Kathy
Friends celebrate Thanksgiving together
My neighbor, Jake, was unloading his trunk with bags of groceries when I drove up. We had been living side by side for over five years. He was always pleasant to talk to but we had never really had a real conversation. It was always the weather or other light subjects. I was divorced and I think he knew that but I had no idea of his history.
Feeling neighborly I walked over and offered to help him carry the bags into his house. Maybe I was feeling a little curious also. A single guy, I never saw a woman coming or going or a man for that matter. What did he do for company? Was he a hoarder?
Naturally he refused, said he had it under control, I insisted. He gave in and I grabbed two bags and followed him in. I was shocked. The place was a neat and clean. Knick knacks were on the fireplace mantel and on shelves. Great photos hung on the walls I love good photography. The carpet looked freshly vacuumed. Not a sign of dust anywhere. My first thought was I need to hire this guy as a housemaid. The kitchen was the same. I was very impressed.
He offered me a cup of coffee and I accepted after I said I was ok and he offered a second time. He brought out a pie from the refrigerator, apologized, telling me he had made it a day ago but it still should be good. It was the best key lime pie I had ever tasted and told him so. He had the grace to blush. I loved it. Housemaid my ass, I needed a cook also and an interior decorator and he certainly qualified.
That night lying in bed I was wondering what was I missing. Why wasn't there women storming his house? He kept it clean. It appeared he was not a stranger in the kitchen. I had peeked in his garage as I was passing his home several times and it looked clean at least from the street. Maybe the basement was full of freezers and dead bodies?
I prayed that being curious didn't kill this cat. I waited a week and waylaid him on a Saturday morning as he was cutting his lawn. Did I mention his yard was as neat as his home? I waved and he waved back. That was all I needed so I walked over. He shut down the mower and we exchanged pleasantries for ten minutes or so. It seemed he was comfortable talking with me.
I finally got around to my question, I wanted to know where he had purchased the wonderful art he had hanging on the walls in the living room. It turns out his hobby is photography. When I was raving about how great I thought it was he invited me in if I wanted to look at some of it.
There were landscapes, flowers, close ups of stuff I couldn't identify and portraits. I study each one as he explained the location or the time. The first portrait was a niece and he had taken for her graduation photos several years ago. The other was a woman about my age except very lovely. A catch was in his voice as he explained she was a close friend. I suspected a very close friend and foolishly asked where she is now? He hiccupped and when I glanced at him a tear was running down his cheek.
I felt so bad; I had opened a wound and said, "I am so sorry Jake. It's none of my business. Please forgive me."
"No, it's ok. We were very close. She passed away a few years ago. She allowed me to photograph her many times and I have those memories."
Open mouth and insert foot. "She was very beautiful; may I see some of the others?"
Without a word he turned and led me into the hallway. On the walls were three very large and very tasteful nudes of the same woman. She truly was a wonderful woman, hair I would kill for and a body I would kill for. One of the photos was of her standing facing the camera without trying to hide anything. A Mona Lisa smile, one arm behind her back and the other hanging by her side, her breasts were small and firm, a narrow waist with full hips, a patch of dark hair hide her sex and one leg was kind of hitched to the side and the other holding her up.