Homer's mind was now racing. It had been a week since he agreed to take the janitor job and after really thinking it over the first night, he began to have second thoughts. There were other things out there much better than what he was getting himself into. The things he used to clean up on the boat were nothing compared to what he would have to clean up after in schools around the city. He thought about backing down a few times and not showing up for the first day of work. No one would really care, in fact, Don probably forgot to tell the other guy that Homer needed a job. But then again, he could always see what the first day was like. If he didn't like it, then he could say no and not come in ever again, that idea seemed better and he could at least get paid for one day.
The office was located in downtown Springfield, right next door to a really seedy looking parking garage and an even seedier bar. He wondered if he had to check in at the place every night or if he was lucky enough just to go about his business at whatever school he was supposed to clean up after. He knew he would find out sooner or later as he entered the office and found the place in complete chaos. Quite a few people were there, some standing in line, others waiting and filling out paperwork for something. Homer wondered if he needed to do that since all he turned in was the resume, and where was he supposed to go at this exact moment?
"Do you need something?" a very grumpy older woman asked as Homer tried to make his way forward.
"...Uh, I was sent here by Don...he said his brother could hire me for a janitor position," Homer replied nervously, not sure if he was even asking the right person.
"Oh yeah, school janitor eh, just go down that hall behind you and then make a left, his office is right in there," the lady said as she pointed with her pencil.
"Ah, well thank you," Homer replied as he made his way down the hall to a more quiet location. Things felt a little more calm now and he relaxed a little. He knew he was in the right place too when the sign on the door read: "Joe's janitorial service." Then without hesitation, he opened the door and went in.
The room reminded him of a dentist office, white walls, magazines in the waiting room, and a fish tank on one wall filled with lovely tropical fish and the decorations that went with them. A young lady at the front desk was busy reading a book when Homer walked in, she seemed to be so deep in the book that Homer had to cough to get her attention. The girl looked up startled yet slightly annoyed that Homer was here to make her do work.
"May I help you?" she said in a tone that made Homer back away a little.
For a moment, Homer just stared, too afraid to say anything really. She was fair haired and not as skinny as Marge or Jenna, but still looked fairly attractive. She had a few freckles on her cheeks and wore glasses that seemed to say "I like to read and I am only here for money." It made Homer wonder though if she was friendly at all, especially after the last sentence that came out of her mouth. But he did sort of startle her, so maybe once she calmed down a little, things would be different.
"Uh yeah..." Homer replied after a few moments of studying her. "I was told to come here for some janitorial work."
"Your name please?" the girl said as she took out a binder with a list of people looking for the job.
"Homer Simpson," Homer replied.
"Oh yes, Joe is expecting you, he is in the back handling some paperwork for you, I'll go get him," the lady said as she got up and walked to the back door. Homer watched her go and for a split second, he watched as she swayed back and forth toward her destination. Homer quickly shook it off. Maybe later.
Homer did not have to wait long, for the girl returned with Joe who was smiling at Homer the minute they made eye contact. Joe was a tall man, with short brown hair and a tough looking physique, probably from years of cleaning up in all the schools. Homer knew he could probably take out any guy in seconds so he decided it was best to not get on his bad side.
"Homer, it's very nice to meet you, I'm Joe and this lovely lady is Emily. Whenever you need to see me or need to pick up your paycheck, she will be here to greet you," Joe said with a smile as he held out his hand to shake.
Homer returned the gesture. "Thanks sir, so do I come here every day?"
"Nope just for your paycheck or if I need to talk to you. Hopefully you won't be seeing me here much. I only send you to my office if things get bad. But as long as you do your job, things will be fine and you can just consider me a friend," Joe said.
"Well I hope to be a good employee for you then," Homer said with a smile.
"Good, now let me get you your work clothes and you can follow me to the school you will be working at today," Joe said and lead Homer to the back room.
The uniforms were a typical janitor uniform. Gray and drab, perfect for cleaning up after people but a little itchy. As Homer followed Joe down the road to the first school for the day, he couldn't help but want to adjust his collar and scratch in some odd places, including under his armpits. Perhaps it was just the detergent they had been using and that he would grow out of it eventually. For now though, he was feeling very uncomfortable and was ready to get to work so he would not have to think about it.
