Maintenance

You're three missions deep into a game you really should've stopped playing an hour ago when someone starts pounding on your door.

Not knocking. Fucking pounding.

You pause mid-reload, frowning at the screen. It's 2pm on a Saturday. You're in sweatpants that have seen better days and a shirt with a stain you're pretty sure is from Thursday's lunch. Nobody should be here.

The pounding continues.

"Alright alright, Jesus fuck, I'm coming (that's what she said)," you mutter, dropping the controller and hauling yourself off the couch.

You open the door and your brain immediately blue-screens.

Asa from 3B is standing in your hallway. 

Wearing nothing but a towel.

A white towel. Tucked under her arms, barely secure, showing way too much leg and the curve of her shoulders. She's dripping—fully dripping—water pooling on your doormat. Her hair is soaked, and there's shampoo suds sliding down the side of her face.

"My water's out," she says, like this is completely normal. Like she's not standing there practically naked. "Can I use your shower?"

You open your mouth. Close it. Your brain is trying to process several things at once and failing spectacularly. You're pretty sure you're doing a damn convincing cosplay of a fish out of water.

"I—what?"

"Water. Out." She tilts her head and more shampoo slides down toward her eye. She squints, annoyed. "Middle of washing my hair. Building maintenance isn't answering. So can I use your shower or not?"

"Oh. Uh. Yeah, of course, I just—"

She's already walking past you into your apartment before you even finish the sentence. Just strides right in, leaving wet footprints on your floor, completely unbothered by the fact that she's in a towel in her neighbor's apartment.

You close the door slowly, still trying to catch up to what's happening, decidedly looking anywhere besides your neighbor's… very attractive legs… 

Stop being a pervert.

"You live alone, right?" she asks, glancing around. Her eyes land on the pile of dishes in the sink, the controller on the couch, and the bag of chips you left open on the coffee table.

"Yeah."

I can tell, her eyes say.

"Good." She spots the hallway leading to what she correctly assumes is the bathroom. "That way?"

The fuck does 'good' mean?

"Yeah, second door, but—"

She's already heading that direction. You follow, because what else are you supposed to do? 

She stops at the bathroom door, hand on the handle.

"Towels?" she asks.

"Uh, cabinet under the sink. But you already have—"

"This one's wet." She says it like you're being slow on purpose. "I'll need a dry one after."

"Right. Yeah. That makes sense."

There's shampoo dripping dangerously close to her eye now and she wipes at it with the back of her hand, still holding the towel secure with the other. "You got conditioner?"

"I... don't think so?"

She looks at you like you've just admitted you don't own furniture. "What do you mean you don't think so?"

"I use, uh, the three-in-one—"

"Oh my god." She laughs and shakes her head. "Of course you do. Whatever, I'll survive. Thanks for this, by the way."

And then she's in your bathroom, door closing behind her, and you're standing in the hallway trying to figure out what the fuck just happened.

The water starts running and you're still standing there like an idiot.

You force yourself to walk back to the living room. You sit back down on the couch. Pick up the controller. Stare at the screen without actually seeing it.

There's a girl in your shower. A naked girl. Not even just a naked girl.

It's Asa. Your hot neighbor who you've exchanged maybe twenty-four words with total. Who you've definitely noticed in the hallway, in the elevator, that one time she was getting her mail in running shorts. And now she's naked in your bathroom, using your terrible 3-in-1 soap, probably judging every aspect of your life.

You unpause the game and die instantly because you're not paying attention. The water is still running and you're trying so very hard not to think about what's happening not even ten feet away.

"Hey!" Her voice cuts through the sound of the shower.

You duck and nearly drop the controller. "Yeah?"

"Your water pressure is amazing!"

"Oh. Uh. Thanks?"

What the fuck are you supposed to say to that?

"Way better than mine!" she continues, and you can hear the smile in her voice. She's genuinely enjoying this. "I might have to come over every time!"

She's joking. Probably joking. You hope she's joking because your brain cannot handle the thought of this becoming a regular thing.

The water runs for another few minutes. You're hyperaware of every sound - the shower shutting off, the cabinet opening (she's getting one of the towels), the bathroom door unlocking.

"Hey, do you have a—"

She opens the door and leans out, and your brain short-circuits for the second time today because she's wrapped in your towel now. Your dark blue towel that's way too big for her, tucked under her arms, her shoulders and collarbones still wet.