Okay, folks, it's almost finished. Here's the last two 'witnesses'. There'll be one, maybe two more parts and it'll be over and you'll know what this is all about. Hopefully before the New Year! Thanks to never2L8, Katerina and Sarah for taking time to review the last chapter at such a busy time of year. Diane, thank you for your excellent beta-ing!

Merry Christmas!

Nobody's Business

What the Neighbours Thought
By: Mariel

The Woman Next Door...

Sure I've got a minute. I make it my business to know all the tenants. What do you need to know about her? When she moved in next door, Samantha was new to the area and just starting a new job, so I took her under my wing. I've lived here for almost thirty years, you see, so there isn't much about this building and the neighbourhood I don't know. I made sure she knew where to take her dry cleaning, where the best places to buy groceries were, and when she could find a free washing machine in the laundry room. I let her know about the noisy parties on long weekends upstairs in 510 and about the cat that isn't allowed that lives in apartment 412. I made sure to warn her about being alone in the elevator with that crazy old Mr. Bateman in 420, too.

Well, I don't see her all that much these days. I tried to be friendly when she first moved in and invited her for a cup of coffee a few times. She was reluctant to say much at first - shy, I thought at the time - but the right questions will get anyone to talk. We mainly spoke about her work, vacations, and things like that. She didn't know much about the neighbours, of course, so I filled her in - you should know about the people you share a building with, right?

She didn't talk much about herself, but the Agent Malone you're asking about? Let me tell you, that was one name I heard a lot when she talked about work! The look in her eye when she said it was hard to miss, too.

She started dragging him home with her about a year, year and a half after she moved in. After seeing the way she talked about him, I certainly wasn't surprised. And I can't say as they were all that discreet, considering what they were doing! They were bound to be found out, though I must say this seems a bit late in the day for you people to be running around asking about them - makes me feel a little nervous about national security, if it takes you this long to figure out what's going on right in front of you!

..But, as I was saying, I'm perceptive, and I remember a red flag went up in my mind as soon as she started talking about him! It wouldn't have been polite to say anything, of course. Not then.Young people live their lives by different rules these days, and Samantha Spade is certainly no different! I mean really - she talked about two different vacations she took with completely different men! Imagine a young woman sleeping with a man, then deciding no, he's not the one, and moving on to another as though she was just trying on a different style of sweater! In my day, we decided a man was 'The One' first - and only the loose ones slept with him before they had a wedding ring wrapped around their finger!

But Samantha? Come to find out, she didn't just sleep around. She took her loose morals one step further. The Jack Malone she was so worked up over, the man she started bringing home...he was married! Can you believe it? Well, maybe you already know that, but it took me a while to get that out of her - that and the fact that he has two daughters - but I did. Good thing I found out those little details before she started bringing him home, because once that started, she stopped talking, and there was no way she'd have told me anything.

I have no idea what she was thinking. And that's just what I told my Frank - he's my husband, and a better man you could never hope to find, now that he's learned to think about the needs of others instead of thinking about himself, and learned to listen instead of spouting his opinion on things all over the place. Anyways, I told him I had no idea what she was thinking and we both agreed that it was bound to come to no good.

It's only common sense that would tell you no woman should get herself involved with a married man. She was infatuated with him, though. And wouldn't have listened to a word I said against it, even if I'd tried to tell her. Young people these days lack moral fibre. They don't care about what's right and wrong, you know, and they can't stand not to have just what they want when they want it. They never think about how other people will feel. All they care about is what they want.

And Samantha Spade wanted Jack Malone. You could see it as plain as day. I suppose it would have come to nothing if he hadn't wanted her, too, but it turned out he did, so nothing else mattered to either of them.

Selfishness, that's what it was, just plain selfishness.

And he should have known better, a man his age! It was shocking.

Once I figured what was going on, I paid better attention to her comings and goings. People ask, you see, so I had to keep an eye open. I saw them come here together, heard his voice in her apartment. They didn't do much drinking over there - she hardly ever has more than a wine bottle or two in her recycling - and there weren't any parties or loud music or anything, but you and I both know that whatever they were doing sure wasn't anything he discussed with his wife when he went home!

I just don't know what the world is coming to. Why would a woman put herself in that situation?

But what exactly is it you want to know? I don't understand why it's taken you people so long to figure out there was something going on. They say 'better late than never', but this may be carrying it to an extreme. He's hasn't been to her place for a couple years or more. What's so important that you're asking around about it now? God help us if you people always take this long to find things out and do something about it.

