Chapter 1: The New Neighbor

My wife and I live in a little town northeast of San Diego. We have a few acres surrounded by orange groves in a gated community making it somewhat exclusive. We feel like it’s a little bit of paradise as we sit around our pool or use the hot tub, overlooking the valley surrounded by palm trees.

We moved there after friends from grad school convinced me to leave my dad’s firm in Seattle and join them in a partnership in sunny Southern California. Housing prices in San Diego were quite a bit higher than in Seattle and that convinced us to move a ways out. It didn’t matter to Marissa since she could work from home. Unfortunately, I couldn’t and now on a good day I had slightly over a one-hour commute. At first it hadn’t been as bad, but as more and more people discovered the valley the roads to the freeway were clogged so I’d started getting up earlier and earlier to beat the backup. And since it was just as bad coming home, I would generally stay at work late to miss that mess.

Even though we once thought that this was the lifestyle that we wanted, it was becoming apparent to me that the stress and time away from home wasn’t worth it. When I’d get home in the evening, I’d be exhausted, and Marissa and I would hardly talk. But Marissa works too many hours as well. She’s turned into a truly gifted Web designer and referrals usually keep her client list full.

So here we are now, we’re in our late twenties and paying more in income taxes than my dad makes in a year. I kind of feel like we’re at a crossroads of some sort. Maybe it was time for us to move closer to my work, even if it meant giving up our beautiful home. Trouble was we couldn’t afford anything closer. Even downsizing, the cost of homes any closer went up exponentially. And it wasn’t like we’d built up any equity in this house; in fact, since the market dropped out last year, I think that we might be underwater on our mortgage. We could hardly afford the mortgage as it was. Prices kept going up and up when we bought, and we thought that if we didn’t jump when we did, we’d be living in an apartment for the rest of our lives.

When I got home, I heard my wife’s delightful laughter and saw a stocky man descending the stairs with her right behind, a radiant smile on her face. He was a sort of dark, muscular, Mediterranean type. He looked to be in his early forties and was a little over six feet. Marissa saw me at the bottom of the stairs. “Honey you’re home. Brad, this is Tony, our new neighbor.”

Tony was handsome, in a rough sort of way. The type that women seem to be attracted to for some reason. I was sure that I didn’t like him already. Little did I know that Tony was going to make my life a whole lot less boring.

“Tony just moved into the Swanson’s house next door,” she continued, a little to bubbly. “I was showing him our house.”

“Pleased to meet you Brad,” he said as he grasped my hand in a manly shake. He had big strong hands and I tried to match the pressure that he was exerting on my fingers; at least enough to let him know that I was a man’s man too. “You have a lovely house,” he added, giving my fingers one last squeeze.

“Thank you Tony. Actually, Marissa is the decorator.”