NEIGHBOR

1

I grabbed the closest leather jacket I could find, slipped it on and stumbled out of my front door. I had just gotten back from San Francisco and jet lag was kicking my ass. I was extremely exhausted, but boredom had gotten the best of me and I headed to a friends house.

I tried my best to be quiet, since it was nearly 3 am. I had earbuds in- although no music was playing- yet I hadn't even noticed that a neighbor was outside with someone in the hallway.

"Oh come the fuck on, Chell. You know that's-," he stopped mid-sentence to look at me.

"I gotta go," the girl huffed and stomped past me.

I stared at her and then him in confusion. "You alright?"

I waited for him to answer or nod, but instead he narrowed his eyes at me and entered his apartment through the halfway open door. I flipped him off in a joking way and mumbled a "forget you".

I successfully made my way down into the lobby without any other nuisances and hailed a taxi. As I waited, I noticed "Chell" gazing in my direction across the street. I could see a little bit of her face, but only from the small reflection of light from her cigarette. She looked familiar, but had similar features to many women.

I got into the back of the taxi when it had arrived and stared out of the window at her. I don't know what made me so curious about her and the unkempt man that lived down the hall.

He had dirty blonde locks down to his shoulders and wore all black clothing that were on the baggier side. I questioned as to why such a dirty looking man lived in such a nice building like the one we did. Hm, maybe he dealt drugs or was staying with a friend.

When I got to my destination, my thoughts of the events that took place earlier in the night vanished. It wasn't odd for me to do such a thing while being high. Did I mention that I was too?

I only thought of Juliette. I tried to collect myself and all my thoughts, dirty and sensual. We had met through another friend and I had instantly fallen for her.

I stood in front of her door for a moment and called her to let her know I was here. I didn't even get to the second ring before she opened  her door and let me.

"Hey! How was your trip?," she asked with concern in her voice

"It was uh," I paused to yawn, "good."

She laughed and guided me to sit on her couch. I stayed there for the rest of the night, eventually falling asleep after talking for hours with Jul.

The next morning, Juliette woke up on the floor next to me. I wasn't quite sure how we ended up there, but I didn't mind. She was beautiful and didn't like when I stared. I had finally gotten my chance to look at her all I wanted. I wasn't sure how long it had been since I woke, not that it mattered, but when she opened her eyes I felt rather creepy.

"How you feeling?," her voice was soft.

"I'm still floating, just a little lower now," I responded.

I earned a light huff of laughter out of her. She sat upright and looked around the room for a clock.

"Oh shit, oh shit, SHIT! I'm gonna be late," she panicked and scrambled to get herself ready.

"You need help, jul?"

"No no, just lock up for me when you wanna go, okay?"

"Got it. And relax. I'm sure whoever is waiting won't mind you being a little late. Your pretty face helps a lot," I joked.

"Thank you, but it's Roman's boss. He put in a good word for me. I can't let him down."

My brain was mush for a moment. Roman? OH. Roman. Right. Her boyfriend, Roman. The dude was such a shrimp. Didn't surprise me to hear that she didn't want to make him look bad. He might curl up in a ball and cry if that happened, like he had done once- or twice-before at an office party.

As I heard her shoes hit the tiles of her front hallway, I called out a 'goodbye', knowing she was ready to leave. She copied me and abruptly shut the door.

I gathered my jacket and purse, and any other things I had taken over on previous trips and left... on purpose.

I figured that if she saw I had left something over, she'd call and ask if I wanted to come get it. She never noticed however. And now I was tired of doing so. I spent so much time trying to win her attention, but she was too damn devoted to her P.O.S. boyfriend.

As much as I wanted to hate her for that, it was a rather admirable trait. Sadly, I'd never get that from her. And that was that.

I took the key she left on the hook and exited her apartment. I locked it up and slid it back under the door.

I decided to walk back to my complex, hoping the high would wear off faster. Plus, New York was starting to become its beautiful self again, trees changing colors and temperature dropping. It's one of the reason I moved back to the Northeast.

I gave into my cravings, or should I say munchies, as well on my trip. I stopped into Starbucks and got two chocolate croissants.

At this point, I basically ran to my apartment, starving and ready to sleep again. I greeted my door man and quickly walked to the elevators. I prayed no one would be in the shaft. But to my luck, or lack there of, someone was. A very familiar someone.

I step inside and positioned myself in a corner. The ride was only about a minute long. With him, it felt much, much longer.

"Croissant?," I lifted the bag up and towards him.

He smiled and shook his head.

"What kind?," he asked after a moment of silence.

"Chocolate," I smirked, "changed your mind?"

He chuckled, "...maybe."

I reached into the bag and grabbed one with paper wrapped around it. He fidgeted with a camera that was in his hand, placing it in his pocket and took the pastry.

"Thank you," he said as he took a bite.

"I thought you might've needed one after last night."

I scolded myself instantly for the intrusive statement. I had never been one to not make a situation awkward. This isn't how you make friends, no, this is how you make enemies.

His expression was a confused one, but turned embarrassed as he clenched his jaw. The elevator dinged signaling the end of this flustering event.

He took one last look at me and gave me a apologetic smile. A smile that I didn't need nor understood, but took anyway.

I eyed him while I headed to my front door. I noticed that he had stopped and looked to the floor, almost as he waiting for me say something.

Instead I spoke.

"Sorry, uh..,"

"Heath," he answered back in his deep voice.

"Heath. Right, right," I trailed off, focusing on the key in my hand.

Now I waited for him to make some sort of comeback. Rather than that, a key was placed in a lock and jiggled around. His door opened and he disappeared again into the darkness.

I took a deep breath and copied his actions. I took off my shoes and jacket, placing them away and plopped down on my couch. I found my mind wondering back to Heath. And then to that fucking croissant. My stomach growled at the thought and I nearly ripped open the bag.

I wiped my chocolate cover lips, threw away the bag and crawled back into my bed. Today was going to be good.