Chapter 5 5

Carrie was pleased to say that the party was disbanded thirty minutes after she left. Which she was very happy about because she wasn't exactly sure what her threat from the night before would have amounted to. She did not have a plan in mind at all. Carrie was just glad he didn't know that. She still couldn't even manage to get sleep afterward, though, because her mind had other plans for her. It was swirling with images of Stefan in the bathroom.

His tanned skin against hers, the hungry, dark look in his eyes when he looked at her, and the fact that she now had a neighbour all threatened her sleep to non-existence. She tried her hardest to fight away her unwelcome and lewd thoughts, but eventually she just waved the white flag. Carrie got up at 5:30 in the morning and peered outside her tall windows. She pushed back her white curtains, her eyes focusing on Stefan's sleeping house. I wondered how it looked so peaceful now, so alive. Before, it was just a pile of nails and wood for her. Her eyes barely even registered it when she basked in the sun every morning.

But now her eyes have found it first, like a beacon. She sighed and bit her lip cautiously, ignoring the fluttering of worries in her chest.

Instead, she focused on the royal blue sleeping sky. The sun was going to rise in a bit, and today was Monday.

Which meant the Monday morning community meeting.

When she first moved in, she very obviously didn't go to the first couple of them, thinking they were optional. But if she knew one thing for certain about the residents in this neighbourhood, it was that they took their Monday morning meetings very seriously.

After she didn't attend the third meeting, there was a knock on her door.

Carrie wanted to avoid knocking on her door at all costs, so she started to go.

They really weren't that bad; no one really paid Carrie any mind, and it was one of the only reasons she left her house, so she ended up appreciating the ritualistic meetings after a while. Carrie grabbed her phone and walked downstairs. The chill spring morning air spilled in through her home and coated her skin in light goosebumps. She went to grab her cardigan before starkly remembering it was soaked in her laundry room. She grumbled under her breath as a soft blush and memories from last night came flooding back again. Carrie simply wrapped her thin arms around her torso, hiding the perking of her nipples against her breezy t-shirt.

She poured herself a cup of coffee to wait for her on the island, slid on her house slippers, and quickly jogged out to her mailbox.

She cursed under her breath the whole way there while the fresh air nipped her soft skin. Armed with only thin sleep shorts and a t-shirt, she opened her mailbox to see a nice pile of letters.

Carrie gathered them and glanced over a few names when a voice caught her eye.

"Well, good morning, shortcake."

Suddenly remembering her neighbor's situation, she stared back at him with side eyes and a ghost-like expression, trying to register his words.

His tone was easygoing and playful, but his face held a sly expression. He smirked at her from his front porch, leaning on the railing.

"Someone is chilly." He lowered his gaze to her chest, and his smile grew into a cocky grin. Stefan crossed his arms over his chest coolly and said, "If you want, I can come over there and warm you right up." He flashed his pearly white smile, and instantly she felt her face hotter than the sun. She looked down at her nipples poking out against her t-shirt and let out the most embarrassing squeak she prayed he didn't hear.

Carrie wrapped her arms around her chest quickly and narrowed her eyes back at his cool gaze. Now suddenly, the goosebumps and shivery feelings weren't just from the chilly air.

"Maybe I wouldn't be chilly if I had my cardigan. But that is now soaking wet on my laundry room floor, thank you." She said pointedly back, whipping around on her heels to walk away with her nose tipped up. Stefan just chuckled from his porch, watching her walk away with attitude trailing her steps.

"And do not call me shortcake. I'm not short; you're just weirdly tall. I'm 5'5" and a half. Perfectly average." Carrie called from her own porch. He walked to the right side of his porch and leaned his elbows on the railing. Stefan smirked and narrowed his eyes at Carrie. "Why are you up this early anyway? You look like hell."

She scoffed at his insult and put a hand on her hip calmly. "I may look like hell, but at least I don't look like hell and have a hangover. You are unfortunately plagued with both." Carrie said that and punctuated her sentence by slamming her front door closed.

Inside the safety of her home, she leaned against the door and took a deep breath. She raised a hand to her chest and felt the rapid beating of her heart.

She needed to pull herself together before the meeting.

~•~

Carrie was dressed in some simple vintage Levi mom jeans that sat nicely on her hips. She slipped on some tinted lip gloss and dabbed the excess on her ring finger. She paired her jeans with a simple, slim black long sleeve she got from a thrift store years ago.

It hugged her curves nicely and was slightly low-cut, but Carrie hardly noticed that. She slipped on her black Birkenstock sandals and touched her gold chain absentmindedly while she looked around, trying to see if she had forgotten anything.

"Oh, my phone." She spoke to herself and ran into her kitchen to grab it from the island.

Carrie walked outside very wearily and peaked across the lawn at Stefan's house. Good, he wanted to be outside. Her eyes floated down to her flowers lining the front of her house like a sea of colour. Unfortunately, one of those colours is dried puke at the moment. "I promise, babies, I'll clean you when I get back." She called her flowers before getting into her beat-up Volvo and driving off to the club house in her community.

~•~

Carrie sat in a comfortable chair, her attention fixed on David Jones, a 56-year-old who happened to be the president of the HOA (Homeowners Association). He was talking about all the latest happenings in Citrus Grove, which, as you can imagine, was incredibly fascinating. I mean, who wouldn't want to know about playground repairs and the super critical decision of what colour to paint the community shed? Her eyes started to drift upward, gazing at the beautiful sky through the glass roof, where the clouds sparkled against the soft blue.

David's voice grew more and more distant as Carrie's mind wandered into her own imaginary worlds. She closed her eyes and let the warm sunlight embrace her face, a content smile gracing her lips. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice the door opening and closing. David's voice stopped, and he welcomed someone who had just arrived with a hint of annoyance in his tone.

Carrie raised an eyebrow and turned her attention to the unexpected guest. Her eyes widened, and her face turned into a pointed expression when she saw Stefan standing in the doorway. He looked weary, wearing black sunglasses.