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Harry stood at his desk, flipping through some papers and organising them. He didn’t often have company that wasn’t a client; today, however, Tee Tee was up visiting him.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t to collect the rent — or even to remind him how overdue he was. She was here to help him clean.

“I’m surprised, Harry,” she rasped in her rough voice. “I keep thinking your office would be a lot messier.”

She glanced toward the door that led to his bedroom. “Kinda like your bedroom. I’ve seen it. I’m not sure the last time you made your bed.”

There was no answer from Harry, though he did glance at the bedroom door knowingly. Yes — his bed really did need to be made.

“But you’ve got papers everywhere,” she went on, almost complaining. “Look at them all. You need a computer instead of all this.”

She began stacking papers into a neat pile.

Harry’s phone buzzed. He flipped open the old Motorola Razr to read the incoming text, then deftly snapped it shut.
“A computer,” he murmured.

Tee Tee coughed. “Or at least a paper tray.”

With the papers now neatly piled — not sorted, but piled — she reached for a desk drawer to put them into. She tugged, but it didn’t budge. Locked. She turned to Harry, eyebrows raised.

“You can just leave them on top of the desk,” Harry said.

Tee Tee snorted. “Do you even have the key for the drawer?”

A flicker of annoyance crossed Harry’s face. “Of course,” he said defensively. “On my keychain.”

Tee Tee regarded him a moment longer, realised she wasn’t getting anywhere, then shrugged.
“Fine. Leave them here, then. It’s your office.”

She plopped the papers on top of the desk and strolled to the door.
“And you’re two months late on rent,” she called, closing it behind her.

Harry sighed and flopped into his chair. Two months. At least it wasn’t four.

He looked down at the drawer Tee Tee had wanted to use for his client files, then grabbed his keys and opened it. Inside was his still-in-progress manuscript: Monster Dick.

He’d get it published one day, Harry kept telling himself — and then he’d finally catch up on rent.

Regard­ing the manuscript a moment longer, Harry slammed the drawer shut, locked it, and picked up his case files. Now it was time to organise them.