She leaned against the door and felt tears stinging her eyes. Who does he think he is implying she was a bad mother? She pushed her hands against her eyes and took a breath. She already felt like one. For all she knew he wasn't implying anything she just took that jump. He was right, she wasn't going to win any mom of the year awards but she was doing her best these days and with Oliver's father resurfacing she was having a hell of a time getting everything in their lives to be okay. With her shoulders squared and her resolve in place she walked into her son's room to have a conversation about answering the door and about not stomping around. She wasn't a rude person, but her neighbor was pushing all the wrong buttons tonight. After her son was finally settled in she went back to the kitchen to make some meals for her brother to heat up in case they got hungry before she got home tomorrow. She wasn't sure what she was going to do when baseball season started for her brother because she would be losing her babysitter and her tutor for Oliver. Oliver was starting to show signs of being dyslexic and her brother being as smart as he was helped Oliver with it. She had him in a special after school program and it was helping too but he really thrived on the attention he was receiving from Nate and Nate had learned all he could about dyslexia to help Oliver in different learning styles. Nate would be an excellent teacher if he decided to do that. It was on his list. He would be the first of them to go to college and she was excited about it, that's why she really didn't want her neighbor to interfere. He was probably a great guy and maybe he did have a college degree but she wanted more than the working class for her baby brother. She sighed for what seemed like the millionth time, she was doing that a lot lately. It was hard to sit alone at the end of the day. She missed having adult conversations sometimes but her last relationship had ended horribly and her son had took the separation hard. That had been about 18 months ago and her son still missed the guy sometimes but he has slowly forgotten about Mark thankfully. She still thought about him from time to time and she missed having someone but she would never get over the betrayal of him not only having other women in their bed but of him also being married. They had been together for a year and he had shattered her heart and her self confidence in one blow. Not only that but also her sons heart. He was good with Oliver but when she asked if Mark still wanted to see Oliver he told her it was better they not continue any contact because he was married so he couldn't take Oliver to his house. Oliver didn't understand and there was no way to explain that Mark just wasn't the guy they thought he was so she stopped dating altogether. She was lonely sometimes but she usually just ignored it. It was better for Oliver this way. She was tired after the long day at work and she really wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep but her mind was occupied with thoughts of her neighbor and that annoyed her more than anything. He really was handsome. He was tall and muscled with dark hair and naturally tan skin. He had a killer smile with dimples and she wanted to swoon the moment he flashed it at her. His hands were huge and manly and she always admired that in a man, she remembered them on her hips and she shook her head. She needed to think other thoughts. When she finally passed out she was emotionally and physically exhausted.
Kiba had slept like hell but woke up at 6:30am to loud banging from the upstairs apartment. He wanted to scream as he remembered their conversation from last night. On one level he understood but on another he was in a lot of pain and extremely frustrated. He began cursing in his mother's language and talking to himself to calm himself. In his mother's house they spoke Japanese unless there were guests. He completely forgot his shirt as he stomped around his own apartment ready to give his neighbor a piece of his mind. Unfortunately he wasn't paying attention and walked out of his apartment without his keys. It hit him that he was wearing nothing but basketball shorts and his arm sling and that it was freezing in the hall right as the door closed. He placed his throbbing head against the door and wanted to bang his head against it. Instead he counted to 10 and then took a deep breath and counted again. He didn't even notice that she and her son had walked down until she touched his bare shoulder and a fire lit up in him at her touch. He turned around and rested his back on the door as he registered that she had asked him a question.
"I'm sorry what did you say?" He said and her look turned from worry to confusion.
"What?" She asked.
"I said I'm sorry what did you say?" He said again his frustration coming back to him.
"Oh um, sorry did you just speak another language? Because the first time you asked I'm like 100 percent sure that wasn't English. I asked if you were okay."
"Yeah, sorry I speak Japanese as well and occasionally in the morning or when I'm frustrated up it comes out." He said wincing as he tried to move and his shoulder throbbed.
She stared at the gauze on his shoulder and he found himself self-conscious. "You're bleeding." She said, "Let me look at it." She said stepping closer.
"Look, I'm not sure that's a good idea, I can handle this. I just have to figure out how to get back in my house. I gotta knock on Mrs. Scott's door and see if she's awake." He said slowly walking toward the neighbor's door that lived on the same floor as him.
"I know first aid and how to handle bandages on cuts." She replied knocking on Mrs. Scott's door for him.
"Not a cut." Kiba replied shortly.
"Really because it looks like a bandage for a cut to me." She replied hotly.
"Not a cut," Kiba bit his lip to keep from mouthing off at her and reminded himself that it's not every morning someone finds their neighbor in the hall bleeding through gauze. She's probably stressed. She has to be stressed right? No one is that annoying normally.
Mrs. Scott opened her door and studied the pair before she smiled. "I'm glad you guys have finally met, I just knew you two would hit it off. And Kiba dear do put some clothes on. It's indecent to be around the child that way."
"Mrs. Scott, I apologize, I accidently locked myself out of my apartment, do you still have my spare?" Mrs. Scott looked back and forth between him and his neighbor and smiled brightly like they had been together all night. Oh no, he thought, oh hell no.
"I do dearie," She said reaching inside for his key. He unlocked his apartment and grabbed his keys before returning the spare to his older neighbor.
He went to go back to his apartment but his other neighbors were in his way.
Kate studied the infuriating man in front of her and wanted to scream. She was trying to help him with redoing his bandage since he would obviously have a hard time doing it with his broken arm. She shook her head and decided it would be better if she just let him be miserable. He probably had a girlfriend that could do it for him anyway. Guys like that always had a girl waiting for them on the sidelines and with a body like his he probably had several. "I was just trying to help you, but forget it. We're running late anyway." She grabbed Oliver's hand as they left him standing there.
