Divergent One Shots (Eric & Tris)

Fifty-Seven-You Wash, I Dry 18.1

Tris

I have someone else from my staff clean the cafeteria mess hall after breakfast while I shut down the females' restrooms nearby.  Everyone refuses to do the bathrooms and I generally don't care.  I thought a job in janitorial would be no big deal.  I've always enjoyed cleaning.  I love the way a room looks after I'm finished—when it's sparkling and fresh.  I've always felt so complete and satisfied afterwards. 
But... I honestly didn't realize how nasty Dauntless was.  The public laundry facilities are pretty awful when you open up the machines for maintenance and cleaning.  I've figured out the trick to keep them cleaner—bleach, scrub, water rinse, then vinegar rinse to kill the byproduct of the bleach breakdown.  They're always sparkling fresh now for months after I've handled them. 
The Chasm is another story.  There's fungus growing—poisonous and toxic.  We have to work as a team to rappel down there on cables.  Erudite has made a spray for us to cover the area.  Once I sent a sample to Erudite and received a severe rash through my melted industrial rubber gloves, they finally listened and made us a product.  It's no drip but rappelling in hazard suits is a serious challenge.  I get it done, though.  It's only necessary every six months. 
After my hard work, I received a promotion.  Leadership took notice of me and moved me to cleaning their apartments.  I was honestly kind of shocked and flattered.  I'm the only one on the staff advanced to that position.  Soon after that, I ascended to cleaning their offices.  I guess I proved myself trustworthy.  The only leader's home I don't clean currently is Eric's.  I have no idea why.  I put a form on his desk, he just never set up an appointment time. 
Anyway, my working closer to leadership put a rift between Four and me.  He wanted me to take a low-level position to avoid detection... but once I got promoted closer, he insisted that I turn it down.  It was a pay raise and a better position.  I'm assistant manager now.  I couldn't refuse... so we broke up.  I thought it was a silly reason to end things but he rejected me over that.  I'm honestly glad it's ended between us.  If he couldn't be with me due to something so trivial, I don't want that kind of relationship where I'm the only one making concessions.
I finish scrubbing the ladies room floors and empty the trash. Then I move on to the men's room. I put up the closed sign and get to work—scrubbing toilets, wiping surfaces, emptying trash. I notice new writing on the wall. It reads:

For a good time, call Lena @ #872-555-5555.

