It’s cold and dreary in the old basement of the apartment building, but the washing machines are banging about, filling the silence with their whir. I’m bundled up in a sweater as rain pelts the small rectangular windows where light seeps through from the street, and my thoughts wander.

The rest of the weekend with my father went great, yet there’s this nagging in the back of my mind about our family photos. We lost them in a fire not long after my mother took her life. It was caused by a night light in the bathroom. I blame myself for being too scared to pee in the dark. 

However, my father says it’s his fault. He says he’s the one who insisted on buying the mini lava lamp plug-in so we wouldn’t have to squint against the bright intensity of the ceiling light. 

I know he’s trying to carry the guilt, so I don’t have to.

But it’s there anyway—leaving grooves in my shoulders like an ill-fitting bra.

“Oh, hi.”

The voice pulls me away from daydreaming, and when I glance up from folding laundry, I find Lisa. She’s beautiful, even with smudged eye makeup from the night before. I’m terrible at guessing ethnicities and her long wavy bleached hair against her olive skin makes her even more ambiguous. But I think she might be Korean. Despite the weather, she’s wearing tiny shorts to show off her long legs, which belong at New York Fashion Week, strutting a runway. Her height dwarfs me as she sets her laundry basket on the washer beside mine. 

“I’m Lisa.” She smiles.

“Yeah, we’ve met before. I’m Valerie.”

“Oh, right, right.” She bobs her head. “You can blame late shifts at Casanova for my brain fog.”

“Casanova?”

“A nightclub in North Beach.”

“Oh. I don’t get out much.” Embarrassment sets my cheeks ablaze, so I duck my head and focus on folding. “What do you do there?” 

“Bartend and eat fire.”

“Eat fire?” My eyes flash back up.

“Yeah. It’s like a party trick but cooler. I light a torch and put out the flame with my mouth. I do other tricks, too, and it earns me great tips. You should check out the place sometime.”

“Yeah, sure.” I smile.

“No, really, you should come by tonight. I can get you in for free, and it’s a total blast. Like a carnival on acid.”

“Sounds like it would give me anxiety,” I laugh.

“Nah, you’ll love it.”

“Can I invite a friend?”

“Of course!” The washing machine squeaks as Lisa shuts the door with her hip and then dusts off her hands when it dances to life. “Well, I’ll be back in thirty minutes. Catch you in a bit.”

She doesn’t wait for a reply but instead spins to leave with her blond hair whipping behind her and disappears from the basement. As I return to folding laundry, there’s the echo of her greeting someone in the stairwell. A few seconds pass, and then I’m met with the presence of hot guy from 3B as he steps into the room. The machines are ticking, yet I don’t hear a sound because when he spots me, his smile is like a volcano exploding. 

But then I remember he saw me in my undies just a few nights ago. So, I flit my gaze back to the laundry as a tsunami of heat floods my cheeks. 

“Hey, neighbor,” he says and sets his linen bag onto the washing machine across from mine.

“Hi,” I reply in a high pitch but then clear my throat. “Hi.”

“Looks like you’ll be here all day too.”

“What do you mean?” I scrunch my brows, and he points at the three bags near me.

“You have a lot to wash too.”

“Oh, right!” I shake my head with a laugh. “It looks like a lot, but it’s just my gym clothes, and then my… delicates.” 

“Delicates?”

“Um, yes. Delicates,” I laugh and swipe the onset of sweat on my forehead. “You know, underwear. That kind of stuff.”

“Ah, yes. I do recall a lacy red set a few nights ago.”

If my face wasn’t on fire before, then it is the temperature of magma now. “Right…”

“So, do you always stand in front of the French doors half-naked in the middle of the night?”

“Uh…”

“Not that I mind.” 

“W-What?” The word bubbles up from the back of my throat, but it spasms, and the saliva lodged in my esophagus threatens to kill me.

This is not the death I choose as I grip the surface of the washing machine with one hand while pounding my chest with the other. Hot guy abandons his laundry bag, and it flops onto the cement floor with clothes spilling as he rushes over. Then he bends me and starts whacking my back while cough after cough escapes my mouth between deep gasps of breath. It’s as if I’m choking on a chicken bone instead of saliva, and I simultaneously want to slither under the machines from embarrassment.

“You good?” He rubs my back as the coughing subsides, and I nod while gesturing to my throat. 

“Wrong tube.”

“Hate when that happens.” 

“Thanks.” I straighten, but he’s still rubbing my back, so I steal a peek at him, and he’s smiling. 

It’s not a pity smile either.

Or a mocking one.

It’s simply a kind one.

“I’m Moses.”

“Moses?” My brows quirk because that’s the last thing I expected his name to be. 

“Yeah…” He runs his fingers through his ash blonde hair, and I spy a tattoo on his inner bicep. “My parents have a thing for Biblical names. I have a brother named Noah and a sister named Ruth.”

“Well, I’m just plain ol’ Valerie. No siblings.”

“Valerie is a beautiful name, and there’s nothing plain about you.”

I duck my face at the compliment, and then it registers that his hand is still on my back. He seems to notice too, and the warmth of his palm leaves me. 

