Everything You Want (2 page)

When the rain started to pick back up, we
went back inside.

“That was a close one, kids,” the old
woman said, practically collapsing into one of the ancient kitchen chairs.

The beautiful girl from next door nodded
her head and slumped onto the couch.  I sat down carefully beside
her.  Her gray cat jumped up in my lap.  I guessed he had taken a
liking to me during the storm.  He purred softly as I stroked his back.

“Are you alright?” the old woman asked
the girl beside me.

 “I’m okay, just a little shaken
up.  How are you doing, Betty?”

“Fine, now that it’s over.  And how
are you…?”  the older woman looked over to me.

“Kieran,” I filled in for her.

“Kieran.  Well, it’s nice to finally
meet you, Kieran.  Would have been nicer under different circumstances, of
course.”  She chuckled.  “I’m Betty Cantrell.  And this little
one is Marissa.”

Marissa.  Finally, I knew her name.

That had seemed strange to me for a while
now.  I felt like I knew so much about her, but I didn’t know her
name.  I knew her work schedule. I knew she watched a lot of TV, fairly
loudly.  I suspected that she was a pretty good cook from the smells that sometimes
wafted into my apartment in the evenings.  I knew that she was somewhat of
a loner.  A girl came to see her once and stayed all weekend, but that’s
the only company I’d ever noticed.

I wasn’t stalking her or anything.  When
you live in such close quarters to somebody, it’s hard not to notice things
about her, even if you don’t want to.  Which was not the case with me. 
I wanted to know everything. 

Ever since that first day I saw her on
the stairs, I couldn’t get her out of my head, and it wasn’t only because she
was insanely hot. I was pretty sure she was the most beautiful girl I’d ever
seen.  That wasn’t it, though.  There was just something about her,
something magnetic.  I was drawn to her in a way that I couldn’t
explain.  Not long after that, I realized that I could hear almost every
move she made, the walls were so thin.  So, when I couldn’t sleep at
night, I’d listen to her moving around in her apartment, and imagine what she
might be doing.  It always put me right to sleep.  At first, I
chalked it up to loneliness, but I knew that wasn’t it.  I wasn’t the type
of guy who minded being alone.  In fact, I wanted to be alone.  Still,
I liked her being there.  Maybe I was just being a creep.  I didn’t
know, but having her around soothed me.  And the fantasies were just a
nice bonus. 

Fantasizing was one thing, though. 
In real life, it was better to keep her at a distance, which I had been
successful at doing, up until today.

“I’d make some tea, but I suppose the
electricity will still be out for awhile.  I’ve still got some of that
cake you brought over last night, Marissa.  Do you want some?” Betty
asked.

Marissa nodded, hopping up and walking into
the kitchen.  I followed.  Betty was already unwrapping a
pink-frosted sheet cake with shiny red sprinkles all over the top. 
Marissa opened a cabinet and pulled out three small plates.  “Did you want
some?” she asked me.  “It’s strawberry.” 

I nodded and sat at the table.  I
could hear the radio still going in the bathroom.  The weatherman was
saying something about power lines down in the east side of town.  Luckily,
I hadn’t seen anything like that when we were outside.

Betty sat a large piece of pink cake in
front of me.  “Would you like some milk?” she asked, handing me a fork.

“Sure.” 

Marissa sat down in the chair beside me. 
She immediately dug into her cake, taking a large bite.  She blushed when
she saw me watching her.

“Sorry,” she said, covering her
mouth.  “I’m a stress eater.”

She didn’t look like a stress
eater.  Either that, or she didn’t get stressed very often.

I chuckled at her and took a bite of my
own piece, and was surprised to find that I actually liked it.  I wasn’t
big on sweets, but the cake was good.  I polished off the large piece in
no time.

Betty brought the radio back in the
kitchen and we sat and listened to the news reports for a while.  There
was a lot of damage, but so far no injuries had been reported.  None of us
talked, just listened.

