I was nervous when I climbed the steps to the front door and knocked. At the hotel, in the real world, it was a warm, sunny day. In the woods it was gloomy, chil y, and there were too many shadows.
But when Tom opened the door, he was wearing the same ratty shorts, a different Nirvana T-shirt, and he had a big grin on his face.
This time, it seemed like he’d been expecting me.
“Hi. Come in. Can I get you anything? Coffee?”
I told him I had to get my work done first and he said, “Sure sure, ”
and led the way to the kitchen. It was actual y pretty tidy. The surfaces were al clear, and the floor looked like it had just been vacuumed and mopped. Tom sat down at the kitchen table. He had obviously been eating breakfast and drinking coffee and reading a book before I showed up, and he seemed happy to get back to it while I worked. I started emptying the dishwasher. He talked with his mouth half ful .
“I didn’t hire you guys.”
“I’m sorry?”
“I guess it was my mom who arranged it. The cleaning, I mean.
That’s the kind of thing she does.”
I was standing there, feeling like an asshole, a glass in each hand. “Do you . . . do you want me to leave?”
He looked anxious, suddenly, and blurted out, “God, no. I didn’t mean it like that.”
I said okay and put the glasses away, feeling real y awkward.
“Sorry, I just didn’t want you to think I was like that. Like, the kind of guy who would ask someone to clean up after him.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. I was absolutely sure that he’d had people cleaning up after him his entire life. Maybe in his parents’
home it had felt less about him, and I was close to his age, so that made things weird for him. He flushed, looked down at his book, and took another bite of toast. I got on with emptying the dishwasher.
When I finished I wiped down countertops that didn’t need wiping and looked around at floors that already looked real y clean.
“I think it’s pretty good in here. I’l do the bedrooms now.”
“Oh, no,” he said. “No, I mean, there’s no need.” I guess I just looked at him, and he explained that his room was fine, and that Mike was away.
“Where’d he go?” I asked. I couldn’t help myself.
“He took the boat north, to see some friends.”
“Boat?”
“Uh . . . a sailboat? Like a yacht? It’s my father’s. We sailed it here from Virginia. That’s why we’re here actual y. It was Mike’s idea.
Get away for a couple of weeks before col ege starts.”
I nodded. Silence descended again. I moved to the door. “I guess I’l do the other floors, and some dusting. Unless there’s something in particular . . . ?”
He shook his head. “It’s fine, real y.” I mumbled something about it being my job and he looked even more awkward for a second and then blurted out, “I just thought . . . you know, we could hang out.”
I stared at him. I’m pretty sure my mouth dropped open.
“No one needs to know. Wel . . . that sounds weird. I just meant, it’s so hot today. I don’t have anything to do. I thought we could swim, if you like. Just chil .” His expression changed; he started to look worried. “Not that you have to, I mean, of course, if you’d like to go home I can give you a ride. Or if that gets you into trouble you could just wait in the library and read, or something. I mean . . .”
“You cleaned the house so that we could hang out and swim?” I said.
“I didn’t mean to offend you, I—”
“Okay,” I cut across him.
“Okay,”
“Yes.”
I said yes to Tom’s invitation because, first of al , only an idiot would have said no. Who wouldn’t want to spend an afternoon swimming, instead of scrubbing toilets or listening to Mariah Carey on repeat?
And second, he seemed real y lonely.
I’m not stupid. The whole sweet/awkward thing might be an act. I mean, on paper it wouldn’t make sense for a guy like him— completely loaded, and a col ege student—to try to make friends with his housecleaner. If I told my friends about this, they’d say he’s just trying to get in my pants. I don’t think that’s it but I think you’d have to be here to get it. I mean, for starters, anybody stuck in a big old house with his toxic friend Mike would probably go looking for other friends. And also, we spent the whole afternoon together and he didn’t make a move once.