Page 8 of Love Next Door
Rather than spouting the words from that show, I shouted out, “This is my place, and I live here! Payback is the sweetest revenge!”
My girls giggled their hearts out, but they kept the racket up alongside me. The apartment to my left was empty, and the one underneath me was temporarily empty because the residents were out of town. I wasn’t worried about waking anyone else up. But Mr. July Maxwell was in for a rude awakening this morning.
My balcony was right outside of his, and I knew that the window closest to me was his bedroom window. We kept the racket up until, slowly, the black bedroom curtains pulled back, and his puffy, half-closed eyes peered out at us.
He pulled the curtain back further and stood in front of the window, mugging us. My girls shrieked the moment our eyes lowered.
“That nigga’s mama named him perfectly,” Kamaia hissed.
“Mm-hmm. Nothing’s hotter than July,” Nina muttered beside me.
“Heffa, if you don’t jump on that, I will,” Yamika warned.
My next-door neighbor stood in his bedroom window in all his beautiful, cocoa, naked glory, big dick energy realized and all! The muscles in his tatted arms and legs flexed, and his dick jumped. I whimpered. A small smirk tilted those full, heart-shaped lips as he smirked at me.
Oh, God!
I reachedunderneath my orange halter dress and tugged at the attached shorts, to make sure that my cheeks were properly covered, as I took in my overall image in the 360 mirror. My curls were pulled up into a messy ponytail on the top of my head, and gold hoops with orange ribbons on them swung from my ears.
I slid my freshly pedicured toes into my clear sandals, grabbed my pineapple purse, keys, and phone, and headed out of my apartment to the elevator. My apartment complex was hosting a social mixer so that the residents could get to know one another better. It was a combo of a mixer and a speed dating event.
The speed dating would be held first, and then the overall mixer. I signed up for the speed dating event because there were a few men I had my eye on, including the attorney downstairs in 220.
Our apartment complex was comprised of six five-story buildings that formed a horseshoe shape around an Olympic-sized outdoor pool. There were plenty of amenities, including a community room, café, coffee house, gym, cleaners, indoor and outdoor pools, and a bookstore.
Every building had its own gym, indoor pool, and community room. The other amenities were found in my building but shared among all the buildings.
“Hi, I’m Abril Severs.” I greeted the hostess when I arrived at the community room.
“Hi, Abril. I’m Harmony. Welcome to our dating game. Tonight’s event is called Sight Unseen,” she explained, handing me a clear package containing a blindfold. “Your attendant will guide you to each table. You have three minutes to ask your questions and three minutes to answer your partners before you move on. There will be twelve men. You will have two rounds with those twelve men before you choose your last two partners. During the last ten minutes, you will get time with your two top picks before you make your final selection. If you strike a match, we will pair you up. Then everyone’s blindfolds will be removed. Think you can handle it?” she asked, handing me a tag that read 516.
“Yeah.”
She introduced me to my attendant, Farrah, a dark-skinned, curvy girl with sultry eyes and red pouty lips, who wore a burgundy and black wig.
Farrah led me to a table, and anxiety filled me until the games began fifteen minutes later. The first man had a sensualvoice, but I didn’t like his energy. He answered the questions just fine, but something was off.
The second man was charming, but it felt forced. The third man had the perfect answers, too perfect, in fact. The fourth guy was just my speed, and I enjoyed chatting and flirting with him, but it was over all too soon. The same thing happened with the fifth guy. I didn’t care for the sixth guy at all and found myself counting down the time.
The second round was pretty much the same, and I narrowed it down to the final two.
“What do you imagine a girl’s dream date would be?” I asked man number four from the first round.
“First date, going someplace to grab coffee and dessert so we can talk and chill.”
“Not the movies?”
“Nah. I’m not trying to get her in the dark to feel her up. I genuinely want to get to know her personality, her preferences, her intellect, and see if we have a vibe.”
“Second date?”
“Something fun and adventurous. Maybe snorkeling.”
“Whoa! Straight into the deep, huh?” I laughed.
“Maybe. Or maybe something chill and still adventurous like skating.”
“What are major turnoffs for you?”
