"Wow those are some big bags for such a small girl?" said a gravelly voice from behind, Lisa. tilted her head a little to look back down the apartment hallway and saw the voice had come from an older gentleman who was now walking toward her. Lisa hadn't lived here long and didn't know the man, but he looked quite harmless and had very kind eyes.
"Yeah, just grocery shopping for the new place." She replied finally.
He grabbed one of the bags from her arms as he said "At least let me help you, you are too pretty to struggle so much."
Normally she would have been just a little bit upset at his blatant sexism but she knew he didn't mean it that way and he seemed very sweet. She let go of the bag and was now able to easily get the door to her apartment open. She headed in and set the bag on the kitchen table. He came in and set his down also.
"Thank you very much," she said "My name is Lisa by the way."
"Henry, at your service young lady." he replied with a big smile. "I didn't see you move in, this apartment has been vacant a while."
"Just moved in yesterday," she said as she put away the groceries. She turned around and he was still standing there. She could tell he just wanted to talk, he seemed like he might be a little lonely.
"Well "moved in" is kind of a relative term. I moed in what I had." She replied. Looking around the apartment Lisa realized it barely even looked lived in, she only had an old couch, a bed and a couple of boxes. Looking at him she felt she had to explain "I just got divorced and I didn't get much out of it. My husband had rung up a lot of debts gambling. Well anyway you don't want to hear my stories," she said as she looked away trying to control the emotions running through her.
"You don't even have a TV! I thought all young people could not live without a TV." Henry said jokingly, obviously trying to lighten up the conversation.
"Yeah can you believe it? How am I going to catch my shows?" Lisa replied playfully.
"Well I guess if you like, I have a TV, you are welcome to come over and watch it with me, if you don't mind an old mans company." Henry offered with a smile
"I might just have to take you up on that Henry." Lisa replied.
From that moment on Lisa saw more and more of Henry. At least once a week she would go over to Henry's to watch TV. He turned out to be a very interesting man. He had been in World War Two, had run his own business, and then retired young and traveled around the world with his wife, who had died just last year. She began to look forward to their chats. She asked Henry's advice on everything from her finances to the men she was dating. She started telling him everything.
One night she had just gotten home from a particularly bad date and was getting ready for bed. She changed out of her dress, took off her bra and put on her nightshirt. She started to get under the covers but her mind was still spinning from the date. She decided what she needed was ice-cream. She got back up and headed out to her freezer. Sure enough she found a pint of "the good stuff," pulled out a spoon and began to eat. As she was eating she looked around her apartment and thought about how pathetic her life had become.
Just then there was a knock at the door. She peered through the peep-hole and saw Henry's smiling face looking back at her. smiling to herself she opened the door.
"I'm not bothering you am I, I saw you come in and that your light was still showing under the door. There's an all night 'Bewitched' Marathon on and I know how much you liked the show." Henry said seemingly all in one breath. It was apparent he was lonely too.
She smiled, thought for a second and said "Sure, let me just put this back," with that she ran to the freezer to return her ice-cream carton and then grabbed her robe and keys out of her room.
"Ok I am ready," she said as she came out into the hall.
"I even made some popcorn." Henry said with a smile.
In his apartment she sat down in the same chair where she always sat, leaning back and extending the footrest and Henry sat in his favourite chair. They had a great time going through several bowls of popcorn and laughing at the show. She began to grow tired and was thinking about going back and going to bed. Lisa began to nod off a little and could barely keep her eyes open. Then she looked over at Henry and the funniest thing happened. He immediately looked away. The way he acted seemed strange, what was he doing? Was he going to say something, maybe? Was he thinking of his wife?