The Neighbor II

Across the Hall

Cassie was in the zone, which was extremely rare nowadays with Michael always wanting her attention and the little one growing inside her constantly running her to the bathroom. She had a deadline and she needed to keep up the writing. 

The last book she wrote (the last one that basically started her's and Ben's relationship) was New York's Best Selling Novel. Her editor wanted a sequel, as did many of her fans. She's been writing this one for a while now, but they wanted it sooner than expected so she had to get shit done. Ben was at work and she had finally gotten Michael to sleep, allowing her to do just that. 

That was, until, there was a loud banging sound in the hallway. 

She ignored it and kept writing, only assuming it was one of their rowdy neighbors. But then, it happened again. And again. And again. The last one woke up Michael and he started crying. 

With a grunt, she quickly got up and jogged to Michael's room. She picked him up and shushed him, while bouncing him a bit. As she did that, she moved quickly to the door and swung it open. The door across the hall was wide open, but she didn't see anyone. All she saw were boxing being thrown from one end of the room to the other and they all landed with that loud banging sound. Michael cried louder every time it hit the floor. 

"Hey!" She angrily called. Suddenly the boxes stopped and a man appeared in the doorframe. Cassie was a little lost for words. This man was really, very handsome. Almost too handsome. She lost her words just staring at him for a few seconds. 

It wasn't until Michael's cries got a bit louder that she remembered why she was angry at this guy. "Hi," she said, "sorry, but that's awfully loud what you're doing in there and my son is trying to take a nap." The man looked to Michael, then quickly said, "Oh, gosh! I am so sorry!" 

He was British, too. What is it with her and hot British neighbors? Not that she was complaining. At all. 

This guy looked at her and said, "I really am so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?" She shook her head and told him, "No and it's alright. I'm sure he'll be fine to put down again." It was only a few seconds later when Michael's cries turned into small whimpers. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, little man," the guy cooed. "I promise I'll be careful from now on." He turned back to Cassie and stuck out his hand. "I'm Tom, by the way. I'm just moving in, as you can see." She shook his hand and said, "I'm Cassie, I live here with my husband, Ben."

He took her hand and kissed her knuckles, before giving her a smoldering gaze and saying lowly, "It's a pleasure, Cassie. And what's little man's name?" Cassie was in a bit of a daze from that and suddenly felt a little sexually frustrated, but got herself together and answered, "Michael." 

Tom gently shook Michael's tiny hand and said, "Pleasure to meet you, too, Michael." He looked back to Cassie and said, "I would offer some tea or coffee as an apology, but I'm afraid I can't find my kitchen appliances. I think I might have left it in the moving truck." 

Cassie waved him off and said, "It's fine, really. He's had a busy day, he'll go back to sleep soon. So, you're from London I'm guessing?" He nodded, then said, "I'm actually just moving here from Maryland. My job requires me to move around quite a bit."

"Oh, well my husband is from London, too," she told him. "We moved here from Chicago about a year ago." Tom listened intently and asked, "What brought you to New York, then?" She gestured around the building, then said, "This. My husband built it and he's working on some more buildings in the city right now. Actually, he's in Jersey trying to build up some fancy hotel." 

Tom looked very impressed. "Wow," he said, "that's amazing! And is Michael here your only child?" She nodded, then said, "Well, for now. We've got another on the way." She shifted Michael to her hip, showing Tom her barely visible pregnant belly.

He smiled and asked, "Boy or girl?" She couldn't contain her smile, as she said, "Girl. My husband is excited to finally have his little girl." Tom chuckled, "He sounds like quite the husband."

"She likes to think so," a voice said from down the hall. Tom and Cassie turned to see Ben walking towards them. When he got up to them, he stuck out his hand to Tom and said, "Ben Carlton." Tom shook his hand. "Tom Hiddleston," he said. 

Ben turned to Cassie and chastly kissed her lips, before taking Michael from her and kissing his cheeks. "How do you like the building?" Ben asked, while never taking his eyes off Michael. Tom nodded and told him, "I love it. It's beautiful, especially up here." 

"I put rather large balcony's on all the floors, but up here it's practically a porch. We're actually right next to each other. Our porches connect, despite the glass window in between." Tom looked back into his apartment and asked, "Really? That's yours? But we're across the hall from each other..."

Ben had a smile plastered on his face. "Porches," he told Tom, "they run rather large, especially ours since we're at the very top and at the end of the hall." If Tom was impressed before, he was even more impressed now. 

"Well," Tom said, "I should probably get back to unpacking. It was a pleasure to meet you three. Perhaps we could have dinner sometime?" Cassie smiled and said, "That sounds lovely. We'll work something out." 

Tom gave her a lingering gaze, before saying, "Great! I'll see you two around then." They shook hands and bid goodbyes before going back into their apartments. While Ben was bouncing and cooing at Michael, Cassie said, "Let me guess...you don't like him." 

Ben looked at her and said, "No, I like him. Seems like a nice bloke. He better keeps his hands off my wife though." He gave her a wink and smirk, so she knew he was just messing around. She also knew he was serious, but he's gotten better at saying it that way. 

She left Ben in charge of putting Michael back to sleep so she could get back to writing. Unfortunately, she was very distracted now. Tom seemed like a really nice guy, seemed the opposite of Ben. Not that Ben wasn't a nice guy...sometimes. 

She liked Tom. Despite the fact he woke up Michael and disturbed her zen, she liked him. A lot. They're all going to be great friends. She just knows it.