Torn

I NEVER UNDERSTOOD how people could be so oblivious to the beautiful things around them. Every tiny part of nature had always fascinated me in ways that material things never did. I would spend days marveling at trees and flowers, during every thunderstorm my eyes would be wide and my face would be pressed against the closest window in high hopes to see the silver cracks illuminate in the dark skies. Although it was common for people to hate the sound of thunder, or the tiny droplets of rain, I had always loved them. Ever since I was young, when I got married, I wanted it to be in a thunderstorm.

“Anna!” The only other human in the house called out through the hallways, the reminisce of sleep still lingering in his voice.

“Yeah, babe?” I called back, my eyes dancing across the view from the window of the grey clouds rolling closer to me across the sky. As they grew near, a small smile forced itself onto my lips and before I could let out the dreamy sigh that these types of storms pulled out of me, the boy’s voice rumbled through the house.

“What are you doing at five thirty in the morning?” He called back, laughing a little as he finished his question. “Come back to bed, I’m cold without you.” The man whimpered.

For a moment, as a soft smile played on my lips, I was torn. I wanted ever so badly to sit here alone and watch the rain fall against the window, but the thought of being wrapped up in a hug and falling back to sleep to the wonderful sound of the rain and the light hum of Brady’s breathing was a fierce competitor.

Humming to myself, I stood up from the couch and carefully climbed down it and away from the huge bay window that looked out at the similar, and also huge, house that was adjacent from ours. It had been vacant for a few months now, and although it gave off that eerie feeling, I still took the time to marvel at it every day. It was a charming home, one that although had been vacant, still had the most beautiful oak tree in the front yard, and a few bushes of bright flowers.

“Anna?”

“I’ll be right there, Brady!” I laughed, shaking my head a little as I set my feet firmly on the ground and adjusted the huge tee shirt that hung off of my shoulders. Winding my fingers in the loose strands of hair that had fallen from the messy bun on the top of my head, I turned to the window one last time to silently bid the incoming storm a goodbye when I noticed movement in the house across the street.

The idea of it being haunted quickly passed my brain, but as I watched the figure shift through another huge living room window, and then disappear, my curiosity got the best of me, and I quickly moved over to the window, watching the house intensely.

There was no movement for a few more minutes until the front door swung open and a man emerged, brown tuffs of hair sticking out in a disheveled mess on the top of his head. His legs were covered in a pair of jeans, and a black sweatshirt clung nicely to his torso. As he tiredly shuffled from the front door to the garage, he hit a few buttons on a keypad near the door and then stood back allowing the huge door to open.

Once it was opened, my eyebrows furrowed as they connected with the black, sleek, luxury car that was backed into the garage. Shaking my head a little, it involuntarily tilted to the side as I thought about all of the professions that this man could hold. He could have been a successful young lawyer, an heir to a President of an important company, a guy who got all the right breaks right out of college, or maybe even a doctor, like Brady.

As thoughts swarmed in my head, my wide eyes watched as the boy emerged with a huge duffle bag on his shoulder and then pulled the door shut, letting it make a loud thud that rumbled through the silent suburban streets. After the man had readjusted the bag on his shoulder, he turned to face the street, and then looked directly at me, like he had known I was sitting in my window watching him the whole time.

I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth as we kept staring at each other. As the man gawked at me, his eyes wide, the large duffle bag on his shoulder slipped off and collided with the black asphalt of his driveway, and part of his foot.

Breaking the gaze, the man jerked his head back as he quickly side stepped away from the bag on the ground and then shook his head, his mouth moving a few times before he looked down at his foot and then pressed his the toe of his shoe, into the road.

As I watched the man move around, I felt a small giggle pass my lips. Pulling the hand form my mouth, I cocked my head to the side and looked at the man again as he looked right back over at me. Once we made eye contact, I lifted my hand and held it next to my face, shaking it back and forth in a small waving motion as I smiled widely at the man who had completely recovered from his little accident.

No less than fifteen seconds, the man was waving back at me, a stupid smile stuck to his face. Just as I was about to laugh again, the loud rhythm of footsteps broke the silence of the house. Quickly jerking my eyes away from the man, I watched as Brady shuffled his way into the living room, his eyes half closed as he stood there in his boxers, a hand in his light brown tuffs of hair, as the other lazily hung at his side.

“I didn’t want to come down here and do this, but you leave me no choice.” He said in a stern tone, and then his eyes popped open as a devilish smirk formed on his lips and he lunged at me, his rough hands softly grabbing at my sides as my back collided with the cushions of the couch.

