Bishop

A woman who needed him, whether she realized it or not.

Getting up, he went and found her pajamas, then got her ready for bed and tucked her in. It was a simple and routing thing, but it gave him a sense of satisfaction to lay her down and make her comfortable.

On a whim, just before he turned to go, he leaned in and kissed her gently.

When he went to bed that night, he brought his laptop in and plugged it in, then set a motion detector on the camera in her room so it would wake him if she got up.

It was a needless precaution, he woke up long before she did in the morning. He was in his office, his old computer set up with the monitors on her while he tried to focus on anything but her. It was next to impossible, he kept turning to watch her sleep instead, his eyes trying to memorize her face as he thought about her and imagined what it would be like to fuck her. To make love to her. To just hold her in his arms.

Just after noon, she finally moved, rolling groggily and sitting up with her head in her hands. After a few minutes, she got up and looked down at herself in her pajamas. He watched her go into the bathroom and look in the laundry basket at her clothes from the day before, then look around in confusion.

Getting in the shower, she stayed in it a lot longer than usual, only ending it to hurry out and answer her ringing phone.

"Whimsy and Wonder with Sabina," she answered, still sounding out of it as she wrapped in a towel. "Hey! Sorry, I was in the shower and grabbed it. ... You are?!? What time? ... No, I told you, I can't pick you up, I don't have a car. You'll have to UBER. ... Yeah, it's no problem. ... No, sorry, I think I just have a bit of that flu hanging on a little. I just woke up and I feel so out of it. ... No, I don't think so. ... I'll be here. Text and let me know when you land, ok? ... I will. ... Love you too, see you Monday! Ummm, shit. Tomorrow? That's tomorrow, isn't it? ... Today?!? Holy shit, I'm so out of it! Sorry, Shannon! I'll be ready! See you tonight! ... Love you too!"

Hanging up, she put her hands to her head and looked around, then hurriedly got dressed. Running downstairs, she cleaned up from the night before and ate a quick meal before going back upstairs and getting a guest room ready.

Sitting at her desk in her room, she opened her laptop and looked over emails, then ordered more packaging so she could ship off the things she'd sold on her online shop. She also ordered groceries, a lot of them. Mostly real meals to make instead of what she usually ate like canned foods and frozen dinners.

Bishop paid careful attention and went out to check his mail while she was bringing groceries in. When he 'looked up', she was watching him, holding bags in her hands and standing there. He gave her a small nod and she lifted a hand, then went back to picking up her groceries as he went back inside.

It pleased him quite a bit that she had watched him. Noticed him.

He watched her put most of the groceries away, but left a few out, he assumed to make for dinner.

Shannon arrived in an UBER and rang the bell and Bishop watched Sabina look up in alarm, then grab her phone to look at it while she hurried to the front door.

"Shannon! Hi!" she cried, hugging the much taller girl.

"Oh my GAWD it's good to see you!" SHannon laughed, lifting Sabina off her feet completely and laughing. "I've missed you so much!"

Sabina grinned up at her, her eyes shining as she helped pull in a bag and shut the front door. "I thought you were gonna text?"

"My phone died and the UBER guy said I couldn't plug my charger into his adapter. Guess how he's gettin' rated? Man! This place is HUGE? Why do you need this much space?" she laughed as Sabina led her to the kitchen and patted one of the tall island stools.

"Right? I don't! Nana trying to get the last laugh, I guess. I was just making dinner! Your favorite!"

"Lasagna?!?"

"With garlic bread!"

"Oh HELL yeah!"

They made small talk about the flight, how things were back where Shannon was living now. He discovered Shannon was her cousin and she had been her roommate in college as well and they'd discovered they were cousins the first week of freshman year. That they were fated to meet and become best friends over three states, meeting in the middle in college.

Finally, Shannon brought up the neighborhood.

"So, this is like... total suburbia, huh? Lots of little kids running around?"

"No, not really actually. There are a few kids, but most of the time everyone is gone. The people across from me there on the corner, they have two teenage sons. One of them tried to smile at me, it was so gross. The people across from me on the other corner, I think they're a retired couple. The family on that side of me has kids, but they are ALWAYS gone. I think the daughter is in dance and she plays some instrument in a big black case. The two boys both play sports. All of them, I think. That house there, I think the guy lives there alone. I haven't seen anyone but him. I... don't really see him much either. Like, four times maybe since I moved in."

