Frank & Elyse – Chapter 5 – 6

xxx stories: Frank & Elyse – Chapter 5

by Burnt Redstone

He couldn’t get over how advanced bicycles had become. The old clunker he’d left in New York was an anchor compared to the one he’d just bought.

Frank stood in the bicycle shop waiting for the mechanic to bring out his brand new mountain bike. Actually it was more of a touring mountain bike as it had drop handlebars like a road bike. No heavy suspension junk, just a super light but strong frame and big 29 inch wheels… it looked like a tank but moved like a jaguar. This was just the first step in his body rehabilitation plan. The bike came with front and rear racks and he’d picked up some waterproof panniers for the rear rack so he could run errands with the bike. Once he’d built his fitness up sufficiently he planned on getting himself some front panniers, a tent, some other camping gear, and do a little bike touring. For now though he’d just get the bike and rebuild his endurance.

Now he was glad he’d left his old mountain bike back in New York. It was too much of a hassle bringing it across the country anyway and he thought he deserved the upgrade. He also had a new helmet, gloves, shoes, short and long sleeve cycling jerseys, cycling shorts and tights, and rain gear. Oh! And a new lock and lights too. He’d dropped some serious money in this shop today but it was all for a good cause.

His new Jeep was parked outside complete with a bike rack. He’d needed a new car as he’d sold his sport sedan before heading for the west coast.

He’d slept wonderfully on his new bed last night. It hadn’t taken him long to assemble it. The mattress was just right, not too firm and not too soft. Having the bed all to himself hadn’t yet become something he enjoyed. It reminded him of too many hotels but he was hopeful that the empty feeling would fade.

The mechanic finally rolled his new ride out to him and he smiled in appreciation.

“Here you go. It’s a sweet ride bro!” the young tattooed man said with an envious look.

“Thanks! I can’t wait to get it out on the trails!” Frank grinned. He shook the mechanic’s hand and took his purchases outside. The bags went into the back seat and the bike went onto the rack.

The drive home was fairly short which was great because it meant he’d be able to ride to the shop if he needed the bike tuned up or needed some extra gear. Generally, his car would stay in the garage as much as possible as he intended to use the bike for most travel in town.

He backed his Jeep into the driveway and got out to get his packages. He noticed his new neighbor’s car pulling out of the drive and he turned to smile at her but caught the tail end of a disapproving look on her face as she drove past.

“Christ, just like Stephanie,” he growled to himself as a chill ran down his spine. Well fine. He didn’t have to be friends with everyone in the neighborhood. His goal was to write his novel which meant a lot of quiet time by himself so he didn’t need the distractions anyway.

He carried his packages inside then moved his bike into the garage up onto hooks on the wall. Finally he moved the Jeep into the garage and locked the door.

He saw a white van parked in front of the house across the street. The truck was plastered with an ad for low cost internet.

“Excuse me! You know where the owner of this place is?” a man with a clipboard called out to him from her driveway.

“Sorry, no idea. I saw her leaving just a little while ago,” Frank called back.

The man shrugged and got back into his truck and drove away.

Frank went inside and made himself a sandwich. The old fridge that came with the house was making an odd tinkling sound but it had lasted this long and he really didn’t want to buy new appliances until he’d decided what he was going to do about the kitchen. It was really dated and he was probably going to have it gutted and redone. Carrying his lunch and his laptop out onto the deck he made himself comfortable and did a little research on what it might cost to redo the kitchen.

Frank must have been outside for over an hour when he heard a voice calling his name. He stood up and looked over his privacy screen in the direction of Beverly’s place. He could barely see her through all the vegetation between their homes but she perked up as she caught sight of him.

“There you are! I knocked on your front door but you didn’t answer,” she gently scolded him.

“Sorry, I was just having lunch on the deck.”

“I’ll be right there.” Then she was gone.

Frank sighed. He really wasn’t feeling up to a visit but it looked like he wasn’t being given a choice. He went inside with his laptop and walked to the front door. She knocked as he got to the door so he opened it up.

“Hi again! May I come in for a moment? I just wanted to ask you something,” she said cheerfully.

He stood back and she walked in, her eyes darting everywhere and growing wider as she took in the absence of… everything. She peered up at his face in surprise.

“You weren’t kidding about living in a minimalist way! You have nothing!” she squeaked and her voice echoed in the empty living room.

