You Had Me At -- ON HOLD --

Chapter 2

I saw him often but I did not know his name. We never exchanged salutations or even smiles when we passed each other in the hall or shared elevator rides. He carried a duffel bag wherever he went, dressed the way he was. Whatever job he had there was obviously no dress code. At the very least he was a quiet neighbor. He sometimes had visitors both male and female, but they were quiet too. One evening a female friend of his mistakenly came to my door. She seemed horrified when I answered the door. She was a pretty blonde with big blue eyes and a figure I once had. She looked past me into my loft and then again at me. Her eyes narrowed and I could see that she was annoyed.

"I see he's dropped his standards," she said angrily.

My eyes opened wide. That was quite the salutation. "No, he still likes tramps. By the way, Goldilocks, he lives next door," I said before slamming the door in her face.

"Bitch!" she screamed from the other side.

Besides the run in with his friend, there was little interaction with my neighbor. Instead I was becoming more acquainted with Sherry. One evening I invited her to my place for dinner. She accepted the invitation and wondered aloud how I could afford my condo on an assistant professor's salary. I thought to tell her that the money had come from a painful divorce, but it didn't seem appropriate to lie, so I told her nothing at all.

One day after school I walked home in the pouring rain. It had been a beautiful and sunny morning, but it had all changed by afternoon. The rain was so intense I was drenched only two minutes into my walk. Luckily, I'd left an umbrella in my office, but it was of little use to me. The rain and gusts of wind were more formidable than a cheap umbrella.

I was soaking wet when I reached the building, a little puddle formed where I stood in between the doors and at the elevator. My neighbor came running inside the small lobby and I turned to see him punch in the access code. He sauntered up to me, only a few droplets on his rain jacket. He put down the plastic hood and smiled. I could see that he was laughing inside. I was finally able to confirm he was a jerk.

I turned away from him and waited for the elevator.

"We really should introduce each other, we are neighbors," he said.

I was cold and miserable and the last thing I wanted to do was chit chat with him. "You are right about one thing: we are neighbors."

"Quinn," he said, extending his hand.

He was starting with his last name? Odd. I also wasn't in the mood for silliness. "I'll tell you my first name if you tell me yours."

"Quinn is my first name," he said, his washed-out blue eyes coming to life. "Nice to meet you."

His tone had turned sarcastic, and maybe I deserved that. "It's Claire," I said with slight embarrassment.

"Nice to meet you Claire. I guess."

I was glad the elevator came. We got inside and remained silent. I thought to say goodbye when I reached my door, but I remained silent. I had made a breakthrough with him, however small it was.

***

We often passed one another in the hallway, but he didn't say hello. Occasionally he would nod to acknowledge my existence and other times he would barely even look at me. More often than not, he chose to ignore me. I couldn't understand why he was being so cold seeing as we were both neighbors and there was really no justification for his behavior. I mean, sure I'd been a little frosty, but I'd been nice since then. I was trying my best to be friendly, but it became abundantly clear to me one evening that I was wasting my time one evening.