Well, well, the coffee has finally run through, it's taking the damn machine longer and longer, he mutters by himself. Maybe time to buy a new one? It's Clare's birthday soon, might be a nice birthday present. Nice and romantic, but not really, he thinks cynically.
But to be honest, there has been little trace of romance in recent years, that used to be different in their early days! It has become a routine, just like everything else in their lives. The children hardly need mom and dad anymore as they are approaching adulthood, however you wouldn't think so, according to their behavior sometimes.
Clare only seems to be working lately, she won't be home until after dinner tonight again, something important has to be finished seemingly. And he himself is starting to get tired of his job, but he can't bring himself to look for something new, because what would that be, a different company, a career switch? And he's already 45, isn't that too old to go looking for something new? Until recently he could always find enough pleasant distraction in the countless renovation projects, but that is also a thing of the past, everything is finished, and beautiful, and tidy, no more home improvement projects. The garden maintenance is the only thing left, but there's only so much weeding, trimming and sowing he can do...
He stares blankly out the kitchen window, cup of coffee in hand. Then his eyes suddenly focus on a moving figure. Hey, it's that woman again, standing in front of the house next door, he thinks irritated. He saw her already there this morning, so what is she doing here now? He knows the house is for sale, but at some point you've seen it, right? He now sees her walking towards their house, she sees him standing in front of the window and waves. Shit, he thinks and turns his back to the window, he doesn't need nosy middle-aged gossips who just want to know why the previous neighbors left and for how much it's for sale. Then the bell rings. From the kitchen window he sees that it's the same woman. Damn! Ignoring her is no option, she saw him standing there, so she knows someone is home. He has no choice but to open the door and try to get rid of the woman as quickly as possible, he thinks, as he heaves a sigh of annoyance.
He opens the door with a heavy frown and stares straight into the cheerful face of a young woman, she looks at him joyfully and says, 'Hi, I'm Barbara, I hope I'm not bothering you, but maybe I could ask you something about the house next door, I'm very interested but don't know what I'm getting myself into if I buy it, I understand it's rather neglected.'
He can't get a word in and his frown gets deeper and deeper.
'Yeah, I don't know,' he says in a gruff, dismissive tone, 'the realtor...'
'I know,' she says sweetly, 'but realtors aren't always that honest, and I can tell from the outside that your house has been renovated from top to bottom...'
He has now taken a closer look at her, she is younger than he originally thought, 30, 35 at the most, a head full of bouncy strawberry blonde curls, a sweet, freckled face, mischievous dark blue eyes and shapely legs under a well-shaped body. She's dressed in a summer blouse and short skirt, a little chubby around the waist, but that suits her very well. Voluptuous, that's what she is, luscious. He suddenly finds himself not listening anymore, he blushes, the frown disappears.
'Did you do all that renovating yourself?' he hears her ask, she points to the house.
'Eh, yes,' he immediately becomes enthusiastic, 'it took years and years, but I love doing home improvement and redecorating projects, so I enjoyed doing it all.'
'I'm almost afraid to ask,' she says hesitantly, a cute blush appearing on her cheeks, 'but maybe I could...'
Well, why not, he thinks, it's not as if he's got better things to do.
'Come in,' he says invitingly, leading her through the hallway into the kitchen.
'It's my understanding that the house next-door needs quite a bit of work before it's up to modern standards,' she says, giving him a questioning look.
He knows all about that, he has renovated their own house from top to bottom and is very proud of the result.
'I'd like to believe that,' he says with a laugh, 'I don't think anything has been done to it since it was built. I can show you some pictures of our renovations if you like,' he offers, he has albums full of them. She nods enthusiastically.
'Be right back, please sit down.' He gestures to the kitchen table and quickly walks out.
She sets herself happily down on one of the kitchen chairs and in the meantime looks around, she likes what she sees, in a kitchen like this she would probably be cooking considerably more often than in her own tiny kitchenette.
