I watched a veil of shock consume her beautiful face.
"Oh, my... That's awful," she remarked and hugged me tightly. "It must have been difficult for you."
"To be honest, it was a relief for us kids. He used to smack us around, too, and with him gone, there was no more screaming and fighting and breaking things. His leaving hit my mother hard, though; for all his abuse, I think she really loved the guy. She fell into a bit of a funk after he left, and as young as I was, I had to step up and be the man of the house. I had to grow up quickly; I was taking care of my mother and my younger siblings. I got my first job when I was nine – mowing neighbor's lawns and washing their cars after school. It also motivated me to work really hard in school, because somehow, even at such a young age, I knew I would need to get good grades to get into a decent career, in case I would need to just go on supporting my mom indefinitely. I've been working hard since then."
"Well, motivated a very admirable trait."
I smiled. "Thank you. I appreciate that."
"And how's your mom now?"
"Oh, she recovered after a few years, so I did get to have a somewhat normal high school life. But I was already set in my ways by then. She met a much nicer guy and eventually remarried. But I had already gone off to college by the time that happened."
I considered telling her about my career in the Navy right after finishing college – but I decided to save that for another time.
"Well, I'm happy to hear that things worked out in the end," she said.
"I am, too. And what's more, I'm really happy that all the choices I've made have led me right to this moment ... Right here, r
ight now."
I kissed her slowly, deeply, and passionately, and we were both left gasping for breath and buzzing with pleasure at the end of it.
"Yep, I definitely picked the right neighborhood when I decided to move in across the street from you," I remarked with a smile.
"And I'm very, very happy that you did," she said. "Best neighbor I've ever had!" she teased.
"Well, I do go above and beyond when it comes to, how shall I say... neighborly courtesy?"
"Well, in that case, I'm glad the rest of our neighbors are either married or old enough to be your mother," she added with a laugh.
"Speaking of, do you think nosy Mrs. Dobbins knows about you and me?" I asked playfully.
Vivienne laughed. "I'd be very surprised if she didn't. You know, she actually hinted at setting you and me up when she first told me about the 'handsome young man' who had just moved in across the street. I can't help wonder if she was working in a little magic somehow. Look how we've ended up!"
I chuckled. "If she is doing some sort of voodoo over there, let her keep doing it because I'm really enjoying these results."
"She's always been like that, you know," remarked Vivienne. "Well, ever since I've lived there. She's very inquisitive. Always has to have her nose in everyone's business. She watches these streets like a hawk, you know. I guess she doesn't have much in the way of family. Granted, it can be a little invasive sometimes, but really, I feel kinda sorry for her. She's not a bad person by any means; she's actually really nice. I think it's just the fact that she's lonely that drives her to poke around in everyone else's business."
As she said this, a flash of inspiration flickered in my mind.
"Hey... if she really is out there watching everything that happens like a hawk, she may have seen Simon if he's been snooping around your place. I should go and have a few words with her. Do you have any pictures of him I could take and show her?"
"Well, I wouldn't want to let her in on, you know, information about my past relationships and ex-boyfriends and stuff like that..."
"No, no, I don't have to tell her anything like that. I could even say that he's like, a pedophile who was snooping around my school, and just warn her to contact me if she sees him around here."
"Yeah, I guess that could work. I'll find a clear picture of him that you can show her."
She got her phone and started browsing through it.
"Hmm, well this is difficult. He's made all of his social media accounts private. Obviously, I blocked him from all contact a long time ago, including social media, so I'm not sure how to go about finding a picture of him."
"You don't have any friends who are still connected to him?"
"Hmm. Actually, I just reconnected with an old high school friend who I bumped into here in Irvine. She didn't know anything about what happened between Simon and me. Maybe she'll be connected with him on social media."
"It's worth a shot, I guess."