Good Slaves Make Good Neighbours [Sindy Hunter and Something About Redheads]

[Sindy Hunter]

Cathy Stephens turned her car onto the small narrow track that led off the highway and up to her home. The dwelling was one of two that had been a development of what had once been a farm. Cathy’s was a four-bedroom house that had been the original farmhouse. The other property was a two-bedroom unit, developed from the farm's outbuildings and was situated about one hundred yards away from the larger house. Although the small town of Derry Maine was just a quarter of a mile away the two buildings were extremely private and their existence unknown to most people.

As Cathy brought her car to a stop she noticed her neighbour, Max Scofield was out front of his home. He blatantly stared at Cathy’s arrival, expressionless. Cathy clenched her hands around the steering wheel and glared back at Max. From the moment Max had moved in about eighteen months ago, Cathy had always felt uneasy around him. She tried to be friendly at first, but every time she met Max his eyes always seemed to be roaming over her, like a predator assessing its prey. She had mentioned this to her husband Ken, but he told her she was just imagining it. He thought Max was a nice enough guy and he was probably just a bit shy around Cathy. Despite Ken’s dismal of her concerns, Cathy was always conscious of Max when her husband was away from home on business. She ensured the outside doors were locked and her young daughter, Kimberly, was never alone with Max or went to his home alone.

It was late Friday afternoon when Cathy arrived home from work. The day had been awful. A large sales contract had been lost and there was an in-depth investigation of what had gone wrong. As head of the sales support team, Cathy had been tasked with creating several reports regarding the contract's finances and communications with the client. It was going to be an arduous task and she planned to work from home through the weekend and into the middle of the following week. For once she was glad her husband was not at home, it would give her the peace and quiet she needed to work on the reports.

When Cathy climbed out of her car and walked towards the front door of her house, Max continued to stare blankly at her. Even with her back facing him Cathy could feel his eyes on her, sending a shiver down her spine. Once through the front door, Cathy slammed it shut, dropped her briefcase on the floor and kicked off her shoes. She stood still and took a deep breath, calming herself from the irritation of work and Max. She then walked into the kitchen and poured herself a large glass of red wine. Taking a sip of the tart fruity drink Cathy glanced at the wall clock and smiled. It was just a few minutes away from the time she was due to video chat with her husband who was away working in Europe.

Cathy walked into the lounge, sat on the sofa and opened her laptop that was on the coffee table in front of her. She logged into the video conference software and waited for her husband to join the session. A couple of minutes later the screen flashed and Ken’s face appeared.

“Hey… Hi honey how are you?” asked Ken.

“I have to admit, I could be better… It’s been a crappy day at the office, but it’s over now so I intend to relax for a while… How was your day?” replied Cathy.
“Yeah, it was OK but the project has expanded… We will need to install another server room at another site… It’s a secure location so I won’t be able to call until next Saturday” explained Ken.

“That’s a shame… I was hoping you would be home by Wednesday… But it might be for the best, I’ve a ton of work to do” answered Cathy.

“I know it’s disappointing but I’ll make it up to you when I get home” remarked Ken suggestively.

“Promises, promises…” giggled Cathy.

“Hey, where’s my little princess?” asked Ken.

“Kim is at a school soccer match. She won’t be home for another hour. Jill Collins is going to drop her off after the game” explained Cathy

“Shame, I wanted to see her but I’ll have to wait until next week… She’s growing up so fast!” said Ken.

“I know and some of the boys at her school are noticing too… I think she’s going to be a real little heartbreaker” joked Cathy.

“Hey, you make sure to keep those boys away from my little girl!” replied Ken with fake concern

“Don’t you worry honey, you know she’s a total daddy’s girl” chuckled Cathy.

“I better get to bed now, I’ve got a long day’s work tomorrow…” said Ken

“OK, you go get your beauty sleep and I’ll see you next Saturday… Take care darling I love you…” replied Cathy with a hint of sadness in her voice.

“I love you too baby… Give Kimmy a kiss from me…” answered Ken and gave a wave before exiting the video meeting.

Cathay gave a sigh, closed down her laptop and sat back on the sofa, taking another sip of her wine. A movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Turning her head Cathy jumped and gasped “Christ!” as she saw Max at the living room window. Cathy got up from the sofa and angrily rushed to the front door to confront Max. Opening the door Cathy once again was startled by Max standing there.

“What is it, Max?... What do you want?... Why were you staring through my window?” snapped Cathy, making no attempt to hide her anger. Before Max could answer, Cathy’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen and saw it was a call from Jill Collins. “Just wait there…” Cathy ordered Max and turned to answer the phone call, putting the phone on ‘speaker’ as she normally did.

“Hi, Jill. Is everything OK” asked Cathy, worried there was something wrong involving her daughter.

“Hi, Cathy. Everythings fine… I’m just calling to let you know the girls won the game and we are going to get ice cream to celebrate… So Kim will be home a little later than planned…” explained Jill

“Oh, thanks for letting me know… Tell Kim I’m proud of her” replied Cathy and ended the call.

Cathy turned to continue her conversation with Max and was alarmed to see that he had entered the house and silently closed the front door behind him. He stood staring at Cathy, a slight grin on his lips. “What the hell do you think you are doing?... Get out of my house this instant!” yelled Cathy. Despite her outburst, Max didn’t move. He continued to stare and his grin grew wider.