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Emily is a part of the janatory staff for the Skyhaven Deepspace Fleet. Like most young folk in Skyhaven she had several options for entry level work available at the start of her career. There was alway customer service and other entry level positions, or internships relating to a future career path. However Emily had chosen to do menial work for the Skyhaven fleet.
There were advantages to doing so. First of all the fleet paid well. More than working the counter at a fast food joint would have anyways. It also looked great on her resume and could boost her future career options. For now she was just working as much as she could before University started, to put away funds for the rest of the year.
She had no clue how, but somehow Emily had wound up being responsible for cleaning Colonel Xia’s house.
Originally they had been a three man team. The last team had been reassigned to mess hall cleaning after the Colonel had returned from a flight to find his home covered in dust. While no one was permitted inside his abode while he was away he had been delayed dealing with two traitors and an interrogation that day.Despite the extra time the cleaning team had not even made it to his house before the Colonel had arrived.
Apparently the Colonel had a guest with him, and hence had taken affront to the state of his house. The team was reassigned post haste and a small crew was gathered to do a quick clean of the house while the guest was away for the day.
Emily had been vacuuming some offices when she’d been rounded up and shoved on a shuttle. The pilot had explained everything to her and two others as they had taken off. The other two janitor staff where an older woman and an elderly man. The man was assigned to tidying up the landscaping and yard, while Emily and the other cleaner were ushered inside.
Clearly the Colonel or his guest had done a courtesy cleaning. Most of the tables were now dust free, and someone seemed to have done a quick vacuum of the couches. Still the air was alittle stale, and the whole place could use some work. If it had been cleaner she would have thought the palace resemble a show home more than a personal abode.
The older lady, her name tag read A. Smith, directed Emily to clean in the bedrooms and offices while she tackled the kitchen and living room. Starting with the rooms closest to the front door, she started working her way through them.
The Colonel’s house had several guest bedrooms and a spare office. There was also a main office which had its door closed. A yellow sticky note on the door ordered any cleaning crew to stay out. Emily gave the door a nod and carried on.
As she got farther into the heart of the house she discovered that only two of the bedrooms were in use. One of them was a guest bedroom, and the other was clearly more lived in. Normally she would assume this was the Colonel’s room, but a suitcase with feminine clothes hanging out of it was lying on the unmade bed.
Upon closer examination the guest bedroom contained dirty laundry that was likely the Colonel’s. A white button down that would be under his uniform jacket in a male size and spare uniform trousers. She swapped those, and the underpinnings, up and into the attached laundry room. Those having their laundry done at base would pile into laundry bags where it would be taken care of en masse. The Colonel, living on a small private island, had his own in house laundry machines. From what should have been the Colonel’s room she also swooped up some dirty laundry. There was a feminine personal clothes and pajamas as well as a damp towel to collect. She sorted it all by colours then set the first little load to run.
She got the rooms totally clean, and even popped in to help A. Smith in the living room before they were bustled out. The officer moving them along simply said he’d been informed the Colonel and his guest were returning, and that everyone had to be off the island before they arrived.
Emily didn’t ask any further questions. Whomever the lady who was currently residing in Colonel Xia’s room was, she was bound to be important. Why else would he allow himself to be booted from his own bedroom?
The second time Emily was inside the Colonel’s house to clean was merely five days later. The guest was reportedly gone, and they were tasked with returning the house to proper order.
Since they were not being rushed this time, Emily took more time to examine where she was working.They had a full six hours after all, and had been instructed to deep clean the place.
Already the house looked more like a residence than a show home.
The first time she had been inside of it the house had been a sleek modern place with nothing really out of place. Now a collection of apple shaped decor pieces had been added. There was also an Otto charging in the corner. She fluffed the apple shaped throw pillows on the couch, as well as a warm throw blanket. It looked clean and smelled like feminine perfume. Since over washing throws could result in them being less fluffy she simply draped it over the backrest of the couch for now.
The guest room the Colonel has been staying in was empty again. She deep cleaned it, washing all the bedding and vacuuming the whole thing. When she was done it was turned over and ready for later use.
