THE INHERITANCE

Chapter 4

I'd spent the rest of Friday holed up inside my own apartment. Various neighbors came by and tried to be sociable, mostly just looking to meet someone newly- famous. Some of them I'd barely spoken to in the past, but now everyone was my friend.

It was a pretty Saturday morning, a great day to go out and enjoy the city, but I was still hiding out in my apartment. And of all the curious neighbors who came to check me out, one of them caught my notice more than the rest. She was very pretty young lady, and she had my attention from the moment she stepped into the hallway.

I had been standing in my doorway, chatting up the neighbor who literally shared a wall with me. He was an older gentleman who had ordered some Chinese delivery for me and steadfastly refused to let me repay him for it. I couldn't order myself without giving away my name and address, so he placed the call with his own credit card and building security had delivered it up to him.

He noticed my gaze had been averted and took the opportunity to escape before I could force some cash onto him. And then the pretty girl arrived. Her light brown hair was tied back into a simple ponytail and she shyly kept her gaze downcast as she approached me. She gave me a nervous smile while her hazel eyes perked up as she realized I was looking right at her.

"Hi..." I ventured, putting on my most charming grin.

"Hey..." she looked up at me and folded her arms over her chest. This motion pressed her full cleavage together beneath a demure sweater, and I had to fight to keep my gaze on her face. "You're Jonathan Kwong?"

"Yes, but my mom's the only one who calls me Jonathan. I'm just John."

"Pleased to meet you John." She held out her hand politely, which I grasped and shook gently. "I'm Nicole."

Her hand felt so small and so soft. "I assume you live in the building?" I asked.

"Yes. I'm on the fifth floor."

"Oh, ok. So you just came up to see what all the fuss was about?"

Nicole blushed prettily. "I was just curious. So is it true? Mr. Kendall was your father?"

"It would appear so. At least my mom reassures me that he was."

"I'm very sorry for your loss." Somehow, the way Nicole said it made me believe she truly sympathized for me. In fact, everything about this girl screamed shy, genuine honesty, a rare thing to find in this town.

"That's okay. I mean, I'm sad that I never got the chance to meet him. But at the same time it can't hurt me that much."

"I suppose. The thing is that I never knew my dad either. Single mom, dad left before I was born. I'm sure you know the story." She uncrossed her arms and waved them off to the sides in a helpless shrug.

I was taken aback by the sudden seriousness of our conversation. "Yeah. Yeah, I do."

She continued. "I guess my own situation is what made me want to come up here and meet you. I'm sure there are a hundred more people just like us in this building alone." And then Nicole laughed.

I was startled by the sound. Her laugh was rich and melodious. I could listen to her laughing all day. Now I definitely wasn't a person who believed in love at first sight. The romantic in me wanted to believe it but the New York realist in me denounced it as fantasy. But there was... something... about this girl that struck me.

Taylor was gorgeous and stirred my loins from the moment I saw her. She was all slender curves and angular cheekbones and brilliant eyes. But Nicole, while not surrendering much to Taylor in the way of curves or physical attractiveness, just seemed so much more wholesome somehow.

"What's so funny?" I ventured as Nicole was still giggling to herself while looking out at nowhere.

She giggled one more time before looking right at me. "Well, I don't suppose there's many more single-parent kids who find out their dad just left them a fortune!" She leaned against my doorpost with a healthy smile on her face, all traces of her early nervousness gone now.

"No, I suppose not." I caught myself leaning in close to her, just casually slouched while standing up and yet so much closer to violating Nicole's personal space.

Nicole looked at me, the two of us incredibly comfortable despite knowing each other for bare minutes. And just when I felt the urge to lean in and kiss her tender lips, Nicole blinked several times and then looked at her feet. "Well, I'll let you get back to your life. Sorry for bothering you."

And then a second later we were both standing straight up and a couple of feet further apart. The moment, whatever it was, was now gone. "Not at all," I told her. "The silver lining is that I finally get to meet the people I've been living next to for years. You're welcome to come back anytime."

Her eyes lit up at the idea. "Maybe. I'll see you around. Goodbye."

"Bye."

She turned around and headed back towards the elevator. I could have stayed there forever watching her hips swaying as she walked away. There was a connection there and I wanted to find out more. Part of me wanted to find out what was underneath that baggy sweater and stylish jeans. But more of me wanted to know what was behind the fresh face and kind eyes. And yet thirty seconds later, Nicole turned the corner and was gone.

So I retreated back into my doorway. My Chinese food was getting cold.