You stare at the wall that you share with the apartment next to you as you shower. Mr. Dunn moved out two months ago after his kids finally discovered him walking around naked in the hallways in the evenings. He would always knock on your door and ask if you got his mail accidentally. You would answer the same each time, “I’m sorry Mr. Dunn but the only thing that I get in the mail are bills”. He’d laugh and turn to leave - his wrinkly, white, 83 year old butt sagging behind him. The apartment had been quiet for two months but now you hear noise on the other side of the wall. Lots of noise. “I guess I’m getting a new neighbor”, you say to yourself.
After drying off, you throw on your kimono and look through the peephole. You see a guy walk by with a box speaking indiscriminately to someone. Peepholes aren't good for snooping though, they don’t give good detail. So, you open the door slightly to check out your new neighbor. Just as you open the door, another guy walks by carrying another box. He’s FIONE. Milk chocolate brown complexion with dimples that run as deep as the grand canyon. He catches you peeking and gives you a wink and a smile. You smile back and close the door embarrassed. “Lord please let him be senile and ask me for his mail every night naked”, you pray quietly.
On your way in from work the next day, you stop at the mailbox to get your mail. ‘Peter Hernandez? Who the hell is that?’, you wonder. You notice the apartment, “C”. You laugh a little. You’re apartment “B”. ‘Guess I got some mail to deliver’, you think to yourself smiling. You can’t wait to see that cutie pie from the other day.
As you make your way up in the elevator, you fix your hair and straighten your scrubs. The door opens and you damn near bump into your milk chocolate hottie. “Oh damn! I’m sorry!”, he smiles holding your shoulders - making sure you aren’t going to fall. Your cheeks are stinging you are blushing so hard. “Oh, it’s my fault. I never pay attention when I step off the elevator”. You both stand smiling at each other for a moment. Then it hits you - his mail. “Oh, Peter right? I think I have your mail”. He looks momentarily confused. “Oh, no. Ha! You want Bruno”. Now it’s your turn to look confused. He clears his throat and extends his hand, “Hello, I’m Philip but please call me Phil”. You can think of a few things you’d like to call him in the middle of the night with your legs wrapped around him and Phil ain’t one of them. “I’m a friend of Bruno’s…Peter. No one calls him that though. Everyone calls him Bruno. He’s your neighbor. Not me”. ‘Damn it!’, you think to yourself. “Oh! Ok, I’m sorry. I’m Nikki…well, Nicole but no one calls me that”. You shake his hand. “Nice to meet you Phil”, you smile. “It’s truly my pleasure Nikki”. He grins wide staring into your eyes as he holds on to your hand. You don’t mind one bit. You have no idea how long you two have been frozen like that but suddenly someone comes running up to Phil. “Hey man! Glad I caught you. You left your phone…AGAIN!”, he laughs holding out an iPhone. Philip releases your hand, “Thanks man. Oh Bruno, this is your new neighbor Nikki”. You look up and quietly suck in a breath. Before you stands the sexiest guy you’ve seen in a while. He’s a bit shorter than Philip with dark curly hair. His curls are in disarray like he just woke up. His skin is a sun-kissed butter pecan. You're not a gambler but you’d bet a weeks pay he’s Puerto Rican. “Hey”, he says giving you a smile revealing the most perfect set of imperfections pressed into his cheeks. You are staring and don’t realize it until Philip says, “B, Nikki got some of your mail by mistake”. You snap out of your stupor and compose yourself. “Hi. I’m Nikki. I live next door. I think I have some mail that belongs to you”. You hand him the mail and he smiles. “Thanks Nikki. Prechiate it”. You just smile in response. Philip can sense your change of heart, “Well, I should be going. It was very nice meeting you Nikki”. You have completely forgotten about him. You turn and try to save face, “Yeah Philip, you too”. He gets on the elevator and the doors close. You and Bruno stand awkwardly in silence for a moment. “Well, it was nice meeting you Bruno”, you reiterate as you start to walk down the hall toward your door. Bruno follows. “You too Nikki”. You open your door and walk in. You pause as Bruno walks by. “Don’t be a stranger, ok?”, he adds stopping to make sure you heard him. You nod and close the door. You lean against your door and sigh, “Good God”.
