Desperate

Desperate Chapter 1

I want him.
His shirt was off, revealing toned muscles sweat gleaming off perfectly smooth skin. He moved rhythmically, confidently. So sexy. I held my breath, my lips trapped between my teeth to stop sound from escaping.
"Do you like it?"
"Yes...oh yes."
"Great, now we do have a few other persons who expressed their interest so I can give you until the end of the day today."
I turned away from the window to face the building manager of the apartment I was currently viewing. Forcing my attention away from the beautiful stranger, I plastered a smile on my face and gave the room a quick once-over.
It was not exactly what I was looking for. The walls were gray and to be honest, I was done with gray color schemes. It was not as big as I would like either, the washer and dryer were in the kitchen which looked weird to me. The counter space was adequate, but I would be happier with more. There was no island, I am a sucker for a kitchen island. The bedrooms were smaller than the rooms at the place I was leaving. I also thought the price was too much for so little.
My eyes strayed back almost unwillingly to the window. His back was turned, but if I wasn't mistaken, he had just turned it. As if he...had been watching me?
"It's perfect." I didn't turn from the window. "I'll take it."

A week, I had to wait a whole week before I had time to move into my new apartment. It had been a week of thinking about Him, my perfect stranger. At night in my head, I had already planned several lives for us. Him in my apartment, going to concerts, taking trips, shopping. Us not being able to stand being away from each other so much that we move in together. Into a nicer place, a bigger place. Him, realizing that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. Us getting married. Having perfect children. In my fantasy we had arguments, of course, I am nothing if not realistic.
It was real, I would make it real.
There are some things you want, and if you want them bad enough you will get them. I know this to be true. I've willed things into reality enough time to know that if I don't have it then I didn't want it.
When Saturday came, I woke up excited. It had been the longest week and I couldn't wait to get into my new apartment. It would take me about five trips before I got all my stuff transferred. I skipped breakfast, I would be doing a lot of bending and lifting and if someone saw me dragging anything out of my car, I needed to look good doing it. A stomach full of food would not be the best look.
At the new apartment complex, I took care to look slightly overwhelmed but still approachable. I kept my head down while trying to see into the neighbors' windows. My eyes hurt from the strain, but I needed to know which apartment was His, while looking completely preoccupied with what I was doing.
At some point during the day, I begin to doubt I would see him. Maybe he worked weekends. My scouting hadn't gotten me far either. I could tell apartment 1 was a family home. The horribly overweight mom had already come outside and pretended to throw out the trash when it was obvious, she just wanted to get a better look at me as I transported boxes from my car. She was ugly, she had horrible skin, stringy hair, and dark lips. She kept her beady eyes on me and did not say a word, I didn't say a word either.
On my way back to the car to fetch my items I strutted. Let her look at me. I scratched an invisible itch on my head to give her a better view from the side. At the car, I preened and stretched far more than I needed to reach boxes perfectly within my grasp.
That's when the door to Apartment 4 opened. I had already disqualified Door 1 and door 2 as his. Door 2 was a slightly older woman. She likely cooked a lot based on the countertop I glimpsed from the window. She did a fair bit of online shopping and had a welcome mat that read "Place packages here". Door five was a young woman with a few children, could be three. A toddler, one could have been maybe ten and the other I saw was high school-aged. Door six was two males possibly gay. Door 7 was a mystery, windows closed, shades were drawn, plain brown mat No sound came from within and the door hadn't opened once. Door 8 was the building manager.
My stomach tightened the wider door 4 opened. Neatly manicured nails peeped through, holding the door open. I was too far away to make out the words, but I could hear the high-pitched voice, laughter like bells gently ringing. She was still smiling as she stepped outside. She was pretty. Slim, long extensions, tattoos. Could be Columbian. I didn't hear another voice, didn't see another person but I knew. It was his apartment. Or theirs.
She walked past me to get to a black jeep. I smiled widely and said good afternoon. She looked surprised but smiled back and wished me a good afternoon as well.
"Just moving in?" She asked.
I nodded, "Yup, can't wait until I'm done unpacking."
"I can imagine, have a good day."
She drove off.

I didn't see her come back. In the morning I didn't see the black jeep. I did see him though, coming out of apartment 4. He left early and didn't come back until dark. I thought I saw the jeep pull in next to him, but it was too dark to tell. I stood at the window waiting, but no one walked past my apartment.
I woke up on the couch, disappointed but with a renewed determination. I knew what to do and I knew it would work. I stayed home from work, he left at 8:15. While I waited, I unpacked the rest of my belongings, cooked, and watched TV. At 5:45 he had not returned. No problem, I didn't expect him to come straight home from work. 7 PM crept past and the blue Camaro didn't make an appearance. At 9 PM I did some light stretches to stay up. I was on my third cup of coffee when I heard a car door slam at 11:06.
What the hell had he been doing all day? He was dressed casually, not in the slacks and buttoned-up shirt he left in. I knew he hadn't been back to the apartment because I, of course, watched and listened for him all day. Well...maybe I was wrong, maybe he came back while I wasn't looking. Unlikely but it couldn't matter now.
My door was slightly open like it had been for some hours now. As soon as he got into his apartment, I slipped out of mine. Key in hand, softly closed the door behind me.
I was fully dressed, my purse hanging from my arm heels, and my makeup done. Once I got clear of my apartment I stomped towards his. I pulled my keys out jingling them as I pretended to look for the right one. I walked to his door stuck my key in the keyhole and jiggled the knob aggressively.
Of course, he hadn't gotten far into his apartment, and I could see his profile stop and look back at his front door. I jiggled some more keys and tried again, shaking his door in what would seem like frustration.
The door was pulled open roughly from the inside. I had been holding on to the knob and stumbled forward a bit. I quickly found my balance and looked up into annoyed and confused eyes.
"Can I help you?" He asked.