Sat. 30th June 12

          "Where is it?"

          “On the floor over there!” I paused, trying to think. “How on earth did it get there?”

          I could picture the sock flying across the room and it made me smile.

          I didn’t remember getting undressed – the preliminaries were always very short with him. No need anyway. The effect he had on me was immediate. It had taken me ages to choose my clothes though, to do my hair, my nails, my make-up… All that for what? He looked at me for only half a second and... I was naked. This man was definitely the fastest women undresser I had ever met. Luckily for me he did slow down and I got rewarded for the effort it took me to get ready. That half a second definitively worked for him! How is this relevant to the story? It’s not... Let's move on...

          “Why are you getting dressed?” he asked hugging me. He smells so nice… and I felt hot again. He started kissing my neck. I started undoing his shirt.

          He gently pushed me away. “I really have to go.” He whispered.

          I went to sit on the bed in my underwear and watched him put his shoes on. It wasn’t the first time I noticed his lips moved slightly forward when he was focused on something and I had to close my eyes to stop myself imagining them on mine. He could give the most delicious kisses ever; the kind of kiss you relish slowly and remember forever.

          “I’m going.” He said when he was finished.

          “Bye” I replied not moving. I knew it was annoying him. He smiled but his eyes narrowed. I smiled back. I could hear his breathing.

          “Fine” he said and he walked to the door.

          I could not resist the urge to feel him against me one more time and I was behind him a second later. I enjoyed teasing him but never for very long. He turned around to hug me again.

          “Do you have everything? Let me help you check.” I said. “Your phone?” I asked gently squeezing his left back pocket.

          He smiled.

          “Your keys.” I said squeezing his right back pocket.

          He laughed and opened the door. He kissed me good bye and I squeezed his right back pocket again. He looked at me inquisitive.

          “Double checking.” I said as innocently as possible.

          He kissed me and left.

          I closed the door and ran back into the bedroom to wave him good bye. I hate when women do that but I’ve found out that it is a great way to have a last look at his bum when he turns around and walks away.

          I was going to open the window when I saw them. Two men; an old one and a young one. They were unloading a car. I wondered which one was moving in. Had the old man finally kicked his son out? Or was the young one getting rid of the old man? I smiled.

          The old man look up and I realised I was still in my underwear… so I retreated and sighed; not a good idea to give a heart attack to my new neighbour on his first day!

          It took me a moment to find my dress then I put it on. I went back to the window to have another look. The young man was now inside; I could hear him going up the stairs. The old man started the car and left. I ran to the door to have a look through the peephole. Both flats were empty and I just wanted to know in which of them he was moving. So it was the young one moving in then. I wondered if it was a good thing. I went to take a shower.

          This was the day he opened the door of flat 16 for the first time.

          This was the day I left mine unlocked for the last time.

Sunday 1st July 12

Seven o’clock in the morning. Someone should tell my brain that it is all right to sleep a bit longer on Sunday! Oh well, I was awake so I got up and made some coffee. 

While the water was boiling, I opened the blinds on a promising beautiful day. I sat on the bed, my coffee in one hand and a book in the other. My favourite moment of the week. Everybody else was still asleep and the only sound I could hear was the songs of the birds. Lovely. 

I was so absorbed by the book that my coffee got cold. As I really wanted a coffee and could not possibly drink this one cold, I abandoned the book and went back to the kitchen. 

There was a loud and unexpected bang that made me jump. I spilt some coffee on my legs and on the floor. Luckily it was cold but I sighted at the mess. The last thing I wanted to do on a Sunday was cleaning, especially after I spent so long doing it the previous day. 

I went to the bathroom. 

Another loud bang! I run to the window in the bedroom to see who had just slammed the front door. 

A rather thin man wearing sport clothes and hiding his face in a large hood was walking away in a hurry. I had never seen him before and wondered where he came from. 

