Maria Reynolds found herself looking up at the clock on the stove periodically, as she tried to focus on making the ham and cheese sandwich for her daughter's lunch.
6:56 AM
Four minutes.
Maria placed the sandwich in a container before snapping the lid shut, she set the container in Mia's lunchbox and closed the lid. She walked quickly towards the front door, pulled it open and stuck her head outside. The felt air cool on the fall morning.
"Just checking to see if the mail is here," she called to her husband, Paul.
"A little early for the mail, isn't it?" he questioned drily, as he pulled his suit jacket over his rounded stomach.
Maria took a brief moment to study her aging husband. Now in his 40s, his hair had begun to thin on top, grey strands spread throughout. His face, though still as handsome as it was 14 years ago when she married him, was now finely lined with the years gone by. His stomach now rounded.
"Just checking," Maria smiled to him. As she walked out the door she could hear him muttering under his breath.
"Not fooling anyone," he muttered.
Across the street, Joanna Thomas was picking flowers from her garden. Next door, Lisa Brown was standing next to her mailbox. Two doors down, Kyle and his husband Todd were standing by their car.
Maria looked at the watch on her wrist, the second hand seemed to be moving in slow motion as it ticked towards the 12.
The sound of feet, rhythmically slapping against the pavement caused her to look up. She could see the large figure of a man running up the street.
Show time.
Maria attempted to look casual as she opened her mailbox, bending over to look inside, she watched the running figure as he neared out of the corner of her eye. Across the street, Joanna had looked up from her flower bed. Lisa paused in picking up her son's bike that lay on her driveway. Kyle and Todd turned from their open car doors.
As the man closed the distance between himself and the spectators, Maria took in his appearance.
He wore a green sweater, the hood was pulled over his head, obscuring his face from view. But she didn't need to see his face to recognize the man as he ran.
Oliver.
Oliver and his girlfriend Felicity, had moved into the house four down from Maria two months earlier. Over the past two months, the young couple had been welcomed to the neighbourhood, quickly finding a place in the community. They were invited to barbecues, Felicity had joined the bookclub. Both were always willing to lend a hand, Felicity had surprised all in the neighbourhood with her talent for computers, and babysitting their children when others were in need of a night off.
Oliver, however, had garnered himself a lot of attention for completely different reasons.
He was beautiful.
He had first caught Maria's eye the day after he and Felicity had moved in. He had been out in their front yard, mowing the lawn. Shirtless. When she first saw him, she had dropped the glass of iced tea she had been carrying. It had broken into hundreds of small shards as it hit the ground. The sound knocked her out of her daze.
Maria had never seen anyone who looked like Oliver. He was built like the men she saw on covers of the romance novels she kept hidden from Paul. His strong muscles, flexed and tensed as he had pushed the lawn mower in front of him. His muscular chest had glistened with sweat as he working in the heat of the summer sun.
It had only taken Maria and the others living in the neighbourhood a couple days to learn that Oliver went for a run routinely every morning, returning to his house at 7:00. They all quickly came up excuses to be outside around that time, in hopes to catch a glimpse of the stunning man.
The stories of Oliver had quickly become a popular topic at all PTA meetings and soccer games. The individuals all gossiping and sharing their stories of their interactions with him.
Two weeks ago, he had helped Lisa pull the cover over the pool in her yard. Last week, he had helped Joanna start her car when the batter had died. She, of course, denied that she had left the light inside on, on purpose, but Maria knew better. Two days ago, Kyle and Todd had requested Oliver's help in repairing the deck in their backyard. They all found every excuse to speak to him, ask for the help that he was always willing to give.
"Morning," Oliver called as he ran past the neighbours as they spectated.
"Morning Oliver," they chorused back, with a sigh.
They all blatantly stared at him as he ran up his driveway, disappearing into his house.
Joanna, Todd, and Kyle crossed their lawns to Maria's, as Lisa walked across the street to join the gathering.
"It's criminal," Lisa muttered. "They definitely didn't make them like that when I was in the market for a man."
"If I wasn't married," Joanna trailed off, a dreamy look on her face. "The things I would do to that man."
Todd and Kyle looked at each other smiling. "We could always spice things up," Todd suggested. "Felicity would be welcome too."
Maria smiled, looking at her friends. "Felicity is one lucky girl."
Joanna nodded in agreement. She looked back at Oliver and Felicity's home again before announcing she had to get back to her children. She left the group, walking in the direction of her house.
Lisa looked at Maria. "Seven again tomorrow?" she questioned with a smirk.
"Definitely," Maria nodded. Todd and Kyle also voicing their agreement. "It's really too bad though."
"What's too bad?" Lisa asked in confusion.
"The weather," Maria replied. "It's too cold for him to be running without the sweater."
The group shared a laugh as they parted ways and headed back to their houses.
Maria's gaze fell on Oliver and Felicity's house one final time before she went back inside to get her children dressed and ready for school.
Back to normal life.
—-
"You have quite the fan club out there," Felicity called to Oliver as he entered their home, returning from his run. "They all watch you every morning. And then gather and compare notes or something."
Oliver chuckled as he walked over to Felicity. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to his chest.
"I've noticed," he laughed. "They aren't exactly secretive about it."
"They're all married," Felicity protested.
"If you've seen them staring," Oliver countered. "You must have been staring too."
"Well, obviously," Felicity scoffed. "But you're mine to stare at. It's expected of me, really."
Oliver barked out a laugh as he stepped back from Felicity and took his sweater off. "I'm going to take a shower."
"Is that an invitation?" Felicity called to his retreating back.
"Obviously," Oliver hollered.
Felicity giggled as she jumped up and ran after Oliver, leaving a trail of clothing behind her.