I had been wondering about the woman who lived across the street from me ever since the lady next door to her, sweet old Mrs. Dobbins, had come over and had a chat with me earlier in the afternoon. She seemed like a likable lady, even if she was a bit talkative. I hadn't even moved all of my boxes into my new house, let alone been able to unpack any of them, when I learn more about my new neighborhood in 20 minutes than I’d known about my old one in four years. The truth was, I had only been half-listening to her ramble on about everyone in the neighborhood until she mentioned that a beautiful 27-year-old lived across the street from me.
So, when I noticed a car coming up the street and saw an absolutely gorgeous woman in it, I had kind of hoped it was the woman Mrs. Dobbins had been talking about, although I figured with my luck, it'd just be some random person driving past who I'd never see again. Then again, maybe my luck wasn’t so bad. The car started slowing down and lo and, behold, she turned into the driveway right across from my house and parked her car.
I carried on mowing the lawn, not wanting to make it too obvious that I was checking her out. She had apparently just been grocery shopping, and I watched her as she unloaded her bags. She was short and petite with nice curves and a gorgeous head of blonde hair that shimmered in the sun. I couldn't help noticing her ass which was full and round, just how I liked 'em. Then, suddenly, she shot a glance at me, and our eyes met. I immediately felt as if there was a connection there, so I flashed her a smile.
I don't know if she was embarrassed or just shy, but she looked away quickly and hurried inside. Mrs. Dobbins had not been exaggerating when she’d said my new neighbor was beautiful. I tried to focus on the lawn. It was a mess, and it needed my attention something fierce. After all, I’d started the job; I needed to finish it before my meeting tonight.
I was determined to get done what I needed to get done, and after getting all the boxes into the house and getting my little Jane into bed for a nap, the tangled mess of lawn out front needed to be tamed. It had looked like a jungle since I’d started moving in the day before, and I wasn't about to present that sort of face to my new neighbors – especially the attractive one across the street that I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about all of a sudden.
Of course, I wasn't about to let that distract me from my purpose. I had moved here to turn things around at JFK High School. My past experiences and my reputation are what led the school board to offer me the job. The staff had already gone through the preliminary two weeks of prepping for the school year, so I was coming in with little to no time to get to know them.
I had enjoyed my time as a deputy principal at an inner-city school in downtown Los Angeles over the past three years, but the time had come for a change. So, when the school board of Irvine had contacted me and offered me the position of principal, a position I had expected to take me at least another five to 10 years to attain, I had to say yes. Besides, I'd felt like my work in Los Angeles was complete. I'd spearheaded a program that sorted out their gang violence problem and generally got things working as they were supposed to.
But even though Irvine was very different to inner city LA, I would be facing a set of challenges to deal with here, too — a new drug called “Rocket” was sweeping through southern California and leaving tragedy and broken dreams in its wake. It was creating an ugly mark on the formerly pristine JFK College. According to the head of the school board, they needed a man who could turn things around, who wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty, a man who could go toe-to-toe with drug dealers and gangsters and not back down. They needed me. I was ready to rise to the challenge. I had a tough job ahead of me, but like I said, we could all use a bit of distraction from time to time.
Besides, I had the perfect excuse to talk to her – a new resident wanting to meet his neighbors. It was all perfectly innocent.
I turned off the mower, checked the monitor in my shorts pocket to make sure Jane was still sleeping, and walked across the street, grinning. When I got to her porch and knocked on the door, it seemed like it took a while for her to open it, and in those few seconds between me knocking and her opening the door, I actually started to feel a little nervous.
When she opened the door, however, I felt that I had definitely done the right thing by going over and talking to her. She was even more beautiful close-up with her big blue eyes, dainty button nose, and full, dark pink lips. I was so busy staring at her that I forgot to speak.
“Umm, hi,” she said, breaking the silence after a few awkward moments. “You just moved into the Sanchez place across the road, right?”
“Hi. I did, yes.”
I extended a hand to her, which she took and shook gently.
“I'm Everett James,” I said. “Just thought I’d come over and introduce myself since I saw you pull in.”
“I'm Vivienne Andrews,” she replied. “Nice to meet you.” She smiled, and it made her even more beautiful. “Say, you've got a bit of an accent. Texas?”
I nodded. “Grew up on a ranch in East Texas. I haven't been back for many years, but yeah, a lil' of the accent is still there.”
“My grandmother was a Texan,” she said. “Also from East Texas. That's how I recognized it.”
“Great place. You get out there much?” I asked.
“We visited a few times when I was a kid, but I don't know it too well. Like you, it's been a few years.”
I nodded. An awkward silence passed between us, and I scrambled to think of something to say to keep the conversation going.
“Say, uh, I noticed as I was coming up the steps that your porch rail is loose. Didn’t know if maybe you or your husband had noticed and—”
“Oh, I’m not married,” she interrupted, somewhat hastily.
“Oh, I see. Well, maybe your boyfriend might want to take a look at—”
“I uh, I don't have a boyfriend either,” she said.
“Really?” I blurted out without thinking, surprised that she didn’t and kinda taken aback at how quickly she had corrected me. It was good to know, though. “Well, since I'm almost done mowing my lawn, and I’m pretty good with a hammer, how about I see if I can get that fixed for you? It won't take more than, say, 15 minutes.”
“Oh no, I really couldn't ask you to do something like that; it would be—”
At that moment, my phone started ringing in my pocket.
“Excuse me, Vivienne,” I said as I took my phone out and looked at the screen. The babysitter. “I just need to take this call.”
“Sure.”