My Neighbor's Dirty Secret

As always, she peeped through the eye hole like the paranoid creature that she was.

She sighed in relief. Thank god.

It was just him. Like usual, she couldn't see his face. Only the familiar dark blue hat that covered his eyes.

Carson.

Rhea opened the door and hid the weapon behind her back, to find Carson standing behind in his work attire. As usual, he had his hat pulled down over his eyes so it would calm her anxiety. All she could see was the genuine smile plastered onto his face. She smiled in return. Such a kind and considerate man! Every human being should strive to be like Damien or Carson.

Only then, the world would truly be a better place.

"Delivery! How are you doing this fine morning, Rhea?"

Terrible. She wanted the serene and peaceful life before the twins showed up. But nonetheless, she forced the smile.

"...It's been eventful..." she kept thinking about the twins and their hot dogs but shook her head to dispel all thoughts of them away. "How about yourself?"

"It's a fine morning already, especially now that I've been able to greet you. Ah, please step aside so I can push your box in."

She moved aside so that he could push in the large heavy box of grocery items. Wait a minute. Rhea was fooled once but she didn't want to be fooled twice.

Was it really her grocery items?

Rhea abandoned all shame and took out her cooking pan weapon, aiming it at the box. Carson practically flew backwards and this caused his hat to sway and fall down. For the past few months that Rhea has been living in this condo, she has never seen the face of her delivery guy. This was the first time seeing his face and wow...Carson was surprisingly cute considering his large bulky build.

He had a baby face with larger roundish eyes that also returned the same shock she had. For him, it was also his first time seeing his odd shut in of a customer. They looked at each other for a long moment, until Carson made the move to snatch his hat back on but this time he just held his hat instead of putting it back on.

"Y-You surprised me! Can I ask...What are you doing with that pan in your hand? I'm sorry if I frightened you but I was only trying to push it in. If you want, I can leave it here and be on my way..."

Carson began to slowly walk away and to both of their surprise, Rhea reached out to grab his arm with her free hand. She felt his warmth pool from her fingertips, an odd sensation that gave her weird shocks but her mind was taking over. He looked toward the direction of her hand in confusion. Then finally, Rhea also looked down. She squealed and jumped five feet away even though she was the provocative one to touch him first.

"Rhea?"

"S-S-Sorry! I didn't mean to. Stay...Just stay. I need someone else here in case it is what I think it is because I don't remember ordering anything!"

"Um...okay."

She gulped down the air. And then, she slowly tread toward the box as Carson asked, "Did you want me to open the box for you?"

"No!" because if he saw the crude s.e.x toys, he'd think she have some kinky fetishes when it was actually her freaking neighbors!

Rhea's plan was to glimpse inside and if it was what she thought it was, then ask Carson to politely deliver them where they belonged. She unsealed the tape. And then, with the edge of the pan, she slowly ushered one of the box flaps open. Her eyes were still squeezed shut. From the corner of her eye, she saw Carson frightened.

"R-Rhea...Look. If it's a bomb or something serious, perhaps we should call the authorities to handle this, don't you think?"

But it was too late. Rhea lifted one eye open and peered into the side of the box she had opened with her most reliable weapon. But alas, she had made a huge ruckus all for nothing. It was just basic necessities. However, Rhea swore she ordered what she needed to survive the previous week. She set down the pan and looked into the box's contents.

'Dear Rhea,

By the time you receive this letter, I might already be fired. Like I've told you many times, you are my favorite author so when I got the chance to work with you, I boasted about it to everyone I knew. I admit at first, I was disappointed that my favorite author was a shut in but in the years I've come to work with you, I realize you work harder than anyone else. You give me headaches but in the end when you deliver your work, it always puts a smile on my face.

The time spent with you was fulfilling. Please accept these gifts. Remember to shower on time and take some time out in the sunlight more often.

Love your editor, Sasha'

"Is everything alright?" Carson asked.

Rhea looked at him and sighed. "Hey Carson...What would you do if there was something you strongly didn't want to do but then there was people out there who expect you to meet their demands and along the lines, it jeopardizes someone else's security?"

She almost didn't expect him to answer so she turned away but he softly spoke, "Listen to yourself. Only you know what's the right thing to do."

Of course. He was right. She shook her head and sighed because the right thing to do was the thing that she didn't want to do most. Rhea couldn't help but think about the good times. Sasha, although a bit of a lunatic, was an irreplaceable editor to her. When she wasn't grilling Rhea for manuscripts, Sasha was taking care of Rhea and making sure that her health and needs were met every day.

Sasha was almost like a mother in that way where her own mother had failed her. Rhea said and did a lot of terrible things but it was only to protect herself. In the end she knew that her shut in fate would eventually have some breaks.

"...Hand."

"Hmm?" he asked but opened his hand anyway.

Rhea rummaged inside her endless supply of candy from her pockets and placed them into his palm like the usual. She completely forgot all about Carson's hat being taken off and genuinely smiled. A red blush crept onto his cheeks as he stared at her dazzling smile.

"Thank you. I appreciate all your continuous hard work!"