The empty boxes were only part of the mess. We kept the lights dim, but once you noticed the spider webs in the corners of the ceiling, the dust on the top edge of the TV, and the dirt that had been tracked into the carpet, you couldn’t unsee it.
I said, “Do you think maybe we could hire someone to come in once a week, just to keep the place habitable?”
He looked shocked. “You really want some stranger coming in here? Every week? I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that.”
“Every other week? Once a month?”
He was already shaking his head. “No, I don’t think so. It’s not that messy, is it?” He picked up a box, put it back down again, and somehow managed to make the space look more chaotic. “Where’s Jack?”
“Hitting on chicks who grew up reading Twilight.”
“I can’t believe that works.” Shaking his head, he returned to his room, leaving a trail of toppled cardboard boxes in his wake.
I slumped into the sofa and started up the console, because I still had five hours until dawn. Ginny wasn’t online, because she was sane and mortal and had probably gone to bed like a normal person.
A couple of hours later, the front door swung open, crunching through boxes in the way. Jack didn’t even notice as he stormed in.
“That was an epic night,” he announced. “Aren’t you glad I dragged you along?”
I kind of was. “Yeah. Ginny was cool.” Ginny was perfect.
“Wait, which one was she? Was she the one who followed you outside?”
Nice of him to notice. “Yes, and she recognized my T-shirt.”
He came around to the front of the sofa and I spread my arms to display my shirt. He shook his head, baffled.
“So where’d all these boxes come from?”
“We were just talking about that,” I said. “What do you think about getting a cleaning lady to come in maybe a couple of times a month to, you know, make the place look not so much like a back room at UPS?”
He thought for maybe half a second. “No. Waste of money. We can keep the place up ourselves.”
I gazed ceilingward, because obviously we couldn’t. That was the point. But I knew when I was beat. Time to retreat and regroup at a later date. Maybe when they both woke up with spiderwebs draped over their faces.
I was cranky because I was hungry. Jack had obviously grabbed a bite at the club, but I hadn’t. “You guys hungry? Aaron, you want to call out for pizza?” I shouted to the bedroom.
The door opened and he wandered out, nodding. “I could use some food.”
“Sure, why not?” Jack said.
We had a favorite 24-hour pizza delivery place on speed dial. Actually, we had every 24-hour food delivery place in Denver on speed dial.
Twenty minutes later, the pizza arrived. Aaron zoomed out of his room like a hound on the scent. Jack and I studied the door.
“Ready?” I asked them. They were. I opened the door and offered a great big smile to the delivery guy. Kid. Eighteen, tops. Skinny, white, acne. Not a looker. But his skin was flush, and his heart beat strong. “Hi! Why don’t you come in for just a second while I
get the money.”
“Um, yeah, sure?”
Jack divested him of the pizza and set it out of the way while Aaron slipped the carrier from his hands and set it on the floor so it wouldn’t fall. The kid was nervous, his heart started pounding, but I was right there in front of him, looking into his eyes. His gaze locked onto mine.
“It’s just fine,” I said. “No need to worry. It’ll only take a minute, and you won’t remember a thing. You okay? Nod if you’re okay.”
He nodded slowly, clearly baffled. Aaron and Jack each had an arm and were rolling up the sleeves of his windbreaker.
“Maybe you’d be better off if you went to sleep,” I said calmly, putting power into the gaze, letting my influence pour into him. “Nice, calm, relaxed.”