Her host returns with an armful of albums and places them on the kitchen table in front of her. While she leaves through them, he stands behind her and proudly tells what's what. Every now and then he leans over her and inevitable sniffs her scent, she smells nice, to his horror he feels a slight erection coming up.
At one point Barbara pushes the books aside, clearly impressed.
'Well, hats off to you, what a job you've done!' she sighs, 'I think it would be too much for me.' She looks around, 'the kitchen is really beautiful,' she says admiringly. 'Would it be possible to see the fireplace in the living room,' she then asks, looking persuasively at him, 'the result doesn't show very well in the photos, and I've become very curious.'
'Of course, come along,' he says happily. She stands up and teeters briefly on her high heels, falling into him in the process.
'Oops!'
He catches her, smiles and releases her. 'That way,' he says, pointing to the open living room door, did she really stumble by accident just now, or...
In the living room she makes an appreciative remark about the comfortable couch, would be nice for a shag, she thinks to herself, but she keeps her face perfectly straight. She briefly sits down on it; her skirt slides up a bit. He catches a glimpse of her orange panties and holds his breath for a moment.
'Oh, shoot,' she says, reprimanding herself, 'manners, Barbara,' and quickly pulls the skirt neatly over her thighs. Then she sees the fireplace, 'Oh, that turned out beautiful too,' she compliments him.
She walks around the room; everything is so neat and clean... She stands at the window with her back to him to admire the garden. When he sees her standing like this, he can barely resist putting his hands on her hips, the way he used to do with Clare when they were...
'Which of you and your wife is the gardener?'
'Me,' he says proudly.
'Jeez, you're an all-rounder, aren't you?' She looks at him in awe.
He chuckles, a little embarrassed, she is standing so very close to him, again he notices how nice she smells.
'Would you maybe like to see the rest of the house?' he asks hesitantly.
'Could I? I would love that,' she says enthusiastically. What a wonderfully exuberant girl, he thinks with amusement, her enthusiasm rubs off on him, he can't stop smiling. And she's not just exuberant, gosh, that body...
'You've already seen the kitchen, and the hall too, let's see. Oh yes,' he walks ahead of her into the hall, 'here's an extra room, we mostly use it as a home office,' he throws open a door, Barbara is surprised again about the cleanliness, she would have a desk like that full of messy paperwork in no time. But maybe, if you use it both, you would have to leave things tidy for the other person...
'Nice,' she says, 'handy too.'
'That was everything downstairs,' he says, 'except for the utility room. Would you like to see the top floor too?'
'Of course,' she says, and immediately steps up the stairs. 'Ladies first, right?' she laughs. Yes, but not on the stairs he thinks, but says nothing, just stares mesmerized at those shapely sexy legs in the high-heeled sandals, catching another glimpse of her orange panties.
'Are you coming too, or should I view this floor on my own,' comes her voice from the landing.
'Um, yes, no, I'll come right after you,' he replies, still a little taken aback by the sight of her climbing the stairs. He walks up after her and into the hallway on the top floor.
He opens a door with a poster stuck to it depicting a skull, with the words 'enter at your own risk' underneath. The room looks like a bomb has exploded, the air that escapes is unbearable. He quickly closes it again, 'We've been trying to get Max to muck out that pigsty for weeks now, but teenagers....' he sighs. Barbara laughs, it makes him hold his breath for a moment, it's such a deep, sexy laugh, so very exciting.
He quickly moves on to the next door, which is, surprisingly, unmarked.
'And this is our daughter's room, Fay,' he opens the door, Barbara has to close her eyes, so dazzling is the overwhelming amount of pink, pink duvet, pink curtains, pink rug and pillows, it's everywhere, even the frame of the bed is painted pink. Here, too, a fairly strong air is expelled from the space, not necessarily unpleasant, but she thinks she detects an undertone of weed, naughty Fay... It is in any case neat and tidy, Barbara suspects that the daughter resembles her mother. Or is it he who's the tidy type?
The door closes again, the next door shows a bathroom, again neat and very clean.
