Inches Apart

n e i g h b o r s # 4

Daniel sighed as he sat back in chair, tired of going over the file about his new client. He had already gone through the file, but he still had to refresh his memory. He was semi-happy that the client decided to show up, but he was still annoyed that he had to have the meeting again.

He looked over to his computer and saw that Emily still hadn't replied to his email. He didn't blame her. He was sure that she was probably working, something he should be doing. He sighed again and closed the file. There was no way he could focus, so he decided to call it a night.

He packed up his things, said goodbye to the few remaining co-workers, and headed home. He stopped by his favorite pizza place and got a pepperoni pizza before driving to his house. When he got out of his car, he spotted his dreaded neighbor sitting on her front steps with a laptop in her lap.

He rolled his eyes and walked up to his door. As he unlocked the door, he noticed that his neighbor was staring at a blank page. He raised his eyebrows and finished opening his door.

Before he walked inside, he cleared his throat to ask her a question.

"What's up with the blank page?"

"Oh gosh, why the heck are you still here? Plus, I don't appreciate you peeking at what I'm doing. It's none of your business, and it's rude to look at a person's laptop or phone."

"What do you mean by me 'still being here'? I literally just drove up to my house and was opening the door to my house. I'm surprised you even noticed that there was someone else here besides you. Do you ever look up from your blank pages to notice that there's a lot of things happening all around you?"

"Stop acting like you're so high and mighty. To answer your question, I do in fact notice things happening around me. I'm not as oblivious as you seem to think I am. Besides, it's not your place to judge me when you know nothing about me."

"The fact that you think you can order me around and insult me in one sentence is ridiculous. You're right-- I know nothing about you, but you also know nothing about me. I think this whole 'not judging' needs to go both ways, don't you?"

Too angry to say anything back to Daniel, Emily stood up and shot him a glare before she walked into her home. She slammed the door behind her, and Daniel huffed in irritation. He didn't understand why she was so offended and why she always would insult him. He had no idea why they didn't get along.

Daniel sighed and went inside, knowing that this would serve as a fun email. He thought Emily might enjoy knowing about his neighbor. After all, she told him that she also had drama with her neighbor. They could swap stories.

Daniel sat down on his couch with his laptop in his lap. He was about to open his email when he realized that he had work he had to do that he didn't get done at the office. He sighed and went to work. He wish he didn't have to keep going over file after file. He was tired of dealing with bad clients.

"Oh well, at least I have pizza."

//••••••••••//

Emily sighed as she sat on her bed. The irritation and anger she felt towards her neighbor every time they interacted made her feel horrible. The horrible feeling wasn't because of guilt-- it was because their interaction made her remember the day when he told her she wasn't good for anything. She knew she shouldn't let it affect her so much, but it did.

She sighed and groaned as she leaned back on her back. Her head hit the soft pillows, and she groaned again.

"Why do you let him have this affect on you? Snap out of it, Emily. You don't have time to remember the past. It's all in the past. Just ignore it and move on."

She took a deep breath and sat up again. She had to focus on the blog post she needed to write. She had no time for distractions. She needed to be focused. She didn't have time for a pity party. She would forget her neighbors rude words and just keep doing what she loved to do. She wouldn't let his judgmental comments govern how she felt.

It was her time to just forget it all and find happiness in the fact that she was extremely successful with her blog. She got to go to New York City to meet with a company that she was going to collaborate with to come up with a small clothing line. She had no reason to keep thinking about her neighbor's rude words.

Emily got up from her bed and went into her living room where her laptop sat on the couch, waiting for her to write a blog post. Emily smiled and sat down on her couch, placing her laptop on her lap. She was going to get this blog post finished, and she was going to continue to keep her positive mindset. Nobody was going to stop her from living a full life anymore.

She was her own person, and she was going to continue to do her blog because it was what made her happy. She was going to remain happy and not let anyone dictate her feelings. She was doing exactly what she needed to do, and she was helping people. She had her purpose.

Her neighbor was wrong, and she was going to continue to prove him wrong.