A Very Friendly Neighborhood Ch. 03

The south border of the neighborhood started in the west with Victoria Messer, the other widow in the neighborhood. She didn't say anything about her husband but told me she loved doing gymnastics with her eight-year old daughter.

In the middle, in the double lot across from the park, was Alisha Gardner. I learned she was busy, as she was an oncologist and had three kids she was taking care of. A 9 year old girl, and two boys, ages seven and four.

Finishing out the neighborhood was Ligaya Tiu, a Filipino woman and the oldest in the neighborhood with two grown children. One who had left for college last year and the other who was on the verge of getting her bachelor's degree. It was always surprising to me how hard it was to tell the age of asian women, they aged like fine wine, looking young and amazing until they were much older.

My brain was reeling, but I was pretty sure I ended up placing all these women and where they lived. Each one had different degrees of sociability they liked. Christina, Sophie and Aurora stayed nearby and chatted as everyone introduced themselves.

"I wish Jerry could be here. He'd love you!" Christina proclaimed once everyone was done and I had gotten some of the food, a grilled pork dish brought by Ligaya was the main dish this week, with various side dishes rounding out the meal.

"I'm sure it'll be nice to meet the only other man who's managed to stick around in the neighborhood." I chuckled, trying to wrap my mind around everything.

"Yeah. Aren't we cute together?" Christina proclaimed holding up her phone with a picture of her with an arm wrapped around a nice looking young attractive man, blond haired with a nice chiseled jawline.

"Hey, I think I've seen him..." I muttered, wracking my mind for where I'd seen him before.

"Yeah, he loves coming to yoga Saturdays, but he's on a business trip to New York right now." Christina declared.

Finally, my brain registered where I had seen him and the blood drained from my face.

"What's wrong?" Aurora demanded.

I swallowed, "Um... Christina... When did he fly out?"

"This morning." Christina replied, nervously, "...he left at 9 this morning."

I looked at the phone again. There was no way. Right? I looked at Christina's phone, it was an iPhone.

"Does your husband have an iPhone like you?" I asked, my mouth dry.

Christina seemed confused, "...yeah..."

"And you both share an apple account?" I verified, my heart dropping to my shoes.

She nodded.

"I hate to say this, but why don't you use 'Find my iPhone' really quick... Just for fun. Show us where in New York he is?" I asked, desperately hoping I was wrong.

"Oh, that's a cool idea!" Christina laughed. "Okay, here we go...."

Please be wrong... please be wrong... please be wrong... I prayed silently.

"... That's weird..." Christina muttered. "Find my iPhone says he's still here in Florida...."

Aurora had been watching my face carefully. "What's going on, Mr. Neilson?"

"Please, it's Marshall..." I tried to deflect.

"Okay, Marshall, what's going on?" Aurora demanded.

All eyes were on me.

Fuck. Why couldn't I keep my mouth shut? In any other setting I wouldn't have said shit, but as overwhelmed as I was, my filter had slipped.

"Um... I went to the store this morning to grab a yoga mat and these shorts... and I may have seen him..." I started.

"What do you mean?" Christina pressed, her heart in her eyes.

"I mean... you wouldn't happen to know an asian young lady, about six or eight inches shorter than him... black chin length hair... wearing glasses..." I fished.

"...no." Christina whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. "That sounds like his boss..."

I closed my eyes, I couldn't look her in the eye. "Well, I think she might be more than that... They went into the motel... I think on Fletcher Avenue... and I think it was as more than friends..."

The wail Christina let out was heart wrenching. The sound of the women rallying around her was overwhelming. I opened my eyes to see Christina collapsed on one of the bench seats, with Gabriela and Fiadh on either side of her trying to comfort her.

Aurora was locked on me. She motioned to Sophie and pulled me away from the pavilion.

"Details. Now." Aurora demanded with that minute Italian accent.

"It was the farthest west room. He was driving a white Toyota, and she pulled up with a blue Ford." I explained.

"If we can get an investigator out there, we can get him with solid evidence. It's the best way to ensure it goes as good for Christina as possible." Sophie declared.

"I'll get a man on it." Aurora declared, pulling out her phone and tapping away.

"... I'm sorry..." I murmured.

"Don't be." Aurora declared, "Jerry just got promoted a few months ago. If he only met this new woman then, you've caught him within, what, three or four months?... Most of us had the pain of a year, if not more, of cheating that killed us when our man went chasing another woman's skirts. You've kept Christina's pain down to a few months."

