The Girl Across The Way

"P.S. I've got plans for tomorrow night. Miracles do happen! I'm exhausted so I hope you won't think I'm angry with you if you don't see me for a few days."

She had my number and still chose to write out a note. I wasn't sure why but that sent a warm feeling through me which made me smile. I set the note with the others on the shelf.

I took my phone and texted her.

"You're welcome. I understand, it's been a rough week for me too. Rest well lovely lady."

I poured myself a drink and looked in the fridge for something easy, and found nothing. I made a mental note to get some groceries in the morning. I picked up my phone and it chimed as I did. There was no note, just a download link. I normally would have just deleted it, but I took a chance and a photo appeared on my screen of long legs in bath water. There was a glass of wine on the ledge of the bath. In the corner of the image was a graphic of a pair of puckered lips and a wink. The phone chimed again.

"It will be a miracle if I make it from this bath to my bed."

"Let me know if you need help. What was the name of that place you get take out?"

"Chen Jia." The number followed. "Don't make me hungry. I can barely keep my eyes open."

"Sweet dreams."

I looked up the restaurant and found a take out menu online. She was right, the food was terrific. When I'd eaten my fill I packed the rest away and thought I should stop with the takeout before I explode.

"You won't stay in shape this way." I said as I put the leftovers in the fridge.

I saw the pouch of fortune cookies on the counter and took one out and cracked it, popping the broken piece into my mouth and unfolded the fortune.

"A beautiful, smart, and loving person will be coming into your life." I smiled and looked up at the window I watched Nina from.

"Pretty accurate." I thought.

I was up surprisingly early for a Saturday and felt pretty good. I showered and dressed and made my way downstairs. I asked the doorman where I might find some decent coffee around here and he laughed.

"This is Seattle, two things we've got are coffee and fish." He then directed me to a shop about a block west of the building.

It took a bit to get used to the coffee here which was darker and richer than the stuff I'd had back home. I snorted at that thought, this was home now. I flipped through my phone and found a grocery store nearby. It was very upscale which made sense for this neighborhood. I hoofed it over there and picked up a hand basket and began to peruse the selection. I grinned at the obvious embellishments used to convince people their products were the finest sourced, with prices to match. I stuck to the basics and filled up one of their cloth sack grocery bags for the walk back to my place.

I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon puttering, and picking up around the apartment. I stopped for lunch and stood at the counter eating off the cutting board I'd just made my sandwich on when I heard my phone chime. I looked at it and walked over to the window and looked through the binoculars. The view was partly obscured by the sky reflecting off the window but she was there sitting cross legged on a large mat. She wore a blue tank top and yoga pants Her body was turned away just enough to hide her face..

"Soothing music suggestion?"

"Mozart? I usually listen to jazz when I want to be soothed."

She tapped away on her phone and cocked her head as if listening. She nodded, began tapping away again.

"I like it. Thanks." She blew me a kiss over her shoulder and sent the link to the online playlist. I went over and turned on my little bookshelf stereo and connected my phone over the WiFi and played it. When I returned I saw her stretching on the mat, bent over holding the back of her knees. She really did have an incredible figure. I sighed and wished neither of us had plans later. I made a quick list of reasons to blow off the party and sighed.

"Don't burn your bridges. Get out of the damn house you pervert." I thought as I stepped away from the window. I got the feeling that her workout wasn't done for the viewers benefit but she didn't appear to care if she was watched doing it. I peeked a few times as I puttered and found her in different poses, but never facing the window. She must have been at it for an hour when I heard my phone chime again.

"Time to hit the shower and make myself presentable."

I looked through the binoculars to find her topless and wiping her face with her shirt as she set her phone on the dock.

"I hardly think that's a monumental feat for you."

She looked up at my window and back at the phone. She took it and turned her back to me and texted me.

"Wish I had a hunky guy to help wash my back, and other exceptionally dirty parts."

"I'll be right over!"

"Can't, we'd both have to cancel our plans. Catch you later sexy!" She replaced her phone and left the room. I looked at the time and figured with travel I might get started on clean up duty myself. I first checked out my closet and looked over the clothes I'd been buying over the past year now that I was just another suit in the office and not out working in the field. I pulled out a sport coat and slacks and picked a simple striped shirt. I waffled on whether or not to wear a tie and remembered Len's claim that the women dressed up and made the guys look bad and chuckled. I chose a tie to wear.

