*** After a really long hiatus - this story is back! I wrote it for my sister and I'm pleased to share it with everyone :) It's a big departure from my other stories here on FFN, but when my biggest fan asks for a specific story, I must deliver! Just a warning - this gets pretty fluffy :)
I OWN NOTHING AND I KNOW IT! ***
"Looks like we have a new neighbor," Lenore said, indicating the stacks of boxes in the apartment foyer. Shelby stood up straighter and felt her hands involuntarily twitch on the shoulder strap of her messenger bag, as she took in the array of bags, boxes and partially wrapped furniture.
"I don't see any musical instruments, children's toys, or animal items. What a relief," Shelby said, her blue eyes fixed on the sloppy handwriting on the side of the nearest box. The filthy tape holding the box together was barely hanging on any longer and she absent-mindedly reached a hand out towards it, wanting to smooth it out. Lenore slapped her hand gently.
"Shelby! Don't touch the boxes, this isn't our stuff!" Lenore's voice was softly irritated, like it would be if you were trying to explain something to an obstinate five year old.
Shelby waggled her hands helplessly at the box before speaking, "Just look at this, Lenore! Good lord, how can anyone move their belongings safely using a filthy box and what appears to be re-used packing tape?" Lenore huffed out a breath, blowing a brown curl off her forehead, before holding her arm out towards the staircase.
"Shelby, go. It's not your problem." Shelby pressed her lips together before starting up the staircase, casting horrified and wistful glances over her shoulder until the foyer was out of view.
If I brought down some gloves, a new roll of tape and some labels, I could easily take care of that, she thought, already imagining the ordered, tidy outcome. She felt Lenore's eyes burning a hole into her head and turned to meet them.
"Shelby."
"Yes, Lenore?" Lenore's brown eyes were bright and narrowed behind the slightly smudged lenses of her thick, black glasses.
"Don't even think about going back down there." Shelby narrowed her eyes right back at her roommate.
"When the world descends into anarchy, just remember that I always fought on the side of right."
"Shelby, come on! Some dirty tape and mashed up boxes are not going to result in the end of the world!" Lenore whined plaintively. By this point they were heading up the last set of steps leading to their apartment. Shelby rolled her eyes at her small friend and readjusted her grip on the bag of Indian take-out in her hand, the smells wafting from it reminding her how close to lunch it was. As they crossed from the stairs to their doorway, they both tried to take surreptitious peeks over their shoulders, attempting to catch a glimpse of their new neighbor.
Shelby stared first at the mess and chaos she could see in the apartment across the hall, through it's wide open door, and then at what had to be her new neighbour. Lenore had been struck dumb and was walking, as if in a trance, towards 4B's door.
"Lenore," Shelby hissed in warning, "What are you doing?" Lenore turned back and shot a slightly stunned smile to Shelby before knocking lightly on the frame of the open doorway. Shelby clenched both hands around the take-out bag and stepped over beside her nearly melted-to-the-floor friend.
The man inside 4B was bent over a large box, ripping off the tape sealing it shut. When Lenore knocked he turned and noticed the two of them in the hall. His handsome face brightened with a smile
"Oh, hi," he said, his green eyes crinkling at the corners. Shelby found that she was only capable of staring dumbly. She prided herself on being above things like lust, sexual attraction, and 'crushes', but the sight of the tall, well-built, blond man in front of them had her heart hammering against her ribs.
"Hi," Lenore said, equally transfixed. The blond man's eyes darted to Shelby and she repeated Lenore's greeting, "Hi."
"Hi," Lenore said again, her skin flushing red from her forehead to the neckline on her t-shirt. The man smiled and Shelby found herself saying, "Hi" again.
"Hi?" The man said again, a laugh in his voice. Lenore seemed to get a little control over her mental faculties again and stammered, "We don't mean to interrupt, we live across the hall." Their neighbor nodded and smiled, as if finally understanding something.
"Oh, that's nice," he said, his voice pleasant. Shelby shot a look down at her short friend, wondering if she had caught his tone. He thinks Lenore and I are in a relationship together, she thought, trying to mentally send the signal to her roommate. Luckily, Lenore seemed to catch on to this notion and managed to sputter out, "Oh, w..., a..., w..., we don't live together, we... We live together, but in, separate, heterosexual bedrooms."
The man smiled again and chuckled a bit, dipping his head in acknowledgement. Shelby felt nearly hypnotized by the contrast of the man's lightly sun-kissed skin and his white teeth. She was barely able to keep the friendly, 'normal' smile on her face as she drank in all the details of her new neighbor's appearance.
"Oh, OK, guess I'm your new neighbor. Penn." He smiled at them both, his eyes moving from face to face. Shelby felt her toes curl against the inside of her sneakers at the brief contact, her eyes shifting uneasily away from Penn's direct eye contact.
"Uh, Lenore," Lenore said, pointing at herself. She half-turned to her tall friend and waved a hand in Shelby's direction before saying, "Shelby."
"Hi," Penn said, smiling and nodding at them.
"Hi," Lenore answered, her voice still dazed.
"Hi," Shelby added, feeling ridiculous. Where has my brain gone? She thought in distress.
