AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Uh, did I not just say I needed clean clothes?”
Charlie rolled his eyes, “Yes, but why go somewhere? I have a washer and dryer here.”
“You told me to stay upstairs.”
“I … Well, I didn’t mean to say-“
“I know what you meant. I need to stay out of your hair, which I can do.”
“You can use my washer and dryer,” he said. “You don’t have the money to waste, Moore.”
Violet glared at him. “My apartment never had a washer and dryer. I’ll be fine.”
“Seriously, is it always this impossible to get you to listen?”
“Davis, I am not in the mood to fight with you about this. I’m staying out of your way and doing my own thing. Shouldn’t you want this? Besides, I don’t even know where your washer and dryer is.”
Charlie opened his mouth, but then shut it. Yes, she was snapping at him, but the image of her scared gaze flashed through his mind, and his anger vanished.
“It’s in the basement. I honestly forgot to show it to you.”
“You don’t have to.” Violet seemed off put by his sudden calmness.
“It’s fine. Use the one here. But the basement is uh… weird to say the least.”
Violet blinked at him. “Weird?”
“Just … spooky. Here, let me show you.”
Charlie got up and walked to the kitchen. He opened the door to the basement and gestured for her to go down there. Violet went down only for a moment, and then came back up.
“Okay. It’s definitely… a dungeon. Is this where you take all the girls you bring home?”
“Only the ones that irritate me.” His response was immediate, and Violet opened her mouth, no doubt about to say something snappish back, but then she paused, and the moment died.
Instead of the verbal sparring he was used to, she cleared her throat. “It feels like someone died down there.”
“I don’t think anyone did, but who knows? Maybe my great-grandmother wanted to be buried there.”
Violet shook her head. “Under the concrete? No way. Not unless she wanted her bones stuffed into the cinderblocks.”
“Maybe she did. Would it weird you out?”
Violet shook her head. “I’d take a catacomb basement over my desecrated apartment any day.”
He had to keep himself from smiling. This was the kind of thing he’d loved in college. She never backed down. He could make a weird joke that would have anyone cringing, and she’d play along. That had been so fun back in the day when they got along, but these days it only turned into an argument.
They stood in silence for a moment.
“Do you want me to pay you for the usage?” Violet eventually asked him.
“…No? Why would I ask that?”
“Well, one - you hate me and kind of got roped into all of this. Two, if your bill goes up then it’s my fault, so I should pay you.”
“Don’t worry about it," Charlie said, shrugging. “I don’t care. It’s a high efficiency unit.”
“What? You don’t care?”