Luckily the drive wasn't too long, today Joe brought him to Springfield East Elementary, the children were still in school but they would be leaving very shortly and the time to clean up after them was upon Homer. Joe led Homer through the main doors where they were greeted with a warm welcome by the office secretaries and the principal of the school.
"Good afternoon," Joe said happily when he entered the doors.
"Afternoon Joe, I see you have a new employee for this place?" the principal asked. He was a tall man, a little older than both Joe and Homer. He was graying a little and had a very militaristic way about him.
"Sure do Seymour, hopefully he will clean better than the last one we had," Joe said.
"Oh anyone can be better than that slovenly Bill, just thinking about him really disgusts me," Seymour said.
"Well you don't have to worry about him any more, Homer here took his place and he will do a bang up job," Joe said as he escorted Homer to a smaller room with cleaning supplies and a desk.
"Was Bill really that bad Joe?" Homer asked once they were away from everyone else.
"Well he rarely showed up to work, and got drunk in the fifth grade classroom more than there are desks, so yes he was," Joe said as he rummaged through some files.
"Oh," Homer said with surprise and looked around the office wondering what sort of supply he needed to use first for cleaning. "Will I always be working here?"
"Just on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Tuesdays and Thursdays, you get to help at the community college down the street," Joe said.
"Sounds fair," Homer said as he stared at a jug of cleaning soap.
"Yup, now go ahead and pour that stuff into the bucket over here, since the kids won't be let out for another hour or so, you can go ahead and give the cafeteria and nice clean. I'll help you this one time since you're new and some things might be a little tricky the first time," Joe said.
Homer only shrugged, he had cleaned up Moe's bar while in Key West before, how hard could it be?
Of course Homer only had to clean up after drunks and adults, here it was rowdy children and their ways of handling food. He wasn't prepared for such a messy place until he entered, then he felt a little overwhelmed by all the food left on the table and walls. There was one spot where one kid seemed to like ketchup very much. He left several packets lying to what looked like a horrible crime scene. Only the creatures that were covered in "blood" were the crunchy remains of french fries. The kind that no one really wanted because they had no flavor left in them and were usually at the bottom of the bag. Then there was a mess of leftover spaghetti in one corner. It was on the table, on the walls, and on the chair, what the child looked like made Homer wonder and it also made him wonder if the kid even ate any of it and was only pretending to just the please his mother.
Besides those big messes, there were the usual crumbs and drink stains all over the floor and tables. Some food pieces were a little hard to pick up, but after some hard work and a little elbow grease, the cafeteria was sparkling again. It was one of the more harder jobs Homer had to face but he left that place feeling satisfied to have cleaned up after all those children. Of course he still had to handle the classrooms and bathroom, but according to Joe, the cafeteria was the worst.
Homer found this to be partly true, the older kids classrooms were very easy to clean after, all he had to do was vacuum, clean the boards, and wipe down the desks and that only took a few minutes. The younger kids were a bit messier, they of course dropped things like in the cafeteria or left a few messes on the desks. Even the bathroom wasn't so bad save for the one really bad clog that required Joe's assistance. That was something Homer was definitely not prepared for.
He was done later that evening, around eight thirty and ready to go home after those long hours of cleaning. He slept like a baby that night, and began to wonder, what tomorrow would bring when he had to go to the community college. Surely it would be much easier.
Working at the community college was definitely different than working in an elementary school. For one, Homer worked with several other janitors and each one had a specific task to deal with during the time they worked. Another big difference was the fact that some people were still in class when he came into work so he had to figure out which rooms were available to clean if the need arrived. So working in the community college was a little easier but not by much. He still enjoyed it though, it kept him busy and gave him money that he could use to get an apartment somewhere in the future.
It was on his second Tuesday of working at the Community college when he went to work cleaning up one of the many bathrooms the college had. He had to close it down so he could work and not be disturbed and this was especially important if he was cleaning the ladies room. He definitely did not want to embarrass himself or a lady who needed to use the place, so of course he had signs posted at the door saying that the area was closed for about an hour so he could clean up.
He was halfway through working and nearly finished on the third stall when he heard the door burst open. Homer jumped up with surprise unsure of how to tell the lady who had just burst in that they needed to find another restroom. But before he could even peek out and see what was going on, he heard her throw up near the door. Homer let out a heavy sigh, this place was not going to get cleaned any time soon. Hopefully the lady who had entered was okay and slowly he peeked out to see where she had left the mess she made.
