"Ladies of these days have no shame, I know I swear not to judge her wrongly but then this attitude of hers is not good at all. She should at least cover up and behave decently at all times whether at home or not,"

Naomi soliloquized in Kristen's absence.

The couch felt so hot for her because to her, being there was kind of associating with the lady Kristen is.

Nothing is holding her from leaving the house, she chooses to be rooted there and in her mind, condemning the poor girl.

Kristen, if gets to know what is running through her neighbor's mind, would not bother because people's opinions don't matter to her anymore.

She is living her life for herself, not for anyone and it entirely gives her peace of mind to know that people talk about her behind her back and when she gets to hear, she pretends as if she doesn't hear.

Not everyone can do this but she does it effortlessly and that makes her a queen of her own world.

Kristen returned with a flat breakable plate and cutleries, she is damn funny. When she was picking the cutleries, she had told herself she has no time to start going on an errand for a neighbor who obviously doesn't like her because of how she feels about her.

"Here is a plate and cutleries, suit yourself"

Noami stared at Kristen and after a while stood up,

"You know what, I changed my mind. Since you are not eating with me. I better go home and eat, thanks for having me here."

Kristen rolled her eyes and hissed silently,

What's the essence of her coming here if she wasn't going to stay longer?

"You know your way out, please make use of the door"

Kristen said nonchalantly and lay on the couch after dropping the plate and the cutleries on her center table.

Noami was astonished by Kristen's change of attitude.

She felt like beating Kristen's senses back to her head.

Noami loosed her stiff shoulders, picked up her basket, and with a last glance at Kristen, she found her way out of the weird apartment.

Kristen flicked her eyes open and turned on her belly, not minding that the main door is not locked, she went to sleep with nothing on her mind.

*******

Frederick picked up his phone and keys then headed out of his apartment with a bored look on his face, he locked up his apartment.

He has been bored since morning, a boring Saturday morning has never been his idea Saturday morning.

He could hang out with the boys but then something changed about him since last night, he would rather be with someone else than anyone else. She has occupied his mind for the rest of the morning and he has been restless since.

The only meaningful thing he ever did was to prepare breakfast for himself.

With a deep sigh and grimace on his face, he pulled his Black Royce to life and left his driveway.

He had saved Kristen's digits and through Google Maps and GPS, he had gotten his location and was surprised to find her living at such a location but then she is a strange girl who could only be associated with strangeness.

Standing at the front of the small apartment, he scanned around and found a lady in a black dress disdainfully staring at him. She had this look of disgust and he wondered what would make her stare at him like that.

"What's her problem, did she wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?"

Frederick wondered and shook off the thought of his head. He should not be bothered by a mere look from a total stranger. He is here to see someone not to be bothered by whoever the lady is.

He brought his hand up and knocked at the door, expecting the door to open any moment. The GPS connection has stated that Kristen is at home so she should open the door ASAP.

"Hello"

Frederick turned and saw the lady who nearly murdered him with her eyes, dotting from him to the door.

"Hi"

He greeted her politely with a smile on his face, the least he could do for her is to be polite.

"Are you a friend to the lady who owns this apartment?"

She asked in an accusing manner. The way she said the lady sounded like it was a plague for her to mention her.

"I asked because if you are then you are in for doom. Since I have known her, she has no one visiting her and she behaves so shamelessly"

She paused and watched the young handsome man standing in her front to know if what she is saying is sinking into him then continued,

"If you see what she wears, my dear, you will flee from her because she is the real definition of temptation."

"Is she nuts in her head or what, why will she be spitting nonsense about someone? Who gives her the right to judge a fellow girl"

Frederick fumes in his mind. He is trying everything possible to restrain himself from slapping the lady who seems to have no regard for humanity.

"I am telling you all this because I can't watch a fine man like you go astray. We have decent girls in town whom you can be friends with, not a loose girl like Kristen. I am…"

"Hold on, ma'am. I am not interested in who you are"

Frederick had her cut short of introducing who she is, his control was snapping and if care is not taken, he might end up doing what he would regret later.