Hovering over me, he let out a small chuckle as I jerked my head back and forth, hysterical fits of laughter pouring from my mouth, as tears formed and then slipped form the corners of my eyes. I hated being tickled, probably just as much as everyone else, and Brady knew that. So whenever my mind would get occupied by something that I couldn’t shake on my own, he would pick up on it and tickle me back into reality.

I thought it was cute, but there were some times when my mind didn’t want to shake whatever was occupying it. Now was one of those times.

“What were ya’ staring at?” the man chuckled as he pulled me up from the couch and then put his arms around my waist, letting them hang from my hips as his eyes dropped from mine and traced over the patterns and pictures that adorned my skin. “Jesus, have I ever told you how sexy you are when your tattoo’s are showing?”

“You may have mentioned it a few times.” I blushed as I glanced up at the man standing in front of me from under my eyelashes that still had clumps of mascara stuck in them from the previous night.

With a small nod, Brady leaned down and pressed his lips to mine, making my stomach twist a little as my body instantly grew warm. We may have been together for five years, and engaged for one, but every kiss we shared felt like the first. There was something about him that made me feel like a lovesick teenager. There was something about him that made me feel like I was kissing him for the first time, all the time.

Once our lips broke, Brady pressed his forehead to mine and dropped his eyes back to their lazy, half open state. “Come back to bed, please?”

“Let me grab a bottle of water and I’ll be right there.” I whispered back to him and then watched as the man nodded and let his arms lazily drop from my hips. Quickly pressing a kiss to my forehead, the man turned on his heels and then headed back up the large staircase to the second floor where the three bedrooms sat, the largest one being ours.

Bedroom door softly shutting, I looked back over my shoulder to the window and felt my eyebrows meet in the center of my forehead. The large duffle bag was still I the same spot at the edge of the driveway where the man had dropped it, but he was nowhere in site. As I looked at the large duffle bag, I wondered if he realized he left it out there, or if there was anything of importance in it. Sure, we lived in an upscale suburban community, but that didn’t mean you could just leave your things out in the open.

Sighing lightly, I turned from the window, pushing the curious questions about my new neighbor to the back of my mind, I quickly jogged over to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water. Twisting the cap off, I took a long sip and headed back to the stairs. After two steps, I glanced over to the window and let a small sigh pass through my lips. The bag was still there, out in the open.

Shrugging a little, I walked up the rest of the stairs, my head bobbing on my shoulders to the light rhythm that was now being created by the soft raindrops that had begun falling from the large clouds that I watched roll through the sky right over to our street.

“It’s raining.” Brady whispered as I entered the bedroom, my lips connected with the small opening of the water bottle as I shuffled over to the right side of the bed by the window and carefully tucked myself between the sheet and the heavy comforter that was covering the large bed. “You love the rain.”

“I do.” My voice was distant as thoughts about the man across the street started to appear in my head. It was so peculiar, so unbelievably odd that he had moved in and had everything settled into the house and no one had noticed. It was a large house that probably held a lot of furniture, and it would have probably taken at least two days to move everything in. With that much time, I was astounded that I didn’t notice anything, anything at all.

Brady and I laid in silence for a while, his strong arm draped around my stomach as the back of my head rested against his chest. As the soft sound of his breath filled the air along with the light beat of rain, I sighed heavily and shook my head a little. I was never a nosey person, and if I ever did come off that way, it was only because my curiosity levels were higher than the normal being. When something didn’t work, I wanted to find out why and fix it myself. When I heard a word I didn’t know the definition to, I looked it up and learned it myself. When I saw sports or paintings or anything that peaked my interest, I wanted to know as much as about it as I could.

The man across the street had definitely peaked my interest.

There was something so different about him from everyone else that lived on this street. Sure, he had the nice car and the huge house, but there was something else, something about the way he awkwardly stared at me and made a fool of himself, and then waved sheepishly back at me that made him stand out in my mind.

“Hey Brady.” I whispered. After a moment, a soft hmm came from the sleeping heap of muscle behind me. “I think I’m going to go introduce myself to the new neighbor tomorrow.”

“Neighbor?”

“Across the street.” I informed him, happy that I wasn’t the only one that had no idea about the arrival of a new person on the street.

“Interesting. You should, make him a pie.” Sharing a laugh, I nodded a little and shut my eyes as I sunk back into the warmth of the embrace I shared with Brady. Just as I was about to let my mind drift into the dreamless state I normally found myself in, he crossed my mind again, letting the last thought in my head revolve around him and his damn duffle bag.

Why would he leave that stupid bag out in the rain?