"Everything okay out there?" Homer asked as he walked out slowly.
There was no answer, only heavy breathing before he heard her go through another round of heavy hurling. Homer turned the corner to see and discovered that luckily she was nice enough to use a trash can. For a moment, Homer stood there waiting for a response, making sure he did not need to help her and when she lifted her head, he was very surprised to see who it was. There was no way anyone could forget that blue hairdo.
"Yeah, I'm okay, sorry for bursting in, I couldn't hold it any longer," Marge said with a heavy sigh.
"It's alright, these things happen," Homer said as he handed Marge a towel to wipe her face with. Marge took it before returning it and hurling again in the trash.
"Can you put some cold water on that?" Marge asked once she was able to talk again.
"Yeah sure," Homer said as he ran over to the sink. As he did so, Marge noticed him for the first time and let out a startled gasp before hurling one last time.
"Homer! I thought you were in Key West!" Marge exclaimed as she wiped her face off with the towel.
"Uhh...yeah I was, until a hurricane changed things. Now I'm back in Springfield, working here until I find something else," Homer replied nervously, hoping that she wasn't thinking that he was a stalker. "What are you doing here? Do you go to school?"
"No I teach a few art classes, I just finished one before I came in here, I have no idea how I held it all while teaching. I can't even remember what I taught," Marge said as she leaned against the wall to steady herself. Even though she looked very sick and tired, she was still just as lovely as the day he first met her. Her hair was up and she was wearing a long black skirt with a white long sleeved shirt, she looked very professional and perfect for the job as art teacher. Though right now, she really should not be teaching in the condition she was in.
"Have you thought that maybe you should go home now, get some rest?" Homer asked.
"I have for the past week and now I am way behind on teaching, I'm actually going to the doctors here shortly. I can't keep anything down at the moment," Marge said with a sigh.
"I'm sorry to hear that, do you want me to help you get there or do you need anything to drink?" Homer asked. Homer tried his best not to sound like a crazy ex stalker and instead did his best to be a kind and helpful person on the street who showed concern for the poor woman who was feeling her worst.
"I wouldn't mind some ginger ale from the cafeteria," Marge said.
Homer thought about it for a minute, he was still new to the school and tried to remember where the cafeteria was. If he remembered correctly, it was on the other side of the building, a bit of a walk that would take a little while to get to and from where he wanted to go. He wondered if Marge could handle waiting a while.
"There is also a vending machine around the corner that sells soda," Marge replied.
"Oh yeah! And there's a bench out here too, go ahead and sit down and I will get you something to hydrate yourself," Homer said as he led Marge to the bench before heading over to the vending machine.
It wasn't long before he returned for Marge, who gulped it down fairly quickly before leaning her head against the wall and closed her eyes to let the drink settle. Homer stayed near her, making sure she was okay and if she needed another trash can.
"Thanks Homer, this really helps, I hope what I have is not serious. Several of my students did have the flu, but they didn't last this long," Marge said with a sigh.
"I hope it's not serious either, you look so miserable right now," Homer said.
"Yeah...and I better get going, don't want you to catch this, and my appointment is about an hour from now. Luckily the doctors is near here, so I don't have to go too far," Marge said.
"Oh good, just be careful driving either way," Homer said as he helped Marge up. Marge felt a little wobbly but she was able to get her bearings after a few seconds and began to make her way out of the school and to her car.
"Thank you Homer, and take care. Maybe we'll run into each other again, hopefully I won't be as sick," Marge said with a smile.
Homer only smiled and waved back as Marge walked out the door to her car. He hoped she would make it to the doctors office without any trouble and that hopefully they would help her out very quickly. He had never felt this concerned for her before and he hoped that he would see her again. Perhaps they could become friends now and that maybe, they could start over again and that Homer would be a better person about it.
A/N: Oh man, I had issues with this chapter, you could probably tell too. Very boring and stuff. But I liked how I ended it. And now Marge and Homer work in the same building, well two days a week any way. What will become of this? Well you'll have to keep reading to find out. I know it's boring and I am really sorry about it. Hopefully it will bounce up again for you all.
Please review when you can. Hope everyone has a nice week.