Suited

Four

The ride to the Whitacre estate was silent save for the hum of the engine and the low drone of the radio. Lawrence sat in the passenger seat, staring at his lap and running his fingers over the seal of his bandage. Jessie answered the door for us, informing him that Dr. Sterling would be there at ten the next morning. Lawrence didn't reply, just grabbed my sleeve and pulled me toward the stairs.

His room was a disaster. The only positive thing was that the bed was somewhat made and the curtains were drawn this morning, but it was dark now so the latter was currently pointless. I could only see bits and pieces of the floor with how much clothing was strewn about. The dustbin by the desk overflowed with tissues of dubious necessity and the room had the stale odor that came with low air circulation.

"Is Kelly on leave," I asked carefully.

"No. She just doesn't come in here anymore." He took off his shoes by the door, added them to the pile, and traversed the minefield of dirty laundry to get to the sitting area, which the only clear space in the room in an alcove on the other side. I asked why even though I worried for the answer. "She walked in on me."

Well that was juvenile. "Does Jessie know?" I knew his parents didn't—at least not the reasoning—but Jessie should have been able to talk some sense into her.

"Kinda." He stared at me from about ten meters away. "I know it's bad but can you come over here?"

"I can hear you from here," I said as I glanced around. "Where's your hamper?"

"No clue."

"I'll be right back." I didn't wait for an answer before I went back through the door and down the stairs to look for the laundry room. Jessie caught me wandering and asked what I was doing. "Why doesn't Lawrence's room get cleaned?"

"You noticed," he sassed. Hell yeah, I noticed! It was impossiblevg to miss. "He would hit on Kelly constantly so she doesn't go in anymore."

Well that answered that. "I'm looking for the laundry room."

Jessie's eyes got wide and his jaw dropped. "You're gonna clean his room?"

It was well outside of my job description but no one should have to live like that, especially not someone who spent most of their time in their room. At this point, it was probably too overwhelming to tackle alone. "Yes."

"I—alright. It's in the basement."

I didn't wait for him to say anything else and found the entrance. It was late, so Kelly was most likely in her house for the evening. The lights came on automatically, revealing a well organized laundry with two sets of machines, a long table for folding and pressing, and a space on one side for clothing to hang dry if needed.

Like the rest of the house, it was somehow a combination of modern and Victorian in style which was no doubt a compromise between the Chairman and Mrs. Genevieve. They had very different tastes but the designers and decorators they hired made it work. I located the carts and dragged a big one with wheels near the service elevator. I grabbed a vacuum and a bag of cleaning supplies as well and got in.

The elevator put me in the back of the house so I brought everything past the sunroom and around to Lawrence's room. I passed the master bedroom and what I assumed was Gabriel's old room on the way. I knew better than to snoop and, frankly, I was too pissed off to. His father could have hired a different cleaner—a male cleaner—if it was that big of a concern. Sure, it was uncomfortable to walk in on someone pleasuring themselves but Lawrence clearly needed someone to help him with the cleaning. He wasn't raised to do menial tasks like this. I didn't even think he knew how to iron his own shirts. He was so sheltered.