Thank you all for supporting my last iteration of this story, but I think it may have been the worst thing I've ever published. I rewrote the story and will hopefully be able to continue it in at least one, if not two more issues. Anyways, all characters in this story are fictional and of the legal ages of 20, 43,43 and 42. Any real life similarities to any real people are purely coincidental and accidental, as with the fictional Arizona city in the story. Any suggestions for further writing are welcomed. So please enjoy, and drop a comment telling me what you did or didn't like.
The elevator stops. I take a deep, shaky breath. The doors open. I look up, this is my chance. I moved out of the house at 20, a little late. I have been so nervous. What if I fail? This is my chance to make life my own. Find myself. I take one big confident step out of the elevator at the end of the hall, and turn to my right. Four doors. Two on the left and two on the right. I walk to the end of the hallway, to the last door on the left. The numbers Four-Oh-Four on the center of the door, my one shot at life lies behind these numbers. Taking a second to appreciate the moment, I stick the key into the lock and open the door. A small, open plan apartment awaits. A kitchen, bed, sofa and wall mounted Tv are immediately visible. A small bathroom/ closet combo sits around a corner, smelling of fresh lavender from the efforts of the property management.
The town of San Gria is a small community situated on the border of Arizona and Mexico. Only about 32 thousand people live here, not terribly small but far from a metropolitan area. My parents let me stay with them after high school so I could get my degree from a community college back home in New Mexico. They kicked me out after that, and I'm hoping to find my footing here in San Gria. I majored in business hoping to find some small office job for now whilst I pursue my clay sculpting and pottery passions. While my side gigs do net me a little extra cash in the spring when people want new pots to plant things in, I doubt I will see any success for several years.
I spent hours unpacking boxes, moving in furniture, cleaning my dishes that were caked with cardboard powder. I dedicate a large portion of my living space to my first love, pottery. Well, I say pottery but I actually mean any clay projects. I have spun all of my plates and bowls, but I've also carved statues the size of action figures, mimicking all of the most famous art forms from around the globe. My most recent collection is modeled around Aztecian idols. I work through lunch time and into the later hours of the evening before I finally break to eat. My dad and I used to watch this show called "Food trucks, Delis and Bistros." A pizzeria in San Gria was featured in one episode, and I promised my dad I would get some pizza on my first night. I placed an order over the phone for one medium thin crust margherita pizza, their specialty. Thirty minutes later I get a notification that the delivery man is at the door.
"Thank you sir, you are a lifesaver." I say in an exhausted voice as I take the pizza from him.
"No problem, have a good night" he says as he walks out the door.
Delighted with my dinner's arrival, I head back to the tired elevator for the last time today. My aching back groans from all of the pushing and lifting. The elevator travels from the third floor to the fourth, before the little light shows it finally descending. I guess I finally get to meet my neighbors.
The elevator doors slide open and there stands a woman with golden skin, deep brown eyes and pursed lips that she smacks as she puts away her lipstick. She's wearing this beautiful orange tank top that provides little cover for her magnificent cleavage. Her jean shorts riding over the top of a generously large behind and her vans sneakers squeal as she turns to walk around me. She locks her gaze with mine for a second as she strides past me. My heart pounds at her beauty and I was almost too stunned to hear her say "Hold the elevator for me, handsome."
I slink into the elevator, holding the door for her with my foot as she requested. She had walked to the mail lockers in the lobby, retrieving a package before walking towards the elevator. After my initial gawking I could tell that she was a little older, maybe her early forties. She casually strolled back to the elevator, looking at her package and mumbling to herself.
"You know, I'm not mad that they didn't ship this discreetly, I'm mad that they said they would and didn't." She huffed before looking up to meet my gaze. I couldn't tell what the package was but the branding was "Exxxcitement" in all red letters.
"I don't believe I've met you, are you the pizza guy?" She asks me.
"My name is Oscar." I say. "I moved into 404 today."
"Ohhh, it's nice to meet you Oscar. I heard that Bill's apartment was being taken over by a new tenant. I'm going to have to tell everyone that you've arrived." She says with a smile. She sticks out her hand like she wanted to shake mine, but instead she grabs my right bicep.
"Tell me about yourself, Oscar." She says as she breaks eye contact to look at my arm as she squeezes it. The elevator stops on the second floor but no one gets on.
"I'm Oscar, I just moved here from New Mexico to start a job here in town." I reply as the physical stimulation from this woman causes my heart to skip a few beats.
"I can tell you're new, DeBlazzo's pizzeria hasn't been good for about three years." She says as she gestures to the pizza box. "Not since the owner died and his nephew from Florida took over... What a pity. If you want to choke back the pizza tonight, I won't stop you, but tomorrow night I'm having the rest of floor four over for wine and dinner. Come join us, Oscar." She smirks as she adds a weird emphasis to the word "choke" that rubbed me the right way.
The elevator opens up and we both step out into the hallway. I watch her as she glides the length of the hallway to the door labeled 403. Each stride her voluptuous butt hypnotizes me with its rhythmic dance. The sway as it rises up on forward stride, and the subtle jiggle it dances when her heels strike the ground. I can feel myself stretching out my sweatpants as I watch.
"I'll be there, and thank you for the invite ma'am." I squeak out as I needed to string the words together before she disappeared behind the door.
She stops in the doorway, and turns to face me, the arch of her back twisted to allow her to face me, her tank top sliding a little further down her breasts.
"No need to call me ma'am, Oscar, I'm not your mommy. But you can call me Cynthia. And dinner's at 6:30 tomorrow." She says as she slips into her doorway.
I walk back to my apartment and stop when I get inside, my erection trying its best to blast a hole in my pants. I hope she didn't see that. I eat my pizza that was indeed terrible, and sit down at my clay throwing set up. I have never met a woman who made me forget how to be a human before. I have to carve the essence of this woman right now. I work furiously for many hours, sculpting and re-sculpting over and over again until it's perfect. A woman of clay who's lines lead your eyes on this beautiful adventure. She's curvy, twisting in the same way she did when she stopped in the doorway. She looks so seductive, and I have a hard time removing my eyes from the statue. That is until they nearly closed themselves, it was 2:30 before I went to sleep.