Day 004

A year before Carter Cameron moved to Stereoport, The LaundroKing Wash and Fold was one of the blandest places in the entire city. The twenty-four hour station at the very edge of Spectre territory was a necessary evil, people went to do laundry and they did it quick, going about their business as soon as they were done.

Not that Carter Cameron changed everything, but, something did. It also happened around the time he moved to Stereoport, around the time he got hired on the LaundroKing staff, and around the time he started pulling nights as the only employee in the sprawling cream and orange tinted building.

People from the area blamed it on him.

He had no idea about any of it.

Carter came from a good family in the Fields, a colony that was very north of Stereoport. It was sprawling, mostly residential houses and communities for those who didn’t wish to live alone. He grew up playing soccer in the backyards of his neighbors and was homeschooled in basic knowledge until he was old enough to attend the local high school. And a few years after that, he moved to Stereoport.

He was never class president, never soccer capitan, never anything more than that boy who lived down the road.

At the LaundroKing though, he was just like a prince.

…

“Are you tired tonight, Carter?” A blonde girl sat atop a folding table, her long legs swaying back and forth under it. She kicked at a small stepstool that was hidden under there. Besides her, Carter scowled.

“Of course I’m tired tonight, Sarah.”

Carter’s eyes were ringed in red, his hair droopy in his face. It was a long night in a string of long nights when the other overnight worker decided to quit to focus more on her other night job as an exotic dancer. But, when the manager asked Carter to do something, Carter always did it.

The LaundroKing was the only thing keeping him afloat in city. Without it, he couldn’t afford rent, couldn’t afford dinner and definitely couldn’t afford to do his own laundry.

“Me too.” Sarah grinned a thin lipped smile at him. She folded her hands in her lap, watch turned on her wrist to face away from them. Even though the clock was just behind them, it felt nicer to not have it staring them constantly in the face.

“Why don’t you go home? You’re actually not getting paid for any of this…” His roommate, Sarah, often confused Carter. She did things unnecessarily. Things he didn’t need her to do at all.

“Who would keep you company then?”

“I generally get by on most nights,” he admitted.

“That’s because everyone loves you and no one has anything to be scared of with you.” Sarah gave a little shrug, but made no motion to move off the table. Instead, she leaned back, adjusting her weight.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Have you ever really taken a look at yourself, Carter?” She asked.

He thought a moment. He had. In the mirror he saw the basics. His small stature, his slim frame, his lean muscles hiding under the softness of his skin. When he looked at himself, he saw a boy who played too much soccer without the proper equipment, scuffed up in scars and battle wounds. Light brown hair, dark hazel eyes, golden sunwarmed skin.

Carter shrugged at Sarah though.

“How do you mean?”

“You’re quiet but you listen well and give decent advice when you’re asked, even if you haven’t grown up around here.” Sarah stuck her hand out and began counting on each finger. “You’re gay, meaning, the men don’t fear leaving their women around you and the women don’t fear you’ll come onto them when they’re a bit too drunk and complaining about their boyfriends. You know laundry really well -”

“I work in a laundromat,” Carter interjected.

“Besides the point,” Sarah continued. “You’re observant. You know practically everyone without really trying. You’re friendly, warm, play a mean game of soccer and sometimes you’ll go down to Helios just to have some beer. No one has ever even seen you dance.”

“So?” He was confused.

“You’re nonthreatening and you know everything. This makes you everyone’s favourite kind of person.” Sarah said, waving her hands in front of her. “That’s how you get by on most nights.”

Carter took a moment. He pushed a lock of hair from his tired eyes and looked Sarah up and down. He was biding his time, trying to come up with something genius to say.

“So, if I can get by on most nights cause of this, why do I need you around tonight?”

“You don’t need me, I’m just offering the company. Did you stop to think that maybe I needed you tonight?” A dim smile spread on Sarah’s face. When her blonde hair was pulled back from her face, she seemed more fierce, more troubling. But that night, she had it long and hanging like she forgot to brush it.

And suddenly, it all made sense to him.

“Do you want some coffee?” He asked, changing the subject.

“‘What do you got?”

“The instant kind.”

“Well,” Sarah said, her grin broadening. “I guess that’ll have to do.”
 

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