I Love You, My Neighbour: Chapter 6
She's Okay, I Guess
Logan
"What are you guys doing?" I ask my mates as I walk out of the house and see them sitting on my front lawn.
"Taking a break, Jacobs, what does it look like?" Kyle asks.
"It looks like you're slacking off, that's what it looks like."
Of course, the three guys in front of me are my mates, and they're helping me out of the kindness of their hearts. They know how incredibly grateful I am for the extra hands. That said, they still like to pretend I'm a taskmaster, and it's a joke I go along with because it amuses me.
Adam rubs at the back of his neck. "You're a slave driver, you know that?"
"You promised you'd get us our muffins and you haven't yet," Jamie says. "We're on strike until you make good on your promise."
I meant to go into the café several times over the past week to pick up some muffins but just didn't have the time between work and this place. When the guys showed up here this morning, asking whether I had more of Kristy's delicious muffins on hand, I told them I'd go to the café today and get some. Something I don't entirely want to do after the conversation I had with Kristy last night.
Since Kristy apologized with muffins, things have been better with my neighbour. But then last night she asked me whether I have a dog, and the wave of grief that hit me had been too much for me to smile my way through. Buster had been Izzy's dog, technically, but after the accident, Buster became mine. Even before then, I'd loved Buster as much as Izzy had. And though Kristy quickly realized she'd hit a nerve and sought to move on from the subject, the memory of that dog and Izzy prevented me from being able to keep up the small talk.
Now, I don't know what Kristy made of the abrupt ending to our conversation. She probably thinks I'm some crazy dog lover who is still grieving his dog. And I am. But the pain she observed was about so much more than that. Not that I care what she thinks about me. No, it's just we hardly know each other, and I'm not in the habit of breaking down with an almost stranger.
"We're serious, Jacobs," Kyle continues. "It's lunchtime."
"Alright, alright." I point to the door of my house, where my cooler is currently sitting. "I brought food, including doughnuts."
"But we want muffins." Adam grins. "Kristy's muffins, to be precise."
I ignore him. "I even brought beer."
Jamie stands up. "Yeah, but it's only just gone midday. I want coffee, not beer. Jeesh, what do you take me for, some kind of booze hound?"
Jamie is a booze hound. The guy drinks way too much.
Kyle stands now, too. "Great idea, man. I could do with a coffee. We should all go to the café. Do you think Kristy will give us a neighbourly discount, Jacobs?"
Curse the fact I told my friends Kristy works at the café that sells the muffins. Looks like I'm not getting out of this one today.
I know instinctively that Kristy wouldn't say anything about last night, but I don't want to see her look at me like I am a wounded animal or something. The apologetic look she'd have on her face as I've pulled the plug on our conversation have made me feel pathetic.
"We're not asking Kristy for a discount," I warned the three of them.
It has been kind of nice not being at war with my neighbour this week. Not to mention, she'd actually listened to me every time I gave her advice about Cricket since we'd started talking. So, I don't want to piss her off by walking into her café with my mates and asking her to give me cheap muffins.
Adam grins. "Awesome, let's take my car since we can't all fit into your Ute."
"Does anyone actually know where this place is?" Jamie asks.
Opening Adam's passenger door, I get in. "It's on Main Street."
"We'll find it," Kyle says confidently.
And we do. After we've piled into Adam's black Holden and cruised down Main Street. Five times.
"Finally," Kyle grumps as we climb out of the car.
Adam frowns while looking up at the old white front shop in front of us. "I hope this is the place."
"Did you see any other cafés around here?" I ask him, lightly punching his shoulder before bolting up the stairs.
Normally a café wouldn't be the type of place me and the guys would go for lunch. We prefer the pub, where we could get a decent counter meal and an ice-cold beer. Maybe I am a little curious to see where Kristy works, though. The thought of calling her a lazy barista nearly makes me chuckle out loud as I push the door of the café open.
Immediately, I'm hit with the smell of fresh coffee, pastries, and cake. My mouth starts watering so badly I'm afraid I'm going to need a napkin to wipe the drool from my face. The place is packed to the rafters. Not really a surprise, I guess, after tasting Kristy's muffins.
"Dude, it smells like heaven in here," Jamie says behind me.
"Yeah," I agree.
