CHAPTER THREE

Calvin walks through the house and immediately smells the intrusive odor of bleach and lemon. He walks through the living room section of the house, where the space is cluttered with cleaning supplies, chemicals, buckets and gloves. He continues walking where he walks through another doorway leading to the kitchen. Collective chatter at loud decibels hit his eardrum as he tries to read the potential energy of the atmosphere...freedom?

We see a group of thirty people. Some are sitting at the table as they eat their breakfast. Some are crowding around the table, and the rest are chilling wherever, no space or corner of the kitchen is unclaimed. All of them are wearing their work uniforms. The guys are wearing their gray shirts, while the girls wear gray dresses with white waist aprons. Calvin stands in the doorway to try and observe all the faces and potential personalities of his potential coworkers.

Unfortunately, he didn't get a chance. As soon as he appeared, the whole crew stopped talking in unison. Most stared at Calvin, while some sat and ate their breakfast, pretending not to notice his presence. Clearing his throat, Calvin whips out a card and stares intently at the text as if he's reading in front of the class back in elementary school.

"Um...ahem...is this th-The Happy Meadows Housekeeping Service?"

The coworkers all looked at each other in disbelief, almost as if they're saying to each other, "Is this dude serious?" Before anyone could get a word in, Gary appears behind Calvin. He makes his presence known by slapping Calvin on the back, which gives him a cold chill.

"Nah, man, this is the Sad Meadows Spa and Salon," Gary began to joke, which totally confused Calvin even more as he looked back at him in shock. A sonic wave pool of chuckles and covered guffaws were heard throughout the room. "You need to step out and take a right towards the Vittles and Chips chicken joint down the road…"

"Then take a left until you get to the arcade at the end of the block," chimed another coworker.

"And if you reach the exotic dancer place off of Tracer and Monroe, then you've walked too far," uttered another coworker before the whole room was filled with petty, animalistic laughter. Gary is laughing right along with them, his laughter booming over and through Calvin like a rollercoaster from Hell. It was at this moment that Calvin looked down at the floor in embarrassment as his face turned rosy pink; he didn't know Gary was joking until it was too late.

As the laughter begins to die down, Gary grips his new employee's shoulder, "I was just messing with you, man! We gotta pick on the new guy a little bit on his first day, eh?! Whew...welp, here's your uniform and name tag. You only get three of them a year, so be careful." Gary hands Calvin his shirt and name tag before walking through the crowded kitchen.

"Morning, y'all! As you can clearly see, we have a newbie in these neck of the woods. Be friendly to our new employee, Calvin!" A polite round of applause is created by the coworkers before Gary continues, "Alright, so here's the game plan today…" He maneuvers around a couple of people as he walks over to a drawer by the fridge. In it is a bulky black binder that only he's allowed to look at. Inside the binder contains all the employees' info, as well as their duties for the day. He opens it up to a particular section and uses his finger to guide through the page.

"It's deep cleaning day!" The coworkers groaned and rolled their eyes, while a couple chuckled. Gary smiles and shakes his head as he continues. "That means that our customers want all of their rooms cleaned from top to bottom! Alright, where's group A?" Several hands rise in unison across the room as several people come together in front of Gary. He hands a paper to one of the coworkers.

"The Wilson's are going on vacation for two weeks. They left a note in the kitchen on specific instructions for their bedroom. And make sure their cats are fed and looked after! Alright, group B?" As group A walks out the kitchen and out the door, group B makes themselves known and forms a cluster in front of Gary, the same as group A did. "Okay, group B...ah! You get the McMillon house!" A few more groans are heard as Calvin stands there in stoic silence, his uniform and name tag now covering his t-shirt.

"But they get that house every week," a female coworker complained. "It's not fair!"

It's not fair…

FLASHBACK: Dad and Gary stare at Calvin, his arms crossed as he stares off into space. Gary leans over to Dad while his hand awkwardly extending towards Calvin:

"Has he always been like this?" Dad gives him a slight shake of the head as he stares intently at his son. "He was more confident when he was younger, more expressive...but that was before that day…"

Gary gives him a bewildered look before replying, "...Are we talking about the noodle incident?"

"The what?" It took dad a second before he realized what he was talking about. He snort-chuckled and took a breath. "No, not that...it was what I told you about on the phone over the past week."

Gary, having a blonde moment, gasped and clenched his jaw. "I really need to pay attention more…"

"That's what his mother and I tell ourselves everyday," Dad replied. "But the past is in the past. We can't beat ourselves up for what happened."

"Yeah, I see what you mean…"

A few moments of silence commenced before Dad lightly pushed his son on the arm. "Calvin?"

"Calvin!"

Calvin looks up and sees a group of people motioning for him to meet with them and Gary. Looks like he's a part of the last group by default. The others have left at this point.

"Alright, group E," Gary flips several pages and onces again glides his fingers across the page for guidance. "You guys are going to be working at the Parkers' residence at Springview." He hands Calvin a piece of paper before the group collectively walks out the kitchen. Morning meeting has officially ended.