The eve of Halloween

"Halloween, its on a Saturday this year, and that means more days to celebrate." Henry smiled when Josie came to pick him up from work.

"I never knew you loved Halloween so much." Josie looked at him as if she didn't have a clue what he was going on about. Then he remembered she wasn't with him on Halloween last year, and of course, his party was possibly a disaster, even if he thought he'd planned for everything. Except for kissing Chandler and then that gun toting problem which he never witnessed..because he was making out with Chandler.

"Maybe, not that much." He winced, thinking they should stay in and watch the first 4 movies of Nightmare on Elm Street, instead.

They got in the car and on the way home Josie mentioned what Halie had said about the noise problem at night.

"Well, I liked our ghost story much better." His face scrunched up when he thought about  Halie's sex remark. "Evidently, someone must really be enjoying themselves."

"How can you say that?" Josie's voice rose, as if she didn't believe that for a second. She thought somebody was being abused. "How can we not do something?"

She did make it sound as if they were neglectful bystanders.

"I think we should introduce ourselves." Josie said as soon as she pulled into their parking space.

"Really?" He winced hard. Yes, he liked to have friends, just not friends next door..who obviously made sounds in the dead of night.

All right, maybe Josie wasn't as brave as she wanted to be. Because, she found plenty to do when they got home. There was the left over roast to do something with. So the soup took some time. Of course, it was mainly beef broth from the Ramen on hand and frozen veg. Still, dishes to wash. And she must have went to the restroom 3 times before saying, "OK, lets do this." And then she thought they should at least bring some of her Mom's strawberry jam.

"Yeah, like a good neighbor." Henry sang the commercial jingle.

Josie rolled her eyes at that.

"Maybe, we shouldn't. Its a Friday night." It was so quiet. People were enjoying an Autumn night. Chances were, there neighbor was too. As it was, they'd never ever seen their neighbor.

Henry gave her the eye. They were all set to go. The TV was off. He had the keys. All they had to do was take a few steps and be at the neighbor's door. Josie took a deep breath and almost past out. The anticipation was killing her. Thankfully, Henry knocked.

It was all so quiet.

"I bet no one's home." Josie almost said, but the door opened.

Josie stared at the individual, that was hardly a beast. Actually, he was...mesmerizing. Both were a bit awestruck by his poise and stature. Maybe he was a dancer or someone..soon to be famous. She bet he went to the University.

Josie nudged Henry, wondering just how taken he was by the guy next door.

"Oh..hi..we're..we..we live...over there." Henry cleared his throat and told the lean fellow his name and Josie's.

"So, you're the ones up at all hours of the night." He almost winked as he flashed a smile. "Xander Sanchez."

Josie could barely breathe. She didn't want to be smitten by someone how might keep someone under the floorboards. But at the moment, all was at peace. Not a whimper. Just Josie's heartbeat quickening.