Marie swept through in a whirlwind of matter-of-fact warmth. As Mattis sat blinking, the maid had already exchanged the young woman in his arms for a fluffy white towel and supplied Miss Akari with dry clothes. Standing slowly, Mattis obediently began to pat himself down with the cloth—the only result of which was to soak the towel. He, meanwhile, continued to drip, as per usual.
“Thank you once again, Mr. Mattis. I would surely have struggled without your aid.” Miss Akari announced, having wrung a small flood from her lovely kimono with about as much affect as the towel had had on Mattis. “And thank you, Miss Marie, for assisting me. I should probably change lest these new residents find me in such disarray . . .”
“It wasn’t any trouble, Miss Akari,” he assured her, smiling like the sun nonetheless as he turned to bid her adieu.
“You know, perhaps you should greet the others instead of being by your lonesome all the time. I am sure they’d love to met you.” She hesitated only a moment longer, thumb to her lips, before hurrying to the changing stall.
“You think so?” he murmured wistfully, laying his towel over one of the deck chairs to dry. His smile dimmed to a more private expression, revealing satisfaction, and not a small touch of pride. With an absentminded hand, he twisted his hair up and secured it with the clip he’d left on one of the tables. New residents—yes, he remembered Marie mentioning as much. No doubt they’d travelled far to come to Primrose. And probably a relaxing dip in his rooftop pool would help them relax. But what if everyone forgot to mention Primrose had a rooftop pool? He bit his lip.
Glancing at the clock again, he saw his lunch break had drawn even nearer—and what difference did five minutes make, anyway? There were new residents too, and that didn’t happen every day. Shuffling through his gear, he pulled out a sun-bleached t-shirt with the neat, Primrose logo on its breast. It was, after all, something like a special occasion.
With this in mind he exited the rooftop, locking the door behind him and he carefully moved the pin from “Come Swim!” to “Gone to Lunch”. He’d be back soon, he promised, though who exactly he made the promise to he wasn’t at all sure. Free at last, he galloped down the stairs, bare feet leaving conspicuous wet footprints on the polished wood.
“. . . our concierge and other members of staff will gladly cater to you needs.”
Mattis stopped short, frozen just inside the lobby. His eyes flicked from the enigmatic form of the Landlord, to the unfamiliar young woman and back again. He should have known the Landlord would be here to greet their new arrivals. Slumping even lower than usual, he tried in vain to make himself small and unnoticeable—at least until his boss had vanished.