Meet the Neighbor

I slammed the door of the cab, and the driver pulled away from the curb.  Lauren was looking at me, bemused.  "What was that all about?" she asked, curiously.

"He wants to take me out.  On a date."

Lauren squealed in excitement.  "When?  He's definitely hot."

I rolled my eyes.  Lauren and I have always had a bit different taste in men, which is okay, because it means less competition between us, at least.  "I said no," I started, and Lauren scowled.  "I want to get settled.  I don't want to go out with the first guy to look my way, and end up tied down when I should be exploring the city," I explained.

"One date isn't 'tied down', Liv.  It's a date.  It's fun."

"But...I don't know.  He's part of your group of friends.  So what if we only go on one date, and it sucks, and then things are weird?"

She laughed.  "You don't think things will be weird now that you rejected him?" she asked.

"Maybe," I said.  "But less weird than if we went on a date and it sucked.  Or even worse, if I think he's awful and he thinks I'm great."

"Ok, ok.  I see what you're saying," Lauren conceded.  "And really, Brody is more your type anyway."

I was glad she couldn't see me blush again in the dark cab.  "What do you know about him?" I asked.

"Why, are you interested?  Oh my god, you are!"  Is that why you really turned Alex down?"

"No, I really turned Alex down because I want to get settled before I date.  And maaaaybe also a little because he's not my type," I admitted.

The cab stopped outside my house.  Lauren paid the driver and walked to her car.  She paused by the curb.   "Well, Brody is more your type.  But he's got a less-than-stellar reputation.  I've heard he's a huge player and has more notches in his bedpost than I have hairs on my head.  I guess I've never really seen him take a girl home or do anything I'd expect of a player though.  He's only been part of the group for about 6 months, and I heard that stuff from someone else that we both know.  So maybe he's cleaned up his act a little, but I don't know much more than that.  His dad is some retired pro-athlete so he's got money, and he's got a really successful PR business here.  I don't know the details, but he does a lot of picking up the check," she reported.  "Not that that matters to you," she added quickly, seeing me narrow my eyes a little.   After we had ended things the second time, John was mad and told a bunch of our mutual friends that I had been upset that he had lost his job and couldn't spend money on me anymore.  It was far from the truth but he had been pretty convincing, and I was still sensitive about the subject of money and dating.

I said goodnight to Lauren, and went inside.  I rolled my eyes at myself, somehow not surprised I had managed to simultaneously meet the hottest guy I've ever seen AND be asked out by his not-my-type best friend my first night out here.   That seemed to be my luck.  I wondered to myself if I really would have turned Brody down if he had been the one to ask me out.  Just then, my phone rang, startling out of my contemplative state.  I looked at the display, and saw John's name.  I looked at the time.  11:54 pm.  Almost 1am in Wisconsin.  John would be drunk, most likely.  The only time he could manage to share any "real" feelings with me.  Of course that would be when he called.  I hit the button the silence the ringer, and went to brush my teeth.  He didn't leave a message, and I was glad.  I didn't feel like hearing his voice.

I tripped over a box walking into my bedroom, and realized I should probably dedicate the next day to finishing up my unpacking so my house was presentable to people besides Lauren.  You know, just in case.  

And the next day I did just that.  As I was dancing around my room, music blasting, unpacking my bags and boxes, I thought I heard the doorbell.  I turned my music down and listened, and heard someone knocking on the door.  I ran down the stairs and peeked out the window, seeing a girl about my age standing on the porch.  I opened the door, a little out of breath.

"Hi, I'm Cassie, I live next door," she said, gesturing to the townhome that shared a wall with mine.

"Hi, I'm Olivia, I obviously just moved in, and I'm really sorry if my music was too loud.  I didn't realize someone was at home next door!"  I was blushing again, figuring that she came over to ask me to turn it down.  I silently cursed my face's stellar ability to blush at the drop of a hat.

"Oh, no, it doesn't bother me.  The walls here are actually not too bad.  I can hear it, but it's not too loud.  You might want to be careful of the old guy on the other side.  He's pretty cranky," she responded, smiling.  "I just dropped by to introduce myself and see if you needed anything."

"Thanks for the tip, I'll watch out for him.  Do you want to come in?  I'm unpacking still, so it's kind of a mess, but I do at least have furniture now!"  Cassie declined, saying she was on her way to the store, but we exchanged numbers and she told me to give her a call if I needed anything or wanted to hang out.  I couldn't believe how fast I was meeting people here, and the good fortune that I had at least one neighbor that seemed cool. 

I spent the rest of the day unpacking, cleaning, and getting everything arranged the way I wanted it.  As I was scoping out the fridge, deciding what to cook for my first real meal in my new home, my phone buzzed.  I checked it out, seeing a long text from a number I didn't have saved.  "Hey Olivia, this is Brody.  Hope you don't mind, I got your number from Lauren.  I'm having a barbecue tomorrow and would love if you joined us.  Let me know, and I'll send you the details!"  Reading the text, I found myself smiling like an idiot, feeling excited that he had gone out of his way to get my number to invite me.  Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself that I wasn't interested in dating yet, and called Lauren to see if she was going.  She said she was, and we made plans to meet at her house and go together the next day.  I then spent an hour in front of my closet, agonizing over the perfect outfit.  One that looked hot, but also said "I just threw this on for the barbecue, I can make anything look good!"  Shockingly enough, that outfit doesn't exist.  At least not in my closet.  I settled on a casual sundress and called it a night.