The Secret Admirer

Chapter 9: Moving In

I didn’t have a lot to do so I started cleaning the house I was moving into as soon as I got the keys from Jasmine the next day. I bought some cleaning supplies and took an Uber to the house. I brought some extra clothes and some toiletries. I will be taking a shower later after doing manual labor.

When I got there, I inadvertently looked at the unit next door trying to see if I could get a glimpse of the mysterious man. There was no car in the garage and the doors to the house were closed. I was slightly disappointed but I just shrugged it off. 

It was almost noon so I had some food delivered. The delivery rider was just about to leave when I heard a friendly voice.

Friendly Voice: “Well, hello there neighbor!”

Vanessa: “Uhm, hi.”

Friendly Voice: “So, are you moving into that house?”

Vanessa: “Yes, I am. I’m just making sure it’s clean before I move in.”

Friendly Voice: “Welcome to the neighborhood. I’m Karl Montenegro. I live two doors away from you with my wife. Let us know if you need any help.”

Vanessa: “Thank you, Karl. It’s nice to meet you.”

Karl: “You too.”

We said our goodbyes and I headed inside while he walked towards his house. I was feeling thankful that I have at least one friendly neighbor. At least my parents will not worry too much about me.

Thinking about neighbors, I remembered the  mysterious man next door once again. I don’t know why I can’t stop thinking about him. He’s like the bad boy in school everyone has a crush on. I may be judging him without even knowing him, but that’s my impression of him. I wonder if he lives alone in his house just like me.

I was getting hungry since I didn’t have breakfast earlier, so I started eating. I had my tablet with me and I opened it to a movie streaming app so I could watch a movie while I ate. It’s a good thing that the owner had the house already furnished with some furniture so I didn’t have to worry about getting them. I had some furniture I can move from home but it’s going to cost too much to have them shipped here. According to my mom, I’ve always been thrifty. I just didn’t usually make unnecessary expenses.

When I’m done eating, I cleaned up the table and changed into a tank top and shorts. I was inside my house so it should be okay. I opened the windows and the main door. I kept the screen door closed. I opened a music streaming app and played my playlist of my favorite songs to get me in a cleaning mood.

The house isn’t very dirty, there’s just some dust here and there. I turned on the vacuum cleaner and ran it around the house. Afterwards, I wiped out all the surfaces, including the cabinets. I opened the refrigerator and it was fairly clean as well, so I just ran a clean rag through it, plugged it on and put in a deodorizer. I made a mental note to make sure to unplug the fridge before I leave the house later. I moved to the small room and bathroom next.

When I’m satisfied with my work, I moved to the second floor and did the same cleaning routine on the rooms. I cleaned the master bedroom last including the walk-in closet. One thing I don’t skimp on are clothes.

When I was modeling, I got a lot of free stuff from the designers that I worked with. This fueled my fascination in clothes, shoes and bags, and I made sure to always keep with the trend.  

I made sure all the lights are working in all the rooms. I brought some extra light bulbs just in case any of them needs changing. Jasmine told me that she can recommend a guy who can do the maintenance repairs needed in the house. I took note of the repairs I would like to get done so that the maintenance guy can work on them in one go. It shouldn’t take more than a day to complete everything since it’s a short list.

When I was done inside, I went to the terraces to sweep the floor and wipe the grills. This is probably the dirtiest part of the house since it’s exposed to the elements outside. I looked around as I thought of the furniture that I plan to put in here. I’ll put in some plants as well. I was looking down as I scooped the dirt in the dustpan and when I looked up, I jumped in surprise. The mysterious man next door was looking at me from their terraces.

Vanessa: “Oh my goodness, you scared me.”

He didn’t respond and just remained stoic. He was sitting in a chair and he had his elbows on the table in front of him. I smiled and introduced myself.

Vanessa: “I’m your new neighbor, my name is Vanessa. What’s your name?”

He looked me up and down, and I suddenly became conscious as I realized what I was wearing. The sleeveless tank top is quite sheer and I was sweaty. I wasn’t wearing a br* and I’m pretty sure he can see my n*****s protruding.

I kept smiling while waiting for him to react when he just stood up and left without saying anything. My jaw dropped as I can’t believe how he just reacted. I wasn’t at least expecting him to acknowledge me, but he reacted as if he was disgusted by me. Did he think I was trying to seduce him with what I was wearing? Did he think I was a w***e because of that? I didn’t even think anybody was going to see me, so it wasn’t intentional.

I finished scooping the dirt and went back inside the house. I put all the trash in a bag. I’ll take it out later before I leave. I took a hot shower in the bathroom upstairs. It felt good and my muscles were relaxed as soon as the water cascaded down my body. 

I still couldn’t stop thinking about the mysterious man next door. When he was looking at me earlier, I noticed that he looked younger than I thought. He was wearing a shirt which concealed his muscles, so maybe that’s why. The way he dresses up convinced me that he may even be a few years younger than me.

Still, I can’t help but be drawn to him still. I should stop thinking about him as he doesn’t seem interested in me. Maybe I’m not his type, or maybe he’s gay.

I chuckled as I remembered that I thought Ron was gay when he didn’t seem interested in me before. As it turns out, he was very interested and he was just concealing his lust for me.

It’s interesting that I don’t seem to feel too much hurt when I think of my ex-boyfriend. Maybe the new job and the new house are helping to make me feel better. I finished rinsing myself and dried my body and hair with a towel. Afterwards, I put on the same clothes I had on earlier. It’s already dark outside as I booked an Uber to drive me back to my hotel. I don’t plan to sleep in a bare house with no air conditioning when I have a comfortable hotel room waiting for me.

