The Consequences Of Being Alone

~Three~

Nadia finally reached home and made her way inside. She put her keys back onto the hook and say down onto her couch. Reminiscing about the whole, taking her pants off in front of Elijah, thing. She cringed thinking about how she stuttered and shoved her face into couch cushions.

A sudden knock at the door made her jump up and put a hand to her chest. Feeling her heart beat rapidly. She let out a sigh to try and relax before she walked to the front door. She opened the door and was greeted by an unfamiliar face.

"Uhh... hello?" She spoke, unsure of the situation.

"Hello," the strange man spoke softly, but loud enough that it was assertive.

"Can I help you?" Nadia gripped the door handle, still feeling unsure of the man.

"Yes, by telling me your name. I'm Cory. I'm just right over there," the man pointed to the right.

Nadia scanned the man trying to figure out if he's friendly or not.

Cory let out a soft chuckle and looked at his feet, "I'm your neighbor if you didn't catch that. I'm not here to harm you, I'm here to meet you. I like to know who lives around me."

"I'm Nadia, and yes, I guessed as much," Nadia tilted her head, starting to warm up to the guy.

"May I come in?" Cory looked down at her with soft eyes.

Nadia looked behind her and saw all of the boxes and looked back at him, "It's kind of messy."

"I don't mind," Cory looked intensely into her eyes.

Nadia quickly looked away and stepped out of the way of the door, letting him in.

"Nice place," Cory looked around as he stepped inside.

Nadia closed the door and looked at his back, "Yeah, I guess so. It's not really done yet."

"You know, you're brave for letting a strange man into your house," He paused and looked behind him at Nadia, "I like that."

"Sounds like something a serial killer would say," Nadia took a slight step backward, feeling weary again.

Cory began slowly stepping toward her, "I promise... I'm not."

"Would you like water or something?" Nadia tried her best to avoid eye contact.

"I'll take... or something," Cory smiled, "Whatever that means."

"Okay," Nadia snuck past him into her kitchen to her left.

She began to grab a glass and open the fridge while Cory stared out of the back slider door.

"You know," Cory began, "I used to live here, it's changed quite a bit since then."

"How so?" She asked as she poured him a glass or orange juice.

Cory turned his head toward her, only looking at her from the side of his eye, "Everything."

Nadia blinked a few times in disbelief at his bland response and walked over his orange juice, "Here is your glass of something."

Cory took the glass from her and took a sip while maintaining eye contact. When he was done with his sip he licked his bottom lip, "Thank you."

He brushed past her and placed the glass onto her kitchen island and walked to the front door. He looked behind him at her left standing there, "I'll be seeing you." With that, he left.

She stood in shock at such a strange but alluring interaction. Something about him felt... different. Definitely not like Elijah. He was short with his words but said everything with his eyes. Something unique. She began to think about his last words to her, and thought that it may not be such a bad thing.

~~~

The next day at work, she ran into Gwen. They worked together at a bar in town that was pretty busy on Friday's. Today, was a Friday.

"Hey Nadia!" Gwen walked up to Nadia and gave her a quick hug.

"Hey, how's it going in here?"

"Alright, we definitely need you on the back bar though. The new guy is... new," Gwen pursed her lips.

As Gwen began to walk away Nadia spoke, "Wait! I have to tell you about my new neighbor."

"Tell me later you weirdo! We're in rush hour right now!" Gwen started speed walking away.

Nadia sighed and made her way to the back bar where she saw Elijah and Jake sitting and talking to the new guy.

"Hi Elijah, Hi Jake," Nadia gave a flirty smile now given her new found good mood.