When it came to judging locations and businesses, Jack found the best way to start was by judging the quality of their bathrooms. You could tell a lot about both a person and a business, he’d found, from how clean and in what condition they kept their bathrooms. Innately, no one liked cleaning, and that especially applied to the room where the toilet was located. So, if someone went out of their way to keep the toilet clean, the air smelling fresh, and the sinks working, Jack figured that attitude extended beyond the bathroom. Reading about a new super gas station named Buc-cees and how the owner shared that philosophy had only vindicated this belief in Jack.
On a scale of one to ten then, Jack decided this bathroom was either an eight or a nine. It had the standard stalls and urinals, all nicely partitioned by red painted material that matched the ceiling and walls. The floor was covered in tasteful white tile barely touched by dirt. The sinks were all stainless-steel faucets over a long piece of carved marble that drained in the middle, automatic soap dispensers evenly spaced between the faucets. An air blower and tower dispenser offered more than one option when it came to drying oneself.
The reason Jack didn’t give it a perfect ten, was that the smell in the air was off. Musty, with no obvious sign of active ventilation above or below; the smell was just off-putting enough to not allow Jack a moment to take in and enjoy using the facilities. Still, that wasn’t something he’d hold against the people who cleaned the bathroom; nothing they could do if the building wasn’t built right.
That had been his thinking as he stepped back out into the hallway, casually shaking his hands in the air to get rid of any remaining water, only to stop suddenly when he realized the office door across the hall was now closed.
“I knew I should have locked the feet,” Jack sighed as he walked over. “Chair must have been at a bad angle; I should have checked it.”
Jack reached out and opened the door, only to find a supply closet instead. Jack blinked at it, closed the door, and then opened it again. Cleaning supplies looked back at him, all nicely organized into type and purpose along each shelf.
“Well, this is a problem,” Jack noted as he closed the door again. “Okay, so according to the rules I’m supposed to. . . to notify security then.” He suddenly realized a small problem. “What does security look like?” The young man felt he was suddenly lacking in critical, need to know information. Looking up and down the hallway didn’t help him either, as the hall seemed to go on forever with other halls branching off of it.
The obvious options played out for Jack. “Okay, I can try to find someone, or I can stay here,” he reasoned out loud. “If I leave, I risk getting lost, or more lost I guess. If I stay. . . nothing changes.” He considered it. “I wonder why the rules didn’t include anything on what to do if you do end up lost.”
‘Probably because there wasn’t any point.”
A sudden gurgle in Jack’s gut made him wince. Evidently, he wasn’t quite done with the bathroom to his chagrin. With a groan, he quickly turned around and reentered the facilities, hurrying over to a stall. The one proved to be locked, but the second was open for him.
One relief later, Jack finishing cleaning himself at the sink. His reflection seemed to indicate how he felt; shitty. He still looked like a mess and in dire need of shower and new clothes. Jack grimaced at his reflection and shook his head. “Sheesh, I’m a mess,” he muttered to himself, eyeing the dried trails of water on his face. “Glad Mrs. Green didn’t seem to care at least, or was polite enough not to point it out.”
Still, now that he was in a bathroom, he might as well wash his face at least. Jack bent down and splashed water onto his face, using the hand soap sparingly to get the worst of the dirt off without damaging his skin. He reached back to grab one of the paper towels, fumbling around until his hands grasped a familiar fabric and pulled it over to his face.
“You’re welcome.”
Jack jumped and let out a quiet yelp at the unexpected voice. In the mirror, he saw a tired looking man in a jumpsuit. The man, who was holding a mop and a rolling mop bucket behind him, was just watching Jack expressionlessly. Looking down at what was in his hand, Jack realized that instead of a paper towel, he was holding a piece of fabric obviously handed over from the other man.
“Pardon me if I scared you,” Jack apologized as he turned around to meet the other man’s face. “Thank you for the, um, what is this? A napkin?”
“A handkerchief,” the man with the mop said.
“I’ll give it back after washing it,” Jack promised.
The man’s placid expression twitched as an odd smile suddenly played along his face. “No need. You’re going to need it more than me, from what I’ve heard.”
The comment was an odd one, considering Jack had only just agreed to the job a little while ago. Jack then realized the obvious. “You’re part of the janitorial staff. Um, crap, did I break a rule?”
The man shrugged, his face returning to the still pedantic bored expression it had been before. “Wouldn’t know, not my department. I just clean up the messes, and make sure the light stays on.” With that, he turned away from the younger man and got back to mopping.
Jack, not sure what to say, turned back around to finish cleaning his face as best he could. As he did so, he couldn’t help but watch the janitor out of the corner of his eye. There was something about the way the other man mopped that was bothering Jack.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Are you cleaning, or are you spreading something on the ground?” Jack finally couldn’t hold back the question. The janitor didn’t stop, but frowned at the question. “It’s just, you keep placing the mop back into the water without squeezing it before rubbing it across the floor. That fine if you’re spreading a cleaner or soap, but otherwise you’re just making a wet mess without getting rid of the dirt.”
The man slowed in his cleaning, and tilted slightly to give a curious look at Jack without taking his eyes completely off the floor. “Hm, no one’s ever noticed before,” he murmured. “Aye, this is a cleaning agent like bleach, though slower and without the smell. I’ll mop it up later. Hm, lots of folks just assume there’s only one way to do something. But things are rarely as simple as they seem to appear.”
‘Preaching to the choir isn’t he,’ Jack thought, while aloud saying, “Between my duties at my old job and learning how to keep my own bathroom clean, it’s still shocking how much work you have to do to keep things clean. But, it’s satisfying isn’t it?”
The janitor let out a short snort of amusement.