I hit the shower and imagined Nina in her own, soap suds sliding down her body and I was instantly hard as I remembered fingers delving into her pussy.

"What fantasies do I have about you Nina? I picture myself lifting you off your feet, pinning you against this shower wall and driving my cock into you while you do your best to lick my tonsils." I thought and chuckled. I stroked my cock imagining her holding onto my shoulders as I drove into her with no mercy while whispering a string of filthy talk into her ear. I tried to slow my breathing after I came hard enough to hear it hit the shower wall over the spray of the water.

"That woman will be the death of me, and I'll welcome it." I said aloud. I rinsed off and got out of the shower. I shaved, polished the ivories and dried my hair. I reached for the after shave I usually used and stopped and took a bottle of nice cologne I'd received as a gift. I went and suited up, checking myself in the mirror and nodded. I swapped the tie for a darker one and used an app to get a ride.

Len and Sandy lived a little further out in the northern part of the city. Len had mentioned his wife worked in the seafood business and they had a house near Puget Sound. When the driver got closer I got to thinking her seafood business wasn't a simple fishmonger's stall. The houses here were all in the seven figure range. We didn't do poorly working where we did but this neighborhood would have been out of the price range if Len were their only breadwinner. I let out a low whistle and the driver chuckled.

"First time up this way?" His accent was sing-song.

"Yes, I'm from the mid-west actually where they don't have houses like these."

The destination popped on my phone screen and I hit the pay button. I reached over and gave him the tip in cash. I stepped out taking the guys info for a review later and walked towards the house, the front was covered in huge windows facing the water. I turned in the driveway to admire the view of the Sound and the street of homes just below theirs. I let out the same low whistle as another car drove up. I turned and walked towards the house. I got there just as the door opened for a couple that was already standing there.

Len spotted me and grinned. "I'm glad you made it! The ladies won't be able to complain about how shabby we look this time." He said looking me up and down. "Come on in and I'll show you around, and introduce you to everybody."

Sandy, Len's wife was a bubbly and outgoing blonde in her mid to late thirties that I'd met before when she'd come to our office to see her husband. She was attractive and outgoing but in the hubbub of people arriving got separated from Len and I. He showed off the house, introducing me to people as we moved through the house. I smiled and nodded a lot until we got around to a bar they had set up in what looked like a butler's pantry. He confirmed that when I asked.

"Yea we don't have a butler which is good because he'd probably be a lush in here."

"The house is gorgeous, but there's no way we get paid this well." I joked softly.

"Well Sandy isn't just in the seafood business. She's one of the top account reps for the biggest seafood broker in the northwest." He smiled. "Selling a boat load of salmon is a simple snap of her fingers, and suddenly there's a sale at Trader Joe's."

"Ahh, that makes more sense than her canning sardines near the docks." I laughed.

"Don't kid yourself she probably could." We wandered out of the bar area drinks in hand and more people were arriving and being introduced or greeting people they already knew with hugs and handshakes.

"Sandy!" Len called when he saw who she was towing around. Sandy turned and the woman beside her came into view. I know my eyes widened but hoped there was no more outward sign as I tried to play it cool without looking like I was trying to play it cool. Sandy tapped the woman on the elbow and they started towards us. The woman was tall and slim with a beautiful blue dress and killer smile. As they got close I noticed her complexion was light golden brown and her eyes were so dark as to look nearly black. If this was Len's idea I was going to buy him the finest bottle of scotch I could lay my hands on.

"Kathy, this is Len's co-worker Tom Olson. He's from the Minneapolis where they only seafood they have is northern pike." She said laughing.

Kathy had an odd expression of surprise on her face, then smiled when I spoke. "Don't forget we have some mighty fine walleye and muskies, don't ya know." I said in my best mid-west accent.

"Tom, this is Dr. Kathryn Taylor one of my co-workers. Don't worry your accent is nothing compared to hers."

