Everybody Needs Good Neighbours

Chapter One

Luisita Gomez wasn't exactly trying to listen to the conversation going on out in the hallway. But the front door of the apartment was in the living room and that's where Luisita was, so it was happening whether she liked it or not.

She knew what it would be about anyway, what it was always about. It wasn't the first time she'd heard this conversation in front of her apartment – or a version, anyhow. Even though one of the main characters would always change, the one that stayed the same was the problem. Her neighbour across the hall – Amelia. It had become very clear rather quickly that Amelia had a revolving door of company, of the female persuasion on a pretty regular basis.

Luisita wasn't listening, but she had ears and she could hear Amelia saying "I put it on my profile. Casual."

"But I thought....I thought we had a connection" said whoever the hell this new one was.

"We had a lot of fun" Amelia corrected kindly.

"So, what's wrong, Amelia?"

"Nothing's wrong er..."

"It's Pollyanna!" the woman cried.

"Pollyanna?" Luisita whispered to herself, trying not to laugh. "She managed to forget that?" She was locked on now, no pretence that she wasn't having a good old listen.

"What are you doing?" asked Pablo as he walked into the living room wearing a towel, fresh from the shower.

Luisita turned to him "Shh!"

But the voices on the other side of the door had stopped talking. They knew they were being listened to.

"Did you hear that?" asked Pollyanna.

"I don't know. Anyway, look, it was a lovely evening, but I need to get to work..." Amelia hinted.

"But I just.....cant we meet again? Just a coffee?" Pollyanna whined. Luisita was embarrassed on her behalf.

"Stop listening." Pablo told her quietly.

"I'm not" Luisita said, pushing him gently into the bedroom. She wouldn't be able to hear now anyway. Pablo wouldn't let her. Spoilsport as ever.

"You're so nosey" Pablo admonished her, getting his trousers on.

She sighed "I wasn't trying to listen, but if she keeps breaking it off with one night stands right in front of my door. I don't know how a normal person could be expected to completely ignore that." Luisita told him.

"I don't listen to it." He said buttoning his shirt.

"Good for you." Luisita told him. "It must be wonderful to be perfect."

"I'm not perfect. I'm just an adult that respects the privacy of others." Pablo said self righteously, now fully dressed.

Luisita wasn't really in the mood for an argument but she wouldn't fully ignore what had been said. "So I'm not an adult?"

Pablo rolled his eyes. "I didn't say that."

"You implied it"

"I need to get to work. I don't have time to play games with you right now."

Luisita shook her head at him as he walked from the room. "You are going to say that to me then walk out?" she said to his back.

He paused for a second and Luisita thought he would turn back, maybe apologise, but he kept walking. Luisita hated her boyfriend at that moment.

After the door slammed shut and she knew Pablo was gone, she sat quietly down on the bed. She picked up her pillow and screamed "Fuck you!" into it. Then she put it down, took a deep breath, and went to the mirror. Her make up was smudged, so she wiped it away and reapplied. Once she felt that she looked like a normal person again, someone whose relationship wasn't on the verge of implosion, she left the apartment.

Luisiata didn't want to accidentally catch up with Pablo on the street, so she took the elevator down to the parking garage, planning to sneak out the back way. As she strode through the dark concrete underbelly of the building, she noticed Amelia parked up near the exit. She hadn't left yet, she was just sitting in her car on her phone. Luisita tried to walk past without making eye contact. So, of course, she accidentally locked eyes with her.

"Hi, Luisita" Amelia said winding her window down.

Luisita pretended she hadn't noticed her before "Oh, hi"

Amelia glanced out the back of her window "Is she still around?"

Luisita feined confusion "Who?"

Amelia gave her a half smile, popping out "I think we both know who"

Luisita chewed her lip "Pollyanna?"

Amelia winced, her honey coloured eyes crinkling. "You heard the bit where I couldn't remember her name? That's embarrassing."

Luisita couldn't help but chuckle "Yeah, I'm sorry. Your door faces my door and..."

"Of course," Amelia said easily. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have taken it out into the hall. I thought she was going to be cool."

Luisita would have loved to press for more details, but she and Amelia didn't know each other all that well. Luisita wasn't one for getting up in her neighbours business. Basic politeness was her game. She drew the line at nods and hellos. Well, until today. This was the most she'd ever spoken with Amelia.

Luisita had moved in with Pablo two years ago, Amelia had moved into the building a few months ago. From a distance Amelia seemed cool, if not a bit of a philanderer. But if you looked like Amelia, casual sex was probably very easy to come by. She had shoulder length dark hair curled at the ends and was always in casual wear. Jeans, t shirts, trainers, nothing that might draw your eye – unless you looked at her face. Because there you would find the most expressive eyes Luisita had ever seen, you'd also find a set of world class eyebrows, specifically one raised eyebrow. Luisita thought that for all that was appealing about Amelia's face, it was the eyebrow that probably did a lot of the work of tipping her face from being attractive to sexy. The raised eyebrow managed to suggest that its owner knew her way around the block and might be inclined to guide interested parties on that route if they had the ovaries to think they could keep up.

"Well, I'd better...." Luisita nodded at the car.

"Right. I'll see you around." Amelia opened her car door and got out.

"Weren't you going somewhere?" Luisita asked, confused.

"No, I'm actually working from home. I was just trying to get rid of.... Wait, what was her name again?"

"Pollyanna" Luisita reminded her.

"You'd think that would stick, but..." Amelia shrugged, laughing. She walked into the waiting elevator. The doors shut on her, still smiling to herself.

Luisita shook her head and grinned in spite of herself, as she headed out of the building. That Amelia was something else. 

Hello readers! After complaining about the lack of new Luimelia fics and mourning the fics that have disappeared, I decided to take action.  I'll try to update weekly, Sunday's most likely.

The story is inspired by a novel by Natasha West but tweaked to suit our girls.

A light, no angst, fake dating AU.
Let's read soon, Debbie 💜