Chapter 1: Watching Him
The first time she saw him he was perched on a rock, staring out into the ocean. He seemed very comfortableβhis arms lightly resting on his knees, his cigarette gently resting in his fingers. She looked at him through her lens to get a better picture and was not disappointed. His lean, defined arms were pale, glowing in the sunlight, in contrast to his black tank. His shock of blond hair ruffled in the slight wind; his worn jeans were slung low on his narrow hips. But it was his face that stopped her, made her zoom in and take a flurry of shots in an attempt to capture him forever in her camera. His cheekbones were sharp, and his eyes squinted in the glaring sun, giving his face a tough look to it. His mouth puckered a bit around his cigarette, and as he looked down, his lashes spiked against his face.
She put down her camera for a moment to process the information, then quickly looked through her viewfinder again, afraid he might have disappeared. She found him and began taking pictures in earnest, zooming in on certain parts of his body, capturing his entire physique in other shots. She watched in fascination as he flicked away his cigarette, whipped off his tank top, unzipped his jeans to reveal black Speedos, and dove into the water. She lowered her camera and sat down on the warm sand. She noticed that she only had one more shot left on her roll. She snapped a photo of the empty slab that held the remnants of the man she had been ogling for the past 15 minutes and then quickly walked back to her townhouse to develop the roll.
The second time she saw him was surprisingly closerβstill behind glass, but that of a window rather than a lens, and right next door, to be exact. It had been only a day since she had taken her photos, stunning glossies of masculine beauty, and as she posted some up on her wall, she happened to glance out her window and see her mystery model. He had just left the townhouse adjacent to hers and quickly, perhaps angrily, walked out the backyard and strode out onto the sand as if in search of something important. He was dressed similarly, tank top and jeans, and she watched as he quickly disappeared over the dunes. She sat down, tape in one hand and photo in the other, and took in this new information. Her mystery model was staying next door. Next door. Her heart pounded and her body flushed.