Any thought I had of buying the muffins and a quick coffee and getting out of here as quickly as possible flies out the window as my gaze snags on a mouth-watering array of food in the case up the front. Forget the food I have at home in the cold box, there is no way I'm waiting until we get back to my place to eat. Not when I'm suddenly ravenous.
A movement behind the case catches my eye, and I look up to see Kristy wearing a slightly harried expression.
Her eyes widen when she sees me walk up to the register. "Logan, hi."
"Hey, Kristy. I promised the guys I'd buy them some muffins. Do you have the same ones you brought me last Sunday?"
"Oh. On Saturdays, I usually make apple and cinnamon muffins or blueberry and chocolate chip muffins."
"Which ones did you make today?" I ask.
She smiles. "Both."
"Hey, neighbour," Adam says, coming to stand beside me.
Kristy pushes a stray curl of dark hair behind her ear as she smiles shyly at Adam. "Hi. Nice to see you again."
Realizing I never actually introduced them last Sunday, I gesture to Adam with my thumb. "This is Adam. And the two idiots behind me are Kyle and Jamie."
One of them slaps the back of my head from behind, something I fully expected. Kyle pushes forward, offering his hand to Kristy. "Ignore this dickhead," he tells her as he shakes her hand.
Jamie, not to be outdone, squeezes between Adam and me and offers Kristy his hand. "Nice to be properly introduced to the maker of those incredible muffins."
I watch with a small amount of amusement as Kristy blushes while shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you, too."
"Best muffins ever," Adam tells her, offering her one of the smiles he reserves for picking up women. "No wonder you guys are so busy in here."
"Well, it's the lunch rush," Kristy offers. "We're always flat-stick at this time, but I think all the eateries on Main Street are."
"Right," I say. "We should order and get out of your hair then. I don't think any of us have worked out what we want to eat yet, though."
Kristy looks over my shoulder. "There's a couple moving from their booth over there. I'll have Lorrie clear it. Why don't you guys take a seat and then come up and order when you're ready."
My friends don't wait for me to agree, they just rush off to the table Kristy pointed out.
"They're clearly hungry," Kristy says, a wide smile on her face as she passes me some menus.
"Turns out we're all starving. I'll be back," I tell her, walking over to the booth the guys are sitting at.
I hand them each a menu as I squeeze in next to Adam. "You guys work out what you want. Then I'll order since I suppose I'm paying for this lunch."
Adam puts his arm around my shoulders and chuckles. "That's right, Boss Man. Lucky for you we're such cheap labour, huh?"
Lucky I am. I went to high school with Kyle and Adam, and Jaime and I played footy together during my teen years. The three of them are loyal, great mates. They checked in on me every week in the first year after Izzy's death, and I know I can count on them for anything.
Lorrie, a girl who looks young enough to be a student in one of the classes I teach, comes and clears the dishes from our table before wiping it down.
After the four of us have decided what we want to eat, I walk up to the counter and place an order with an older woman whose name tag reads 'Jacquie,' since Kristy is nowhere to be seen.
Ten minutes later, Kristy carries over our food and coffee order. "You should have asked for me to serve you," she says. "I could have given you a discount."
Kyle's expression is smug. "Told you, Jacobs."
I shoot him a look that says, shut the fuck up. "No discount necessary," I tell her. "Thanks anyway."
"I noticed you haven't ordered the muffins yet. Tell me which ones you want, and I'll make sure you get a discount for those."
The guys cheer so loudly I have to rub my ear to check I wasn't now deaf.
Kristy smiles, even as pink stains her cheeks.
"Make it two of each," I say. "We can fight over who gets what later."
"Dude, you lucked out with her as your new neighbour," Jamie says after Kristy walks away.
"She's okay, I guess."
The guys don't know much about the tension that brewed between Kristy and me for the first couple of weeks after we met. Sure, they asked why she was apologizing the day she'd brought round the muffins, but I fobbed them off. And I don't bother enlightening them about it now. The past is the past. Kristy and I have put it behind us.
Adam snorts. "Okay? Not only can the woman bake. She's hot, too."
Kyle and Jamie chime in with their agreement. I just shake my head and ignore them, hoping they drop the subject sooner than later. It is fine if they want to look at her, but I have no interest in checking out my new neighbour – or any woman for that matter.
"Come on, Jacobs," Adam persists.
I glare at him. "Leave it, would you."
"You're seriously telling me you haven't noticed?" he continues.
"Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Now drop it."
