How We Became Us

Chapter 8

Matt woke up minutes before his alarm and quickly turned it off so he wouldn't wake Connor. He mentally groaned as he had only three hours of sleep. It was 5 AM, and he knew he needed to clean Connor's house before 8 AM. He isn't sure if Connor told the servants not to come today either, but just in case, Matt doesn't want them to clean that mess. He also doesn't know if Claire would decide to drop by from college, so to be on the safer side, Matt climbed out of bed. He grabbed his keys, where he had a copy, and went to Connor's house. Before he left his house, he made sure to leave a glass of water and painkillers on the bedside tables where Heather, Andy, Kelly, and Connor were sleeping. He had a bit of a headache, but it wasn't a hangover.

Over at Connor's house, he sighed at the mess that the house had become.

"Fuck me," he whispered and started picking up the cups left in random places and random garbage around the house. He was glad there were no spills on the ground or in the future—Elizabeth Rhodes would flip out if there was a spill on her furniture—aside from the rooms. He mentally groaned at the prospect of having to clean the bedrooms and bathrooms; after the glimpses, he saw last night—well, early this morning—he did not want to go in there but didn't have a choice.

The first floor and outside of the house were all cleaned up an hour later, and he made his way up to the second floor. He got his gloves, a large basket, and cleaning products ready as he went to the rooms. Thankfully, aside from a stray used condom here and there, the rooms weren't too bad, and Matt mostly needed to change the sheets. He still didn't like having to pick up condoms, but it could've been worse.

By seven, he had put the Rhodes house back in order, all the dirty sheets in the laundry machine, new sheets on every bed, and the trash all taken out. The house was back to being spotless, and as he was leaving the Rhodes's house through the back, he heard the sound of a car in the driveway. He walked around the house and peeked through the side as Claire Rhodes got out of her car. Matt mentally cheered as he finished all the cleaning before Claire got home, knowing they would've all been dead if Claire found out because she would've told her parents.

He snuck back over to his house and ran upstairs to take a quick shower, now no longer bothering to be as quiet as possible since Connor should be waking up soon. On his way back to the kitchen, he made sure to close all the blinds in the house to keep the sun from shining in, knowing everyone else would appreciate it.

Once in the kitchen, he bumped into Cassie, who was pulling out pots and pans to make breakfast.

"Morning," she greeted, and Matt smiled back. "I'm assuming Connor, Heather, and the two boys I met last night are here?"

"Yup, asleep and will be extremely hungover upstairs," Matt said, making coffee.

"I saw Claire this morning," Matt hummed and felt Cassie was conversing to avoid the actual topic she wanted to talk about. "Did you know she was coming back?"

"Con never said a word," Matt replied and heard one of the kitchen doors swing open.

"Good morning. You're up early for someone who was at a party last night," Robert said, grabbing a mug and placing it beside Matt's while they both waited for the coffee.

"Didn't drink much," Matt said with a shrug and nodded toward the Rhodes's house. "Plus I needed to clean the house before anyone from Connor's staff shows up and thankfully I did, Claire arrived just as I was leaving."

"You're a good friend," Robbert said, rubbing Matt's head—messing up his hair—to which Matt batted his hand away and then fixed his hair. "Maybe a little too good of a friend, but good either way."

"Thanks?" Matt said, well, it was more of a question, and Robert shrugged.

"Anyways, your father informed me they will come tomorrow night and expect you at the dinner table. They also expect a full report of the first week with your new projects, and your mother wants you and Heather to meet with their media designer to discuss a rebrand," Matt groaned and put his face in his hand.