The New Neighbor (Closed)

[MidnightWalk]

I leaned on the porch railing, watching my new neighbor move in. A pretty redhead. It cetainly beat the couple that had owned the little ranch-style house previous. All they'd done is fight and bicker, usually in the nice little front yard, in full view of the entire neighborhood. This one, though, pretty. And she seemed to carry own weight. Almost literally. She marched right alongside the two guys in the moving company uniforms, carrying things into the house. Didn't really matter that she carried the smaller things. A girl who could do for herself was a refreshing thing.

I watched the way she moved, particularly her legs in those apparently well-worn sweat pants. Every stride showed off the curves of her legs...and the few occasions when she bent over to pick something up... Yes indeed, a fine addition to the neighborhood. And that was only the first day.

The next couple weeks were similar, as she strove to settle in and spruce up the house, which admittedly had been let go a bit by the previous owners. Flowers (if late in the season) and painting and general repairing. Until....

I stepped onto the porch in search of my newspaper, dinosaur that I am, I still read the things. I glanced over to see Red on her tippy toes on a stepstool, trying to hammer in a loose piece of facia over the porch. Poor girl's gonna break something.

I went back inside and grabbed my ladder, coming out of the garage and down the drive, curving into her yard and coming up behind her. She was a bit preoccupied until I cleared my throat.

"Ahem. You look like you could use some help, before you crack your skull open."

 

[slippedhalo]

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Felicity Finnegan

Felicity had inherited the house in America. Her sister first, but she was comfortable in Cork with her husband and five loud, busy, kids. She wasn't going to move halfway around the world to take eccentric old traveller aunt Tess's house. For a long while it had been rented out to a couple there but that fell through after two years when the pair divorced and each went their separate ways.

Tired of Ireland and welcoming change, Felicity offered to take care of it if she could find a job there and get a proper work visa. She was happy when all the paperwork came in the post and all was set for her move
It was the first thing that had gone right for her since Uni and since idiot Eamonn who'd ruined her credit, cheated on her with a friend, then left, taking with him the puppy he'd given for her last birthday. Some days, no, most days she missed little Cupid more than asshole Eamonn. He'd hurt her pride when he'd broken her heart and everybody in her home town knew her story. She was tired of the pity and well meaning advice. Felicity couldn't wait for a fresh start. The move had been a welcome change.

The house was more run down than she'd expected though, and Lici realized she'd be busy on it for a while but on her days off from the local nursery school she took to the housework, seeing it as a sort of physical meditation. Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind her. Startled, she nearly lost her tenuous foothold on the step stool and half fell, half jumped from it, feeling foolish as she spun gracelessly to see who spoke. It was the neighbor, she thought, having seen him next door a couple of times in passing. He smiled warmly and held a ladder.

Her green eyes crinkled as she smiled, genuinely relieved, "Ohmygosh, thank you, yes, I should have bought a bloody ladder by now, I know. Thank you." she replied. "I'm still new around here. I didn't come over with much, never owned a ladder or toolkit of my own...but I can see now I'll be needin it. This house sure isn't how my Auntie Tess left it...or maybe tha's the problem. Perhaps it is an the previous tenents ran it down more but never fixed a thing..."

He set up the ladder and helped her with the repair, offering her the use of his tools and ladder whenever she needed it.

"Thanks. It's not so cheap, is it...home repair stuff? I only work in early childhood education, not exactly a job for anyone looking to get rich. If I could make use of your tools sometimes it'll save me having to buy my own for a while."

 

[MidnightWalk]

Anthony smiled at the young woman, still hammering nails. "Oh, you could say that. Home repairs, modifications, upgrades...about the least cheap things on the planet. And the Hendersons?" Shaking his head. "They were about the worst when it came to upkeep."

Pounding in one last nail. "There we go. That should do you. Might need a bit of paint to touch that up, though.