“Glad we’re now properly introduced.” He retreats to the washing machine across from mine. “Now, we don’t have to be strangers when we leave for work.”

Silence settles in the basement as he begins shoving his dirty clothes into the wash, and I continue folding. There’s so much I’d love to learn about him. Such as, is he a nurse? If so, what department does he work in? Did he grow up here? And why is he always awake in the middle of the night?

I also want to see his tattoo.

When I glance back up, his mouth opens as if he’s about to say something, but then Lisa comes barreling into the basement, and he swallows the words. 

“You're in 1A, right?” she says to me. 

“Yes.”

“Well, a guy is banging on your door.”

“Oh, shoot!” I pull out my phone and stare at the screen because I forgot Julian was dropping by. “Bad reception.”

“Yeah, this basement is a black hole. I always miss calls down here, too,” Lisa replies, and my eyes drift to Moses.

“Um… well… I’ll be back.” 

“See ya,” he says with a half-smile, and I could be wrong, but I think I detect disappointment in his tone.

Racing up the basement steps, I take two at a time and emerge at ground level with a bag of clean laundry slung across my back. The rain is coming down harder, so I pull on the hood of my sweater and dash through puddles to the next set of stairs. When I get to the top, my lungs are throbbing with tiny puffs of fog floating away from my mouth, but there Julian is with arms folded, shaking his head.

“Mujer! You forgot, didn’t you?”

“I did not.”

“Yeah, you did.” He engulfs me in a bear hug, lifting me off the ground, causing me to squeal. “But I forgive you.” 

“You’re squeezing too hard,” I laugh, and he sets me down.

“It’s because I need to squeeze the shit out of you to keep you honest.” 

“I am honest!” I smack his chest.

And then, from the corner of my eye, I spot Moses. When our gazes meet, his attention flitters away, and he enters his apartment. The echo across the courtyard suggests he closed the door a little too hard.

“Someone is moody,” Julian snorts. “Who’s that?”

“Just my neighbor.”

“Obviously. But how come you haven’t mentioned him before?” Julian asks as we step inside the apartment. 

“Why should I? He’s just a guy.”

“Yeah, a guy who is your exact type!” he chuckles as we head to the living room. “We both know you can’t resist blue eyes.”

“His eyes are grey, not blue, so hah!”

“Right… and you say he’s just your neighbor.”

“Well, he is!” I plop onto the beige micro-suede cushions and hug one of the fluffy teal pillows. “So, I know we’re going to be lazy all afternoon watching Netflix, but my neighbor Lisa invited us to Casanova.”

“Casa—” Julian cuts himself short and holds up his hand. “Excuse me what!”

“It’s a nightclub in North Beach.”

“Yeah, I know! And it’s supposed to be an insane amount of fun. We’re talking half-naked women doing trapeze acts across the ceiling! So, we are definitely going.”

“What do I even wear to something like that?”

“Something sexy, like leather and red lipstick.” He grabs the remote and flicks on the TV. “Don’t give me that look, Val.”

“What? I wasn’t making a face.”

“You always make a face when things make you uncomfortable. In fact…” He looks at me with the most devilish smirk. “I’m gonna make you kiss a guy whether you like it or not. I can’t be the only one whoring myself around town. You’re twenty-four years old. It’s time to let the freak flag fly.”

“Maybe I already am.” I shrug, and he swivels his body towards me.

“You lie. Angelo Rossi’s daughter lacks the balls.”

“No, Angelo Rossi’s daughter does not lack the balls. In fact, Angelo Rossi’s daughter did a strip tease for hot guy in apartment 3B.”

Not much shocks Julian, but his jaw drops, and his eyes bulge, suggesting he’s delightfully surprised. So, I tell him about my embarrassing attempt at being sexy a few nights ago.

"Ok, that's it." Julian claps his hands. “We need to get you laid tonight.”

“Julian!” I smack his arm and snatch the remote out of his hand before he picks something terrible to watch. 

“I don’t understand how you can go months without sex. Do you even have a soul in there?”

“Yes, I have a soul. And it’s not like I’m abstinent by choice. Guys suck.” 

“What about neighbor-dude?”

“Well, before you arrived, we had a moment in the laundry room.”

“And?”

“And it was embarrassing because I almost died from choking on my saliva! But also, our moment was cut short because you were pounding on my door.”

“You should invite him to Casanova.”

“You say that as if I’m an extrovert, like you.”

“Well, tonight, your assignment is to make out with at least one guy.”

“How about no.” 

"How about yes." He folds his arms and raises a stern brow. When I mouth no, he huffs. "Come on, Val. Be slutty with me. You can find me hot chicks, and I can find you hot guys, and we can all have the time of our lives."

"I will surrender to a makeout."

"Yes!"

"But only a makeout, and only if the guy is brutally hot. Like, volcanic."

"Just leave it to me." Julian rubs his hands. "I've got you."

"Why does it always worry me when you say that?"

"Such little faith..." Julian tuts.

For the remainder of the afternoon, we watch Netflix and order takeout, but with each hour, my anxiety grows a little more. I'm excited and nervous about finding a random guy to kiss, but I'm determined to show Julian that I can step out of my comfort zone.

Now I just have to see where the night takes me.