Both of them.
She’s standing on the front porch, phone tucked between her shoulder and ear, scrolling through the listing on her tablet.
A man walks past on the sidewalk.
“Honestly,” she says into the phone, “it’s the drive-thru windows that make it a turn-on for me.”
The man slows.
Turn-on?
He glances toward her.
Drive-thru window?
He keeps walking.
Some kind of filthy euphemism.
Has to be.
She scrolls down the listing.
“Yeah. Both of them.”
He stops.
Both?
He turns around.
Wait.
Did she say windowS?
There was definitely an S.
“I mean, one would be nice,” she continues into the phone, “but two? That changes everything.”
He stands there for a second.
Then starts walking back.
She doesn’t notice.
He reaches the sidewalk in front of her house and clears his throat.
“I’m a pretty good window cleaner.”
She holds up one finger without looking at him.
“Hold on.”
She listens to whoever is on the phone.
“No, I’m still here. Some guy needs me.”
She lowers the phone.
“Sorry. What did you say?”
He smiles.
“I said I’m a pretty good window cleaner.”
“Oh!”
She looks back at the listing.
“Perfect, actually. Because they’re probably going to get fingered constantly.”
His smile disappears.
“Constantly?”
“Yeah.”
She puts the phone back to her ear.
“Sorry. Go ahead.”
She listens.
Nods.
“Exactly. Especially if both are going at the same time.”
The man stares at her.
“Both?”
She glances at him.
“Yeah.”
“At the same time?”
“Well… yeah. That’s kind of the point of having two.”
He swallows.
“Jebus Christ, woman. I may need help to keep up.”
She laughs.
“You probably would.”
She turns her attention back to the phone.
“Sorry. What were you saying?”
Pause.
“Oh! Yeah. The back one.”
The man’s head snaps up.
She scrolls farther down the listing.
“Apparently the one in the back gets kind of sticky.”
His eyebrows climb.
“The one in the… back?”
She holds up a finger to the phone again.
“Yeah. He said you have to slam it a couple times to get it to work.”
The man just stares at her.
“Couple times?”
“Sometimes.”
“And that… works?”
“Apparently.”
He looks down the street.
Looks back at her.
She goes back to her phone.
“I know. I’m hoping it just needs some lubrication or something.”
His eyes widen.
She notices.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.”
He clears his throat.
“Just reconsidering my availability.”
“Oh. Well, I’d probably need you pretty regularly.”
He blinks.
“Regularly?”
“Yeah. Especially with two.”
He nods slowly.
“Right.”
She looks back at the tablet.
“I mean, obviously the front one is going to get the most traffic.”
His mouth opens.
Nothing comes out.
“But I’m not neglecting the back one.”
He closes his eyes.
Just briefly.
She continues scrolling.
“I’d want them both serviced.”
He exhales through his nose.
“Ma’am…”
She looks at him.
“Yes?”
He straightens his shirt.
“I’m gonna need to bring a friend.”
She smiles.
“That’s fine. Two people would probably make it go faster.”
He stares at her.
She puts the phone back to her ear.
“Sorry about that. So anyway—what were you saying about the beer and wine license?”