He climbed down off the ladder. Tucking the hammer back in the toolbox, he turned to the young lady, wiping his hand on his jeans and then extending it. "I'm Anthony, by the way. Anthony Mills. And I'm going to take wild stab and guess you're not from around here."

 

[slippedhalo]

She shook his hand and chuckled at his observation. "Felicity Finnegan, and no, I am not. I moved here from Ireland just three weeks ago. I've been here once to visit my father's aunt back when she lived here but I was only about six years old then. I don't believe you lived in this neighborhood back in those days.

Auntie Tess complained about her next door neighbor and his noisy parties, or how he'd be gone for weeks on end and leave his garden looking like rubbish..." She laughed, "You seem quite nice. And I see your garden is well taken care of. I also haven't heard any wild parties so far..." she teased.

"Nevertheless, I'm pleased to have a kind neighbor. Nobody else around here has said a word to me yet. That is usually quite good until you need something...like a ladder." Lici laughed again. "I wonder, Anthony, do you know much about entertainment centers? I was hoping I could set up all of my equipment to work on one remote control but I am not having much luck."

 

[MidnightWalk]

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Felicity. I'm taking a wild stab and prophecy that you're going to be a much better neighbor than the Hendersons ever were.'

Anthony grinned. "Oh my days of neglecting my garden are long past. These days, it's azaelas all the way. And as for the neighborhood...yeah, most of them are pretty standoffish." Shrugging. "That's what makes me special."

"And you are in luck. I just hapen to have some experience with electonics. I can probabl figure out what cables go where." Stepping onto the porch, indicating the front door. "If you'd care to lead the way?"

 

[slippedhalo]

Felicity led Anthony inside, through an expanse of unfurnished foyer and into a large, airy living room with bare walls and floors, plenty of unpacked moving boxes, and one patch of the room showing an attempt at life. It had a blue area rug with a busy Persian motif in its design and a black sofa rested upon it facing a wall where a shelving unit had been put together but all of the electronics which should be neatly in the shelved cubbies ready to use were instead splayed out on the Persian rug with their wiring hanging out like guts in a grotesque display of electronic incompetence equalling torture. Felicity showed Anthony the mess she'd made with a theatrical sweep of her arm and an embarrassed smile. "Sorry it's such a mess. I hate asking people for help so I tried it myself...and made it worse." She explained.

"I did manage to get my kitchen in order if you'd like something to drink, "Cola, beer, mineral water, juice?"

 

[MidnightWalk]

Anthony looked down at the pile of wires and connectors, shaking his head ruefully. "You know, I admire a woman who can do for herself, but sometimes....sometimes you just need a man to make it right." He threw a winking chuckle her way

Settling himself in front of the entertainment unit, he began drawing bits and pieces to himself, connecting and arranging. "Anything cold would be good, whatever you've got."

"I'm surprised it took you this long to ask for help, if it were me, I'd be crazy without my video equipment. Even if some of this stuff is positively prehistoric." Smiling, holding up the VCR as prime evidence. "Have you not heard of BluRay?"

 

[slippedhalo]

"I don't use that stuff enough to get best and newest. Besides, moving is expensive." Explained Felicity as she poured a glass of cold coke for her guest, bringing it into the room where she joined him on the floor. "I read and write more than watching television, and I hate going to the cinema by myself...so I just haven't bothered keeping up with what's new in films."

He asked for step five in the instruction manual and they found the next hour went by with her reading instructions aloud and handing him things as he asked for them while he got her entertainment center in working order. The conversation wove itself between.

He ended up learning about Eamonn the cheating,lying, thief and her favorite moments in her getting to know the adorable four year olds in her preschool class, her family was divided between Catholics and Pagans. She was the only agnostic in the bunch, how her mother and little brother died in a car accident when Lici was ten years old. Growing up without her mother around was the cause of an unusually close friendship with her nan and nan's elderly social group. It made Felicity a bit precocious and odd among peers...This was when Felicity noted, "Alright, Anthony, I talk too much. It's your turn to tell me more about you." She looked at the time, "I'd love to thank you for your help by making dinner and inviting you to dine with me...but...I haven't stocked much. I was planning to get groceries on my lunch break tomorrow. I can make an excellent salad with what's in there..."

