Clara finds the home of her dreams, but will the neighbor be as welcoming? Doesn't seem to be off to a good start...
"What are you doing? I told you to leave the hedges alone."
Clara took a step forward, "See, the thing is, this hedge is encroaching on my property line here." She pointed down with her clippers at an invisible line. "So anything over on my side, has to go."
Clara stood in front of her new home, keys clutched tightly in her right hand. She smiled in contentment, this little home was entirely hers. The house was small and very old but was charming; white trimmed with red. She loved it, loved that it was tall and narrow and you could see the red shutters and door from the kerb. She would have to spend some time planting flowers but overall the house looked cozy and ready to be lived in.
Sighing happily, she turned and stared at the only thing that could mar her new found happiness. Between her home and her neighbors, stood a hedge that was easily as tall as her. She couldn't ascertain the depth of the hedge but she was certain it was at least half as wide as it was tall. It was just overwhelming and just dwarfed everything around it.
When she had first seen the house, she almost walked away without a second glance but her estate agent had been determined that Clara see the house. Once inside, she was in love.
Hedges be damned.
The agent had told her that it was nothing a little trimming couldn't handle; she could easily hire someone to manage the rough. But despite her assurances, Clara dreaded having to deal with those hedges and even more the possibility of having to meet the owners of that home in the process.
As far as dividers go, she had to admit the hedge served its purpose. She could barely make out the lines of her neighbor's house, the bramble of thorns and greenery was so overgrown it was taking over everything in its path. It was slowly making its way over the property line and was currently settled over a large portion of her garden.
Her neighbor's home was hidden inside but she could make out the dark blue of the exterior and the lines of the windows encased in dark glass. It looked stark and forbidding but Clara was positive that her neighbors were nothing like the home. One couldn't judge an owner by the exterior of their home, yeah?
Peering over the hedges as best she could, Clara frowned at the work that would have to get done in order to get them into a reasonable condition. She would have to go over tomorrow or the next day at some point and ask about it because it really was an eye sore.
She turned at the sound of a lorry pulling up the street, stopping in front of her home.
Time to get to work.
All of the boxes were neatly stacked throughout the house, carefully organized by room. They contained her entire life; memories that were described by a black marker and remanded into dusty corners.
Her first house. It gave her no small thrill to have something to call her own, to have a way to focus her energies outside of the classroom where she taught. She spent a good amount of time over the next few days, mapping out exactly where every piece of furniture should go, no roommates to please, no one else to satisfy but herself. Maybe she would get a cat.
A cat! The idea appealed to Clara and she hummed thoughtfully as she continued to work on organizing her home. She went from room to room, listing out what she would need to buy in order to turn it into a proper home, her home.
Between cleaning her house and slowly unpacking the boxes; it was almost a week before Clara took a proper view out of windows at the side of her house.
And remembered why she had put it off.
The hedges loomed; large, green and ugly. Somehow, standing inside her hallway, they seemed even taller than she had originally thought, even more imposing. She knew she could not put off dealing with those hedges, time to meet the neighbors.
She hoped they were friendly though not once during the past week had she seen any sign of them. Not a single one.
Clara grabbed her keys that she had tossed on a chair by the front door, must remember those. She took her time locking the door, rather silly considering she was just going to pop next door but she delighted in wriggling the handle to confirm that the door was secure.
Making her way around to her neighbor's side of the garden, Clara stopped when she reached their walkway. Wow, that was a blue house. Stealing a closer look, her original assessment had been right, this was a very dark house. Tall, with dark glass windows it gave off a slightly neglected air. The bushes around the front of the house could use some trimming and the walkway brick was cracking in some spots.
Clara hesitated before she knocked, the large sign that hung on the door a small deterrent, but Clara was determined to finally meet her neighbors.
And maybe get those hedges trimmed.
Her first knock went unanswered, she tapped her foot impatiently against the ground. Her second knock was more insistent, just shy of pounding.
"Can't you read?" His voice came through the closed door, loud and with a prominent Scottish accent.
"Hello," Clara pressed on. "I just moved in next door and-"
Clara stopped as the door swung open and her neighbor glared out at her. Tall and thin, he was dressed in black from head to toe. His face was carved granite, scowling down at her. Despite his temperament, Clara had to acknowledge that he was handsome, with startling clear eyes that seem to see right through her.
It was a little disconcerting.
His hand gestured to the sign behind him, pointing at the handwritten warning. "It says, go away and yet, here you still are." His hands made an up and down motion, as if they couldn't understand why she still stood there.
Clara smiled at him, smiled as if he were one of her wayward students, extending her hand out to him. "Hi, I'm Clara your new neighbor."
He recoiled slightly from her hand holding both hands out in front of him. "No, no hands."
Okay, germaphobe. Letting her hand slide back down to her side, Clara acknowledged to herself that she's dealt with worse. "So, I am getting settled in and was thinking about hiring someone to clean up my garden just a bit. I wanted to let you know that I was going to trim back the hedges a bit on the left side. I think it will-"
She couldn't finish her sentence, her neighbor had stepped closer, crowding into her personal space. "No, no trimming. No cutting, no nothing. Don't touch anything."
