Synopsis: Mike finally meets his upstairs neighbor, and she's not at all what he expected. Charlotte has an unexpected hobby...
The thing that struck me first was her large wet eyes of jet black. They looked like rich, deep pools I could dreamily fall into. Her delicate, aquiline nose led down to full, passionate lips. Her coppery skin fairly glowed with health within a halo of her thick and voluminous black hair. I stood paralyzed. I couldn't remember the last time a woman could stop me cold with her looks. I was trying to get my mouth closed when...
CCRRAAAACCKKK!!
Charlotte squealed and bolted in the door. The sudden fright of the particle beam bolt jolted my brain back into action and I closed the door. I turned to watch her making a quick scan of my apartment. She'd removed her nano-suit, the one that could display a body shape set to the user's preference. Instead, she wore only a simple tee-shirt and shorts. Her thighs were thicker than socially fashionable, but well toned. Her full hips definitely went outside the acceptable norm below her dainty waist. Still, her look worked for me and, I noticed with a touch of embarrassment, my Mr. Willy. Her rich, musky scent was filling the room and having unexpected effects.
"Uh," I said trying to think of a way to get my body back under control. "Can I get you something to drink?"
She grabbed a handful of her own glossy hair and used it to cover her face. She shook her head. "Don't bother, it won't work." Her pleasant soprano voice played an aria in my soul. "As soon as the central computer went down all the house systems wigged out and went down too. Voice commands won't work."
Damn! That was going to make things, like eating, very difficult. Practically everything in the apartment building was automatic, controlled by robotic systems. They operated strictly by voice commands to make life easier. The idea wasn't turning out to be so easy just then. But, my rebellious and individualistic nature proved to be a windfall. "Hmmm...what about beer? I happen to be something of a beer snob. I like keeping it in the old bottles because it tastes better that way. You only have to open it yourself."
Thankfully, she dropped her hair to put her hand on a curvy hip. She scrunched her face up in a thoughtful expression. I couldn't help but smile. Rubbery expressions were never programmed into the FREAK nanites. It was considered unattractive. Seeing a true honest-to-goodness, human expression again felt like a breath of fresh air. "Well, not really. I'd love some coffee just now. I could make it if only either of us had an Orin Coffeeman, because it can operate in manual mode."
I didn't know that about the Coffeeman, but it still worked in our favor. "Oh! Well I 'do' have a Coffeeman!"
"Really?!" She made a little jump and clapped her hands. Her brilliant smile almost melted me. "Awesome! Show me!"
I showed her the machine in my kitchen and once she knew where I kept everything, she promptly shooed me out of the kitchen. I retired to the living room and flopped down on the couch. Fifteen minutes later, she returned, two cups of steaming brew in her delicate hands.
The aroma wafting in the air from the coffee promised nirvana, or was it her? I wasn't sure, but the coffee was fabulous. I groaned with pleasure.
"You like," she said, smiling.
"Gorgeous." I smiled back.
Man! Was that the wrong thing to say! Her body promptly folded up and she covered her face with her hair. She began sobbing softly.
"What? What's wrong?" I asked trying to peer through her hair.
She shifted, turning her back to me and wailed, "I'm hideous!"
"Huh? No way!" I protested. "You look great. More than great!"
"Oh yeah?" She turned back to me, her eyes simultaneously scolding and brimming with tears. I saw the way you looked when you first saw me. "You looked like you'd never seen anything so horrible!"
"No! That's not it at all! It's just that..." I searched for an explanation that wouldn't reveal too much about how strongly she affected me.
"Just what?" Her eyes were accusing.
I sighed. "You know, everywhere I go, all the women are blonde and they use the same old predictable, boring looks. There's no uniqueness, no originality. I mean it's hard to be attracted to somebody when there's nothing about them to separate them from the pack." I sighed again, feeling like I was babbling stupidly. "And then I see you tonight, and...it's like seeing a woman for the first time! You just took me by surprise. I...I don't know..."
A small smile crossed her lips and she raised one eyebrow. "Really? That's what you guys think?"
"Well, it's what I think. I don't know how many other guys are like me. Just don't put yourself down. You look fantastic. I'm the ugly one here!"
"What?" She choked on her coffee and set the cup down, tossing her hair out of her face. "Listen, you are SO good-looking! No!" She held up a commanding index finger at my attempt to protest. "I mean it. Look, you probably don't know it but there's this guy from the old 2-D flicks. Yeah, I know I'm a weirdo for watching them, but anyway, this guy was named Antonio Banderas and you look far better than him!"
I started giggling.
"Yeah, yeah," she groused. "Laugh it up, everybody thinks I'm strange when I tell them about the 2-D stuff."
"No, you don't understand," I said between snickers. "I was thinking you got Salma Hayek and Kim Kardashian totally beat!"
"No!"
"Seriously! Especially before Kim put on all the weight and became a Senator. Back when she was super-hot!"
"You mean you actually watch 2-D movies?!"
I paused a moment, glad that my gushing compliment slipped by unnoticed. I mean, I didn't want to sound desperate or anything. "Oh yeah, I watch them all the time."
"Me too! Oh! This is so cool!"
The realization of our mutual fascination melted the glacier of our insecurity. We promptly switched on the vid with my handy remote that didn't require voice commands. We stayed up all night long drinking coffee and chatting animatedly while we watched a constant string of our favorite 2-D flicks.
I woke up late in the morning of the following day. We had ended up crashing on the couch together while the movies played on. I was still in a sitting position and she had curled up beside me with her head in my lap, her gorgeous, silky hair splayed across me in rivulets. Her scent had embedded itself in my skin and Mr. Willy was liking this a lot. She woke up at the same time as I did and pushed herself up, accidently pushing off on my swelling crotch. "Oh!" She squeaked, "I'm sorry!"
I turned beet red.
She smiled a brilliant, happy smile that said she wasn't all that sorry. She giggled and excused herself to go to the bathroom. When she came back, I had the news going on the vid. Apparently, the whole issue with the Air Force's Coyote satellite has been resolved during the night. It had stopped accepting control signals from the control center and that's why the shooting lasted so long. Everything they tried failed, so the US Navy took care of the problem for them. No other than the Arleigh Burke, the satellite's intended test target, shot it out of space with an anti-satellite missile.
Charlotte and I heaved a sigh of relief and an even bigger sigh when we learned that the central computers were back online. Charlotte told me she had to go back to her apartment and take care of some errands.
At my door, we gazed into each other's eyes. "So...uh..." I stammered, trying to be suave and cool, and failing completely.
"You know," she breathed. "Now that we've discovered we have a 'mutual fascination'...for old vids...let's get together for more again soon." Her crooked smile promised much more than vids would be in the offering. I agreed wholeheartedly and watched a very happy, very confident woman sashay slowly up the staircase. Mr. Willy threatened to rip a seam in my pants.
Charlotte moved in with me three months later. We still put our FREAK on when we go out in public. We like our own, natural faces but the public would simply not deal with it very well. So when evening comes we stay at home and reveal ourselves to each other, and get a different kind of freak on.
will eat you!
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