This is my first writing attempt. Hope you enjoy.

Creep

Returning from her evening run, Catherine started up the concrete steps to her apartment building. As she reached for the door something caught her eye on the street. It was an old Ford pick up. Alarric's, she was sure. Straining to see through the twilight, she couldn't quite make out the figure in the drivers seat. Her face still turned toward the street, she pulled the door open and took a step inside the building. She collided with someone and they both stumbled. He grabbed her by her arms in an attempt to keep her upright.

"Oh, crap! I'm so sorry." she said looking up at him, feeling embarrassed by her clumsiness.

He stared at her, eyes dancing over her face, searching for something. Still gripping her arms, his dark brown eyes now fixed on hers. Her embarrassment was then replaced by annoyance.

"Look, I'm sorry for crashing into you like that," she repeated stepping backwards out of his clutches.

"No need to apologize," he replied with a casual tone. He grinned and walked out the door. She caught the door to take another glance at the old Ford, but it was gone. Her dark eyed neighbor turned to look back at her just over his shoulder, then glanced in the direction were she was looking. Catherine didn't notice.

Catherine and Sophie weren't 'best' friends but she was Catherine's only friend really. Catherine lived on the first floor, Sophie on the fourth. When Sophie moved in, Catherine took her under her wing you could say. Being just twenty one, it was Sophie's first time living on her own. Catherine being much older and just had gotten out of a bad marriage, was in a way just starting out herself. At least, starting a new chapter anyway. She got along with Sophie but she didn't always like her. Sophie was petite and beautiful and her personality reflected that she was quite aware of it. But, she was also fun to be around a lot of the time, so Catherine tolerated her. Besides, she really didn't know a lot of people in this town.

"So what's up with the new guy on the second floor?" Catherine asked as she diced up onions for dinner. Cooking was a hobby of hers and it was a plus that she had someone to cook for.

Sophie shrugged. "I don't know. Seems creepy."

"Creepy? Why do you say that?"

Sophie looked annoyed. "I got some of his mail by mistake and when I took it down to him, he just…" She stopped, scrunching up her face and rolling her eyes at the memory.

Catherine turned her attention to Sophie. "He just what?" She encouraged.

"I dunno. He just stared at me. Then he said 'Thanks' and shut the door in my face." She flipped her long black curls over her shoulder. "Creepy."

"He did the same thing to me." Catherine turned back to her chopping. "When I ran into him on the steps outside."

"What do you mean?" Sophie asked. Obviously very excited to hear some new gossip.

"Well, he stared at me. Hard, ya know? Like he was studying me or something." She paused in thought. "But, he didn't really give me the creeps. I guess he probably should have, but he didn't."

After dinner the two took their glasses of wine out on the front steps of the apartment building so that Sophie could have a cigarette. It was a warm night. There was a soft breeze and a lingering smell of freshly mowed grass.

Sophie took out a cigarette and put it to her glossy red lips. She lifted her other hand and snapped her fingers. A small flame sparked at her fingertips as she lit her cigarette. Spreading her fingers apart the flame disappeared. It seemed like everyone Catherine knew had some kind of "special ability". Ever sense the young women by the name of Claire Bennet came out to the world so to speak.

Sophie's phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at it. "It's David!" she said with a giddiness that made Catherine want to gag.

Sophie turned to lean on the railing and talk to her crush. Catherine took a seat on the steps and sipped her wine enjoying the beautiful evening. She noticed a dark figure coming down the sidewalk wearing a black ball cap. As he walked under the nearest street light she could make out his features. Strong jaw, thick eyebrows, full lips. She couldn't deny that she found this man attractive. He turned to ascend the steps. Catherine stood to allow him to pass. Sophie just gave him a snotty look over her shoulder, still talking to David. He glared at her. She could see why Sophie thought he was creepy now. He turned to Catherine arching an eyebrow and giving her a charming smile. He spoke in a low, soft voice, "Good evening ladies."

Catherine smiled back at him, "Hi." was all she could muster.

Catherine started collecting antiques in her early twenties. She had a pretty good collection going. It started with her grandmother leaving her a few beautiful items when she had passed. From there it just grew. A few days after she and Sophie had dinner at her place, she purchased an antique trunk. She didn't really plan out how she was going to get it up the concrete steps to her first floor apartment. Amazingly enough, she had managed to get it almost to the entrance of the building without damaging the thing.

Coming up the sidewalk was the dark eyed neighbor. He saw her struggling with the trunk and slowed his pace a bit. He watched as she bent over, noticing her almost perfectly shaped legs and hips. She was slender and tone. He stopped behind her, his eyes wondering over her backside.

"You need a hand?" He asked.

She jumped, startled by his voice. "Uh, yeah. That'd be great." She huffed, slightly out of breath.

He grabbed the trunk from the lowest end and together they made it into her apartment. They positioned it in the center of the living room in front of the sofa. She had wanted to use it as a coffee table.

It wasn't a very hot day, but the task had them sweating. He had no ball cap this time. He was wearing a thin, blue button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of dark jeans. He unbuttoned his shirt just a few buttons. Enough to expose the small patch of hair on his chest. He still had dark stubble on his face which Catherine found quite sexy. She found herself wondering what he looked like without that shirt on.

She turned and walked into the kitchen. "Can I get you a drink? I've got iced tea, water, diet Pepsi…"

He answered, "Water please."