"Stop telling everyone I'm a doctor." She elbowed Sandy.

"You are!"

"You tell people that and they start bringing up their ailments." She turned to me and held out her hand. "I'm a marine biologist, not a people doctor." She said with a laugh. Her hand was cool and soft, but calloused. Her accent clearly from down-under.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Dr. Taylor. Can I ask you about this pain I've been having?"

"Oh God! See?!" She said laughing. Sandy noticed that she hadn't let go of my hand yet. Len jumped in and offered to get Kathy a drink. She asked for a glass of wine, red if they had it. Kathy's hand slipped away with a last gentle squeeze.

"Kathy is the company fish nerd. She just came back from freezing her ass off for two weeks in Alaska at a fisheries conference."

"Sounds like a chilly trip to make in February."

"It's not as bad as you might think at least at the university lecture hall. When we go out on the boats then yes it got very cold."

"I told everyone in the office she was in Anchorage getting crabs."

"Sandy!" Kathy scolded her. "You're rotten! At least at work everyone knows your joking."

The doorbell rang and Sandy excused herself leaving Kathy and I staring at each other. She leaned forward and whispered. "Don't call me Nina here."

I felt my mouth go bone dry.

"Close your mouth." She said smiling and looked up just as Len arrived to hand her a glass of wine.

"You alright Tom? You look like you've seen a ghost."

I hadn't stopped looking at Kathy/Nina and she licked her lips to get the last sip of her wine. She lifted one eyebrow and smiled.

"Tom?"

"Oh I'm fine, sorry." I smiled at Kathy as she bit the corner her full lower lip and flashed her eyes at me.

"Okay, I'll be right back, one of my college buddies just arrived." He stepped away.

"Well this is a bit of a shocker." She grinned and cleared her throat.

"Sydney?"

She chuckled. "Less Crocodile Dundee, more Lord of the Rings."

"Auckland?" I asked, laughing.

She blinked and nodded. "Close enough."

"A scientist working for a large seafood import, export business on the other side of the world from home. That's nearly as impressive as everything else I've sussed about you." My fake accent was horrible but it made her smile.

She couldn't help but laugh, her cheeks turned pink and she hid it behind her wine glass. "Do tell. I'm honestly curious."

I took a deep breath and released it, measuring my words. "Deeply private person, probably introverted but with a very high libido. You're highly intelligent, sassy, and fun with an easily exposed," I coughed gently into my fist, "wild side." She gave me an embarrassed smile and I saw Sandy approaching and I opened my eyes wider looking over Kathy's shoulder. Kathy got the drift and turned slightly.

"You two are awfully quiet over here."

"I'm learning about Kiwi's, which up until now I thought were those fuzzy little brown balls in the produce section."

Kathy bust out laughing, Sandy quickly joined her.

"I'm not sure if we've just introduced the world to the perfect storm of off-color comedy by bringing you two together." Sandy held her head. "What have we done?" Sandy led us around to some of the new people in the room. No one came between Kathy and I, despite many long looks from the other men in attendance. Those that arrived later might have thought we came together and I was okay with that.

We sat down to dinner. A large whole salmon surrounded with lemon and dill was the centerpiece. Dishes of roasted vegetables appeared at either end of the table. Dinner was delicious and Sandy soaked up the compliments and thanked her favorite local fishmonger for boning the beast for her. Len raised his wine glass.

"To great friends, and great salmon." He got a rousing response as we all cheered his simple toast.

I joined in assisting with the clean up to which Sandy asked if I was trying to earn brownie points. I told her, "I didn't cook so I clean, those are the rules where I come from."

When the dishes were cleared, people began to separate into smaller groups chatting over the last of the wine.

Kathy had walked towards the large windows and looked out at the lights below and the boats on Puget Sound.

"Nina, short for something?" I asked softly. She chuckled under her breath.

"A nickname my grandmother used to call me." She sighed and kept looking out the window. "She had a tough life. She was brought to New Zealand from Okinawa after World War II as an orphan. At least they thought she was. She was too young to tell anyone about family and when nobody could identify her or claim her they brought her there."

"Fish?" I asked.

