The whirl of the wheels of the stationary bike filled the room. The laptop was perched between the handlebars. She had intended to ride until something came to mind. Twenty minutes and the laptop screen was still blank.
On the bike, she looked out their bedroom window. She had hoped that the forest beyond their fenced yard would somehow give her inspiration. She stopped pedaling. Frustrated. Decided some tea might help. She padded downstairs in her bare feet. Took a hot cup of Earl Grey upstairs.
Just outside their fence, a small crew of men had appeared. One man, tall, bare chested, barked unheard orders to the others. Then came the faint sound of chain saws. The tall man looked up at her window. Had he seen her? He was ruggedly handsome; she would remember to somehow include that in her story.
He effortlessly jumped over the chain link fence and walked slowly toward the back door of the house. She left the tea and rushed downstairs. After his second knock, she was at the door and practically flung it open, ignoring that she was wearing only a sports bra and running shorts.
He seemed even taller. Taller than her husband, William. His jaw squared, peppered with a mixed stubble of brown and gray. Hair on his chest matted with sweat. He smelled manly. She reminded herself to also include that in whatever she wrote later.
His voice, loud and brash with perhaps a hint of being Scottish?
"Canna trouble ya fer some water, lady?" Wide mouth, beautiful teeth, strong lips. Was she staring?
"Of course; come in," she finally answered. Retrieved a glass from a cabinet, filled it with cool water from the fridge dispenser and handed it to him. The hand that took it was large. Thick fingers. Much larger than William's.
"You've got a nice bum there," he said with a smile. Not menacing but observant?
She backed against the fridge, arms folded across her chest, watching him drink.
"You can relax, lady, I mean ya no harm." He noticed a basket of fruit on the kitchen table. "Mind if I take an apple for me lunch?"
"No, by all means, help yourself." Why didn't she ask him to leave?
"Are you all right? Seem a bit nervous," he asked, taking a bite of the apple.
"No, I was just wondering what my husband would think if he came home and saw a strange man eating an apple in my kitchen."
He stared at her, munching the apple. "D'ya fook around on him, then?"
Startled, she answered quickly. "NO! Of course not!"