The afternoon sun beat down on the cement sidewalks and paved road. If one were to walk barefoot on those surfaces, their feet would surely be burned. Granted, few traveled outside due to the excessive heat. Unlike the many human residents of Gasper Drive, the nonhuman animals had to remain out in the heat unless they were the select cats and dogs, which resided in their owners' homes. So, some of the birds flitted their wings and sat on the branches of trees, which were covered with shade from the many leaves. Occasionally, a squirrel would run up a tree and into its woody home for cool comfort.
Some squirrels poked their heads out of their homes at the sound of footsteps on the sidewalk. The individual was one of the few that walked out in the high afternoon heat. Of course, this person had prepared for the temperature and was wearing attire that was suited for the weather.
A cotton white v-neck, beige shorts and sand brown flip-flops adorned their form. Their (h/c) hung loosely, and their (e/c) eyes were covered with a simple pair of black sunglasses. On their left wrist was a pale green wristwatch, which read twelve in the afternoon. Upon their back was a pale green backpack, which had a voodoo doll keychain on it. This keychain had hair and eyes, which were a different color on each side. Covering its figure was a simple dress and cloak.
(F/n) turned her gaze towards one of the trees, lining the sidewalk on the west side of the street. She caught sight of the squirrels watching her. They instantly scurried back into their home. A small smile tugged at her lips, and she shook their head at their shyness. Their behavior was understandable, though. After all they didn't know what her intentions were, so it was perfectly reasonable for them to hide from her.
Regardless of the squirrels, though, she wished to get out of the heat. She didn't have to walk far to her destination, since it was in the same neighborhood as her home. So, at least there was that positive aspect. There was also the fact that she would be making money off of this expedition. To add to this, all she would have to do was watch a house for two weeks. From the simple action, she would be making a thousand dollars. Luckily, the owner of the home wasn't subtracting the food and utility costs off of that amount.
She would have never thought that her parents knowing the antique collector in her neighborhood, Nathan, would have any benefit. Sure, the man was nice, but he always seemed off in his own world. This made communicating with him somewhat difficult, but her parents had managed to form a friendship with him, since they were lovers of antiques as well. That would explain the reason why they met her neighbor in an antique store rather than outside on the streets of Gasper.
Thus, when Nathan came over to her parents' house to ask for a house sitter, her parents asked if she could watch over his house. They explained that every bit of money would help with her college funds. Hearing this, Nathan agreed and explained her simple job: stay in the house and watch over it, except for when buying groceries.
Keeping all of this in mind, she was just glad to earn some extra money for college. Thankfully, she only had one year left before she graduated. The twenty-one year old was excited to step out into the world and do something with her art degree. Of course, it wouldn't be easy to find a job right out of graduation, but she was starting to gather her connections. Already, she had managed to get a hold of a major artist who had contacts of their own.
Such a meeting had occurred accidently in a grocery store a few weeks ago. (F/n) had been retrieving groceries for her parents, since they were allowing her to live with them for as long as she needed. So, it made sense to help out every now and then. During her shopping trip, she had been examining the grocery list and had accidently run into someone. She quickly apologized only to recognize the person as a famous artist. This artist specialized in painting mesmerizing images of the sky. Taken aback by such an encounter, her words became stuck in her mouth, as she could only stutter. After probably thirty seconds of awkwardness, she was able to compliment her.
Surprisingly, the artist, Lillian Jil, offered to sit down and talk with her for a bit if she would like. With no hesitation (f/n) agreed. After the interaction Lillian stated that (f/n) could send her an artwork for her to assess via email. Of course, she didn't pass up the offer, and she already sent Lillian an email with a picture of the artwork attached.
Grinning a bit at the memory, (f/n) found her pace increase a little. If Lillian liked her artwork, she might be able to start off on her art career much earlier than she expected. How could she not be happy at such a prospect? With an optimistic mindset, she found herself forgetting about the heat of the summer afternoon. Additionally, she soon stood in front of Nathan's house.
He had given her the spare house key before he left on his two week vacation. Nathan had left just a few hours ago, or at least that's when he said that he would leave. Walking up to the house, she inserted the key into the lock and turned it. Soon, the door clicked open, and she headed inside. Well, regardless of when he actually left, he wasn't there now.
Closing and locking the door behind her, she opened some of the dark grey curtains in the living room and allowed the afternoon light to flood in. Nathan had given her a tour of the house before he had left, so she knew where she would be staying. Thus, she made her way to the back of the house and opened the last door on the left side of the hallway.
Making her way into the guest room, she set her backpack by the plush looking full-sized bed, which was covered in simple red sheets with a grey trim. The pillow cases were entirely grey and were fluffed for her. A black particle board headboard finished the look of the bed. Besides the bed in the room, the walls were painted grey and the curtains were red. Even the carpet matched the color scheme, as it was a grey hue. As for the other furniture pieces, they were made of black particle board and consisted of a dresser, two nightstands and a desk. On each nightstand sat a grey and red lamp.
Pushing the curtains in her room open a little more, she looked out the window and at the garden in the back of the house. Flowerbeds of buttercups outlined the perimeter of the garden, as a few apple trees stood in the area as well. A simple stone fountain, with four benches carved into it, sat in the middle of the garden. Glad to have a peaceful view outside her window, she proceeded to unpack her belongings.
For a few minutes, he could see her. He could see his new company. Drem blew a few strands of auburn hair out of his face, as his brown eyes looked over the figure of the girl. Her backpack blocked part of his view of her form, when she had her back turned to him. So, when she faced him, a smirk ran across his lips. Nathan had really found quite the house sitter.
(E/c) eyes held a joy in them that he wanted to crush. There was no need for her optimism in this house or in his presence. He could be the only elated individual, so she would need to sacrifice her happiness to him. That sacrifice would be rapture to him.
As if the emotion in her eyes wasn't enough, her lips were curved up into a smile. The movement of her limbs radiated with the warmth of delight, which was present in her eyes. She was only stepping from place to place, but she could easily be skipping as well. Her strands of (h/c) hair bounced a little with each of her movements.
He bit the nail on his right thumb, as he thought of all the ways that he could vanquish such glee. Nathan had surely brought him a prize. The black-haired male had made quite a mistake. Didn't the man know not to bring a doe into the house? Obviously, Nathan thought too highly of himself to think such prey safe before the eyes of a predator.
When the little doe had escaped his view, he chuckled to himself, as he broke off a portion of his thumb nail. Not that it mattered, though. It would grow back. He stood up from his crouching position and leaned his right side against the wall.
His eyes scanned over the area, as he wondered what to do first. He could hear movement in the guest bedroom. Now knowing where she was at, he took into consideration what items were in that room. Still, when could he start?
Whatever time he decided, it had to be something small first, something insignificant that she wouldn't really think anything of. It would depend on her actions during her stay, though. So for the moment, he supposed that he could wait. He had two weeks after all and that was plenty of time. With this in mind, he thought about his various plans and sat down while doing so.
It wasn't until four hours later that he heard her footsteps approaching. His brown eyes lit up, and his heart raced with excitement. Her form moved into the kitchen, and her lips parted a bit. She began to mutter a few things about a late afternoon snack to herself, as she began to look through the painted white cupboards.
Once again her back was turned to him, but this time she had no backpack on. His eyes watched her hips move, as she looked through the various cupboards to find something. He wondered what her skin would feel like, and he started to bite his left thumb nail at the thought. These two weeks would surely be riveting.