"Dad was a fisherman. I was on a boat from the time I was five or so. I loved it, well until I got yelled at for tossing fish back into the water after they'd been pulled from the nets." She said laughing. I didn't equate the fish with someones dinner at the time. When I grew up I knew more about fishing than half of the guys working on the boat. He insisted on university though. It seemed like it was written in the stars by then."

She turned to look at me and tilted her head in question.

"Ah, my turn." I nodded. "Well I was born in Minnesota, grew up spending most of my time outdoors. Even as an adult I preferred the outdoors, loved to camp, fish, hunt. I didn't really want to go to college but my dad fired me up about it, told me if I wanted to be out there all the time then get a job that sends me out there all the time and pays for it. So I went to college got a degree in botany and forest management. Paper company hired me right out of college, I worked there for a few years but they sold out to a larger company and they sold the division, so I ended up working for a large scale timber operation and that started to waiver and I put myself on the market, and ended up here. Hardly the woods living on the seventh floor of a high rise in downtown Seattle." I laughed and shook my head and looked out over the water. "Seems we'd both be more at home out there fishing than where we are."

Kathy laughed. "Probably. It's a hard life though."

"Well I meant recreational fishing, not trying to make a living at it." We both laughed.

"Well maybe when the season opens we can do that."

She looked sideways at me and smiled. "What will we do until then?"

People moved around the party making small talk, a few interested by Kathy's accent and background asked questions about New Zealand and her work. I was surprised to find that she'd lived in Japan for a while and spoke Japanese and a little Chinese. A few asked about my work which seemed a lot less exciting than Kathy's to them. I didn't disagree.

It was closing on eleven and Kathy held up her wine glass to cover her mouth. "Want to get out of here? Get us a ride, would you?"

"Will do." I bowed out to go to the bathroom and whipped my phone out and ordered us a car."

When I emerged I saw Len and Sandy speaking to Kathryn and wandered up to them.

"Yea, we live across the street from one another." Kathy said with a laugh. "Small world."

"I don't know about that. Auckland to Seattle is a bit of a swim." I said smiling.

"Amazing enough the cities aren't that different though. Both are on the ocean, huge melting pots, close to great wine, terrific food, now I just need to scout out a good Indian restaurant and I'll be set."

I gave her a little nod. I thanked Len and Sandy for inviting me. Len brought up that this was larger than usual and once a month or so they do a weekend game night where a few couples get together for dinner, drinks, cards or board games, and that we were both invited next time they have one.

"You know, not necessarily together, you can come with other people if you want, or alone." He stumbled over his words, slightly drunk.

"What he means is that you're both invited, any way you want to show up. We'll figure it out, but expect to hear about it in a couple weeks. It's just a nice time that doesn't cost a fortune and keeps us social rather than vegetating in front of the TV." Sandy added with a laugh.

"Don't worry, I get the feeling I'm about to be asked out on a date." Kathy said with a wink to her. "I'm sharing a ride home."

The complete lack of subtlety made everyone laugh but me. Sandy laughed when she looked at me. "You're not as sly as you think Tom. No man really is." I had the good grace to blush.

"I... I mean... it might happen, possibly, likely, definitely." I shrugged to more laughs.

We bid farewell to the other guests and I took Kathryn's coat and helped her into it. I knew we'd be the fuel for the next half hour of conversation and I didn't care.

"Stop a second." Kathryn took my arm as we walked down the steps to the street. "Despite the fact I look killer in them I'm not the best in heels. Add a bottle of wine and the cover of darkness to that and I end up dangerous to myself."

"Better on the deck of a trawler in rubber boots?"

"Much more stable for than these!"

The driver got us back to the city. Kathy looked at me her expression was that of someone trying desperately to keep from laughing.

"What?" I asked. We both laughed unable to contain our humor.

She took my hand and placed it on her knee and her eyes flashed in the low light coming through the windows. I looked up at the driver who had earbuds in but I knew he could hear well enough.

I gave her knee a gentle squeeze. "So..."

She bust out laughing. "Yes?"

"I was wondering, if you didn't have any other plans, if you'd be interested in going out next weekend?"

She looked down at my hand on her knee and up at me and I drew it away and she shook her head. She took it and put it back on her knee.