Indecent Exposure (Rude Awakenings)

Sarah was feeling hot and restless. It was
uncomfortable to sit out in the garden and too humid to stray far from the air
con. She was between books and daytime TV definitely didn’t appeal. Endless
channels of house makeovers and half-wits shouting ‘shocking’ revelations at
each other. Typically, the network connection on her laptop was playing up as
well, so she couldn’t even mess around on the internet.

After an hour of harumphing and grumping around
the place she decided to do something useful. Earlier, while sitting on her sun
lounger, she had noticed that the flower bed in the side garden was looking
decidedly neglected. In fact it was more weeds than anything else.
‘…Bit of hard work, then shower and do the
supermarket…should snap me out of it..
’

Ten minutes later she had found her gardening
gloves and a big straw hat and was hard at work, pulling and pruning. Although
it was still oppressively sticky, she started to rather enjoy herself, her
reward a slowly growing patch of weed-free soil.

Lost in her thoughts, she was surprised to hear
a car pull up on the other side of the street. Hers was the last house in the
private road, its double opposite had been empty for months.

A thick beech hedge thwarted her instinctive
curiosity ‘
…well, nosiness really…
’
as she admitted to herself. All she could see were the upstairs bedroom windows
of the large detached building over the way. She heard car doors opening and
then being slammed shut followed by voices. The conversation was too quiet and
far away for her to make out much more than it was two males talking. Quiet
returned, so she gave a little shrug and got on with the weeding.

About half an hour later, a large truck
arrived.
‘…removal van?...
’ and
parked up. This did need to be checked out. She was practically finished anyway
and new neighbours would liven up the dull day. She went upstairs to her
dressing room and peered out of the window. Sure enough a couple of burly men
were manhandling furniture out onto the pavement.
‘…Always looks odd…your private stuff out on public display…’
 
The thought made her smile as she tried to
work out what sort of people were moving in.

‘
Ah, the
man of the house…
’ A skinny old man had appeared and was fussing around the
men like an anxious bird. He was scruffily dressed in jeans and a T-shirt,
obviously ready for lifting and shifting. He was soon joined by a much younger
man, ‘…
probably not his son…..maybe a
grandson..?.
’ the pair of them setting to work with a will.
‘…Now that’s
what I call a GOOD neighbour…’
Sarah couldn’t help thinking, admiring the
youngster’s clean-cut profile
‘…Looks more like a film-star playing a surfer
dude than a student…
’ taking in his long blond hair and powerful physique.
She didn’t want to be caught peeping, so left them to it and headed for the
shower.

It was one of the luxuries of having such a big
place with just the two of them. Jack had his own room, chock full of sporting
equipment, a comfortable chair, even his own TV. In return, she had this room
for her clothes, which also had its own en-suite bathroom.
‘…Never find the seat left up, never find stubble in the sink…
’ she
had boasted to friends. As they had drifted apart over the past couple of years
they spent less and less time together, even in the house. In the last few
months, Jack had been trying to chase a couple of big accounts to improve his
ailing marketing company. This meant he was only around at the weekend if at
all.

The cool water felt terrific after her hard
work and she was soon refreshed and clean in a pair of shorts and a blouse.
Glancing out, she saw them still working away opposite ‘…
must be boiling working in this heat…
’ and selfishly felt glad it
wasn’t her. Pausing to pick up her keys and handbag she went downstairs and out
of the front door. The car was predictably oven-like as she pulled out of her
driveway so she had both front windows wound down. Turning right, she noticed
the white haired bird-man emerging from the lorry carrying a large table-lamp

“Hi. How’s the move going” she called out.

The man looked momentarily flustered as he
walked towards the car. As he got nearer she was unsettled herself by the
piercing look he gave her.

“Oh…Hi. All well so far thanks. Erm…I’m Manny
by the way, Manny McCarthy. I guess we’re going to be neighbours.”

“Yes, I live opposite. I’m Sarah. Sarah Miles.
Nice to meet you Manny.”

“Yes, nice to meet you too. Better keep going I
suppose..” his voice trailed off as he waved the lamp to emphasise the point.

“Hope you get yourself sorted out Manny. If you
need anything just come over and bang on the door. I’m in most days.”

“Will do Sarah. Thanks. See you around..”

With that, Sarah waved and headed off.

Later on, shopping finished; Sarah was putting
stuff away in the kitchen cupboards when she heard her doorbell ring. She could
see a slightly stooped figure through the frosted glass and guessed it was the
new arrival. Sure enough, the door opened to reveal a tired looking Manny.

“Oh…Hi…I was just wondering what day the bins
are collected. We are swamped by rubbish over there.”

Sarah politely asked him in and offered to make
a cup of tea. The suggestion was eagerly accepted. Obviously everything was
still in T-chests over there. They chatted for a while, giving Sarah the chance
to find out a few more things. The young man was Manny’s grandson as she had
thought. His parents worked overseas, out in Singapore. He often stayed with
Manny when he was on holidays from college, where he was studying Computer
Science ‘
…Geek then, not a professional
surfer …Oh well…Mind you, I wonder if he could fix that blasted network
connection….
’ . There was no mention of Manny’s wife, though whether she
was absent due to desertion, divorce or death was unspecified.

After 20 minutes or so, Manny excused herself
and returned to his move. It was enough time for Sarah to decide that while he
did seem pleasant enough, she wasn’t very interested in getting any friendlier.
He had a particularly irritating habit of cantering off at a tangent when
talking. During their chat, she unenthusiastically endured his knee-jerk
opinions about the government, capital punishment and immigration.

