AJ awoke the next morning to find his entire bedroom in complete disarray. His weight bench had been moved, his sofa and loveseat pushed up against the table. His pillows were on the floor and his bedsheets were missing. He reached down and found himself still intact, although he was extremely sore.
Sitting up, he looked around quickly and found the edge of a sheet poking out from underneath his bed. As he pulled it out, he found noticeable wet spots on it and decided right then and there, it could stay where it was until it made its way into the wash. He looked around again, searching for the trademark platinum blond hair, but didn't see hide, nor hair, of Candice. He stood up, went to his dresser, and grabbed a new pair of underwear, putting them on quickly. As he adjusted himself, he realized he was a lot more sore than he had originally thought.
Footsteps thudded above him and then he heard screaming. It was a woman's voice, clearly not Candice, and she was pissed. AJ ran to his dresser and ripped a pair of basketball shorts out of it, yanked them over his legs, and threw on a shirt. As he turned back to the stairs, heavy footsteps thudded down them and AJ waited, holding his breath, to find out who it was.
"AJ?" his father called out.
"Dad?" AJ asked, stepping forward quickly. "Dad! What are you doing at home already?"
"Good, you're awake. Never mind that. You, -he looked around quickly and then flipped the light switch for the stairs as if it would turn on the lights in the basement- You're going to need to do some deep cleaning. Right now. Like, right now."
"What's going on?" AJ asked, giving his father a quizzical look.
"Well, somehow our plans got switched around. Someone didn't book something correctly. Look. It doesn't matter. We're home now and Melody is...well, she's a bit miffed right now."
"Miffed?" AJ asked. "Miffed about what?"
"Oh, not about you. You're fine, for now. It's Candy."
"Candy?" AJ asked, not because he didn't know who she was, but because his father had just called her "Candy".
"Yeah. You know. Your sister?"
"Yeah, I know who she is. What did she do?" AJ asked.
"I don't know. I wasn't here. Thank God. But we're back now, and Candy knows what she did, or didn't do, so that's between her and her mother."
"Well, whatever she did, I'm partly to blame," AJ said quickly, trying his best to be a good brother.
"Well, that's your grave to dig. I'm telling you, don't get on her bad side. She's a much better ally than an enemy. Believe me, I know. It's taken me years to get where I am with her." AJ's father bent to the side, and glanced around, and then turned back to AJ. "You need to clean up. Turn the lights on. Vacuum. Dust. Wash...everything. When you think you've done enough, you've only just begun."
"You want me to move the washer and dryer and clean behind them too?" AJ asked.
"Haha wise-ass," Jaxson said, and then he gave AJ a smug expression. "To answer your question, yes. That needs to be done too. If Melody finds a single bug, like a gnat, a millipede, a cricket, or anything, she will have the exterminator in here the same day. She doesn't joke around. And if the house needs fumigating-"
"It doesn't need fumigating," AJ interrupted.
"If Melody thinks it does, it's getting done. That means three days in a hotel room."
"I'm going to move the washing machine now," AJ said, stepping past his father.
"I'll leave the basement to you. I'll be cleaning my room, the hallway closet, and the kitchen," his father said, and with a slap on the handrail, Jaxson hurried back up the stairs.
AJ couldn't actually believe he was moving the laundry machine to clean under and behind it, but as soon as he moved it, he could tell it needed it worse than anything else. The concrete floor looked as if it had been caked with detergent and lint for the past twenty years and it has sat in the same spot for so ungodly long, the steel bolts that acted as feet had rusted into the floor.
Trying his best to do a good job, and hurry at the same time, AJ grabbed a bucket and a scrub brush from the drain basin, donned a pair of work goggles and cleaning gloves, and began scrubbing the concrete floor. The scrub brush became caked and the bristles clogged and coated with grayish-blue lint, but he stopped and pulled the clumps off every so often, making it easier to clean, but also making the task take a lot longer. As he finished with the washing machine, he turned to the dryer, hoping it was an easier task. He shoved the washing machine back into place, reconnected the drain tube to the wash basin and the hot and cold water hookups, the electric cord, and then he turned it on and started it filling. He ran to his bed, grabbed every single piece of bedding from on top of, and beneath, and rushed back. He had just finished adding detergent and was closing the lid when a voice spoke his name from behind him.
"AJ?"
"Aaaaahhhh!" AJ yelped and then turned around, his blue-gloved hands and scrub brush held at the ready. He blinked behind the fogged-up goggles, thinking it was Candice, but as he yanked the eye protection down around his neck, he saw he was mistaken.
"I wanted to ask you a few questions," Melody said, slipping her hands behind her back and looking around.
"Okay," AJ said, and then he said, "I hope you and dad had a good time."
Melody looked up at him, her eyes calculating, but then she smiled. "We had the best time. It was amazing. Amazing food, amazing experiences. We'll tell you all about it, once we get everything unpacked."
"Oh, okay," AJ said, nodding. "So, uh...what did you want to know?" AJ waited, thinking Melody would want to know about their schedules, or when they ate, what kinds of shows his dad enjoyed watching, maybe what his favorite food was. Something like that.
"Did Candice come on to you, while we were gone?"
"Come onto me?" AJ asked, screwing up his face in as convincing a manner as humanly possible. "Like, did she fart on me?"
Melody's jaw clenched and for a moment he felt like she was going to snap, but then she slowly released her muscles and she put on a fake smile. "No. Not passing gas. I mean, did she flirt with you?"
"No," AJ said flatly, turning back to the washing machine and trying to move it, although it was now filled with water. "No, she was a real bi-..." AJ stopped himself and put on a fake smile of his own. "No. She doesn't really like me all that much," AJ said, shaking his head.
"She's a grown woman," Melody said then, taking a few steps toward the stairs. "I understand she has...needs. Everyone does. But you are not her outlet for such desires."