Nightmare Neighbor

CHAPTER 2 - Maddie

A relaxing afternoon with Meredith was precisely what I needed to get my groove back. We spent a couple of hours in a beauty salon, then grabbed an early dinner, avoiding all touchy subjects. My mood improved rapidly, and by the time Meredith dropped me off in front of the house, I couldn't wait to start writing.

The bags on the living room floor almost killed my mood. To escape the annoying feeling telling me I should unpack, I rushed to the nearby coffee shop and hid in the corner with a giant caramel latte. Characters were coming alive underneath my fingers as words flew out of me, and before I knew it, the first chapter was complete. I moved to the second one, not wanting to interrupt my streak. After a couple of minutes, a nervous young barista came to my table to tell me they were closing. I drank my cold coffee with burning cheeks, left a generous tip, and ran home, determined to use my writing momentum while it lasted.

A beat-up black jeep parked in the short driveway leading to my house caught my attention. It had to belong to the mystery downstairs neighbor. My stomach did a somersault. I forgot all about him.

I climbed the stairs and entered the lobby, heading straight for his door before losing the courage. A muted television noise reached my ears. I held my breath to figure out what my neighbor was watching. My best guess was some sport, perhaps football? I wondered who played tonight...

Okay, now I was stalling. I raised my arm to knock and hesitated with my fist inches from the wood, regretting Meredith wasn't here to make the introductions. I didn't do well with strangers. For God's sake, I still had trouble calling my doctor without rehearsing the conversation in my head first. And don't get me started about school... You'd never tell from looking at me, but every time I stood in front of the class to perform anything, I was so nervous I almost threw up. It was one of the reasons I would never make a great lawyer, no matter how badly my mother wanted me to follow in her footsteps. While she thrived under pressure, I hated being in the spotlight.

I lowered my arm again, not feeling up for the challenge. It was after eight already anyway, too late to bother someone. Alek would for sure consider me rude if I disturbed him at this hour.

What could I do? I'd have to say hello in the morning. Or afternoon.

I climbed the stairs to my apartment as quietly as possible, carefully shutting the door behind me. Once again, I ignored the bags in the middle of the living room floor, hopped onto the sofa, and began writing. My fingers danced on the keyboard, barely able to keep up with the flow of my thoughts. I chuckled at things I considered funny and bit my bottom lip at the emotionally tense parts, leaving reality behind as I dove into the story forming underneath my hands.

It was long past midnight when I finally placed my laptop on the coffee table. Even though I skipped a few scenes and I would have to tidy some things up once I'd done the outline, I made tremendous progress. I deserved some sleep.

I got comfortable on the sofa, not bothering to move into the bedroom since I didn't even own a pillow, let alone sheets. I was so not sleeping on a bare mattress. After closing my eyes, I returned to the story in my mind. I fell asleep long before I came up with the sweet surprise destiny had in store for my main characters in the next chapter.