She took two bottles of water out of the fridge and handed one to the dark eyed man. Realizing they hadn't yet introduced themselves, she extended her hand to offer a handshake. "Catherine Monroe. And please, don't call me Cathy."

He put his hand in hers and shook it. "Gabriel Gray. And please," He chuckled, "don't call me Gabe."

They both smiled. Then he took a sip from the water bottle and scanned the room. "Antique collector?" He asked raising one thick eyebrow.

"Yes." Catherine replied a little surprised. Dark, mysterious, coming to her aid in a time of need and an eye for antiques?

"This is a beautiful piece." He said, pointing to a wooden clock hanging on the wall. "How long has it been broken?"

"Since my grandmother gave it to me before she died. I looked into having it fixed once but it was a bit too pricey for me at the time." She explained.

He studied the clock in silence a few more moments and than said, "I can fix it if you'd like."

Catherine looked at him with obvious confusion.

"I'm a time piece restorer." He explained. "It would be no problem."

"Wow. Okay." She agreed. "That would be awesome."

He reached for the clock. She watched him, her heart thumping with excitement. She was very much attracted to this man. Not only was he her age, but he was tall. At least six one she thought. Standing at almost five feet nine, she always had trouble landing dates. She was sure a lot had to do with her height. But, it was his eyes that did her in. The way he looked at her made her swoon like a school girl. It had been a long time sense anyone had made her feel that way.

"Thank you for helping me with this trunk by the way." she said trying to redirect her thoughts.

"What are neighbors for?" He said.

He took a step toward her and stole an obvious glance down at her breasts which were displayed beautifully in her v-neck cotton tee shirt. "I should be going." He almost whispered as he stepped even closer to her. Close enough that all he would have to do is lean in and take her mouth with his own.

Then, there was a sharp rap at the door. Catherine jumped at the sudden interruption. Gabriel however remained perfectly still, never taking his eyes off of hers.

"I should get that." She said as she walked to the door, Gabriel's eyes following her.

She opened the door to find Sophie standing there with her cell phone to her ear as usual. She looked up at Catherine smiling. Then her eyes shot to Gabriel and her smile faded. "I'll call you back." she

said into her cell phone and snapped it shut.

"Uh" Catherine began, "Sophie this is Gabriel. Gabriel, Sophie."

"Yes, we've meet." He looked down at her with a grin. He looked back at Catherine and held up the clock. "I'll see you soon." he said and walked up the stairs to his apartment.

Sophie pushed her way inside. "Oh my god, Catherine!" Sophie's voice was a little louder than necessary. "Are you crazy? You let that creep into your home?"

Catherine looked at her in dismay. "Yes! I did! He helped me bring that trunk in here and he offered to fix my grandmother's clock. What's the problem?"

"The problem is you don't know him. He could have some weird power." Sophie said with her hand on a hip, her crystal blue eyes burning.

Catherine laughed out loud, then looked at her with all humor gone from her face. "Look Sophie, I appreciate you being concerned about me, but I'm ten years older then you and …."

"Nine, you're nine years older." Sophie cut her off to correct her.

Catherine huffed, "Whatever. The point is you have no idea how hard it is to meet people after a divorce." She waited for her retort.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Sophie finally said, "Well, I had just come by to tell you I have to work tonight. They asked me to come in. So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow sometime?"

"Yeah, maybe. Just call me or whatever." Catherine really didn't want to see her again so soon.

While Catherine made dinner for herself, she couldn't stop thinking about Gabriel. She really wanted to go up to his apartment and invite him to have dinner with her, but she of course didn't. She didn't want to ruin any chance she had by seeming too eager.

After she ate she sat down with a book. It was about ten o'clock when there was a knock at the door. She knew Sophie wouldn't be off work yet. Did Gabriel have her clock fixed already? She got up and looked out her peep hole. It was Alarric.

Catherine sighed and rolled her eyes. 'Why can't he just leave me alone?' She thought. He knocked again. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

"What do you want, Alarric?" she asked sharply.

He looked at her pleadingly. "I just want to talk to you."

"There is nothing left to talk about." She said looking down at him, rain dripping from his blond hair. That was one positive thing about Alarric, he wasn't insecure about being with a women that was taller than he was.

"Could I please come in?" He asked.

She stepped aside and opened the door wider to allow him inside. As he passed her she caught a whiff of alcohol. He'd been drinking. He was suppose to have been sober these days. Now she was worried.

"Don't get too comfortable, you're not staying long." She was annoyed. She walked out of the room and returned with a towel. He wiped his face and patted his hair with it. "Thanks."

He sat down on the sofa. Catherine stood with her arms crossed, glaring at him. He kicked his shoes off and propped his feet up on the trunk. He took in the image of her and Gabriel bringing in the trunk. He stored the information away in his mind.

"I just told you not to get too comfortable." She spat out.

He jumped to his feet and marched toward her. She grabbed her purse, pulled out her pepper spray and held it at arms length. "DON'T!" she yelled, "come any closer." She brought her voice back down. A drunk, angry Alarric was not a pleasant person to be around. She wished she hadn't let him in and made a mental note never too again, no matter how dripping wet and pathetic he might look.

He put his hands up, "I just want to talk."

"I don't." She snapped. "Now please leave, Alarric."

He didn't move.

"LEAVE!" she yelled.

Then he did.