I live on the outskirts of Charlotte. It's not suburban or rural, ruban, maybe? Just enough distance between neighbors so you can have all the privacy you want. Not enough distance so you can get to know your neighbors if you want. That's what this story is about, my neighbors. They moved into a large house down the road that had been vacant for more than a year. It was slow selling because the house and property are large, and that means money. There weren't too many buyers in the market for property at that price point then.
My wife and I were in our early sixties at the time and married more than forty years. The kids are grown with children of their own. With the few glimpses I had of my new neighbors I guessed they were in their late thirties, early forties, my kids' ages. It was hard to tell at that distance.
Being retired I spend a lot of time puttering around the house and yard. My wife still works. While I knew she wanted to retire the prospect of dealing with me 24/7 was too daunting so she kept working to get some breathing room. I noticed that my new neighbors were around pretty much all day, every day so my curiosity had me trying to figure out their situation. Either they worked out of the house, had money or both.
My wife and kids have always accused me of over-analyzing things. It certainly was true in this case. What did they do to afford that house and a stay-at-home lifestyle? Who were these people? There just wasn't enough information to be had watching them to put it all together. To get more meant I had to introduce myself. This is not easy for me because I am not a social person. In other words, I am somewhat introverted. But the older I get the less I become.
About a month after they moved in I made it a point to catch the new guy at the mailbox. He introduced himself as Bill, and his wife as Judy. He seemed like a nice guy, so nice that I invited them over for drinks to give us a chance to get to know one another. He accepted.
Predictably, my wife didn't like the idea of company on a weekday night but I told her I would take care of everything. What's not to like? I called Bill and explained her need to go to bed early and that to make it an early evening we had to start before dinner. I found out he drank beer and Judy white wine. My plans now included an outdoor grilled, dry-rub flank steak. It's easy to prepare and delicious to eat.
Bill and Judy arrived at six. I set them up with wine and beer on the patio and we made light conversation for about fifteen minutes until my wife came in from work. After brief introductions she excused herself to change and freshen up. She joined us a few minutes later.
It was a pleasant evening and I accomplished my objective. I found out that they ran an Internet business out of their home, and according to them it was very lucrative. They were married ten years and made their money from their business. They seemed to be normal folks but normal people didn't look as good as they did. He was just over average height and weight, trim and with regular features. So regular that I'd call him handsome. A good looking guy as evidenced by my wife quickly warming to him. She even liked Judy. Normally she is wary of women thinking they all want to lure me into bed. People like attractive people. Even so, my wife didn't embarrass me.
Judy had her hair in a ponytail and wore jeans with a tucked-in, white oxford shirt. She was a redhead with wavy, not frizzy hair. I have always been a sucker for red hair. Even scrubbed clean with no makeup it was clear that she was very pretty and when dolled up God only knew how pretty she could be. With a light dusting of freckles across the bridge of her nose I would err on the side of calling her beautiful. Like her husband, she was above average height. Weight is always a tricky thing with women so I can't say that she was average, whatever that is. Let's just say she was trim, too. Nice and curvy, but it was hard to tell just how much with a blousy oxford shirt that gave nothing away. The jeans weren't hugging her hips but they were tight on her thighs and being straight cut added to the impression of her being trim. They also gave an indication of her having long legs. I didn't embarrass myself, either. We called it a night by nine. This gave my wife a chance to get a good night's sleep for the following day's work. She enjoyed herself, too.
( The Studio (
A couple of days later Bill met me at the mailbox. He thanked me again for the dinner. They apparently enjoyed themselves, too. Enough that he said they would like to reciprocate. In the mean time he suggested I come over for a couple of beers in the afternoon. He was remodeling and needed another pair of hands to get some things done. I showed up after lunch.
The Internet business must be good because the house's furnishings were very expensive. I saw a lot of custom pieces and elegant decorating. I'm not too knowledgeable about these things but sometimes you can sense a major investment and this was one of them. We grabbed beers and headed for the patio. There was a building to the side back of the main house that he was remodeling and that's where he needed the help. It could have been a barn or carriage house. It was hard to tell from the outside. The previous owner had never invited us over so I didn't know what to expect. It was two stories. I thought it might be storage on the ground floor with a mother-in-law apartment on the second.
Judy came out of the building as we crossed to it. She waved and headed toward us. She said she needed a glass of wine and would join us in a few minutes. She looked like she had the other evening but further up the beautiful scale. Different this time were the hair, makeup, jeans and shoes. The hair was piled up in stylized disarray. A look I like. The makeup was more suited for an evening on the town. You know, dramatic eyes, lipstick and coloring. She had another oxford shirt on but it was pulled out of her waistband and tied off showing a little midriff and a smallish waist. The jeans were hip huggers this time. What did me in were the shoes. Rather, the shoes she was carrying. They were the high-heeled, open kind held together with thin straps that just make a woman totally sexy. I could only imagine what she looked like in them, high heels and jeans, a great combination. Conjuring up that image it was all I could do to be nonchalant and not make a fool of myself. We made small talk and headed over to the building after a few minutes. Judy went into the main house. She never did join us. Too bad, she sure was attractive that afternoon.
It turns out the building was the main reason Bill and Judy bought the place. It was ideally suited to their business. Plus, we lived in an unincorporated part of the county. There weren't any property use restrictions out here in the ruban. I was to find out later that both factors greatly influenced their decision to buy. I guess you can figure out where this is going. You're probably a lot smarter than me or, at the least, quicker on the uptake. Their business was making tapes and taking pictures of themselves in various stages of undress and acting out pornographic scenes for sale on the Internet. I hadn't figured this out when we entered the building. Inside it was completely open. With skylights and no interior second floor it was ideally suited for conversion to a photographic studio and small movie set. The previous owner had been an artist and apparently used it as a studio. Converting it into a photography studio and set for video shoots was the remodeling Bill had undertaken. He needed me to help hoist and attach lighting fixtures, spotlights and light boxes to an overhead gantry structure that he had had installed.
We worked for a few hours and drank a few beers. When we were done I offered to come over and help with the rest of the remodel. He could have done it all himself at that point but my offer would allow him to finish sooner. He accepted. Over the next several weeks I was there a couple of days a week. During that time Judy would occasionally come and help, and get dirty and sweaty alongside us. At other times she would show up all dolled up and Bill would call it a day sending me home.
You can't spend that much time with people without getting to know them a little so it was no surprise that the nature of their business slowly came out. I can't say I was surprised. I may not be quick but I'm not stupid. By the time Bill and Judy finally told me about their business I had already figured it out. This kept me from being bowled over by their revelation. I tried not to be embarrassed. I was cool.
Still, Judy was always prim and proper around me. She was a lot of fun and I enjoyed her company as much as Bill's. Over time a friendship developed that allowed the three of us to be familiar and easy with one another. He was a regular guy with a good sense of humor. Like me, he always looked for the unusual and fun in things. Judy had a good sense of humor as well but hers was more on the sly side. She was funny by the things she didn't say. It's hard to explain but, for example, she would find humor through inference about things left unsaid. I took it to be a sign of a quick and sophisticated mind. I enjoyed going over to their place to see them as much as I did the opportunity to putter around on a project at home. The warmth of their friendship told me they enjoyed my company as much as my help. Dinners, outdoor cooked meals, beers and wine and good company led the four of us to become friends. We would occasionally go to town to take in a movie, go bar hopping and dancing.