It’s 3 am and all you hear is bass moving through the walls of your apartment. It’s thumping so hard, it’s causing pulsations in your chest. Now, you love a good beat as much as the next girl BUT you have a 12 hour shift starting in 4 hours. You need some sleep. You place a second pillow over your head in an effort to thwart a confrontation with your cute new neighbor. The beat drops and all you feel is bass vibrating in your chest. “That’s it!”, you mumble getting up. “Cute or not, I’m about to kick his little ass”. You grab your kimono and wrap it around yourself. You walk out into the hall and bang on your neighbors door. You’d be surprised if anyone even heard you the music is so damn loud. Bruno opens the door. “Hey Nikki! You coming to join the party?”. He steps close to you and you get a good look into those hazel pools of perfection. “Uh…no. Actually I was hoping you could turn down the music a bit”. He steps out into the hall and closes the door behind him. “Oh damn! I’m sorry”, he glances down at his watch. “I didn’t realize it was so late”. You barely heard a word he said. You’re too busy daydreaming about running your fingers through his unruly curls. “Yeah, yeah. Let me just…”. He opens the door and yells for Phil to turn the music down. He closes the door again and continues, “I’m really sorry. We just had some friends over to see the place and then we started drinking and well…”. He’s so damn cute, there is no way in hell you can stay mad at him. “I understand it’s just that I have to be in at 7am and I gotta get some sleep”. His eyes grow wide. “7am?! Damn! Why so early?”. You chuckle a bit. You’ve noticed that his apartment is quiet until noon most days. “I’m a nurse”, you smile pulling the belt on your kimono tighter. “Oh, nice. So I know who to call when I’m sick”, he smiles. ‘Yes honey, turn your head and cough’, you smirk to yourself. “Well, I really should get some sleep”, you state turning to walk back to your place. “Right”, he says quietly. “Wait!”, he adds grabbing your wrist. You turn to face him, “Listen, I’m really sorry about tonight. I hope you’re not too mad. I don’t wanna start things off on the wrong foot”. You smile. There is no way in hell you can stay mad at a man that looks as fine as he does. “Of course not. It’s cool. I totally understand. No worries”. He releases your wrist with a quiet sigh of relief. Stepping closer to you he whispers, “I promise, it’ll never happen again”. Your heart stops momentarily as those hazel brown mirrors of perfection shoot lightening bolts through your soul. Bruno’s door opens and Phil pops his head out. “Yo! Sheila looking for you…oh…my bad”, he stops mid-sentence seeing the two of you so close. He closes the door and you snap out of your trance. “Well, good night Bruno”, you smile making your way inside. “Good night Nikki”, he replies as you close the door.
Work was tough. You were so tired you skipped eating and just slept during your lunch break. You can’t wait to get home and jump back in bed. You drag yourself into your apartment building and into the elevator. As you begin walking down the hall, you notice something in front of your door. The closer you get, the more you realize it’s a bouquet of flowers. Smiling, you bend over and pick them up. A hand written note falls out of the bouquet onto the floor. ‘I hope you can forgive me - Bruno’. Bringing the bouquet to your nose, you sniff the aromatic scent of a varied assortment of blossoms. Still inhaling the heavenly aroma, you walk next door and knock. You hear movement. A few moments later, Bruno opens the door - partially. “Oh hey Nikki”, he whispers a bit. You are smitten by the sweet gesture and are oblivious to all of his obvious cues. “Hey! Thanks for the flowers. They are beautiful!”, you smile gushing like a 12 year old girl. Bruno looks behind him, “No problem. I just wanted to say sorry about last night”. “No worries. It’s fine…”, Bruno cuts you off. “Listen, uh, can we talk later?”. “Sure. I just got off anyway. I should…”. “Bruno, baby who is it?”, you hear approaching the door. “My neighbor. I’m…”, the door opens and a girl smiles at you as she wraps her arms around Bruno. He chuckles nervously, “Baby, I’m coming. Just give me a minute”. You feel silly. Of course he’s got a girlfriend. He was just apologizing for last night - that’s all. You clear your throat and decide to introduce yourself. “Hi, I’m Nikki - Bruno’s next door neighbor. You must be Sheila”. Bruno’s eyes grow wide just as the girl’s brow starts to furrow. “Who’s Sheila?”, she asks staring directly at Bruno with both hands on her hips. You close your eyes and mouth “FUCK”. “Uh…Baby I don’t know a Sheila.” The girl grabs her things and pushes past you and Bruno. “I can explain”, he starts. You stand in silence trying to remove your foot from your mouth. Bruno runs after her. “Monie, baby where you going?”. “I don’t have time for your games Bruno. Goodbye”, she says as the elevator doors close. Bruno makes his way back to his empty apartment. You feel terrible and don’t know what to say. “Bruno I’m so sorry!!”. He leans against his door frame and smirks. “It’s fine. You didn't know. Glad you like the flowers”, he states as he goes inside and closes the door. You stand in disbelief of what just happened for a few minutes then make your way inside your apartment.
