Phenomenal

4~ Bubbly

The doorbell ringing - and ringing and ringing- woke Clarissa with a jolt the next morning and she looked with blurred confusion at her bedside clock.

It was six.

What the hell? Who was making such a racket so early in the morning?

A hammering at the door made her sit up, rubbing her eyes.

Someone needed to answer it.

That noise would filter through to the neighbours eventually.

She looked up and suddenly knew who was at the door. Better answer it herself then let Charlotte unleash her sleepy fury on the visitor.

Dragging herself out of bed, smoothing out her hair and grabbing eye-shadow, she applied a quick coat of dark brown and a brush of lip-gloss before she left her room, throwing on her dressing gown as she went.

Tying it around her waist, she unlocked the door and pulled it open.

"how long does it take to answer a door?"

"It's what you get for coming around so early," Clarissa replied, folding her arms and leaning against the doorframe.

"You could still answer the door sooner."

Cause of all the noise was Brett Cole and Clarissa's boyfriend. Picture America's Golden Boy from Malibu and you've got a fairly good image of his appearance. High school American Football captain, collage quarterback - you get the idea. Now in England for a few years working in the English branch of his father's company.

Leaning down, he gave her a kiss on the cheek then lips.

"What are you doing here so early anyway?" Clarissa asked.

"I hear you had a party last night," Brett said and Clarissa rolled her eyes.

"Yes, there was a welcoming party," she said.

"I didn't hear anything about it."

"It's a welcoming party, you know we keep those in house."

"Didn't stop Andrew bringing his girlfriend."

"You know Andrew doesn't go anywhere without his girlfriend."

"So who's the new person? A girl?" Brett asked, also folding his arms.

"Three new guys."

"Three?" he copied in surprise, raising an eyebrow.

"Triplets."

Brett laughed. "Well damn. Not something you see everyday."

"And a girl."

"Four new people all in one day?"

"The girl is the daughter of one of the guys."

He stared at her. "How old are these guys?"

"Around my age."

"And one already has a daughter?"

"She's very sweet," Clarissa said and Brett snorted.

"A kid at that age, well, least we know what kind of men these people are. Stay away from them, alright."

"Kind of hard when one lives next door."

Brett looked to his right, towards Damien's door, a muscle twitching in his neck. "Just stay away from them," he said again, "It's for your own good not to associate yourself with people like that."

"I know," Clarissa said.

"God sake, why are you here so early?"

Both of them looked back into the apartment as Charlotte appeared from her room, irritated and not caring that she was walking around in her lacy underwear as she glared at Brett.