"Hi," Penn said, his smile turning into a confused smirk, his dark blonde eyebrows drawing together a little. Lenore seemed as lost in Penn's face as Shelby was and squeaked out another, "Hi." They were all quiet for a moment, the awkwardness growing so palpable that even Shelby was aware of it, and she had been repeatedly told that she was completely oblivious to what constituted normal social interactions.
"Well, uh, oh, welcome to the building," Lenore managed to say, her face flaming red. Shelby was trying to edge backwards, hoping that Penn wouldn't notice. Her skin felt like it was tingling everywhere and she knew that she had to get away from this encounter before she did something strange, like laugh hysterically or blurt out unwanted advice regarding the filthy tape on the boxes in the foyer downstairs. Pointing out other's differences and errors was something that Lenore, and her mother, had repeatedly told her was rude in the extreme, although she personally didn't see why. How else were they to learn what they were doing was wrong and improve themselves?
Penn nodded, with a warm smile, "Thank you, maybe we can have coffee sometime." Shelby saw Lenore sway on her feet and had to fight the urge to roll her eyes at her friend's obviousness.
"Oh, great!" Lenore chirped, as if Penn had announced that she and he should go on a Caribbean vacation.
Penn slapped his hands casually against the side of his thighs before smiling at the two of them again and saying, "Great." Shelby felt like she was stuck in some kind of social vacuum, all comfort sucked out of the situation. She was almost able to feel the passing of each strained second tick against her face, so she was barely aware of herself when she repeated what Penn said in a soft voice, "Great."
Penn smiled at her and Shelby held his green-eyed gaze for a second before sliding her eyes away in embarrassment. Lenore looked between the two of them for a second before lightly clapping her hands together in front of herself.
"Great," Lenore said again. Penn looked back at her and raised his eyebrows and there was a beat or two of silence, before Lenore seemed to catch the unspoken hint and stammered, "Well, uh, bye."
Penn smiled at them both and moved towards his open door, putting a hand on it.
"Bye," he said, his voice not unfriendly. His eyes darted up to Shelby's again, his smile getting a little bigger and she started before managing to choke out a civil, "Bye."
"Bye!" Lenore said, her voice too high. Penn nodded briefly at her, smiled at them both and then closed his door.
Lenore turned to stare at Shelby, her eyes glazed and wide. Shelby recoiled a little from the hungry expression on her friends face.
"Oh my god, Shelby," Lenore said, nearly hyperventilating. She spun on her heel and trotted to the door to their apartment, 4A, plunging the key into the lock and yanking the door open. Lenore stepped inside and turned back to her roommate, who stood in the hall watching Lenore uneasily.
"Get in, Shelby," she said impatiently. Shelby cast one last confused look back at Penn's door and then darted into her apartment and shut the door a little harder than necessary. She dropped her keys in the dish by the door and then walked quickly to the kitchen to put the take-out on the kitchen island.
Her heart was still beating loudly and heavily, she could feel it and hear it in her ears. Resting a hand on the plastic take-out bag, she focused on breathing, trying to calm her heart and to talk some sense into herself.
He's just a man, Shelby, get a hold of yourself, she thought to herself sternly, a very attractive man. A wonderful specimen of a man. But still just a man. Her mental eye roved over Penn's face, his broad shoulders, the muscles in his arms beneath the pale blue t-shirt he'd been wearing. The shape of his behind in his jeans...
"Shelby!" Lenore shouted at her from the couch and Shelby spun around, her eyes wide.
"What? Why are you shouting, Lenore? I'm right here," Shelby said, indignantly. Lenore's eyebrows came together and she said, "Obviously you're not, I was talking to you and you didn't hear me."
Shelby swallowed and removed her beige windbreaker, forcing herself to move normally as she hung it up on the pegs by the door.
"I rarely listen to you, Lenore," she said, her voice settling into it's normal pattern of condescension and mild impatience. Lenore huffed from her seat, crossing her arms over her hoodie and leaning against the leather cushion on the back of the couch.
"Whatever, Shelby. I was saying, why don't we invite Penn over to share lunch with us? We have all that take-out food." Shelby moved over to her computer chair and sat down, one dark eyebrow quirking up over a blue eye.
"Why on Earth would we want to do that?" She said incredulously. Lenore rolled her eyes and gestured at the closed door, in the direction of 4A.
"He's new to the building and we should be neighborly." Lenore was still slightly red from their encounter minutes ago, but she had a sappy smile on her face. Shelby shifted uncomfortably on the wheeled chair, picking at a non-existent fuzz on the sleeve of her t-shirt.
"We already made our introduction, I think we've fulfilled whatever 'neighborly' obligation we may have had." Shelby had just managed to calm her heart rate and get ahold of her frazzled mind, and was not relishing the idea of becoming a giddy girl again in the presence of their neighbor. Lenore leapt up from the couch and moved towards their door, placing a hand on the doorknob.
"I'm going to ask him," she said defiantly, "And we're going to have a lovely time." Yanking the door open, Lenore marched into the hallway with purpose and Shelby ran her hands through her hair, trying to decide if she should seek refuge in her bedroom or attempt to hold her own out here. When she heard Penn's voice greeting Lenore out in the hall, she rose to her feet and found herself walking out into the hallway to join them without knowing exactly why.