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“What’s your name?” A little girl with pigtails turns to ask me.
“I’m Tyler. What’s yours?” I ask in response, bending down towards her.
The little girl ignores me and looks back at the television as though we never spoke.
Another little girl comes toddling out of the kitchen with a sippy cup in hand. She’s wearing hot pink bell bottoms with an AC/DC shirt and a big pink bow in her hair. She frowns as soon as she sees me. “Why does your hair look like that?” She asks me, staring at the messy bun on top of my head.
“Uh… Well.” I think. “I just haven’t had time to fix my hair yet today.”
“My mom says you aren’t supposed to go places if your hair is messy.” She tells me sternly. “People will think you don’t have a house to live in.”
“Piper, that’s enough.” Interrupts the daycare lady as she walks back into the house. “Okay, Juliet is all ready to go.” She says, holding the door open to me with a smirk. “Sorry that kid it a little spicy sometimes.”
I laugh. “I’m sure it keeps your day interesting.” I saw with a wink.
She sighs and chuckles. “You have no idea.”
“Thank you so much.” I say, as I move out the door. “Bye.” I say to the room full of kids, with Piper being the only one to wave back. I don’t know why, but I like that feisty kid.
Chapter 12
I lean over the playpen, lowering Juliet to the mattress before I cover her up with her favorite thin pink blanket. Relieved as I watch her as she peacefully snores. I’ve been rocking this baby for the last thirty minutes, while simultaneously working, and Juliet just finally drifted off to sleep. Luckily, my job is all about customer service through chat and email. I may not type as quickly with a baby balanced in my lap, but I could still get quite a bit accomplished. Just as my arm fell asleep, so did she. I back away from the sleeping child, feeling victorious, but not for long. Suddenly the room fills with the sounds of loud steel guitars, shaking the windows. It’s almost as though there is a concert happening right outside the guest bedroom where Juliet lays.
My eyes widen in fear as I look down at the sweet sleeping face. “Please don’t wake up,” I beg her in a whisper. For whatever reason, the babysitting gods are smiling down on me today and she continues snoozing away quietly, as though nothing else in the world is going on. She looks so sweet with her arms outstretched over her head, and a tiny bit of drool escaping from her lips. Thank goodness.
I tiptoe through the doorway and let out an exasperated sigh when I reach the living room. Flinging open the front door, I step into my yard, my eyes surveying the surroundings. There’s no one to be found, only the familiar sound of Rob Zombie’s Dragula. I rush to the side of the house, in search of the music source. The only thing I find, though, is a Bluetooth speaker next to an abandoned pile of tools. The speaker is up on top of a tree stump between my house and the one next door as though someone had just put it there and ran away. I speed walk to the device and smash the power button. Instantly, the music dies, and silence is restored to the neighborhood once again.
I glare at the brick house next door, and immediately march towards it to find the owner of the speaker. I step onto the porch and loudly knock. The door must not be latched all the way, because it flies open as soon as my fist makes contact. I cautiously lean into the doorway. “Hello?!” I call down the hallway into the dimly lit space. A figure emerges in the darkness at the end of the hall, causing me to jolt.
“Can I help you?” A deep voice booms out as the figure moves closer to me. As he walks into the light, I can’t help but think that the man looks familiar, but I’m not sure from where. He’s wearing blue jeans with a baseball cap on backwards. His t-shirt is hanging from the back pocket of his jeans and his tanned, chiseled abs are on display. He’s nothing short of gorgeous, and I can’t help but stare at his exposed muscles for a little longer than necessary.
“Can I help you?” He asks again. His face is hard to read. I can’t decide if he’s annoyed by my presence or concerned that I pushed myself into his house. That’s when it hits me and I remember where I’ve seen him before. Drip. It’s the Asshole of Fawn Creek, once again. Suddenly, the anger I was feeling when I left my house is back with a vengeance and I’m reminded of why I’m here.
“Um, yeah, you can help me. You could start by being mindful of your neighbors.” I say, pointing to my house. “There’s a sick baby in there trying to take a nap. I spent half an hour rocking her and had just got her to sleep when suddenly you thought it was a good time to have a heavy metal concert right outside my window. I really need her to rest so that I can work. You know, you aren’t the only person on the planet, right?” I glare at him with my hands resting on my hips.
“Okay.” He holds his hands up. “First off, I didn’t know anyone was there. That house was empty the last I knew. Second, Rob Zombie is rock, not metal.”
I huff. “Honestly, I don’t care what genre he is. No one should be subjected to it without their consent. Especially a nine-month-old baby.” My lips form a line and I stare at him with crossed arms.
“Calm down, Karen. It was an honest mistake.” He shrugs. “I was just getting ready to work on the privacy fence when I came back in to grab my phone. I was opening Spotify when the washing machine had just finished. So, I stopped to put clothes in the dryer. I guess my Bluetooth automatically connected, and it played through the speaker.”
“Did you seriously just call me a Karen?” I fume. What a jerk.
“It fits, doesn’t it?” He asks with a shrug. “You’re the one coming up to my door to scream at me over a mistake.”
Now, I’m fuming. “Like you should talk! I accidentally bumped into you at the coffee shop and you acted like I ruined your life. You don’t have to walk around being a jerk.”
“Well, if you weren’t walking around with your nose in the air, you might be able to see people that are walking around behind you. You aren’t the only person on the planet, you know.” He snarls, turning my words back on me.
I shake my head. “I don’t have time for this.” I turn on my heel to stomp back to my house and then spin my body back towards him once more. “Keep your shitty music down. I’ll just call the police next time.”
The Asshole of Fawn Creek strikes again.
I walk back into my house, absolutely fuming. How dare that asshole call me a Karen? And where the hell does he get off saying that I think I’m better than anyone? I am the last person that would look down on other people, especially when it’s for no good reason. If that jerk is my neighbor, there is no way I’m going to make it through the summer here. I’d almost rather live with my parents than deal with that jackass on a daily basis.
* * *
I spend the rest of Juliet’s nap replaying the scene in my head repeatedly. I carry the laptop to my bedroom to work on decluttering my closet while I wait for customer correspondence to come through, and luckily it’s a slow day. If nothing else, my goal is to get my clothes off the living room floor and on hangers before I go to bed tonight. No matter how far I get into the task at hand, I just can’t get over what just happened. Sure, yes. I came out of the gate swinging so his attitude wasn’t completely unwarranted, but what he said kind of hurt my feelings.
