Not feeling like doing anything else at the moment, he began to clean the second floor. His goal was to make it sparkle and shine. Out of the ten rooms only five were registered with being lived in. Four of which were used by prostitutes, which two just used as places to bring their johns. They lived elsewhere, and the other two lived here and he informed them that the new owner wanted this place to be more presentable. 

The fifth person was a complete surprise. Apparently a nice elderly woman lived in the second apartment and had been living here for over forty years. She had just baked some cookies and offered him some when she found out who he was. While eating a few of her cookies, he explained to her that the new owner was planning on turning this place into a premiere risque place, and that she should move out if she was able.

“Oh dear. Does this mean that you are kicking me out?” She asked in a shaking voice.

“No, not at all. As long as you continue to pay your rent, I won’t kick you out. While Stan is no longer the owner of the building, I will uphold the contract he made with you to keep your rent frozen in place for the time you live here. But if you prefer I can move you to another floor where… less going on will take place.”

“I will think about that.” 

“However, I must ask why do you stay here? Surely there are better places you could be living at?”

“Well when I was twenty, Herbert and mep;came to Gotham. This place used to be a hotel if you can believe it. We stayed here before we found a place to live. He proposed to me in one of the rooms here. Herbert got sick and passed away. I saw they had turned this place into a set of cheap apartments so decided to move in. But I’ve come to love living here. It’s my home, so I have no desire to leave.”

“Do you have any family?” James asked.

“Yeah, I have a son. Tom, he lives over in Star City. He keeps saying I should move over there where he is. He writes to me on occasion. I had to get one of those postal boxes at the Post office. Don’t get mail here anymore. Too dangerous they say. Tom just got married, and doesn't need an old woman like me bothering him when he’s starting his own family.”

“Mrs. Dabb you wouldn’t be a bother. You're a perfect delight to be around.”

“Oh hush you.”

“Still, things are heating up in the city. It might be better to stay with your son until it blows over.”

She snorted and said “Pah, Gotham has not been safe for years. I’ll be fine. I keep my door locked, and I stay inside at night. Plus I got myself a taser.”

“Okay. I just ask you to consider it. I don’t want to see a nice woman like you get hurt. I’ve got to go and work.”

“Alright. Do come by again. I’ll have more cookies.” The old woman nodded and went back to working on crocheting a scarf that she had been working on when he had come in.

“I will. Thank you for the cookies. They were delicious.”

After that nice encounter, he then spent the rest of the morning just cleaning out the other five rooms. They were trashed over the years, and rather than clean them out Stan just let them rot. It was hard work even with his cleaning ability but he got them cleaned. He no longer felt like he would need to get shots after stepping into the rooms. He also had to replace the broken locks on the doors. One room would need to be completely remodeled, though at least two were completely ready to use. The other two would need some small work to get completed.

He was cleaning off some Graffiti when he heard a large truck pull into the alleyway behind the building. Curious, he quickly made his way there and found Alexandru parking a large moving truck. Alexandru got out of the truck and made his way over to James.

“What is this?” James asked.

“This is Madam’s Ioana personal furniture and effects. She expects it to be all in place. I will be bringing her by at eight.” The mobster grinned at him. “Oh and do be sure to unpack her things. She detests having to unpack. I’ve written where they are supposed to go on the boxes.”

“Wait, are you not going to help me carry them up?” James asked.

“No. I have elsewhere to be, and you are a very capable manager. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” Alexandru said, tossing him the keys and walked out of the alleyway laughing.

Clearly this prick had something against him. Glancing at his watch, he saw it was approaching two. He had about six hours to get this all unloaded and unpacked. He just debated telling Ioana what happened, but reasoned that Alexandru had likely packed this stuff yesterday and told her that he had dropped off then. It would be his word against James, and she would likely side with Alexandru.

Opening the back, he saw that it was practically packed with boxes and several pieces of furniture. Grabbing several, he ran with them back into the place. Unfortunately, the Elevator would be too slow, so he dashed up the stairs. With his hearing keeping watch for anyone, he jumped up each flight of stairs to the penthouse. He did this several times until he had moved all of the boxes to the living room.

Even though he had moved fast, it still had taken over two hours to get the over one hundred boxes up. His next hurdle was the furniture, which was thankfully only a few pieces. What looked like a makeup stand, a few statues. And a very large leather couch that simply dominated the truck. It had to be at least twelve feet long. What was worse, it didn’t come apart so there was no way he could carry it up the tight staircase.

After some thought he sent the elevator to the basement then climbed up the elevator shaft carrying the sofa. It wasn’t easy, not because it was heavy. No, he could carry the couch with one hand. No, it was just so unwieldy to carry it up. Still he managed to get it into the living room after a tedious amount of work.

With all the stuff now inside the penthouse, it was time to start unpacking them. That was when he discovered Alexandru’s next way of screwing him over. The stuff in the boxes did not correspond at all with what was in each box. A box labeled for the kitchen was filled with dresses, and a box labeled clothes held a huge collection of makeup. He had to quickly sort the boxes by opening them and taking them to their respective destinations.

Luckily most of the boxes turned out to be a massive collection of clothes. Ioana apparently had more clothes than most boutiques carry. Which was fortunate that the penthouse master bedroom had a massive walk in closet. In fact it was almost the size of an entire room by itself. Even so, he practically packed the room full of her clothing. She had everything from ball gowns to a strange collection of t-shirts depicting various cute animals committing crimes like murder.

