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THE BOY NEXT
DOOR
by Phyllis Owen
I was thoughtful as I
sat on the bed in my room, blushing when I remembered bumping into Steve Conway
as he came flying out of the lift that morning. I recognised him from my school
days. He was in the class above me and an insignificant moron. But wow! How
he’d changed! Catching me in his arms to prevent me from falling, he whispered,
“Be careful, you could have been hurt.”
I wanted to laugh. It seemed like something out of a magazine
story. My brain began firing on all
cylinders and my toes curled. We worked
in the same building, but I only caught a glimpse of him either going in or out
of the lift. Our eyes never met. He was tall with thick black hair, a face
like a film star, with a smile to die for.
I worked on the second floor in a Solicitor’s office, typing letters and
contracts and attending to the people who called to see one or other of the
Solicitors. I smiled.
“Martha!” Mum’s calling. Tea must be ready. Jumping
from the bed I made my way downstairs
to the kitchen. Mum and Dad were sitting
at the table. As usual, it was well laid
with a variety of dishes.
“Ooogh, gorgeous!” I exclaimed,
rubbing my stomach. “I’m sure you’re
jealous of my figure, Mum.” She
laughed. “Nathan popped round earlier
and said to tell you he’s going with Fred to badminton tonight.”
“Good! I can spoil myself with a long soaking
bath.” Nathan lived next door. We are both the only child in the family of
elderly parents and have grown up together.
He’s like a brother to me and I suppose I’m like a sister to him. We used to fight like cat and dog when we
were younger, like normal brothers and sisters, but now we are just good
friends. He’s often at our house and Dad
plays chess with him every Friday night.
After school he went to the local university and qualified as a Computer
Scientist while I studied general office work at a nearby college. We go out together if we need a partner for a
dance or feel like going to a show. I
suppose that’s why I haven’t bothered about boyfriends until now with Steve
Conway coming into my life.
I smiled dreamily. I think I’ve fallen madly in love with
him. He’s the best thing that’s happened
to me, since sliced bread, as Dad would say.
The next day, to my surprise, Steve
was waiting in the foyer. When I arrived
his eyes lit up and my heart began pounding fit to burst. Walking up to me, he asked, “Will you come
with me to a show tonight?”
I was so taken aback that for a
moment I just stared at him blankly. The
smile faded from his face and I hurriedly replied, “I’d love to.” He brightened. “I’ll pick you up at seven, if that’s all
right?” “Fine!” I assured him.
“I know where you live,” he broke
in, “next to Nathan Richards. We were in
the same class at school. I went to play
with him a few times when we were young.
You were there and we’d fight.”
I laughed. “I do remember. I was about nine or
ten.”
“And a little hell cat,” he came
in, chuckling. “Poor Nathan would just
sit there looking from one to the other not knowing what to do. Then you would storm out and peace would
reign.”
“That bad?” I giggled. He nodded.
I was excited when I arrived home
that evening and dashed into the lounge. Mum and Dad were sitting on the couch
reading the papers. “I’m going on a date
tonight,” I burst out. “With a drop-dead
gorgeous hulk. We were at school
together. He was in the same class as Nathan,
one above mine.”
Mum and Dad looked surprised. I dashed out of the lounge, ran upstairs to
my room to pick out my best dress for the occasion, a cream suit with brown
trimming. I laid it on the bed. A shiver of excitement rippled up my spine, my
legs feeling like a half-set jelly. I
went to bath and later joined Mum and Dad in the kitchen for tea.
When the doorbell rang, dead on
seven, a spark of electricity shot through my body. Taking a deep breath I rushed to open the
door. Steve stood there. I gazed into a pair of twinkling blue
eyes. Shyly I invited him in,
introducing him to Mum and Dad. They
seemed happy to meet him. “Enjoy the
evening,” they called, as we left.
Steve took my arm and we walked to
the car. I looked up at him and
smiled. As we drove away he
chuckled. “Hope you like old films. The one we’re going to see is called
‘Columbo’, a detective story.”
