Chapter 5: Enter, Mr Dale
It was only early Monday morning when the residents of Appleby Street realised they had a new neighbour. The 'For Sale' sign was gone, and the kitchen light was on.
The residents of Appleby Street were known for their kindness, and most always made welcome dishes.
Yes, every last person in Appleby Street loved to be noticed and respected. So when someone new moved in, they would greet him or her and make them feel at home.
The Jones family always brought a basket of Blueberry muffins. It was their trademark. People far and wide knew about Ellie Jones's delicious, blueberry muffins. And as Ben Jones walked into his kitchen, the smell of blueberry muffins filtered through his nostrils and he saw his wife, Ellie, smiling kindly, with a gift basket of muffins in her arms.
The Bourne family always brought over a curry. Amy was as famous as her neighbour, Ellie, when it came to cooking. But where-as Ellie, who stuck to desert and food from packets, Amy loved to make a curry and most of her other meals, from scratch.
Matt stumbled down the stairs, wondering why he could smell something cooking at seven in the morning. There stood Amy, looking well presented, with a curry dish in her hands.
The Gates family always brought a loaf of bread. It wasn't their own work but they didn't care. It was a kind gesture, if rather lame compared to the two aforementioned welcome baskets. But nobody would deliver the Gate's loaf of bread to Mr Dale, as Charlene was at Amy's and her daughter Erin was no where to be found…
The Wilkinson's were the most known for their welcome baskets. Terri Wilkinson used to make a small picnic for a new-comer. There would be her Jam sandwiches, several packets of low-fat crisps, a few cookies she baked and an apple or an orange. But today, Mr Dale would have to survive without these luxuries, as Terri Wilkinson dozed on in her coma, greeting the neighbours was the last thing on Brad's mind.
The Smith family never gave anything away because Sam threatened to kill Florence is she showed a morsel of hospitality. He didn't like the idea of her chatting to other people, especially other men. But as Sam still slept on, Florence had made a basket of fruit and a piece of paper, with some places to visit scribbled on hurriedly. And Mrs. Smith decided she was going to pay her neighbour a visit.
Emily Thomas may have not been known her cooking, but she quickly whipped up a fresh salad. Maybe this mysterious man would also fall in love with her. So Emily Thomas, still wearing her translucent dressing gown, marched out into the street to greet Mr. Dale.
But Mrs. Gardener's house was empty. It was quiet, and not a single light was on. It seemed the busy body wasn't awake or didn't care about the new neighbour. Or maybe, just maybe, she knew the truth behind Mr. Dale…
Ben and his wife Ellie arrived first. Ellie looked at her house, worriedly.
"What's wrong, Ellie?" Ben asked impatiently as they crossed the road to number 14.
"I'm worried about the children," she said quietly.
"They're all sleeping, Ell. We'll be back in five minutes anyway," Ben reasoned with his wife.
"But still, there is a murderer on the loose." Ellie Jones looked as if the murderer could jump out any second.
"They'll be fine" Ben assured her, as they rang the doorbell.
Mr Dale opened the door. "Hello?" Ellie almost melted. He was gorgeous.
"Hi." she said, breathlessly.
"Hello. I'm Ben, and this is my wife, Ellie. Welcome to the neighbourhood" Ben thrust the basket at him. "It's nice to meet you, Mr…?"
"Dale.
Mr. Dale. But call me Andrew." he said.
"Sure," Ellie said,
flirtatiously.
Mr Dale smiled, and closed the door.
Ben marched his wife back over to their house. "You're married, remember?" he reminded her.
"I know, I know." Ellie replied grumpily.
"I wonder why he moved in here…" Ben wondered, looking back at the Dale residence, wondering who he was.
---
After the serenade of many people bestowing their welcome gifts to Andrew Dale, their lives went back to those of the normal, dependable suburbia.
---
Matt Bourne was sat in his front garden; trying to sleep off the hangover he had from last night, when an irritating buzzing noise woke him.
Mr Wilkinson was mowing his lawn. Mrs. Wilkinson's prize-winning lawn was being slashed to ribbons and cut to only a few millimetres short. Matt recognized the look on Brad's face; it was anger. And only then did Matt suspect Brad wasn't what he seemed.
---
Ellie and Amy sat in Ellie's conservatory. Ben had taken their kids to the park and Matt was sleeping, so Ellie and Amy had decided to opt for a girly day in. After painting each other's nails in interesting designs: Amy's were purple with swirls and hearts and Ellie's were blue with silver stars, the two sat and gossiped, waiting for their nails to dry.
"Ellie, you are my best friend, so I can trust you completely, can't I?"
"Sure, honey" Ellie sat blowing at the nails on her right hand.
"Ellie. I'm pregnant!" Amy said, excitedly, and the two burst out shrieking.
"Oh, that's wonderful." Ellie said. "Oh, this is lovely. You'll love it. Ben and I were overwhelmed when we had baby Charlie. Three is just the perfect number."
Amy smiled in agreement. "Yes. Yes it is,"
"So, what else is new?" Ellie asked, with a large grin on her face.
"Oh, well, I'm looking after poor Charlene Gates. She was attacked by her ex-boyfriend so I guess she's sleeping off the trauma, so to say,"
---
Charlene Gates was not sleeping off her trauma, as Amy Bourne had predicted. She was stalking about, looking around Amy's bedroom.
Charlene looked at some perfume that belonged to Amy and decided to spray herself with it. It smelt of Pink Lacoste and Charlene loved it. Miss Gates proceeded to look through Amy's drawers, to see if there was anything of value. There was a beautiful silver necklace, with an opal inserted in it, which Matt had bought for her. So Charlene took it. She had to be like Amy. She just had to.
---
Sam woke later that day. His wife was in the kitchen, washing the dishes from breakfast and Bobby was upstairs. Sam sauntered over to his wife and kissed her. Florence smiled, but then something changed. Sam stepped away from her. "You smell of another man," he snapped.
"No I don't, honey" Florence panicked.
"Yes you do! You slut" and Sam smacked her across the face. Florence collapsed in a heap on the floor and whimpered.
"I only went to visit the neighbours…" she protested.
"Liar!" Sam bellowed kicking her in the stomach.
Florence sobbed and sobbed.
"You tart. You're never leaving the house again!" Sam roared.
Love makes us do extraordinary things. We go to such lengths for love, that all else seems irrelevant. But love leads to marriage, and marriage mostly ends up with children, who fall in love. The journey of love isn't always so smooth though. There are some people who take us for a roller coaster ride of emotions. And there are some people who don't love us for being us. Yes, love is important, and it is a virtue needed in the person you love. You can always love someone, but you can't always expect love back.