“I think I’m going to head back
upstairs,” I said when I noticed it growing dark outside.  “Thank you for inviting
me to brave the storm with you.”

Betty smiled at me.  “Anytime.” 

“Yeah, I think I’m going to go,
too.  Are you going to be okay, Betty?  Do you need me to stay with
you?”

“Oh, no.  I’m fine.  I’ve got
Paris.  We’ll be just dandy.  Head on home, get some rest.”

I smiled.  That was what I’d been
hoping for.  Despite my better judgment, I wanted just a few more seconds
alone with her.

I picked up her gray cat and she gathered
up the tan one.  The dog followed us out the door and up the stairs. 

“Just a second,” she said when we reached
the top.  She opened her door and put her animals inside.  “Be right
back, guys,” she said. 

I leaned on the rail in front of her door
and she joined me.  A cool breeze blew and I could smell the apple scent
from her hair in the wind. 

“So…that was intense,” she began.

“Yeah.”  I gave a short nod.

“I just wanted to thank you for helping
me,” she said, looking away.

“Helping you?”  I asked, confused.

“Yeah, helping me, you know,
feel…safe.”  She bit her lip and looked down.

My heart soared, and I couldn’t stop my
lips from breaking out in a slow smile.

“I didn’t really do anything,” I said,
but I knew what she meant.  Only she had it backwards.  She was the
one who had comforted me.

“No, you did.  So, thank you.” 
She turned to face me and smiled.  Then she walked away. 

I opened my mouth to say something else,
but nothing came out.  It didn’t matter.  She was already inside.

And just like that, my suspicions were
confirmed.  If I spent enough time around this girl, I could fall for her. 
I would fall for her.  And that was why I needed to stay away.  She
was too dangerous.  One look in the mirror would remind me of why.

Marissa

I had never been so glad to get back to
work.  Of course, the storm was all anyone could talk about, but
still.  I wasn’t alone. 

I spent the rest of the weekend terrified
of a repeat performance.  To distract myself I had baked three-dozen
chocolate chip cookies and watched Lifetime movie after Lifetime movie.  I
had thought about going next door about a hundred times, but I didn’t.  I
thought it would be staggeringly awkward, seeing as I had clung to him, a
person I’d never spoken to in my life, all through the storm, like a scared
little girl.  But I had been scared, and he’d started it.  It was
special circumstances.  So maybe it wouldn’t be too weird. 
Nevertheless, I couldn’t muster up enough courage to go over there.

My coworker, Greta, and I went out for
lunch together, as usual.  A few of the restaurants in town had been shut
down due to the storm, but all in all, the damage was far less extensive than I
expected.  Lucky Greta had been out of town with her fiancé, gone to spend
the weekend with his parents.  Greta was the only friend I’d made since
moving here in May, besides Betty.  We never really hung out outside of
work, though.  She was always too busy with her fiancé, and their friends.

“So it actually went by your apartment?”
Greta asked.

“Over it.  It didn’t actually touch
down until later,” I explained, taking another bite of my sandwich.

“That’s crazy.  I would have been freaking
out.  Were you alone?”

“No, I was downstairs in my neighbor, Betty’s,
apartment.  You know, the older lady I told you about.  My next door neighbor
guy was there, also.”

“Next door neighbor guy?”  Her
eyebrows lifted.

“Yeah, his name is Kieran.  He lives
in the other upstairs apartment.”

“Is he cute?  How come I’ve never
heard of him?”

I shrugged.  “I don’t really know
him.  He’s quiet.  Shy, maybe?  Anyway, we’d never talked
before.  I didn’t even know his name until that night.”

“You’ve lived next door to him since May
and you didn’t even know his name?”

“Do you know all of your neighbor’s
names?” I asked, raising a brow.

“No, but I live in a huge complex, not a
dinky little building with only four units.  And yes, I know the names of
the people on either side of me.”

“Yeah, well, you’ve lived there for two
years.”