The block was divided into 6 flats, three upstairs and three downstairs. Downstairs lived a single man in one flat and two couples in the two other flats, one with a baby. I had met them all several times and they seemed to be nice, polite, clean, considerate and quiet.

They had been there for ages and I had never had any problems with them whatsoever.

I lived upstairs. The couple who used to live on the first floor also and with whom I became friend had to leave a few months earlier after their flat had been repossessed. They originally wanted to sell it when they realised that they couldn’t pay anymore but orbit had made things so complicated for them, making sure that the sales didn’t go through or charging them for imaginary things, that they lost everything and had to give back the keys to the bank. The flat had just been bought and the new owner with whom I talked two days earlier said they wanted to rent it out. They came to see what work was needed and we had a chat. They wanted to install a new kitchen and change the carpet and they wanted to do that quickly.

Finally there was flat 16. The owner, a rather smelly large man, was one of those idiots who are so full of themselves that they care about nothing and no-one. I had been there for several years and all the tenants of that flat had been losers causing problems. Many complaints had been made about this owner taking the piss but orbit had never taken anything seriously. We do have a lease with orbit that tells us what owners, including the owner of flat 16, can or cannot do, but also what orbit is supposed to do to protect us against those inconsiderate owners or tenants. This lease has never been respected by the owner of flat 16 and is also breached by orbit on a regular basis.

I assumed that the man in the sport clothes came from number 16.

I went back to the bathroom and sat on the bath. I used the shower pipe to wash my legs. My silk nightdress was short and didn’t get soiled but my dressing gown had to go to the wash. With the floor to also be cleaned I didn’t feel like relaxing with a coffee and a book anymore and I got dressed. I felt like my favourite and well deserved little Sunday moment had been stolen from me. It ruined the whole day. I cleaned the floor and went to do some work on my computer for the rest of the morning.

I went to town where I met a friend for lunch. We went shopping together and we had a really nice time. We laughed and joked like we usually do and I went back home feeling relaxed.

There were 2 young men, in sport clothes again, standing by the front door when I arrived. I slowed down to give them time to either get in or go away but they were standing there, waiting. I looked around to see if there was any nice neighbours around, just in case. No-one. There was no reasons for me to be scared but there was something wrong with them that made me worry. I am a rather confident person but I had a really bad feeling about them. I breathed in deeply and walked the last few steps to the door. They had spotted me and stopped talking, waiting for me.

“Hi” one of them said.

 “Hi” I replied, trying to sound as normal as possible.

 “Let us in please” the same one asked too politely. 

“Which flat are you visiting?”

“16 but he’s not answering.”

“Well he’s probably out.”

“I doubt it girl” he replied and they both started laughing.

I let them finish then put the key in the keyhole.

“I don’t know you and I would rather you try the doorbell again and wait for him to open the door.” I said not turning the key.

“Fair enough” he replied.

I turned the key and pushed the door. I went in as calmly as possible, trying to not lose sight of their reflections in the glass door.

“Bitch” he whispered as the door closed behind me.

Lovely I thought and breathed again. Back in my flat I locked the door and double checked it was locked properly. I heard them try the doorbell again, and again. I went to the bedroom window and tried to see them. I didn’t want to be too obvious so I only observed their reflections in the window of the car parked a bit further. They stayed there for another few minutes and finally left, talking loudly to each other.

After the disruption in the morning and the unpleasant exchange with the two men in the afternoon I really hoped to get a quiet evening. I prepared my bag for the morning, got my lunch box ready and had a shower. I, the remote control and a packet of crisps settled on the sofa. In bed by 10, lady! You have to get up early tomorrow. I promised myself searching for a film.

The front door slammed and made me jump. I got up to close the door of the lounge. The door across the corridor slammed too.

Both doors slammed again a few minutes later.

