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"And you're sure you don't want to come with us?" Pete turns pleading puppy eyes at Myka.
She rolls her eyes at him even though he can't see it under her sunglasses. "We're all going to Artie's tomorrow and it'll be exhausting enough, I just need a bit of rest today, okay? And no, going into town with you and Claudia doesn't count as rest."
"And she wants to enjoy stalking our pretty neighbor without being bullied for it!" Claudia calls from inside the house.
"Hey!" Myka quickly pushes up her sunglasses and looks down to the garden of the property next to theirs, checking that Miss Wells isn't currently outside. "I'm not - it's not stalking!"
"Sure," Pete sniggers. "Hey, can you water the plants for me if you're staying? I already did earlier, but it's so hot, I think they'll need more."
Myka just sighs. "Sure, I can do that. You guys have fun."
"Totes! Hey, I'll bring you the watering can, you'll just have to water them." Pete hops away, and Myka can hear him and Claudia laughing and chatting inside, and noise of plastic on tiles as Pete brings the watering cans into the bathroom.
Myka puts her sunglasses back on and lies down on the deck chair Claudia had installed on their balcony earlier that summer and never really used because she gets antsy when she has to sit still for longer than a few seconds, let alone lie down and do nothing but enjoy the sun. The one time she tried, she ended up complaining that it's too bright out to see anything on her phone screen, and no she didn't want to borrow one of Myka's books, thank you very much.
Well, Myka is glad to borrow the deck chair, so for once she doesn't mind that Claudia tends to purchase things without thinking it through.
"Here ya go! Wait until the soil looks dry again, yeah?"
"I know how to look after our potted plants, Pete." Myka replies without opening her eyes behind the sunglasses, then immediately feels bad because Pete is just trying to help and when they first got the plants, Pete had needed every reminder about how not to drown them or dry them out. "Thanks for carrying up the can."
"No probs! See ya later, alligator!" He presses a kiss to her forehead and disappears inside, Myka just hears Claudia shout "in a while, crocodile!", before the balcony door slams shut.
With a deep sigh, she closes her eyes again and tries to relax on the deck chair. It had been a stressful week, and now that she has the time to unwind, it feels like she has unlearned how to relax.
Maybe she should have gotten a book. But she doesn't have anything more easygoing to read right now, and continuing the political anthology she started reading last week will just stress her out even more right now.
She looks at the clouds through her sunglasses, a few small fluffy white blobs against the bright blue sky. It hasn't rained in weeks, the lawns in the area are all dried out and the balcony plants definitely need to be watered more often than usual. The next time it rains, it will probably be a thunderstorm, and the soil is so dry the water will immediately lead to floods because it can't properly seep in.
Closing her eyes again, Myka sighs. Just great, she can't stop worrying even when it's about things like the current weather that she can't influence at all.
She should just enjoy the sun, and the warmth, and the fact that there is nothing she has to do today, no projects to finish, no chores to worry about, and Claudia and Pete out of the house for the whole afternoon.
As much as she loves her housemates, sometimes she just needs a break from them. It's nice to have some alone time. And, yes, perhaps she also hopes to see her elegant neighbor in the garden next door, with her stylish vests and cheeky smile and the beautiful laugh she often hears when Miss Wells is on the telephone with what Myka deduced must be a younger relative, a niece or perhaps even an adult daughter.
She knows she's strangely invested in finding out details about a woman's life when she hasn't even talked with her for more than a quick hello over the garden fence. Pete and Claudia tease her for it, but Myka is genuinely content in her observations without getting involved. She doesn't need to try and have a friendship or relationship with the neighbor. Who knows, maybe if she really got to know her, she wouldn't like her at all... It's enough to imagine stories around the snippets she hears, and yes, enjoy the view of her when she doesn't know Myka is watching her from the balcony.
Is that creepy? Myka hopes not. Perhaps a bit, but it's not as if she is a peeping tom watching her naked, right? Though there was the time some days ago when Miss Wells had been sunbathing on her terrace in a dark blue bikini that had made Myka blush and hide inside, though not before getting a good look at the lean yet strong figure of her neighbor.
With a groan, Myka sits up and grasps for the bottle of water under the deck chair.
It falls over and rolls out of reach, and Myka curses and rolls down from the chair onto her knees, fishing the bottle out from behind the small potted olive tree by the banister which Claudia swears had three whole olives last year, though Myka has never seen one and she isn't sure whether olives can even be eaten without being processed in some way. It's still a pretty plant, but Myka curses its existence when she stands up and her curls get tangled in the branches.
"Are you alright up there?"
Startled, Myka quickly stands all the way up, wincing when she feels a tug against her scalp and sees some hairs stuck to the olive tree. Thinking of the devil, there's Miss Wells in her garden, watering a tomato plant.
"Oh - hello, yes, I'm fine," Myka replies, flustered, and turns around before she realizes she could have asked how her neighbor is doing or gave her a compliment for her garden, which while also affected by the draught with a lawn that's more brown than green still has some pretty flower beds and thriving tomato plants, clearly Miss Wells knows how to sparingly yet effectively use the water.
Embarrassed by her inability to hold a conversation with her crush, Myka goes to flee inside with her bottle of water. The bottle is warm in her hands, so at least she's got an excuse to exchange it for another one from the fridge... not that anyone is there to ask her for her motivations.
As she reaches the glass window-door of the balcony, Myka is flummoxed: the handle inside is turned to the locked position, she can't get in.
"Fuck!" Pete must have locked it without thinking when he went inside after getting the watering can. Which Myka has also completely forgotten about, she realizes with another groan.
