by BrettJ © 2011
Troy Kurtis found that he was settling in very nicely at 1164 Morning Glory Circle. Having lived in New York for most of his life, the young advertising executive found that he didn't mind leaving the rat race behind when he went home. The only downside was going home to an empty home. He hadn't planned it that way when he bought the 4-bedroom home, but his girls had opted to stay in New York with their mother. Given all the acrimony between himself and Samantha, he would have thought the girls would have wanted a fresh start, but they were both children of the city. Both girls offered to visit as often as they were able.
He had been out of the dating scene for over 2 decades, having married the second girl he had ever gone out with. Samantha and he had made an instant connection, it was almost like magic. Now she was moving on with her life and Troy knew that he would have to do the same. There was only one problem with that – he had no idea of how to do that.
He supposed that he could go to bars or dances that were geared in the direction of older singles, but neither of those ideas appealed to him. He didn't have the gift of gab, he didn't drink and he was a terrible dancer. Troy wanted companionship and he wanted sex. It had been a long time since he'd been with anyone and Samantha's interest regarding anything sexual had waned greatly over the past 5 years.
Troy supposed there was always the option of hiring a call girl, but he thought perhaps he should wait a while longer and see if he met someone. Weigh his options and see which way the wind was blowing.
Troy poured himself a cup of coffee and saw outside his front window that someone was moving into the house across the street. It was one of the smaller homes on the block and Troy had considered purchasing it himself, as he didn't need a larger home. It would be a perfect "starter" home for a young couple, he had thought, but it didn't have a room large enough for him to set up his home office.
He looked across the street and saw a petite young woman who appeared to be no more than 18 years old. She was struggling to help the movers and was lugging in smaller objects. The girl was rather pretty and Troy assumed she was the daughter of the people that had bought the place.
Just as he was about to go over and offer his services, Troy saw the moving van pull away. Okay, so he couldn't help with the moving, but perhaps he could help with the unpacking or perhaps invite his new neighbors over to dinner. He went upstairs to shower and make himself presentable before going across the street to introduce himself.
It would be nice to have a new neighbor – he hadn't been able to become friendly with the people on the other side of him, the husband was a lump and the wife was an old busy-body. As he walked across the street, a random thought flitted through Troy's mind – perhaps the new neighbor might be an attractive single mom raising her daughter? These days, you never knew about things like that. Judging from the age of the girl he had seen, the mother would probably be close to his own 46 years. The daughter was cute, she appeared to be Asian or Hawaiian – he liked that type of woman – so his spirits were lifted a little as he neared the front door. He knocked on the door and the pretty young girl he had seen earlier answered. She was wearing snug denim shorts that looked like she had been poured into them and white crop top. "Hi," He smiled at her. "I came over to introduce myself; I'm Troy Kurtis, your neighbor across the street. Are your parents around?"
She smiled and giggled slightly. "No, they're back in San Francisco," She smiled, holding out her tiny hand. "I'm Kaila Kim, this is my home."
"Your home?" Troy said, the confusion in his voice showing on his face as well.
"Yeah, I made out pretty well in the divorce," Kaila said. Her voice was soft and melodic, like the tinkling of wind chimes. "So new neighbor, what can I do for you?"
Troy was finding it hard to believe that this pretty young thing had been married and divorced already, but he continued on. "I came over to introduce myself and see if you needed any help unpacking or if you'd like to come over to dinner tonight," He smiled.
"I've got a lot of the unpacking done, but dinner sounds heavenly," Kaila smiled. "Please come in, don't mind the mess. Actually, there is one thing you could do – do you know how to make coffee?"
"Sure," He chuckled. "Why?"
"I can't make coffee that's drinkable, would you like to come in and have coffee – but you make it?" She smiled. She had a lovely smile, sunny and warm.
"Sure, I think I can manage that," Troy smiled back. He went into the house and made the coffee, showing her how much coffee to measure and how much water to use. "Cold water is best, the colder the better," He told her as she watched.
They sat down and talked. He learned that Kaila was of Thai ancestry, that her family had come from Thailand when she was 3 and they lived in San Francisco. She had married young to a musician her parents didn't like much. "Usual story, I didn't listen, young love, they were 100% right," Kaila sighed. "Fortunately for me, he's doing very well as a sessions artist," She told Troy. "I got half of his money in the divorce and as real estate here is a lot lower than in San Fran, I was able to afford this place. What's your story, Troy?"
He normally wouldn't have bothered telling his story, but something about the pretty girl made him comfortable enough to relate his story. He told her about Samantha and the girls and she seemed to be paying close attention. "Someone let you get away?" Kaila asked. "Is she nuts, if I had a hunk like you in my life, we'd never get out of bed."
He almost choked on his coffee and Kaila giggled once again. "Sorry, I'm always doing stuff like that. My mother says I need a 'censor' button or something like it. But you are a good-looking man, Troy – that's the truth," Kaila complimented him.
"Thank you for that compliment," Troy said. "You make an old man feel good."
"Oh, stop that," Kaila smiled, squeezing his hand. "You're not old, you're seasoned and there isn't an ounce of fat on you. Any woman would be happy to be involved with someone as good-looking as you."