"Old?"

"Older than me but not like Nana old. He's... actually kind of hot," Sabina blushed, biting her lower lip as she put the food in the oven.

"Like, how hot? Professor Johnston hot?"

"So much hotter!" Sabina giggled, then grabbed her friend's hand. "Come on!"

They ran up to Sabina's room and sat on the edge of her bed as she pulled out the sketch pad on her nightstand, the one she sketched in almost every night.

"I think he's like, prior military or used to be a cop or something. He's big and he works out, but I have never seen a light on or anything over there. I think he lives in the basement or something. Here, this is him."

Bishop zoomed in on the sketch as Sabina handed it to Shannon.

"Holy hell! He IS hot! So, like, middle aged? Like 30's?"

"Yeah, turn the page."

"Oh my GAWD!" Shannon yelled, then laughed delightedly at the sketch of Bishop with no shirt on.

Bishop felt himself grinning and wishing he'd thought to look in her sketchbook.

She had a crush on him.

Shannon turned the page again and again, more than a dozen sketches. Some of them were full nude and Bishop was smirking as the girls giggled.

"You don't know what he was in? Military or police or whatever?"

"No, but he seems very... military like, you know?"

"Do you think he likes you?" Shannon asked, turning a sketch to see it better.

"Oh no!" Sabina laughed. "He thought I was a little kid and he was so offended when he thought I was here all the time without my parents! Even next time I saw him, he went all protective on me and was like 'here's my number if something bad happens'," she mocked the last with a deep voice.

"You have his number?!?"

"Yeah, it's there in my drawer."

"What's his name?" Shannon asked, looking at the slip of paper.

"Bishop? That's what he goes by, but his first name is John. That's the other reason I think he's military. Some of his mail got put in my box and I saw it before I put it in his box."

"Bishop," Shannon giggled. "We should call him!"

"NO! Oh my god, no, please!" Sabina cried, diving for her phone. "He said not to call unless it was an emergency!"

"So... we heard something downstairs! We don't want to call the cops, but we're scared!"

"I don't even go down there! I opened the door and looked down when I moved in, but I haven't been down there at all!"

"Come on! Let's have some fun! What's the worst that could happen?" Shannon asked, hitting 'call' after she dialed.

Bishop smirked at his phone as it lit up, then answered it, forcing himself to sound annoyed instead of amused.

"Who is this and why the FUCK are you calling so late?"

"Oh... uhhh..." the voice stammered and Shannon thrust the speakered phone towards Sabina in alarm.

"Bishop?" Sabina asked, sounding terrified.

"What?" he demanded, watching her freaking out.

"It's me... umm... Sabina? Your neighbor?"

He softened his voice. "What's wrong? Are you alright? What do you need?"

"I'm ok! Umm... I just," she fumbled feebly, looking to her friend miserably.

"There's something in the basement!" Shannon spoke up.

"Who is that?"

"My cousin! She's visiting!" Sabina told him quickly.

"Are you pranking me, Sabina?" Bishop asked darkly.

"No!" Shannon told him quickly, also sounding alarmed now. "There's something in the basement! It sounds big! We thought about calling the police, but Bean said you might come take a look?"

Bishop snorted, then hung up his phone and stood.

Sabina gave Shannon a confused look as they looked at the now dead call.

Hurrying over, he knocked on the back door, the one to the kitchen that she used every day to go to her shed.

She answered it, looking up at him in terror as Shannon stood back by the island to stare at him wide eyed.

Bishop stepped in and went past her to the hall.

"The basement is, umm..."

"I know where it is," he told her, going to the door and opening it.

The girls followed him down the stairs.

"How do you know where it is?" Shannon asked, confused.

"All these houses are the same, some are just mirrored," he answered as he reached the bottom and looked around. The basement in this house wasn't finished like the one in his. It was wide open and very empty. "Where did you hear it?" he asked, moving to look around at the walls and ceiling.

"Uhh... under the kitchen?" Sabina offered weakly.

"I don't see any holes where anything could get in, or any fecal matter or a mess at all. I don't think any animals have been down here. Probably just creaky boards from someone else moving in the room that you aren't used to," he shrugged.

"Maybe you could look around the rest of the house?" Shannon spoke up quickly. "Just to be sure?"

He shrugged and headed to the stairs.