"Sure you're alright?" Miss Wells calls up towards her, and Myka feels herself flush. Well, at least she has a rescuer on hand.
Making her way to the banister, Myka looks down towards her neighbor and gives an awkward wave. "Uh, hi? My friends might have accidentally locked me in. Out, I mean, on the balcony here... And they're not home now."
"Oh no!" Miss Wells puts down her water hose, Myka has her whole attention now. "That's horrid, you shouldn't stay out so long in this heat. Can I call them, do you have their number?"
"Um, yeah, I think, but actually I think we've got a spare key in the bike shed?"
"Oh, wonderful! Just give me a moment to turn off the water and I'll be right there," Miss Wells replies and briskly walks towards the water pump on the other side of her garden.
Myka lets her forehead drop against her hands on the banister and sighs. Well, it could have been worse, she tries to tell herself. She's quite sure the key is where it's supposed to be. And if it isn't, she could probably even climb down from here, if she holds onto the bottom of the banister, it shouldn't be a bad drop into the garden... she'd still not be able to get back into the house, but that could give her an opportunity to see the inside of the house next door instead...
Caught between worries and hopes about imagined scenarios, Myka doesn't notice Miss Wells return until she hops over the garden fence in a move both more agile and less caring about her clothes than Myka would have expected from the other woman. Then again, she supposes she really doesn't know much about her apart from her penchant for tailored-looking clothes and the fact that she has some kind of British accent, for all she knows Miss Wells could go rock climbing or something every weekend.
"Alright then! That's the bike shed, I assume?" with her hands on her hips and the sunlight glinting in her hair, Miss Wells really looks too much like a hero about to rescue the damsel in distress for Myka's liking. Flustered, she fidgets with the water bottle in her hands.
"Yes, um - the key's under the left box usually, the dark green one," she says, careful to speak as quietly as possible yet loud enough for Helena to understand.
She'll still probably find a new hiding place for the key, not comfortable to leave it there after saying the location out loud, but Claudia and Pete are bound to forget about it and put it back in the old place. Myka grimaces. She shouldn't care so much, it's not like they're hiding state secrets in the house, and if someone wants to break in it's probably better if they use the key instead of smashing in a window, right?
"Found it!" Miss Wells triumphantly holds up the key and and smiles up at Myka. "Hold on tight, I'll be right up!"
"Great, thank you," Myka mumbles and watches her disappear back over the fence through her own garden to get to the front door on the other side of the house.
With a sigh, Myka takes the watering can by the door and passes the time watering the potted plants, at least now she'll be able to tell Pete that she hasn't let them die of thirst on her watch.
She's made it to all of them and is halfway back through the row of plants to distribute the rest of the water when Miss Wells knocks on the door to let her know she's there, and Myka quickly puts down the can and goes to meet her.
It takes her neighbor a moment to fiddle with the door handle, but before Myka can decide whether she should try and explain how it works through the glass, the door opens and Miss Wells steps back so Myka can get inside.
The cool air and shadow is a blessing, Myka hadn't even realized how overheated she was until she steps inside and sighs in relief.
"Better?" Miss Wells asks, a bit of humor in her voice, though she also looks at Myka with what could be concern.
"Much," Myka breathes deeply and pushes the sunglasses up into her hair. Then she realizes she hasn't even thanked her rescuer yet. "Thank you, really, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there just now." Climb down from the balcony, hopefully without breaking anything, and hide in the shed until Pete and Claudia came home probably, and doesn't that paint a pitiful picture Myka would rather not share with her elegant neighbor.
"Um, would you like something to drink?"
"I've really got to get back to my garden, if I don't finish watering it now I'll forget where I've left off," she replies with a regretful smile. "But if you'd like, you could join me for tea in a bit? Christina - my daughter, that is - has sent me a new black tea from Morocco I'm supposed to brew with fresh mint leaves and I haven't gotten around to try it yet."
"Oh. Yes, I mean, I'd love to. Thank you, Miss Wells."
Her neighbor laughs, and Myka is delighted to see the way her face lights up up close. "Please, I believe we can be on first name basis, wouldn't you say so?"
"Oh, sure! I just don't actually know your? Uh, your door bell plate only has your last name on it."
"Oh! An oversight on my part, I heard all of your names so often, it never occured to me you wouldn't know mine. It's Helena. And you are Myka, correct?"
Miss Wells - Helena - holds out her hand, and Myka grasps it, a bit embarrassed about her sweaty fingers but trying not to show it. "Yes, that's me. Nice to meet you properly, Helena."
"And you! Here, before I forget -" she hands Myka the spare key, "you should probably put it back into the shed, in case you're ever locked out again!"
"I'll get right to it," Myka smiles.
"Wonderful. And then, tea? Just give me, say, half an hour to finish up the garden and get presentable."
"You're looking perfect now," Myka replies, then closes her mouth, mortified.
Helena smiles brightly. "I appreciate the compliment - and so do you, darling. Still, I don't think we want to risk getting plant soil in the teacups."
Laughing, Myka follows her downstairs and they say their goodbyes, Myka promising she'll be over in a bit. She's already planning to bring over some of the cookies she and Claudia had baked the day before, and as she puts away the key (under the grey tool box this time), she wonders whether she should make another copy to give to Helena, and maybe Helena will also want to have a spare to her house somewhere...
Maybe, she thinks with a smile as she goes into the bathroom for a quick shower, getting to know her neighbor instead of just watching her from afar will be the best thing that could have happened.
She'll still sternly remind Pete never to lock her out on the balcony again, of course.