Pushing Daisies [BUCKY BARNES]

3

It was quiet when I reached Stark Tower. The brisk air bit at the tips of my ears, and I thoroughly enjoyed the slight cold that had settled over New York City. It made it all too clear that autumn was fast approaching.

I made my way through the rotating doors and towards the front desk. The woman sitting there was nursing a cup of steaming coffee as her computer was starting to boot up. 6:15 was definitely early in the day for anyone.

"Hi, I'm-"

"Westley Powers?" The woman chuckled, "nice to see you dear." She stretched out a hand and placed a keycard on the counter. "We already have you signed in. Mr. Stark only has you assigned to the lived in floors, 75-84. If you have any questions about anything feel free to ask JARVIS."

I blinked my eyes quickly, trying to clear the cobwebs that had settled in my skull. "JARVIS is Mr. Stark's AI, right? That's something swanky, now isn't it."

She laughed, "it sure is, honey."

Smiling at her and taking my keycard, I turned and walked towards the open elevator, completely ready to start my new job. It wasn't like I needed a new job, I already had one working at Julianne's shop, but that archer dude had seemed so adamant about it that I figured I might as well give it a shot.

The starting of the elevator, and the lurching that followed, caught my stomach in a very unsatisfying way. All too quickly, though, I was at the 75th floor of the building.

Skittering out of the elevator, desperate to be away from the unearthly contraption, I turned down a dark hallway. Now I was uncertain. Why did I just come up here?  I didn't know where any cleaning supplies were, or what kinds of things I needed to do on this floor.

"Miss Powers, are you in need of assistance?"

I shrieked, jumping in fright before realizing where the metallic British voice had emanated from. "Quit being such a fat-head, Wes." I slapped at my forehead, mentally beating myself  up for my own stupidity. "Uhh, sure JARVIS, that would be swell."

"Of course Miss Powers. Would you like me to inform you of what needs attention as you climb the floors?"

I smiled at this, "why soitently, JARVIS."

"On this floor, the cleaning supply closet is on your right hand side. The only thing in need of cleaning on this floor is the laundry room, which you can find at the end of the hall."

I rubbed my hands together, "well now we're cookin'." I pulled open the cleaning supply closet, grabbing a plastic bucket and throwing in detergent and fabric softener. I stepped quietly towards the door at the end of the hall, not realizing how quiet I was being until I reached for the handle.

Shaking my head at my own automatic reactions, I threw open the door and almost puked at what I smelled. Piles and piles of clothing sat around, obviously having been worn over and over and still not washed. I had to squeeze my thumbs to prevent myself from gagging.

I set to work as quick as I could, sorting through everything to make four piles. Jeans, shirts, underwear and socks, and whites. I also found a few bras and threw them into their own pile. After debating wether the shirts or underwear were more smelly, I voted on the latter and threw it all in to the huge washer, not having to worry about doing two loads. Starting the load, I threw the other piles into a few of the laundry baskets that sat around and lined them up in the order I would do it.

I set the timer on my phone for twenty minutes and left the spacious laundry room, heading back towards the elevator. "Hey, JARV, what's next?" I asked as I pressed the button for the 76th floor.

"The next floor is the gymnasium, Miss Powers. The supply closet will be on the right hand side just off of the lift, and Mr. Stark asks that the mats be cleaned, the bathroom be dealt with, and the equipment be wiped."

"Thank's JARV, and call me Wes, will you? Miss Powers is too spiffy for me."

"Very well, Wes."

The elevator dinged open, and I headed straight to the supply closet, trying to ignore how large the gymnasium was. This would take absolutely forever.

Sighing, I grabbed two plastic buckets this time, filling one with bleach wipes, drain unclogger, and rags, and the other with disinfectant spray and two different kinds of soap. It was quick work on the mats, simply having to spray them down, and even the workout equipment wasn't too difficult. The only issue arose with the bathroom.

It looked as though a herd of elephants had gone through it. Every single one of the mirrors was covered in grime, two of the four sinks were clogged and filled with water, one of the taps was leaky, the showers were covered in mold, and I was suddenly rethinking all of my life choices.

Who in their right mind would let any aspect of their house get this way?

Sighing, I set to work on that too, leaving after a few minutes to switch the laundry, but coming back to finish. It took nearly two hours to get that bathroom back to spotless, and my knees had started to bruise at the amount of time I had spent on the floor scrubbing.

When I finally finished, I wiped at my forehead with the back of my hand and headed back to the laundry room to change the laundry for the last time. "JARVIS, when does my shift end?"

"Mr. Stark say's you're finished at 5:30, Wes."

"And what time is it now?"

"9:26 AM."

"Uuuggghhhh."