You shower and order a ridiculous amount of Chinese food - since you skipped lunch. You sit on the couch poking at your lo mien with chopsticks as you stare at the wall. You can’t eat with the thought of Bruno possibly sulking on the other side running through your head. You still feel terrible. He was just being a good neighbor, apologizing for his rudeness last night and you break up his relationship. “That’s it!”, you decide bagging up all the food and heading next door. You walk up to Bruno’s door and knock. After a few seconds, he opens the door. “Oh, hey”. “Hey”, you reply with half a smile. Bruno’s eyes catch sight of all the food in your arms. “Listen, I still feel horrible about what happened earlier”. Looking down he smiles,“I told you it’s fine. There’s no way you could’ve known”. You clear your throat, “I was starving so I ordered a shit ton of Chinese. The least I can do is share it with you”. He chuckles, “I told you it’s fine BUT I am hungry…”. He steps to the side and gestures for you to come in. You walk in and are surprised by the…uh…minimalist decor. He spreads his arms with a welcoming gesture, “Make yourself at home”. “Thanks”, you reply sitting on the well worn, once tan colored couch. You place all the food down on the coffee table (that has seen better days). Taking a quick glance around you see a small wooden, round, table with 2 matching chairs in the dining area and LOTS of music equipment. ‘Hmmm…a musician’, you think to yourself eyeing the guitar. Bruno heads toward the kitchen. “Beer?”. “Budlight?”, you ask. He approaches you with two long necks with Budlight written on the label. Smiling you take a bottle. Bruno tilts his bottle toward you and winks, “To new friends,”. You lightly tap his bottle with yours in agreement. You both take a sip and smile. Bruno sits next to you staring at the buffet in front of him. “So, what we got?”, he asks enthusiastically. You start opening containers, “A little bit of everything”.
You both sit eating and talking about everything from favorite restaurants to the proper way to fold your underwear. He’s so easy to talk to you don’t realize it’s nearly midnight. Yawning you notice the time. “Oh shit! I had no idea it was so late!”. Bruno checks his watch and smirks, “Ah, it’s fine. The night is young”. You’re not so sure how to take that. “Well, I’m sure you have things to do and you don’t need me around getting in your way. I should go”. He hops up and grabs his guitar. Sitting back on the couch he strums a chord. Looking up at you from his guitar he says, “Nah, stay”. The flecks of brown in those hazel eyes catch the dim light and draw you in. He licks his lips and you have to adjust your position on the couch. His fine ass is making it rain and you don’t mean dollar bills. “Ok. Maybe just for a little”, you agree quietly. “Cool!”, he responds quickly as if he knew you would agree. He strums a few more chords and smiles at you. “You play?”. You are lost in his perfection and didn’t hear a word he said, “Huh?”. He chuckles, “Do you play guitar?”. “Oh! No. Not at all. I don’t play any instruments actually”, you respond with a shy smile. “REALLY?”, he exaggerates sliding closer to you. Bruno positions himself behind you with his guitar in front of you. “Let me show you. It’s easy”, he whispers in you right ear. You take a deep breath and do your damnedest to focus on what he’s saying to you and not that bulge pressed into your lower back. “Put this hand here andddddd this one right here. Like this”, he whispers. His warm breath kisses your earlobe and your walls quiver. ‘Jesus be a fence’, you pray as you will yourself to focus. He places his hands over yours and pauses momentarily. Looking over at you he whispers, “Your hands are so soft”. Smiling he looks down and continues to place your hands. You just can’t seem to hold it together. His body so close to yours. His arms around you. His light yet intoxicating cologne. And that bulge pressed comfortably on your lower back. You are on the verge of losing your shit. Happy with their position, Bruno slowly releases your hands. Smiling at you he says, “Ok. Now play”. You are afraid to move because you have no idea what the hell you’re doing. He chuckles, “It’s ok. Go head, strum the chords”. You’d like to strum his chords alright. (Sorry folks…I digress.) You give it a shot and strum…well…like I said, you gave it a shot. Once you moved your hands there was a noise but you wouldn’t necessarily call it music. You wince and look over at Bruno who is laughing. “Ha! Ha! Ha! Not bad Nikki. Not bad for your first try”. You smirk at him knowing he’s just being polite. “That was horrible and you know it Bruno”. Chuckling, “Nah seriously, I’ve heard worse”. You laugh at the thought. “Here let’s try it again”, he states repositioning your hands and fingers. This time he leaves his hands over top of yours. You glance over quickly and notice his perfect butter pecanrican skin tone. You also notice a little stubble forming above his top lip, it’s kinda sexy. “Ok”, he starts looking into your eyes. “Now move your hands with mine. Ok?”