| Chris took a sip of his beer as he watched another U-haul pass by his house. In a monotone voice completely uncommon for him, he said, "New neighbors." "Don't sound too excited," Lance said sitting in the lawn chair next to Chris's. "Yeah, man," JC said, clipping the hedge in Chris's front lawn. He claimed the thing was bugging him, so took it upon himself to trim it. Chris drank the last drop of his drink and threw the can into the lawn; JC would pick it up sooner or later. "I have bad experiences with them. Sort of." "Do tell," Justin said, handing Chris a new drink. He thought about it a moment before sighing. "I guess it won't hurt. It happened two years ago. Before the Braddocks moved in next door, there was a couple. They kept to themselves for the first days, but out of the blue, they threw a house warming party. I went out of neighborly duty, thinking nothing of it. It was anything but nothing." ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Chris knocked on the door impatiently. He could hear the noise from the party and was already dreading his decision to come. He should have just stayed home and sent over some champagne, but now it was too late. The door opened slowly, revealing a beautiful young woman. "Welcome," she smiled brightly at him and pulled the door completely open. "Please, come in." He did as she said and stepped into the quaint one story house. The scent of vanilla filled his nostrils, and he spent a few moments trying to decide if it was the woman or the house. Both, he decided. "I'm Chris Kirkpatrick from next door." "Well Chris from next door, I'm Melissa Walker from here." He could feel her eyes glancing over him and had the strangest urge to pose for her. What the hell, he thought before flexing his slightly muscled arms. Her laughter sent chills down his spine. She flexed both arms and scrunched up her nose, "I'm not big on working out. I can see you are though," she reached out and touched his arms. "Honey, who's this?" Melissa looked over at the man approaching her and Chris. "Chris from next door. Chris this is my�boyfriend, Peter." "Oh," Chris sighed, shaking the man's hand. So much for that one, Chris thought. "It's nice to meet you, Pete." "Peter if you don't mind," he said, shifting his tie, "It's nice to meet you too. If you'll excuse us." He nodded curtly and led Melissa off to a group of other neighbors. Chris sat alone for a few minutes. He never really liked any of his neighbors; they were mostly uptight snobs, which is why he invited his group mates over all the time to sit on his front lawn. It bugged the hell out of them to see five slackers drinking beer and watching them. He contemplated leaving when he saw Melissa approaching him. "You look like you're having a ball," she said, taking the empty seat next to him. "Oh, I am," he replied sarcastically, "when's pin the tail on the donkey?" Melissa scooted closer to him as she said, "You missed it. Mrs. Jenkins won, but I think she cheated." Chris's gaze shifted to old Mrs. Jenkins who Chris was almost certain was in a comma. The old woman hadn't done anything but stare at the wall for the last hour. "I don't doubt it. Probably stuffed the tails in her girdle. She's a crafty one." They both laughed loudly, catching the attention of a few of the others. "I think I'll be heading home," Chris said. He produced a fake yawn and stood up, "Thanks for the free food." "I'll walk you home. It's not safe for a pretty young thing like you to be walking alone." Batting his eyelashes, Chris hooked his arm with hers, "I feel safer already." They snuck out of the front door when they were certain that no one was looking. Skipping along the concrete path connecting their driveway, they hummed a tune. "This is my stop. Thanks for the protection," Chris said once they were at his door. Melissa quickly hugged him. "I'm glad you're my neighbor. We're going to be best friends. I can tell." There was an awkward silence as they both thought. Chris of how wonderful she smelt; Melissa of how wonderful it felt hugging him. "Melissa, what are you doing?" Rolling her eyes, Melissa looked over to see Peter staring at her and Chris. "I walked Chris home. He's afraid of the dark." Chris thought of denying it, but the look in Peter's eyes was as plain as day. He was ready to kick some Kirkpatrick tail if he had any indication that Chris was interested in his woman. It may be true, but there was no reason to come to blows over it. "She's right." "Well, come back. Jacob, our son, is asking for you." It was obvious that Peter was trying to strengthen his `claim' on Melissa. Chris would have usually shrugged it off, but a son!?!?! He quickly wished her and Peter goodnight and rushed in his home. Chris tried desperately to wipe all thoughts of Melissa out of his head. A single woman was fine, a woman with a boyfriend was so-so, but a woman with a boyfriend and son was off limits. He tried to avoid her the next day, to get her out of his system, but a quarter after noon there was a soft knock on his door. Somehow he knew that could only be her. "Sprinklers," she merely said. He cocked a dark eyebrow until he heard the laughter that could only be that of small children. Peering out of his doorway, he saw two little boys and a little girl running through a sprinkler set up in Melissa's front yard. "Join