If there's one thing I love about my neighbor, it's the fact she has always been there for me since we both lost our spouses. Whether she's my confidante or my lover, she excels at everything. That's why when she visits her siblings, it is always difficult when I don't get to come with. She left a few days ago to go see her sister again to check up on them and I miss her. I miss her a bunch to be honest. Although I had been able to catch up on work matters, it just felt like the hole she left behind was insurmountable. I was getting texts from her to let me know she arrived safely and that she missed me too, so there was a comfort.
Still, I miss her being close. We hadn't been apart longer than a week, so this was a new experience. But when Aubrey (my assistant), Deb (my Human Resource person), Matt (my business partner) and a few of the security guards ask about her, it adds to me missing her more. Matt even tried to be a pal and tried to talk me into taking a few days off. However, they all knew the best way for me to deal with missing someone by now.
I did take the time to rake the leaves in her yard and make sure I collected her mail as well. After all, we're neighbors and that's what neighbors do. Still, they were small gestures in the greater scheme of things. I even took a few hours to go visit the gravesites of my wife (Missy) and my neighbor's husband, Mitchell. It offered some comfort.
I decided to try to surprise her for when she arrived home. I called our local florist and cashed in a favor to get some flowers delivered. I set them in the dining room. I then made sure that I gave the carpet a good trip with the vacuum before spraying air freshener everywhere. It was during this last step that I heard the door open. I turned and saw her looking at me.
"What the hell?" she started before she noticed it was me. "Romeo, what are you doing? You should be taking some time for you instead of working on my place."
I rushed over and hugged her before she dropped her bags and hugged me back.