The Man Next Door

Chapter 9: Recipe For Disaster

"Wow," Vera nods, taking in another forkful, "this is great."

"You like it?" Patrick laughs, glad to see Vera enjoying the food.

"Yeah..." Vera smirks, covering her mouth as she talks, "where'd you get the recipe."

Patrick looked down and chuckled silently, twisting his fork around in the pasta, "my mom."

"Wow..." Vera giggles, "this is better than my granddad's recipe."

"Yeah," Wilson smiles, taking another bite before wiping his mouth with a napkin, "it's honestly... better than anything I've ever cooked too."

"Aw don't say that..." Vera says gingerly, "I thought your barbeque was good."

"When'd you go over for barbeque?" Sebastian scolds, stuffing his mouth with the food.

"We both went," Vera states.

Sebastian furiously glanced between the two before looking back down at his plate, tapping his fork anxiously, "I don't remember that..."

"You want anything else, Patrick?"

"No, I'm okay," Patrick smiles, reassuring her before turning to face Sebastian, "No hard feelings, about the alcohol poisoning."

"What's it to you?" Sebastian mumbles, obnoxiously scraping the end of his fork against the plate.

"I've had it before, just gotta watch what your drinking and how much of it your drinking next time around," Patrick says, lowering his voice.

"Oh stop it..." Sebastian scoffs.

"Is there a problem?" Patrick asks, "do you think it's ok to consume that much alcohol in the first place?"

"No of course not."

"Well good for you, it's great to hear that you've got some sense of humanity."

"Says the one that's clearly trying to get to my wife's head."

"Guys..." Vera says calmly, "Just stop it."

"I'm not stopping," Patrick snaps, "I've been nothing but caring and kind to you and your wife, you could've died."

"Yeah," Sebastian growls, "telling my wife she's seeing things? Yeah, that sounds about right!"

"It's not like you treat her properly anyhow!"

"Patrick.." Vera mumbles, getting a hold of his tense arm.

"How would you know?" Sebastian shouts.

"I've seen with my own eyes how you are with her," Patrick snarls, his breath giving out that he's had too much to drink, "don't you start with me."

"Patrick," Vera mutters, getting up from her seat, "hey... how about I take you home?"

"No, it's fine," Patrick says, managing to take a soft tone with her as she tugs him out of his seat, "I can manage."

"You're coming with me," she says, taking his belongings with her before leaving the kitchen.

"You sure you can drive?" Patrick asks, instantly putting a hand to his mouth and laughing, "shit, I forgot we're neighbors."

"Your one heck of a clown when you're drunk aren't you?" Vera laughs, throwing on a pair of shoes.

"I'm not a clown," Patrick scoffs, following her outside, "Hey."

"Be quiet and hand me your keys," Vera jokes, holding out her hand to him.

"Don't rob me."

"I won't," Vera chuckles, unlocking his front door and leading him in. As they step into the cozy house, Patrick tugs her after him into his room.

"You need help with anything?" Vera says, trying her best to hold in a laugh.

"Yeah," Patrick says, struggling to pull off his shirt, "Kind of."

"What do you usually wear to bed?" Vera asks, looking over at the king-sized bed that sat in the center of the bedroom, up against the wall. She also couldn't help but take a quick look at the blueprint he had sitting on his desk, the scattered pens and pencils complimenting all of the other papers and documents he had sitting around.

"Shirt," Patrick sighs, still having trouble with his shirt.

"Need help?" Vera smirks, pulling the shirt up and off of him, exposing more of his perfectly masculine body.

"I'm stuffed." Patrick mumbles, running his hand over his flat stomach as he smoothly unbuckles his belt, swiftly slipping it off, "I need help with my pants, I can't reach see?"

"Seriously?" Vera smirks, admiring the shirtless man in front of her while it lasted.

"Yes," Patrick says, plopping down on his bed and unbuttoning his jeans, failing to pull it down to his knees, "I don't know how I'll ever repay you."

"You won't need to," Vera says softly, fixing her eyes on his face as she hands him his belt and jeans.

She goes to toss the clothes into the laundry basket and comes back to find him already snug under the covers. She walks over to him and takes a seat, witnessing his eyes heavily closing. Vera couldn't help but blush at the half-naked man, who was just innocently smiling at her, reaching for her hand gently.

"I gotta go," she softly whispers before getting up.

"You're not staying?" Patrick asks gently dropping his hand, his eyes instantly lighting up.

Vera sighs and plants his keys on the bedside table, making her way towards the door, "Sadly not."