as other options if his cooking wasn't to the level.
Once he reached for the bacon he heard Mrs. Payne's behind him making a 'tsk' noise so he turned to look at her, unsure what he had done wrong. "Have you washed your hands before touching any of the food? I don't want any of my family to catch any sort of diseases." Her tone of voice was the usual dull one she always uses around him but her words were spitting venom on Zayn's heart.
Taking a deep breath to calm his anger from Mrs. Payne's remark, Zayn tried to bury his feelings as he softly mumbled a 'Yes, ma'am.' then went to the direction he knew was the bathroom's.
Hearing another 'tsk' noise coming from Mrs. Payne, made him stop in his tracks, "Your bathroom is outside." She pointed at a door behind the kitchen.
Zayn looked at her for a second thinking she was joking, but when she didn't budge he simply nodded his head swallowing his pride and walking to the bathroom pointed by Mrs. Payne just now.
The bathroom, if you can even call it that, was very small. It was a cabinet that barely fitted a small sink and a toilet. Zayn sighed trying his best to not give this much thought. He knew that working here wouldn't be easy. He knew the rich white people thought of the help as less than them. He even expected the hint of superiority in Mrs. Payne's voice when she talked to him, but what he didn't expect is to be treated like he was a disease. Not even a fellow human being that had the right to take a wee in a comfortable space.
Opening the tap, Zayn let the water run as he gathered some in his cupped hands and splashed it on his tired face. It was less than an hour that he had arrived here and he was already tired. Not physically but mentally. The water droplets running down his face seemed to calm him a little and he repeated his father's words in his head. 'If you do your job like you're supposed to, she would have nothing to say.'
Washing his hands with the soap bar left on his sink, Zayn took another deep breath determined to be up to the standards of Mrs. Payne. It was only his first day, and he was sure to make mistakes but he made a mental note to never repeat any of them and to try to impress Mrs. Payne as much as he could. Who knew, maybe she would reward him with a raise or something.
"You took too long in there, we don't have time to waste on washing your hands." Mrs. Payne said in her snobby tone once Zayn entered the kitchen once again as she applied a layer of that paint on her pinkie.
Just the first day, Zayn.
"Sorry, ma'am." Zayn said as he rushed to the fridge.
The breakfast was prepared in no time as Zayn made sure to not waste a second to please Mrs. Payne. Once he was done, he served the food on the breakfast table where Mrs. Payne was sat flipping through a magazine.
"Place everything in the center." She said and Zayn complied mumbling a 'yes, ma'am.' Once he had done that she gave him a hum then looked at him again, "Go upstairs, wake up Mr. Payne and the kids. Tell them breakfast is ready."
Another 'yes, ma'am.' was mumbled as Zayn went upstairs. He wasn't familiar with the place as it was his first time going to the second floor so he didn't know which room belonged to who. He didn't even know how many kids did Mrs. Payne have or what their ages were.
Nonetheless, Zayn knocked on the first room he saw then opened the door gently. It was large room, the walls were plain white with nothing decorating them. There was a desk at the far end of the room and huge closet next to the door. A bed centered the room and on it laid a shirtless man under the covers. He looked in his twenties so Zayn assumed he wasn't Mr. Payne.
Zayn took a deep breath not knowing how to wake up the lad asleep in front of him, but decided on gently shaking his shoulder and using a tone just above a whisper when talking, "Sir." Zayn shook the lad, "Sir, breakfast is ready." Another gentle shake.
The lad stirred in his sleep mumbling a few none coherent words so Zayn decided to repeat his words just in case the lad didn't wake up, "Sir."
"I'm up." The lad's crooked voice made Zayn know he was awake so he just mumbled a 'yes, sir.' before going to the next room. It was another big room, but this one was pink with a huge open cabinet filled with dolls and toys. In front of the cabinet was a pink table and a few meters from it was the huge bed were a little girl of about eight or seven slept with her hair all over the pillow.
Deciding on the same technique, Zayn went to the little girl's side and shook her gently, "Miss, wake up. Breakfast is ready."
"Just five minutes, Lydia." The girl mumbled burying her head under her pillow. Zayn realized the girl didn't even hear him as she called him 'Lydia' so he repeated the process again.
"Miss, your mother told me to wake you up for breakfast." Zayn said gently while still shaking the little girl.
She groaned from under the cover and Zayn was about to speak again when the girl came from under her cover to look at Zayn. Her eyes slowly adjusting to the light of day as she looked at Zayn's face. "Are you the new butler?" She asked, her voice a little crooked from sleeping.
"Yes, miss." Zayn nodded politely. Even though she was probably younger than his youngest sister, he had to show nothing but respect for the little girl. After all he still worked for her.
"I'm Maddison. What's your name?" She beamed making Zayn confused but he answered nonetheless.
"Zayn, Miss."
"Zayn? It's a strange name." She hummed to herself and Zayn expected her reaction. She was her mother's daughter. "I like it."
Creasing his brows, Zayn quickly recovered. He didn't expect that reaction but he accepted with a warm heart, "Thank you, miss."
"Don't call me, miss. Call me Maddy." She smiled getting out of the bed with a smile.
"Okay, Maddy." Zayn smiled gently as the girl giggled.
"Your accent makes my name sound strange as well." She continued giggling making Zayn chuckled.
"Maddeh." She mimicked Zayn's accent poorly while she pounced to the bathroom in her room making Zayn chuckled harder, he never noticed how he pronounced anything.
Going to the next room, Zayn repeated his routine now. He gently knocked then entered the room. It was another large room of course. The walls were blue and on them were scattered many pictures and flags. Heading to the bed, Zayn creased his eyebrows when he noticed it was empty.
"She is not back home yet." Zayn was startled with the voice of the lad he just woke up. "I'm Liam by the way." The lad smiled gently offering Zayn a hand shake.
"Zayn." Zayn spoke hesitantly shaking his hand. The lad was nice which was very strange. If the children were this nice, why was Mrs. Payne so hard on him?
"Strange name." The boy commented as he went down the stairs.
Zayn didn't think his name was that strange. It was quite popular among the Pakistani Muslims in his old town but maybe it was strange in this town where there was no ethnicity what so ever.
Going to the final room, Zayn was about to repeat his routine when the door of the room swung open before he reached it and a middle aged while male in a suite was standing in front of him with a smile on his face. "Good Morning."
"Morning, sir." Zayn returned the polite smile. He was still shocked of how everyone in this house was nice but Mrs. Payne.
"Zayn right?" Mr. Payne asked and Zayn nodded. "I heard the noise of the kids waking up and woke up by myself. But usually I would like you to wake me up before the kids, so come up to my room first next time, will ya?"
"Yes, sir." Zayn nodded.
"I like to take hot showers in the morning and Liam takes up all the hot water." The man chuckled walking down the hallway followed by an amused Zayn.
All of Zayn's worries and frustration from this morning was long gone. Yes he could barely stand Mrs. Payne but her family were all so nice to him, he wondered if they were even related to the woman. He knew his work here would be nothing but easy but at least a few kind words from the rest of the Payne family would make him bear all the trouble.
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A/N
Hope you guys like this chapter
This story is going slow but I promise its goig to be good
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