Chapter Text
There was a knock at the door of his apartment. Sidney looked up from the email he was writing and made to get up to open the door. The person had not used the outside intercom, so it must be a neighbour. He’d only met a few of his neighbours since moving into his London apartment block two years’ ago, and only when he had encountered them on the stairwell or in the corridor. He’d exchanged polite greetings with most of the people on his floor, but no more than that, indeed, apart from Joan and Roger at number 304, he didn’t even know any of their names. Sidney, like most other Londoners kept himself to himself and wasn’t one for socialising with his neighbours.
He wondered who it could be calling on him now, and more curiously - why, after all everyone was supposed to be in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sidney had been working from home for the past seven days and it was starting to drive him crazy. Everyone was doing their best, but he missed the office banter and more than that - human company. It just wasn’t the same interacting with people over Skype. Sidney knew he should be thankful that he was able to work from home, but living on your own in a one bedroom flat (and with no garden come to that) was pretty…well… lonely. He’d go out for his daily run or cycle as his ‘permitted’ daily exercise and of course to do his weekly shop, but contact with people had to be kept at a minimum. He was not looking forward to at least another fourteen days of self-isolation, even if he understood and respected the need for it.
Sidney walked across the living room and over to the door and took a look out of the peephole. His heart started to thump loudly in his chest when he saw her. It was the girl from next door. She’d moved into the next door apartment a few months ago and the couple of occasions they had bumped into each had been particularly awkward experiences. The first time was time was pretty soon after she’d moved in when he came across her cat on his return from work on the communal landing outside his flat. She had come out of her apartment a moment later to retrieve it and it had run straight through Sidney’s legs and further along the corridor. In an attempt to help, he had tried to grab it as it ran past, but it turned out it was particularly frightened of men, being a rescue cat, and he’d made the situation a whole lot worse. In the end, she’d got really annoyed with him and had to ask him to go back to his apartment so she could sort out the cat herself. He’d listened to her try to coax it into her apartment for at least half an hour after that.
The second time was so much more mortifying. It happened about a month ago. He was running late for work and he ended up running straight into her at full pelt and elbowed her in the boobs. She was clearly in a lot of pain from the incident, although she was trying to put a brave face on it. He apologised profusely and quickly made an exit, knowing full well he had gone the colour of a beetroot. The only other times he had seen her after that, he merely offered her a slight smile or nod of the head.
Sidney was irritated more than anything about their awkward encounters. He was irritated because he couldn’t seem to act normally around her and he knew the reason why. He was attracted to her and in truth, he didn’t want to be – so this irritated him all the more. He didn’t know anything about her – not even her name. He only knew what he felt when he saw her and now, here she was, outside his apartment door. What could she want? Slightly nervously he opened the door.
She was standing the recommended two metre distance away from his door, dressed casually in jeans and a hoody, her hair down and natural. Sidney still thought she looked gorgeous despite her casual attire and he wished his heart would stop thumping so loudly because it felt like it was going to burst out his chest.
“Hi.” She said apprehensively. “I’m really sorry to bother you, but I didn’t know what else to do, especially as James is staying with his parents during lockdown.”
Who the f*** is James? Sidney thought and a pang of jealously shot through him.
She continued “But my washing machine has broken. I’ve rung about 20 plumbers and none of them are willing to come as they don’t consider it an emergency. The laundrette down the road is closed and I am fast running out of clean clothes. I don’t suppose there is any chance I can use yours to wash a load?” She bit her lip as she finished her request, looking fretful and close to tears.
“Yes, of course. No problem.” Sidney replied.
“Oh my God thank you!” She said, clearly relieved. “I didn’t know having broken washing machine could be so stressful!”
“Sounds it.”
“I’ll just get the load now if that’s OK?” She asked
“Sure.”
Sidney kept the door wedged open for her and retreated back to the living room. She came through with a basket of clothes and her detergent a few minutes later.
“You don’t know how much of a lifesaver you are!” She said as she made her way to his kitchen where the washing machine was. “I contemplated handwashing, but I couldn’t find the right detergent and the clothes always take an age to dry.” She proceeded to empty her clothes into the washing machine and Sidney caught a glimpse of some of her more delicate items which made him blush. He looked away in case she caught him. “Right.” She said turning to him once she’d finished loading the machine. “I guess I’ll come back once the cycle finishes? You know, as we’re not meant to be having contact with anyone outside our household.”
