His clothes were on the floor of his walk-in closet—even though his hamper was sitting right there. I picked up the clothes and opened the hamper lid, not caring about touching the dirty clothes. I was paid enough not to care. When I dropped them inside, I noticed the lipstick stain on the collar of his shirt. The shirt was gray, so the lip print was subtle, but I noticed it.
Probably belonged to his supermodel girlfriend.
Or someone else…because he claimed she wasn’t his girlfriend.
God, he was such a cliché.
I grabbed the bag from the hamper and carried it back to the entryway so I could drop it off at the cleaners on my way. He didn’t need any dry cleaning because all he ever wore were jeans and t-shirts.
Since I was told to stay while Diane cleaned, I lingered. I wished I could get to work on his filing system or take care of his bills or something, but I didn’t have his permission yet. So, I sat on the couch while Diane vacuumed around me.
Cleo texted me. How’d he handle the driver?
Not sure. I told him when he got into the elevator, and he just glared at me.
LOL.
I’ll find out what happened later. I got his laundry, so I’m going to drop it off when Diane is done.
I stopped by and took a look at it. It’s perfect.
What did he say?
Nothing.
Of course…
LOL.
But he likes it. I can tell.
He treated me like I was insufferable again…so I didn’t notice a difference.
He’ll come around. He’s just cranky.
Seems like he’s always cranky.
Ronnie texted me when Derek got home, so I knew when to go over there. I didn’t wait for him because I wanted him to have time to shower and wind down before having to deal with me. Just dropped him off.
Thanks. How’d it go?
He only said a couple words.
What did he do on the drive?
Paperwork.
Good. That was what I wanted to happen, for him to utilize that time to get stuff done, to make that commute productive so he would have more free time at home to work on his novel.
When I headed back to his place, I met the chef in the lobby and took the food before getting into the elevator. My work schedule was different now, instead of nine-to-five like it used to be. But I knew it wasn’t forever. I just needed to get him settled, and then I wouldn’t have to work after hours much anymore.
But again, I was getting paid too much to care.
I knocked on his door.
“It’s open.”
I let myself inside with the bag of food on my arm.
He sat at the dining table and worked on his laptop.
Instead of asking how his day was and what he thought of Ronnie, I just moved to the kitchen and plated the food the chef had made. It was obvious Derek didn’t like to chat, so I didn’t bother with small talk. It seemed to irritate him more than establish a connection with me.
I placed the plate in front of him. He already had a beer.
He glanced at the plate then grabbed his fork. He ate it right away, like he liked the things the chef prepared for him.
I couldn’t ask for verbal validation, so I had to read him in everything he did. It was confusing at times and a little exhausting, but hopefully it would get easier for me to translate in time.
I grabbed the whiteboard from the closet and put it together next to the table and then retrieved all of his paperwork from the office. There was so much of it…a decade worth of stuff. I couldn’t do it all at once, so I only picked up a few stacks then grabbed my folders and my markers.
He finished his dinner, barely looking at me, as if he’d forgotten I was there.
I took a few bites before it got cold, and I wished I could eat like this every night. I was usually so busy I barely had time to sit down and eat. “Can I interrupt you for a moment?”
He finished what he was reading before he leaned back in the chair and turned to me.
“So, I’ve looked through a couple of these papers, and it seems like some are related to running your business. I think we should keep these separate from your research. So, I’ll put all of that in a single drawer, while everything else is filed in a different drawer.”
His blank stare seemed to indicate that was fine.
I uncapped the marker and wrote on the tabs to indicate what was what. “I need you to go through this stack. Put it in different piles, so I know what’s what and how I should label it to make it easier for you to find. Once I learn what you want, I’ll do the rest.”