One
It was my first place. I was 22, and I was ecstatic. I had lived in an apartment with my girlfriend at the time for about a year, but I had discovered that a mortgage would cost me the same, if not less than, renting. After she and I broke up and I moved back in with my parents, I saw the folly of my ways. I promptly bought the place for a song: a two-bedroom, two bath villa, right on a small lake, near the city, but a little bit suburban. It had a tiny backyard, which I immediately fenced in and gardened. It was perfect for a young bachelor such as myself.
I thought about getting a roommate for the second room, just to help with the bills a little, but discovered that with only the smallest bit of belt-tightening I could maintain my privacy, so I did. I quickly fell into the routine of a single guy. I had the place set up just as I liked it, and could walk around in the nude if the desire struck. There were times of loneliness, but I had enough friends to counter most days and nights. I had never had too much trouble with girls. Not being an underwear model or anything, I always viewed myself as attractive enough at five-foot ten, and one hundred-sixty-five pounds. I was a cyclist, surfed every chance I got, and ate pretty healthy.
After a while, being used to having people around me, the lonely nights began to weigh on my more and more. I still didn't want to go the route of acquiring a roommate. I used the second room as a rudimentary music studio, trying to write songs and record them on a simple four-track recorder. Something still felt off. I had a decent computer, and as such, had plenty of porn. This helped to a point, but ultimately, still wasn't the same. Resigning to my current situation, I just let things be, enjoyed my porn, and hoped things would change before long.
My next door neighbor was an older gentleman named Lloyd. He was in his 60s, mildly frail in appearance, but seemed to remain active. He lived alone, but walked around the neighborhood daily. He was also quite friendly, and would catch me outside once in a while just to chat for a few minutes. One day, I was walking around the house naked, as I often did. As I traipsed through the living room, I noticed Lloyd walking around the lake, out back. He turned toward me as I was picking up a few things and waved, smiling. I quickly tried to cover up, but figured, "what the hell, the neighbors across the lake probably see me do this daily," and waved back. I grinned to myself and thought it actually felt a little exciting being caught like that. Too bad some local girl didn't catch me like that and have a similar reaction, I thought.
The next day, Lloyd was outside as I was checking the mail. He walked over and asked how I was. The usual politeness from him.
"Oh, not bad, how about yourself?" I responded.
"Can't complain. I do have some things to move around the house today, though. Gonna be a long afternoon, I imagine," he said.
"That sounds like a lot of work. What are you doing that for?" I asked.
"Well, I got a couple items of new furniture the other day and I need to figure out how to arrange them. I guess I shouldn't have gotten them if I wasn't going to be able to do this. I don't suppose I could borrow you for a spell to help me? That is, if you're not too busy," he said.
I had a complete day off and wasn't planning on doing much else beside look at my computer and watch TV, so I agreed. "When do you want me over?" I asked.
"Oh, any time. Whenever you're free," he said. I told him I would be over in a few minutes and went to put some shorts on as it was warming up.
Lloyd's place was nicely appointed and he had a new couch and loveseat along with an end table or two, scattered randomly around the living room. This was clearly too much for someone of his stature. "I've just got a few items here I want to move around, if that's ok," he said.
I said it wasn't and he put me to work, moving things around. It didn't take long to shuffle the items into their new positions, and after some re-adjusting, the living room was set up. Lloyd said, "Here, let me get you a drink. It's the least I can do." Before I could deny him, he ran off to the kitchen. I sat down on the couch, facing the TV. He came back in with some lemonade, and I thanked him for it.
"Yeah, I don't get much company over here nowadays. My wife died several years ago, so I just do my own thing in here," he said, sitting down.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I guess we're pretty similar, then. I just do my own thing in my place, too," I responded.
"Yeah, I noticed," he said, and let out a boisterous laugh.
"Oh yeah, sorry about that. I just let it hang out when I'm around the house sometimes. I forgot some people actually walk around the lake back there. I guess I should be a little more careful," I said.
"Oh I wouldn't worry about that. We're just a couple of bachelors who live our own way," he said. It didn't bother me in the least. You've got a nice body. You should be proud of it."
The compliment caught me off guard, but I thanked him. He continued, "I don't really walk around naked very much, but if I'm watching a video, I've been known to strip down a bit around here. I don't suppose anyone wants to see an old man without his clothes on, though."
The way he said a video shocked me a little. I guess you don't think of your next door sixty-something older man as having a sex drive. I felt sorry for the self-pitying statement. "Oh, I'm sure you're fine. I think people just need to lighten up a little." He looked up and smiled.
"Well, I definitely agree with you there. Do you watch videos much?" he asked.