He smiled and nodded. “It feels good. For now I have a bed, a working fridge, stove, washer and dryer. Oh, and I have my Internet working so I have everything I need. What did you need to ask me?”

“Right! I would like to invite you to dinner tonight to welcome you to the neighborhood,” she said with a wide smile.

“Tonight?”

“At 7pm sharp! You told me you’re retired so you shouldn’t have any excuses for not showing!” she grinned as she placed her hand on his right bicep, giving it a little squeeze.

Frank was once more feeling a little uncomfortable but the quickest way to get her out was to agree. “Fine. I’ll be there. Thanks!”

“Excellent! Dinner attire is ‘dressy casual’,” she said over her shoulder as she made her way back outside. She grinned back at him as she waved. He just returned her smile and closed the door.

Dressy casual. Right.

He headed to his bedroom. He had to see if he had anything that fit that description.

————–

xxx stories: Frank & Elyse – Chapter 6

by Burnt Redstone

“aaaAAAHHH!”

Elyse woke with a scream and sat up gasping. She looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings then it all came back to her. Her new house. Her perspective was skewed because she was sleeping on her mattress on the floor. The night before she discovered she had no tools to assemble the frame. The movers disassembled the bed before loading it on the truck but they’d left before she noticed they hadn’t reassembled it here.

She flopped back on the mattress and let her heart rate slow down. The last time she’d woken this close to the floor had been after Michael had beaten her. A shiver ran down her spine.

She’d been up so late the night before unpacking. She glanced at her flip alarm clock and it said 7:01AM. It was time to get her day started. She just had the weekend to get the essentials in place so she could begin working from home on Monday. The Internet service provider she’d contacted said they would hook up her service this afternoon between 1 and 4PM so she had to get most of her running around done in the morning.

She found her towels and bathroom supplies and took a quick invigorating shower. She slipped on her panties and bra, a casual top, yoga pants, short socks, and pulled on her hoodie and sneakers. She was ready to run her errands.

As she passed by the kitchen she glanced at the wall clock. It said 11:35AM! She rushed back to the bedroom and the clock still showed 7:01AM. It wasn’t plugged in. She rushed back out to the kitchen and picked up her cell. 11:36AM. She’d slept in!

“FUCK!” she yelled in frustration.

She had almost no time to get anything done! She’d have to scramble to get at least some of her tasks done and be back in time for her service window.

She grabbed her keys and locked up as she rushed outside and got her car out of the garage. She was going to need to get a garage door opener as having to close it manually was going to get tiresome pretty quickly. She glanced at the clock on her cell again. “SHIT!”

As she pulled out of her driveway her eyes were drawn to the Jeep parked across the road. Michael had a Jeep and went on and on about how awesome off-roading was. When he wasn’t taking drugs and beating her up that is. Now she had that unpleasant reminder to look at every day. She pushed the unhappy thoughts from her head and drove up the street quickly to get to the post office. She’d have to put off getting groceries until after the service call.

The post office and the bank took longer than expected so she rushed back home and arrived with just fifteen minutes to spare before 1PM. She went inside and realized she hadn’t eaten since breakfast the day before. She couldn’t go out now and she didn’t have any numbers to order delivery or internet service to look it up. Well, she would just have to wait until dinner. She went back to unpacking.

A few minutes later she heard a knock on the front door. Finally, something was going her way today.

She answered expecting to see the installer but her brunette neighbor… Beverly, was standing there instead.

“Hi Elyse! I won’t keep you as I’m sure you are busy with unpacking but I just wanted to invite you to dinner tonight to welcome you to the neighborhood!”

“Oh, uh, that- that would be very nice! Thank you.” Elyse said, surprised by the kind gesture.

Beverly smiled and turned to leave, pointing to her house. “Dinner’s at 7PM. Attire is ‘dressy casual’,” she finished with a smile.

“OK, see you then.” Elyse responded with a puzzled expression. “What a strange little woman,” she thought to herself as she closed the door.

She immediately checked to see if the dress she had in mind needed ironing but it was in good shape. She went back to unpacking but she kept an ear open for the door.

By 3PM she was starting to get nervous they weren’t going to show. She called the office and waited on an automated queue for twenty minutes before someone finally answered.

“DeltaComm Internet, how can I help you today?” said a pleasant female voice.