us?" Oh, he probably shouldn't, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to turn her down. "Yeah," he responded before closing his door and walking over to her front lawn. He jumped into the group of kids and immediately dropped his age by 25 years. He skipped in and out of the water, getting the kids to join him in "Singing in the Rain", and the essential mudslide that he made. By the time the sun was setting, they were all muddy and drenched from head to toe. "You can get cleaned up inside. I don't have carpet, so it's okay," Melissa said, offering him a towel to wipe his face. He accepted and followed her into the house. She led him to the bathroom and told him she'd bring him towels as soon as they were dry. When she was gone, Chris quickly hopped in the shower and was done in mere minutes. There was a soft knock on the door. He opened it a little bit and took the towel Melissa offered. It wasn't long after that he realized that he had no clothing to change into. The knock sounded at the door again. Melissa held out some clothing this time. "Peter's," she explained through the door, "you're about his size." He felt extremely odd wearing Peter's clothing, but it was better than running around in a towel. He emerged from the bathroom, tucking in the collar of the Polo shirt. "You look nice," Melissa commented, "You can return the clothes whenever. Peter won't miss them." Chris looked down at the plaid shorts and smiled, "I can see why." There was a moment of awkward silence. "Thank you." "No prob, Bob." "Do you love him?" Chris was surprised by his own question; he was going to apologize for his bad manners when Melissa's soft voice reached him. "I don't know," she nervously studied her hands, "It's complicated. Really complicated." He stood in front of her and took her hands in his own. Kissing her cheek, Chris sighed. "Do you think-" "Chris," she started to protest, but his lips cut her off. Her hand softly caressed his cheek, and her voice was near tears as she explained, "He's the father of my son. I can't leave him just like that." He nodded. "I understand. I really do," he backed away from her, "I should go." Closing her eyes, Melissa let a small tear fall down her cheek. "You don't know what you mean to me." "What?" "You know, I've watched you since the first day we moved in. I feel so stupid saying it, but when I saw you, I just knew that you were it. I couldn't get you out of my mind no matter how hard I tried, and trust me I tried my damndest. Peter didn't even want a house warming party, but I convinced him to because I wanted to meet you." Chris placed a hand on her shoulder. "What are you trying to say?" "I fell in love with you. I didn't expect it. I was hoping you'd be a big jerk or something, but you turned out to be the greatest man I've ever met. I love you." "I love you too," Chris whispered. "But I can't leave him. He loves Jacob," she lowered her voice, "and he loves me. I don't know what to do." Kissing her hair, Chris gave her shoulders a slight squeeze. "Move." He laughed slightly when she moved to the left, "No, move to a different neighborhood. A different state if you have to. Take your family and forget about me. It's the best thing for all of us." "I don't know if I can." "You have to," he said in a firm voice that shocked even him, "As soon as Peter gets home from work, you tell him you want to move. As fast as you can. It's for the best. You know that." Melissa studied her hands some more. "I'm going to miss you." Gently he kissed her lips, "Ditto." He walked away from her and headed to the door. His hand was on the doorknob when she called out to him. "You can always count on my love." He nodded. "Ditto," he said before he left her. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ "Did that really happen?" Chris blinked his eyes a few times to rid the few tears forming in his eyes. "Yeah. That was the last time I saw her; I stayed locked inside my house until they moved the next week. I couldn't trust myself to see her." "Wow," was all JC could say. He patted Chris's shoulder. "How could she just leave like that?" Looking over at Lance, Chris shook his head. "She knew as well as I did that if we never got anything started it would be easier to let go. It was the best thing; she had her own family." Joey nodded. "I understand. So that's why you don't like new neighbors?" "Yup." "I don't think you'll have to worry this time," Justin said softly, "look over there." They all did and saw a woman in her late 60s ordering around the movers in the house about three houses down. The old woman ran a hand through her gray hair and motioned someone forward. "Damn," Joey exclaimed as he watched a beautiful woman emerge from inside the house. "Granddaughter," Lance guessed. "No ring," Justin pointed out. "Legal," JC, whose one experience with a minor had him overly cautious, said approvingly. Chris looked at his friends, and knew immediately that they all had the same thing in their head, himself included. They'd never all gone after the same woman before; could it hurt their friendship? He stood up from his lawn chair; ready to help his new neighbors unpack. The others followed close at his heels. When the young woman saw them approaching she bestowed a smile upon them. Under his breath, Chris sighed, "Dilemma." |
| Dilemma |