Work Text:
Alina watched as several moving trucks sped past her house.They stopped right next to it, at the large neighboring residence. As the girl sat on her porch, drinking her morning coffee, the movers started unhauling enormous pieces of furniture that looked like they’ve been carried out of the Winter Palace. Paintings and sculptures followed. For a second Alina contemplated calling the police about a possible museum robbery.
Then came the more modern pieces, which looked just as expensive as their vintage counterparts. Hot liquid spilled over the girl’s lap as the largest flat-screen television was brought out of a truck. Whoever was moving in next door looked to be in possession of a movie theater. Alina felt her eyes pop out of their sockets at the equipment.
“Be careful with those chairs fellas, they’re a family heirloom.” Someone was calling out to the workers, but it was unclear who it was - the vehicles seemed to be concealing them. Involuntary, Alina craned her neck to get a better look. Not that that helped much and the girl refused to get up from her comfortable position to spy on her neighbours’s business. Just as she settled back against her chair, Alina saw a posed young man with a phone glued to his ear walk down the sidewalk. As he came closer to her own yard, his voice carried over and Alina realized this was the voice which she’d heard previously.
“No, mother, everything’s fine. There’s no need for you to come down here- They’re fine, not even a scratch. Calm down- Yes, I know the value. Would you please- Mother, stop interrupting me! Everything’s fine and I’ll call you when I’m all settled in. Yes, I love you too, goodbye.” The man hung up and ran a slender hand through his sandy hair, making the ends stand up straighter. Alina looked his form over, noticing his rumpled button-down and straw-colored khaki pants. Had the furniture not been clue enough, this man’s attire definitely screamed wealth despite the causality of the outfit. Alina brought the coffee mug to her lips and took another sip. Her new neighbour turned and walked back to the moving trucks. The girl watched as he approached somebody and slapped him friendly on the back. More furniture was hauled inside the house, more than Alina could ever even picture owning. Soon she grew bored, finished off her drink and went inside.
It had been a nice day for laying around, doing nothing and Alina was grateful for it. She didn’t get many days off from work and always made sure she got the maximum relaxation when she did. Today she’d spent in some light reading, catching up on her shows, cooking a classy dinner for one, having a glass of wine with herself and taking a long, soothing bath before heading to bed. It was nearing midnight, the sun had long given way to the darkness of night and Alina was just about to get ready for bed when a loud banging came from the front door downstairs. She tied her bathrobe around herself, having just gotten out of it, and headed for the stairs. When she reached the door and flung it open, Alina saw her next door neighbour standing on her threshold, looking even more disheveled than this morning.
There was a frantic glint in his eyes which went against the steady way his body was holding him up. “Hello, neighbour,” he said. “I know we haven’t been formerly introduced and everything but I need a favor.”
“Isn’t a little late in the night to be asking for a cup of sugar?”
The young man chuckled, bowing his head downwards. His golden-tinted locks swayed in the movement. “Sadly, my kitchen is well and fully stocked.” When he brought his gaze back up, Alina’s new neighbour flashed her a wide smile. “I’m here for a different kind of favour.”
“Realized you’re all out of toilet paper, then?” Alina couldn’t help but tease this man. The way his eyes darted in alert while his lips moved in a steady,confident flow was almost comical.
“Nope, got that too. But would you mind if I crashed on your couch for the night?”
This took her aback. What an unusual thing to ask your neighbour, especially one you hadn’t even met yet. “Look, you seem nice and all, but that’s a little bit too much to ask, don’t you think?”
“I know, I know. I wouldn’t be asking if the circumstances were different.”
Alina couldn’t resist asking, “What circumstances?”
“My house may be haunted.”
Laughter rang through the empty street, echoing in the silent night’s air. Alina clutched the door’s frame for support. She was wrong, this wasn’t almost comical, it was downright satiric. Here was a grown man, no doubt full of money and family wealth, claiming his new house was haunted. Laughing was a reasonable response. Alina almost asked her neighbour if he was part of a prank reality show. The girl spoke again once the fit had subsided a little, “What makes you think that?”
“I heard clanking and banging all over the house,” her neighbour said defensively. Yet humour was standing on the edges of his face. “I guess I’m easily spooked.”
He really did look spooked. Ridiculous.
“Well, neighbour,” Alina began, “I’m sorry about your paranormal predicament, but I can’t be of help. From over here, it just appears like a lame attempt at flirting.” She laughed again.
“I swear it’s not flirting,” he said. Eyes ranked over Alina’s short robe and bare legs. Her neighbour winked. “Although I’m not above that, either.”
“I’m going to shut this door now.”
“No, no, no! Wait! Please, just for tonight.”
“Sorry, buddy. It was probably just the wind or something. G’night.” Alina left him standing on her porch. She kind of felt bad for the guy, but she had enough common sense not to let strangers inside her home. Even cute strangers that had just moved in next door. Hugging the bathrobe closer, the girl took the stairs one and one, went back to her room and prepared for bed. Work awaited in the morning.
She didn’t see her neighbour the next day, neither did he come knocking at night. A week went by without them encountering each other again, and during that time Alina had learned a little bit about the boy next door. Word got around in the neighbourhood and, the gossip lover she was, her friend Marie caught her up to date with the handsome man whose name, Alina now knew, was Nikolai. He’d moved here from Moscow or some equally big city as that. His family were the high-acclaimed Lantsovs. His father had been, or still was, a big influence in the political world, while his mother was a famous designer. Alina wasn’t particularly interested in her neighbour’s family tree, but refusal had never been in the chatty girl’s dictionary and Marie ended up talking Alina’s ear off anyway. She now felt like an expert on everything revolving around Nikolai Lantsov. Including how he liked his coffee - black, no sugar. (Where did people even get information like this, anyway?)