“OK.” Sidney replied, not knowing what else to say.
“Cool.” She said, but seeming like she wanted to say more. “And thanks again.” She said looking at him. She had the most beautiful brown eyes.
“It’s no problem. You can use it whenever you need.” Sidney replied.
“Thank you. That’s a real help.” They stood and stared at each other for a moment. “Right… I’m off.” She said, more to herself than to Sidney. He followed her at a safe distance. She stopped in the doorway and turned round. “I’m Charlotte by the way.”
He smiled at her, grateful that she had been the one to address the issue that they didn’t know each other’s names. “I’m Sidney.” He replied and she smiled in return.
“I’ll… I’ll be back in an hour or so then Sidney.”
“See you then, Charlotte.”
She walked out his apartment door, closing it behind her.
Charlotte, her name was Charlotte. God it felt good to know her name. Now Sidney could stop referring to her as ‘the pretty girl next door’. He sighed in relief at the fact that he hadn’t acted like a buffoon around her and nothing awkward had happened… at least not yet… for she would be returning in an hour to collect her washing. Sidney sat back down at his desk to finish his email, but he was finding it difficult to concentrate as his mind kept reflecting on their brief interaction, the expressions she had made, the cute little frown between her eyebrows, the brightness of her eyes, the curls in her hair… and the black lace underwear that he had seen her put in the washing machine. God he was an idiot! Even if he wanted to act on his feelings, they were in a lockdown and forbidden from doing so. What was he thinking? He needed to snap out of this and get some work done and hope their next encounter later today would be free from any embarrassment on his part. He took a deep breath and cracked on with his work.
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Sidney – not a particularly common name, but actually it rather suited him. Thank goodness Sidney had let Charlotte use his washing machine. She knew it was silly, but it really had been a traumatic few days. This was the first time she’d lived on her own, as she shared a house since leaving university, and finding herself without a washing machine whilst in lockdown nearly sent her over the edge. Being on her own (well, she did have Tigger which helped, but it wasn’t the same as being around people) for the past week had been some of the toughest days of her life. Charlotte was used to having lots of people around her and she was an extrovert by nature, so she was finding self-isolation in a one bedroom flat incredibly hard. She’d normally go at least a week without calling home, but now she found herself Skyping her parents and siblings every day and there had been tears… lots of tears. Charlotte was aching to return home to her family in Willingden, but that was just not possible right now. Why hadn’t she done what James had done and gone home last week when she still could? There was no point dwelling on it, she just had to get on with it… and having clean clothes would be a good start.
Charlotte was slightly embarrassed that she’d had to turn up at Sidney’s flat in her old jeans and university hoody, but she didn’t really have a choice given the lack of clean clothes. Even though their previous encounters had been rather uncomfortable, she couldn’t deny he was a very attractive man – and who wouldn’t want to look at least presentable around him? Charlotte had been worried that he wouldn’t answer the door, or worse, he would answer the door and would not let her use his washing machine. She got the sense that she rubbed him up the wrong way, as he would never stop to chat to her like the other residents of the apartment block did. She’d asked James about it once, but he just said it was a London thing and that actually it was unusual for them to be both friends and neighbours.
Charlotte couldn’t understand it. When she lived at home in Willingden, she had known most of the people in the village, although granted, it was a small village. Even at University in Southampton and then later sharing a house in Portsmouth she had known most of the people on her street. She’d moved to London nearly six months ago to started work at a HR consultancy and wanted a flat to herself this time. Charlotte quickly made friends with James who lived at flat 307 as they took the same tube to work every morning. She’d met some other neighbours too - Joan and Roger, Anita, Russell and Toby and Olivia and Ben. They pretty much kept themselves to themselves, but they would at least engage in some polite conversation whenever she crossed passed with them.
But Sidney, well, he was a conundrum! He would barely even acknowledge her presence when she saw him. He’d taken Charlotte a bit by surprise today though. Perhaps self-isolation was having an assuaging effect on him? Perhaps he was craving human interaction as much as her? It was definitely the first time she’d seen him smile that’s for sure and God, did he look cute when he smiled! It felt good to talk to someone in the flesh. Maybe they would be able to have a more substantial conversation when she went to collect her washing later – obviously ensuring they keep to the two metre rule of course? For some reason the thought gave Charlotte butterflies…