Author's note: My stories tend to swing on the spectrum between loving and conquering. This one is more on the conquering side.
---
The man looked again at the pictures online. The faces stared back, beaming and happy in the glow of their favorite time of life. It was an engagement announcement from a few months back. In fact, the big day was coming up just next month. But the man was anything but happy for the couple.
The groom's face was older than the man remembered. He knew it from the early days, when the man hadn't fully understood his powers yet. The groom had never nearly destroyed everything the man had worked for. Only some very direct application of the man's fledgling powers and an abrupt name-change had kept the man free. At the time, he had been concerned about getting away. Now, looking at the groom's face again, the man decided that perhaps it was time for some revenge.
The man's eyes moved from the groom's face to the bride's. She was younger than the groom, probably just out of college. The man was taken back by just how stunning she was. The announcement showed her from the waist up. Despite the woman's attempts at hiding her body in modest clothes, the man could tell that she had a stunning figure.
The man smiled slowly, a plan forming in his mind.
---
Quinn had a month until her wedding and an ominous calm had settled over the planning process. She had been told that things would be crazy right up to the day, but for some reason she was ahead of the game. Her dress was hanging in the closet, the seating chart was arranged, she had picked out dinner, and she had a specific timeline laid out for the day, which would be printed and hand-delivered to every member of the bridal party. Somehow, Quinn wished something would go wrong so she could direct her energies there, but a month out she had nothing to actively be doing.
Her work ethic in planning was helping out Phil, too. Phil was older than her and had a well-established (if, admittedly, a little bit boring) career. He had been slammed by two work emergencies in a row, meaning Quinn hadn't actually seen her fiance in a couple days now.
Desperate to focus her effort on something, Quinn took to purging her apartment. She had her lease for two more months. She and Phil would move in together shortly after getting married. They had spent nights together, of course, but both of their families were rather traditional, so Quinn kept living alone for appearances sake until the wedding. Phil being older and having a better-paying career, his stuff was nicer than her college-era stuff, so Quinn was going through and putting her cheap thrift store pots into boxes to give back to the thrift stores. Some stuff, however, was too bad to actually give away again.
Quinn held a pot, trying to remember if this was one of the ones that released microplastics into food or not. She decided that she should play it safe and tossed it into the garbage. The bag was full, so she took it out, tied it off, and started down towards the garbage chute. She walked down the hall, rounded the corner, dropped the bag in the chute, and started back towards her apartment.
As she came into view of her apartment again, she saw a man coming out of the door next to hers. She had been aware that her next-door neighbor had moved out and someone had moved in immediately after, but she hadn't seen him yet. He was a tall man, probably around Phil's age.
"Good morning," he said with a warm smile as Quinn approached her door.
"Hi!" Quinn said kindly, but briskly. She was going to be moving out next month, there was no need to get to know the neighbors. She didn't even know the ones she lived next to for a while.
"I'm Joe," the man said, not taking the hint. "I just moved in next door."
*Neighborly kindness* A thought floated through her head and she felt suddenly ashamed. So what if Quinn wouldn't know him for very long? She could afford to be kind to a new neighbor, couldn't she?
"Hi Joe," Quinn said warmly. "I'm Quinn. It's nice to meet you. Have you got your stuff unpacked yet?" She was standing in front of her door, but her hand wasn't on the door handle yet.
"Yeah, mostly," Joe nodded. "I got a bunch of new stuff, though, and I accidentally made way too much coffee." He laughed. Quinn smiled indulgently, then a thought (*That's funny*) struck her and she laughed with him, imagining how silly it was that he had made too much coffee with a new machine. It was one of the funnier things she had heard today.
"Did you want a cup, Quinn?" Joe gestured back towards his apartment. "Get to know the neighbors over a cup of coffee and all that?"
Quinn hesitated (*Neighborly kindness*), but she didn't want to be rude to her new neighbor. (*Safe*) After all, he was harmless.
"Yeah, that'd be nice," Quinn said with a smile.
Joe led her back towards his apartment. Sure enough, a coffee machine was at full capacity, more than any one man could drink. Quinn thought again how funny this was. Her new neighbor was silly and harmless. Quinn took an instinctive peak around the apartment. It had the impeccable cleanliness of a fresh unpacking, but no boxes. In fact, several of the furniture pieces still had tags on them, indicating they were freshly purchased. The couch barely had a crease. It looked brand new.
Joe poured two cups of coffee and set them on the kitchen table. "Here's your coffee."
"Oh, thanks," Quinn said, sitting down at the kitchen table. Both the table and the coffee cups also looked new.
