Brian felt a bit guilty about his obsession with his neighbor’s place. He wondered if that was what kept him up past midnight now—his obsession or the guilt over his sudden fixation.
Either way, he’d pay for it soon—he’ll have to start getting ready for work in about six hours, and lack of sleep wouldn’t bide well for the day. He’d have to hit the caffeine hard.
He tossed again, shifting from his side to his back, hands behind his head as he stared at the ceiling in the dark, his mind still racing while he tried and failed to count sheep, his thoughts returning to the house next door.
He even went so far as to question his worldview, because he’d never been so intensely curious about what other people were doing before.
Still, he had noticed a few odd things about the place next to his, and that was reason enough; no one would blame him for being nosy.
First of all, instead of the girl who used to smile at him rather flirtatiously every now and then when they happened to run into each other, he was seeing another woman coming and going.
He hadn’t seen the younger girl—what had she introduced herself as again? Tamara?—move out. Then again, she probably could’ve done it during the day when he was at work—the process would have only taken a few hours.
But he couldn’t actually believe she’d just take off without saying anything to him, considering the way she used to look at him—she’d make sure to say goodbye, just as she’d insisted on saying hello.
Plus, he didn’t feel like she was gone for good—something in his gut told him she still lived there.
In that case, were the two ladies related? Was he being racist in thinking so? Both women were brown-skinned, and he thought he saw a slight resemblance, but the glimpse he’d gotten of the new girl had been too quick to really see her features, and he hadn’t seen her from up close.
He eventually realized that his curiosity about the place next door had skyrocketed once the new woman suddenly appeared. Something about the way she moved caught his interest, and even though he hadn’t seen her much, her presence called to him in a way that had never happened with Tamara.
But was that all there was to his sudden obsession? Some sort of carnal interest? Or was it something else? Something less pleasant?
Come on, Brian—it’s not like you suspect something shady is happening.
But wasn’t he? He’d been wondering what the second girl’s business was there.
Still, wasn’t he just being a good neighbor? An alert neighbor? Had the situation been reversed, wouldn’t he have expected Tamara to do the same and at least notice if strangers were at his place without him being there? Of course she would’ve—who wouldn’t take note of such a thing?
Brian figured he might not even have paid so much attention to the goings-on at the place next door if Tamara hadn’t made him notice her to begin with. It made all the difference in the world that she had made her presence known to him; she’d invited him into her life with her smile.
She’d made her comings-and-goings part of his consciousness by not just being open and neighborly, but flirty too, though she’d never gone further than her initial introduction to him. All they’d done was exchange names and small talk once, and since then, they’d only exchanged friendly smiles.
He enjoyed those innocent mini-moments of human connection, but Tamara never fired up his imagination in the way she probably wanted with that look in her eyes, despite being quite pretty.
Her bright smile was usually a welcome part of his long day, yet he was relieved she didn’t try to make more of their interactions, that she hadn’t attempted to take things a step further—not yet, anyway. Tamara just wasn’t his type—all she brought out in him was a benign, warm feeling of acquaintance.
Brian went through momentary self-reflection then, as he considered the choices he’d made in his dating life. He started wondering if he carried a bias, for he had never gone out with a girl who looked like his cute neighbor—only women with milky, peaches-and-cream, or fake-tanned complexions.
That new girl, however, was stirring something else in him, and he wasn’t sure just what.
He decided to investigate further the next day, and his body started to relax as he came up with a plan to introduce himself to the latest occupant.
Brian’s eyes popped open and snapped to the nearest clock.
No way. Four thirteen a.m.? He’d only just settled into sleep!
And then the sound that probably woke him registered.
You’ve got to be shitting me. Sirens? That couldn’t be, could it? Or was he in a dream?
He pinched himself, beginning with the top of his hands then moving to his cheeks. Yup—he was awake, and those really were sirens howling nearby.
He sighed deeply as he listened to the sound, trying to determine if it was going away or coming closer. Oh God, it’s coming closer, he thought as he pulled his pillow over his head, groaning as he realized which way they were headed.
Then it hit him why they could be coming—someone could be hurt, or worse, dead, and here he was feeling inconvenienced by someone else’s emergency.
Did it really matter that he would have an impossible time going back to sleep? That he had to get up early tomorrow? Someone was having a crisis!
Brian shot out of the bed once the sound of the siren seemed to be right outside of his window. Wait, what the hell is happening?
He went to the nearest window to try to make sense of it all. Flashing lights confirmed his fears long before he confirmed that the ambulance had pulled up right next door. What on earth was going on over there?
Morbid curiosity and slight concern kept him peeking. He saw an EMT enter the house, then leave with something wrapped up in a blanket. The woman who’d captured his imagination exited and spoke to the authorities.
He wondered what she was saying, what the heck had happened. He tried to read her lips, her pretty face. She was explaining something passionately, and she kept looking with great concern toward the back of the ambulance where the blanketed thing had been taken.
Was it a pet? No, that didn’t make sense for several reasons. The only thing that made sense, as he recalled the pink blanket, was a baby.
The thought stunned him. A baby sure as hell didn’t make sense either, but considering the other possibilities…This was too insane—there was no way he could let this go.
He had never seen Tamara with a baby or child, or pregnant, and the way this new woman was acting, she couldn’t possibly be the mother. If something had gone wrong with the baby, the mother would be freaking out. At the very least, she’d be hopping in the back of the ambulance.
Brian stayed at the window, watching the entire transaction with great interest until the law officers and medics released the obviously tired and stressed woman from questioning and allowed her to go back inside.
What excitement!
His mind was racing again, and he knew going back to sleep was a lost cause. He went back and forth in his mind for a bit about heading over to inquire, then decided it was probably best to wait until a proper hour to approach her—sometime in the day, perhaps after he came back from work.
He had a great excuse to come face to face with her and meet her officially.
Brian spent the whole day distracted by thoughts of last night’s events and the star of it all—the woman he’d had trouble getting his mind off of before any drama went down.
Now that something major had happened, she’d infiltrated his workday big time.
Was it the fact that she seemed guarded and quiet that increased his interest? People like that were always hiding something, weren’t they? Or was it that she seemed a bit sad and he needed to know why?
He was usually happy to have his mind preoccupied with the details of his work, glad to stay overtime anytime, happy to be at the office for most of the day, but now, he couldn’t wait to get back home. The thought of introducing himself to the mysterious woman excited him in a way he hadn’t felt in a very long time.
Perhaps that was it—it’d simply been too long since he’d experienced the comfort of a steady relationship.
Steady? A little ahead of yourself there, aren’t you, bud?
But he couldn’t help it—in that woman he saw multiple possibilities, and he looked forward to exploring them.
As soon as he got home, he shed his messenger bag. He briefly considered showering before heading over, but he couldn’t stand the thought of delaying the anticipated meeting any longer.
But he did find the nearest mirror and made sure he looked completely presentable first.