A History Of Violence - Violentine AU

Chapter Two: Hot Water

With a turn of the tap, the shower sputtered to life, sending hot water cascading down to the floor of the glass cubicle. Violet tossed her clothes on the ground and stepped in, putting her head under the water. She closed her eyes and stopped for a moment to enjoy the warmth that enveloped her. Showering had long been Violet's favorite part of any given day. Mostly due to how pleasant it felt to be standing under the hot water, but also because of the peacefulness it brought.
In spite of the fact she lived alone, Violet still felt like the shower was the only place she could have any real privacy. With her eyes closed under the water, the rest of the world didn't matter, it all melted away.  All the maddening randomness of life ceased to exist, replaced by the sound of water splashing at her feet and the feeling of tranquility. Unfortunately however, one would eventually have to open their eyes.
Violet stepped out and dried off, wrapping the towel around herself and walking to her bedroom. She breathed a sigh of relief that it was Saturday. Violet slipped into her favorite pair of sweatpants, taking a t-shirt from the closet and throwing a hoodie over it for good measure.
She sauntered into the kitchen, taking a box of cereal and placing it on the bench. There was barely any milk left in the carton, she made a mental note to buy more. Violet turned the cereal box over and waited for the bowl to begin filling up. Much to her dismay, seven individual pieces of cereal fell into the bowl, bouncing as they landed.
"Of course." She huffed.
It seemed like today was the day to get the grocery shopping done. Violet hated being a responsible adult with a burning passion, she wondered if it would be possible to save enough money to hire a butler who would cook for her and pick up food from the store. There was little time for wishful thinking however, she was hungry and needed groceries.
Violet took her car keys, slipped into the boots that she hadn't bothered to untie and prepared to brave the outside world on her quest for food.

It wasn't a long drive from her house in the suburbs to the city, she maneuvered her car into the parking lot behind the supermarket and went inside.
The buzzing fluorescent lights greeted her at the door, adding to the ambience of murmurs from the other customers. Violet made a beeline for the cereal aisle, picking out a fresh box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
She started towards the refrigerators where the milk was kept, cutting through the Asian cuisine aisle. Violet had to do a double take when she turned the corner, almost walking into the stack of discounted instant ramen. Clementine, the girl from the bar, was standing in the aisle browsing packets of curry powder. Violet froze, what were the odds of seeing her here? Clementine still wore the same baseball cap, pairing it with a blue letterman jacket, skinny jeans and boots.
Fuck, she looks good.
At that exact moment, Violet became acutely aware of the way she herself looked. She was wearing the clothes she usually bummed around the house in, carrying a box of cereal and standing right in front of a beautiful girl who clearly took pride in her appearance. Violet came to her senses and continued walking, she would have to pass Clementine to get to the milk. As long as the brunette didn't turn around, Violet would be fine.
As if the universe itself was conspiring against her, the girl turned around, having decided on the flavour of curry she wanted. Their eyes met and Violet began panicking internally, trying to think of something to say.
"Hey." Was all she could muster.
"Hi." Clementine said, flashing a warm smile at her.
Violet laughed nervously and felt herself beginning to blush, she rubbed the back of her neck.
"Umm...I gotta go, sorry." She croaked.
"Oh. Okay then, bye." Clementine said with a giggle.
Violet continued towards the milk, hanging her head in embarrassment.
Why does she have to be so damn cute?
She took a jug of milk and walked to the checkout in shame. She berated herself for not talking to the girl, it would have been the perfect opportunity to strike up a conversation. Violet saw Clementine continuing her shopping in another aisle as she walked towards the self serve checkouts. She scanned her items and gave the machine the payment it demanded before heading back to her car.
For the entire drive home, her thoughts were occupied by Clementine's face. Last night at the bar, she had been too nervous to look the girl in the eyes for any extended period of time. Today however, she had stood close enough to commit Clementine's face to memory.

She returned home and immediately poured herself a bowl of cereal before picking it up and taking a seat in the study. Violet opened the desk drawer and pulled out her sketch pad, laying it flat on the centre of the desk. She then took out a tin of graphite pencils, popping it open and starting with a medium thickness lead. Her wrist flicked around, letting the pencil caress the page lightly, drawing a round shape. She added guide lines to the shape before switching to a thinner pencil. Violet scooped cereal into her mouth with her left hand while her right worked on fleshing out the drawing. She switched to a thick pencil and began shading, remembering how Sophie had taught her about the way light fell on a face when they were in high school. Before long, Violet found herself gazing at the same face that had been smiling at her not half an hour earlier. She was proud of how the drawing had turned out, it was a decent likeness of Clementine. Violet sat back to enjoy the rest of her cereal, she had just needed to get the image of Clementine out of her head and onto the page or she would have been thinking about it all day.
Ok cool. Now that I'm done with that, I can go and relax.
Violet added her bowl to the dish pile that she promised herself she would wash later and turned the tv on in the lounge. Unfortunately for her, there wasn't exactly a wealth of good content on television that day. She flipped through countless fishing shows, infomercials and game shows, finding nothing worth watching. She got up and did a lap of the house in search of something to do, passing the study and peeking in to admire the drawing of Clementine before returning to the lounge. Violet glanced at her phone, seeing no new messages. She stared at the ceiling, trying to think of something she could do to entertain herself. She needed something new to read, having already finished every book she owned. After what felt like six hours of lying on the couch, she got up and made the commute around her house once again. It didn't even register with her, but she had stopped in the office again. The graphite rendition of Clementine smiled at her from the table, Violet wondered what the girl was doing right now.
Maybe she's thinking about me? No, shut up Violet, that's fucking stupid.
She slumped into the chair, causing it to spin slightly, and let out a long sigh. She had only run into Clementine twice, and despite how much she hated to admit it, she was obsessed.
Fuck.
Violet pulled her phone out and typed out a message to Louis. He might have been annoying, but he was still her best friend. Not to mention he was known for being something of a charmer, if anyone was qualified to help, it was probably him.

You: Lou, I need your help.

She waited for a response, repeatedly checking her phone. She almost dropped it from sheer excitement when it buzzed.

Lou: What's up?
You: I think I like Clementine.
Lou: The waitress?
You: Yep.
Lou: lol.
You: Fuck you I'm serious.
Lou: Chill, I was joking. Ok, I'll take you to the bar on Friday and you can ask her out.
You: Are you serious?
Lou: Why wouldn't I be?
You: I can't just ask her out, she doesn't even know me.
Lou: How exactly do you think people get to know each other?
You: Ok good point.
Lou: Friday, okay?

Violet put her phone down on the desk. In a week's time she would have to confront Clementine and ask her out. It sounded so easy in theory, however she knew that these things rarely went the way they were planned. Violet just hoped she didn't end up embarrassing herself.