That Annoying Next Door Neighbor

Flynn had been awakened by an awful caterwauling that sounded like cat with its tail caught in a door. She was disgusted to realize it was her next door neighbor having sex as his bed began to hit the wall. She grabbed a book off of her nightstand, banging back on the wall. She could hear his grunting with disturbing clarity. She had seen the man for just a brief second while she was moving in. He was very good looking and seemed to be the ladies' man type. Unbelievable, Flynn thought to herself as she slammed her pillow and blanket down on the couch. "First night in my apartment, I am tired as hell, and my first day at my new job is tomorrow. And the asshole next door is a sex machine who won't quit," she grumbled to herself. Apparently the architect who designed this place did not plan on tenants having sex or the builders were cheapskates on the insulation. She pulled the pillow over her head because she could still hear them all the way in her living room. How can he still be going? It's been an hour. NO man she had ever been with lasted that long. She growled in frustration induced by both lack of sleep and lack of sex. 'Great. Just lovely. Welcome to your new life, Flynn,' her mind taunted.


Tired, grumpy, and trying desperately to put on her best face for work, Flynn rushed out the door, turning to lock it, when someone ran into her so hard it knocked her off of her feet. The files that she had been carrying flew up as she went down. She hastily grabbed at the papers that floated down, shoving them back into the files in complete disarray.

"I'm sorry," a deep monotone voice apologized as a hand reached down to help her up. "You really should watch where you're going. I'm late for work, and you're in my way."

"Excuse me?" she inquired, confused as he pulled her up roughly and continued on his way. He ignored her question and all she saw was black hair and the back of a dark blue uniform as he walked away at a hurried pace down the hall. He was a soldier too. Had he just reprimand her for running into him? The him in question was also her next door neighbor. She had not even been formally introduced, did not know his name, but she hated him.

Flynn had to run to work and arrived there late, sweaty, and looking as if she had been caught in a tornado. She ran up the steps to the National Central Library, passing soldiers who laughed at her as she went by. 'Hooray! Add humiliation to the mix. This place is great,' her mind fumed. She refused to go running home. Her mother had not approved of her joining the Amestrian military and then to add insult to injury the only job she could get was as at the library which gave her mother further ammunition with which to mentally torture her. She slid into the main office because she had been running and there was too much wax on the floors that were buffed to a high polish. Thank goodness the front desk was there to bring her to an abrupt and painful stop. She rubbed her sore hip as the woman behind the desk stared at her; this woman looked as grumpy as Flynn felt.

"Miss Brogan," the woman stated more than queried. She was tall and thin and appeared to be about a hundred years old she was so wrinkled. Was there not a certain age with which you had to retire? Her dark black hair was pulled back so tightly it narrowed her eyes which were small and beady to begin with.

"Yes, ma'am," she responded, dumping an armload of untidy files on the fastidious woman's desk. The woman looked at the messy files as if Flynn had just unloaded a pile of horse manure on the desk. She quickly straightened the papers and picked them back up. The old lady gave her a wilting glance then spun on her heel.

"I am Captain Gertrude Swain. I am your superior here. I am the head librarian of the National Central Library. From now you will report to work on time if you plan to keep a job here, Miss Brogan," she informed Flynn in a hard no nonsense voice.

"Yes, ma'am," she replied dutifully, following the woman.

"Sheska!" she yelled in a grating high pitched voice. A small woman with brown hair and big brown eyes behind even bigger round spectacles appeared.

"Yes, ma'am!" she exclaimed. She seemed very excitable and nervous, but friendly.

"Sheska," Swain repeated with exasperation. "This is …" She stopped searching for a rank on Flynn's sleeve. Her eyes widened when she saw the First Lieutenant's bar – just one rank below her. "This is Miss Brogan, our new file clerk. Although she ranks above you, here you are in charge, Sheska. Rank does not matter here in the file room, efficiency and order does. Do you understand?" she inquired pointedly, her beady eyes on Flynn.

"Yes, ma'am," both women responded. "I'll leave you to it ladies. Good day."

"Hi! Welcome to Central!" the brunette chirped. Oh, damn. She's a morning person.

"Thank you," Flynn replied, smiling weakly.

"Flynn. What a unique name. Irish?" she asked, staring at Flynn's dark auburn hair and bright green eyes.

'Could I possibly be anymore Irish?' Flynn thought sarcastically. She was a walking stereotype from the red hair to her creamy white skin. Due to her short stature she had endured Leprechaun jokes all her life. Even now so called adults teased her and it was still not funny after all these years. "Yeah. Means descendant of the red haired one," she answered pleasantly instead of offering a snarky comment. Sheska seemed nice but a little flighty.

"Well, let me show you around real quick," she said, leading her between the dark wooden shelves that ran from floor to ceiling and wall to wall with narrow pathways between them at ten foot intervals. There was a distinct possibility someone could get lost for days in here. She was led to a vault in back where the special top secret files were kept. One lonely clerk was appointed to the vault job. What a nightmare. "That's everything. Here," she said, handing Flynn a stack of files so high she could not see over them. "We need to deliver these to Colonel Mustang."