I could only take so long with all the eyes going from me to Christina and back. I slipped out, and returned quickly to my home.

I felt like shit. I mean... I hadn't been the one to cheat on my wife, but... I had been the one to reveal everything and now they would forever connect me to the one lasting relationship in the neighborhood. I was pretty sure the way all the ladies in the neighborhood looked at me would be tainted by this moment.

I sighed, I needed to drive. I threw on some casual clothes and hopped in my BMW.

I pulled out of my driveway and navigated to the beach and started cruising the coast.

My brain was in chaos. I may have ruined Christina's happiness, but would it have been better for me to leave Jerry cheating on her? It wasn't my fault he was a douchebag! But... there was a possibility that he would have realized what he was doing, stopped, admitted his wrong to Christina, and they could have moved through this, perhaps. Now, having been exposed like this, he was sunk. Since he was caught and didn't get a chance to realize his wrong, and start making amends before Christina was hurt.

Finally, the fact that I hadn't had a chance to really enjoy the drinks after yoga when I had gotten food, drove me to start home.

All I had at home was milk and water and I was feeling something better. I didn't want alcohol right now. I needed to think, and not being in possession of my full faculties right now could be dangerous. I was just thinking something like a soda, or a juice or mix or something.

I pulled into a supermarket about ten minutes away from my home.

Wandering into the drink section, I looked over the stock. Not sure what I wanted. There were a lot of alcoholic options, but like I said, I didn't want alcohol. The non-alcoholic options seemed either bad, or horrendously overpriced. I ended up in front of the mixers, right next to the beers.

"Um, excuse me." A light, feminine voice requested gently.

I turned to see a lovely, young lady. Her hair was wet, matching the bikini top she was wearing though she had jean shorts on over her swim bottoms, which peaked out of the top of her shorts.

Damn. I thought, I'd take a distraction like her over drinks anyday. And with some fun company, a few drinks would be fine.

"I'm sorry. Here." I apologized, stepping out of the way.

She grabbed a couple of cases of beer, and gave me a once over.

"You busy?" The young lady asked. "I have some friends and we're down at the beach... if you don't mind me saying it, you look like you might be a couple of their type..."

I glanced from her to the beer and back. She looked to be just my age, if not a touch younger. If her friends were her age, this could be a golden opportunity to actually connect with people my age.

"You know, I think I'm available." I told her, "Your car here or..."

"I walked." She told me with a shrug, "It's only a few blocks to the beach. I'll buy these, and we can head out."

"I could drive you. That way I'll have my car at the beach when it's time to head out, and you can tell me where to go." I offered.

"... sure. But I'll be on the phone with my friends the whole time so don't try anything funny." She warned.

"Fair enough. By the way, the name is Marshall." I told her, "Want me to carry those?"

"Grace. And sure." And Grace handed me the beers and together we walked to the front, where she had to pull out her license to buy the beers, and I caught a glimpse, she was 22, just three years younger than me.

Fuck, what were the chances. A hot beach babe that reached out to me so I wouldn't feel like a creep! Sign me the fuck up.

Walking out to the care I thought I'd see how interested she actually was.

"So, Grace, you said you thought I was your friends' type. Does that mean I'm not your type?" I poked.

"Yeah, totally not my type." Grace laughed.

"Oh, and what makes you say that?" I laughed curiously with her.

"My type has boobs and a pussy instead of a dick." She told me bluntly.

"Ah. Yeah... that does kinda put me out of the running." I conceded, a bit disappointed. Grace was hot. But who knows, her friends might be just as cute. "But you think your friends would be more interested?"

"Yeah, after you see the guys your friends go for, you start to figure a few things out. I may not be into men, but I'm not blind." Grace informed me.

"Are there any of your friends I need to keep away from? Wouldn't want to steal them from you." I checked.

Grace rolled her eyes, "Just because I'm a lesbian doesn't mean I'm going to be making passes at my friends. God, no. Besides, none of them are like that, and no, I don't think I can flip them gay, just like I don't think you could flip me straight. That's not a thing."

Then we arrived at my car.

"Dang..." Grace noted as I popped the trunk to stow the beers. "... this is your ride?"

"Yep, you wanna start that call?" I offered, opening the door for her.