 

[MidnightWalk]

In turn, Anthony shared aspects of his life. Never married, he was mostly retired with an electronics consulting gig on the side, to "help keep up with home repairs". Questions about the career he retired from were subtly redirected, mentioned only a passing familiarity with the film industry. More was said about his elderly parents in Florida, and a sister making her living as a divorce lawyer in Reno.

At the mention of dinner, he suddered melodramatically. "Salad, that's the stuff they give to real food, right? To fatten them up?"

Plugging in the last connecter, Anthony stood, stretching and groaning. "Whoa, these 50 plus year old bones don't do so well sitting on the floor for hours anymore."

He turned to study Felicity. "Tell you what. I'll take a raincheck on dinner, if you can promise something more substantive than food's food. How's that sound?"

He jerked his thumb toward her tv and VCR. "Oh, and any time you want to watch something on equipment from the 21st Century, you can just drop by."

 

[slippedhalo]

Felicity thought of another solution. "What's the best delivery place around here? Do you order food much?"

As he considered his reply she found herself wondering what her compulsion was to keep Anthony nearby. She couldn't really put her finger on what, but something about his presence was comforting and it was only now that she was in the company of another solitary soul that she felt how lonely it was in her house all by herself and so far away from those things and people she found familiar...She didn't particularly like being alone with such dark thoughts milling about in her mind so she was thinking up ways to extend the visit.

Looking around at the unfinished decorating she added, "Maybe you can show me what your more modern setup is like...try to convert me to Blu-ray, and I can have dinner delivered to your house. I bet your dining table isn't packed up in pieces in a box someplace." She joked.

 

[MidnightWalk]

Anthony chuckled. Her earnestness was adorable. Dusting off his trousers, he nodded, heading for the door. "Sure, come on. I have a ton of takeout menus, you can take your pick. And you're right, my home does come fully furnished."

Taking Felicity's arm, he led her out the door, pausing while she locked her house up, then escorting her next door. Opening his own front door, he gestured broadly. "After you."

Inside, the house structurally was similar to hers...the rooms she could see corresponded to her own. The decor was much more complete, however. And furnished in a masculine style. Leather furniture created an arc around a 60' flatscreen and attendant electronics, including a substantial DVD/BluRay cabinet. There was plenty of lighting, both overhead and lamps. The walls were a mid-range blue that went well with the dark furniture and hardwood floors, and were decorated with a number of prints, split evenly between outdoor scenes and studies of the female form, including one partial nude.

Through the archway, Felicity could see the dining room and kitchen were done up in much the same way, sturdy and simple, with nary a flower or paisley print.

"Welcome to my home," he smiled. "Make yourself at home. I'll go get those menus."

 

[slippedhalo]

Felicity walked into a homey looking bachelor pad. Not particularly feminine and that made it clearly a man's domain however unlike a young bloke's bachelor pad this one was sophisticated to some degree, well furnished, and clean. With a subtle sigh of acceptance she moved further into the room just as he walked out of it to get the take out menus.

His entertainment centre was far superior to hers' and Felicity marvelled over the modernity of his appliances. The cabinet beside the television was partially open and she spied an array of blue ray and dvd boxes and decided to open it up and take a look at some of his collection to see what his taste in films might be like.

A lot of action films, docu dramas, documentaries, a nice comedy section, a large amount of thrillers and a few horror flicks...and..."Oh, wow!" Breathed Lici as she looked at a cover in what appeared to be a modest collection of pornographic films. The one in her hands had an old looking film depiction...A seventies or eighties made thing, perhaps. A man's naked, well toned back faced the viewer, the title superimposed over it, a woman's legs twined around his waist, her spiked high heels digging into his skin. The head of the man was turned in such a way that his face showed in profile..."...looks like..." It looked an awful lot like Anthony, only younger. Her eyes widened as she considered this ridiculous idea, "No. Anthony's no porn star." She said to herself. "That would be absurd!"

