The laundry machine in Maya Khan’s apartment was making a sound like a dying jet engine.
Dr. Julian Sterling sat on the linoleum floor, staring at the appliance in horror. Suds were beginning to leak from the door seal.
“It said ‘Normal Cycle’,” Julian muttered to himself. “What is normal about this?”
He had tried to be helpful. Maya was working a double shift, and he wanted to prove he wasn’t just a displaced prince crashing on her sofa. But he had poured the entire cup of detergent into the drum, and now a wall of foam was advancing across the kitchen floor.
The front door opened. Maya walked in, exhausted, dropping her keys. She stopped. She looked at the suds. She looked at the heir to the Sterling fortune armed with a mop.
“Julian,” she said, her lips twitching. “Did you try to wash the towels?”
“I wanted to help,” Julian said, his voice tight with embarrassment. “I… I’ve never done laundry, Maya. The staff always took it away and brought it back folded.”
Maya laughed, kicking off her shoes and wading into the foam to hug him. “It’s okay. We can mop it up.”
“It’s not okay,” Julian pulled away slightly, looking at his hands. “My father froze everything. I can’t even buy you a new washer if I broke this one. I’m useless here.”
“You saved a woman and a baby in a hurricane three days ago,” Maya said, grabbing his face. “You are learning, Julian. Rags to riches in reverse, remember? Now grab a bucket.”