"O-okay," Flynn stuttered, feeling the woman's hand on her wrist to lead her.

"Colonel Mustang is a... he's an interesting man," Sheska stated with a sigh.

Flynn rolled her eyes, thankful the folders hid her face. She attempted to listen to Sheska as she continually pointed out people and things, giving a lengthy explanation of each one. After going through numerous long drab gray corridors that all looked the same, she was hopelessly lost and thankful for her guide. She never could have found this place by herself; not even with a map and a compass.

"Here we are!" Sheska exclaimed happily, knocking on the door. Does this girl ever have a bad day?

"Come in," a male voice gruffly barked from the other side.

Flynn heard the squeak and whine of the hinges of the door as it opened. She followed the leading of the hand on her wrist and moved forward.

"Sir, here are the files you requested," Sheska announced, pulling her forward.

"Good. Bring them over here," he said. That voice sounded familiar.

Flynn was rounding the edge of the desk when her foot caught the leg and she tripped. She fell forward, landing in a heap on the floor in between the knees of the man sitting at the desk. Papers drifted down around her and settled on the floor. She heard a soft chuckle and looked up into a very amused pair of black eyes. A handsome man with a libidinous grin on his face gazed at her. She sat back on her legs as he leaned forward almost coming nose to nose with her.

"Sweetheart, you better get up from there quickly or you'll be staying a while," he warned in a low voice.

Flynn felt her face turn red with embarrassment. A soft noise of indignation somewhere between a gasp and a snort escaped her. She grabbed the files and papers attempting to put them back together while Sheska and a blond female officer assisted as best as they could. This only entertained the Colonel even more.

"Do I know you?" he asked. Flynn knew he was talking to her, but she ignored him. "Hey, Red, I'm talkin' to you."

Then it hit her; her next door neighbor. She looked up with several of the file folders in her hand.

"That's it!" he yelled, jumping to his feet and sending his chair flying backwards. "You're that annoying next door neighbor!"

"Me?" she squeaked, standing to her feet. She moved toward him with her hands on her hips. "I'm annoying?"

"Yeah. You kept banging on the wall last night! You're also the one who got in my way this morning," he said, looking down at her.

"Well, I'm not the one who had a screaming cat in his apartment keeping the annoying neighbor awake!" she said a little too loudly as her face continued to deepen to a crimson hue as embarrassment gave way to anger.

"It wasn't a cat," he retorted with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm aware – trust me," she growled back. "It was you who ran into me this morning."

"Sorry. I didn't see you there. Are you Irish?" he asked suddenly. Ah, a short joke. And quickly going in for the kill with her heritage. Can't wait to here this one.

"Don't even go there," she warned.

"First Lieutenant Brogan!" Sheska called.

"What?" Flynn and Colonel Mustang yelled in unison. His question was due to shock from hearing her rank. "You have a problem with that, sir?" she inquired.

"Nope. Just surprised," he answered, picking up his chair from where it had crashed into the wall and fell over.

"Because I'm a woman?"

"I didn't know they allowed Leprechauns into the Amestrian Army." There it is.

"Oh, ha ha, sir," she replied snarkily. "You're a riot. I've never heard Leprechaun jokes before."

"What's your name?" he asked, sitting down in his chair in front of her. He leaned back so he could look up at her.

"Flynn Brogan, sir," she replied.

"Flynn? Isn't that a boy's name?"

"Mustang? Isn't that a horse, sir?"

"Quit calling me sir so damn much."

"Yes, sir," she spat back, trying not to laugh as his cheeks began turning pink.

"First Lieutenant, let's go. We need to get back now," Sheska said, afraid the new girl was about to get fired and court marshaled all on her first day.

As they were leaving, Flynn felt a pair of eyes on her. She turned to see a blond officer with the biggest, bluest eyes gazing at her. She wondered about the unlit cigarette held between his lips. The fabulous smile he flashed made her heart beat faster. Sheska pulled her toward the door. The door slammed shut soundly behind them, and she wondered if she would ever see the handsome blond again. She didn't have to wonder for long as heavy booted footsteps moving at a very fast pace grew louder behind her.

"Hey! Can I ask you something?" a male voice she hoped belonged to him called.

Flynn stopped and turned almost causing him to run into her. He grabbed her by the arms pulling her into him until he could regain his balance. Her face burned bright red as she looked up into dark blue eyes. Maybe this was going to be a good day after all.

"Would you like to go out with me?" he inquired, clearing his throat as he let her go and stepped back.

"Yes, yes, I would," she replied, smiling at him.

"Great. Can I get your number? I'll call you tonight." He continued smiling broadly at her as she wrote down her phone number on the paper he had handed her. He grabbed the paper, turning to leave. "'Bye."

"Good-bye," she called, watching him shove the paper deep in his pocket as he walked back down the hall.

"Ooooooh, cute! Watch out for that one though," Sheska warned.

"Why?" Flynn queried, her eyebrows drawing together in apprehension.

"He's the second biggest womanizer in Central."

"Who's the first?"

"Mustang."

"Oh, goody."