AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’d donea lot of people-watching in my lifetime.
Various reasons came into play with that, most related to the finding of facts, the gathering of information necessary to whatever task was at hand.
Now, when I indulged the urge, it was much less about the utility of it.
It was more to do with the pure curiosity of observing strangers going about their lives.
Without a care.
They were just… living.
Going about their same schedules, their same routines, with zero vigilance.
No real fear of things that went bump in the night.
Or of those things – thosepeople- like me, that were stealthy enough not to make a sound.
Not that it mattered anymore.
Not at a time when really, I should envy the overwhelming normalcy of these people – the thing that, for me, had been so damned elusive. Instead of blending in with the crowd, I was relegated to my window, watching.
Well… I guess that implied Ihadto stay there instead of joining in, huh?
In reality, it was more that these people, these days, had exactly no relevance to my life – I didn’t fit in, or belong.
A little sad, considering I’d lived in the neighborhood for three months.
Despite the insistence of my mentor, I hadn’t been able to bring myself to take advantage of any of the quaint neighborhood’s amenities.
Not a single boutique or restaurant.
Not even the coffeehouse across the street.
That was where I saw the most eclectic sampling of the community, streaming in and out of there with hot and cold drinks, pastries in their hands. At night, it turned into a lounge – sometimes with lines reminiscent of a night club, and the throbbing music to match.
I watched.
I listened.
And then one night, finally… I decided I would go.
It took another three weeks to actually go through with it.
Decisiveness had never been a problem of mine – at least not that I could remember. Not until now, when every single one of my own moments was up to me, from the minutiae to the big decisions.
… not that I had many –any –of those.
In the immediate, my most significant decision was what to wear toUrban Grind, the insanely popular coffeehouse across the street from the abandoned candle shop I’d purchased.
Who the fuck needed an entire storefront for candles?
Certainly notme.
What I did need was somewhere that I could fade into the crowd – not so overpopulated that I couldn’t be aware of my surroundings, but inhabited enough that I could take advantage of the camouflage that came with living in the “city.”
Mahogany Heightswas perfect for that.
And so was the apartment above the storefront.
