Falling for the New Neighbor

Meeting for the First Time

*Erica's POV*

I walk out of my apartment to go outside and encounter the new guy who just moved in across the hall from me. This man is so different from my former neighbor who reminded me of my grandfather. He has such gorgeous blue eyes that I could really get lost in. I reach out my hand to introduce myself to him, "Hi, my name's Erica. It's so nice to finally meet you". He shakes my hand, "Nice to meet you, Erica. My name's Alexander, but everyone just calls me Alex".

Alex, now that's a great name for a good looking man. "So, how long have you been living here?" Alex asks. "I moved in when I was 12, but my parents moved out to live with closer to my oldest sister and her kids so I took over the lease when I turned 18" I tell him. "Well, as you can tell I just moved in a couple of days ago since we're just now meeting" Alex says. I smile, "Yeah, I've noticed that".

*Alex's POV*

There's something about Erica that I can't quite put my finger on and I just met her. She has such beautiful green eyes that any man would be crazy about. I walk Erica out to her car and open the door for her. "Thanks for being such a gentleman" Erica says. "You're welcome, Erica" I smirk at her. "Hey, I get off at 6 if you wanna get to know me better" Erica says. "Can I get a rain check on that? I have to pick up my son from school later, since it's my weekend with him" I ask. "Of course you can" Erica tells me.

I head to the garage after Erica leaves for work. "You seem a little out of it" Trevor says. "Oh sorry, I just met one of my neighbors. She's very pretty" I say. "It's nice that you're getting to know one of them, but don't rush into anything serious. She just got out of a relationship 5 months ago and I'm sure she isn't ready to be in a serious relationship" Trevor says. "I don't plan on it. I just wanna get to know her better before considering anything" I tell him. "Which neighbor did you meet, anyways?" Trevor asks. "She said her name's Erica" I say. "Don't hurt her. She dated the last guy who worked with me and he was horrible to her, so my dad had to fire him" Trevor says.

"How well do you know her?" I ask. "I know her pretty well. We grew up together and when I started working here. She was happy to see me again and gave me a hug" Trevor says. "Oh, I see. So, she's pretty much like a sister to you" I say. "Yeah, she is. When her parents had to move out of their house and move in here shortly after we started 7th grade. She was pretty upset about not being able to live next door to me" Trevor tells me.

*Erica's POV*

"You ok, Erica?" Laura asks. I look up, "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about the encounter I had with my new neighbor". "I hope it was a good first impression" Laura says. "It sure was. He seems pretty nice from what I've seen so far and he has gorgeous blue eyes" I say. "So, what's this mystery man's name?" Laura asks. "His name's Alex. I don't know his last name, yet" I tell her. "Well, you just met him so that's understandable" Laura says. I laugh, "Yeah, I know. I was gonna have him over later on tonight, but he said he has his son this weekend". Laura looks at me, "Well, I'm sure you'll get to know him better at some point". "He did ask for a rain check on getting to know each other better" I say.

*Alex's POV*

I pick up my phone and answer it, "Hello". "You don't have to pick up Dylan from school. My mom's gonna get him and keep him for the weekend" Kristy says. "But it's my weekend with him" I tell her. "I'm sorry, Alex but he told me this morning that he wanted to spend the weekend with my parents instead because my nephew's gonna be there as well" Kristy says. I mute my phone for a second to think, then unmutes it, "Fine, he can stay there this weekend but my next weekend with him is during Christmas break and my family doesn't like missing out on seeing him for Christmas so I'm taking him with me to Kentucky so he can spend Christmas with me and my family". "That's not fair" Kristy snarls. "No, what's not fair is that every year that I'm supposed to have him for Christmas that you come up with some excuse and I always gave in because I'm doing my best to be a good dad but I'm not gonna do that this year. Dylan's my son as much as he's yours and I deserve to have him for the holidays that I'm supposed to as well as birthdays" I say before hanging up.

"Everything ok?" Trevor asks. "Yeah, I guess. I just don't like my ex-wife sometimes" I say. "I'm glad I never met her" Trevor says. "You're lucky that you didn't. Don't get me wrong, I did love her but she just got pretty entitled when she got a new job and started making more than I did" I tell him. Trevor shakes his head, "That's not right. I guess I got lucky with my wife, since she's one of the sweetest people I've ever met and I guess reminds me of Erica since they both are hardworking and would do anything for anyone in need of help. They have become such good friends ever since they met 5 years ago and Erica's our daughter's godmother" Trevor says.

I raise an eyebrow, "Are you trying to set me up with your best friend?" "No, I'm just trying to build her up to you. If you do give her a chance, then that's fine with me but you should get to know her better" Trevor says. I shake my head, "I don't think I have to talk to her to get to know her better, since you're already doing a good job of telling me about her". "You can still find out more from her, though" Trevor points out. "That's true. I guess I could hang out with her after she gets off of work, since Dylan's gonna be at his grandparents' this weekend" I say. "There you go. You can even make her dinner" Trevor says. "Yeah, I can. She would probably appreciate it after working so long" I say.