A/N: Have a wonderful week.

Disclaimer: Same 1-6.

Just as Anna had said the beginning of the week would have rain. She looked out her bedroom window and groaned. The rain didn't always bother her, but she hated when it rained on her way to work. She always had to take extra stuff with her which included wellies, a rain coat, and an umbrella on top of what she already took to work.

On top of all that, it was Monday again.

She slipped on her wellies and put on her rain coat. The wind pressed some of the rain against the window making her roll her eyes. She would probably end up looking like a mess by the time she got into work if she didn't bundle up and use the umbrella just right.

Walking into the kitchen, she prepped her morning tea and her slice of butter cake. She noted she was about out of the cake and would need something else to take with her soon. While waiting on the water to boil, she leaned up against the worktop and sighed. The weekends always seemed to go by so fast.

The kettle broke her from her absentminded thinking. She completed the rest of her tasks and walked to the door. Fumbling, she attempted to get a hold on her items. Her heels, umbrella, lunch bag, tumbler, purse, and keys, it was a lot to wrangle.

Getting her door open, she tried to get herself out the door when her lunch bag took a tumble to the ground.

"Ugh!" She exclaimed very ungracefully while she was between her door still being slightly open and her bag on the floor.

"We have to stop meeting like this."

Anna jumped a little and looked up and over to see John smirking at her. His smile made her stop struggling, and she giggled back at him. He was clad in his navy robe again, but this time with plain black pajama bottoms. She watched him come over to her and her pulse quickened. She had wondered if he had also thought about their almost kiss. Would he have liked it? Would he have regretted it? They hadn't spoken since it had almost happened.

He immediately bent down with the assistance of his cane to collect her lunch bag. When he straightened back up he said, "Let's reconfigure this. Hand me some stuff so you can lock your door."

"You don't have to worry with it," she tried to dismiss.

"I'm not worried. I am simply being neighborly."

She looked at him for a couple of seconds then gave in.

"Oh, alright."

She handed him her tumbler and umbrella before she turned and locked her door. She then shifted items in her arms and took back what she handed John.

"That's better," he commented and stepped back.

"Thank you. I appreciate your help. I've probably made myself late."

"Well, we can't have that. Have a good day."

Anna began walking away and called out over her shoulder before she walked down the stairs.

"You too, John."

John took a bite of the sandwich he had made himself for lunch while he waited for Anna's video to appear. He had propped his phone up against his computer monitor so he could watch while he ate.

He was taking a sip of his water when her face graced his phone screen. He smiled to himself as he watched her begin to talk to her audience. He still thought her brave to be on camera all day. He would never have the courage or energy to be able to do what she did five days a week.

"Yes, Good morning to you as well, Carl."

He wiped his hands on a napkin and picked up his phone. He quickly typed in a comment.

Good Morning. It's rather bucketing down today.

He placed his phone back up against the monitor and took another bite of his food. The wider grin she produced when his comment got to her made him lighter.

"Good morning, CupofSugar. It is good to see you back with us. It is quite a rainy day today. Do any of you ever have to take extra things to work with you on days like today? I know I do. The wellies and umbrella are especially important." She paused and chuckled a little. "I had so much stuff this morning that my lunch bag took a fall. I was lucky a very kind neighbor of mine just happened to be there to help me with my extra belongings."

She looked into the camera with a glance that he knew was just for him. He felt the room get a little warmer as he thought yet again of their almost kiss. It had consumed his thoughts a woman like Anna would have wanted to kiss him.

"I agree Cherry76. It's always best to be kind and helpful when we can be."

He watched until she turned off the live stream. He exited the app and was just about to put his phone away when a text notification popped up across the screen.

How is work going? Busy day?

He actually was very busy with work, but he wouldn't let that stop him from watching her videos when he could.

It is busy. I've taken on a few more clients. How is your day?

He leaned back in his desk chair and waited for her reply.

It is going well. I have about ten minutes before I need to prepare for noon.

He liked she was taking the time to text him while she had a short break.

You will do a fantastic job as always.

He could see the three little dots indicating she was typing back.

Charmer. You have a great rest of your day. I'll talk to you soon.

He immediately responded.

Stay dry. Talk to you soon.

John had thrown himself into his work the remainder of the day. Now that it was evening, he decided he would get caught up on some laundry. It was another inconvenience of living in a flat. The building had a laundry room with multiple washers and dryers for their tenants to use rather than there being that convenience in each flat. Not to mention the machines required fifty pence to operate.

He dragged his laundry basket down the stairs until he reached the lobby. Turning to the right, he walked down a corridor until he entered the laundry room. The space was noisy as machines worked to wash and dry. There were a couple of people to the left who were busy looking at their phones and sitting down while waiting for their machines to buzz. To the right, he noticed Anna with light pink headphones on her head. It was the kind that covered the whole ear instead of the earbuds almost everyone used now. It was nice to see her using an older style headset. She wasn't looking fully in his direction while she mouthed some of the lyrics to whatever song she was listening to. Tossing another piece of clothing into a dryer, she leaned over the washer to collect more articles. John's brows lifted as he got a very nice visual of her backside. He looked away only for a moment before he heard her singing as he guessed a new song came through her headphones.

"I'm so into you I can barely breathe. And all I wanna do is fall in deep."

He quickly wondered if she knew the actual volume she was singing as he continued to listen.

"But close ain't close enough 'til we cross the line, yeah, yeah, so name a game to play and I'll roll the dice, hey."

