Good Neighbors Ch. 116

The announcement of me moving in with my neighbor surprised her a bit. It was one reason she insisted on spending the night at my house besides giving her the chance of selecting what items she wanted in her place. I didn't mind that in the least just because it gave me a chance to see what she liked. It also gave her a chance to look for things that would make Aubrey comfortable. I wasn't as worried about that only because I knew that Aubrey was a pretty strait-laced person to begin with. It was after we moved most of the stuff to her place that she looked at me and smiled.

"Master, I need to run an errand," she said seductively.

I looked at her and kissed her on the forehead before she grabbed her purse and headed out the door. It was officially the first time I was in her house by myself. I didn't get to enjoy it for long before I received a call from Aubrey.

"Hey boss, did you get confirmation from the movers?"

I looked at my phone and saw the text message.

"I did. They should be there within the next hour."

"Is it a bad idea to ask you to come help?"

"I'm not sure why not. I'll be there in an hour."

I quickly put on some grubs and hopped in the car after locking the door. I guess I should have mentioned I had a spare key from when her husband was around. He gave it to me about a week before Missy passed so I could help my neighbor out when he was unable to get out of bed. Neither of us knew that a week would pass before Missy would go nor a month passing before it was his turn. I rarely ever used it only because I always gave my neighbor the chance to say no. Even when we became lovers, I gave her the chance because I wanted her to live her life and not be pressured to fit into a mold for me. The fact she accepted me as a roommate after offering my house to Aubrey, both scared me and made me even happier than I was. I didn't have a chance to think about the consequences. I just knew I wanted to be with her more. Maybe it's something I'd have to explore this more in the future, but for that moment I just thought about how lucky I was as well as wanting to get Aubrey taken care of.

As I was driving to Aubrey's apartment, I thought about Aubrey a bit more. Aubrey was a couple years younger than I was. As I've talked about before, she was Missy's roommate back in college. I toyed with the idea of introducing her to Matt but was quickly rebuffed by Missy because she was afraid Matt would break her heart. Still, it didn't stop Matt from hiring her through Missy's recommendation. She wasn't as lucky with boyfriends as most of our friends were, but the one thing she had was her loyalty to Missy. I did spend a few days with her after Missy passed to help her deal with her grief. We discovered through those times that we were better apart when dealing with our grief. I allowed my desire not to hurt her to stop me from grieving fully, which facilitated the home recovery for me while she engineered my stuff from the company headquarters. The fact I was helping her out felt more like a favor to Missy.

I approached the apartment and saw some unsavory characters approaching the apartment while the movers were moving some of her stuff out. I quickly parked the car making a huge squeal of the tires before they saw me and panicked. I saw both of them run as the movers looked over.

"Hey, Mr. Mercer, everything alright?" one of the movers asked.

I looked at him and smiled.

"Sorry Mike. You know how I drive my car a little rough sometimes."

It was when Mike saw my face that he understood. Besides helping his brother move Aubrey out of her apartment, he was also one of the security guards at my building. He's seen me in the past get into the fray when vagrants would try to rough up some of the staff. I'm not saying I like violence. Far from it. I just can't stand people trying to intrude on me, my friends or my coworkers. He came closer before speaking.

"You saw those two perps too? I was getting ready to chase them off before you pulled up."

"I know. You know I have your back, Mike."

"Well, if you too would stop chatting like boys at the playground, we could finish up so we could get out of here," Aubrey said, her hands on her hips.

We both smiled at her before we helped her finish grabbing the rest of her stuff. It was very fortunate that she was not done unpacking when she first moved into that apartment. We finally closed the door to the moving truck before Mike's brother came forward to introduce himself. I thanked him for the short notice move before they both got into the truck and drove off. It was then just Aubrey and I.

"Are you sure about this, Leo?"

"I am. I need you safe. You're my friend. Missy would never forgive me if I did anything else."

She leaned in and hugged me tight before getting into her car. I felt a bit uncomfortable for a moment. That was before my phone rang. It was my neighbor.

"Where are you, Romeo? I have a surprise for you."

"I'll be home soon. I was helping Aubrey move."

"Alright. I'll see you when you come home."

I hung up with her and slipped into my car. After looking around, I drove back to her place. I was so curious to what her surprise was.