Secret Desires

By Cat Fields

Adam Archer was not a special man. He had never done anything heroic, nor did he have an important, high paying job. He was not famous or a good neighbor. In fact he had never done anything remarkable or out of the ordinary in his life. At twenty-eight Adam felt that the ‘good old days’ were very much extinct. He had an average job to match his average appearance and average wife.

Adam’s eyes always had dark rings around them, accompanied by a usually frowning mouth. He didn’t take much pleasure in the world anymore. When he had been younger he had been quite handsome indeed.

His wife, Madeline had been a pretty little thing when they met at twenty, but now her face had formed frown lines, and the complaining seemed to have gotten a lot worse lately.

Adam was a high school English teacher, a position he had had for several years now. Madeline had some job in pharmaceuticals and she had to travel a lot for whole weeks at a time. Adam never minded, he was glad to get away from the bitching for a while. It was the only thing keeping him sane.

Upon a whim Adam had applied for a position as the Head of the English Department at a rather nice looking high school in the next city. He hadn’t expected to land an interview, however, a week later he received a call from the Headmaster of Flame Valley High asking him to pop. Stunned at his luck, Adam made the two hour drive to the school and met with Headmaster Cox (a name which Adam was sure resulted in much teasing from the students).

Low and behold, to Adam’s utter shock, Headmaster Cox called just two days later to inform him that he had been successful in obtaining the position as Head of the English Department. He was informed over the phone of his schedule, and that he would be teaching the Senior Advanced English Literature classes, as well as doing his duties as Head of department. Adam actually cracked a smile at the news and told the Headmaster that he would look at moving house right away. He still had a whole month before the beginning of term.

Over the next two weeks Adam and Madeline looked at houses together during their spare time. Finally the real estate agent conned them into buying a cute, two bedroom house with a pretty little garden and white picket fence. It was much nicer than their current apartment, and certainly more expensive, but Adam felt they would manage with his new wage. The high school was only two blocks away, and a tiny corner shop was just at the end of the street.

Within another week they were packing their belongings into a moving truck. The fucking two hour drive was already driving him mad.

The rest of the day was dedicated to putting the bed back together, making book shelves, desks, and arranging the furniture, only to have Madeline re-arrange it later. She busied herself by unpacking the unessential’s, such as ornaments, and vases with fake flowers.

The night came and went without any intimacy on Madeline’s part, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. She simply wasn’t interested and used the ‘too tired’ excuse.

Adam woke early the next morning. Being somewhere unfamiliar meant he would have a hard time sleeping until he worked himself into a regular routine. He pulled on a dressing-gown and opened the front door to check the mailbox. The street was empty so he wasn’t worried about being spotted in the paisley robe. It was Saturday. Who got up early on a Saturday in a quiet street like this?

Adam was about to find out, that’s for sure. The sound of ecstatic barking reached his ears and he turned to see where the noise was coming from. His next door neighbor emerged from their home, an enormous Great Dane on the end of a leash, dragging the owner out of the front door, barking excitedly. The young woman yanked on the leashed and tried to lock the door behind herself with great difficulty before letting the huge canine drag her towards the footpath. Adam watched with vague amusement as the woman and the dog came closer to where he stood by to his mailbox.

The young woman couldn’t have been older than twenty-one, and no taller than five foot two. She was slender and very well endowed with large breasts which were squeezed into a tight black singlet. She wore joggers and tight black bike pants for her morning exercise. Adam couldn’t help but stare as she drew closer, he bosom bouncing with each jog she took to keep up with her dog. Adam saw it as though in slow motion. Her short pixie-styled hair bobbed with each step.

Adam wasn’t a social person, but he gave a small smile as she jogged past him. She smiled back showing all pearly white teeth, and he felt his stomach spasm. He felt like a little boy in elementary, with a crush on the pretty girl next door.

He shook his head as she jogged from sight and ignored the twitching in his pants. It had been so long. He needed a shower immediately. His new neighbour was an incredibly beautiful young woman and he would have to learn to get used to that. As cold as Madeline was, she was the extremely jealous type.

As Adam walked back to the house realised that he had completely forgotten to check his mailbox.

Around lunch time his wife received a call from her work informing her that she needed to go to a very important business conference on Monday, and they would send a taxi to her house tomorrow afternoon to take her to the airport because it was in the next state. Adam was silently glad that he would have a couple of days in the house by himself, seeing as he didn’t start work at the school for another week.

Giving his wife a peck on the cheek he waved her off on the Sunday afternoon as she got into the cab and was carried away. Once it had rounded the corner he rubbed his hands together happily before retreating to the house only to put on his shoes on, grab his wallet and keys and lock the door behind himself. He planned on walking down the road to the corner store to pick up some necessities such as soap, deodorant, porn, razors, and toothpaste. Adam never walked anywhere in his life, but driving two hundred yards hardly seemed worth the gas consumption. Besides, he needed the exercise.

Once inside the store Adam piled the things he needed into a shopping basket, bought a few bars of chocolate (making the exercise redundant), and lingered in the adult magazine section.

‘You’re the new neighbour.’

