Thread: Going Down? (Traveler & Charlotte)

The silver surface opened and revealed a pile of garment bags. Behind the bags was the Neighbor. Her eyes were wide and her hair was tied up, very old-school pin-up girl. The expression on her face reminded him of Lucille Ball, who he had a definite crush on when he watched her old show. She was simultaneously gorgeous and fun, and she never seemed to be overly bitchy... Unlike cat woman upstairs. Hi, he answered. She seemed buried under her bags. Wisely she had put on her purse under the jacket, deterring any city thieves who might try to snatch and run. Jacob thought that it was quite cute, actually. A bit of 'little girl' mixed in with 'sexpot'. Lesbian sexpot... but it was fun to look. He Mmm'd at her question and watched her for another moment before her situation got to him. Here...let me help you, he volunteered. He began to take her bags from her, freeing those alabaster perfect hands to do other things. Like push buttons. Or play with hair. She looked like she had just gotten done with a painting or some other artistic thing. She looked like a sexy housewife. He could imagine her with her arms elbow deep in a sink full of bubbles, dressed in nothing but a frilly apron. Then his fantasy was semi-shattered when his brain brought in a girlfriend from her work, probably a gothic chic with bright blue eyes, and they both turned towards him and mouthed 'not for you, boy '. Sometimes he hated his fantasy world. I hate cats. His statement came out of nowhere, but he was answering her question. Not all cats, just my girlfriend's. His expression had relaxed slightly as the elevator descended, and then traveled all the way down to the lobby. The remaining sunlight glinted off the mailboxes, beckoning to him in the early autumn sunset. It looked like the colors of Koi in the near-horizontal rays. He loved the way the light played through the building. Every season was it's own visual symphony. Every month had it's crescendo. Fuck the mail, he'd check it later. Jacob decided to help the cute neighbor with her bags, just to remind himself that not all women were as screwy and high strung as Vanessa. Lately she'd been on the rag daily. She had complained, almost non-stop, about the bitches at work. That was her word - 'Work Bitches'. Only she said it 'Bee-chees' in that annoying, nasal voice she had when she wasn't in front of the camera. Where are you taking this? He asked once the silence had descended again, and they stepped out into the glossy tiles. The bags, he nodded to the pile of things in his arms. I'll help you carry them. Hell, it beat rushing off to the bar. Maybe he just needed some time to clear his head. Maybe Vanessa would clean the mess upstairs. Maybe she'd get rid of her cat. And maybe they'd find out that the entire planet was a speck on a flower, being carried around by a giant elephant. Jacob stood there and looked at the play of light through Neighbor's chiffon head scarf. Layers, colors... it reminded him of looking up through a canopy of deciduous leaves in the fall and watching them falling one by one. He loved the way the seasons changed, and he realized with a slow heat that he was ready for change again. Maybe it had been long enough maybe it was time to break things off with Vanessa.