The floor creaked above Lucy's bed, then clomp, clomp, clomp... Lucy opened one eye half way, dazed and somewhat confused she rolled over to the side of the bed and looked at the clock radio. The bright red numbers showed 6:42. Now she wondered, is this am or pm, and what day is it?
She closed her tired eye again and thought for a minute. Yesterday had been a long and tiring day, after a hot bath that she laced with sea salt, she had crawled into bed with a book at 6:30pm. The reading didn't last long, and she was out for the night. Pulling the warm covers up to her chin, Lucy came back to reality. It was Sunday morning, she knew that now. The bedroom window was open just slightly and a fresh, cold breeze came in. Lucy breathed in deeply, she loved the feeling of cold air on her face while she was cozy and warm in her down duvet. Rain pattered outside, she could hear it hitting the bedroom window and the sidewalk outside. The rain got louder, it was coming down harder and a few drops seeped in through the cracked open window. She rolled to the other side of the bed, careful to stay under the covers, and reached out to close the window. More creaking and clomping from above, Lucy rolled over, adjusted the covers, and sighed in comfort not paying much attention to the noises above. "Hi guys," Lucy murmured as her two black and white Tuxedo kittens jumped up onto the bed and started purring. "You must be hungry," she cooed as the two kittens looked at her and meowled. Lucy wasn't quite ready to leave her cozy nest. She had worked a regular week and then on Saturday worked her other job, she would do the same today. Saturday had not been a sleep-in day like today, she was up at 6, at the gym by 7 and to work by 9:15. She had taken on a weekend job temporarily to earn some extra money to pay off bills. On Saturdays and most Sundays she cleaned offices. It was an easy job for her although after a full day of cleaning she was tired, sore and hungry. It was a little extra money that she was certain would help her get ahead. Laying in bed still with the two kittens who had now climbed on top of her to knead their claws on her comforter, she pondered the last few days, her workouts, work, money, kids, and life in general. Lucy heard the creaking and clomping again, she was used to hearing noises above her when she was at home because she lived in the bottom unit of a tri-plex. It was an old character house in Kitsilano that had been renovated and turned into a tri-plex about 10 years ago. She liked being in the bottom, ground floor unit as there was lots of front and back yard space for her and her two children to use. The floors above her had always seemed thin and she could always hear her neighbor upstairs moving around. Lucy liked this, it was comforting knowing that someone else was home. Lucy thought about the creaking and clomping again and remembered that the girl who had been living upstairs had actually moved out last week. The rumor was that the owner of the house, Cecilia, was moving in for awhile. Lucy didn't know why, it seemed odd to her as last time she had spoken to Cecilia, Cecilia had been in a long-term relationship, living with her boyfriend. You never know, thought Cecilia. Who could be up there this morning? The creaking and clomping had stopped but Lucy was curious. Was Cecilia moving in? Lucy sat up, "OK guys, breakfast!" The kittens ran ahead of her to the kitchen and sat down in front of their bowls with Lucy trailing behind. She dumped a scoop of cat food into each of their glass dishes and headed back to the bedroom to throw some jeans on. She would go upstairs to either say hi to Cecilia or to whoever was moving in. Lucy glanced at the clock radio, 7:30 already. She'd go upstairs for a quick hello and find out what was going on and back down for a little breakfast, shower and out door to be at work for 9:15. Jeans and sweatshirt on, Lucy slid into her rubber boots and went out the door.
As she started climbing up the steps to the front porch, she saw boxes piled on either side of the door, and the door stood ajar. Lucy loved the front porch of this house, nice and big, wide with lots of room for chairs, and a great view of the North Shore Mountains. In the summertime, she and the kids came up to the front porch to watch the fireworks display at English Bay. Lucy knocked on the half opened door and called in, "hello." She didn't see anyone, just boxes and a black leather couch in the corner. Suddenly she heard rustling, and a toilet flush. Then the bathroom door opened and a man came out. He turned and smiled at Lucy, and said, "hello." "Hi, I'm Lucy, I live downstairs, are you moving in?" she asked. "I am, I'm Alejandro, nice to meet you," he smiled again and extended his hand to Lucy. As she shook his hand, she felt his grip and soft, warm skin. She looked at his face and his eyes and smiled as they let go of each other's hands. There was something about Alejandro's hand, face and green eyes that Lucy found very gentle, soothing, comfortable and inviting. "Ah, there's my truck, the movers are here," Alejandro exclaimed looking out the bay window to the street. "Oh, good," Lucy said, "I better get going, I have to work today, so nice to meet you." Alejandro turned to Lucy and looked at her with his stunning green eyes and said, "The pleasure is all mine, will you come back after work so that we can get to know each other a little now that we are neighbors?" Lucy didn't have to think about her answer, "I'd love to, see you tonight." Lucy climbed back down the stairs with a smile on her face. This is going to be interesting, she thought...
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