Music at 6am

Music woke him and he meets new people.

Thumping Latin dance music woke Chris late in the morning. He groaned and rolled on to his side, tucking his head under the pillow and relishing the cool refuge. The music grew louder when another song came on. With a throbbing head, a neck on fire and anger fueling his heart, he stood and walked outside, grateful he had worn a t-shirt to bed the night before. He pounded on the red door then gripped his hips tightly. Shifting his weight from one foot to the next, he waited to the tune of a small dog barking and scratching at the door.

 

The door opened, a woman stood there wearing a blue checkered shirt and figure hugging dark blue jeans. A tan and white Welsh Corgi growled at Chris before yapping and struggling in the woman’s arms. “Can I help you?”

 

“Can you turn your music down, please? It’s too early for that.”

 

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t even realize it was loud.” The petite brunette hurried to the stereo and turned the volume down, easing the stress on Chris’ head. He glanced around her spotless home that smelled like chili and fresh bread. He trained his curious blue-gray eyes trained on her when she returned. "Is there something else?”

 

“I don’t mean to scare you but you should be more careful leaving your door just wide open like that with a stranger standing outside. You don’t know who I am and this can be a sketchy area of town. I could have just complained about the music to get you to open the door for easy access.”

 

Her cheeks flushed and she licked her lips as she bowed her head. “Thanks. Sorry for the music.”

 

“Don’t worry about it.” Chris ran a hand through his hair and went back to his apartment. He paused in the threshold and looked back when a knock on the his neighbor’s door caught his attention. A blonde woman with a pixie haircut and friendly eyes smiled at him as she shifted her black backpack on her shoulder.

 

"Hey, Portia." The brunette stepped outside and the two embraced.

 

“Making friends already, Mia?” Portia smirked back at Chris before stepping inside and slamming the door shut behind her.

 

Chris groaned and went into his bedroom where he collapsing onto the bed that had grown cool. His cell phone vibrated from its hiding space deep in the covers. He searched for it then picked it up as he laid back and scrolled through the surprising amount of messages.

 

One from his mother, Stephanie, reminded him that it was his night to host the family meal. He slapped a hand over his face and clenched the other into a tight fist.

 

Stephanie had never grown fond of either of her son’s anti-social tendencies and had established family night duties to each of them when Chris moved out years before. He appreciated her need to keep he and his brother, Jake, as close to her as they had been in his youth but the obligation to cook a meal that was anything but Ramen or fast food was more of a chore than a privilege.

 

He stood and went into the kitchen to see what ingredients he had on hand. When he opened the door to the barren refrigerator, all he could do was smirk.

 

He tucked his wallet into the back of his jeans and stepped out of his home. He slipped into his silver Toyota Prius and started it up. He looked up to adjust his mirrors then saw Mia and Portia step out of the apartment themselves. Without a second thought, he turned in his seat and backed the vehicle up to head to the store.

 

 

Chris wheeled the cart down an aisle, his mind racing to simple things to cook. He knew pre-packaged frozen meals weren’t good enough for his family and continued into the pasta aisle where he stared at the different packages before remembering his mother’s acid reflux.

 

His mind went blank and fought the urge to call his mother and ask what she wanted. He reached into his pocket for his cell phone and only stopped when his cart collided into that of Mia’s. Her eyes grew when she saw him there. Her cheeks flushed and Portia smirked again, elbowing Mia.

 

“Sorry.” Mia quickly moved her cart and tugged on Portia’s arm as she remained standing ogling Chris. “Portia, come on! I need to see if they’ve got halibut.”

Portia went to Mia and leaned in close. “He’s so cute!”

 

“Just don’t. Please?” Mia wheeled her cart towards the fish counter, leaving Chris curious and confused.

 

He had been appreciated by women largely because he was the brother of a celebrity but rarely for himself. He felt the walls building up around him. Reluctantly, he made his way to the fish and stopped his cart near Mia's to take in the selection and listened to the two.

 

“Well, we could do a sesame seared tuna, ginger scallops, coconut shrimp or maybe even jambalaya. That sounds so good! Doesn’t it? Please just stop this, Portia. You’re embarrassing me! You’re probably making him uncomfortable too. He’s my neighbor, I don’t want there to be weirdness at home.”

 

“I think I'm getting a tan just looking at him! I would seriously bang him like a bongo."

Chris glanced over to see Portia watching him with lustful eyes and a biting the corner of her lip.

 

“Then why don’t you go over and get his number?” He watched Mia shake her head and ran a hand through her hair as she went back to the selection before her unaware that he had heard every word of their discussion.

 

He saw Portia approaching him with her hands clasped before her and a bright smile shining at him as her wide brown eyes focused on him.

 

Feigning ignorance, Chris pressed a finger to his top lip and brushed past Portia to make his way to Mia much to her despair. He cleared his throat and gave Mia a kind smile when she looked up at him, pulling her hair behind her ear. “You sound like you know a bit about fish. I wondered if maybe you could help me out.”

 

“I guess I could try.” She straightened up and crossed her arms over her chest as Portia busily pretended to be fascinated by the live lobsters. “What’s going on?”

 

“I have to cook something for my parents tonight and I have no idea what to do. I thought of Sloppy Joes, burgers, steaks, pasta but my mom has acid reflux and I’m pretty sure that all of that would trigger it. So, I figured maybe fish would make for a safer meal.”

 

“It could be depending on what you made.”

 

Chris watched her body language refuse to relax and frowned. “I was thinking maybe scallops maybe in cioppino.”

 

“That has tomatoes in it.” Her voice was soft and sweet, careful of his feelings. Her body relaxed slightly and her hands slid down her flat waist to hide in her pockets. “It’s also pretty fatty. I think you might be a bit better off with a nice shrimp pasta or maybe tuna melts instead. Just make sure you use tuna packed in water rather than oil and that things are low-fat or fat free and you use wheat bread.”

 

“You know a lot about food.” He licked his dry lips as she turned back to the fish and crossed her arms again. She glanced back at him with a slight shrug. “What do you do? If you don’t mind me asking, of course.”

 

“I’m a chef.” Her lips slowly turned into a small grin. A moment of awkward silence filled the space between them. “So, where are your parents coming in from?”

 

“Oh, they live here. It’s family night.” He shrugged and shook his head.

 

“That’s really great that you all reconnect like that.” Mia’s face fell and her clear green eyes shifted away from him. She pulled a hand out of her pocket and let her fingers tap against her thigh as she searched the counter for shrimp.

 

“Yeah, I guess so. I just wish I could order a pizza and break out the board games and call it good, you know?” He watched her smile and pull her hair behind her ear again. “I’m Chris by the way.”

 

“Amelia but everyone calls me Mia.” He cringed when the callouses on the tips of his fingers grazed her soft skin. “Do you play guitar or something?”

 

“Yeah, I play a little bit.” He looked over at Portia who still pretended to study the lobsters while watching Chris and Mia out of the corner of her eyes. “I’ll let you get back to shopping. Thanks for your help. I’ll see you around.”

 

He pushed the cart slowly down an aisle, tapping his fingers on the handle as he went. Neither option given to him was unique or worth his family. Not when his brother would provide perfectly prepared Beef Wellington, Filet Mignon or crab stuffed lobster tails. He rolled his eyes towards the ceiling and weighed his options.

Reviews

[Wandering Violet]

That's an interesting start. It sounds like this could have potential to be developed further into a full book. Keep working on it.