Frank and Elyse

Of course she was still feeling a little sting of disappointment from not getting the house she'd fallen in love with. Some jerk had swooped in at the last minute with a bid she couldn't match and bought her dream home out from under her. The house across the street was almost as nice and she got a better deal on it as its lot was smaller. She put the extra money she saved on the house towards her new car. She loved the sporty little beast!

Now that she was smiling again she turned onto her street and saw the moving truck had arrived and was waiting. As was a small grey-brown haired woman standing next to the truck and a dark haired man standing in front of the house that should have been hers! Her frustration resurfaced. Was he the jerk who stole her house?

Elyse pulled into her driveway and shut off the car. She took a deep breath and stepped out.

The first thing she noticed was that the man had broad shoulders and really nice arms. Then she saw he was looking at her with the strangest expression. It certainly wasn't a smile. What was that for?

She stifled a snort as he fell backwards onto a mattress he was carrying then hid her smile behind her hand as he stood stiffly and carried the awkward load inside. He didn't return.

"Hello! Are you the new home owner? I'm your neighbor from up the street. Beverly Stoddart," the brunette chirped happily with her hand out.

Elyse shook the hand and smiled at the woman. "Elyse..." As she said her name she realized she no longer wanted Michael's last name. She'd go back to her maiden name. "Elyse Williams."

One of the movers walked over with a clipboard. "Williams? It says here we're delivering for an Elyse Cabrella."

Elyse frowned. "Yes, that's me. I'm having my name changed back to my maiden name but for now it's Cabrella."

"Oh! Your neighbor across the road, Frank Dunn, he's recently divorced as well!" Beverly volunteered with a smile.

Elyse noticed Beverly still hadn't released her hand so she smiled and pulled it away.

"Can we get started?" the mover asked.

"It was nice meeting you Beverly! I'd better help these men get to it. I'll talk to you later?" Elyse asked.

"Guaranteed!" Beverly grinned as she walked back towards her own home.

Elyse moved her car into the garage to free up the space for the moving van then walked to her front door and opened it. She walked inside and smiled to herself. It really was a nice home. She stood by the front window as the movers maneuvered the big van a little closer. Just beyond the truck was the home she should have been moving into.

No! She couldn't allow herself to think that way or she wouldn't enjoy her new home as she should.

The first boxes were coming in so she moved to direct them to the proper rooms. There was so much to do!

Chapter 5

He couldn't get over how advanced bicycles had become. The old clunker he'd left in New York was an anchor compared to the one he'd just bought.

Frank stood in the bicycle shop waiting for the mechanic to bring out his brand new mountain bike. Actually it was more of a touring mountain bike as it had drop handlebars like a road bike. No heavy suspension junk, just a super light but strong frame and big 29 inch wheels... it looked like a tank but moved like a jaguar. This was just the first step in his body rehabilitation plan. The bike came with front and rear racks and he'd picked up some waterproof panniers for the rear rack so he could run errands with the bike. Once he'd built his fitness up sufficiently he planned on getting himself some front panniers, a tent, some other camping gear, and do a little bike touring. For now though he'd just get the bike and rebuild his endurance.

Now he was glad he'd left his old mountain bike back in New York. It was too much of a hassle bringing it across the country anyway and he thought he deserved the upgrade. He also had a new helmet, gloves, shoes, short and long sleeve cycling jerseys, cycling shorts and tights, and rain gear. Oh! And a new lock and lights too. He'd dropped some serious money in this shop today but it was all for a good cause.

His new Jeep was parked outside complete with a bike rack. He'd needed a new car as he'd sold his sport sedan before heading for the west coast.

He'd slept wonderfully on his new bed last night. It hadn't taken him long to assemble it. The mattress was just right, not too firm and not too soft. Having the bed all to himself hadn't yet become something he enjoyed. It reminded him of too many hotels but he was hopeful that the empty feeling would fade.

The mechanic finally rolled his new ride out to him and he smiled in appreciation.

"Here you go. It's a sweet ride bro!" the young tattooed man said with an envious look.

"Thanks! I can't wait to get it out on the trails!" Frank grinned. He shook the mechanic's hand and took his purchases outside. The bags went into the back seat and the bike went onto the rack.

