Neighbors

He dressed quickly for the party. He pulled on blue jeans and an olive green T-shirt with a dark jacket. Ran his fingers through his still damp hair and headed for the door.

She had wrapped herself in her big terry cloth robe and with her hair still wrapped in a towel headed downstairs to find something to eat. She pulled a nectarine out of the bag of snacks she had traveled with and headed for the front living room to check on her cat that had been lounging on the ottoman of the chair by the window. She climbed into the chair and tucking her feet up, bit into the nectarine as she stroked Ellie. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the front door of the neighbor's house open and she glanced out the window to see who it was. She just about dropped her nectarine. She may not have noticed him earlier today, but she noticed him now. She caught his gaze as she turned her head and her cheeks flooded with color. So much for the neighbor being a single woman who needed a friend. The person standing on the steps across from her window was a man, and a very handsome man at that, no, handsome wasn't the right word, this man was beautiful. He was tall and broad shouldered. His hair was dark and short cropped, a little wispy on the top, and he had a little gray at the temples. She smiled at this, he smiled back. He had a perfect smile, his lower lip was deep and full, and when he smiled it framed his teeth in deep red. His beard framed his mouth, and ran as a line along his jaw, his cheeks were shaven and she could see he had dimples. She didn't think she could blush any deeper until she saw his eyes that sparkled at hers. He raised his hand to wave to her and she lifted hers in response. She tore her eyes from his and turned away from the window, her hands were shaking and she had spilled nectarine juice down the front of her robe. When she turned back he was unlocking the door to his car, his back to her. He was wearing blue jeans that hugged his legs, with leather Teva sandals on his feet. As he turned to climb in, he glanced back up at her and smiled again. She grabbed her robe to her neck and stood to leave the room. My god she thought, she hadn't paid attention to any man in a long time, and suddenly this one had her blushing. She suddenly remembered the bathroom shades and sank back into the chair mortified that perhaps he had seen her. She stroked her cat and whispered, "Well, if he has already seen me, I'm guessing I need not worry about any romance with him." Her love life had always been disappointing. Few men ever asked her out, and she always assumed it was something physical. Her parents always told her she was beautiful, but weren't all parents supposed to say that. No, she had convinced herself that the reason men didn't want to be with her was something about her body. Maybe she was too curvy she told herself, men liked the skinny, waif types and that wasn't her. She never had a clue that it wasn't her body, but her brain that scared them away. That bright mind of hers, capable of understanding a lot of other things, just could never seem to figure that one out.

He chided himself as he got into the car. When he had opened the door to his townhouse he immediately saw her sitting in the front window. Her robe slightly open at the top, revealing the barest hint of cleavage, as she bit into the nectarine. For a second he froze, already his body responded to her. He forced himself out the door hoping she would see him. When she turned and he caught her gaze he was taken aback by the look in her eyes. They were greenish he thought, a mixture of colors, just like her hair. Then she smiled at him, and he smiled back. That million-dollar smile that he flashed when he desperately wanted to impress someone. When he waved, she had waved back but then she had turned away. He paused for a second, torn between ringing her doorbell and leaving for the party. He knew they would be waiting for him, and thinking about it, he didn't want to overwhelm her, thinking of the way she had blushed when he smiled at her. As he unlocked the door he turned back and saw her glancing out the window again. This was a good sign, he thought, she seemed curious. He smiled again, that million-dollar smile. But this time she grabbed her robe to her throat and turned away. He frowned as he climbed into his car. He had scared her; his thoughts went back to the bathroom. Her shades had been drawn when he got out of the shower; she knew he had been in there. He felt like a leech, she knew he had seen her, he embarrassed her and he didn't even know her name yet. He hit his palm against the steering wheel. "Well, this has started wonderfully!" He exclaimed as he started his car.