Hot neighbor bonus
1316 Words
The apartment looked too good to be real.
The hallway smelled like fresh paint. White walls, warm lights, floors so shiny that Hazel could see her shoes in them. The air felt good, like no one had lived there yet.
Nothing about it screamed, "cheap.”
Maya pressed the doorbell. A minute passed, then another. Finally, the door opened, and the manager waved them in.
“This way.” He said pleasantly.
Hazel stepped inside and froze.
It was nice. Really nice.
The living room was big and bright. High ceilings, big windows. The kitchen had everything, and the bedrooms actually had furniture in them. She caught herself smiling.
Peace. Space. A fresh start. That’s what she wanted.
But still her doubts remained. Neither of them had expected the call yesterday. They had been on the waiting list for almost four months. Now, out of nowhere, a unit had become available...at nearly half the normal price.
She walked around for almost twenty minutes, and the longer she looked, the more she wanted it.
“So, Miss Hazel? What do you think?” The manager asked.
“I think…” She paused. Her eyes narrowed. “The price.”
He smiled. “What about it?”
“It's too cheap, it's suspicious.”
His smile didn’t change. “We recently adjusted it.”
“By almost fifty percent?”
“We wanted to fill the vacancy quickly.”
She folded her arms “Why?”
“The previous tenant relocated unexpectedly.”
Still, she wasn't convinced.
"So?” Maya whispered.
Hazel shrugged. "I need to think about it.”
“Think?”
“Yes.”
Maya stared at her. “About this?” She gestured at the whole place.
Hazel laughed. “It's a big decision.”
“It's the simplest decision you could ever think of making.”
Even the property manager laughed.
She was about to respond when the door across the hall opened. The sound made all of them look.
A man stepped out, a brown grocery bag in his arms.
Hazel forgot what she was about to say.
She blinked once.
Then twice.
He didn't look like he was trying. Dark jeans, sleeves rolled to his forearms, hair sticking up as he'd just gotten up from bed. And still, Hazel couldn't look away.
Maya's mouth actually fell open. “Oh, my God?”
Hazel elbowed her.
“You are seeing this too, right?”
“What?”
“Him. He’s damn gorgeous.”
Maya wasn't wrong.
He noticed them and smiled, “Morning.”
The property manager nodded. “Good morning.”
He turned to Hazel, “Here to look at the place?”
“Maybe.” She responded.
“Maybe?” He lifted an eyebrow.
“Yeah. The rent’s weirdly cheap.”
A quiet laugh escaped him. "I thought the same thing."
"You did?"
"When I first moved in."
"And?"
"I'm still here." His answer came so naturally that Hazel almost laughed.
Maya jumped in.”You live opposite?”
He nodded. “Apartment 4B.”
“Is the building safe?”
“Very,” he shrugged. “I usually get home late, and I've never had any problems”
The way his voice carried a calm confidence made Hazel study him. There was something oddly familiar about him.
Not his face. She was certain they'd never met, but the feeling refused to leave.
The manager glanced at his phone. “Sorry, I gotta take this.”
He ducked out, and just like that, it was only the three of them in the hallway.
“I'm Adrian.” He offered a hand.
“Maya.” She shook it with enthusiasm.
“And this is Hazel.”
Hazel accepted the handshake; his palm was warm.
“Nice to meet you.” He said.
“You too.”
"So," Maya jumped in, "how long have you been here?"
"A few months."
"You like it?"
"Enough to renew my lease."
Hazel smiled."You renewed already?"
He shrugged."I like quiet places."
"So do I.” The words slipped out.
The manager returned a minute later. “I'm sorry about that.”
“It's alright,” Hazel replied.
Maya checked her phone and turned to her. "We should go."
She nodded. Before they left, she looked around one more time. Then at Adrian.
Adrian looked up; their eyes caught. He smiled, she smiled back before she could stop herself.
At the elevator, Maya almost exploded. “Girl, you are renting it.”
Hazel laughed. “You've already decided for me.”
“Duh.”
“But Maya…”
Maya pointed dramatically. “You need a new place, right?”
“Yes,” she responded.
“Away from Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“Well, here it is, plus hot neighbor bonus.”
Hazel rolled her eyes. “Knew you were gonna say that.”
“I'm just being honest.”
Maya kept teasing her all the way down. But Hazel couldn't stop thinking about it, the apartment, the rent, Adrian and how safe she felt for five minutes in that hallway.
***
Three days passed faster than she expected. She found herself moving in.
There were lots of boxes in the apartment. Only her camera equipment seemed to weigh a hundred pounds.
“I seriously need to start buying lighter equipment.”
A familiar voice answered behind her, “Need help?”
She turned and found Adrian standing beside the door, hands tucked in his pockets.
“Please tell me you're offering.”
“I am.”
He walked inside, and within minutes, he lifted the box she had been struggling to lift.
“How is that not heavy?”
“It is.”
“You don't make it look so.”
“Benefits of practice.”
She laughed.
By evening, almost everything was packed, thanks to him.
“ I owe you.”
“You don't.”
“I do.”
She thought for a moment. “Dinner?”
He looked surprised “You don't have to.”
“But I'd like to.”
After a brief pause…
He smiled. “Alright.”
They chose a small restaurant around the corner. Nothing fancy, just warm lights and music low enough to fill the quiet.
The waiter led them to a window table. Outside, people rushed past on the sidewalk.
For the first time in weeks, dinner felt like... dinner. No one was staring, no one was following. Just dinner.
Adrian didn't rush to fill the quiet.
After Dinner, they ended up talking about a lot of things. Childhood moments, worst Jobs, favourite songs.
“You protect that thing with your life,” Adrian said.
Hazel looked down. He meant her camera.“You noticed.”
“Yeah, what's that?”
“It’s my mini camera.”
“Seriously?” he studied the camera “I’ve never seen one like this.”
He then saw a picture. “You took this picture?”
“Yes, I did.”
“This is amazing.” His eyes went soft.
He wasn't flattering her. He actually meant it.
“Thanks.”
“You know what? You would make a good model.”
He nearly choked on his drink. “Me?”
“I mean for photographs, structure angles,” she tilted her head, already seeing it. "You would be a good subject.”
He laughed.“Not sure about that.”
“I’m being for real. You have the qualities of a model.”
"Alright, if you ever need one, I'm in."He said it easily.
"Thanks." She smiled.
They walked home under the streetlights, neither of them hurried.
Back in her room, she dropped her phone on the nightstand.
And weirdly, there was no anonymous message.
No missed calls.
No unknown notifications.
For weeks, she'd wanted exactly this. So why did the silence feel somehow wrong?
- Writer
