The Neighbor

Can you come over and look at my sink?

Theo read over the text message and frowned. He wasn’t exactly in the mood to play handyman today. He had things of his own to worry about. Like talking to his girlfriend about what happened yesterday.

Sure, I can take a look tomorrow, he replied, even though he really just felt like saying no.

Can you come over now? Please? It’s leaking so bad every time I run it!

Theo checked his phone and now he let out a sigh.

“Really, Manda?”

He felt an even stronger urge to tell her no, but he couldn’t find it in his heart to do so. It was hard to be mean to her. Manda was his next door neighbor. She lived alone, and she was kind enough to catsit for him while he was away on his frequent business trips, so he returned the favor by helping her around her house now and then.

He supposed he wasn’t busy at the moment. It was early on a Saturday and he hoped to see Gianna tonight, but he hadn’t even spoken with her yet today. Was she thinking about her big decision? He knew he needed to be patient but patience was hard.

He could always give her a call after he checked out Manda’s sink. It hopefully wouldn’t take too long. Sometimes she asked him over to help with such easy things, so maybe this would be an easy fix too. If not, maybe they could at least get it manageable until tomorrow. He really wanted to give his time to Gianna today instead.

He texted her back a simple, Ok.

When he made his way over to her house, she was quick to answer the door. His eyes went from her smiling face to her cleavage. He couldn’t help himself. Her boobs were huge and they always distracted him. Especially when she was wearing a low cut shirt, like she was now.

Manda was a big girl. She was tall for a woman, only a few inches shorter than him, and she was on the chunky side. She wasn’t at all the type he was attracted to. He liked skinny girls, with athletic builds or fake chests. Girls like his Gianna. She was physical perfection. Manda was… well, she was just his neighbor friend. With nice boobs. Yeah, he was a dog. He never even tried to deny it.

“Thanks so much for coming over,” said Manda. She didn’t greet him as brightly as she normally would. She smiled, sure, but it was a smaller smile than he was used to. She was always so friendly and so happy to see him. That leak must be worse than he was expecting, if it was troubling her that badly.

“No problem. You know I love to help you when I can,” Theo replied, flashing her one of his award-winning grins. That seemed to perk her up. Her closed lip smile spread wider, and her eyes lit up in that way they always did when he would say something flirty to her. “Now where’s this sink?”

“Oh, um, it’s in the bathroom. Come on, I’ll show you.” Her smile went away as she closed her front door behind him. He followed her as she led the way to her ground floor bathroom. She stopped at the door and seemed to hesitate. She looked at the sink, then at him, before she stepped aside. She stood beside the door, to let him go in and have a look. It was a half bath, only a toilet and sink, and there wasn’t room for them both. The cabinet beneath the sink was already open.

“If you look underneath… The drain pipe is what’s leaking,” she said, pointing. Theo squatted to take a look. She had a bowl beneath the pipe, catching the stray water. He briefly turned on the faucet to have a look for himself. Sure enough, half the water seemed to spill from where the trap connected to the pipe above.

“Hmm. I think this might just need tightened.” Theo fiddled with the pipe and, sure enough, it felt loose. How in the world did that even happen?

“Oh… Really? Are you sure?” Manda asked. “Well, I already brought some tools out. There. If you wouldn’t mind fixing it.”

She pointed again, even though it wasn’t needed, he could see the tools sitting on the closed toilet.

“Yeah, of course. That’s what I’m here for, isn’t it?” He grinned at her again, and he could’ve sworn he saw her cheeks flush.

She left him alone, and like he thought, the pipe only needed tightened. It was so loose that it was a wonder it hadn’t fallen off. He worried there might be something broken with it. But as he tightened it up, it seemed to be just fine. He ran the water again and there was no leak at all. Well, thank goodness it was a quick fix! That made him feel better about coming over. He saved the day for Manda and didn’t have to give up his own day either.

He closed the cabinet and straightened up, when the mirror above the sink caught his eye. He smirked at his reflection, and ran the tips of his fingers through the front of his hair. He was looking pretty fine today, wasn’t he? Maybe this was a good day. Maybe everything would roll his way.

“You’re all set. I don’t think that sink’s gonna leak again,” Theo announced as he came to find her in the kitchen. He spoke with pride as if he had actually accomplished something.

“That was so quick! Are you sure it’s good now?” asked Manda. Theo grinned as he nodded.

“Yeah, definitely,” he said. He was about to take his leave, but then he noticed what she was doing. It looked like she was preparing sandwiches. That didn’t surprise him. She had a tendency to feed him when he’d come over to help her with things. And it was about lunch time now.

“Well thank you. I was hoping to have these sandwiches done before you came out. You’ll stay for lunch, won’t you?” Manda sounded so hopeful, he could hardly refuse. This time, he didn’t even want to refuse.

“You don’t owe me anything for just tightening a pipe, but sure, I’ll take a sandwich.”

Manda didn’t smile the way he thought she would at his agreement. She usually got all bright when he would stay for food. She still looked as if something was troubling her.

“Great. You, uh, you can just sit down. I’m almost done.”

He didn’t ask what was on her mind. He just did as she said and took a seat at her dining table. He checked his phone and, for just a moment, he felt excited to see he had a new text. Except it wasn’t from Gianna. It was from his business partner. Confirming their trip for next week was on. Oh…

It wasn’t the best time for him to be heading out of town. He hated this feeling of things being up in the air with Gianna. Why had she refused him? What was she thinking? She said she needed time. That she wasn’t sure. But why not?

