The New Guy; My neighbour

Chapter 2 - Trevor's Invitation

Ashley never felt she was as beautiful as other people thought, despite the fact that she was frequently praised for her beauty. And Nita never shied away from telling everyone that Ashley was the most gorgeous person she had ever seen. A tall blonde with the perfect dumbbell figure? She has no counterpart! Nita would always get in Ashley's head with her flattery.

But Ashley wasn't as concerned with her beauty; all that mattered to her was having enough money to support her mother, younger brother, and herself. Her mother was already a pensioner and had barely enough to keep food on the table. Her brother, Edmund, recently graduated from high school and works part-time while waiting for university decisions. They all considered Edmund super brilliant, and Ashley was convinced he would land a scholarship; they all hoped he would.

Ashley walked tiredly down Elizabeth Street; she was a few blocks away from Nita's place and could hear Bruno barking. She bet Nita had forgotten to give that dog enough food. Nita graduated as their valedictorian at Fourcades. Her brilliance was exceptional, and she was every science teacher's favourite, but she had a terrible downside to keeping things in order. Nita would rather sleep on the floor than dress her bed before sleeping. Thank heavens for pairing Nita with Ashley, because it would have been disastrous.
"Did you get some food?" Ashley heard Nita's voice as she walked through the doorway.

"How come you never mentioned your stock is upside down, too?" Ashley murmured. She missed stepping over a glass while making her way into the house.

"Nita, did you have an overnight crash party here? This place looks horrible. I might just have to pick up my magazine and zoom off."Ashley gasped.

"I apologise for the mess I have created, but will you be kind enough to help me out?" Nita's voice came echoing from the stairs.

"Just a few days ago, I left this house in a clean state, and you have created a marketplace out of it. I'm done with you," Ashley said with disappointment written all over her face.

Ashley hated it that Nita cleaned up only when her house was in a mess or she had a special visitor like Mike. Although Ashley thinks it is irresponsible for Nita to continue in this way, she is not so bothered because she always has a way of cleaning up the mess after a series of naggings from Ashley.

"I know, this is the umpteenth time I've heard that". Nita said this in her most subtle voice.
"You know, I think this is getting out of hand, and you need therapy. Who lives in a house without cleaning up until reminders start coming in?" Ashley yelled disappointingly.

"We all have chores we hate doing, and you know cleaning up is a punishment for me." Nita always maintained a calm voice whenever Ashley seemed upset.

"Then you get cleaning services." This was not the first time Ashley made this suggestion, but Nita always had her excuses for not employing cleaning services.

"They steal from people and encroach on people's privacy," Nita said this with a straight and convincing face, as though she had already done thorough research.
"Are you serious now? Where did you get all that review from?" Ashley couldn't believe her ears.
"Are we just going to stand here and go back and forth on this? I will sort it out later, I promise." Nita approached faster now with her laptop in her hands and gave Ashley a side hug. Ashley wasn't in the mood for pleasantries, but Nita never cared if she was. Nita knew her hugs were wholesome and melted Ashley whenever she was having a fuss.
"You better do. Tell me Bruno isn't barking because you've not been feeding him as you should",
"W-ee-ll, I've been feeding him as I should, just that I missed his appointment yesterday, and I think it's affecting him. He has been in a funk; Bruno has his days. I've rescheduled anyway".
"Poor Bruno," Ashley said as she dashed to feel Bruno, who was wagging towards her in greeting. Ashley shook her head in disbelief as she stroked Bruno to calm him a little.
There was a little unusual silence between them while Ashely stroked Bruno. Nita had to change the subject to keep the place alive.
"Ash, how have you been? How is Ms. Jane so far? Have you had clients drop out again?" Nita inquired.
"This week, we had three more exits. And Karen called to move her appointment, something she has never done before." Ashley moved away from Bruno, who had sunk into the rug already. She walked towards the Eclipse magazine on the side bench.
"I hope Miss Jane has solid plans for the future". Nita said while she struggled to remove clothing from the sofa to create some space for Ashley to sit.
"That won't be necessary, Nita. I need to head home. I had a long day". Ashley said it tiredly.
"Hey, I hope you have gotten over Jimmy. Or is something else going on?"
'Honestly, nothing is amiss. I'm fine. I just need some rest". Ashley walked tiredly towards the door. Her mind was already clouded, and spending more time in a messy environment would make it worse. She didn't want to give Nita these details; she had enough already.
"Be fine, bestie," Nita murmured while Ashley's steps faded away further. She felt defeated because she had wanted Ashley to spend some time.
*          *          *