 

[MidnightWalk]

Anthony called out from the kitchen, "What do you feel like? Any sort of cuisine in particular? I seem to have them all covered....with an odd propensity for Italian and Middle Eastern....go figure...."

He walked out through the dining room, each hand clutching a sheaf of menus. He looked up to see Felicity holding one of his DVDs, apparently studying the case with some intensity.

"Make yourself at home," he teased. Cocking his head, "Find something interesting? Not my guilty pleasure, is it? I was sure I'd hidden 101 Dalmatians in the back of the cabinet...you couldn't have found it so quickly." Anthony grinned.

 

[slippedhalo]

She sputtered, blushing as she returned the movie to the spot she'd found it from, closing the cabinet door and backing away from it. "I'm sorry. The door was partially open and I had a peek at what the collection was like. I'm a nosey cow, I guess. My apologies..."

Trying to shake off any ideas of what she'd thought or just recently seen, Felicity moved to where Anthony stood and glanced at hid array of menus, picking up an Italian one at random. " Do they deliver pizza? I could murder a pizza I'm so hungry!"

 

[MidnightWalk]

Anthony chuckled. "Luigi's does indeed deliver. They're pretty good. Figure out what you'd like, and give them a call, would you? I'm good with anything. And they know my address."

He turned back for the kitchen, the other menus in hand, then paused, gesturing at the DVD cabinet. "Feel free to look. See if there's something interesting you'd like to watch while we're eating."

He started walking for the kitchen. "I'll grab a couple beers. I hope you don't mind American-style....cold."

 

[slippedhalo]

She laughed at his joke about the cold beer and hoped it wasn't something horrible. The only American beer she half tolerated was Budweiser and even that was kind of like a watered down version of some of Ireland's' worst lager.

Picking up the handheld phone from the table beside the sofa, Felicity called up the number on the menu and ordered a medium cheese and pepperoni pizza. She didn't dare add more toppings, not knowing what Anthony liked or disliked. She hoped the pepperoni wasn't a bad choice but he didn't strike her as a vegetarian given his earlier reaction to her salad suggestion.

Once off the phone she wandered to his bookshelf, glad to see he appeared well read in many areas and it included some of the classics. She dared not look at that porn area if his film collection again. She already had the image burned into her mind of what could have been his profile, appearing to be in some rather intimate throes with the spike heeled lady...
...She picked up a paperback, 'The Diary of Anne Frank', and liked that a strapping, manly man like Anthony seemed to have well loved this copy of such a heart-rending, tragic account of a Jewish girl and her family hiding from Nazi's in The Netherlands...The story was a true one and everyone knew it ended in tragedy, death to all but Otto Frank, making it all the more relevant a historic telling through the words and vision of a child on the brink of a womanhood she'd never live to know... Anthony having such a book, pages dog eared and worn from much rereading, told her something about the heart of the man. He might have a shady side to his past, a darker sexual appetite than some might find approval of, but he also had a kind heart. If Felicity's instincts were right Anthony was a man who could be trusted.

But, what about the porn...what did that say about him? She couldn't help but wonder if the industry helped him to become an interesting lover. What kind of lay was he? As this more titillating turn of thoughts crossed her mind, Anthony reentered the room to find her blushing.

 

[MidnightWalk]

Anthony chuckled as he entered the room, open beer bottle in either hand. "That's twice now I've come back to this room and found you red-faced. A girl with your complexion and coloring is oh-so-obvious when she blushes. What is my house doing to you? Is it whispering naughty things? You never know with these old houses."

He offered her one of the bottles, bearing a "Harp Lager" label. "Something from home."

