The neighbor seemed nice enough. Although Charles had to admit that socializing was more Susan's job and now that she had left and was busy with her new, much more hip friends that he didn't give a damn about what any of them thought. It didn't seem to matter at the moment, the man seemed intent on speaking with him though and no matter how diligently Charles pretended to ignore him, he wasn't giving up. "Mr. Hunt," here he was, calling out to Charles again and he was already more than halfway up the sidewalk.
There seemed to be no way of getting out of it and Charles could feel his shoulders slope a bit, he had lost. The neighbors had won and he would have never guessed that it was Susan's knack for this type of things is one of the things that he missed the most about her. "Can I help you?" he barked at the neighbor. He didn't have to try to sound like he was really telling him to go to hell, for Charles Hunt, it just came naturally.
"Hey, I'm Doug Riley, we live next door," the man made a face, neither of them seemed to be sure how to navigate this and apparently it was something that Mrs. Riley couldn't handle. The man pointed at Charles' front door, "can I come in for a second?"
Nothing in Charles wanted to say yes. It was his Saturday, a day that he had come to look forward to in its tedium. He worked on the yard and did odd jobs around the house and although in the back of his mind, he knew that it was all in a vain attempt not to feel lonely, it didn't matter. Charles would be tired by seven thirty and fall asleep watching a movie on the couch. Another day in the rear view, another day closer to feeling normal again. Doug was disturbing his new routine but there was something about the desperate look on his face that made Charles ignore his instinct. "Sure," he waved at the neighbor and opened the screen door, inviting the man inside. Once he had closed the door behind them, Charles watched as Doug shoved his hands down into his pockets as if he were too nervous to trust himself not to fidget and he figured that an awkward conversation was coming. "What can I help you with?" he asked with a fake smile plastered across his face.
For all of his urgency, Doug didn't seem as if he knew exactly where to begin. He cleared his throat and coughed, then asked, "Ashton's your son, right?"
Charles nodded and didn't say a word. Ashton was a good kid so if this asshole came over here to give him grief about his son, Charles was going to end this even sooner than he had planned to.
Doug nodded to himself and made fists in his pockets, "well, you know that Ashton comes over occasionally. He helps me with the model car I've been building."
It wasn't a question and Charles didn't know that but rather than look like a shitty parent, he lied and told the neighbor, "yeah, of course, Ashton told me."
Doug blushed, "well, we talk a lot and I'm not really sure how it happened," the man couldn't look him in the eye and Charles felt his pulse throb at his temple. "I didn't think anything of it but, well, your son unzipped my pants and was touching my cock," after the confession, Charles watched as his neighbor gave him the most inappropriate grin.
Sounded like bullshit to Charles and he narrowed his eyes, he could feel the furrow in his brow as he regarded the neighbor. More likely that he was the one reaching into Ashton's jeans, "are you sure about this, Doug? There isn't something that you'd like to confess?" he muttered.
Doug took a step back, "no, sir. No, I'm not gay and I told Ashton that and when he put his hand down in my boxers and grabbed," Charles watched him struggle with repeating the word, "grabbed me, I walked away. I asked him not to come back to the house but I started thinking about it and I just wanted to clear the air with you."
Charles crossed his arms over his chest, "Ashton's an adult, so I don't know why you would need to tell me."
The neighbor looked immediately relieved and suddenly the reason that Doug was here was abundantly clear. He was worried that was even more inappropriate than he had thought and Charles wondered if the man didn't regret turning him down now, at least a little. "Jeez, look at me, making things worse," Doug took two steps backwards to the door, it was almost as if he couldn't get away fast enough, "I'm so sorry. I guess it was just, when he was touching me, he called me Daddy."
Now it was Charles' turn to blush. He closed the distance between them, reached for the door handle, turned it and gestured to the yard. "Well, I'm sure that it was all just a misunderstanding and I will make sure that you don't see Ashton again," watching him leave, Charles knew that he would have pushed Doug off of his doorstep if he thought the man would keep his mouth shut.