"I finally had him last night," the tall dark-haired woman said excitedly as she laid out her towel, "and let me tell you, it was worth all the hard work."
"You're kidding!" the smaller, but no less pretty redhead answered.
"Mmmm, no I'm not. Derek Small is
amazing.
"
"So, my dear," the second woman said, putting a phony sultry tone into her voice, "dish with all the dirty details."
Emma glanced up from the book she was reading and just as quickly buried her nose again, but her ears were extended to pick up the conversation of the newly-arrived pair as they leaned back in their chaise lounges to gossip.
Despite the twinge of shame she felt at eavesdropping on her neighbors at the swimming pool everyone in the complex shared, she wanted to hear what the women were discussing, because she knew the man they were talking about and the previous evening she'd heard most of the liaison. You see, the man had recently moved into the townhouse next to Emma and Peter.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
As the moving van and a stuffed-to-the-gills SUV had arrived that early June morning nearly a month earlier, Emma had been watering the hanging baskets on her front porch. As the new owner strode up the walkway, key in hand to unlock the door, she felt her eyes pulled to stare at him. Later she realized this experience might be just the source of the term "animal magnetism" because that was something Emma had certainly felt. She wouldn't have been able to look away -- even if she'd wanted to.
Mounting the two steps to their shared porch, the man looked up at Emma standing on a kitchen chair and smiled. It was simply dazzling.
"Oh, hello. I'm your new neighbor, Derek Small."
Emma quickly got down off the chair, walked three steps and immediately felt her hand engulfed by Derek's as they shook. His presence completely overwhelmed her.
Her voice came out in a squeak. "Emma Richards. I live here with my husband Peter."
Derek was well over six feet and ruggedly handsome with dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes. She thought of a swimmer as her eyes quickly skittered over his body: broad shoulders tapering to a small waist. His shorts allowed his strong legs to readily show. A wave of heat flowed over Emma being so close to him.
Dragging her mind back, she realized he had gone on with his introduction and she hadn't taken in a word of it.
"I, um, live here with my husband," she repeated lamely.
Derek's eyes lit up with humor. "Yes, I know; you already said that."
"I teach school. I'm off for the summer now."
"I start a new job tomorrow and I've got a hell of a lot of work to do today, so if you'll excuse me?"
"What? Oh, certainly. I understand completely."
Emma went over, grabbed the kitchen chair and scurried inside. Shutting the front door, she leaned against it. What the heck had just happened?
Their new neighbor soon brought another change to Emma's life. Emma's and Peter's townhouse was on the end of one row. The configuration of the interiors meant that their bedroom was separated from Derek's by just the wall. Even though it was made of cinder blocks, loud sounds came through it pretty clearly. They also shared a common balcony, separated by a wood privacy wall. Within a week, Emma began hearing sounds from Derek's bedroom, very specific sounds, very embarrassing sounds, the sounds of lovemaking.
Her husband Peter's job was a very exhausting one, and he'd always been able to fall into a deep sleep very quickly, anyway. His head would hit the pillow, and he'd be out like a light. Emma enjoyed sitting up in bed to read until she got sleepy. It being summer vacation, she could indulge herself quite late.
Five days after Derek moved in, it happened for the first time. It was a Friday night and Peter had suffered through a hellacious week at work, not getting home until after 8:00 most nights. That Friday, he'd managed to get in by 6:15.
Emma was very disappointed that he'd conked out not a half hour after they'd finished dinner. It had been well over a week since they'd made love, and with Peter going out to play golf with some of his fellow employees the following morning, he'd gone right up to bed.
She'd watched TV until 10:00 and then come up to bed to read for a bit. Emma had barely gotten on the long tee-shirt she slept in when she heard it: sounds in Derek's bedroom. He had a female visitor.
Getting into bed, she propped up her pillow and grabbed her book from the night table. Peter was turned away on his side, snoring softly. Since it was a coolish night, Emma hadn't turned on the air conditioning and the sliding door to the balcony was open.
Derek and his guest moved onto his side of the balcony. Figuring their talking might disturb Peter, Emma got up and padded across the room to shut the door. Reaching out for the handle, she froze.
They were kissing. After a few moments, the woman moaned softly. Emma should have immediately slid the door quietly shut, giving them their privacy, but she didn't. Possibly it was the disappointment that Peter had come home, eaten dinner and gone to bed, but Emma just stood with her hand on the door, listening as things quickly heated up on the adjoining balcony.
The woman seemed to be quite excited already, and though she was keeping her voice down, Emma could hear everything she said very clearly.