"So... are you in the military?" Shannon asked him.

"Retired," he answered, holding the door at the top open for them, then moving down the hall to look in the office as they followed.

"What branch?"

"Marines."

"Semper Fi," Shannon teased. "It was nice of you to give Bean your number in case of an emergency! You aren't wearing a ring?"

"I don't wear jewelry," he told her, glancing at Sabina who looked mortified.

"Because you're not married or because you don't like it?" Shannon asked, following him to the next room.

"I didn't wear a ring when I was married, it fucked with my job. I'm divorced now and I have no reason to wear one as a civilian."

"So you live over there all alone?"

"Yes."

"Bean lives here alone too!"

"I'm aware," he answered, heading up the stairs to the second story.

"So you don't have a girlfriend?" Shannon went on, prying.

"No."

"Bean is also single! What do you do now that you're retired? You're so young to be retired!"

"Military you can retire after 20 years, no matter what your age is."

"What do you do?"

Bishop ignored her question as he looked into the extra bedroom and went and opened the closet.

"Bean is a painter! She even gives lessons! She sells her art online."

"I'm aware," he told her, glancing at Sabina again. She looked like she wanted to go and hide at this point.

"She's older than she looks, too!"

"I know how old she is."

"And she's totally hot!"

"If you like that type," he shrugged noncommittally.

"That type? Who doesn't like a smoking redhead?" Shannon asked with a laugh that sounded offended.

"Some guys don't care for tiny women and not all guys like redheads. Anyway, her hair is more auburn than red." Pushing past her, he went to the next room, his eyes looking over Sabina as he passed.

She looked humiliated and on the verge of tears and he realized he'd sounded like he was putting her down.

Pausing next to her, he looked her over again. "You're cute, kid, don't get me wrong. I wasn't saying you weren't my type, just not everyone's type."

"I'm not a kid," she whispered, her cheeks bright red.

"I guess not," he agreed, opening the door to her room.

Sabina sprinted past him and yanked up her sketchbook, slamming it shut before setting it on the nightstand.

Bishop cocked his head as he looked her over, then looked around her room, bathroom and closet before turning and picking up her sketchbook before she could react.

"DON'T!" she pleaded, grabbing for it as he held it out of reach, then opened it.

She was definitely a fantastic artist and the sketches looked just like him. Even he had to admit they were fantastic, if a bit embellished. When he got to the nude ones, he shut it and set it back down.

"Next time you draw me, I'm not completely hairless, especially on my chest," he told her, leaving her room as Shannon stood with her hands over her mouth in stunned silence. "For the other bits you got wrong... maybe I will pose for you."

Shannon followed him, but Sabina only went as far as the hall. Her cheeks were still pink, but she looked a bit angry now on top of embarrassed.

He looked at her as he left the guest room and started into the last room, then paused and met her eyes.

"I won't shave my chest, either," he told her, letting his amusement show in his voice before going into the last room. "Sorry if that's a dealbreaker."

"It's not!" Shannon spoke up for her. "I'm sure it's just that guys who work out usually shave to make it look better, you know?"

"I work out to stay healthy, not look good," he told Sabina as he came out, then went to the closet at the end of the hall and pulled down the stairs to the attic. "Assumed you drew it as you preferred it."

"She doesn't care," Shannon offered for her.

"What does Sabina care about?" Bishop asked, looking around the empty attic, but moving up and sitting on the edge so he would have the excuse to fluster her a little more with his presence.

"She's always liked smart guys! And guys who represented themselves orally!" Shannon teased.

"Shannon!" Sabina hissed.

"Oral, is it? And does she return the favor or is it just her?"

"She was making a joke! The guy I dated in college was my TA in my oratory presentation class!" Sabina yelled, mortified.

Bishop chuckled. "Was he good, though? Orally?"

"He was!" Shannon giggled. "She taught him!"

"What else did she teach him?" Bishop asked, trying to sound curious and teasing and not insanely jealous.

"Not much else," Shannon laughed, her voice wavering like Sabina was trying to get her to shut up. "She's actually never done anything but oral! She kind of has a hangup about anything else?"

"What kind of hangup?" he asked congenially, though he wasn't sure why he was so happy hearing she was virginal. He'd already known it, he'd felt it for himself.

"Usual hangup girls get about that sort of thing," Shannon managed, as he folded the ladder back up.

