Lesson 98- Always keep your room clean.

“Can I PLEASE clean out your office?” I beg. Torin blinks in surprise while the others stare on in shock. Then all at once Laura bursts out laughing. Even Kyle is chuckling. Torin sighs. He looks like he wants to refuse so I quickly add to my request.
“I spend so much time in here, it would just be nice to have a little space to sit comfortably.” I look up at him with the most pleading expression I can manage. As I predicted, Torin immediately caves.
“Oh alright. Just… Be careful.” He grumbles. I grin and clap my hands together gleefully.
“YES! Thank you!” I practically squeal. Torin raises an eyebrow.
“You’re thanking me for letting you clean MY office for me?” He says. I nod excitedly.
“Yep! I’m going to start right away.” I start to look around the room. Torin finds the inventory book and hands it over to Laura who excuses herself to go get her work done before the bar opens. Since Laura has left Kyle of course returns to the kitchen. Torin just stands awkwardly in the middle of the room while I start picking up papers.
“Um… Should I be helping?” He asks, sounding kind of overwhelmed. I nod.
“Sure, just start by picking everything up. I want it all in piles next to your desk. Then we can start sorting stuff out.” I explain. Torin reluctantly follows my directions and after we work in silence for a minute, he agrees to use his phone to play music.

We spend two hours sorting through his office before I head out to help in the bar. We’re nowhere close to finished and I’m feeling weirdly grimy. The office is more messy than it is dirty, but it’s strangely physical work, moving the papers around and sorting them. We have a dozen piles on the floor and I have to climb around them all to sort more papers. Honestly, I think most of the stuff in there could just be thrown out, but I don’t think Torin is comfortable with that, so I’ve requested that he get a filing cabinet or something and he’s agreed to order one. I should probably have changed into a nicer outfit before heading out to the bar, or at very least put some shoes on, but at this point this is basically my living room. I just don’t see the point in dressing up. It’s not like it makes any difference on my tips. Actually, since I started putting iron tonic in the vampire’s drinks, I don’t think I need to worry about my income at all. They tip VERY well. They seem to have nearly endless funds and they’re completely happy to send it my way. It doesn’t even matter who MAKES the drinks. Apparently because the iron was my idea, I get the money. Because of that, I pretty much always just take care of them myself. At least that way the others can serve customers that might actually tip them. That is how I end up dealing with a trio of very drunk vampires at the end of the night.
“Alright you guys it’s time for you to head off.” I prompt them. The vampires all groan.
“Noooo, we’re having fun here.” Isaiah complains. I roll my eyes.
“You all need to get home before sunrise. Don’t blame me when you burn off your pretty hair.” I warn. Isaiah clutches his head and gasps. I’ve recently come to the conclusion that he is very vain, the guy LOVES his hair. I grin at his reaction.
“Go on, go get back to your coffin.” I tease. I know that they don’t ACTUALLY sleep in coffins, but it’s fun to mess with them anyway.
“Yes mum.” Bastian sasses me. I raise an eyebrow.
“Mum? If I’m your mother then you’re grounded. Go to your room.” I order. The other two vampires burst out laughing. They really are wasted. But they’re friendly drunks so it’s not so bad.
“You can’t tell me what to do. I’ll turn into a bat and bite you.” Bastian grumbles, but he is still smiling brightly. I tilt my head curiously and smile at Torin as he comes to check why it’s taking me so long to send the guys home.
“Can they actually do that?” I ask curiously. Torin shakes his head.
“No.” He says firmly, glaring at the trio. Usually, this would be enough to send them running. But these guys are REALLY drunk. So instead of running off, they just start giggling amongst themselves.
“Oh no. Now DAD is here and he’s putting his foot down. We better go guys.” Isaiah sniggers. I roll my eyes and shoo them out. Torin locks up and as is our routine right now, we get to work cleaning up while Jane entertains Crash.
“I can’t decide if I want to go to bed or stay up for half the day and clean your office some more.” I comment. Torin raises an eyebrow.
“Is it really that entertaining to clean it?” He questions and I shrug.
“I don’t think entertaining is the right word, more like satisfying.” I explain, fighting a yawn. Torin notices and crosses his arms over his chest.
“You’re tired. You should sleep. No more cleaning.” He insists. I frown.
“Are you telling me to go to bed?” I ask and he nods firmly.
“Yes I am. You work almost as much as I do, and I own this place. You should rest more.” He argues. I sigh.
“But I really want to get it done.” I complain. Torin shakes his head.
“It will be there when you wake up. The office isn’t going anywhere.” He argues. I pout and he smiles.
“Just rest today and I’ll pick up a filing cabinet this afternoon. You can organise to your heart’s content AFTER you’ve slept.” He says firmly.
“Oh fine. I’ll have a shower and go to bed.” I answer sulkily. Torin actually laughs and then he reaches out to push my hair back out of my face.
“There’s no need to pout. I’ll be back this evening and you can finish sorting my office then. Alright?” He says softly, smiling down at me. I swear my heart skips a beat. What the hell dude? He can’t act all sweet and smile like that. It’s completely unfair. I find I’m suddenly horribly flustered. I start to blush, I don’t want Torin to notice, so I do the only thing I can. I turn on the spot and rush out, calling out something about needing to wash my hair. I lock myself in the bathroom and it’s not until I’m standing under the hot water that I let myself think about it. I like Torin, and I do mean I LIKE like him. It’s a problem because we spend SO much time together, but I also can’t let anything happen between us. I know he is ultimately a good guy, but I’m still technically his prisoner and I refuse to just accept this. Besides, the fact that I’m still stuck here is proof that he doesn’t really trust me. So a relationship with him would be doomed from the start. Still, the fact that he can just give me butterflies like that is so annoying. I doubt he even knows he’s doing it. Ugh, I’m actually pissed off. The guy is a socially awkward cinnamon roll. He has no right to be able to fluster me so easily!

I finish up in the shower, dress in pyjamas and then stand in the hallway. I SHOULD go to bed. That’s what I said I was going to do. But I’m not tired, or rather I am tired, but I’m also pissed off and emotional so I don’t want to try to sleep right now. I could just do a LITTLE more cleaning in Torin’s office. It’s no big deal, and there’s so much that needs doing I doubt he will even notice. For some reason I feel the need to be quiet and creep down the hallway to his office. Sadly, my sneaking is ruined by Crash who winds around my ankles, tripping me over and forcing me to tumble into a wall to catch myself. Still, I make it to the office in one piece and open the door. Or rather I try to open the door. The handle won’t turn. I try again and it takes me a moment to realise what’s happened. Torin locked the office door. He’s never done that before. Damnit. He totally knew I would stay up cleaning if I could, so he’s locked the door to stop me. I want to be insulted but mostly I’m just amused. Alright Tori, you win this time. It’s off to bed with me.