"Did you get all new stuff for the move?" Quinn asked, looking around again at the apartment.
"Yeah, I had to," Joe said. "Most of the stuff I had was my roommate's. And I figured a reset was good."
Quinn was about to comment on the lack of personal mementos as well, such as pictures or nicknacks, (*unsuspicious*) but decided that it didn't really matter after all.
"So tell me about yourself, Quinn," Joe said, sipping on his coffee.
(*Open*) Quinn sipped the coffee too, feeling very comfortable. "Well, I'm Quinn. I graduated last year. I work from home and... well... it's sort of a joke job to be honest with you. My fiance's job will pay for us and I'll probably stop working when I get pregnant." Quinn blinked, surprised at herself for saying all of that. She had always pushed back when people described her job as a "joke" and she had never admitted to anyone that her goal was to stop working after kids... maybe not even herself.
"I gotcha," Joe nodded thoughtfully. "So you're sort of a housewife-in-waiting, then?"
(*Open*) Quinn was speaking before she had time to think, "Yeah, basically. I've always wanted to be the housewife to a husband with a nine to five. I know it's not very feminist or whatever, but I grew up in a very traditional house and I always thought that the Leave It To Beaver house would be a happy one." Quinn blinked, remembering watching Leave It To Beaver at her grandparents house at age seven. Had that really been so formative? Was she just realizing that now?
"That's interesting," Joe said. "I feel like most girls your age are into parties and boys and a more... wild lifestyle."
(*Open*) "I've never really been interested in that," Quinn said after another sip of coffee. "I've had friends who slept around a lot, but Phil is the only man I've ever been with. And I don't really mind that." Before she had time to wonder why she had just told a stranger that, another thought (*Missing out*) popped into her mind. Her mouth expressed it before she had time to fully process it. "I mean, I guess sometimes I feel like I'm missing out. Some girls teased me about getting my M.R.S. at school while they hopped from bed to bed. I didn't really care about that back then, but... I don't know... they've had experiences I won't."
"I see," Joe said. "It sounds like you have a lot on your mind. Doesn't it feel good" (*feel good*) "to get it off your chest?"
"It does," Quinn nodded. "It feels really good to get it off my chest." She sighed.
"Well you should get some de-stressing in before the big day," Joe said. "How about we make coffee a daily thing?" (*Good idea*)
"That's a good idea," Quinn smiled. "I could use some relaxation before the wedding."
"Wonderful," Joe smiled. "How about 8AM tomorrow?"
"Absolutely," Quinn smiled. "I look forward to it."
"I'm so glad we got the chance to meet," Joe said. "It's been a while since I've had some good neighborly kindness."
Quinn smiled again, also glad that she had indulged in a little neighborly kindness.
--
Quinn checked in and out of work throughout the day, moving her mouse so it wouldn't fall asleep and then continuing to sort through her things. She was surprised at how much she had told Joe. There was something about him that made him very easy to talk to. And maybe Quinn was wound rather tight with wedding planning. Maybe she had needed a pressure release more than she realized.
As evening approached, Quinn met Phil for dinner. It was a quick meal, just to see his face again, and Phil spent most of it talking about the problems he was having with his RNT reports. Phil had explained what a RNT report was once, but she didn't quite remember. She could track his story without that understanding just fine. As she watched, she wandered again back to her conversation with Joe that day. Privately, to herself and herself alone, she might have admitted that she went to college with the goal of getting married. Maybe that was why she matched with older guys on the dating apps. Maybe that was why she dated Phil, with the steady-if-boring job and the kind personality. But had she missed out by not mattress-surfing like the other girls her age?
She pulled her attention back to the meal before Phil realized she had checked out of his story. Soon after they wrapped up because Phil needed to get some reports written before tomorrow. With a peck on the lips, they went separate ways. It was only once Quinn was on her way back home that she realized she hadn't mentioned to Phil about her coffee with the new neighbor. That was fine, no big deal. She wasn't intentionally hiding anything, it had just slipped her mind. She would mention it next time she saw him.
Quinn got back home, put on a tv show, and settled down onto the couch. She was debating about opening a bottle of cheap wine to relax, but she wouldn't finish the whole thing herself and that would commit her to a few days in a row of drinking alone.
She heard the door next door to her close. The walls had always been rather thin and it wasn't unusual for her to hear a dropped door slam a little harder than intended. She ignored it, but soon began to hear voices. One was a woman's. Quinn was about to turn up the tv to drown them out (*interested* *eavesdrop*) when she heard the woman say, "Stick me with it! Please!"
