Cleaning day

She came to my office around 10:00am. We work “short Fridays” during the summer, and even then, we don’t take the day very seriously. I spent most of the last hour of work introducing her to key members of “the Fun Group” (a group of secretaries that I often “run” with [I’m “just one of the girls”]), and talking to my boss’ wife, who also works in our department.

She did well being introduced, but she was very concerned that I not get in trouble for loafing. I asked the boss’ wife, “Is this normal for a Friday?” She answered, “Actually, we only talked for about 20 minutes… thats pretty light for a Friday”, and she went on to explain to Kelly how truely light duty Fridays are during the summer.

This put her more at ease, but she really wanted to “see what I do”. So I started showing her some of the software, and some of the projects I work on, when my boss called and gave me a special rush project to complete before I left for the day. It was pretty much an email assignment, so it didn’t really show off my skills. Still, Kelly was very patient and very attentive to everything I did.

Finally we left. I had outlined a tenative plan when I talked to her on Thursday night, and had modified it when she arrived at my office. I changed it yet again as we left the parking lot to go to lunch, her car safe in our lot.

I took her to the Indian Buffet. I like more exotic foods, and I wanted to see how she reacted to it.

The Buffet is a smallish seating area, appropriate for a dinner restaurant, but kinda small considering the overwhelming crush they receive at lunch. We stepped into the crowded doorway and told the greeter that there were two of us. I scanned the crowd for familiar faces and possible people to share a booth with when my heart suddenly skipped a beat — there was Road at a table with a coworker of hers.

She had spotted me first, and after that brief contact when she recognized I had seen her, she refused to look our way again. For my part, I just tried to focus on Kelly and what she was saying, but I admit a smile crept across my face in some minor satisfaction with the moment.

As we passed by Road’s table on our way to our own, I offered, “Well, is this becoming your regular Friday gig?” (I brought Road to the Buffet for her first time, several months ago). Road replied with, “No, this is only my second time here ever.” Hmmm…

Kelly didn’t care for the spices. She ate alot of nan and tandori chicken. But she enjoyed the experience, I think. On the way back to my truck, we got into a discussion about the term “suck”, as in, “that sucks”. She doesn’t approve of the word. I think she thinks it sucks.

It’s now around 1:30, and we start a whirlwind tour, stopping at my apartment long enough for me to pick up my truck title (she did not go in), at my auxillary office, to pick up a hard drive that needed repair, then across town to my credit union, where I signed for a loan for new computer hardware.

Again, she was very patient, and appropriately interested, in what I was doing. At the CU, she was curious about what a credit union was. This gave my loan officer an opportunity to expound on the benefits of a credit union. She listened intently, but decided she didn’t want to switch from her bank at this time.

By the time the funds were wired to Apple, Kelly was starting to show the signs of exhaustion. She had only gotten 3 hours of sleep the night before, and she was beginning to drag. I opted to take her straight back to my apartment, so she could take a nap if she liked. She fought the idea as we drove back, insisting she’d catch her second wind.

She did. Which was good that she got it just as we got back to my apartment, because she didn’t catch wind of anything else. Just kidding, its not that bad.

I tried to prep her for what she might find. No filth of any kind, just disarray. It started at the entrance in from the street, where we could only go in one at a time, because my bike, perched on my stairs as it was, wouldn’t allow for any more people, and still let the door close.

Inside my apartment, I had already cleaned the toilet (not because it needed it so much, but just so it would never be a question) and picked up all my dirty clothes. She used my room to change into her grubbies, and I changed in the bathroom.

I explained my cleaning methodology, which is “room-by-room”, working back to a common heap in the middle of the apartment. We started on the bedroom — she dusted while I did things like sort through receipts and moved items like my shaving kit around. This was a good arrangement because it gave her a chance to snoop, but not into any major areas.

She was charmed by the fact I still have the big-picture books from my infant years on my bedroom bookshelf. She passed the “pictures of women on your nightstand” test, by being brave enough to ask about them, and otherwise non-responsive (Paige [Dallas – ex-girlfriend and almost fiance] and Trynity [best-friend but not talking right now]).

We then moved into the bathroom, which she quickly wiped down (it really is fairly clean, just disorganized) and then she agreed to mop. Then we started on the kitchen, which is also the start of the big room’s piles.

By now, it was getting to be after 6pm, and when she moved to start vacuuming my bedroom, I could see she was beginning to bonk. I had offered that she could join me for a bike club meeting at 7pm; she declined. So at this time I insisted she stop and we go get some food.

I suggested we end the evening with a movie and pizza-rolls. She preferred a salad, so we hit the grocery store and then Blockbuster, and then home again. She ate her salad while I fussed in the kitchen and got the pizza rolls started. Then while they finished we cleared a path around the sofa and vacuumed and I poofed-off the cushions.

I fetched her a quilt from my bedroom, turned off all the lights, and curled up together on the sofa. A moment later, she hopped up without explanation and disappeared behind me. Then she comes from behind the couch carrying one of my RoughTotes, which she drops in front of the sofa.

“Foot rest”, she said.

So I hopped up and moved a filebox over beside the couch arm. “End table”, I explained.

Then we settled in and enjoyed “Radio”.

She is very cuddly. She won’t kiss me, but she felt comfortable moving my hand to her face to cuddle it, or throwing a leg over me as she turned her head into my shoulder to get comfortable. Knowing that boundaries are more important to her than to me, I simply let her have her way with me — at this point. I did massage her back whenever she would sit forward (I like to keep my hands busy, and this was the only “safe” place for them to play).

Altogether, it was very nice. Very relaxed.

After the movie was over, we packed up her things (her change of clothes, her snacks she brought) and then she proceeded to bless my apartment and annointed all the doorframes with oil, praying over each one.

I drove her back to her car. It was around 10:30; she had a little more than an hour’s drive ahead.

“I have a gift for you”, she said, and produced a little gift bag from her car. We piled back into my truck (where it was warm) and I opened it to find a thank you card, a CD of Austrailian praise & worship mus

ic, and a …I don’t know what its called… multiple layers of colored cardboard cut to the shape of the word “love” with something like “friends” printed in the “O”.

Again, she was quite sweet.

I led her out of town, then came home, finished the pizza rolls, and climbed into bed in my clean, fresh, blessed home.

I slept very well.