She tossed some more items into the dryer, and he walked a little more into the room. The lyrics held him a little too captivated.

"Oh, baby, look what you started. The temperature's rising in here. Is this gonna happen? Been waiting and waiting for you to make a move, before I make a move."

Needing to break his train of thought, he walked to a set of unoccupied machines. He had walked behind Anna and to the other side without her being aware. She had put her coin into the machine and started it up when her head turned in his direction. She did a double take and placed her headphones around her neck.

"Hey, you," she greeted cheerfully. "What are you doing here?"

John looked down at his laundry basket and cleared his throat. "Some laundry."

"What a dumb question that was," she laughed.

She walked closer to him.

"It wasn't. I could have been in here loitering."

Or stalking, he thought to himself.

"I don't know if you're the loitering type."

He commented, "You're probably right."

"Please, don't let me hinder you from your task," she said as she waved a hand towards his basket.

"You could never do such a thing," he replied, giving her a shy smile.

John looked to see the other occupants in the room hadn't paid them a bit of attention. Thank God because he had been basically checking Anna out while listening to her sing some heated lyrics. Anna turned her head to look as well before quickly looking back.

"Most don't do a lot of talking in here. Everyone just wants to get it done and get out."

"I don't blame them," John stated.

Anna crossed her hands in front of her and smiled.

"Don't like doing the laundry?"

He opened the washer lid and dumped his whole load in there.

"I don't think anyone likes doing the laundry. You would think by now we would have clothes that stayed clean. We pay enough for them to stay that way."

John sat his empty basket down and looked around him.

"Of course," he murmured.

"What is it?" Anna asked when he looked a little frustrated.

"I'll be back. I forgot the laundry soap."

"No need. You can use mine."

Anna was off to get her soap before he could even form the first word of protest. She happily held the container as he placed his money.

"Don't sort the laundry either?"

He stepped back, and Anna added the soap.

"I don't see the point. It all ends up coming out fine."

She shook her head with a smile and moved when she was done.

"It's what we call man laundry. The dumping of all items no matter if it's whites, colors, towels, etc. into one load."

John started the machine and winked at her. Anna giggled.

"It saves so much time," he playfully insisted.

"Oh, I am sure it does."

Anna looked back to her dryer and noted the time left on it.

"I have about twenty minutes until mine is done. Did you plan on staying here while it washes?"

Their eyes met, and John replied, "I don't know what it is, but I don't trust people enough to leave my clothes unattended."

"I'm not going to steal your clothes, John."

"I didn't mean you. I would trust you with my clothes."

She grinned at that, and he continued, "I had planned on staying."

"Well then, if you don't mind the company we can sit over here until mine's done."

"Of course."

Anna walked briskly to place her laundry soap next to her basket. She then rejoined John, and they sat down.

"I like your headphones," John complimented as he looked at them around her neck.

Anna realized she was still playing music through them and quickly took her phone out of her pocket to turn the music off.

"Thank you. Sorry about that I didn't realize till just now the music was still going."

"No worries," he smirked. "Is this your usual laundry night?"

She shook her head. "No, I probably should have a routine like that, but I just do it as needed. Plus having a laundry night sounds kinda boring."

They both chuckled.

"Though I guess that is what happens to us all," she continued, "we get jobs and do housework. If we're lucky we get a few treats along the way."

John nodded his understanding. There was definitely a great deal of fact in that statement.

"If only we lived in a world not ruled by money. Then maybe more of us could live life and see a bit more of it."

John turned his head more to get a better look at her. She looked back at him.

"What radical thinking," he teased.

She sighed, "Maybe. I don't mind hard work and dedication, but that can't be all there is to life."

His eyes searched hers. He couldn't agree more.

"No, if that's all it was it wouldn't really be worth it."

"Exactly, I for one am looking for much more than to just give my life to a job."

His eyes crinkled at the corners as he watched her fire build and release. He enjoyed her expressing her points of view. It was very much like his own.

"You and millions of others most like."

"What about you?" She asked him.

He thought for a moment and replied, "I see work as a necessary evil. It helps facilitate what we strive to want. I have used work to fuel purpose, but that won't always be the case. I agree with all you have said."

Anna placed her hand on his and apologized, "I'm sorry. Here I am standing on my soap box about living in an utopian society that won't exist. I'm probably boring you to death."

In a bold move, he reached his hand over so his palm touched hers. He grasped her hand securely.

"You have no need to apologize. I enjoy you expressing your opinions."

"You'd probably be the first."

"I doubt that. Look at your live stream. People love you expressing your thoughts and wisdom."

Anna titled her head a little to the side. "Maybe you're right."

"I know I am," he replied softly.

"I like the confidence."

"Do you?" He asked cheekily.

"I believe I rather do, yes," she smiled.

"Maybe one day you'll have your career and also be able to see a bit of the world."

"Maybe we both will."

"Yes, maybe we both will. I've gotten the chance to see a beautiful part of the country just by moving north."

His eyes stayed soft on hers. His meaning was much deeper than just the scenery.

"Exactly. It doesn't have to be the whole world. Just the stuff that is important along the way or interesting."

Her machine buzzed letting her know her load was done. She squeezed John's hand before letting it go.

"That's me."

She stood up and said to him, "You have a nice night. Thank you for the chat."

"Anytime. Sleep well."

She gave him a small smile and went to collect her now dry clothes. She placed them in the basket and gave him a little wave before she exited the room.

A/N2: Song by Ariana Grande - Into You