Chapter 9: Amanda is an Angel

Amanda insisted she would be the one taking care of all the laundry, so Arthur promptly began helping by taking the trash out.

Honestly, when she asked if he had plans, he was expecting they would go out together or something. But what she really wanted was a helping hand for her weekly Saturday cleaning routine.

"I think this is everything," Arthur commented, double-checking everything.

Amanda had a tendency to accumulate trash in the living room and kitchen, but he managed to get it all into a black sack.

Their apartment complex was only four floors high, and Amanda lived on the third floor. It wasn’t exactly a long walk, so Arthur simply carried the heavy bag down the stairs.

By the time he reached the second floor, he noticed a small girl struggling to drag a heavy trash bag toward the stairwell. She couldn’t have been older than seven or eight, and it was obvious the bag was far too heavy for her.

Arthur set his own sack down and approached her.

"Hey there," he said, crouching to her eye level. "What’s your name?"

"Monica," she replied, puffing slightly, her small hands still gripping the edges of the oversized bag.

"And what are you doing, Monica? Carrying all this by yourself?"

She nodded, tugging at the bag stubbornly. "I’m helping my mom with the cleaning."

"Did your mom ask you to do this?"

The little girl shook her head. "No... but I decided to do it anyway." She smiled proudly. "Since Dad left, Mom has to do everything alone. She says I should just stay in my room, but I decided to help!"

She looked up at Arthur, clearly expecting praise. He just petted her head, then reached into the trash bag he was carrying. After a moment, he pulled out a small plastic bag filled with a few empty bottles.

"Then let me help you, I’ll carry this one for you. But..." he held out the small bag, "you carry this one. That way, you’re still helping. Deal?"

Monica’s eyes lit up. She grabbed the small bag with both hands and nodded eagerly. By doing this, Arthur let the girl feel like she was still helping.

They walked down to the first floor together. After discarding the trash in the communal bins, Arthur accompanied Monica back up to the second floor, making sure she got inside her apartment safely.

"Thanks, mister!" she called from the doorway, waving.

"Anytime, Monica. Take care of your mom, alright?"

She grinned and closed the door.

Arthur stood there for a moment, then turned and made his way back to Amanda’s house.

By the time he returned, she had already sorted the laundry into neat piles and was scrubbing down the kitchen counters. Without a word, Arthur rolled up his sleeves and got to work beside her.

They fell into a great rhythm of work. Arthur found it surprisingly easy to understand what she was thinking, and Amanda always seemed to know what he needed.

The hours slipped by without either of them noticing, as they spent the rest of the morning cleaning together.

Arthur, however, was running on fumes. He hadn’t slept at all the previous night, and the lack of sleep hit him like a truck. His eyelids grew heavier with each tick of the clock.

By the time he finished cleaning the living room, he collapsed onto the sofa, ready for a nap. But he and Amanda had agreed to cook together after the cleaning, so he couldn’t shut his eyes just yet.

It was at that moment that his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and glanced at the screen. Iris had just woken up and was checking in on him.

They exchanged a few messages. She wanted to play Mario Kart, promising that this time she wouldn’t fall asleep halfway through. Arthur refused, however, telling her that he already had plans.

Then he closed his eyes for just a second, sleep winning over him. Because of that, he didn’t notice Amanda sitting down beside him.

He only felt her poking his cheek playfully and turned his attention to her.

"You should at least eat something before sleeping," she commented with a gentle smile.

Then she pushed a fork with a piece of cake toward him. It wasn’t exactly what he’d expected for lunch, but Arthur accepted, and it was delicious.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" she asked with an inquisitive look.

"Well..." Arthur averted his gaze.

"I thought so," she said with a sigh. "You wouldn’t have time to go to a friend’s house, have fun, sleep, then come back here before I woke up."

Amanda pouted, a bit annoyed with Arthur. He shouldn’t push himself so hard, she knew young people had an easier time pulling all-nighters, but still...

"Come here," she said with a gentle smile, patting her thick, warm thighs. "You need some sleep."

"But weren’t we going to cook?"

"We can do that later," she replied matter-of-factly. "Now, let me take care of you. Come on," she urged again.

Arthur didn’t have the energy to argue, so he lowered himself and rested his head on her lap. Amanda’s fingers found their way into his hair almost immediately, brushing through it in slow, even strokes.

The tension in his shoulders began to unravel. The ceiling above him blurred, then softened, then faded into warmth.

He looked up and saw Amanda’s gentle smile, her beautiful face framed by the soft glow of the ceiling lamp directly above her head. As his vision blurred at the edges, all he could think was that she looked like an angel.

He closed his eyes and finally fell asleep on her lap. He woke up a few hours later, when the doorbell rang.

Looking toward the kitchen, he saw Amanda was already cooking, so he got up to go to the door. When he opened it, he gasped at the sight of her ample cleavage, but his eyes quickly moved up to Vanessa’s face.

"Hey! I came to check up on the two of you," she said, stepping forward so her tits pressed against his body, more specifically, his stomach, given the height difference.

And, by pure accident, she softly brushed her hand against his crotch, but Arthur barely registered it at the moment.