THE WOMAN ACROSS THE ROAD
Seeing as many of us are quarantined, (including myself) I've been able to sit at home and write to my heart's content. I hope you are all doing well and getting by as best you can, and without further do let's get on with the story. This one is set in Melbourne in the present day and the character Stella who is mentioned is the same Stella from one of my earlier Literotica stories, Delicate Touches. She will make a reappearance in part two.
NB: An op shop is an opportunity shop, also known as a charity shop or thrift store.
Shaima.
Lisa stared at the letter in front of her. It had been brought in from the letterbox along with three other letters, one was a phone bill, another was an invitation to update her house insurance and the third was from the local Liberal candidate standing for the seat of Casey in Melbourne's outer eastern suburbs. She'd already binned the latter, she had never voted Conservative in her life and had no intention of changing tack now. The insurance offer could wait until she was good and ready to look at her finances and come to a decision.
The one she'd opened first however was from Rita, the woman who'd walked out of her life in order to 'get my head together.' Judging by the tone of the letter she'd done more than that, she'd found someone else. Kelly was a mutual friend, scratch that, an ex friend now, as far as Lisa was concerned. Rita had moved into Kelly's spare room and just to give her space, Lisa had stopped dropping in on Kelly. Back then Kelly had been happily straight and seeing a guy or guys, she'd never inquired too deeply into Kelly's love life. But three months with Rita had changed all of that and Rita was at great pains to point out that it was early days.
Lisa raised her eyes as she heard crunching on the gravel strip in the driveway. Saying it was just early days was Rita's way of asking her to leave a light on in case things didn't work out. Her eyes flickered to the insurance blurb and with a sigh she picked it up and tore it open.
"God grant me the fucking serenity," she pulled the brochure out of the envelope.
Just as she started reading the doorbell rang and she glanced up, wishing she'd opened the curtains a little although it seemed unnecessary now that the sun was going down. She got up from the white, L-shaped couch and padded across the carpet to the front door, pausing at the baseball bat tucked in between the bookshelf that formed an artificial wall and the wall itself. She peered through the spyhole and found herself looking at a young blonde woman wearing large glasses standing under the porch light, dressed in what looked to be office attire.
She still positioned herself closer to the baseball bat before opening the door. Mooroolbark was a relatively safe suburb but one couldn't always be too careful and she half suspected she was from the Jehovah's Witnesses, although the aforementioned tended to hunt in pairs. Maybe it was someone trying to sell her something and in that case, she yanked the door open and stared through the flywire screen.
The woman on the other side took a half step backwards. She had a thick mane of blow-waved blonde hair that framed an aquiline face set with bow shaped lips, her cheekbones were set high and when she smiled Lisa could see a perfect set of white teeth along with dimples. Her office attire consisted of a grey jacket and trousers, and a white blouse open at the collar.
"G'day, I'm Zoe," she spoke first, "your new neighbour from across the street?"
"Oh," Lisa looked past her at the triple-fronted brick veneer that had been empty for the last six months thanks to a depressed housing market. She'd noticed however that the sign had been taken down a week or two ago, but she hadn't seen anyone moving in. Its porch light and house lights weren't on however.
"I haven't actually moved in yet," Zoe glanced over her shoulder, "I'm moving in at the weekend but I just wanted to introduce myself and offer you some wine," she held up a Dan Murphy bag at the same time.
Lisa stared at the bag as if it was a bomb. She knew it contained just one bottle and in the brief moment she'd had to glance at the contents as Zoe raised it she knew it was red wine. The age old mantra rose instantly.
It's the first drink that gets you drunk,
followed by
think, think, think
and lastly she pictured her sponsor's face and heard her words.
"Every time I see a bottle of wine I imagine that the label reads, poison. If swallowed seek medical advice because I will be hospital if I drink again."
Lisa stared at the bottle as something akin to serenity began to assert itself.
It's only going to hurt me if I open the fucking bottle.
Zoe was taking another step back and Lisa swallowed. The woman had no idea that the woman on the other side of the flywire door was an alcoholic. She had friends who wouldn't refuse a bottle of wine and besides she was cute.
Lisa blinked and opened the door wider, "okay, sorry, I just got home. I um, I knew the place had sold but I hadn't seen anyone in there yet."
"Oh, I'm not the buyer," Zoe took another half step back. Another step in that direction and she'd bump into the porch railing.
"It belongs to some retired English couple, it's their investment portfolio. I'm just renting the place at the moment."
"Huh, okay, I see," she took a step back, "I'm Lisa, I work as a lawyer, property law."
"I work for an employment company, can I come in?"
"Of course," Lisa took two steps back, "please come in."
As she stepped inside, Lisa caught the whiff of Allure and then Zoe was closing the door behind her, she held the bag out with a smile. Lisa took it and lifted out the bottle.
"Thank you," she stared at the label and thought of a skull and crossbones, "um I'm not much of a drinker though"
"That's cool," Zoe smiled, "save it for a special occasion or a present."
"Maybe," Lisa studied her. She looked to be in her early twenties but it was hard to tell through the makeup, Zoe's eyes widened and she noticed they were green.
Cute eyes,
she smiled.
"Um, would you like a coffee or tea?" Lisa led her past the bookshelf, "I've got six brands of coffee, and instant coffee, that strange decaffeinated coffee, and I've forgotten how many different kinds of tea I've bought," she paused by the couch.
"Just instant coffee, white with two."
"White with two it is," Lisa nodded at the couch, "pull up a pew and I'll be back in a minute."
She only remembered the opened letter on the coffee table when she reached the kitchen but by then it was too late. She felt momentarily paralysed between the need to protect her privacy and plain old fashioned trust and courtesy. She elected for the latter as she set the bag on the bench and flicked the button on the kettle. A ringtone caused her to raise her eyebrows and then she heard Zoe's voice as she answered the call. Hopefully that would distract her long enough to put the letter back into the envelope when she brought the coffees back into the living room.
A watched kettle never boils.
The old proverb came back to her as she finished putting coffee and sugar into one cup and just plain coffee into the other one. Zoe was still talking however and she decided to take a chance and go back to the living room. The living room was in an L-shape with the smallest part taken up by a kitchen table and chairs, the couch sat at the entrance to the living room, forming a small wall but with plenty of space between the end of the couch and the wall. Zoe was sitting with her back to Lisa and she was still talking. Lisa looked past her to the letter, it hadn't been moved although it was possible she'd read something. She was just about to return to the kitchen when Zoe suddenly ended the call.
"Okay, bye, bye, love you too," she looked down at her phone and then straightened up and turned around to look at her.
"I noticed your books, you've got quite a selection."
"And there's more in the spare room," she smiled, "four bookshelves, I seem to collect books the way my mother and sisters collect shoes," she inclined her head.
"So, feel free to check them out."