The drive home was fairly short which was great because it meant he'd be able to ride to the shop if he needed the bike tuned up or needed some extra gear. Generally, his car would stay in the garage as much as possible as he intended to use the bike for most travel in town.

He backed his Jeep into the driveway and got out to get his packages. He noticed his new neighbor's car pulling out of the drive and he turned to smile at her but caught the tail end of a disapproving look on her face as she drove past.

"Christ, just like Stephanie," he growled to himself as a chill ran down his spine. Well fine. He didn't have to be friends with everyone in the neighborhood. His goal was to write his novel which meant a lot of quiet time by himself so he didn't need the distractions anyway.

He carried his packages inside then moved his bike into the garage up onto hooks on the wall. Finally he moved the Jeep into the garage and locked the door.

He saw a white van parked in front of the house across the street. The truck was plastered with an ad for low cost internet.

"Excuse me! You know where the owner of this place is?" a man with a clipboard called out to him from her driveway.

"Sorry, no idea. I saw her leaving just a little while ago," Frank called back.

The man shrugged and got back into his truck and drove away.

Frank went inside and made himself a sandwich. The old fridge that came with the house was making an odd tinkling sound but it had lasted this long and he really didn't want to buy new appliances until he'd decided what he was going to do about the kitchen. It was really dated and he was probably going to have it gutted and redone. Carrying his lunch and his laptop out onto the deck he made himself comfortable and did a little research on what it might cost to redo the kitchen.

Frank must have been outside for over an hour when he heard a voice calling his name. He stood up and looked over his privacy screen in the direction of Beverly's place. He could barely see her through all the vegetation between their homes but she perked up as she caught sight of him.

"There you are! I knocked on your front door but you didn't answer," she gently scolded him.

"Sorry, I was just having lunch on the deck."

"I'll be right there." Then she was gone.

Frank sighed. He really wasn't feeling up to a visit but it looked like he wasn't being given a choice. He went inside with his laptop and walked to the front door. She knocked as he got to the door so he opened it up.

"Hi again! May I come in for a moment? I just wanted to ask you something," she said cheerfully.

He stood back and she walked in, her eyes darting everywhere and growing wider as she took in the absence of... everything. She peered up at his face in surprise.

"You weren't kidding about living in a minimalist way! You have nothing!" she squeaked and her voice echoed in the empty living room.

He smiled and nodded. "It feels good. For now I have a bed, a working fridge, stove, washer and dryer. Oh, and I have my Internet working so I have everything I need. What did you need to ask me?"

"Right! I would like to invite you to dinner tonight to welcome you to the neighborhood," she said with a wide smile.

"Tonight?"

"At 7pm sharp! You told me you're retired so you shouldn't have any excuses for not showing!" she grinned as she placed her hand on his right bicep, giving it a little squeeze.

Frank was once more feeling a little uncomfortable but the quickest way to get her out was to agree. "Fine. I'll be there. Thanks!"

"Excellent! Dinner attire is 'dressy casual'," she said over her shoulder as she made her way back outside. She grinned back at him as she waved. He just returned her smile and closed the door.

Dressy casual. Right.

He headed to his bedroom. He had to see if he had anything that fit that description.

Chapter 6

"aaaAAAHHH!"

Elyse woke with a scream and sat up gasping. She looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings then it all came back to her. Her new house. Her perspective was skewed because she was sleeping on her mattress on the floor. The night before she discovered she had no tools to assemble the frame. The movers disassembled the bed before loading it on the truck but they'd left before she noticed they hadn't reassembled it here.

She flopped back on the mattress and let her heart rate slow down. The last time she'd woken this close to the floor had been after Michael had beaten her. A shiver ran down her spine.

She'd been up so late the night before unpacking. She glanced at her flip alarm clock and it said 7:01AM. It was time to get her day started. She just had the weekend to get the essentials in place so she could begin working from home on Monday. The Internet service provider she'd contacted said they would hook up her service this afternoon between 1 and 4PM so she had to get most of her running around done in the morning.

She found her towels and bathroom supplies and took a quick invigorating shower. She slipped on her panties and bra, a casual top, yoga pants, short socks, and pulled on her hoodie and sneakers. She was ready to run her errands.