“I love old films. I think I remember Columbo. When
I was a kid, Mum used to get a film to
watch over the weekend. Now and again
Columbo came up. Nathan came to watch it
too.” “Often see him?” “Of course.
We are like brother and sister.”
Steve laughed. “Glad to hear that.”
The film wasn’t up to much so we
left early and went to a pub around the corner. He told me he was the junior partner in an
Insurance Company, three stories up from where I worked, and that the company
was doing well. “I often have to visit
clients and I find that interesting. I
get a great kick out of selling a policy to someone who wasn’t at all
interested in the beginning.”
“That means you’re good,” I told
him and he laughed.
The next couple of weeks were
fab. We went to shows, watched snooker,
played indoor bowling and tonight we are going dancing. I bought a special shiny blue dress for the
occasion. I slipped into the dress and
stood in front of the mirror. It looked
good. Sitting at the dressing table I carefully
applied a little dab of rouge and the merest touch of lipstick and rubbed my
lips together to spread it. I sprayed a
small amount of perfume behind my ears.
Mum had given me a black shawl and I draped it over my shoulders. I thought I looked great.
When Steve arrived he whistled, but
he too looked fantastic in a dark suit, white shirt and black bow tie. We arrived at the hall and the place was
heaving. We found our table and sat
down. The band began playing and a few
people stood up to dance.
Then I noticed Nathan dancing with
a glamorous blonde. He was smiling as he
twisted her round and round and then grabbed her close to him. I blinked a few times to make sure that what
I saw was right. A chill ran through me
and I felt a deep sense of loss.
That’s only Nathan, my best friend.
He’s entitled to have a girlfriend.
“Let’s dance,” Steve suggested. I jumped up. A
few minutes later I felt a tap on my
shoulder. “Nathan!” Steve
exclaimed. “Good to see you again.”
“And you,” Nathan came in. “Meet Veronica. She’ll
be attending our local university.”
“Hello,” I said. My mouth was dry and it felt as if my vocal
cords were glued together. I didn’t know
what to say.
As we continued dancing Steve
remarked, “That’s some gorgeous blonde.
Good old Nathan. He knows how to
pick them.”
I didn’t reply, but I felt my
evening had been spoilt. I couldn’t
understand my feelings. Could it be
jealousy? Why? Nathan was like a brother. I’ve known him all my life. It was a relief when the dance ended.
I made some excuse to Steve when he invited
me out the next day, Sunday. Spent a
sleepless night and was surprised when I woke up to see that it was almost
eight o’clock. I washed, dressed and
took a walk in the fields below our houses making my way to a favourite tree
and sat down. The sun in the distance
was a beautiful gold colour with a splash of red and patches of blue. Tears
suddenly blurred my eyes. It
wasn’t difficult to pinpoint the reason.
I was startled when I heard a rustle in the undergrowth. Then a voice said, “May I sit down or would
you rather be alone?”
“Nathan! Please stay.”
I raised my eyebrows enquiringly.
“What brings you here?”
He looked bewildered and hurt. “Are you in love with Steve?” he burst out.
“I’d rather not talk about it. Are you in love with Veronica?”
He laughed. “How can I be? I’ve only just met
her. She’s the daughter of an old friend of my
mother’s, spent the night and will be leaving later this morning.”
It was as if a light had been
switched on somewhere. “I’ve been such a
fool.”
He looked bewildered. “You mean…”
He stopped and grabbed me in his arms, kissing me with a passion. I found myself kissing him back. “I’ve always loved you,” he said. “Over the years I tried
not to show you how
much because I was scared I’d frighten you away. I was willing to wait until you were ready
and had a shock when you went off with Steve.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “Maybe we both needed to be jolted out of our
complacency.”
He slipped his hand into mine. “Will you marry me, my darling?”
I nodded and we kissed. I could feel his love enveloping me.
Smiling, I put my arms around
him. Veronica’s visit was the best thing
that had happened to us.
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