= SARAH POV =

Week one of officially staying at Chris’ place. 

Two weeks before Chris’ Promotion.

I had thought that staying with Chris would be involve a lot more sexual encounters like the last strike redemption however…after that night…

It was as if Chris turned into a zombie. 

Chris had started an odd habit of mumbling under her breath about the car… needing to get to work early because her colleagues were incompetent and she seemed to take longer and longer shifts.

I mean I already knew she worked a lot, but that meant I barely got to see her, even though we slept in the same bed.

Speaking of sleeping in the same bed…

Nothing. Happened.

A typical morning with Chris used to start with her making me breakfast. Well typical when we were still friends and I was staying over temporarily…

Now she completely stopped making me anything at all.

 When I woke up in the morning, her side of the bed was a mess of sheets and ties and a trail of singlets and socks marked the path to the bathroom. 

I also started to learn more about her living habits. Chris would come home at 1 am, fall into bed and knock out, and then get up and just strip, bathe and then go to work. 

Piles of clothes started to build, I realized that this was a rinse and repeat for her, and as I no longer was allowed to well clean up, I just let it pile, wondering how her apartment ever looked as clean as it usually did when I was invited over.

The answer turned up on Wednesday.  

Wednesday was when cleaners came in at about 10 am, unknown to me.

 I got a real shock when I came out of the bathroom, brushing my teeth to find an army of men and women basically picking up after Chris. 

Within 30 minutes the house was spotless, as if the mess that had piled up hadn’t been there at all.

“Umm, sorry,” I said as the cleaners started to exit the apartment. “ You guys are kind of awesome,” I had said sheepishly on the first day that I encountered them. 

A lady at the far back with a clipboard, dressed in a smart navy blue suit smiled nodded her head, and reached out her hand.

 “Please call me Ms. Takahashi, my team and I try our best to bring excellence in every cleaning service, however, your compliment is much appreciated” she said and handed me her business card.

 “Ms. Fairfield is on a 30-day cleaning schedule, however, she has only been calling in for us on Wednesdays and Fridays. If you need us to come over to straighten things out, feel free to give us a call, and I will send a team as soon as possible, Ms Yoshida”.

“Oh! You know my name?” I asked, a little taken aback. 

“Of course, Ms Fairfield has registered you as a resident here. We are very happy to assist you if you ever need anything. Aside from cleaning services, we also provide rubbish sorting and disposal services, moving services, and interior decoration services, which are all included in the service apartment package” Ms. Takahashi explained

 “Not to pry but… I noticed you have a gaming PC set up but…the aesthetic does not match the neon pink concept of your computer. If you would like us to help redecorate your space to make it more inviting for your work or play, we would be more than happy to” Ms Takahashi explained confidently.

I smiled in delight. “Oh, that sounds lovely. I will ask Chris first to see how she feels about it”.

“Wonderful. Thank you for your time; if you are in, we will see you again this coming Friday, goodbye.” Ms Takahashi bid farewell, and she and her team left the apartment.

That day I went over to the guest room and looked around.

 It did look very dull and uninviting.

 I imagined that my streaming would be immensely improved if there was some lighting at least to illuminate my face. I was using the ceiling light and the natural light from the window, which were adequate, but both casted shadows and made me look washed out on camera.

For that conversation I settled on finding sometime…whenever that was, to ask Chris about getting the room re-done in a style that suits me since I’ll be living here for a while, and perhaps it would boost a little bit of my income, if I started streaming again, while I looked for a job. Couldn’t hurt to try, right?