As she passed by the kitchen she glanced at the wall clock. It said 11:35AM! She rushed back to the bedroom and the clock still showed 7:01AM. It wasn't plugged in. She rushed back out to the kitchen and picked up her cell. 11:36AM. She'd slept in!

"FUCK!" she yelled in frustration.

She had almost no time to get anything done! She'd have to scramble to get at least some of her tasks done and be back in time for her service window.

She grabbed her keys and locked up as she rushed outside and got her car out of the garage. She was going to need to get a garage door opener as having to close it manually was going to get tiresome pretty quickly. She glanced at the clock on her cell again. "SHIT!"

As she pulled out of her driveway her eyes were drawn to the Jeep parked across the road. Michael had a Jeep and went on and on about how awesome off-roading was. When he wasn't taking drugs and beating her up that is. Now she had that unpleasant reminder to look at every day. She pushed the unhappy thoughts from her head and drove up the street quickly to get to the post office. She'd have to put off getting groceries until after the service call.

The post office and the bank took longer than expected so she rushed back home and arrived with just fifteen minutes to spare before 1PM. She went inside and realized she hadn't eaten since breakfast the day before. She couldn't go out now and she didn't have any numbers to order delivery or internet service to look it up. Well, she would just have to wait until dinner. She went back to unpacking.

A few minutes later she heard a knock on the front door. Finally, something was going her way today.

She answered expecting to see the installer but her brunette neighbor... Beverly, was standing there instead.

"Hi Elyse! I won't keep you as I'm sure you are busy with unpacking but I just wanted to invite you to dinner tonight to welcome you to the neighborhood!"

"Oh, uh, that- that would be very nice! Thank you." Elyse said, surprised by the kind gesture.

Beverly smiled and turned to leave, pointing to her house. "Dinner's at 7PM. Attire is 'dressy casual'," she finished with a smile.

"OK, see you then." Elyse responded with a puzzled expression. "What a strange little woman," she thought to herself as she closed the door.

She immediately checked to see if the dress she had in mind needed ironing but it was in good shape. She went back to unpacking but she kept an ear open for the door.

By 3PM she was starting to get nervous they weren't going to show. She called the office and waited on an automated queue for twenty minutes before someone finally answered.

"DeltaComm Internet, how can I help you today?" said a pleasant female voice.

"Hello, I'm having Internet installed at my home today and I was wondering when the installer was going to arrive." Elyse asked.

"Could I have your name and address please?"

Elyse gave her the details and listened to the sound of a keyboard being pecked at.

"Yes, I see you have an appointment between 1 and 4PM. It's only 3PM so the installer should be there within the next hour. Due to the number of appointments we have and the unique situations each installation may incur we cannot give exact times for the appointments," the voice said with a bored tone. Elyse had obviously been categorized as a nuisance caller.

"I understand that. It's just rather critical that I get this work done today. Is there any way to contact the installer and confirm he is going to be able to get here today?" she asked.

"I will put in a call and if there are any issues we will call you back." The line went dead.

Elyse stared at the phone in annoyance. How rude!

Frustrated she went back to unpacking.

By 4PM the installer still hadn't arrived so she got back on the phone but was trapped on the automated queue for forty minutes.

When a human voice finally answered she was more than a little upset.

"DeltaComm Internet, how may I help you today?" This time the voice was male and already had the bored tone firmly in place.

"My installer never showed. I need my Internet service connected today!" Elyse blurted.

"Could I have your name and address please."

Elyse gave him the details and again heard the click of keys.

"Ok, it says here that the installer knocked and no one answered," the voice accused.

"I was here from 1PM to 4PM and the only person who knocked in that time was a neighbor." Elyse ground out.

"I'm just telling you what it says in our system. The installer arrived, knocked, received no response and moved on to the next job."

"And I'm telling you that didn't happen because I was here. Can you send them back?" Elyse asserted.

"All installers are currently doing other jobs and will be busy for the rest of the day. Looking at the calendar the earliest we could have an installer return to your home would be Wednesday-"

"WEDNESDAY?!?" Elyse cried out.

"Ma'am please don't yell at me. Do you want me to book the appointment for you for Wednesday between 1 and 4PM or not?" the voice responded in a terse manner.

