Good Neighbors Ch. 088

There are few things that can get me out of bed early on a day off. Well, that's not true nowadays to be honest. When I sleep in my own bed alone, I have an alarm clock that does well. When I am with my neighbor, we have a habit of waking the other one up when we get up. There is definitely some kissing involved as well as some cuddling. It is the sweetest wakeup ever.

Unfortunately, this morning was not one of those. I was in my own bed alone. I made the mistake of staying late at work and by the time I made it home, her house was dark. My neighbor tries to keep a certain schedule and retreats to it when I am occupied. My heart dropped as I walked into my house, dropped my briefcase and went into the bathroom to shower. My sleep that night was horrid. I swear I woke up about four or five times before I was zombie walking at about seven the next morning.

I looked at my phone and didn't see a text. I started to text her before I thought about whether she was awake or not. I looked over through a window and did not see any signs of movement as of yet. I started a pot of coffee and grabbed the paper. As I looked over towards her door, I saw her paper was still on her doorstep. Taking a risk, I put on a pair of flip flops and walked over to knock on her door.

It was a moment or two before I heard movement. Then she looked through the curtains. Then she opened the door having the most disappointed look on her face.

"What's going on, Leo?" she asked.

I was taken aback by her mood. No nicknames. No flirting. There wasn't even an offer for a hug. Still, she left the door open, so I followed.

"I'm sorry I was home too late last night. Are you alright?"

"No."

The one-word answer shook me also.

"I'm sorry."

"Are you? I was worried sick about you last night. I had no idea what you were doing or who you were with. I even texted that assistant of yours....I can't remember her name now."

"Aubrey?"

"Yeah, her. Was she there with you?"

"No, I sent her home around 5:30. She had a date last night with her boyfriend."

"I wish I was with you last night."

"Me too. I had the hardest time when I finally got home and saw the house dark. It dropped me badly."

"How badly?"

"I didn't sleep much."

"I took medication for my shoulder last night. Knocks me out like a boxer taking a face shot."

"I'm sorry."

"Wanna do some breakfast?"

"I can order it if you'd rather stay home."

"Sounds like a deal."

I ordered the breakfast through a delivery app before we started to enjoy some coffee. It took about a half hour for our food to arrive. As we unpacked it and started to eat, she looked at me.

"It must've been a big project to keep you there."

I looked at her before smiling.

"I could have done it from home. I just wasn't thinking."

She looked at me before smiling.

"I remember the days after Missy died. You wanted to drown yourself in your work, so you didn't have to deal with missing her so much. What was yesterday anyway?"

I looked at her before responding.

"She had a habit of recording different days on the calendar. She wrote that it was our first date day yesterday. I used to never make a big thing about it, but I spent the better half of the morning thinking about it."

She walked over to her calendar and grabbed it off the wall gently. She then brought it to the table before flipping through the pages. Then she showed a few dates to me.

"Here's Mitchell's birthday. Then here's our first date. And this was the day he proposed. It's not bad to remember the details. It's hard for some folks to do that though. Is that why you stayed late last night?"

I looked at her with tears in my eyes and nodded my head. I could see her mood softening a bunch before she held her arms open. I pressed my face against her shirt and started crying hard. It was after a few minutes when I was able to talk again.

"I heard her song too. The song that kept playing so much after she died. "

She looked at me and smiled.

"My wedding song likes to play a lot also. It's just another reminder that they're watching you."

I smiled.

"I'm sor..."

"You're alright, Romeo," she whispered. "Missy was your missing piece. No one could ever fill that spot like she did. It's alright to miss her."

I hugged her tightly before kissing her forehead.

"I'm glad there's room in my heart for you too. You're the best, Beloved."

She smiled as we finished our breakfast. I planned to stay with her the rest of the morning, and it was going to be a better day because she let me in.