Chapter 7: Chapter 7

Once they reached inside, Rohit locked the door like he normally did, and turned the vent on, which was also loud enough to muffle noises. He then turned the shower on, showing Ingrid which knob controlled hot and cold water. The water initially fell from the shower head, but twisting the switch on its neck could make water spray from the wand that hung below the knobs. “Whichever you prefer,” he said, turning his attention to his own toiletries consisting of a sandalwood shower gel, and a certain shampoo and conditioner designed for receding hair.

Rohit pursed his lips, not because he was slightly embarrassed at the fact that his hairline was rapidly receding, yet still managed to look full on his head, but that the products weren’t the right kind Ingrid should be using.

The young vampire had full, luxurious, golden locks, so her shampoo shouldn’t be one that was meant for a particular purpose.

“I don’t think you should wash your hair with those…” Rohit piped up, and then opened the tiny closet adjacent to the bathtub, where there were towels, blankets, pillows, and several bathroom and personal amenities, including other shampoos and conditioners that his parents used. He picked out a generic shampoo that was half empty and handed it to Ingrid. “Use this for now, I suppose…” he instructed. “I’ll buy a better one for you later and we’ll just keep it in my room.”

Ingrid quietly nodded and proceeded to open the beach-themed shower curtain, while Rohit turned towards the vanity mirror.

The young man widened his eyes when he saw that the vampire heiress undo her towel, exposing her creamy skin, so he quickly averted his eyes down to the sink, as his cheeks were flustered and his heart beat rapidly from excitement.

She didn’t seem to notice his abrupt movement in the small space, but when she fluffed her hair, and the strands caressed Rohit’s back, it sent a thrilling sensation up his spine, forcing him to posture up and ogle at Ingrid’s reflection.

‘Wait a minute!’ he thought to himself. ‘I thought vampires couldn’t be reflected in mirrors!’

At this point, the young woman entered the shower and proceeded to cleanse herself.

Rohit sat on the toilet, patiently awaiting his turn, but still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that this was real. There was a complete stranger in his house, who’s also a vampire. And right now, she’s taking refuge in his parents’ house and was behind the shower curtain completely naked. The whole thought of this predicament came as fantasy to him, because he’d never thought he’d be in a situation as surreal as this, and yet, this was all very much real.

He then got up and made his way to the door, as he perceived his mom returned from dropping his dad at dialysis. Their bedroom was across from the bathroom, and he could vaguely hear the closet door in the small corridor open so she could hang her coat up. It wasn’t until he peeped under the crevice of the door did his speculation come true, as he saw shadows moving around the hall.

Ingrid showered thoroughly for about fifteen minutes, as she wanted to get as clean as possible, especially after the night she had. The warm water hitting her face and body was like a blanket of embraces, making her not want to leave. Even when it trickled down her skin to the small scars that lingered around longer as a result of the silver bullets. They’d eventually go away, but because they were what they were, there was a kind of phantom pain phenomena that sometimes caused her to jolt slightly if the area was touched.

After finishing her shower, Ingrid left the water running and switched the flow to the wand, so it would spray away from her as she acquired her towel. She held out her hand from behind the curtain, to which Rohit handed her the towel for her to cover her body as she exited.

The young man averted his eyes before stepping in the shower himself and handed Ingrid his towel to hold onto while she dried herself.

Partway through his shower, a knock was made at the door, alerting Rohit, as he flinched. He instinctively answered, “Yeah?” but vaguely heard muffling noises coming from the other side, since the running water and vent made it impossible to hear. He didn’t say anything after that and just continued his shower, because usually when that happens it’s because the water’s been running for too long, and someone had a problem with that.

It was typically Rohit’s brother who’d try and interrupt the shower, but knew that this time it was definitely his mom. Fortunately for him, he had a simple explanation to cover his tracks.

After finally wrapping up his regimen, Rohit turned the water off and held his hand out to retrieve his towel, to which Ingrid handed it to him. He dried himself off from behind the curtain before stepping out with the towel around his waist again. The vent was still running, so Rohit was able to communicate the next step to Ingrid, who leaned in to hear. Even though this was a delicate matter, the young man couldn’t help but glance at the vampire heiress’s features in his instruction.

Ingrid nodded, understanding the plan and stood behind Rohit, as he carefully opened the door and shut off the light and vent at the same time before scurrying the two steps it took to reach inside his room.

Upon making it safely behind the closed door, the two exhaled at the same time.

“Good work,” Rohit whispered with relief.

Ingrid giggled. “That was quite the adventure.”

“Rohit!” a voice called from outside his door.

Ingrid flinched and glanced at him, while he placed a finger over his lips for her to stay quiet.

“Yeah?” he responded.

“How come you took so long to shower?” his mother asked.

Being skilled at coming up with covers that had truth within him, the young man simply responded that he had to wash his hair, which took a considerable amount of time to do sometimes.

“Hmph!” she scoffed. “I’m also frying some plantain.”

He nodded. “Oh okay.”

“How was work?”

Ingrid swallowed, wondering how Rohit was going to respond, but based on the young man’s casual responses with no suspicions backing it, she didn’t worry too much.

“It was okay,” he replied to his mom. “Slow night.”

After that, she didn’t ask any more questions, and was on her way.

Rohit looked at Ingrid, who had her fists clenched, as she stood frozen like a statue.

She was staring intently at the door, as if expecting for it to open.

“You okay?” he asked, before taking notice of her eyes being focused on the doorknob. “Oh,” he casually stated. “I usually keep it locked. I don’t know why, I just do.” He chuckled and proceeded to retrieve his forest-green bathrobe, which hung on his office chair. ‘Damn…’ he thought. ‘Will she be okay wearing this? I still have to wash it, and I do laundry today too…’

He then looked in his closet at other options Ingrid could possible wear, and thought she could sport one of his dress shirts, because at least that was already dry-cleaned, kept in one of those plastic bags to preserve it, and it was a button down. He then thought she could wear one of his sweatpants, which lay on the shelving above the rack within the closet.

In that way, she could adjust it to her liking.

By the time Rohit retrieved the outfit, he heard Ingrid say, “Yeah, this’ll do. It’s very comfortable.”

The young man turned around and widened his eyes, as she was now wearing his bathrobe and was tying the belt around her narrow waist. Just the way it clung to her body made Rohit flustered again, as he also dropped the outfit while continuing to stare.

“Well?” Ingrid wondered. “How do I look?”

He cleared his throat, while picking up his clothes. “Uh…” he stammered. “W-Wouldn’t you prefer this outfit instead?” Rohit presented the clothes to her. “I mean… I’ve worn that bathrobe, and I haven’t washed my clothes yet…” He then swallowed, while adding under his breath, “Plus… I tend to sleep naked in that too, so…”

Ingrid giggled. “No worries, Rohit.” She approached him and placed a hand near his bare clavicle, but because of the length of the robe, it covered her hands all the way down to just above her ankles. “Besides, I’ve already made myself comfortable in it.”

His lip quivered. “O-Okay…”

Ingrid turned around so the young man could change his clothes, and afterwards, he opened his backpack and pulled out the goodies he bought from work.

“You hungry?” he asked, holding one of the meatball subs to her.