. You nod. Continuing to stare at you he counts off, “And 1, 2, 1, 2, 3…”. What follows next was an actual chord! You are so surprised you let go of the guitar and clasp your hands to your mouth in surprise. “OH MY GOODNESS!”, you whisper in shock. Bruno tries to reply through his laughter, “Ha! That was great but that’s not the end”. “OH!”, you say apologetically. You hurry and try to place your hands back where they were. “Ok. You ready?”, he asks. You smile and nod. Once again his hands move with yours and music is born from the guitar in front of you. You smile proudly (as if you are actually doing something) at Bruno who winks at you and smiles back. Then suddenly you hear him sing softly, “Truth of the matter is I’m complicated…”. You are caught off guard and stare at him not realizing you’ve stopped moving your hands. You take your hands off of the guitar and let him take over. He leans in closer to you and continues to play and sing. “…you’re as straight as they come”. He smiles at you. Moving in closer he whispers, “You go about your day baby, while I hide from the sun. It’s better if you don’t understaaaaaaand. Cuz you won’t know what it’s like until you tryyyyy”. You are wide-eyed in amazement. He tries to contain his smile as he stops and places the guitar on the floor next to the couch. “Please don’t stop on my account! You sound amazing!”, you encourage. He looks down shyly, “Thanks. I’m still working on that one. Not sure where I wanna go with it yet”. “That was awesome. You have a great voice Bruno!”. He looks at you and asks, “You really think so?”. You are a little surprised by his question. He is clearly talented. “Yes! Yes I do Bruno. My God, did you hear yourself?!”. He looks away, “Ehh…I don’t know. I’ve been out here for a while and it just doesn’t seem to be happening for me”. You can see the disappointment settling on his face. “Out here? Where are you from?”. Turning to face you, “Hawaii. Been out here for about 4 years now - since I graduated high school. STILL no record deal”. You hear the hurt woven in his voice and it breaks your heart. You turn his face to yours. Looking him directly in the eyes you tell him, “Bruno you are one talented guy. Don’t give up. I’m sure something will come through eventually”. He gives you half a smile. He tilts his head to the side and lightly strokes your left cheek. “You really think so?”, he asks in barely a whisper. “Yes I do. I have faith in you”. Bruno leans in close to you caressing your face while his other hand rests on your thigh. His lips are millimeters from yours when his phone rings. You open you eyes and see Bruno roll his eyes in disappointment. He looks down at his phone and silences it. “It’s just Phil”. You smile and slide back on the couch away from him. “Bruno, I should really get going”, you say standing. He stands and caresses your hands in his. “You sure?”. You really aren’t but you know you should leave. “Yeah. I need to catch up on my sleep”, you lie walking toward the door. He laughs, “Touché”. You open the door and step into the hallway. Bruno is standing very close in front of you. “Tonight was fun. I’m glad you came over”, he admits stroking your hair. Your body trembles a little from his touch. “Yeah, I had a great time as well. Thanks for the guitar lesson”. “Anytime you wanna lesson, I’m right here. I’ll make time for you”. He slides closer to you and pushes your hair behind your ears. You are pretty sure he’s not just talking about guitar lessons anymore. You smile and start to walk to your door but Bruno grabs your hand. You look back and he is inches away from you. He caresses your shoulders and speaks quietly, “Thanks for the encouragement. It really means a lot”. You try to maintain your composure and reply, “I meant everything I said Bruno”. You look up at him and try to end this conversation, “Good night”. Bruno pulls you close and kisses you lightly on your forehead. “Good night Nikki”. He slowly releases you and smiles as he heads back into his apartment. You are momentarily paralyzed. You attempt to move your legs and your knees buckle slightly. Eventually, you make it into your apartment. You collapse onto your couch. Smiling at the wall you quickly drift off to sleep.
