Sorry not sorry. I couldn’t move. She hopped from foot to foot and I suspected the cool decking was freezing under her bare feet. She shrugged into her robe, wrapped her hair, and grabbed her plastic cup. I saw a flash of the tattoo on her wrist but still couldn’t make it out. She dashed to her house and then stood perfectly still for just a moment. That should have been my warning, but I was too enthralled to look away, and that’s when she turned and faced the house. As if sensing my stare, her gaze zeroed right in on me. I rolled back, dropping the drapes.

A hot blush of shame heated my face, and my heart was galloping in my chest. I was terrified for one crazy moment that this debacle might cause me to have another episode. I pulled my phone out of my pajama pocket, getting ready to call Lupita and Juan. But nothing happened. The panic eased. My heart slowed. I was okay.

I didn’t dare look out the window again, but I knew what I had to do. Such flagrant disregard of the document I had sent her simply could not be tolerated. I rolled over to my desk and grabbed a piece of paper and an envelope. Clearly, my tenant needed a refresher on the rules.

Annabelle

7

I waited for a shout. There was nothing. I thought maybe a shaking fist would appear. That didn’t happen either. Instead, the grounds between my little house and the big house grew very quiet as if I wasn’t alone in waiting for something to happen, but nothing did.

I closed and locked my door, wondering if I’d imagined the whole thing. Wouldn’t be the first time I’d gotten carried away. I decided to forget about it and preheated the oven to cook the frozen pizza Soph had put in my freezer. This was best friend love in its purest form.

While the pizza cooked, I took a quick shower and put on my pajamas. Several times I walked back to the windows that overlooked the yard. I stared at the curtain that I was certain I’d seen move but there was nothing. No movement, no light, no indication that anyone lived in the house at all. Maybe I had imagined it. Hmm.

I took my pizza into bed—because, why not—fired up my laptop, and watched some reruns of The Office. Since I was now working in an actual office again, it resonated. I glanced around my bedroom during the opening credits, noting again the lack of art. It was positively savage to have nothing but barren walls. Art, in my opinion, was a window to an alternate world of imagination, emotion, and truth.