Chapter 2
2017
Savra exited her car and began to make her way around to her trunk. She popped the trunk and was greeted with her vacuum, mop, bucket full of supplies and sprays, towels and her broom. She noticed she was running low on Windex and she would have to stop at the store on the way home today to pick up a refill bottle. She had mastered the art, as she'd come to think of it as, of bringing all her supplies into a client's house in one trip. Bucket went over her arm in the crease of her elbow, then with that hand she could carry the broom and mop, and that left her with one more hand to carry the vacuum in with. If she ever had to make multiple trips it felt like a shot to her pride.
Savra had been cleaning houses for a few years now. It wasn't her ideal job. She would much rather have been a nurse or a cosmetologist, but frankly she hadn't had the money to go to college or any type of trade school straight out of high school. She was doing alright with cleaning, but she knew it would have to change at some point. She was already getting restless with it and rather bored. She often found herself wondering if this was all there was going to be in life for her - to be everyone's cleaning lady. She didn't think so. Albeit she was meek and that made her a very good housekeeper. She wasn't intrusive in her clients' lives. She didn't steal, snoop around, and was very quiet. Except for when she was vacuuming of course. She often felt that some of her clients took her for granted though. She felt like a bit of a doormat at times, and she knew she didn't want to stay the low man on the totem pole for forever.
As she hobbled up to 299 Stripe Drive with her supplies in tow, she noticed how well manicured the lawn was. She was always nervous about new clients because she never knew what to expect. Would they have dishes to the ceiling? Would they have a million kids making constant messes that the parents never had time to clean up? It was always a gamble, but she'd learned that a nicely kept outdoor area usually meant that the inside of the home would follow suit. She knew that this particular new client was a male, who lived alone, and wanted her to come cleaning once a week. She set her vacuum down on the pathway leading up to the door and rang the doorbell. "BONG, BONG, BONG," it sounded three times. Inside she could hear some shuffling and she knew that meant the home-owner was approaching to answer the door. She wasn't sure why, but she always felt a tad nervous to meet new clients. It was like going to an interview in a way. Every client was her boss, even though she was her own boss.
The door swung open and revealed a man of average height and stature, with deep blue eyes and hair that didn't have a speck of gray in it - even though he looked like he could be her father.
"Hello! I'm Savra from Perfectly Clean," She said as she outstretched her hand. Her first impression was that the man looked friendly. Maybe it was because he had a slight smile on the corners of his mouth, or was that amusement? She couldn't tell, but she always hoped for the best out of people.
"Hi, Savra. C'mon in," he stepped back while holding the door open and allowed her through into the entryway. She set her things down next to a few hanging hooks. She noticed that her impressions from the landscaping were correct, the house was cleaner than most she serviced.
He continued, "On the phone you told me what your services included, could we just go over those again before I take off for work? As you can see, the house is quite a disaster..."
She hated when people told her their own house was messy, it felt like they were fishing for her to say 'oh, no it's not! I've seen much worse!' even if she hadn't. It was like they were looking to be reassured that they were average or better than average than the normal person was at keeping up on house chores. Nonetheless, he was a new client and she wanted to keep him a client so she shook her head in a look of surprise and said "Actually I've seen much worse! This house doesn't compare to some of what I've seen."
"I don't doubt that! Bet you see some nasty things in your line of work," Greg replied.
That was where Savra drew the line. She wasn't keen on talking about other clients particular circumstances. She just returned a smile and continued. She didn't want to be here all day making small talk.
"So the house cleaning includes vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, toilets, sinks, countertops, showers and tubs..."
"Oh that's great," Greg cut her off while she was in the middle of reciting her list. "I just want to be very clear about one room in the house in particular if you don't mind." He paused. Was he gauging her reaction? "On the second story, the third bedroom from the stairs. There's no need to clean in that room." Another pause. "I use it as my home office and it's so cluttered I'm afraid you wouldn't even know where to start."
"That's no problem! I won't clean in that room. People have certain things they tell me all the time that are off limits or to be careful with, so no worries," She hoped she didn't sound too happy about it. Whenever a client told her they didn't need her to do a certain room or a certain task, it meant that she would be out of there quicker and it was less work she had to do.
"Great, I'll leave you to it then. I have to be to work here within the next half hour and I'm sure you know how traffic on 235 can get. Your money is on the dining room table and I'll see you next week then," Greg was starting to put on his work shoes so Savra picked up her bucket and towels and headed to the kitchen. Sometimes clients gave her a tour of the house, sometimes, like Greg, they were in a rush and left her to figure it out on her own. She really didn't care either way. A tour was useless in her opinion because she would tour the house on her own anyways. A house was a house and they typically weren't too hard to figure out. She thought she'd start upstairs and work her way down. She made her way through the living room which was tastefully furnished in a bachelor with no kids type of way. She could tell that the money Greg hadn't had to spend on a child or wife had gone into his possessions over the years. Savra climbed the staircase with her bucket in hand. Her light brown hair which she always kept in a pony-tail when she was cleaning had already started to fall out and fall into her face. She whisked it away when she reached the top.
It was dark in the upstairs hallway. Every door in the hallway was shut except for the third door down. She went over to it and pushed it open a bit further. Greg was right, it was a mess in this room. She was thankful that he'd said she needn't touch it. She could spend hours in this room alone just in organizing and tidying up. Whew, dodged that bullet.
As she was shutting the door to start in the bathroom, she noticed that the attic entrance on the ceiling was slightly open. 'That's weird,' she thought. Anyway, it wasn't her concern. She was told to stay out of this room and she didn't want to make a bad first impression by disobeying rules on the first cleaning. She never knew who had cameras in their house. She'd thought of it before, and if the roles were reversed and she had a cleaning person, she wasn't sure that she would trust them either. It was time to get cleaning now that she knew the layout of the house somewhat. She shut the door with finality and she noticed a penny had fallen off the top of the door frame. "That's strange," she thought quizzically. She'd remembered Granny putting pennies on top of things she didn't want Savra to get into. Like Granny's cookie jar. Granny had thought she was being smart by setting up a penny and if the penny was gone it had meant Savra had taken an extra cookie without asking. Granny didn't know that Savra had caught on after the first time she noticed a penny fall off the cookie jar. Why would Greg use the penny technique on his office door, yet leave it the only door open in the upstairs? It didn't make any sense, but it felt like a test and she really didn't like games like this.
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