Was he there often? I'll say he was! Three or four times a week, at least! And as often as not, all night. He was even there all day on a few weekends. Heaven knows how he explained THAT to his wife! But he hasn't been around for a long, long time. He dropped her, obviously. And she hasn't taken up with anyone else to take note of. The occasional guy, but they never last long.

I must admit I sometimes wonder what happened to the Malone man. If his wife's smart, she found out, took him to divorce court, and sucked him dry! As far as Samantha is concerned, I'm afraid that young woman got dumped just the way she deserved. Hopefully she learned something from the experience!

The Neighbour Across the Hall...

Do I know her? 'Course I do! Samantha Spade lives right there across the hall!

Why, sure! We've lived across from each other for goin' on five or six years now - ever since she moved in. I think that was back in '98 or '99. But honey, if you've got a bunch of questions, and if this is goin' t'take long, it'll be better if we go in and sit. D'ya mind?...

Yes, she's a nice young woman. It's been good t'have her as a neigbour. Most folk see my age, my cane, and how slow I move and give me wide berth, like they think my mind is maybe as slow as my legs! Samantha laughed when I told her that, and said my mind and my mouth are as quick as anyone can handle. I like to think she's right, but that doesn't stop people from pretendin' I'm not there. Now Samantha, she was never one to just walk by if she saw I was havin' trouble.And she comes in and waters my plants when I visit my daughter down in Miami, too! Y'all might think that's a common thing, but it ain't anymore, not nowadays, with things the way they are. I don't see her much, though. She's got herself a very demandin' job. She works for the F.B.I.... though I suppose you know that...

Have I seen her with this man? Gosh, that's the biggest picture you could find? I'm sorry, I need my glasses. Hold on - would y'all mind gettin' up and gettin' them for me? They're over there - right by the lamp...Thank you!

...Oh, why that's Jack.... Malone, I think his last name is! Why're you asking?

Sure, I've seen them together.

A relationship? No offense, my dear, but what are you tryin' to say? Far's I know, they work with each other every day. It'd be hard not to have a relationship of some sort.

Now, now...y'all don't have to remind me who you work for! I'm not likely to forget, and I won't lie - but I can't say I see the point in where your questions are goin'. They're gettin' a bit personal, aren't they?

Well, yes, I can see that if it's against the rules, they shouldn't have somethin' goin' like that, but-

Yeah, I knew he's her boss. She mentioned it at some point, I guess.

....Of course. I told y'all I wouldn't lie! So yes, if you put it that way, most likely they was "havin' a personal relationship outside of work".

What? What did I think? I don't see how that's relevant, but to be honest, I can't say I paid much mind! I guess I was happy because she was. Worried about her choice, but hey, stranger things have been known to work out, right? Life's short, in case you haven't noticed, and I didn't know all the circumstances behind how they got together. I gave up tryin' to predict people's actions a long time ago! Besides, people will do what they need to do. Office romances are common, ain't they? Can't says they're a good idea, mind you...

'Course I know he was married - I saw the ring on his finger! That was a bit of honesty that surprised me. Men usually take it off, even if the woman they're with knows damned well they have one. But unless you're part of some new morality squad, I don't see how married or not makes any difference to you. I thought you were dealin' with them breakin' a rule at work ...And you sure that's a real rule? I c'n see how it might make sense, but still....must be right hard for people to always follow....

What? Did I notice any change in her once things got started? Well, hell yes! 'Course there was a change in her! Honey, a woman in love is always different! There was a change in her straight away. I'd have known somethin' was going on even if I hadn't seen them together! There's a way a woman looks when she's in love and then there's a way she looks when she discovers she's loved back. Honey, Samantha Spade had that look. She seemed settled, more sure of herself, too, though I don't know how, considerin' the precariousness of her relationship.

What? Nervous? Afraid? No. Where on earth would you get an idea like that?! She's not the kind of girl to let a man get away with that sort of thing! Of course she wasn't afraid of him - or of losin' her job, either! I'm sorry, what they was doing was maybe wrong, but there wasn't any forcin' her goin' on. Remember, I was here when it first started. We didn't see each other a lot, but the few times Samantha and me met up in the laundry room at the same time, she'd stay to help me out and we'd talk. It was right clear she cared for someone she worked with. It didn't take long to figure out who. I think she maybe liked talking to someone who just listened and wasn't involved. She fell for this Jack fellow a long time before the affair began, and I'm afraid startin' it was just as much her decision as his! Let me tell you - if she'da felt she was being forced into anything, she'da been first in line at the complaints department. Or maybe had herself transferred - you can do that can't you? Or maybe she'd just as soon shot him in the foot and told him to smarten up! She's not a girl to suffer fools easily, I wouldn't expect.

