When the cleaner arrived, she asked them to start in the basement as that was the most important part of her operation. The cleaner brought their cleaning supplies down and Valerie followed as she was curious as to how big the basement actually was. It was L shaped and the walls were lined with wooden shelves. There were still many things being stored on them. Valerie added to her list to have those items removed and donated ASAP, followed by having the shelves replaced with metal ones and installing metal counter space. She was also going to need to purchase and install a second-hand biosafety cabinet.

            When the cleaner finished with the basement, they began mopping the floors of the first floor, then dusting, and finally wiping down all the surfaces. On the second floor the switched out the mop for a vacuum and vacuumed all the rooms and hallways. Perhaps because there were minimal furnishings in the house the cleaner had finished quickly and was on their way to their next job, leaving Valerie with an invoice. Valerie didn’t check the cleaning conducted on the second floor, as she couldn’t go up the stairs. As far as the stairs were concerned, she wouldn’t be dealing with them unless it was a life-or-death situation. ‘John can have upstairs for all I care,’ she thought.

            Looking around at the available rooms on the ground floor, she did find one suitable for a bedroom. But there was no bathroom. Bathroom was added to her mental list. There was a knock on the front door. Valerie expected it to be the movers but found John and his buddies instead.

            “Well, you guys are not the movers I was expecting,” Valerie said leaving the door open and returning to one of the old stools at the kitchen. The five guys walked into the house and the last one in closed the door behind them.

            “So, what do you think?” Valerie asked.

            “This is a whole lot of house for one person,” Greg half-shouted.

            “I know. I bought it looking only at the pictures online. It seemed smaller then.”

            “Did you pick your room yet?” Greg asked excited to see which one, looking up at the stairs.

            “Mine’s going to be down here, Greg. I’m going to have that room over there renovated into a bedroom, with a bathroom.”

            “Why would you do that?” Roy asked, while John and everyone else were thinking the same thing.

            “I, uh, can’t do stairs. So, the whole second floor is all John’s. But the basement is mine too. Pretty evenly divvied up if I do say so myself.”

            “You are, like, the coolest roommate ever,” Greg gushed.

            “Well, it was more a matter of circumstance that it ended up this way. But I think it will work out,” Valerie shrugged.

            The doorbell rang again and this time it was the real movers. They unloaded document box after document box, into the basement as Valerie had requested, while the few remaining boxes were clothing and kitchen ware. Valerie left the clothing packed and began to unpack the dishes, utensils, and glasses into the drawers and cabinets of the kitchen.

            “Was that all your stuff?” Greg asked, thinking the house looked exactly the same after the movers came.

            “Uh, yeah. I didn’t have much in Japan. I lived a minimalistic life,” she replied.

            “Is that how you can afford such a large house?”

            “Sort of. The university in Japan began paying me a lot when I won that award and then the signing bonus here was also a lot.”

            “Wow! If John doesn’t marry you, can I?” Greg joked.

            “What about your girlfriend,” Roy chastised Greg.

            “I’m joking, I’m joking!” Greg lamented. “Anyways, was this all you had to do today? What about cleaning?”

            “When John said he was busy, I hired a cleaning service and they left just before you came.”

            “When are you moving in,” John asked.

            “When I get the renovations done. So, in maybe a month or two. Definitely before the school year starts up. No way am I commuting from my house. But, uh, let me know if you want to renovate something upstairs, it’s better to get everything done all at once.”

            “Yeah, I’ll check it out,” John said then turned to go up the stairs, but before he got away. Valerie called to him.

            “Uh, wait. I’m going to go, because I’m tired. But here is the second key to the house. Just lock up before you leave and let me know if there’s something that needs to be looked at or fixed.”

            “Sure,” John replied before tackling the stairs followed by his entourage of four friends.

            Valerie walked out of the front door of the house and looked around. She called for another taxi, but instead of just waiting out front she decided to check out the back of the house while she was there. There was a porch and above it was a wooden balcony overlooking the large yard that looked like it might have had a pool in it at one point in time. The back yard wasn’t fenced in and turned into woods that jutted up to land owned by the medical school. Returning back to the front of the house Valerie found her taxi waiting for her. She stepped in and returned to her father’s house. At home she found her father lounging around, while her sister was preparing something for dinner.