She looked at me for a second and said, "You aren't, like, a dealer, right?"

I laughed, "Nope. Software Engineer."

She judged me for a second, then just got in. I slipped in, fired up the engine and pulled to the edge of the parking lot.

"Turn left." She instructed and I followed. "Software Engineer, huh? I had you pegged as the 'entrepreneur' or unemployed post college guys. I mean, you have that vibe, but you know a solid job is better. You're gonna want to take a right here, then a life in a block."

I followed her directions and ended up at a packed beach parking lot. Saturdays were crazy at the beach, but I was lucky and found a spot where someone was just pulling out. That luck was crazy. Maybe my luck was finally turning.

Grace let me carry the beers again as we went down to the beach.

"Drinks are here!" Grace called, "And check out what I found at the store to go with them!"

A group of seven girls in bikinis all turned to greet their friend, and seeing me walking up toting the beers, they laughed. They were all beach babes, with tan volleyball bodies, small to moderate sized boobs, with swinging hips and fit trimmed legs. While build-wise they could all be cousins (they were way too close in age to be sisters), facial features and finer details were widely enough varied there was no way they were related.

"How come the one girl here who doesn't want a boy is the only one who can seem to find one?" A dark haired girl in a purple bikini demanded.

"It's BECAUSE she doesn't want one. I'm sure that's it." A blond in a dark blue bikini mumbled.

"I'll be impressed when it turns out he isn't a douche like every other guy on the beach today." A girl with auburn brown hair and a black bikini asserted.

I set down the beers, which were immediately cracked open with drinks being passed around. A couple of girls avoided the beers, including Grace, and I guessed they were the designated drivers.

"I actively try to avoid being a douche. You'll have to let me know how I do." I assured them.

"So, Mr. Not-A-Douche." A fourth woman, another blond in a green bikini, prodded, "Which pest control are you selling this summer?"

I laughed, "I'm not. I'm a software engineer for Hyperintelligence Software Engineering. Just got moved down from Colorado."

"Cool, so where are you living?" The babe in the purple bikini asked.

"I bought a place about fifteen minutes from here called... Providence Ridge, I think." I told them.

The beauty in the dark blue bikini whipped out her phone and googled it. "...holy shit."

A couple of girls gathered around and looked at the phone. "What's your address?"

"317 Triumph Boulevard." I told them.

"No... fucking way." A girl with dirty blond hair and a red bikini declared, snatching her friend's phone and showing me the street view on google on the phone. "This is YOUR house?"

It was indeed the street view of my house.

"Um... Yeah." I acknowledged.

The girls exchanged a look. "Bullshit. You own a place like that?"

I was amused. Yes, I was successful for my age. But the blatant disbelief was excessive.

The girl with bleached blond hair and a pink bikini, frowned, "You're so full of shit. Why don't we all just pile in the cars and go hang at your place? We spend every week at the beach. If you really have a mansion like that, I'm so down for going there instead."

"Lucy, you're down to go to any guy's house." The babe in the purple bikini accused.

Lucy seemed indignant. "Nuh-uh!... I may not have the best taste in men... but I'm not like THAT... You know I've only been with like two guys..."

"Relax. You know Mia's just messing with you." The chick with a black bikini informed Lucy.

Grace's phone went off and she stepped away to answer it.

I was amused by the antics of the friend group. They seemed to be waiting for Grace to get back, but when she did her face was disappointed. "My grandma is having some issues, I've gotta go."

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, my gran is okay, she just is getting old... we think it's dementia or Alzheimer's, but sometimes she just freaks out and because I look just like her sister did at my age she'll calm down for me." Grace explained, "So, sorry, but I gotta bail on you guys."

She grabbed a shirt from a pile on a towel and headed up to the parking lot. The girls all watched her go, then tried to relax.

The girl in the light blue bikini laughed, "Seems like no one believes you live in that house."

Murmurs of agreement went through the group.

I spread my hands, "Well, it's my house... don't know what to tell you."

The girl in the black bikini, crossed her arms under her breasts. "I normally don't agree with Lucy, but I think she might have a point here. Either you are a liar and you can just fuck off... or damn... I don't know about the others, but I'm throwing dibs on dating you."

Mia, in the purple bikini, slapped her shoulder, "You can't 'dibs' a guy."

"I just did." The girl in the black bikini insisted.

The blond in the light blue bikini looked over at me, "Don't you think he should have some say in that? You don't even know his name and he doesn't know ours."