A quarter of an hour later, the door of the flat slammed again but not the front door… I switched the volume of the TV off and listened. A very loud bang made me jump and my heart stopped. Something had hit my door. I waited a second that my heart restart then went to fletch my dressing gown before I approached the door slowly and quietly. I could hear people talk. I had a look in the peephole and saw a couple of men smoking by the window. One of them had a can of beer in his hand. I heard the door bell of flat 16 and the two men in the hallway opened the windows wider to talk to the people outside, or shout should I say. They obviously knew each other. The obviously all had hearing impairments. The front door slammed again and a couple came in. They stayed in the hallway for a few minutes with the two men then entered flat 16. The door slammed again.

I got slightly annoyed. If the tenant of flat 16 wanted to have house-warming party he could have had it the previous night or the following Saturday. Sunday nights are not appropriate for a party!

The door slammed again, and again and again… They were talking, laughing, shouting, insulting each other, and the door slammed, slammed, slammed. I could not stand by my own door because they were smoking cannabis and the smell was coming through.

I couldn’t watched the film because it was constantly interrupted and I couldn’t go to bed either. The last door slam happened around one in the morning. I waited a bit to be sure it was really the end and went to bed. I was so angry that I couldn’t sleep. I sat up, held my knees and I cried because I was really tired. I must have fall asleep an hour later and I slept less than 3 hours, then the alarm went off

Monday 2nd July 12

       There was a noise in my dream. I couldn’t hear what it was at first but it became slowly clearer. It was music. I wondered where I was and what was going on. Then my heart jumped; the music came from my alarm clock. I tried hard but I couldn’t open my eyes. They were too heavy. The music was coming from the left so I assumed that I was facing the door. I stopped the alarm clock with my left hand. Or maybe the right one… I couldn’t really feel my body.

Whichever hand it was I put it back under the cover and… there was a noise… This time I knew what it was. It can’t be nine minutes already! I thought. I tried to open my eyes again but my eyelids would just not move! I switched it off.

And a third time. I managed to open my eyes between two yawns. Four yawns. I turned to look at the clock. Five twenty seven. Oh pooh! And I got up. I got ready as quickly as possible but my body was just not responding. No time for coffee. Not time for makeup. Just get dressed and brush your teeth.

 “It’s gonna be a long day!” I told Hector I ran out of the place.
  In the hallway I found a can of beer that had rolled in the corner. My door was covered of something sticky. The can was obviously what had hit my door the previous night. The smell was a mixture of cold ashtray and residue of cannabis. I felt sick and hurried. 

  It was indeed along day! I forgot my lunch in the fridge at home. I had to turn the radio on very loud in the car to stay awake. And the whole day at the office was just dull. I called the friend I was supposed to see in the evening to cancel and went straight home after work.

As I was parking the car, I saw the young man who moved in flat 16 take is bins out. I was angry for the horrible night and I didn’t want to talk to him so I waited a few minutes in the car. I watched him in the mirror. He was rather tall, slim, with a few tattoos. He was wearing sport clothes. I guessed it was what people of his age wore these days - well when you are on benefit living on other people's money it is maybe all you can afford? But I could see the logo from here and his sweater was not a cheap one! I was so glad that he made good used of my taxes!
          He went back in and I did too. I was tired but I still had to wash the door where the can of beer hit it the previous night.
            I ate something. I didn't even turn the TV on; I just wanted to go to bed early and sleep.
          I was dozing off in the bath when the front door slammed, then the door of flat 16. I jumped so hard that I splashed water on the floor. Ten minutes later I was dozing off in the bath when the front door slammed, then the door of flat 16. I jumped. 
     I got out of the bath. Falling asleep in it would not have been a good idea anyway. I went back to the lounge and turn the TV on. I was dozing off on the sofa when the front door slammed, then the door of flat 16. I jumped. The doors slammed every ten minutes or so the whole evening.
           Just before midnight I wasn't sure if I wanted to shout, cry or kill myself. I was like a zombie - and probably looked like one too! I had so little sleep the night before and this was going to happen again. I had a headache and couldn't think clearly. I had to find a solution. I got dressed, took a pillow and a blanket and went to sleep in my car.