Chapter 7
CHAPTER
SEVEN
ELODIE
Maybe I underestimated my rates. I’m on my hands and knees scrubbing some hard, sticky substance from the corner of a bedroom floor and wondering if anyone has ever cleaned this building in their lives.
I definitely don’t think that these guys are as sexy as I did when I walked in here.
What they are is disgusting. Complete animals.
There’s a noise behind me, and I turn my head, looking over my shoulder to see Alex standing in the doorway, a bucket in one hand and a caddy full of cleaning supplies in the other.
“We are not getting paid enough for this shit,” he snaps.
Considering he was in charge of the bathrooms, I’m going to assume he’s correct. We did not charge enough. I glide my arm over my forehead, wiping some of the sweat away, before I spin around and plop my ass down on a clean spot on the floor.
“Agreed,” I state before letting out a heavy exhale. “I really should have taken a good look around. I mean, he gave me a tour, but I didn’t really look too closely. I was freaked out and excited. I didn’t really see anything.”
Alex snorts. “And it doesn’t help that it’s as dark as a fucking medieval dungeon in here. We’re going to bring lights next time. Big ones. Because I think there’s some scary-as-fuck shit lurking around this place.”
I would laugh at his words, but they’re far too accurate to even find funny at this point. I hold my breath for a moment, letting my lungs burn a bit before I release it in a whoosh.
“Luckily, this is probably the worst of it. The rest of the cleanings will be upkeep and to avoid this shit happening again,” I state.
Alex rolls his eyes to the ceiling, then levels me with them after he brings them down.
“It’s going to be like this all the time.
These guys are straight-up pigs,” he snaps.
Then he lets out a shaky sigh before he continues.
“But that being said, we need the money, and this is cash, so I’m going to allow it. ”
“Thanks for that,” I say with a laugh.
“But I’m going to bitch about it,” he snaps before he spins around and walks out of the room. I can’t help but laugh, because I’m going to do the same damn thing—bitch constantly.
Turning back around, I get back on my hands and knees to continue my work. I do that, cleaning each of the bedrooms I was instructed to clean. By the time I finish those, Alex has also finished the bathrooms, and we tackle the kitchen together.
He bitches the entire time, only stopping when the swinging door opens and a couple of people traipse through to get something out of the fridge. None of them say a single word. In fact, they don’t even look in our direction. They get their snacks and walk back out as if we don’t even exist.
“Is that weird?” Alex asks.
I shrug, not sure what their deal is. I signed the NDA, as did Alex. We can’t talk about anything that happens here, but maybe it’s like those cults I watch documentaries on, and they aren’t really allowed to talk to outsiders.
“It is, but maybe they don’t want to disturb us while we’re working?” I ask.
He makes a noise in the back of his throat and goes back to cleaning the oven. Meanwhile, I get to work on the front of the cabinet doors, which are grimy as hell. Yeah, definitely didn’t charge enough for this job.
Once I have the cabinets cleaned and Alex has the appliances shined up, it’s time for the floors. Filling up my bucket, I look around and realize I’m going to have to get on my hands and knees for these ones, too. With each step I take, I can feel a layer of something on the floor.
I honestly don’t want to ask too many questions, mainly because I don’t want to hear the answers to what it could be. I would rather live in the land of denial. I don’t need to know what I’m touching or how long it’s been there.
Ever.
Lowering down to my hands and knees, I take my nylon scraping tool and begin to attempt to get the layers of… whatever off the floor before I mop it. And I have already decided that I can’t use just any kind of floor cleaner. It has to be industrial.
I’m just glad I thought about that before we came out here. I knew this was going to be a big job, likely one that was extra dirty, so I made sure to buy the strongest cleaning supplies I could find. It was the right choice for sure.
“Jesus Christ,” a voice hisses behind me.
My entire body freezes. I don’t even have to turn around to know who it is. I can tell just from his low voice. I only talked to him once, but that doesn’t stop the thrill of desire that dances up my spine.
Letting out a long exhale, I close my eyes and just breathe for a moment, then I dip my chin and push myself up to my knees. I start to stand, but the man behind me makes a tsking noise.
“Don’t get up on my account. I just came in to check on you.”
There’s no way I’m going to stay here on my knees and attempt to have a conversation with this man. No way in hell. So instead of staying where I am, I stand to my feet, then turn around to face him.
He is watching me.
Wrath.
God, what a stupid name, but for some reason, it does actually fit him. Not that he scares me, but I can see it working behind his eyes. He’s holding back, but it’s still there—an unharnessed anger, rage, uneasiness. Whatever you want to call it, he’s got a handle on it… but only barely.
I bet he’s even sexier when he lets it take over. Not that I want to be around to witness it, because I’m pretty sure nobody would ever be safe if he truly lost his control.
“I’m doing okay. Alex is finishing up in the hallway, and all I have left to do is scrape up whatever is on the floor, then I’m going to mop it, and we’ll be finished until next week.
If you want, you can look around the place and let me know what you think and if you want me to do anything differently. ”