“Hey, so… I know I took my spare key back from you,” Theo began, putting his phone down to look over at Manda. “But would you mind watching Max again for me next week?”

He felt stupid asking. He got his house key back from Manda because he didn’t think he’d need her to watch his cat anymore. He planned to ask Gianna to move in with him. He planned for her to say yes. When he asked her yesterday, her uncertainty had come like a slap in the face. She was the one who wanted to be exclusive, after all. Their relationship had gotten serious, thanks to her, and she was suddenly going to pull back?

Now here he was, needing Manda’s help again. He had been so damn confident when he got his key back from her. So sure that Gianna would be thrilled that he was taking the initiative to take the next step with them. It was hard to believe how wrong he had been.

Manda seemed surprised. She turned from the counter to look at him. “Your girlfriend isn’t moving in with you?”

“I didn’t ask her yet,” Theo lied. He wasn’t about to embarrass himself in front of Manda. “And this trip came up kind of suddenly. Do you mind?”

“No, of course not. I’ll do anything for you,” she replied.

She quickly turned back to the sandwiches, but her words caught him off guard. She’d do anything for him? He knew she had a crush on him. He liked her crush. He purposely flirted with her sometimes, just to see her reaction. But she always tried to be subtle about it. Something about that felt more direct than she usually dared.

He decided not to touch that. He said nothing and just sent a reply to his business partner, agreeing he’d be on the road for that trip come Monday morning.

Manda caught his attention when she was opening the fridge and getting out a bowl of something. Was she planning to give him some full spread of a meal? He really didn’t need all that. Especially when he hadn’t actually done any work. Besides, he needed to get going.

“Oh, the sandwich is more than enough, Manda.”

She paused, bowl in hand, looking almost panicked when she looked over at him. What was that about?

“But… um, I made some macaroni salad. The kind that you really liked,” she said.

“Okay, fine, you won me over.” Theo grinned. He did like her macaroni salad. And, again, it was just hard to be mean to her. He didn’t want to crush her. She looked relieved and went back to what she was doing. She spooned a hefty serving of salad onto a plate next to a sandwich, and brought it over to him. She brought her own plate too, which had only a sandwich.

“This looks great. You’re not having any of this delicious macaroni salad?” He asked, flattering her the way he often did.

“I’m not really in the mood… I just made it for you,” she said, and she seemed anxious. Was she crushing on him extra hard today or something? Maybe he shouldn’t have stayed for lunch.

“Oh, well thanks.” He didn’t really know what else to say.

Theo started with his sandwich, and Manda went to fetch them drinks. She got a napkin and a fork for him as well. Then she sat down to eat her own sandwich. She picked it up, but didn’t immediately take a bite. She stared at him a moment, as if in thought.

“So… where are you going this time? For your trip?” She finally took a bite and chewed it slowly. Theo was finishing off his sandwich by then. He had to swallow down his bite to answer her.

“Pennsylvania. Probably Monday through Thursday.” Theo reached for his drink as he answered her.

“Okay. I’ll take really good care of Max,” Manda said. He didn’t doubt that at all. She had three cats of her own, and she loved his Max. He knew his cat was being left in good hands.

“I know you will,” he said back to her with a smile. Never mind that he was hoping Gianna would catsit for him this time. It would feel too awkward to ask her, when she gave him that iffy answer about moving in with him.

Manda didn’t say anything more. She seemed to be staring at him again, as he picked up his fork and started on the macaroni salad. He worked on it fast, just as he had eaten the sandwich fast. Of course, it did taste as good as it always did. If he was a man to be won over by food, that would’ve done it.

“Damn, I love this,” he laughed through his bites. Manda didn’t laugh along with him the way she usually would.

“Do you want some more? I made plenty.”

Theo shook his head. “Nah, this is fine. It’s really good, though.”

Manda put her sandwich down. Theo finished off the macaroni salad and was washing it down with his soda when he started to feel… a bit lightheaded. Huh. He put his drink down and closed his eyes for a moment. He thought the feeling would pass. Except it didn’t. It got stronger. He was definitely feeling something weird.

“Whoa, I just got dizzy for some reason,” he told Manda, touching a hand to the side of his head. What the hell? Was this a migraine or something? He wasn’t prone to migraines. He was fit as a fiddle and took pride in how healthy he was. This was unusual. Very unusual. Now he was feeling tired.

“You know, I think maybe I should go lie down. Thanks for lunch.” He moved to stand up and his world was sent spinning. His eyes went wide as his legs were suddenly too weak to support him.

Manda was up in an instant. She grabbed him, to help him from falling.

“Somessing’s really not right…” he slurred. Panic was filling him now. What was wrong with him?! Was he having a stroke or something?!

“Shh. Shh, it’s okay.” Manda cooed in a comforting tone. With her arms around him, she lowered him to the ground. She sank to her knees and held him in her lap.

“Manda, wha the fuu…” Theo’s words came out more of a mess. His thoughts were making less and less sense. He was so very tired…

Before he knew what happened, he slipped completely out of consciousness.

“It’s okay, Theo. I’ll take care of you… I’ll take care of you forever.”