I sigh at that and lean over awkwardly around the toilet to spray it with cleaner and wipe it off. I brace myself on the wall and wipe it until the writing is gone, the surface clean. I notice something on the ground and I peer over to see it. I cringe when I realize what it is.
"That's disgusting," I mumble to myself. "He couldn't have thrown it in the trash?"
I change my normal gloves for something more substantial. I get the sterilizing spray out and paper towel. I walk back over and bend down picking up the filthy trash and carrying it over to the garbage can.
"That's nasty, Stiff," Eric says walking into the bathroom.
"You're telling me," I reply blushing. "Wait... what are you even doing in here?" I inquire.
"Using the facilities," he replies walking over to the urinal. I hear a zip and my mouth drops.
"Seriously, Eric?" I question harshly. "I don't know what's worse—the used condom in my hand or you with your pants down."
"The condom," he replies.
And he proceeds to do as he promised. I feel bile rising up and I gag. I scramble to just dispose of the trash in the receptacle and step out waiting for him to finish doing his business.
"It's safe now," he teases from inside and I hear him washing his hands.
I enter but I'm completely flustered. I know I'm blushing. I take the cleaner back over to the stall.
"So... was there any other evidence or do I need to have you send a sample of that to the infirmary?" Eric asks me.
"What?" I question.
"Public indecency is breaking Dauntless law," he points out. "Fornicating in the public bathroom counts."
"Geez, if I'd known," I chuckle rolling my eyes.
"This isn't the first time?" he asks.
"It's usually Lena, I would think," I reply.
"How would you know?" he questions furrowing his eyebrows.
"She always leaves a message," I tell him.
"Oh?" he questions intrigued.
"For a good time, call Lena @ #872-555-5555," I reply.
"She writes that?" he laughs disbelievingly.
I nod.
"Are you sure it's hers?" he questions.
"Unless this guy has swirly handwriting and writes his lowercase Os, As, and Is with hearts, I'd say it's most likely a female," I tell him.
"She certainly isn't Erudite," he chuckles. "Alright," he nods. "When was the last time you cleaned the bathroom?"
"Friday after lunch," I tell him.
"Until Monday after breakfast," he responds.
"Yeah," I reply.
"Okay," he says leaving.
I blink. That whole encounter was weird. First of all Eric actually seemed kind of nice—with the exception of urinating in my presence. That was outrageous. But the fact that he acts like this isn't something I should have to deal with, that's really thoughtful. It's not the worst mess... but it's definitely not what I was expecting when I chose the job. I asked Four once about relationships in Dauntless... his response was they just use protection. I honestly was assuming more people got married like my parents. I wasn't expecting the amount of looseness that I've experienced in passing. I find it unsettling, dirty, and repugnant. I spray the mess with the sanitizer and wait a while for it to kill off everything. I clean up the filth and mop the floors. I remove the sign and leave.
I take my cart and supplies to the loading dock. I know there's a dumpster through the cafeteria kitchen but it just feels nasty taking bathroom trash through there. I arrive and throw the tied up bags into the dumpster. I return to the janitorial office nearby to switch out my supplies. I grab a vacuum along with a variety of surface cleaners. I hold onto the bathroom cleaners since there's a small facility on the leadership office level.
I take my cart through the Pit to the service elevator. I place my palm on the control. The doors open and I select the top floor. I walk the hallway to the next elevator. I select the proper floor and arrive on the leadership office level.
I step out of the elevator walking down the hallway. I see that the conference room is empty. I'll start in there. I step inside and begin dusting. I see a mad rush of aides going to the restroom. They know I'll shut it down shortly. I dust the light fixtures and wall for cobwebs, along with the furniture in here. I spray the windows and glass walls polishing them. I wipe down the tables and other surfaces before I vacuum the floor. I tie up the cord and step out when I'm finished.
I stride over to the restroom and knock on the door. There's no answer so I open it and clean it thoroughly. I move onto the leaders' offices starting with Eric's since he's never up here in the mornings. I knock first out of respect even though I don't see him at his desk. There's no answer so I open the door and begin the same routine as the conference room—dusting, cleaning the windows and walls, wiping the surfaces. I pause at his desk. There's a file folder on top of his keyboard. I lift it with one hand before dusting the keyboard. I wipe down the surface of his desk and I'm about to set the folder back where I got it when I notice he's standing at his door watching me.
"I hadn't realized you were on duty up here," he mentions.
"I didn't look in you folder," I tell him.
"I know you didn't," he replies.
"Oh," I say setting it down. "Do you want me to come back later?" I ask. "I hadn't realized you'd be in."
"Now is fine," he says coming around his desk to sit down. I step back out of the way.
"I was going to vacuum. Are you sure you don't want me to come back later?" I ask confused. "I usually clean when I'm not a disturbance."
"Now is fine, Stiff," he says opening the folder and ignoring me.
"Okay," I reply softly.
I go back to spraying surfaces and wiping them down. I clean his file cabinet, his coffee table. I wipe down his sofa with leather cleaner. I return the cleaners to the cart and I hesitate at starting the vacuum but he told me twice to do it now... so I listen. I vacuum away from his desk, around the furniture. I move his coffee table and vacuum some crumbs up that were under there. I move it back and get the rest of the room. I turn the vacuum off and look at him still seated at his desk working.
I bite my lip and just ask, "Do you want me to come back later to finish?" I inquire.
"No," he replies.
"Do you want to move then?" I ask confused.
He stops what he's doing and looks at me.
"What?" he questions.
"I was going to vacuum behind, around, and under your desk. Do you want to move for me or I can come back when you've gone to lunch?" I explain.
