“Hi, I’m your new neighbor Chris.” He was wearing sexy, nerdy glasses with a blue button down shirt and casual beige pants. Damn, he looked good.
“Seriously? What are you doing here? Are you stalking me?”
“Maybe. But seriously, I was looking for a good place around here and this morning when I dropped you off, I noticed the vacancy sign on the notice board. I like the location, and especially the view, so I took it.” He was making it obvious he was flirting with me but I somehow liked it.
“Okay, good luck.” I began shutting the door.
“Wait…….what happened to basic social manners?” He smiled.
“Okay, come on in.” I opened the door wider and let him inside.
I ordered some pizza, whipped up some coffee and we spent the rest of the night watching ‘The Notebook’.
I was in the shower when Meg returned next morning. “Ooh someone’s singing in the shower!” Meg laughed. I didn’t realize myself until now I had been singing since the past one hour. It had been a while since I sang in the shower. “By the way, hot news……….we have the hottest new neighbor down the hall. If he wasn’t any younger and I wasn’t committed to Brian, I’d be so after him right now”
“That’s Chris.” I muttered. “The guy I met at the party after you ditched me.”
“Well it did some good to you after all! He’s perfect for you. We can go on double dates.”
“Wait, wait, wait. Slow down your horses. We are not dating, nor do we intend to. For god’s sake I have only known him for two days!” I said, putting my hair up in a towel and doing my makeup.
“Two days and I can already notice the change.”
It was Sunday so I had the day off. Meg had left early with Brian to meet his parents in the next town. I had the whole day to myself and nothing to do. So I decided to check upon my new neighbor and see if he needed any help.
I knocked at the door. As the door opened, Chris was standing in front of me, covered in sweat and flour, lots and lots of flour. “Okay, I accept it. I can’t cook. I have been sick and tired of eating takeout.”
“I think I can help you with that.” I walked in. The house was pretty empty, with a small couch, a TV, guitars and a bed. “I’m sorry this place is a mess.” He said, embarrassed.
I began chopping up the veggies while he applied butter to the bread. Then, I whipped up two eggs and fried an omelet. It was weird how I felt so comfo'rtable and relaxed around him. It was like I felt like my old self. The unhurt, undamaged Katy I once knew.
“Yum.” He said, eating his sandwich. “You shouldn’t spoil me like this or I might get too used to it.” I laughed.
“So you play the guitar?” I asked him.
“Yeah, it’s my life.”
“Did you write any songs?”
“Yeah, actually I wrote one just yesterday.”
He got up and took my hand. I rolled my eyes. He placed one of his hands on my waist while holding my hand in the other and began to gently dance. “Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world. She took the midnight train goin' anywhere.”
“That’s basically the lyrics of ‘Don’t stop believing’.” I pushed him back playfully, but he pulled me even closer. “Just play along.” He continued to hum me the rest of the song in his husky, musical voice.
I buried my face in his shoulder. Everything felt perfect at that moment. It was like the pain was gone for a while. A few tears escaped my eyes.
“Hey, don’t cry.” He cupped his hands around my face and gently wiped my tears. Then he came closer and closer. I felt defenseless and I shut my eyes, waiting for him to kiss me.
The door bell rang suddenly, breaking the magical moment. Before he could kiss me, I retreated nervously. “I’ll get that.” It was Meg. She was back. I just called out formally to Chris that I was leaving, without waiting for him to come and meet me.
“I’m sorry did I disturb anything?” Meg asked me.
“No.”
Meg’s book tour finally hit off next week. It was a small one, covering only neighboring towns but she didn’t want to leave me alone for my birthday. I told her I wanted her to go. Brian was going with her too.
As I sat down on my bed, I noticed it was 11:59 AM. Okay, that’s enough internet for tonight. As I was about to shut down my laptop, I saw one new mail.
I checked my email. As I was scanning the list, one name stood out from the rest. It was from Alex Parker.
Why was he writing to me? Why did he have to turn up out of the blues all of a sudden? Did Alex remember it was my birthday? Did he want me back? I closed my eyes and flopped down. I didn’t want to open it. But my curiosity took the better of me and I clicked on the mail. It was a video message. I hit play.
It was Elizabeth. “Hello Katherine Hayden. It’s your birthday right so how could I not leave you a little present?” She turned the camera to her side. Alex was in bed, naked beside her. “This time I didn’t even need to get him drunk.” She winked. I couldn’t watch anymore. I closed the laptop and tears broke in. I felt weak, my throat felt dry and I felt a big hole in my stomach. How could Alex do this to me? He had moved on…why wasn’t he letting me do the same? What morbid pleasure were they getting from this? I lost control of my senses. I filled the bath tub with hot water, took off my clothes and got in the tub. The only way to get rid of this pain seemed to be death. In a moment of weakness, I took a blade and slit my wrist. Red blood started oozing out, slowly mixing with the water. I began to feel number and number until everything faded into darkness.
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