All Chapters of One Night With My Neighbor : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Hannah stood in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom and studied her reflection with careful attention. She had already slipped into the small black bikini that hugged her curves just right. The top lifted her breasts and left the soft upper slopes bare.She turned to one side. Then the other. She looked over her shoulder at her reflection before facing the mirror again. “This is really cool,” she whispered to herself.She reached for her makeup bag and began to work. First came a light foundation that evened her skin, then a soft sweep of pink color blush across her cheekbones. She darkened her lashes until they looked longer and fuller, and she brushed a touch of color onto her lips that made them look fuller and glossy without seeming overdone. She kept the makeup simple, but she took her time with it. She wanted to look good without looking as though she had spent an hour getting ready for Tom.When she finished, she looked at herself again. The sight pleased her. She w

Exactly, it was Tom.From everything he had told them, he had experience with the subject. At the very least, he could point her in the right direction.She picked up her phone. She could have asked her father immediately, but she decided to wait until that evening. Moreover, she packed some of her things and went home, without bothering to tell her parents about it first. Besides, it was a very solid and valid reason, school work. Her parents were surprised to see her but they welcomed her home warmly. She told them she came back from school to enable her carry out her school project assignment effectively as it would be easier for her to concentrate better at home.- - -After dinner that night, Hannah approached him. “Dad?”He looked up from his laptop. “Yes?”“So about my project from school, I need some help with part of it.”“What kind of help?”Hannah explained the assignment. Her father listened carefully. Then she added casually, “I think Tom might know something about it.”

They accepted the explanation without question. Hannah packed a few things, said goodnight, and left again with the same quiet satisfaction still coiled low in her belly.Back at the university residence, the hallway smelled of laundry detergent and cheap perfume. Hannah unlocked the door to the shared room and stepped inside. Her roommate, Serena, sat cross-legged on her bed with a textbook open on her lap. Serena looked up at once, her dark hair falling over one shoulder.“You’re back early,” Serena said. “I thought you were staying home longer.”Hannah dropped her bag and sat on the edge of her own bed. The residual heat between her legs made her shift slightly. “I finished what I needed to do.”Serena closed the book and studied her face. “You look different. Kind of glowing. What happened?”Hannah hesitated only a second. The satisfaction still moved through her like a slow current, and she wanted someone to know. She wanted to speak the details out loud so they would stay real.

The rain started at half past six.By seven, it was beating hard against the front windows of Bell & Page, turning the street outside into a blur of headlights, umbrellas, and silver water.Tara glanced at the clock above the counter. 7:43 p.m.She had sold three books all evening.Two paperbacks to a university student who had sprinted through the rain to get inside, and a battered copy of Jane Eyre to an elderly woman who had spent twenty minutes deciding whether she already owned it.The woman had left just before the rain became unbearable. Since then, the shop had been quiet. Almost too quiet. Tara looked toward the back corner.Callum was still there. He sat in his usual chair beside the tall fiction shelves, one ankle resting over his opposite knee, a book open in his hands. His dark coat hung over the back of the chair, and his sleeves were rolled neatly to his forearms.He had been coming every Wednesday for three months. Every Wednesday, usually around six. Every Wednesday,

Lena realized she was out of sugar at seven forty-three on a Thursday evening.She stood in her kitchen with a mug of coffee in one hand and stared at the empty sugar jar on the counter. She shook it once, hoping a few forgotten grains would somehow appear at the bottom. Nothing happened. She opened the cabinet and checked behind the tea, then checked the drawer where she kept things that had no proper place. She found two tea bags, an old packet of biscuits, and a receipt from three weeks ago, but no sugar.She sighed and looked toward the apartment door.There was a small grocery store two blocks away, but she had already changed into soft shorts and an oversized T-shirt without bra. She had no interest in putting on proper clothes, finding her slippers, she walked outside just for sugar. She could drink the coffee without it, but she knew she would complain about the bitter taste with every sip.Then she remembered the man across the hall. Daniel.She had never actually spoken to