The Guy Down the Hall- F1

Neighbors

Ilaria can't remember the last time she picked up a painting brush and a canvas, her love for art has been long gone from her life after how much college drained her.

Her grandmother insisted on it every day, constantly buying her new paint, pencils or anything that she can create art with, yet she can't even bring herself to look at the pile growing in a corner of her temporal room.

That's why she made everything possible to get a job in Monaco to get away from her grandmother most of the day.

At first repairing boats and yachts wasn't what she imagined herself doing but after realizing she's good at it and the payment is good Ilaria kept the job. Thank god for her father teaching her since a young age everything about boats because otherwise she would be stuck with her grandmothers pestering for her to paint.

And so everyday is the same; wake up, work out, get ready, leave to work and then come back almost at sunset. No time of the day she could properly think and being all the time at sea away from everyone is amazing.

Like any other day, she went through the silly little routine she mentally made. Walking slowly out of the elevator, gripping hard her wrist since earlier she accidentally sprained it while getting off a slippery boat.

The hit came like a gush of wind; it first hit her head before her whole body jerks forward falling to the floor. The guy that hit her lowly curses in a language she didn't recognize before he grabs her by the shoulders and forcefully stands her up.

Ilaria let out a cry in pain since she's sunburned on the shoulders, slapping his huge hands away from her body.

"Fuck is wrong with you!?" She angrily asks at the blond, recognizing him as the guy that rudely shut the door on her face the other day. He had three suitcases behind him, too much luggage if you ask her.

"Me? Watch where you're going" He hisses back in a heavy accent, walking past her without even saying sorry.

"Dickhead. Asshole. Son of a bitch" She murmurs while walking away, not intending for him to listen.

"Is that the mouth you kiss your mother with?" He shouts back.

Ilaria had no energy left to fight with a guy like him, no energy to tell him to fuck off and much less to tell him her mother is dead. She only took her keys opening the door and disappearing from his sight to greet her grandmother with a hug.

Every day for the next week Ilaria had been wary when she left the apartment. Before opening the door she always looked through the peephole in case he decided to leave at the same time as her.

Monaco is a small city, almost everybody knows each other and the same familiar faces can be seen evey once in a while. But Ilaria never saw the rude blond guy, not once.

For the second week of her paranoia her grandmother had realized what happened and instead of questioning Ilaria she only told her how the cute neighbor always helped with her groceries whenever he could.

She doesn't even know his name.

It's a weird situation, you at least know the name of your neighbor, it's the least you can do.

It worried Ilaria he was some kind of bad guy that works in sketchy missions, why else would he be gone for so much time?

She told her father about this and how unsafe she felt with someone like that living across the hallway. Only that her father reassured her that the guy has been living there for years now and she never realized this because she never liked coming back to Monaco until a few months back.