"Have you taken a good look at yourself, why say ill of someone? Do you realize that people like you should not live among us? This girl in question is your neighbor, if you feel she is doing the wrong way, why don't you call her and tell her to her face instead of tarnishing her image like this"

Noami felt bittered that a man she is trying to tell the kind of person her neighbor is, misunderstood her kind gesture. She was furious and felt her anger boiling,

Why should she tell him anything, what business does she have with what or who Kristen associate with?

"It's her life anyway"

She murmured to herself then lift her eyes at the man, defending her neighbor,

Why can't a man like him see a good girl like her? They end up going for rotten eggs like Kristen.

"You don't have to believe me, you know, I am just looking out for you. I thought of telling you in case you are to do anything to with her without protection because of disease"

The once sweet-looking lady turned vicious, glared at him, and walked away, leaving her provocative perfume lingering in the air.

Frederick scoffed and closed his eyes and a moment later, he opened them with a calmness he never knew he had.

He had done well today. She is really lucky, she controlled himself if not, her cheeks might have heard from him by now.

He momentarily forgot where he is and when he remembered that he had knocked about 10 minutes ago and the door which was supposed to be open by now is still shut in his face, he sighed and knocked for the second time.

No movement for howsoever, he turned the handle and realized that the door has been opened all along, he blamed himself for standing outside there and listening to the crabs the woman said when he could have gotten away by entering the apartment but come to think of it? Why should he go into a house he has not been invited in and on second thought, he decided to go back and knocked, maybe, he would be lucky this time around but who does that?

What happens if she is sleeping and he is outside knocking, waiting for her to open when he can actually go inside as far as the door is opened?

His head was not working at the moment and he knew why he was nervous but when did he become nervous about meeting girls?

Like his friends always tell him, he is a Ladies' guy and every girl would do anything just to have him, that's why at the club yesterday, his friends were not surprised that the black devil had eyes for only him.

But why does he feel like she wouldn't be interested in having him around?

He just had this feeling in the pit of his stomach.

This is a lady he is going to be meeting for the second time and he is feeling dejected like she has rejected him already when he has not asked her out yet.

With a deep breath, he took a long stride down the long corridor not having a hope of when to see a door leading to a room.

He wondered what kind of house he is in; the apartment looked so weird.

He finally found a door and figured out it is a dining room. He walked into the room and found another one at the far end of the dining room, the door wasn't open. He moved forward and found another room which is obviously a living room.

His heart stilled at the figure he saw lying carelessly on one of the couches. She looks nothing like the bad girl he met last night.

She looks feeble and fragile.

Her hair spread messily across the couch, covering almost her face with one of her legs hanging loose and her head tilted in an obscured manner, he feared she might get a neck ache.

The sight was breathtaking for him and he felt something contrast painful in his lower region, of course, just looking at her was getting him turned on.

"So the reason she has not opened the door is that she is sleeping. She must be really tired after last night"

His heart warmed up at the thought.

He saw the plate and the cutleries,

"She is really tired for her not have cleared her plate after eating"

He thought again but after glancing at the plate for the second time, he realized that the plate wasn't used and that aroused his curiosity if she had taken anything since morning.

Kristen stirred and stiffened, in her sleepy state, she felt a presence.

Her stepfather had made her to be on alert even in her sleep because she believes that anyone that sneaks in on her wants to harm her.

Three years ago, a male classmate of hers visited without informing her. She was home alone and was kind of sick because her stepfather had forced himself on her again. She could not go to school because of how miserable she had felt and her mother had not bothered

Not knowing he was a friend, she landed him a punch that made him miss one of his teeth.

Up till today, she can't explain how that incident happened.

Frederick did not realize the trouble he was getting into as he approached the sleeping beauty until a punch greeted him.

He groaned in pain as he received a kick on his crotch as if the punch was not enough.

"What the hell? Is this how you welcome someone to your house?"

Sleep cleared off her eyes and she stared at him confused, like who the hell is he and what is he doing in her house and how did he get in?

Questions upon questions were running through her mind but she could not voice them out.

Frederick was amused by how disheveled she looked and concluded she is an adorable little bitch.

If he were to meet her for the first time like this, he would never believe she is a bad girl.

"You, what are you doing in my house?"

She finally found her voice.

She cranked her fingers and stood up fiercely, ready to attack her prey. Frederick noticed the change in her attitude and took two steps backwards,

"Easy tiger, a friendly visit!"