TEST DRIVE: A Night of Forbidden Desire

At first, Vonda thought it was just taking a little longer than usual for the water in the sink to drain. But after two minutes had passed, with the foaming face wash still covering her face, Vonda noticed that the stagnant water was almost completely motionless.

“Should I put in some fish or something? Seriously! It’s turning into a pond.”

So, Vonda rushed to the kitchen and rinsed her face in the sink. Then she decided to call Rika right away and ask for a technician to fix her clogged sink.

“Oh dear. Why all of a sudden? The plumber went home already.”

Vonda blinked. “Wait, Rika. You think I planned to have my sink clogged and then called you?”

“Hahaha! The plumbers are already off duty, Ma’am. Maybe tomorrow night when you get back from work.”

Vonda tried to accept this. She would have to wait until tomorrow evening while the water continued to pool. But every time Vonda went to the bathroom, whether to use the toilet or for any other reason, the standing water bothered her. Without realizing it, Vonda called Max.

Oh, my goodness. Why did I call him?

When she realized it, Vonda was about to hang up the phone. She also thought of an excuse in case Max asked why she had called him.

Just say that you pressed his number by mistake.

But just as Vonda was about to hang up, it turned out that Max had already picked up. So, she had no choice but to take the call. About thirty minutes later, Vonda’s apartment doorbell rang. Ignoring the knee-length romper she was wearing, Vonda quickly opened the door and met Max with a casual expression.

“Oh, the plumber’s here.”

Vonda greeted playfully as she found Max standing at her door. He dressed in long pants and a jacket.

In response to Vonda’s playful greeting, Max merely grinned before stepping inside. Seeing that, Vonda closed the door and followed in Max’s footsteps.

“Which sink is clogged? The kitchen?”

Taking a seat next to Max, Vonda shook her head. “Not the kitchen sink, the bathroom sink in my room.”

“Oh… the one in the back bathroom?”

Vonda shook her head again.

“It’s the sink in my own room,” Vonda explained.

For a moment, Vonda bit her bottom lip. A thought crossed her mind and momentarily stunned her.

This is kind of rude, isn’t it? Inviting a guy into my room. Oh my, Vonda. You should have thought about that before you impulsively called him.

Vonda took a deep breath, hoping that Max would not interpret her actions in a certain way.

I hope he doesn’t think I’m trying to flirt with him or anything like that.

But Vonda’s worry escalated. She just realized that she was wearing a knee-length romper.NôvelDrama.Org: text © owner.

Oh no! I should have changed earlier.

Vonda tried to put on a thick-skinned face and pretend that what she was doing was no big deal. She reached for Max’s hand and invited him to follow her into the bedroom. She tried to calm herself, because for some reason she suddenly felt uncomfortable, almost embarrassed.

When they reached the bedroom, Vonda’s sense of discomfort intensified, making her feel like she was short of breath. But once again she tried to act casual as she pointed to the bathroom door.

“Over there.”

Max nodded. “Okay. Let’s take a look at that clogged sink.”

Max’s expression genuinely made Vonda laugh, and she momentarily forgot her discomfort.

At the sink, Max leaned forward with his arms crossed over his chest. Leaning slightly against the wall, Vonda asked, “How’s it going? Can you fix it?”

The question immediately drew a playful response from Max. He turned his narrowed eyes to her and countered, “Doubting my abilities, huh? I mean, not only can I fix a clogged sink, I could even unclog your clogged brain.”

Vonda grinned. “Getting all insulted there, huh?”

“Tch!”

Max clicked his tongue and without a word reached for the zipper of his jacket, which was zipped all the way up. Vonda’s eyes widened in anticipation, especially as Max began to remove his black jacket one arm at a time, revealing the thin white t-shirt clinging to his body.

Oh my, why not just take off the whole shirt?

Vonda swallowed, then blinked as Max handed her the jacket. As she approached the sink, she asked, “Where are the tools?”

Vonda suddenly realized. “Wait.”

As Max turned his head, Vonda ran out, taking his jacket with her. At that moment, Max muttered to himself.

“She doesn’t usually do this, does she? Invite a guy over while she’s wearing a onesie? Not safe at all. And then there’s the whole going into the bedroom thing.”

Max shook his head.

“You’re lucky I’m a decent guy, Von. Tsk tsk tsk.”

A short time later Vonda returned. This time not with Max’s jacket in her hands, but with a box of plumbing tools that were available in all the apartment units. This box had been neatly stored in Vonda’s kitchen cupboard. She had not expected that these tools would actually be used.

Max grabbed the box. “By the way, is the payment ready? I don’t mean to be nosy, but it’s a sin to withhold someone’s sweat before giving them their payment, you know.”

“Hahaha, don’t worry. You fix this, and I’ll prepare the payment. What do you want?”

Max crouched down, put the box down and opened it, examining the tools inside.

“What do you have here? So, I can choose.”

“Well… if your mother’s fried chicken was still around, I’d be frying it now.”

Max snorted. “That was a week ago. I doubt there’s any fried chicken left.”

“Hahaha.” Vonda chuckled. “I can cook you dinner, you know. Well… have you eaten yet?”

“Not really, but when you do, how about making me some snacks?”

Vonda was familiar with this request. So, a minute later she left Max in the bathroom and went to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and inspected the ingredients she had on hand.

“I have mozarella.”

Vonda’s gaze shifted and landed on a chicken roll she had made last Sunday. She nodded once and decided that mozarella stick and chicken roll would make the perfect snack.

Efficiently, Vonda sliced the mozarella, prepared the dough, and in no time the mozarella was sizzling in the pan.

While waiting for the mozarella to cook, Vonda turned her attention to the chicken roll, still wrapped in aluminum foil. She sliced it diagonally and prepared it for frying after the mozarella was done.

“What are you cooking?”

Vonda almost jumped in surprise when Max suddenly appeared behind her, peering into the pan.

“What’s that?” Max asked again, and Vonda put her hand to her pounding heart.

“You’re really good at scaring people,” Vonda replied, only to get a grin from Max. “Have you finished fixing the sink?”

Max nodded. “Next time, don’t wash your hair in the sink. It’s filled with hair.”

“Oops!” Vonda briefly covered her mouth. “I never wash my hair in the sink.”

“Is that so?” Max asked skeptically. “Then how do you explain the sink being full of hair? Or is that not hair?”

Vonda’s eyes widened.

“Don’t say that word. Don’t say it’s your pubic hair,” Max quipped. “Hahaha. You’re something else!”

*