He actually rises and steps aside. He takes his forms and sits on the sofa. I vacuum and move his chair. I find a scrap of paper under his desk and set it in the garbage can. I finish vacuuming and tie up the cord. I take the bag of trash and toss it bringing back another liner. I see Eric at his desk once more. I reach for the bin and remove the paper he just tossed in there to line it. I stick the bag in and take the paper with me to dispose of.
"You're really thorough," Eric points out.
"I guess so," I shrug.
"Do you clean homes, too?" he asks.
"Yes," I say surprised that he doesn't know this.
"How much do you charge?" he asks.
I blink surprised. "Um... cleaning leadership apartments is part of my job. I put a schedule on your desk a while back but you're the only one who didn't set up a time," I reply.
"What?" he questions laughing lightly. A smile looks good on him.
I bite my lip and tell him the same thing again.
"You clean Ryan's apartment?" he asks. I nod.
"Freaking liar," he mumbles.
I blink in surprise.
"Ryan said he cleaned his own," he divulges.
I laugh at that. "No," I shake my head. "I've been doing it for a few months now. I clean everything for everyone except Lydia only wants her bathroom done. I cleaned the whole place after a party once," I shrug.
"Nobody said anything to me," he tells me.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and open up my schedule for the month. I walk over to him and set it down. "I often clean homes on Saturdays so they can be there if they want. I'm free this Saturday, though. Unless you want me to do it in the evening. I don't have anything scheduled then. I can switch my schedule, though, and assign a subordinate to take care of other work if you want it done on a weekday during the workday," I elaborate.
"Saturday is fine," he says looking at me.
"Okay," I nod and add his name in. I block off the whole workday since I don't know how long it'll take for a first time cleaning.
"Thanks," he says.
"Anytime," I smile. I excuse myself from his office and move onto Ryan's quickly. I clean his as fast as I can. He has a crush on me and he's always hitting on me. I sigh in relief when he's a no show. I knock on Lydia's office. It's empty. I clean hers as well. I move onto the two spare offices and handle those before I see Max and Jude going down to lunch. I clean both of their offices and proceed onto the aides' room, the hallway, and the kitchenette. I finish as the first aides start trickling in returning from lunch.
I take my cart back down the series of elevators, then through the Pit. I toss the garbage into the dumpster and park my cart in the janitorial office. I wash my hands and arms thoroughly in the sink before drying them and going to lunch.
I arrive at the cafeteria and I'm excited about the meal. We're having tacos and we rarely have these. I get my food and join my friends at the table.
"Late today, huh?" Christina points out.
"Yeah," I nod. "Mondays are kind of busy."
She nods.
We chat a bit. I don't have much to say. Nothing new is going on and nobody wants to hear about my cleaning so I stay quiet.
"Hey, Tris," Four says sitting beside me.
"Hi," I respond softly eating a bite of rice.
"What were you doing in Eric's office?" he questions me.
I look at him with my mouth agape. "I was cleaning," I tell him.
"I hear you're going to be at his apartment on Saturday," he says.
"You're not supposed to be listening in on leadership conversations," I point out.
"It cycled through just in time for me to hear that you're his new housekeeper. That'll be interesting," he says leaning closer. "A little Divergent trapped in an apartment with a Divergent hunter," he whispers.
"Get away from me, Four," I frown.
"I told you this job was a death sentence," he whispers harshly.
I rise with my tray and sit on the other side of Christina. I bite my lip to stop myself from crying. I don't know what's happened to him. He's just plain mean... and scary anymore. I'd hate to see how my fear landscape has changed by the things he's been saying to me lately.
I hear him rise and leave. He slams his tray on the return. I look at his retreating form and watch him shove the double doors open roughly. I jump at the sound as they hit the wall. I look away and scan the room to see if anyone even noticed that fit of his. I see Eric's eyes are on me. He noticed. I look back down at my plate and try to finish my food. My appetite is gone, though, and I force myself to eat more so I don't waste it. 
I go back to work and I clean all of the restrooms in the Pit.  I find some more writing on a few stalls.  It's nothing like before—mostly so and so stinks or whatever.  I finish cleaning up the bathrooms and go home.  I shower and change for dinner.  I meet Christina and Will there. 
"What was going on with Four today?" Will asks me. 
"He's was being mean," I shrug.  "Nothing new there."
"I don't understand," Christina says shaking her head.  "He was this scary instructor during training.  Then he was sweet on you—a total reversal of attitude.  And now since you've broken up, he's even meaner than instructor Four.  I don't get it."
"Me either," I agree.  I eat a bite of mashed potatoes and I hear the doors hit once more. 
"Crap, he's back," Christina says.
I figured.  I knew that was him.  Will rises from across the table from us and sits on my other side. 
"Thank you," I whisper to him as Uriah and Marlene sit across from us. 
I sigh in relief that he won't pester me when I'm surrounded by friends.  I eat my dinner mostly in peace.  I do hear him slamming his cup around but we rise and leave soon after he sits down.  As we pass him, someone grabs my arm. 
"Let go, Four," I insist. 
"You need to leave that job," he tells me squeezing my arm in emphasis. 
"My life is no longer your concern," I insist setting my tray down and prying his hand off of me. 
"It's your funeral," he replies. 
"Yeah, and I'm not having cake.  You're not invited," I tell him. 
I grab my tray with my far hand and walk to the return.  I examine the other arm after I've set it down.  It's all red from his grasp and it hurts.  I frown and leave. 
"Hey, there you are," Christina says as I step out of the cafeteria. 
"Yeah, sorry," I say halfheartedly. 
"We're all going shopping," she says motioning to Marlene and Lynn.  "You want to come, too?"
"I'm not up for it," I admit. 
"Come on.  I'm sure getting out will get rid of that sour face," Marlene insists. 
"I'm sorry.  Maybe next time," I reply. 
"Okay.  See you later," Lynn says. 
I force a smile and rush home so Four doesn't follow me.  I unlock my door and go straight to bed.  I cry myself to sleep.  I enjoy my life... but he's the one who's making it miserable.