Adam jumped and dropped the issue of ‘
Girls Your Mother Wouldn’t Approve Of
’, which he had been casually flicking through. Dipping to pick it up he caught a glimpse of two rather grubby skate shoes. Straightening up Adam found himself face to face with the pretty lady from next door.

‘Yes, hello,’ Adam said rather flustered, sticking out his right hand. She smirked and eyed the offending magazine still clutched in his left.
Shit
.

‘I was reading the articles.’ He cringed.

‘Of course,’ she nodded whilst grabbing his hand and shaking it firmly. ‘I wouldn’t buy that one though. I highly recommend
this
magazine.’

She picked up a magazine blazoned with the title ‘Tattooed Ladies’. On the front cover was a busty gothic girl with nipple piercings, and multiple tattoos.

‘Oh, um. All right.’

She laughed, and dropped the magazine back into the rack.

‘I’m Blue,’ she said.

‘Excuse me?’ Adam blinked politely, wondering if she was mad.

‘Blue.’ She repeated. ‘It’s my name.’

‘Oh! Oh, I see.’ Adam shook her hand. ‘Sorry, yes, of course.’

Perhaps it was her parents who were mad.

She laughed. ‘Are you going to tell me
your
name?’ she pressed.

‘I’m Adam,’ he swallowed.

‘How are you liking the neighbourhood, Adam?’ she asked.

This girl was pretty, with emerald green eyes, pale and lightly freckled skin.

‘It’s lovely,’ he nodded. ‘Very quiet.’

‘It’s boring.’ She frowned, a little crease forming on her brow. ‘There’s nothing fun to do.’

Adam could think of a few fun things to do with her. He felt his groin twitch subtly. He ignored it.

‘So are you living in that house by yourself?’ she asked.

Adam sighed internally, wishing that he was. He put his left hand into his pocket to hide the wedding ring there. He didn’t know what had gotten into him. He had never behaved this way before. He chose his words carefully.

‘My partner has gone,’ he said. It was half true.

‘Oh.’ Blue’s eyes were wide. ‘I’m sorry.’

She had assumed he meant ‘passed away’.

Adam took a moment to notice what ‘
Blue’
was wearing. She was dressed far more eccentric today, compared to yesterday in her fitness ensemble. She wore dark denim jeans that were splattered in many different colours of paint. An artist perhaps. Her shirt was clean and red with a v-neck, so a vast amount of cleavage was noticeable. Around her neck was several chains and trinkets, the same as around both wrists. Upon her ears were several piercings lining the cartilage. Her pixie haircut was dishevelled and sticking up in various directions. This woman was the complete opposite of his wife. All Madeline wore these days was pencil skirts and blouses.

Adam shifted his weight nervously. Oh Hell. Living next door to this would be torture.

‘Well,’ Blue broke the awkward silence. ‘Let me know if you need help with anything.’ She gave a small smile and turned on her heel.

Idiot,
Adam scolded himself.
Quick! Before she gets away!

‘Uh, actually.’ Adam hurried forwards as she looked at him over her shoulder. ‘I’ll walk you home, I mean, if you want.’ He shrugged, nonchalant.

Stupid man
, he scolded himself.
It will only be a matter of time before she discovers you are married.
The other side of his brain had a completely different argument.
Who cares if she finds out? You’re not going to do anything bad. You’ve never done that. Like she would want you anyway. You’re old now.

‘That would be lovely,’ she smiled widely, showing two rows of perfectly straight teeth.

Adam felt the heat rising in his face and he knew he was blushing. Blue followed him to the counter so he could pay for his things, and they left the little corner shop together. It was silent for a minute as they walked and Adam felt he should say something interesting.

‘Do you paint?’ Adam asked, pointing to the paint splatters that covered her jeans.

Blue nodded and stuffed her hands into her pockets as they walked, ‘Constantly.’

‘Are you any good?’ he wondered.

‘I don’t know.’ she smiled. ‘I am my own biggest critique. Nothing ever seems good enough.’

‘I’d like to see them sometime,’ he said.

Blue smiled, and silence fell upon them once more.

‘So.’ Adam struggled to make small-talk. ‘Why do you have such a big dog?’

‘Jet isn’t that big.’ She smirked. ‘He’s a lap dog.’

Adam raised his eyebrows. ‘Are we talking about the same dog?’

Blue laughed, and Adam took the opportunity to study her face as they walked. He noticed the way her emerald eyes sparkled when the light hit them just right, and her smooth, pale complexion, void of any blemishes. Her ears poked through her hair and were slightly larger than normal but this just made her look even more pixie-like.

‘So,’ Blue said seriously, ‘will you be having a house warming party?’

Adam harrumphed. ‘Not enough friends in the area for a party.’

‘That’s too bad,’ Blue sighed, a smile playing her lips. Was she actually flirting with him?

‘How old are you?’ Blue inquired of him.

Adam put his hands in his pockets. ‘Isn’t it rude to ask that?’ he said playfully. Oh god, now
he
was flirting. He rarely ever smiled, let alone flirt with strangers.

Blue shrugged.

‘Twenty-eight,’ Adam said. ‘I look older, don’t I?’ He noticed her shocked expression.

‘No. I thought you were younger, actually.’ She shrugged.