Clara took an instinctive step back, "Ok, so are the only words you know are 'go away' and 'no'? Cause it doesn't give me much to work with."
"You can say so much with "no" and "go away" like, no touching the hedges and go away. Bye."
He turned to close the door but Clara moved quickly, wedging her foot between the house and the door, preventing it from closing. "Not entirely sure what your problem is but I am trimming the hedges that are on my property line. It's a complete mess and I don't want to look at it."
"I didn't have a problem before you knocked on my door." Pausing, she watched in fascination as he ran a hand through his hair, pushing the silver curls askance and creating even more of a bewildered look about him. "Actually, I still don't have a problem. Don't touch the hedges and don't bother me again."
He shut the door with a resounding snap and Clara blew out a breath in a huff.
Okay, so he was rude. Handsome and rude. Exactly what she didn't need.
He was going to be in for a surprise, those hedges were getting organized if she had anything to say about it.
It was a few days before Clara made it outside again but the sun was shining and it was time to attack those hedges. Rolling her sleeves up, she started by cutting the overgrown branches towards the ground as best she could. She knew she would have to hire someone to do the bulk of the work, her clippers were going to give out at the rate they were going. She would have to ask around for references for a good gardener.
At least she knew where not to go for references, considering where her neighbor stood on the subject.
She hadn't been outside five minute before she heard him.
"Oi! Hey, what are you doing? Stop! Stop!"
Clara watched as her neighbor ran down the pathway from front of his home, making a beeline for her in the corner of her garden.
Well, attempting to run anyway. She'd seen more graceful penguins run.
She crossed her arms and turned towards her neighbor, watching as he worked his way awkwardly towards the front of the garden. This was going to be good.
"Help you?"
He looked taken aback, "What are you doing? I told you to leave the hedges alone."
Clara took a step forward, "See, the thing is, this hedge is encroaching on my property line here." She pointed down with her clippers at an invisible line. "So anything over on my side, has to go."
"No! You can't touch any of it. It's planted on my side."
Clara shrugged, "Yeah? And it's growing on my side."
Her neighbor glared at her, "These hedges are doing what they are supposed to be doing. They. Are. Growing." He bit off each word. Clearly, he was enunciating them in case she didn't understand, Clara assumed.
Clara stepped closer, "Look, maybe we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Clara and I originally just wanted to talk to you about these hedges. That's all."
He hesitated, "I'm The Doctor."
Of course he was.
"Just the Doctor?" Clara could feel her eyes roll into the back of her head. This guy.
"You can call me Doctor and just leave the hedges, ok?" The Doctor started to turn around to go but Clara reached out and placed a hand on his arm. She could tell he wanted to yank his arm away but he held it steady.
One point for her.
"We haven't talked about the hedges," Clara sighed. "Look, I just want to make it look a little more reasonable. It looks like something out of a gothic romance novel, between the hedges and your house."
"What's wrong with my house?" The Doctor leaned away from her, face quickly moving back into a frown.
Wrong choice of words. Clara knew this conversation was going to go nowhere fast. She thought she caught a glimpse of hurt on his face before it was quickly masked by another glare.
"There is nothing wrong with your house, it's just a bit…blue." Clara bit her lip; stop talking, stop talking.
"I happen to like blue and the last thing it looks like is any kind of romance," The Doctor spit the words out, horrified.
"You're right, it looks fine. The house is fine, lovely fine house." Clara used her most placating tone.
His eyes narrowed at her, suspecting. "Leave the hedges. I can't see you, you can't see me. We're good." The scowl was back on his face and Clara could tell he was going to dig his heels in. It was a shame that it had to be like this between them, he was handsome and perhaps things could have been different between them in other circumstances.
What?
Clara gave herself a mental shake, "Look at it from my point of view. I look out the windows and all I see is this large, massive, wall of green and brown. It's practically blocking the sun!"
The Doctor's scowl grew, "This hedge is impressive! It's huge, literally, and exactly the way I like it."
"Not impressive, this hedge is annoying and a complete eyesore."
He pointed at her, "This is annoying. This conversation is annoying. Look-"
"Clara."
"Look, Clara. There really isn't anything to talk about. The hedges stay as is."
"Or else what?" Clara glared at him, stepping closer with her hands on her waist. She felt a small thrill of victory when she noticed that he took a small step back.
Two points for her.
"Or else there will be trouble. Big trouble. Huge." He waved his arms out to side, showing her how much trouble there would be.
She advanced again watching him take another step back. She pointed her fingers at him, all but wagging them, "Listen, Doctor Whatever. I will do what I want with the hedges on my property. If you can't get control of them, I will get control of them for you. You, sir, are out of your depth with me."
She moved forward again and crossed her arms in front of her. Take that.
He shifted backwards and away from her, turning to go inside giving her one last glare.
Three points for her.
tbc
Check out this amazing graphic for this story from rowofstars! She was super supportive of this idea and encouraged me to get back at writing!
Those of you that read my stuff know that I tend to write more "emotional" prose and this was a way for me to get back into banter, fluff, and reaching out of my comfort zone. Comments and concrit are always welcome!