She was happy then, that for the next month,
the McCartheys kept a low profile. An occasional passing wave and exchange of
pleasantries was about as much contact as she had with them. Then one Monday
morning, she was sunbathing in her usual sunny spot round the side of the
house. Her reading was interrupted by the sound of someone coming up the drive.
It was Manny. Sarah sighed, opened the garden gate and called through.

After a bit of dithering, Manny confessed to
looking for a bit of a favour. He was heading out of town for a long weekend
and needed someone to feed his two cats. He seemed so anxious that Sarah felt
obliged to agree. Mind you, she also made sure to take the opportunity to ask
if Rob could sort out her laptop. It was agreed that he would have a look in a
week or so when he was next home from college. Later that day, Manny dropped
off an envelope with keys and an over-fussy list of instructions about cats, food
and alarms.

Friday morning came round and she duly walked
across the road clutching the envelope. It was easy enough to let herself in
and sort out the alarm and she was relieved to see the tins of food on a work
surface ready to go. The cats were locked in the kitchen with a cat-flap out to
the garden. Manny had stressed in his notes that they weren’t to be allowed in
the rest of the house. Mission accomplished, she headed back to her own
routine.

Things went to plan that evening as well, so
she was a little too casual by the Saturday morning. Bending down to put down
the food, she straightened up to see the kitchen door open behind her and a
tail disappearing up the stairs. Cursing, she made sure the greedier animal was
secure and eating before following after the runaway. It felt a little
uncomfortable being in someone else’s house but she knew she had to find the
stupid thing.

Upstairs, all the doors were open, so after a
few minutes entirely wasted cooing ‘Here kitty kitty!’ and the like, she embarked
on a proper search. A rustle of movement in what would have been the dressing
room in her house betrayed her quarry.’
…
Yuk… college boy chic…’
the bedroom very obviously belonged to Rob. The
poster of the female tennis girl scratching her naked butt was a staple college
image as were the blown-up stills from Reservoir Dogs and The Shining.

It was the large telescope that grabbed her
attention though. Set back slightly from the window, it dominated the room.
Idly sighting down the barrel, she was a little surprised to see that it was
pointing in the direction of her house. Curious, she put her eye up close to
the viewer. Swimming into view, without any focussing needed, was a terrific
shot of her sun-lounger!
‘… Little
asshole’s been spying on me …’
her immediate reaction was righteous
indignation. A year ago she would have quickly moved on to first-degree
outrage. She was a little different now. More curious than anything else, she
looked again to see what he was able to make out ‘
…sheesh, you can practically read my book down there …’
it would
almost be as if he was standing next to her.

Thoughtfully, she rounded up the stray and
returned downstairs. Later on that day, she was standing in her own dressing
room looking across the road. ‘
…yep,
thought so, it would be easy enough to see in here as well. Can’t really see
the telescope at the window either…Clever little surfer-boy isn’t he….
’
Already, the beginnings of a plan were forming in her mind.
‘Well, if he wants a bit of a show, who I am
to disappoint him…
’.

Things with Jack hadn’t exactly been getting
worse. They had already arrived at worst some time ago. Aside from all the
emotional fallout, this had impacted on their physical relationship. Putting it
baldly, they didn’t have one. She had a fling going with her sister in law
Suzie ‘
…still sounds a bit strange, a bit
too Jerry Springer if I’m honest…
’ but it was very sporadic. In any case
there were times when it was definitely a man she craved. A newly purchased
vibrating friend satisfied most of her physical needs but certainly not her new
found appetite for exploring the wilder shores of her libido.

‘Yes… yes that might
be just what I need to divert myself for a little while…well until I find
something or someone better to do. You aren’t going to know what hit you, young
Rob McCarthy…!’

The next few days passed uneventfully. The
return of Manny finished her cat-sitting duties but she had to wait three more
days til she saw Rob’s beat up old Ford parking up in the driveway. She was
heading out to the cinema with a couple of friends for their regular Thursday
night date and saw it as she pulled out of her driveway. She drove across to
his side of the street and called out to Rob through her window.

“Hi…err…you must be Rob. I’m Sarah Miles. I live
across the road there…”

After a moment’s pause, during which she felt
herself being given the once over, she was rewarded with a full-on electric
smile.

“Oh…Yes…Hello Sarah. Yeah, Manny told me you
had been looking after the cats….Thanks for that.”

He paused. Annoyingly she found herself
blushing slightly under the scrutiny of his vivid blue eyes. Stammering a
little she replied..

“It was no problem at all…Always nice to help
neighbours out….Erm….Manny was telling me you are good with computers. It’s
just that there’s something wrong with the network connection on my laptop. I’d
take it to the shop but they’re very expensive….”

Sarah wondered if it was her imagination but he
did seem relieved that she was only after a bit of computer assistance.
‘…Has
he got a guilty conscience about his voyeuristic activities…?
’ “Could you
have a look for me?… I’ll say pretty please if you want.” She continued as
coolly as she could manage.

“Yeah…Manny said something about that alright.
Course I will. It’s always a pleasure to help a lady… Pretty please would be
nice though…” Rob grinned at her cheekily. His teeth were, needless to say,
perfect.

“I’m in a bit of a rush now, can I drop it off
with you tomorrow some time?’ she simpered. It was impossible not to respond
him.
‘…Such an infectious smile…careful not to catch anything off it then
Sarah…’