“Well, if this bathroom is any indication, you’ve done an excellent job keeping everything clean,” Jack observed. “It’s in my top three best bathrooms I’ve ever seen so far in my life.”
That seemed to invoke more of a reaction from the man, who now stopped mopping completely and turned to face Jack with a suspicious frown. “You think you could do better?” the janitor asked tersely.
“Nope,” Jack shook his head, arms up in surrender. “I didn’t mean anything bad. It isn’t your fault there isn’t any air circulation in here to keep the air from going stale. That’s on the building designer. Everything else is perfect.”
One of the lights above the mirror flickered as the man eyed Jack for a moment, below his gaze slowly moved up to the light. He snorted suddenly. “You know how to clean?” the man asked unexpectantly. “On a scale from beginner to advanced, how would you rate yourself?”
Jack rubbed his chin. He’d never thought about his level of cleaning ability before. “Well, I guess up to an intermediate level?” he wondered aloud. “I do a lot of cleaning in the apartment, and helped maintain our A+ rating at the diner, though that wasn’t all me by far. I wouldn’t say I know the best techniques or tools for the job though.”
“Good enough,” the man grunted, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “You’re better than most.” He eyed the badge on Jack’s shirt. “You aren’t as new as I’d heard.”
Again, it was a strange comment since Jack hadn’t even had his first day on the job yet. “I’m about as new as you can be I think; I was even just signing my paperwork before coming in here,” Jack shrugged. “Though, I think somehow I got lost. What I thought was my office turned into a supply closet somehow. You wouldn’t happen to know how to get back there would you?”
The janitor eyed Jack with another odd grin. “You’re a chatty one,” he noted.
Jack wasn’t sure if he should respond to that, which the man seemed to note with an amused snort.
The man with the mop nodded and jerked his thumb toward the exit. “The bathroom door swings to both exits. Open it and walk through.”
He didn’t quite understand, but Jack politely answered, “Thank you, Mister. . .?”
“Just call me Olly,” the man waved his hand dismissively. “Everyone else does. Try not to get lost again.” He paused. “Keep the handkerchief on you. It’ll come in handy.” Finished with the conversation, the tired-looking man turned completely away from Jack now, revealing the back of his jumper. A ‘J’ and ‘D’ were crisscrossed by diagonal black and white stripes, alongside the name ‘Olly’ above them.
Nodding his thanks once again, Jack walked to the bathroom exit and stared at it. He hadn’t quite been paying attention in his hurried haste to relieve himself, which was why he hadn’t really noticed the door to his right in the exit hall. Like anyone unfamiliar with a place, his eyes had glazed over it when he left but, hadn’t he made a turn originally when he’d entered the bathroom. Jack’s eyes fell to the door hinges, which were of an unusual design built into the halls’ wall that seemed to imply, an angle?
Reaching over, Jack pulled the door towards him, and the door moved a full 90-degrees to cover the straight exit of the bathroom, while revealing another exit. He walked out of the bathroom from that exit to the door across the hall and opened it, revealing an office with a familiar rolling chair in the doorway. With a sigh of relief, Jack moved back to his station with the chair and took a seat in it once again.
Idly, he picked up the rules and looked at rule 11. ‘Wonder why they added this when the janitors are so helpful?’ he wondered. He had like talking with Olly, thought man hadn’t quite settled Jack’s nerves about this place. If the door was any indication, Jack was definitely going to have keep a better eye out in this place and get better at observation like his fiancé had told him.
The door to the office opened suddenly then, as Mrs. Green marched over with her now familiar frown. Pursing her lips, she opened up her suitcase on the neighboring chair and held out her hand to the young man. Jack, taking the hint, handed over the signed papers to her, who flipped through each one. Nodding in acceptance once she’d checked the last sheet, she placed the papers back into her briefcase before turning her attention up to Jack.
“Everything appears to be in order,” she said. “I apologize for stepping away for so long. Did you have any trouble while I was away?”
“Not really,” Jack said. He noted how Mrs. Green’s gaze lowered to look at Jack’s pocket, which he realized has the handkerchief Olly had given him sticking slightly out. She seemed to want to ask something, but then changed her mind.
“I see,” was all she said before continuing. “While I was away, I was informed of some unavoidable changes in schedule that will unfortunately affect your introductory training. No, this will not affect the status of your hiring Mr. Smith, don’t pout. Merely there is no one to be you proper partner at this time. As such, I have been. . . assigned temporarily as your point of contact here at the bureau. For all intents and purposes, you will answer to me for the foreseeable future.”
“Sounds good,” Jack nodded, eliciting an oddly questioning eyebrow from Mrs. Green.
“You, have no problem with that?” She said slowly and emotionlessly, like a machine. “Might I inquire to your reasons?”
“You clearly know what you’re doing,” Jack said simply with a nod. “Why wouldn’t I be okay with it?”
Mrs. Green blinked up at him. “You’re a curious one Mr. Smith,” she finally said. “In any case, related to the situation, we are unable to provide you with a suit at this time. Business casual will be preferred but given the short notice and your current state of finances you will not be held accountable for now for your state of dress.”
Jack held back his first comment on what she and the bureau could do with their comments on his state of finances.
“You will begin work tomorrow,” Mrs. Green continued. “However, there is no need for you to come back here since your badge will not be available until late, its delay also related to certain avoidable circumstances. As such, please use the bureau’s app on your cellular device to call me at 9 am tomorrow morning. My number is already registered to your app.”
She paused, thinking of something. “Ah, and allow me to formally welcome you to the Bureau of the Uncanny and Supernatural. We look forward to seeing great things from you.” She reached her hand up, and Jack took it as the two shook hands.