Being Watched.
I perform for and fall in love with my voyeur.
The floor to ceiling window on my first floor flat looks across a small communal garden to a fence beyond which there is a golf course. There's a row of trees and bushes covering most of the end of the garden with a gap of six feet or so through which I can see onto the course. It's a pleasant view with the rolling green fairways and in the distance a lake and more trees, poplars and silver birch, I think. Running along the other side of the fence on the golf course there's a footpath that's used mostly by ramblers and dog walkers.
One evening just as dusk was falling, I stood looking out of the window and a man with a dog appeared in the gap. He looked up the garden and at me. I looked back. He stood staring for a few moments and I moved backwards into the room. I poured myself a glass of white wine and returned to the window. He was still looking and saw me but made no indication or sign of greeting.
'Sod it,' I thought. 'Why should I move away, it's my view. Isn't it?'
He didn't move and we stared at each other for a few moments until his dog came bounding up and together, they moved away and out of sight.
I didn't think any more about it until three or four days later when it happened again. Once more it was dusk and I was looking out of the window with just a low wattage uplighter on in the far corner of the room from the window so, effectively, the light was behind me but as it was shining upwards it did not reflect onto the window and hamper my view but it probably made me more visible from the outside.
It was eerie. One moment I was looking through the gap across the golf course out to the lake and then the next there he was looking straight at me and I was looking at him. His sudden appearance startled me and made me jump, but I held my position and we stared at each other. He was of average height with brown hair and slim. Rather nondescript looking he did, though have an air of confidence no, more assurance about him though not arrogance or cockiness. How on earth I drew those conclusions at probably fifty or sixty feet I don't know? Probably they were more impressions than facts.
I guess we stared at each other for a couple of minutes when again I walked away from the window, across the room and poured a glass of wine. I toyed with switching the uplighter off but for some reason decided to keep it on knowing full well that it lit me up. I took the wine, red this time back to the window. He was still there. He raised his eyebrows and inclined his head slightly to his left, my right. I raised my glass and a slight smile formed on his lips.
When his dog, a golden retriever came ambling up to him a couple of minutes later, he raised his hand in a slight wave and was gone. I stood there for a few minutes trying to work out what was happening and coming to terms with my feelings that, I was amazed to realise included being mildly aroused.
The next evening, a Friday, I had been for a drink after work and was home later than usual. When I went to the window, he was already standing looking at the flats. He nodded when I appeared. I smiled and we stood looking at each other. As it was later and a little murkier, I realised the uplighter wasn't on so I went across the room, switched it on and returned to the window. He smiled and gave me a thumbs up, presumably for turning the light on. That made me feel good and I smiled. I felt more relaxed this time, he didn't seem to represent a threat and indeed, seemed to be a nicely turned out reasonably good-looking man. Probably about my age, forty-five, he looked to be the sort of guy I would drink with at the pub or go to watch football with, maybe even sleep with. I did my usual wine trick and he smiled broadly when I returned to the window with the half full glass. Lifting his hand up as though holding a glass he toasted me; I returned that and he leaned forward in a slight bow. We stood looking at each other for a few moments and then his dog ran up, he waved, turned and was gone.
I went to the kitchen to prepare a meal thinking about him. I couldn't get him out of my mind but couldn't understand why I couldn't. I was feeling rather tingly, a little bit like one does with a potential lover as the anticipation of what might happen gets to you. But nothing was going to happen, was it?
I was out Saturday evening and he didn't appear on the Sunday, obviously having different dog walking habits at weekends. That made me think that he probably did a dog walk when he got home from work and that made me try to work out why? Most dogs get walked in the mornings or late evenings. The conclusion I came to was that he lived alone with the dog so no partner. For some reason that made me feel good.
My expectations on the Monday evening were higher than usual. I wore a pair of blue jeans, rather tight all round and a white tee-shirt outside the jeans instead of the usual work trousers and white dress shirt. Going to the window a little earlier than usual my heart pounded when he was waiting for me and I smiled to myself as I had washed my hair just as if I were going on a date with him. He gave me a big smile and raised his hand in greeting. I smiled back and also waved. After a couple of minutes, I got the wine and we toasted each other.