I laughed, "I'm Marshall. Marshall Neilsen. Now, for you, I caught some names... Lucy..." I declared, pointing at the girl in the pink bikini, "...Mia..." I pointed at the girl in the purple bikini, "... and Eve?" I finished, pointing at the light blue bikini.

"Nice." Lucy smiled.

"It's Evelyn, but my friends call me Eve." Evelyn confirmed.

"You got me." Mia agreed.

The others came forward. The natural blond in the dark blue bikini's name was Hope. The girl in the black bikini with the auburn hair was named Tabitha, or Tabs. The dirty blond in the red bikini was Harper. Rounding out the group was the dark brunette with the white bikini named Alice, who had been pretty quiet so far.

"Well, how about this, we follow you 'home' and if it is, in fact, your home... I don't know, we'll figure something out. And if it isn't your house, you can fuck off and we'll all come back to the beach?"

"Sure. Who has cars?" I offered. The nice thing about telling the truth was you didn't have to worry about anyone calling you on it.

Tabitha, Alice, and Hope had cars. Between the three cars none of the girls had to ride with me, and after a short fight, they decided that since all of them couldn't pile into my car, none of them would. They all grabbed their shirts, packed up their beach umbrella, towels and the cooler for the beers.

I hopped in my BMW and pulled over to the parking lot the girls said they were parked in, to see the girls piling into a white Toyota Camry, and a blue Hyundai Sonata, while Grace got in a Red Honda Civic. The cars were all several years old, but not poorly maintained. I rolled down my window and called to the girls.

"You ready to follow?" I checked.

"Dang boy, where'd you get those wheels?" Eve called.

"From my garage!" I called back.

The drive wasn't terribly long and the three cars stuck right on my bumper until I pulled into my driveway and hit the button to open the garage and pulled in. The three cars pulled up and parked.

"Holy shit!" Lucy laughed, "You do fucking live here don't you?" I could tell the alcohol was beginning to affect her.

"Well, come on in." I invited the babes.

I had no idea how this would go, but if it meant there was a chance I could actually get a girlfriend close to my age, I was going for it. Fuck, maybe I could convince Debbie and Kennedy to let me start having a normal life... Worse case I could keep Kennedy happy for a few months, and make Debbie back off.

The girls had all put their shirts and shorts on over their bikinis for the drive and all seven women piled into my place, bringing all the undrunk beer with them. They explored a bit and Tabitha found my new sound system and put her phone on to put on some tunes. Her mix seemed to be a combination of pop and some rap songs. The pop was okay, but rap wasn't so much my thing, but I wasn't gonna be controlling and change what she put on while she was right there.

"Damn Marshall, you have a nice fucking place here." Mia laughed.

"Remember! I called Dibs!" Tabitha declared.

"That's not fair!" Eve objected. "I'm with Mia on this, you can't call 'dibs' on a boy. He should get to choose!"

"You're just mad that you didn't call him first!" Tabitha retorted.

I was amused. I sat down in the living room as six of the girls argued over who'd get to date me. Hope came in and sat next to me.

"It really is a nice house." Hope told me quietly. "You said you're a software engineer. What are you working on?"

"Well, we do custom software for high end clients. I just finished up a program for a Fortune 500 company to do custom ticket and incident management system since the off the shelf products don't actually work well and are really hard to actually customize. I don't know what my next project will be but we have a backlog of people asking for custom software that I don't really have any worries about running out of work anytime soon. In fact, enough of our clients are here in Florida that they paid to move me down here to be able to meet with them face to face." I explained.

Hope listened attentively and I had legitimately wondered if she wasn't the perfect choice, no matter what conclusion the girls in the other room came to with their arguments.

In all fairness, each of them was appealing. Mia sounded like she wanted me to have my freedom and wanted to have each girl have a chance to win me over by her own merits. Tabitha seemed like she'd be loyal and faithful, though demanding the same from me. Eve seemed happy to do whatever it took to please her man, and she desperately wanted that to be me. Harper was open and blunt, which was refreshing considering the number of girls that I could listen to for an hour and know absolutely nothing about, where I was learning a lot about Harper's confident and sassy personality quickly. Alice had the kind and submissive nature that made her incredibly appealing. And finally Lucy seemed like she would be the most exciting in the bedroom, being adventurous and unrestrained.