Chapter 3

The next morning, as Trent stood in front of the kitchen window drinking his coffee, he debated whether or not to close the blinds. He looked across the yard towards his neighbor’s house. It appeared empty. With a small shrug, he decided to keep the blinds as they were. She had probably got bored of watching him at that point. He was something new. Trent understood that, just as he knew he wasn’t the most exciting person.

Every morning he followed the same boring routine: get up, drink coffee, eat breakfast, go to work, come home, work on the house, then go to bed. Who wouldn’t be bored after a few weeks of watching that? Though, if she didn’t, Trent wondered what kind of story she’d invent up today. He started to smile then stopped. He shouldn’t be finding this amusing. As harmless as she may be, it was still an invasion of privacy. 

Finishing his breakfast, he went to shower. This time he did close the blinds. That was one thing he was going to do without a potential audience. As he walked to his car, Trent swore he thought the neighbor’s curtain move.  Despite his previous scolding of himself, another smile tugged at his lips. Sitting in the car, Trent reminded himself this wasn’t cute. He should not feel anything but offended by his neighbor’s lack of respect. There still wasn’t any proof that she wasn’t dangerous. He could just be one of the many men, she decided to stalk.

Trent had hundreds of reasons to be concerned about his neighbor’s choice of hobby, but somehow he couldn’t work up the feeling of endangerment. Throughout the day, no matter how hard he tried, his thoughts were on his neighbor. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her. He was sure he had heard her leave or go to work a couple of times, but Trent didn’t think he’d ever actually seen her. Again, Trent shook his head and forced himself to focus on work.

At the end of the day, Brad and a couple of the other guys invited him to go out for a drink. “Sure, why not. It’s Friday after all,” he replied, clearing up his work. They crossed the street to a small, rustic-looking bar called Benny’s.

It seemed like most of the town’s population, who was above the drinking age, was already there. Yet again, Trent’s thoughts turned to his neighbor. Would she be there tonight? Then he remembered her friends seemed to take her to other bars then couldn’t help a silent, dry laugh. It seemed the lack of privacy between them went both ways now.

Trent and the others took one of the last empty tables and ordered their drinks when Brad asked, “So, how’s the house coming along?”

“It’s going well. The front yard doesn’t look like the Amazon anymore but I still haven’t managed to get the air conditioner working, yet,” Trent replied.

“You’ll want to do that before the summer sets in or you’ll be roasting by mid-morning,” Brad commented, and he nodded in agreement. He was about to explain that was his intention when Johnny jumped in. “I bet the women don’t leave you alone, do they?”

Trent laughed.  “Not so much now, but for the first week or so, someone was always knocking on the door,” he replied and saw a window of opportunity to maybe learn more about his stalkerish neighbor. “I think I’ve met nearly every woman in town, except my neighbor to the left,” he added, and Johnny laughed loudly, drawing a few looks their way.

“That’s the Dawson’s girl,” Brad jumped in.

“Rachael? I thought she went to Boston?” Johnny said, looking confused. 

Brad shook his head. “No, not her. The younger one. You know the quiet one.”

“Oh…that one…I don’t remember her name. I just know she hangs out with those two,” Johnny said with a look of disgust. 

“Yeah, that’s the one. Her name is Melissa, but everyone just calls her Mel.”

Trent nodded, trying not to seem too eager for information.

“You won’t have to worry about her bothering you,” Brad told him. “She’s a good girl. Keeps to herself the most part when she’s not down working at the diner.”

A bubble of laughter nearly escaped Trent. Oh, if they only knew he thought. 

“As I said,” Johnny jumped in. “It´s a shame she hangs around with those two. Now those two are the type we could do without.”

“Enough of that Johnny,” Brad told him, giving him a sharp look. “I told you, I get one more complaint and you’re out, that includes off hours.”

Johnny scowled at their boss. “Whatever, but it’s true. We don’t need any of their kind around here.”

“I think you should listen to Brad, there Johnny,” Trent told him, starting to get a little angry at him too.

Seeing as he was the odd man out, Johnny made a disgusted noise. “I’m gonna get me another beer.”

For a moment Trent thought about talking to Brad about the papers and Mel’s hobby of watching him but changed his mind. First, it was embarrassing to admit he was being spied on, and second, he didn’t want to humiliate her either. Something like that could ruin a person in a tiny town like this.  Truth was,  if it wasn’t for the person who gave them to him, Trent wouldn’t even have known if someone hadn’t given him the papers.