As he worked, he thought about why Alexandru was targeting him. The first time they met he didn’t seem to have an issue with James. He seemed to get hostile to him when Ioana took him up. Perhaps the man was simply jealous? Maybe he was worried that Ioana would be interested in James? He didn’t really want to deal with more drama, but Alexandru was fucking with the wrong man. 

He was getting to the last boxes when he opened one full of womens lingerie. As he began to sort them out into drawers, he discovered that there was something odd. Some of the underwear appeared to be brand new. What’s more the sizes didn’t match the ones that were clearly worn before. Another thing was that the new underwear was far more risque compared to the older ones.

Snorting, James realized that this must be another trick from Alexandru. If he had put them alongside the others, then Ioana would think James had put them in there for her to use. Which would be pretty creepy. But the man had made a mistake and gotten the wrong size. Separating them out, he put them into his room after taking out the boxes. By the time he had finished, it was nearly eight so he went down to meet with Ioana.

He had just reached the lobby, when Ioana came in followed by Alexandru who had a shit-eating grin on his face. Ioana had a neutral face about her. Turning to her, James said “Good Evening Madam Ioana.”

She nodded acknowledging him while looking around the lobby. “I see that you managed to clean up this lobby quite well. It almost looks brand new. It just needs some decorations and paint but this already looks like a good start.”

“I’m afraid I’m not much of a decorator Madam Ioana.” James said.

“That won’t be an issue. I’ve hired an interior designer to work with me on coming up with a plan for the look of this place. I want it to stand out from the other brothels in the city. Speaking of which, have you cleaned up any rooms? I have a few new girls coming that will need rooms.”

“I have. There are two rooms on floor two that are ready to use, and I will be cleaning more rooms. I’m also making a list of the damage I find in rooms so you can start to figure out which rooms you want to repair first.

“Great, I have something I want to go over with you, but we should take a look at the penthouse now.”

James nodded and opened the elevator for them. Ioana and Alexandru got on board. Alexandru gave him a smirk as he pressed the nineteenth button. “So were you able to finish the penthouse up?”

“As much as I could. But I think Madam Ioana will be satisfied.” James said ignoring the stare he got from the mobster.

Ioana didn’t seem to notice this silent battle and said “Alexandru tells me that you insisted on doing the penthouse all by yourself when I sent him to assist you to get it ready for me.”

“Did he now?” James said casually. “I’m afraid he is being too modest. Without his help there is no way I would have been able to finish it in time.”

Alexandru frowned and looked at James and said “No, I assure you Madam whatever mess in there is not do to me.”

She glanced at him with a confused look “Wait you think it’s a mess?” She glanced at James who shrugged.

“We got into an argument. He has specific ideas on what you want, and what style you prefer. I took another route, and he completely disliked it.”

“I see.” She raised an eyebrow.

Soon the Elevator broke the following silence by opening the door. James pulled out a set of keys for the door. He handed one copy to Ioana. “Later on when I get the right supplies, I will install an electronic lock for you.”

Nodding she unlocked the door and entered inside. Alexandru glared at him then followed Ioana into the living room. James spotted the man’s eye twitching when he saw the massive couch in the living room.

“Hmm… Alexandru you are too hard on him. This is perfectly fine. Some things will need to be moved here and there but overall this is perfectly fine. Where is Adeline?”

“Adeline?” James asked.

“Yes, my maid. I sent her here to sort out my clothes for me.”

The bastard smirked a little at James. “She unfortunately called me sick while we were loading the boxes in. James volunteered to put away all of your clothes.”

She looked at James and he nodded “Yes, I put away her clothes. If that bothers you Madam Ioana, I apologize. I just wanted you to have a peaceful night not having to find your clothes.”

“Whatever.” Ioana said.

“What? But Miss he could have done something weird with your underwear. This man is a pervert!” Alexandru said, pointing at James. He got into James face and said “I can prove it!”

“Alexandru!” Ioana raised her voice glaring at him.

The man grimaced and turned to Ioana “Madam Ioana I…”

“Stop. I can tell your about to say something stupid. Go outside and wait in the hall. I will have a word with you later.”

“Of course Madam.” He glared at James and walked out the door closing it behind him.

Ioana looked at James and said “What the fuck is going on between the two of you?”

“My guess is that he is jealous.” James replied.

“What? Please, I grew up with him. He’s more like my baby brother than my real brother.” Ioana scoffed, and then her eyes widened and she said “Wait, you're serious?”

“I’m not sure, but that’s the only conclusion I came up with why he’s being an ass to me.”

“Or you really are a pervert who did something with my underwear.” Ioana smirked at James.

“I assure you Madam, the only time I’m interested in womans lingerie is when they are on a woman.”

She rolled her eyes and said “I will forgive you for going through my clothes this time, but please ask next time. You have your phone with you, yes?”

“I do.” James said.

“Give it here.” James did so, unlocking it for her. She messed with it for a bit and said “Here I entered my number.” She called her phone and said “Now I have your number. Now with that done we should talk about my plans for the brothel. Now over in Chinatown they have this tropical themed brothel run by the triad." Ioana said and began to describe her plans for the brothel.