Room 4123 | sakuatsu

1.0

Ah, winter. The perfectly cold temperature and scenic views. Give all my compliments to the light snow.

Although Sakusa loved winter, it was the worst period at the hotel. Everything was just more dirty. People would drag snow inside the lobby, making the floors all wet and dirty. That same snow would trail all the way to the elevators and down the carpeted corridors of the hotel. Carpet is really hard to clean, ok? Especially wet and stained carpet. All in all, that just meant more cleaning for Sakusa, which he didn't dislike, but it was just more tasks than usual.

Sakusa worked in a prestigious hotel in downtown Tokyo, meaning the cleaning and service standards were higher than most places. That wasn't a problem for him. He took pride in his meticulous work. It wasn't without saying that Sakusa was one of the best cleaners at his work, thanks to his mysophobia. Although his phobia prevented him from doing many things "normal" people did, in his work place, that had granted him access to the more prestigious suites the hotel had. Only four employees, including Sakusa, had access to the 41st and last floor of the building, which consisted of 25 different luxurious suites.

Some of the suites were one-bedroom suite, there were some two-bedrooms, and even one with three rooms. All of which had private balconies and terrace. Most of the suites had built-in kitchenettes, but mainly, the guests would prefer use the catering service that was offered. For that, the floor had a private butler to attend any of the guests' needs as quickly as possible.

Today was Wednesday and Sakusa had just started his shift for the day. He usually worked 9-5, but depending on the needs of the day, for example, if there was an event or a wedding, sometimes, Sakusa was asked to stay a little bit later. Today was a regular day though.

Everyday, the different rooms to clean were dispatched between the many housekeepers. They used electronics tablets to see their daily tasks. On busy days, days that had many check outs, Sakusa was rarely asked to tend to the common areas. If a lot of guests were leaving the hotel that day, that meant a lot of rooms to clean, and Sakusa was one of the fastest cleaners they had. So they would prioritize his services to tend to the rooms instead.

Sakusa much preferred cleaning rooms than the common areas. That meant less people he might come across. Unfortunately, there were also a type a cleaning that was called stayovers. That was when current guests wanted their room or suite cleaned. Usually, that consisted of changing the sheets and towels, emptying the trash, and overall tidying the room. These were Sakusa's least favorite tasks because guests were allowed to stay in their rooms when such cleaning was done. Which immensely triggered Sakusa's anxiety and mysophobia.

But like in any jobs, there would always be that one task that you dreaded and hated, right?

Today wasn't so busy for Sakusa. He had a fair amount of check out cleanings to do, and some stayovers too. But he also had one of the suites to clean on that day. Room 4123. That was a change for once.

That room was a one-bedroom suite with kitchenette and a private terrace. It was quite big compared to regular rooms, so it would obviously take more time cleaning it.

Sakusa prepared his cleaning cart with what he needed for the day. Towels, clean sheets, bottled cleaners and rags, gloves, etc. When he made sure he had all he needed, he departed his journey from the basement to the 41st floor using the service elevator.

He used his special card to unlock the penthouse floor and exited the elevator at the end of the carpeted hallway. The private butler was sitting near the main elevator, waiting for any instructions. Sakusa greeted the older man with a bow when passing by him, which the man replied with a bow as well.

Sakusa made his way to room 4123 which was almost at the other end of the corridor. He stationed his cart next to the door, put on some clean gloves, made sure his mask was on, and knocked on the door, announcing himself.