He gestured to the sofa, sitting. "So, what's put enough color in your face to rival your hair? I don't really think my house is that embarssing, but I could be biased." Anthony took a long pull from his beer bottle.

 

[slippedhalo]

He had her favourite beer! This made Felicity's smile broaden.

His question as she sat down beside him elicited a nervous nibble of her bottom lip as she considered how to respond but finally blurted out the truth, "Sorry, it was actually the very same train of thought, twice. You happened to have caught me in it both times."

She began. "Have you ever noticed that film cover...the guy on there, 'Working Overtime', I think was the title...um, well, that man whos back the title splays across...He looks an awful lot like you. You mentioned having worked in the film industry...Was that you? Were you a...um, an actor, of sorts?"

She felt it creeping all the way as far as her chest and ears now. Her blush gave away her embarrassment before she ever could bother trying to deny bit was there.

 

[MidnightWalk]

Anthony watched Felicity as she blurted out her disjointed question. He leaned back into the soft leather of the sofa, looking this young, red-headed Irish lass up and down. Raising the beer bottle to his lips again, he drained it, reaching around to the side to place the empty on a side table.

Facing Felicity again, he crossed his arms, regarding her levelly. The he shrugged.

"Yes. Yes I was in that industry and yes I was a performer, to start. For quite a few years, actually." He cocked his head, faint smile showing through. "Now, would you like me to get the door for you, so you can storm out in a righteous and holy huff, as most people do when they discover that information? I find it's better that way...I don't slam the door behind you."

 

[slippedhalo]

"Have you been so harshly judged by people then?" She asked, not leaving the sofa. She instead crossed her legs and turned toward him, facing him so she could make eye contact as she said slowly and clearly, "I am not judging you."

Picking up her beer for another sip, she watched his face while her words sank in. She added, "I see before me a kind, intelligent, charming man who tries to at least appear to have his shit together. Whatever experiences led you to becoming the man sitting before me now have obviously worked out in your favour. You wouldn't be you without your past experiences, good and bad ones, and as I have not lived your life it is not my place to tell you whether or not any of your past decisions were good ones or mistakes. It all led to this, anyway and I hope you like the person you are today. I do."

Felicity finished her beer and got up, boldly returning to the cabinet of her discovery, pulling out the film, and two others right behind it, where she spotted Anthony on the covers. She brought them back to the couch and sat again, spreading the cases out between them, she studied them quickly then looked up at him, green eyes sparkling with a dark curiosity as she asked in a soft voice filled with honest wonder, "What was it like?"

 

[MidnightWalk]

Anthony listened to Felicity's opinion, smling. "You've no idea. Not everyone is as open minded as you seem." He shook his head slowly. "As for what it was like...that takes some telling."

Anthony stood, heading for the kitchen. He came back with two fresh beers, handing one to Felicity. "And not a telling that can be done without libations."

Dropping back onto the sofa, he looked at the young redhead. "What was it like? Jesus, that is the question. Do you mean getting started? Do you mean as a day-to-day job, because believe me, it often was. Do you mean how do you have that much fucking without dying?" He grinned. "I'm assuming a little rough language isn't going to offend you. If you take me back to those days, I'm likely to revert a bit, mentally." Anthony closed one blue eye in an exaggerated wink.

Taking a long pull of his beer, he sighed. "I could probably go on for hours about what I did and never answer your questions. Why don't we make it easy. Indulge your curiosity. I'll pretend we've known each other for more than a couple hours, and answer anything you ask. Sound fair?"

 

[slippedhalo]

Felicity sat back and prepared for the long telling. "Goodness, I hardly know where to start, Anthony. I guess you should begin at the beginning. How did you get into that business and, yes, what was it Luke behind the scenes?"

She made herself more comfortable on the sofa and listened intently.

 

[MidnightWalk]

Laughing, Anthony leaned back. "You don't want much, do you?" He smiled.