“So what?  I knew their names within
two days.  You just need to be more outgoing, Marissa.  Or he
does.  One of you.”

I laughed and took a sip of my sweet tea. 

“Hey, you never answered my first
question,” Greta said. 

“Which one was that?”

“The important one.  Is he cute?”

Yes.  Yes.  A million times
yes.  “I don’t know.  I guess maybe in a dangerous kind of way, if
you’re into that sort of thing.”

“Um, yes.  That’s the best
kind.  So tell me, what’s so dangerous about him?”

“I don’t really know.  Just a vibe I
get.”

“How’s his hair?”

“Longish, dark.”

“Good, good.  Piercings?”

“None that I can see.”

“Is he tatted up?”

“I think so.  I don’t know. 
I’ve never really seen his arms.  He always keeps them covered up.”

“Then what makes you think he is?”

I shrugged.  “He just looks like the
type.  Besides, why else would he keep them covered all the time?”

“Wait, are you telling me he’s wearing
long sleeves all the time?  In this heat?    Has he got,
like, an aversion to the sun or something?”

“I don’t know, maybe.  He is pretty
pale.”

Her eyes lit up.  “Ooh, maybe he’s a
vampire!  That would be so sexy if he was a vampire.”

“How would that be sexy?  That would
be terrifying.  Besides, no, he’s not a vampire.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve seen him in daylight, for one.”

“Some of them can go out in daylight now,
right?”

“I wouldn’t know.  I saw him
drinking coffee outside his apartment once.  I’m pretty sure they don’t do
that.”

“How do you know it was coffee?”

“Oh, gross, Greta!  It was
coffee!  I could smell it.”

“Okay, fine.  So I’m failing to see
what’s so dangerous about him.  Is he, like, super cut or something? 
Does he drive a motorcycle?  Come on, you’ve gotta give me something.”

“Well, I can tell he’s in great shape,
but I wouldn’t say he’s ripped or anything.  And no motorcycle.  I
think he drives a Saturn.  I told you, it’s just a vibe I get.”

Greta rolled her eyes. 
“Whatever.  He doesn’t sound very dangerous to me, but he does sound cute
enough to be worthwhile.  You should drop in on him sometime,” she said,
returning her attention to her salad.

“I don’t think so.  Wouldn’t that be
weird?  I don’t really know him,” I said.

“Marissa, how do you think you get to
know somebody?  You know him well enough to hang out with him for a few
hours.”

I sighed. 
“Greta.”   

“Hey, you’re the one that needs a guy. 
I’m just trying to help you out.”

“I don’t
need
a guy.  I mean,
it would be nice, but whatever.  Besides, I just don’t think he’s my
type.”

“Who is your type?  Camden Lodge?” 
She said his name like she was disgusted just to be forming the syllables and
have it come out of her mouth.

I felt my cheeks instantly start to
burn.  I hadn’t exactly told her about my work crush, but it was kind of
obvious.  I got a little flustered when he came around.

Greta made a face.  “Gross.  I
wouldn’t touch him a with a ten foot pole.”

“Gross?  Camden?  Are we
talking about the same person?”

“I know he’s hot, and a charmer, for
sure.  I felt the same way as you when I first started working at the
bank, but give it time.  I’ve watched him for over two years now. 
I’m telling you, he’s a player if I ever saw one.”

I rolled my eyes.  I hadn’t seen any
evidence of that.  All I saw was a friendly, witty, gorgeous guy, who was
definitely my type.  “Well, it’s not like I’m in love with him or
anything.  It’s just nice to have something to look at while I
work.”    

Greta looked at her watch.  “Oh,
shoot.  We’ve got to run.”  She sucked down the rest of her Diet Coke
and stood up, slinging her purse over her shoulder.  I walked over to the
soda fountains and refilled my sweet tea.  I met her at the door.

“I know this is the South, but addicted
much?”  She tilted her head towards my drink.