The Colonel’s room now showed signs that he’d moved back into it. A pair of his gloves were laying on the desk, and the bed was rumpled from use. She pulled those sheets to wash as well, since she knew he was out on a trip in the Deepspace Tunnel. When she was shaking them out to add to her laundry pile a few small pieces of clothing fell out.
They were, Emily realised quickly, not the Colonel’s. Even if he’d been into that kind of thing, cleaners find lots of personal objects and know better than to judge, none of this would have fit the man. No, all of this was clearly from the female guest who had spent a week with the Colonel.
When all the laundry was collected, and she had checked under the bed and dresser, Emily was left with a small pile of feminine clothes. From the sheets she had pulled silky pajama bottoms and a single sock with a cat paw print design. Under the dresser had been a pink and white sock, and a hair tie. Under the bed she found a tanktop and a pair of lace panties. All of which she bundled into the washing.
She wiped down whatever surfaces she could and vacuumed while the loads were running. While she worked she pondered to herself about what to do with the guest’s forgotten things. If it had been a normal guest who somehow wound up in the Colonel’s house instead of the visiting quarters on base she would have bundled the forgotten things up and left them in the Colonel’s office so he could arrange their return. However this guest seemed special. Most men wouldn’t let a guest, even one they were clearly familiar with, steal their room for a week. Whomever this girl was, she was clearly both close and important to the Colonel. Emily didn’t even think she was a paid companion or escort either. If the woman had just been for sex the Colonel would have stayed in the room with her.
No, whomever this girl was she was likely a civilian friend or family member. Or a romantic companion who the Colonel had not yet moved into a sexual relationship with. Was the Colonel courting a future wife? How exciting!
When the washing and drying was done Emily remade the bed and carefully folded all of the lady’s clothes. With nowhere else to put them she left them on the foot of the bedspread with a note that they likely belonged to the last guest the Colonel had. It would be up to him to tracker her down and return them. The panties she insured were tucked away in the middle of the pile where they wouldn’t be completely visible.
It never hurts to respect people’s dignity a little.
The third time Emily gets tapped to clean the Colonel’s house she starts to suspect it’s on purpose. She’s the only one of the crew to return this third time. Everyone else in the time is new. Everyone else was also doing general tasks and collected for being free. Emily, however, had been given a set of personal quarters to clean, so a replacement would have to be found to finish them for her.
That implied that she’d been asked for by name.
It’s the same rules as last time. They have roughly six to seven hours to deep clean the whole place. As the only one who had been there before, Emily assigned tasks. It was a little awkward bossing around people who were mostly older than her. Still, she arranged the crew optimally in her option. Two people outside dealing with the yard and the garden, and two people inside clearing the house. If one team finished early they could assist the other.
The house had gotten several more personal pieces added since when she was last in. Now a collection of photos of the Colonel and a young lady were up on the walls. Including one of the Colonel crouched down making a peace sign in front of a grave with the same last name as him. Perhaps a disliked relative? Emily certainly wouldn’t judge. She never left any grave gifts for her awful uncle. Good riddance and congrats to her poor Aunt for surviving that asshole. If she could do so without getting flack from the rest of her family she might do the same on his grave.
He’d added a new wardrobe to his room. A small one, perhaps for his uniform? Some people liked to keep their work clothes separate from their personal ones.
She stripped the Colonel’s bed, which now had a plane shaped plushie tucked by the pillows, and started up the laundry. Then she went around dealing with all the baseboards.
While she scrubbed away she heard the escorting officer speaking with the other cleaner. They were too muffled to hear but Emily wasn’t worried. She had assigned the other cleaner the kitchen. It was fairly normal when doing private officer residences for them to have their groceries arrive when the cleaners were in. This was likely the officer overseeing the delivery for the other cleaner to put away. Plenty of the off base officers had spouses or staff who cooked for them so they could avoid the mess hall food.
It was only when she brought the clean laundry back to the Colonel’s room that she realized she was alone. Well, alone out of the cleaners. The Colonel himself was leaning against the wall waiting for her.
“Sir!” She dropped the laundry basket in fright.