There was another thing Alina knew about, something she was sure nobody else did - her neighbour believed ghosts had taken up residence in his house. She decided not to share that particular detail, figuring it was not her place to do so.
It had been two weeks now since the newcomer had settled in the small neighbourhood and the buzzing was as strong as ever. Of course when your next door neighbour turns out to be an heir to such fame and fortune, it was not easy to shut up about it. Conversations, no matter how unrelated, always circled back to Nikolai Lantsov.
Him and Alina had still not met officially, however, despite the close proximity of their homes. Neither of them made any attempts to remedy that, and Alina thought he might have been too embarrassed of that night, twoo weeks prior. All that changed a few nights later when, as if it was deja vu, Alina’s front door was knocked upon frantically.
“You do realize I have a doorbell, right?” Alina offered as a greeting.
“Sorry.” The young man looked exhausted.
“The noises again? Or was it something else this time?”
“Not funny, neighbour,” Nikolai panted. He took a few deep breaths, resting his hands on his knees.
“Did you run over here?”
“I had to. The damn thing haunting the house drove me straight through my own front door.”
Alina started giggling. Out of the things she’d come to expect from rich young boys, being frightened by ghosts was the last thing on the list. Despite that, she decided to take pity on her neighbour and let him stay for the night. Nikolai crashed on the couch in the living room, plopping himself immediately on the cushions and covering his face his the back of his arm.
“Do you want a glass of water or coffee or something?” Alina tied to be hospitable. She wasn’t sure what the protocol was for having guests who were scared out of their homes by paranormal activity over. Laughter bubbled inside her again, but the girl resisted the urge to let it out.
“No, thank you. I’ll be out of your hair first thing in the morning,” he told her. Then, as if he had forgotten something, Nikolai leaped off the couch and extended his arm towards Alina. “Sorry about my manners. The least I can do after barging in your house in the middle of the night is to introduce myself. I’m Nikolai, but you probably already knew that with how everyone’s tongues are running wild around here.”
He smiled at her and Alina smiled right back. “Yeah, it’s getting a little annoying. They’re examining you like a zoo animal or a museum exhibit. Must be tiring… Oh, I’m Alina. Nice to finally meet you, neighbour.” She shook his hand.
“Likewise, neighbour. Now if you don’t mind, your couch summons me.”
“Make yourself at home,” she told him and left retreated to her own room upstairs.
It became a routine of sorts. Nikolai would come on the odd night to seek refuge in Alina’s house and she’d let him. In the morning she made coffee for the both of them before each going their separate way - Alina to work and Nikolai to wherever he went during the day. A friendship was formed between the two neighbours and Alina stopped making so much fun of Nikolai’s fear of ghosts.He, in turn, found other ways to make the girl laugh and even started coming over earlier in order to spend more time with her. Sometimes they would even find themselves having dinner together. Alina was surprised at how down to earth her neighbour turned out to be, nothing like the spoilt rich boy one would come to expect. Of course, she should have figured that out the first time Nikolai came to escape his haunted house.
“Why don’t you come spend the night over at my house sometime to see for yourself?” Nikolai suggested once when Alina had been in the middle of teasing him. Quickly, that idea had turned from mockery to a serious proposal and that was how Alina found herself in the big suburban house of one Nikolai Lantsov, hunting paranormal creatures in the dark.
Nikolai had brought flashlights and all sorts of ghost hunting gear like EMF detectors, night vision goggles, even an Ouja board. “The ghost might be willing enough to cooperate, once we find it,” Nikolai explained. Alina held back her tongue. She’d only agreed to this insanity because she felt bad for Nikolai. Plus, she liked his company. They had fun together. (Of course, this had nothing to do with Nikolai always looking like he’d just finished off a photoshoot. Physical appearance had no influence. Absolutely not.)
“So we just sit here and wait for it to come to us?”
“Well, I’m certainly not jumping at the chance to chase after paranormalities. Are you?”
“Not really.”
So they stayed where they are, sprawled out on the floor of Nikolai’s supposedly haunted house, playing with the goggles and making shadowy shapes in the light. At some point in the night, they must have dozed off since the next thing she knew, Alina was waking up to sunlight. She lurched awake when she realized it must have been morning and she was most likely going to be late for work. But when she tried to get up, the girl was pinned down by two strong arms that were holding her tightly around the waist. Ignoring the rush of blood and her reddening cheeks, Alina shoved Nikolai awake.
He groaned. “Ugh, what time is it?”
“Time to get up, c’mon! I’m going to be late for work!”
After shuffling frantically around, Alina sped toward the front door. There was still a half hour before the work day started. With any luck, she’d make it back to her house and out of it in record time. “Sorry we didn’t find your ghost!” She yelled at the empty foyer.
“Wait,” Nikolai called after her just as Alina was halfway out the house. He rushed over to her, leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “There’s always next time,” he told her with a smirk. Alina punched his shoulder playfully and ran out. Still smiling, she made her way to her home and began to wonder whether or not this ghost story hadn’t really been a ploy.
(Regardless, it had worked.)