"Hi, neighbor!" comes a cheery voice. You jump slightly, not having
even notice his approach. You were quite engrossed in your report
notes, furiously typing away in your laptop. You remind yourself that
you should be more careful; a woman alone would be in quite a bit of
danger if someone chose to take liberties with her here.
"Oh, hi," you reply in an equally cheery way. You force yourself to
close the laptop and talk with the man. You've always been criticized
as cold and absorbed by your work. You know that has at least been
part of the reason you've been single for so long.
"I'm Gabe Stanton," he says, sticking his hand out to shake yours.
You take a quick appraising look of him. He's around six foot three, a
good six inches taller than you. His shaggy black hair hung to the
nape of his neck unevenly, as though he had short hair a while ago,
but hadn't had a real haircut in quite some time. He had a kind enough
face and smile, but his eyes were what really caught your attention,
with their piercingly bright blue hue.
You shake his hand, acutely aware of an iron grip that spoke of a
quiet strength. "Stephanie Driscoll," you say with a smile, and a
little bit of a blush as you realize you can't help but immediately
think of how cute he is.
"I live a little ways away from here," he tells you. "Further into the
woods. I just thought I'd drop by and say hello...there's a few other
cabins around this general area, and we all like to know our
neighbors."
"Ah...and you saw the U-Haul trailer a couple of days ago, and decided
to stop by and be nosy, huh?" you say, immediately regretting how it
came out. You were trying to make a joke, and it sure sounded funnier
in your head.
"I..I..uhh...mean.." you stammer at him, realizing how bitchy that had
to sound.
Thankfully, he laughs it off. "Don't worry about it. I suppose you
could say I was being nosy...you'll find the folks around here like to
know their neighbors pretty well. Out here, we're kind of cut off from
society, so it pays to know who everyone is."
You breathe a sigh of relief, knowing you haven't alienated the only
human you've had face-to-face interaction with since you've been here.
Of course, perhaps he's only being kind.
You notice him glancing at the plaster cast on the ground. "So," he
asks you, "What's that?"