My day was just getting started when I heard a ruckus start, banging noises followed by some wholehearted swearing.
It was coming from the apartment directly below me, so I went to see if this was the chance I'd been looking for. I'd spied the downstairs neighbor before, and I'd been looking for a chance to say hi naturally. She walked like she was wound too tight, and didn't seem the type who would welcome a random stranger, neighbor or not.
My heart lifted as I took in the scene below me. My neighbor was standing, hands on hips, looking like she wanted to give the pile of boxes in front of her a good talking too. She looked around in exasperation, and noticed me watching her.
"Need help moving something?" I asked, my face a picture of honest concern. I headed down the steps, offering my hand to her. "Hamilton Stone. I'm your upstairs neighbor, and I'm here to help." Ignoring her protests, I picked up one of the boxes. It's weight was much more than it's size suggested. If all of them were like this, no wonder she'd dropped them.
"No, no, no problem at all," I said, waving away her objections. "I won't hear of you moving these by yourself. Where to?" Giving up in the face of my innocent attitude, she directed me to the back bedroom of her apartment. The room was decorated for a girl, one who, given the build up of random things on the bed, didn't live here regularly, but came back often enough to warrant keeping the room set up for her. Daughter, I assumed, college-aged.
I worked steadily, bringing the half-dozen heavy boxes through the well-appointed living room and past the cozy kitchen into the back room.
"Thank you so much," She said, shaking my hand once the job was done. "I'm so grateful. It's been a long day, and carrying those boxes wasn't fun."
"Well, I'm glad you tried to bring them all in at once." I said, smiling at her. "It finally gave me a chance to meet you. I've been looking for a reason, ever since I fist saw you." I smiled wolfishly at her, then let my eyes drift down over her body. I stopped for a moment to stare openly at her chest, before looking into her eyes, noting the slight blush my openness caused.
Her blush made me sure the time was right. I closed my eyes, letting my mind feel around the solid walls of reality, looking for and quickly finding the gap. I slid through, feeling like I was moving without moving.
I inhaled the sweet scent of the other universe, and opened my eyes. I found the lady staring at me, the question of why I'd closed my eyes for so long.
"Please excuse me, Ms..." I let my voice trail off, and she picked up the question.
Answering slowly, she said, "Oh, my name? My name is Alexis Loving."
"Pleased to meet you. Alexis." I held out my hand again. As she took it, something like a spark passed between us. Alexis started slightly, then spoke slowly again, as if she were faced with something entirely new to her. She held my hand, not letting go as she stared at me. When she spoke again, though, it all came out in a rush.
"And you, Mr. Stone. It's so nice to meet a friendly neighbor. You know, I've lived in this building for almost ten years, and you're the first person I feel I've really met. It's so easy to come and go, just nodding at people you see every day, never going beyond that..." She continued for a while, her hand pulling me closer as she went on. By the time she petered out, we were standing close enough that our hands were the only thing separating us.
As she came to the end of her monologue, she began to blush again. When she stepped back, she seemed to resume some of her standoffish manner. She thanked me again, and we both turned to head to our apartments. As my foot hit the first step, she called out to me.
"Hamilton," She said, "I was going to open a bottle of wine and make some dinner. Would you care to join me?" Her expression was of someone terrified that they were about to be laughed at.