Gravity twisted, and the basket remained floating in the air, held there by the Colonel’s Evol.
He laughed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you Miss. I just wanted to ask you a question about the last time you were here.”
He grabbed the floating basket and placed it on the bedspread. She’d done the sheets first, and had been returning with the folded clean laundry to leave on his desk.
“Oh, of course. Was there an issue with how we cleaned last time?” She asked, heart in her throat.
He shook his head. “No. You did an excellent job. I actually wanted to ask about the things you left on my bed last time you were in.”
“Was that not okay? I was uncertain where I should leave the lady’s personal effects.” Since the guest had stayed in his room she assumed that was the best place to leave them.
The Colonel shot her another warm smile. “It was fine. I added a wardrobe for her things she leaves behind. In the future please place her things inside.”
Ah, so that was what the wardrobe was for. The possible spouse thing was looking more and more likely.
“Should I set up a permanent room for the lady then?” Emily asked. If she was a friend or family member, swapping one of the guest rooms into a personal room would not be difficult. The house was large enough the Colonel would still have room for guests.
He shook his head. “Ah, no, that won’t be necessary. She’ll stay here when she’s over.”
So she was a lover. Okay, well good for him. No wonder he was letting the lady leave plushies and feminine decor all over the place. The future Mrs. Xia was simply marking her territory. With a catch like the Colonel that was totally understandable.
“I appreciate your politeness and discretion in the matter. She did as well, and was quite glad to get her clothes returned.” He laughed fondly as he spoke of his lady love.
Emily nodded. “Thank you Sir. I’m glad to have done a good job.”
“You did such a good job that I’d like you to continue it.” He added.
Oh, that was an incredible opportunity. Being selected for a permanent roster came with guaranteed hours and a small pay raise. Normally she’d be thrilled, but school was starting up soon...
“Before you turn me down, I am aware of your University classes restarting.” He said. “I’m not here most days, so I’m happy to work with your schedule. You listed on your intake form that you planned to drop back down to part time work when schooling started. I only really need this place deep cleaned once a week. Of course this position comes with both a raise and a NDA.”
Of course being permanently assigned to the Colonel’s house would come with an NDA. MOst cleaners dealing with the personalized officer quarters had NDAs of somesort. If only so no one sold photos of some old farts dirty underpants to the local news.
“Why me?” Emily couldn’t help but ask. She hadn’t, as far as she was aware, done anything special.
The Colonel shrugged. “A lot of little reasons. I was already looking for a permanent team for my house, as it's more secure to have the same people than a bunch of strangers every time. You were both incredibly discrete and thorough in how you cleaned. I liked how you cleaned and tidied the areas you did. You also showed excellent initiative today in how you separated the team.” He chuckled. “But mostly she liked how you folded her clothes. She asked me to say thanks. What did she mean by that?”
Ah, so it was the possibly soon to be Mrs. Xia’s decision to retain her services. Well, happy
future
wife, happy life.
“She is probably referring to how I folded her, uh, underthings inside the other clothing. So they wouldn’t fall out or be visible in transit.” Emily explained with a slight flush. Of course she dealt with all sorts of undergarments while doing laundry, but she didn’t normally have to explain her handling of them to people.
Colonel Xia snorted and rolled his purple eyes. “Honestly, it’s like she forgets I see them when I do the laundry. Well, she appreciated it anyway. You want the job?”
“I do, Sir.” He was being incredibly accommodating to her, and she could use the raise.
He seemed pleased. “Good, I’ll have someone from HR track you down with the updated contract. That will include an email you can reach me at for business matters. Send me a list of your days off and we can work out a schedule.”
He shooed her off after that. The officer from before was waiting to subtle her back. As they flew through the clouds Emily couldn’t help but ponder on the Colonel’s lady. Whoever she was, she had turned the cold show home style house into someplace warm and inviting, if filled with a strange amount of apple shaped things. Likely Emily would never see the woman. Janitor staff were meant to be out of sight and mind for the higher ranking officers. But somewhere in her heart Emily knew that if she ever met the woman she would like her. It takes a lot of love to turn a house into a home that quickly.