Well, yeah, you've got a point there. I suppose she was rather a fool for him. But usin' that same line of logic, he must have been the same for her, when you think on it - he risked losin' his job, his wife, and his family over her. Y'all seem to forget there might have been real emotion there. I'll grant you they shouldn'ta been doin' what they were doin' - the both of them ought to have known better. I mean, think of the wife and children. It had to have hurt them bad...I threw my husband out for havin' an affair, so I know how bein' cheated on feels. It took me years to get rid of the hurt.

And longer still to get rid of the anger.

I beg your pardon? Oh. No. I'll tell you somethin' from this side of a long life: my ex is still with that woman, and it's been thirty years or more. But the way they went about things was all wrong. What they did to me and the kids was wrong. As soon as they knew what was happenin', they shoulda had the decency to let us know. You finish one relationship before you start another. It's the right thing to do. The fair thing to do. Ray always said he fell for Sheila before he could even try to stop it. That might be all well and good, but it sure didn't make me feel any better, I can tell you! They carried on for a year or better before I finally found out and sent Ray packin'. All his talk about tryin' t'keep the family together and not wantin' t'hurt me didn't count for nothin'. Families gotta be based on truth, not lies. If he wasn't gonna try to fix whatever problem he thought we had, he shoulda just left in the first place, not found someone on the side. But it did teach me that sometimes stuff just happens. And even mad as I was at him, I knew Ray wasn't a bad person. Short-sighted and thoughtless, perhaps. Selfish and-

I'm sorry. I do go on sometimes!...But what I'm tryin' t'say is that sometimes nice people - people who would give you the shirt off their backs, who would open the door for you and carry your groceries for you and remember your birthday and your favourite dessert - those very same people can do some not very nice things to others in the name of love. I can't explain it. They just do it. It's like their emotions erase all their common sense, all their regard for others.

And I have no idea what got me off onto that little tangent! But I can tell you that my guess is that neither Samantha nor her Jack Malone was thinkin' about how what they was doin' affected anyone else. They was too wrapped up in what was goin' on between them. The hurt they likely caused wasn't intentional. Doesn't lesson the hurt, mind you, but it's still true..

Jack? No, all's I know is that he's the one who came here. He was the one she was crazy about. It was a secret they managed to keep for a long time, I guess, if it's taken you people this long to come 'round askin' about it. I gotta say it's strange you're even botherin' now.

Yeah, I'm sure it's been years. Two, at least.

No, he doesn't come here anymore. I'm sure I'd've heard them in the hallway or met them at some point. When he came here regularly - I'm sure you've heard that he came three or four times a week - I only saw them once in a while. It's not as though I have the time or the interest to stand by the door in case someone goes by! But I did see them together occasionally when they were seein' each other. I haven't seen hide nor hair of him in years, now, though. She's talked about a couple different men since then, but I've never met them or seen them. She's certainly never had anyone steady.

Am I sure? Young man, I may be old, but I'm not senile. 'Course I'm sure.

Why did it end? Heavens, I'm sure I don't know. My guess is, his wife found out and he smartened up. Men almost always get smarter once their wives find out about their stupidity. He probably decided it was best to stay with his wife and kids. You can't have everything in life, right?

Her? I can't rightly say. I don't push. She's got used to bein' alone the same as I did after Ray left, but it must have been harder f'her, 'cause I don't think it was her that ended it. It must be hard, too, because she sees him every day.

Over? Well, they ain't sleepin' together anymore, but I'm not sure she's over him. If she was, she'd be seeing someone else by now, wouldn't she? She was shot a while back, you know. I went over to visit and she told me what happened - about how Jack walked right in there and took her out. She had tears in her eyes when she told the story. Him doin' that made me wonder if he's maybe not over her, either, and that's why she hasn't been able to move on. They were kinda good together, from what I could see.

I've been hopin' she'd find herself someone else. Someone younger, maybe, someone without a history or ties to make the relationship so hard. Someone to take her out and make her laugh. You know - someone suitable, unattached.

No. That's all I know. I don't know much about Jack. I'm sorry. But you can believe me when I say he doesn't come here anymore - and hasn't been here for a long time. I hope he's with his wife now and looking after her and his children.

I feel badly for Samantha, though. Being alone is awful, and it's even worse when you're young.

It's too bad, really. She deserves to be happy. They both do. Everyone does, I think.... but sometimes it just doesn't work out that way.

End
The Neighbour Across the Hall