LATER SAME DAY

The sound of the doorbell woke Ashley from her slumber. She had dived straight into bed immediately when she came home because she was tired of her bones. There was a confused look on her face as she scrambled for her shirt, still half asleep. The sound of the doorbell came again, and she sprang up. She wasn't expecting any visitors, so she was wondering who would come around. She looked through the peephole and saw two ladies at the door. One was Tricia, a familiar neighbour who lived a few houses away; she had had a few conversations with her. She opened the door hesitantly.
"Hi, Ashley!" Tricia waved in the friendliest manner. "Sorry to bother you; I guess it's not been long since you came home".
"Yeah, hi Tricia. I had a long day and was just about to take a nap".
"Oh no, wrong timing, but we will be gone in a jiffy."
"It's all right". Ashley replied with a tired smile. Tricia has been one of her nicest neighbours and has had the friendliest children she has ever met.
"My cousin moved in not long ago to their new house in the neighbourhood." Tricia beckoned on the second lady to introduce herself.
"It's nice to meet you, Ashley. First off, you're the prettiest blonde I've ever met." Ashley had gotten such compliments from strangers a thousand times. She smiled and reserved her comment about Katie. Katie looked like she was in her early 30s and like they would get along. "I'm Katie, by the way," Katie said, extending her arm in a handshake.
Katie was a very expressive and easygoing individual. She had been managing her father's chain of digital companies. They relocated their head office to Beaumont; hence, she had to move into a new house they bought in Greensville, Beaumont. Her brother also moved with her since he would be managing the company while she would go back to Hammock to get married and have her honeymoon.

It was not the most conducive plan, but that was the best they could come up with. The event had already been planned before Mr David, the mayor, was diagnosed with cancer. Katie wanted to halt preparations and postpone the wedding, but her father insisted and gave her his blessings. Their father, who was the sole owner of the business including chains of other businesses, had come down with stage 1 colon cancer that was progressing rather quickly and had a few months, according to the medical team.
"It's nice to meet you too, Katie; you must be such a happy soul as Tricia. Tricia has been a wonderful neighbour, and I'm happy to meet her cousin."
"Don't start again," Tricia interrupted, "Katie, you see, Ashley has been such a wonderful neighbour to my boys, Jose and Gillard. On their last birthday, Ashley went through the stress of sending them presents."
"I am so glad to hear how kind you've been to the boys," Katie remarked, "By the way, we came because we are having an in-party; it will be my brother's 30th birthday tomorrow, the big 30! We are inviting neighbours who can give us the honour of coming around, so we can get to know them. You can call it a housewarming party if you wish, or a blend of both. Here's the card."
"That's nice of you to extend your invitation," Ashley said with surprise in her voice.
"I hope you'll give us the honour. It's 8-10 p.m. tomorrow," Katie said, closing her palms in response.
"Sure. I will. It's a suitable time for me."
"Thank you so much for your time, Ashley. We've got to get going. We hope to see you around," said Tricia. They bade Ashley goodbye and continued to the next house.
Ashley looked at the scented card once more and scanned through the information on the card. She silently admired the graphics of the card and the calligraphic caption at the top, which read"Trevor's Invitation". Sleep had already gone from her eyes, and in what seemed like a response to a jolt, she slammed the door and skidded to the sofa to take a better look at the card.