It doesn't matter that Izzy is gone, she was the love of my life, and I can't get through a day without wishing she was here with me. How can I look at another woman when I can't stop thinking about Izzy?
"But…"
Adam stops when Jamie and Kyle shoot him a look. Something I'm incredibly grateful for.
It isn't like all of my physical urges and desires died with Izzy, but they're something I can take care of myself. I haven't had sex in over two years, and it doesn't bother me a bit. I don't need a bed warmer. I'm fine with my memories to keep me content.
"Do you know if she's single?" Adam asks after a moment.
I'm on the verge of losing it now. When I turn to face him and ball him out, however, he holds up both hands. "Because I want to ask her out."
"You don't ask women out, you take them home, bang them, and then send them away. I don't want you pissing off my neighbour and making her mad at me again because you've moved on to the next sweet piece of arse."
As a host of a popular radio show, Adam tends to get quite a lot of tail, and he rarely sees a woman again after he's slept with her.
Kyle sits up. "Mad at you again?"
"Her muffins? The apology she gave me last week? Don't you guys remember any of that? She and I didn't exactly get off to a great start."
Adam frowns. "But that's the past now, right? So why can't I ask her out?"
Kyle and Jamie chuckle as I attempt to grab Adam in a headlock. He elbows me in the ribs and shoves me off before I can give him the noogie of a lifetime.
"All right, all right," Adam barks. "I won't ask her out. Fuck's sake."
"Good. Now let's eat," I say.
The food puts all of us in a good mood, and when the guys start talking about blowing off work to go watch the local football teams battle it out for the rest of the afternoon, I'm tempted. But my current lease ends in two months' time. Meaning, I have to have the house ready to move into in six weeks. So, no matter how tempting, it is back to work for us.
"Sorry, my friends. We've all got work to do."
Kyle, Adam, and Jaime groan but thankfully follow suit when I stand up.
Jamie nudges me. "Don't forget those muffins, Slave Driver."
I nod. "Meet you at the car."
Kristy puts her finger up in the universal sign for me to wait when she sees me approaching the cash register. She walks into the kitchen and returns a moment later with a white paper bag.
"How much do I owe you?" I ask.
"Twelve dollars."
In the middle of opening my wallet, I pause to look at her. "That's a pretty steep discount."
Her smile is wry. "Well, I feel responsible for you being dragged in here in the first place."
"Really, it's fine."
The onion, tomato, and garlic lamb pie I had for lunch have been extraordinary. I'll be back for sure.
"Consider it a neighbourly discount," she insists. "Trust me, I'd do it for any of my friends."
I don't point out that we aren't friends. We've been on speaking terms for a week.
I hope she isn't doing this because of the conversation we had last night. If I'm getting a discount because she feels sorry for me – well, I'd rather pay full price.
Nothing about her expression indicates she's doing this out of pity, however. If anything, her eyes are warm and her smile warmer as she passes the bag over to me.
Our hands touch briefly as I take the bag from her. When she jerks her hand away and smiles at me apologetically, the comments the guys made earlier start filtering in. Bright blue eyes, a small, upturned nose, a full, ripe mouth, and high cheekbones tinged with pink – they are all attractive features. The crazy dark curls that have escaped her bun frame her heart-shaped face and only enhance her symmetrical face. If you combine those features with her ample curves, the woman is a knockout. A lot of guys would find her appealing.
Maybe, in another lifetime, I would have found her appealing.
But she should absolutely not appeal to me now. Kristy is my neighbour; someone I have to see frequently. The last thing I need is to be aware of how attractive she is every time I talk to her.
Guilt and shame turn the pie I've eaten to stone in my stomach. Noticing her attractiveness feels a hell of a lot like cheating on Izzy. Curse the guys for saying Kristy is hot. I don't want to see it; I should never have even noticed it.
I clear my throat. "Well, thanks. I'll see you later."
"Bye, Logan."
Stepping out into the sunshine, I contemplate taking the afternoon off as my mates suggested. I'm content after an excellent feed, and the footy is on. I could go to the pub with the guys, and we could watch the game there, knock back a few drinks, and have a laugh. Only, they've pissed me off now by pointing out Kristy's looks.
Walking back to the car, I decide I'm working my friends hard this afternoon. With everyone focused on work, maybe, just maybe, I can forget they ever mentioned Kristy is hot.
Even better, I'll forget I noticed.