I left the trash outside the gate. Jasmine told me that trash gets picked up everyday in the morning, so I can just leave it there. I just needed to make sure it’s secure in a sealed bag. As my Uber arrived, I locked the gate to the house and got in the car. I felt goosebumps as I swear I could feel eyes looking at me as I got out of the house.

I just shrugged it off and went on my way. I asked the driver to drop me off at the hotel. I plan on getting another meal delivered to my room since I’m too tired to go out. When I’ve moved into the house and got everything I needed, I swear I’ll do a tour of the city. I won’t have to start working for another few weeks anyway, so I have plenty of time to spare.

As I was waiting for my food to be delivered, I heard my phone ringing. I thought it was my mom calling so I answered it right away. I was surprised as a man’s voice answered.

Vanessa: “Hello.”

Man’s Voice: “Hi Vanessa, how’s your evening going?”

I looked at my phone and saw a number I don’t recognize. Not a lot of people know my number so I was curious as to who the caller might be.

Vanessa: “It’s fine. May I know who’s this?”

Man’s Voice: “It’s Gabriel Mariano. Sorry, I should have introduced myself first.”

Vanessa: “Oh, hi Gabriel. It’s okay.”

Gabriel: “So, are you busy?”

Vanessa: “Well, I’ve got an exciting evening of eating General Tso’s chicken, yang chow rice and some dumplings, while watching Avengers.”

Gabriel: “Would you like to go out and join me for dinner instead?”

Vanessa: “I’m actually pretty tired. I cleaned the house I was moving to today and I’ll head off to bed after dinner. Rain check?”

Gabriel: “Of course, you should go rest. You know you can hire people to clean houses now, don’t you?”

Vanessa: “I know, but I’ve got nothing else to do and I don’t mind cleaning.”

Gabriel: “Well, you have my number now. Feel free to use it if you need help or have nothing else to do. There’s plenty of things we can do together.”

I swallowed hard as I imagine the things Gabriel and I can do together. That’s not even what he meant, but suddenly I imagined him and I doing sexually explicit things together.

Vanessa: “Uhm, what can we do together?”

Gabriel: “Aside from dinner, we can watch a movie, or go bowling, we can go skydiving or bungee jumping. Anything your heart desires.”

Vanessa: “Skydiving and bungee jumping? Really? Do you have a death wish?”

Gabriel: “Well, I’ve never tried them before. I was just curious. You think of what we want to do and we can do it.”

What I want to do is ride him all night. But I can’t tell him that. He’s my boss for crying out loud.

Vanessa: “Well, I’ll call you if I think of something. I’m going to be busy in the next few days moving into the house.”

Gabriel: “I can help you with that too. Just let me know.”

The doorbell rang just as I was about to respond.

Vanessa: “Well, my food’s here. I’m going to let you go so I can start my adventurous night.”

Gabriel: “Okay. Eat and rest well. Please call me if you need me.”

Vanessa: “I will. Goodnight, Gabriel.”

Gabriel: “Goodnight, Vanessa.”

As soon as I ended the call, I picked up my wallet and headed to the door. All the cleaning made me really hungry.

After dinner, I cleaned up after myself and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and brush my face. I did my skin care routine before going to bed. As soon as my back hit the bed, I fell asleep right away.

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The next day, I went to the mall to do some shopping for things I will be needing at the house. I will be checking out of the hotel tomorrow so I will officially be moving into the house by then. My mom said that my stuff is due to arrive the day after tomorrow.

I was only expecting my clothes and some personal items to arrive. Today, I plan to get some kitchen stuff, and even a few groceries. I want to allot the whole day tomorrow to decorating the house, so I don’t want to have to go out for food anymore. I have been ordering or eating out for the past few days that I have been here. I would like to be able to eat a home cooked meal starting tomorrow.

I also bought a TV. The maintenance guy will be arriving tomorrow so I can ask him to mount it by then. I also got air conditioning units for the two bedrooms upstairs. I got a stand fan for the living room.

I was pretty excited as I looked at the outdoor furniture selections. I decided to get a 3-seater sofa in beige with 2 ottomans for additional seating. I also got a center table. They will be delivered tomorrow along with the aircons so it works perfectly.

The driver helped me load my purchases in the car and we headed to the house. I was getting a little conscious as the driver kept looking at me from his rearview mirror. He’s not bad looking, but I find it creepy and he should be paying attention to the road and not me. I was surprised when he started talking.

Creepy Driver: “Why didn’t you ask your boyfriend to accompany you? A pretty lady like you shouldn’t be carrying so many things.”

Vanessa: “My boyfriend is at work. He couldn’t take time off because his boss is really strict. He’s a cop, by the way.”

Upon hearing this, he shut up. I came up with this lie because I keep getting unwanted attention from men. I know I’m single now and should be more open to men’s advances. But right now I’m not in the mood. I have no plans to date or hook up with strange men.

When we got home, the driver helped me unload the things I bought, which I appreciated. Because of this, I gave him a big tip. As I opened the gate, the mysterious boy next door was looking at me from their terraces. I decided to just reciprocate what he’s doing and ignore him. If doesn’t want to meet me, then I couldn’t care less about him. It took me a few trips, but I was finally able to bring everything I bought inside the house.

When I’m done, I just sat on the sofa and rested for a bit. When I got up, I turned the refrigerator on and loaded the groceries that needed to stay frozen and chilled. Afterward, I filled up the pantry with the canned goods and other supplies I got.

Once everything is settled, I made sure everything is tidy in the house before booking another Uber and heading back to the hotel. I am excited for tomorrow when I can finally officially move into the house.