Trent frowned as his thoughts went to whoever was responsible. He assumed it had been someone worried about his safety, but there was always the possibility it was someone who wanted to make her look bad. Not only did the idea make him angry, but also like a pawn. If there was one thing he hated most in this world it was being manipulated. Well, if the person planned on embarrassing Mel then they were going to be disappointed. He would keep what he read secret until and if he felt the need to get the police involved.

Trent took a drink of his beer, realizing he was being ridiculous. There were no secret plots or ulterior motives, just a concerned citizen at best. Maybe his neighbor was rubbing off on him, he wondered with a hint of a smirk. Trent finished off his beer.

“Thanks for inviting me,” he said, getting up and setting down some money to pay for his drinks. “I am going to head out.”

“All right. See you Monday. Have a good weekend,” Brad told him.

When he reached his house, Trent spent a moment to look up into the night sky, enjoying the silence. That was one of the biggest differences between L.A. and Maplewood. The later it got, the quieter the town got where in L.A. something was always going on.

Trent glanced over at his neighbor’s house, noticing it was dark. Briefly, he wondered if she was working or asleep. Not that it was any of his business, he reminded himself. Mel apparently was rubbing off on him. With a chuckle, Trent headed inside. Laying in his bed, he picked up the next sheet of paper on top of the stack. He had given up trying to stop from reading more. He was almost as hopeless as his neighbor was, it seemed.

—I’ve been watching my neighbor for about a week and a half, and I can’t help but wonder why he’s alone. I’ve told myself a thousand times it’s none of my business, but then again, considering I’ve been spying on him, wondering why he doesn’t have a girlfriend or isn’t married almost seems normal. So why is he alone? He’s gorgeous, I think almost every woman in town tried to get him to look their way and some are still hopeful.

He’s good at his job, or so I’ve heard. Again, it’s not like I’ve followed him to work. I haven’t reached that stage of perversion and I hope I never will. He seems organized, again, from what I can tell from my spying…not from breaking into his house yet. He seems like an awesome catch. So why is he alone? Maybe he’s gay that would be my luck, wouldn’t it? Though that doesn’t explain why he’s alone. I mean for a man or a woman I’m sure the guy is still an awesome catch.—

Trent grinned. This woman was doing wonders for his self-image. He didn’t think he had received so many compliments ever in his life, and what’s more, they were all honest since he doubted Mel wanted him to be reading this. His conscience gave him a little poke, telling him reading the papers was wrong, but as usual, his curiosity overpowered his guilt.

—Some people complain that a hectic schedule makes a person go crazy, but I have to say I’m living proof that it’s quite the opposite. The diner has been really busy lately, and Christie has dragged me out twice already this week to The Dive, but the point of my argument is that I’ve hardly spied on my neighbor at all in the last few days! Maybe there is hope for my sanity yet! It’s too early to call it a victory, but I’ll take what I can get.—

Trent laughed. This girl could give a physiologist a lot of food for thought. He wondered if she ever considered the field before. Her touch of crazy might be just what other crazies need to see the light, so to speak. With a smile, he continued to read.

—I think I’ve finally been cured of my nasty hobby of spying on my neighbor. However, it’s quite possibly been replaced by evil plots of his undoing!—

Trent didn’t like how that sounded at all, and his worries of her being dangerous came back to his mind. He shifted uncomfortably in his bed and glanced over in the direction of his neighbor’s house. What imagined offense did she contribute to him?

—It’s only seven in the morning and it’s Saturday! Why in God’s good name is he making so much noise already? That may be how they do things out west, but here in the east we value a good night’s sleep and sleeping in on the weekends! Seriously, I’m so close to going over there and demanding he stop all that racket!—

“Ah, well she has a point. I hadn’t thought about that,” he said out loud, feeling bad he didn’t let her sleep in.

—I should’ve gone over there to tell him to stop all that racket, but just the idea makes my stomach twist in knots. Call me a coward, but I hate confrontations. All that negative energy can’t be good or at least that’s what Auntie says. Anyway, since I was up early with no way to go back to sleep or anything to do, I reverted to my old nasty hobby, but honestly this time I did it without feeling guilty. It’s his fault after I was provoked! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!—

Trent belted out laughing so hard he nearly was in tears. Again, he couldn’t argue with her there. Realizing it was getting late, he set the papers aside. He had a lot of work on the house planned for tomorrow. He even hired a few guys from work to come over and helped out.