"Well, let's see....have you ever been to Kansas? I was raised in Kansas and there's not much in Kansas to do. So, upon graduation I flipped a coin and headed for the West Coast. No money, no job, no prospects...nothing really beyond a high school education. Do you know how many guys there were like that in California in the early 80s? A lot."

He took another swig from his beer. "I bounced around, doing this job and that job and whatnot, always living day to day, never more than $10 in my pocket. Well, to shorten the story a bit, I was working construction and met this girl...after about a month of hanging out together, she decided that I had a couple of 'attributes' that might go over pretty good in adult films. And naturally, she knew someone who knew someone." Anthony smiled. "I could never prove it, but I believe that she got some kind of finder fee for me. Like she was a talent scout, of sorts."

He shrugged. "Still, that didn't matter much. Deciding that working in the California summer sun kinda sucked, at least if you were doing manual labor, I thought I'd give it a try. I mean, hell, what 19-year-old kid doesn't dream about fucking for a living?"

"So, as I say, I tried out, and they liked my 'attributes' and I got in with a company that was doing the kind of quickie films you'd expect. I think they were making a film about every three days or so. At first the money was crap, but it beat manual labor. And eventually, word about me spread, and I started getting all sorts of offers from other companies and freelancers and such, so I could more or less pick and choose. And I did. And that's how I got started."

Anthony sighed. "Behind the scenes? Not sure what to tell you there. It was like any other acting gig, I guess, with the added pressure of fucking. It's not terribly glamorous, doing it in a room full of people, the director telling you 'turn this way, turn that way, you're blocking her face, bend your back, put your dick here, put it there....'" He chuckled. "Like any other job, there was good and bad to it. And eventually, after about 15 years of it, the business got tired of me. But, I'd saved my money and went to a big anonymous college and got my education. And it's not turned out too badly, after all.'

He placed his empty beer bottle on table, gazing at the lithe redhead. "So, what did my mini-bio gloss over that you're just itching to know?"

 

[slippedhalo]

Letting out a slow breath, Felicity mulled that over for a moment whispering, "...brain is screaming at me right now, 'Don't ask about the "attributes"...' ", and they shared a tense chuckle before she continued, "I guess...well, I have a cousin who worked in a television program. She complained that sometimes one scene could take a few days if the director wasn't getting exactly what they wanted out of it...Weren't you kind of spending a great deal of time, um...maintaining...or having to regain...control? Was work often a huge case of ...blue balls?"

The doorbell rang and made her jump. She'd almost forgotten about the pizza. But as Anthony rose to answer the door her stomach rumbled and reminded her not to skip lunch again. "I can run next door and get a tenner to pay my part." She offered, joining Anthony at the door.

The pizza delivery guy gave her one of those smarmy long, up and down looks after handing the pizza over to Anthony and winked.

Felicity smiled politely but focused her attention on Anthony. She was not interested in boys. A real man always outshined such youths, in her opinion. She just never had been interested in the company of people with no life experience, no interesting story to bring to the table.

 

[MidnightWalk]

Anthony chuckled at her question. "No, the shoots I did usualy didn't have a problem with completion. It might take a couple minutes more, but porn directors aren't quite so perfectionist as that. If nothing else, in editing they'd loop things to make the scene longer. Not that I usually had that issue."

When the doorbell rang, he went to pay, feeling Felicity moving up next to him. "Nah, I've got this," he responded to her offer. He paid the delivery boy, adding a generous tip, shaking his head at the kid's lustful gaze on Felicity.

He carried the pizza back to the coffee table, then headed out to the kitchen for more beers and paper plates and paper towels. "Sit, eat. I'm pretty informal here." Smiling.

As they both munched on pizza, he added, eyes twinking. "And you can ask about attributes if you want. How shy do I really seem to you at this point? Hell, you can even borrow those," indicating the trio of DVDs sitting on the sofa next to her, "if you like. I don't mind. I mean, it's got my 'acting name' right there in the credits. You could look me up online if you were so inclined. Easier to just borrow the full videos, don't you think?"