Cate's Neighbor

New Neighbor

Catalina's pov

Cate's been gone like two days and I still don't know what to do with myself. I decide to take a walk to the swing again, as I lock up the house I feel like I'm being watched but I always feel like that so it's nothing new. I still check anyway but as usual there's no one there. I continue my walk remembering when Cate and I danced under the moon. I walked through the trees and to the swing, I hopped on and wrapped the rope like I did last time. I heard rustling in the trees and turned around thinking it might be the birds but I didn't see anything. I shrugged it off and turned back around, I got distracted when the same bird came back and perched on my knee.

"Hey little buddy, I don't have any cheese" he just looked at me like 'yeah I know that idiot' which made me giggle. He just sat there while I read and I started reading out loud to him and he just got comfortable like he's enjoying the story. Once the sun started to go down I thought it might be time to get back so I gently pick up the bird and pet him. I tell him I'm going now and he flies away I head back to the house and lock the door behind me. I call with Cate and then go to sleep.

*next day*

Different day, same shit. I have nothing to do as usual so I decide to write a bit since I haven't done that in a while. I lose track of time and when I look up it's 3 pm so I get up to get something to eat. I look through the fridge and there's meat in here that I need to cook so I get to that to occupy myself while also doing what I intended to do. While it's cooking I go on my phone until the doorbell rings. I'm not expecting anyone... I walk to the door and look through the peephole and see a man, scary. He's holding a box, I didn't order anything and Cate didn't tell me about a package... maybe it's a surprise. I open the door slightly. "Hello" I say politely, "hiya! I'm your new neighbor, Steve, and I just wanted to bring over something to say hi" he says sweetly.

"Hey, I'm Marli. Thanks for the gift" I say taking the box and he stands there for a moment before looking to the floor nervously. "Sorry, I just thought Cate would be here" he says and I look at him confused, is he a fan or something? "No it's not like that, I promise. I'm not some crazy fan, we used to be really good friends in college and we kinda lost touch when she started getting more roles and things like that. I was hoping to surprise her and catch up" he says rubbing the back of his neck like he's embarrassed. "Oh ok I was worried... uh come in" I say opening the door more, he steps in and removes his shoes. I walk into the kitchen and tell him to take a seat while I check on the food.

Yet again I made too much so I invite him to eat with him and he agrees. "So what did you study in college?" I ask him to make conversation,"communications, now I'm an entrepreneur isn't that funny" he chuckles. "Yeah I know people think it's a meaningless degree but if it works, it works right?" I laugh politely. "I'm just happy I found something that makes me not feel like I'm working myself into the ground" he shrugs. "What's your business?" I ask him, "I own a plumbing company" he says, "I'll call you if a toilet breaks" i joke and he laughs loudly. I mean it wasn't that funny but ok. We finish up eating and I show him out, "by the way could we keep this between us? I still want to surprise Cate when she get back. When did you say she would be back?" he asks me reaching out his hand

I shake it and say "in about 2 weeks," he nods and leaves, I close the door behind him and roll my eyes. Gosh why do I have to be so nice sometimes? I clean up the kitchen and then head upstairs once again to write a bit more. It's addicting like when I start I write for hours non-stop but I guess time flies when you're doing something you love. Soon enough it was time for bed so I shut down my laptop and took a shower then wait for Cate's call. "Hi babe" I say as soon as it connects, "hello my little dove" she says and I giggle. We talk for a bit more and my mind blanks for a moment so I say "hey our neighbor came over today" and she looks at me confused. "We don't have any neighbors sweetie" she says still looking at me funny.

Then I remember how he said he wanted to surprise her and I try to cover it up. "Right. I ordered food today from my favorite place and they didn't have that ice cream I like. So he told me he got me the closest flavor to what I ordered and I was reading this article about how someone's neighbor murdered them while eating it. You know how my mind is all over the place" I chuckle hoping she buys it. "You're something else Valentina" she says, "you've never called me buy my middle name before" I say and blush. "I'm trying to think of a nickname... Vale? Or I could jsut call you Marli because that's short" she shrugs. "Yeah cause you can't call me Cat I literally hate that" I chuckle and she laughs with me.

We talk for a bit more before saying good night. That man was so weird but I guess he wasn't expecting me just like I wasn't expecting him. If he's Cate's friend he's probably cool and was just awkward.