By Likegoodwinecopyrighted July 2012
Here's another story for you, a bit longer than my usual. Enjoy! Thanks to Scalia for his patient editing.
Your votes and constructive comments are appreciated, as they will help me grow.
Chapter one
Pretty little thing
Some noises are really annoying when you are in bed desperately trying to catch a few hours of sleep before a big day at work. A faucet dripping is one of them. As hard as you try to shut it off, it always keeps dripping.
"Ploc!"
"Ploc!"
"Ploc! Ploc!"
Over and over and over it drops like a bomb exploding! I been after the building superintendent to fix it for the last month. But it keeps on dripping.
Another frustrating noise is your neighbour having a good time with her boyfriend. It's even worst when you are sexually on a dry spell and that her bed headboard hits your wall.
"Bump!"
"Oh yes! Oh yes!"
"Bump!"
"Ooooh yeees!"
"Bump! Bump! Bump! Bump!"
"Aaaargh!"
"Bump!... Bump!... Bump!..."
Well at least they are done.
"Ploc!"
"Grrrr! Note to self: kill the superintendent."
Living in an apartment is a new thing for me. I am Mark Dupuis, 40-years old, newly divorced, and a new tenant in this apartment building. It is near the community college where I work as a teacher.
My wife, Sandy, left me six months ago. The divorce was finalized last month. I moved into this apartment not long after we sold our house, splitting the equity. We had been married for almost 15 years but we unfortunately fell out of love. It wasn't a traumatic divorce. There was no cheating by her or me. We just grew apart. With no kids - which might have been a reason for our estrangement - the divorce was almost easy.
But for now I was back to square one living in a building filled mostly with students. But as I said, it had a very convenient location, less than a 20-minute walk to the campus.
I had noticed my next-door neighbour, a cute little brunette in her late teens or early 20's. The way our apartments were made, my bedroom shares a wall with her bedroom. And the walls are not very thick or soundproofed.
One evening, I was in my living room when I heard somebody banging loudly on her door. Soon afterwards, I heard yelling from the apartment. I even heard something crashing and breaking on the floor, and the yelling grew louder.
I am not a former linebacker or anything like that. I am just a fit 40 years old man, almost 6 feet tall, trim but not an athlete. Nevertheless, I didn't want to have to listen to this argument all night long. Worst, I didn't want to be witness to someone beating another. So I gathered my courage, filled a cup with sugar – that's a Ninja trick – and went to knock on my neighbour's door.
As soon as I knocked on the door the yelling stopped. Soon, my young neighbour opened the door. At first, she wasn't sure who I was, but then I saw a look of recognition on her face.
"Hi! I am returning the cup of sugar I borrowed last week. May I come in?" I said, winking at her.
She caught my intention right away. Smart girl!
"Of course, come in!"
The guy was in the living room. He wasn't much to look at. About my size, with some bulging muscles that was gym-made. He was a good-looking kid. I soon felt better about my move. I was sure glad that I wasn't facing a 6'6" wannabe pro football player.
My intrusion wasn't to his liking, judging by the glare he gave me.
"I'm sorry, I see you have a visitor," I said.
"It's alright! He's just a friend that was about to leave. Care for the coffee I promised you?"
"Sure, I even brought my own sugar."
My neighbour turned toward her guest. "Well thanks for stopping by Brad! See you around the campus."
He was unsure about his next move. I could guess what he was thinking: "I don't want to leave, but now there is that other guy and I sure can't bully her now. If I try to stay, she will make it clear that she is throwing me out. That doesn't look good. Not cool at all! Maybe I should just leave. After all, I am a cool guy."
He was soon at the door.
"See you later Janice!"
So that was her name...
Janice didn't even bother to answer. She just locked the door.
"I'll wait a few minutes to make sure he's really gone then I'll go back to my place," I said.
Janice took my arm and pulled me toward the kitchen.
"Don't be foolish! I promised you a coffee and a coffee you'll have," she said with an impish smile. "By the way, thanks for helping me with that loser."
"A boyfriend?" I asked.
She giggled. "He wished! I went out with him a couple of times, and he thinks I am his girl. He didn't take it too well that I wasn't returning his calls. You arrived at the right moment, he was starting to scare me."
"Always here to help a damsel in distress."
We chatted for almost an hour over a cup of decaf.
Janice came from a small town about 100 miles from here. At 20, she was in her second year to obtain her Communication's degree. Her father passed away two years earlier. He was involved in a car accident that put him in a coma and left him a complete vegetable. As she told the story, tears were coming down her cheeks. After a few weeks, the doctors told the family that it was time to unplug the life support machines. They made a family decision, her younger brother and herself voting to pull the plug and their mother clinging to the faint hope that he might still come out of it.
I ended up on a chair next to her, holding her while she cried on my shoulder. We stayed like that for many minutes. While she was crying, I though about the fact that I could have had a baby girl like her if Sandy had been willing to start a family. I know I would have been a good father.
It was time to go. I kissed Janice on the forehead.
"Well, I will leave you now. Will you be alright?" I asked.
"Yes! And thanks a lot for helping me out... twice tonight. I am so embarrassed. You came to help me, and I end up crying like a baby because I miss my Dad so much," she replied with a forced sad smile.
"No big deal. Don't think about it. Just remember that I am only one door down the hall if you need me," I said while getting up and heading toward the door.
I was almost out when she asked: "Hey! I forgot to ask you your name."
"Mark."
She came closer to me, stretched a bit and gave me a light kiss on the lips.
"Thank you for everything Mark!"
"You're welcome!"
The next weekend I was spending a quiet evening at home reading a book. I was really in a dry spell as far as women were concerned. To be exact, I hadn't made love to a woman since the evening Sandy told me that she wanted a divorce. That was eight months ago. I wasn't ready to date yet.
Around midnight, I heard a soft rapping at my door. I opened the door, and there was Janice.
"Hi!" she said. "I hope I didn't... kind of... wake you up."
"No, not at all! I was just reading. Please come in."
As soon as I saw her walk, I knew she was drunk.
"How are you? Did you go out tonight? " I asked lamely, knowing full well that she was probably coming from a bar.
"Yeah! I went out. But I wasn't feeling like partying or whatever. I kept thinking about my Dad... since last week... when we talked."
What the F did I get myself into? Did I want to be her new 24-hour shrink that just happens to live next door? Oh well, she's a nice kid and I certainly can't turn her down.
I led her toward the living room. She threw herself on the couch. Now I had to think fast. What is the proper behaviour? I know. I will offer her a coffee. She surely needs it.
"What can I get you? A coffee?"