Bishop turned to Sabina. "Some guy try to force you into something?" he asked darkly.

"Her brother helped!" Shannon spoke up when Sabina glowered at the floor.

"Shut up, Shannon!" Sabina hissed.

"No wonder you live alone," Bishop told her instead of picking at that thread. "The house is clear," he told her, moving past her down the hall. "But you knew that, didn't you?"

Both girls stayed quiet as they followed him down to the kitchen. Pausing at the door, he turned and looked over Sabina, wondering if she was going to say anything or if she was too upset now.

She seemed to realize he was waiting for something and shook herself out of her own head. "Thanks," she mumbled. "Sorry. I think... I've been a little sick lately and I think it's still kind of holding on. Thanks for coming and looking around, easing our minds. Umm... dinner will be ready in a few minutes. Lasagna, home made. If you want," she shrugged, her cheeks going pink again.

"If you need help with anything, text... but try to make sure it's a real emergency, ok? And if you want me to pose for your next sketch, text me as soon as your family is gone," he told her, shutting the door behind him as he left.

He walked casually to his house, but hurried as soon as he was inside, going up to his computers to watch her.

They were still in the kitchen and Sabina was tearing into Shannon.

"... wasn't funny at all! I TOLD you he was grumpy and terse!"

"Bean, I wasn't trying to upset you, I was just playing around, seeing if he was into you! He is, by the way, in case you didn't notice."

"He was humoring a kid, trying not to let on how frustrated he was with having to put up with all of it! And he KNEW we were lying! He knew we were lying before he even came over!"

"And he came over anyway! And flirted with you! Bean, he is NOT the type of guy who will flirt unless he is absolutely interested. He would have just shut it down! And he was serious about coming and posing for you too!"

"Yeah, he probably thinks sex is on the table!"

"Well, you did draw him naked... like... a lot! He has to know you've been having fantasies about him and sex. Assume it anyway. Normal girls do."

"And I'm not normal??"

"You're very normal, Bean," Shannon sighed. "So normal he guessed right off what your issue was, right? Anyway... you know that you won't get passed that hangup until you let someone in, right? And he seems like the perfect guy to..."

"To what? Let into my bed? To have sex with? Because that's what I need, awkward sex with the cold and angry man next door and then be stuck living next to him the rest of my life! Like that wouldn't completely suck to let a guy like that use me, then have to see him all the time!"

"I thought you were going to move as soon as she died?"

"I can't! It's in her will! I can't sell the house, ever. I have to live here and if I don't, it gets sold and rolled into her estate that's all going to go to probably Stavos! Or her stupid church. Who knows? All I know is that if I move out, rent it or try to sell it, it goes on the market and the income goes into their estate and whoever gets that. She's intimated it would be Stavos, but the way she plays games, I'm thinking she's gonna fuck him over too. Fuck! I wish I hadn't agreed to any of it!"

"I'm sorry," Shannon sighed.

"I didn't really mean it," Sabina told her gently. "I wouldn't have met you, then, right? College wasn't that bad. Living here, though? Fuck. I guess it's not THAT bad either, but it's not the little cottage by the lake she promised. There is zero imagination or magic here, it's so... ugh."

"Bishop is NOT 'ugh'!" Shannon chuckled.

"He is hot, right?" Sabina blushed. "And that just does not mesh? Why? Why is he so freaking hot and single? And so... angry and alone?"

"Maybe he's fucked up from the military? Like, PTSD and shit."

"Maybe. You think he came home and drove his wife off? Got all angry and abusive and stuff?"

"Probably not. Hot as he is? She was probably hot too and she was probably into attention. If he was gone a lot, she probably found attention and he probably found out that she found attention, you know? It seems like that's how it always goes. This lasagna is amazing! Hey... maybe you should make him a plate? Bring it over to say thanks?"

"No way! Anyway, this is our lunch the next couple days!"

"Perfect! How's painting been going?"

They went back to small talk and Bishop listened, wondering how he felt about everything she had said. She thought he'd thought she was an annoying kid? Apparently he'd been out of the game too long, he'd thought he'd flirted well enough. Maybe she was just sensitive because of all that had happened to her?

The girls stayed up late, talking and laughing and it was after midnight when Shannon brought him up again.

"So... Bishop," she threw out there after a bout of giggling.

"What about him?" Sabina asked, sobering up some but still smiling.