Elyse took some deep breaths to calm herself. She was going to have to call around to see if she could find anyone else to come earlier. In the meantime she'd have to book this appointment just in case she wasn't successful. "Yes."

"OK, you are booked. Anything else we can do for you today?"

"No."

"Thank you for your busine-" The line went dead before he'd finished his words.

Elyse then realized she didn't have any means to look up other Internet providers.

"FUCK!!!" she screamed in frustration.

She recalled she was going to dinner with Beverly. Maybe she had a phone book or better yet Internet access.

Taking a few more deep breaths she calmed herself. She could go get some groceries now. Glancing at the clock she hoped the store was open late on Saturdays.

Fuck.

Chapter 7

Knocking on Beverly and Rick's door just a little before 7PM, Frank took another quick glance at his 'dressy casual' outfit. A nice pair of dark grey slacks and a blue pinstripe dress shirt open at the collar with the sleeves rolled up his muscular forearms. Black loafers and a black leather belt completed the outfit. It was all he had that could be considered dressy casual.

After a few moments the door was opened by Rick. Once more Frank was surprised to see how much older he appeared than Beverly. Rick was maybe a little shorter than him, thirty pounds heavier, and balding with just a ring of grey hair.

"Yes?" the man said with a raspy voice.

"Good evening Rick."

"Do I know you?" the man said peering at him.

"Frank Dunn. Your neighbor from two doors down. Beverly invited me to dinner?" Frank explained but was beginning to feel uncomfortable due to the blank look on Rick's face.

"Oh for heaven's sake Rick, invite our guest in." Beverly's voice gasped from further down the hall. "I told you about our dinner plans at breakfast!"

Rick's eyebrows went up a little. "Oh. Christ woman, you know I don't listen to half of what you say." He turned back to Frank. "Well come on in. Seems we have dinner plans." He stopped when he saw Frank was carrying a bottle of wine and his face lit up. "Is that for us?"

Frank smiled with a nod and handed him the bottle. "I wasn't sure what was being served, if I should get a red or a white wine, so I got a bottle of rosé. I hope that's ok."

"It's very ok! It's French! Ooo la la!" Rick said, practically chuckling. Beverly stuck her head out into the hallway and scowled at her husband who ignored her.

"Good evening Beverly," Frank said and her smile returned.

"Thank you very much for the wine Frank. You didn't have to."

"My parents taught me never to arrive for a dinner invitation empty handed."

"Well, bless their hearts!" Rick grinned.

"Put that on the table and show Frank into the living room. Dinner will be in a few minutes." Beverly instructed her husband.

Rick pouted a little having to put the bottle down but he did as he was told.

Frank just got seated when there was another knock on the door. Rick looked at him and he just looked back. Rick left the room and moments later arrived with another guest. Frank stood and felt a jolt pass through his body. White blond hair, knock out figure in a lovely flowered dress... and a frown on her lovely lips. He felt a familiar pain pass through his heart and he struggled to get his breathing started again. He unconsciously rubbed at his chest.

"Elyse! Welcome!" Beverly said as she came down the hall to meet the woman at the entrance to the living room.

Frank saw the woman was feeling about as uncomfortable as he was. This definitely felt like an ambush.

Rick was looking at their faces and picked up the clues pretty quickly. "You two didn't know the other had been invited did you?"

Frank and Elyse both shook their heads. Rick scowled at his wife. "And you wonder why you don't get invited out more by the neighborhood wives?"

"What? I invited them over for dinner? What's the harm in that?" Beverly barked at her husband but Frank saw Rick had struck a sensitive spot with his comment. He instinctively moved forward to defuse the situation.

"It's ok. It was just a surprise." He turned to the tall blond. That was one difference this woman had to Stephanie who was two inches shorter than him. Up close there were several other differences, each of which he was grateful for as the more she differed from his ex the better. He held out his hand. "Hello, I'm Frank Dunn."

He saw the woman collect herself and take his hand in hers. "Elyse Cabrella. I mean Elyse Williams. I'm changing it."

"Frank is also divorced but I suppose it is simpler for men who don't have to change their surnames." Beverly said. She was almost bubbly now that she'd been 'forgiven'. Rick was still glaring at her.