Chapter Two – A new Contender Enters the Ring

They heard a loud shout outside the door. “OI, what the hell are you doing?”
They both recognized the voice instantly; it was their neighbor Stephen, who lived opposite them. He was a big man, standing at six and a half feet tall, short blond hair, unnaturally green eyes and very handsome. Clara and Danielle had gotten along with him well since he moved in last year. Danielle’s first interaction was trying to get him to come back to her room and seduce him. Clara had come home to find Danielle in hysterics at herself as she explained the story of how she discovered the big, sexy, burly, beast of a man turned out to be…gay.

Clara whispered. “That’s Stephen, and he doesn’t sound like he’s talking to a pizza guy”. A sudden bang on the door made them both jump as they heard Stephen shout again.
“Oi, I’ll give you till three to get out before the next thing to hit that door is your skull!” He paused for a moment then spoke again. “One…” The shadow appeared to move slightly away from the door. “Two…” The shadow disappeared as they heard loud footsteps heading back down the hallway. A gentle knock on the door proceeded followed by Stephens voice. “Danielle? Clara? You girls in there?”.
Clara and Danielle both jumped up and rushed to the door opening it with such force it nearly flew off its hinges.
“Whoa, where’s the fire?”. Stephen stepped back a little surprised. “Who the hell was that guy?”
Clara shot in first. “We were hoping you’d tell us; we were waiting for pizza but then we heard knocking all down the hall and things have just been a little crazy today. Thank you for getting rid of him and…”.
Danielle interrupted her. “What did he look like? There’s some creep that threatened to get us earlier at the bookstore and we think it…”.
“Threatened you? Did you call the police?” Stephen interjected.
Clara continued from where Danielle left off. “We tried calling the police on him before, but they said they couldn’t do anything without a large amount of evidence”.
“Basically our lifeless corpses”. Danielle added.
Stephen coughed a laugh. “Yeah that’s sounds about right, until you’ve got a gun to your head or you’re lying dead on the floor, they won’t, or can’t do a thing, I’ve had similar problems in the past. Don’t worry, if the lil’ posh git tries anything again I’ll make good on my threat”. He cracked his knuckles with relish.
“You said he was posh? What did he look like exactly?” Clara asked again.
Stephen smiled and laughed. “Yeah that’s right, lil’ posh twerp, smartly dressed in his tweed clothes, shiny shoes and that typical blonde jersey shore haircut”. He shuddered. “Can’t stand that look, it’s like they walked straight out of a cloning machine for looking like a pompous prat”. He shook his head mockingly.
Danielle blurted out. “That’s him, that’s Edmund”.
“Edmund? Yep, that suited him perfectly”. Stephen laughed again. “Well, if he comes back I’ll be waiting for him, don’t you worry. Mind you the way he went running with his tail between his legs I doubt he’ll be back anyway”.
Danielle turned to Clara. “What will we do about tomorrow though, we’ve still got to go open up the store? It’s not like we can ask someone else to take our shift”.
Clara thought for a moment but before she could answer Stephen spoke up. “Ladies, allow me to make a suggestion…” He paused for dramatic effect. “Allow me to join you for the day and if the lil’ shit comes back I’ll deal with him”.
Clara and Danielle looked at each other, then back to Stephen. “Don’t you have work though?” Danielle asked.
“And we can’t afford to pay you”. Clara added.
Stephen laughed. “I don’t expect payment, just a neighbor doing a favor, I’m sure you can help me out another day”. His smile was genuine.
Danielle beamed. “Thank you, that would be amazing, thank you”. She embraced him tightly.
Stephen’s smile grew wider as he patted her back gently. “Don’t worry, not gonna lie I kinda hope he comes in so I can beat some manners into him”. He laughed heartily again.

A loud buzz came through the girl’s intercom, Stephen put his hand up to them and pressed the button to answer. “Hello, who is it please?”
A short clicking sound came through the speaker then a young guy’s voice answered. “I’ve got two large pizza’s for a…” There was a short pause. “Danielle?”
Stephen nodded to himself. “I’ll buzz you in”. A loud buzzing sound rang through and they heard the door open downstairs. “Don’t worry, I’ll wait here until you’re back inside”.
They thanked him in unison as they waited for the delivery guy to come up, after paying the driver and tipping him generously, they thanked Stephen again before wishing him good night and saying they’d see him in the morning.

Back in the apartment they both let out a sigh of relief. Clara smirked. “Hey, you never know, the favour may be he wants to take you out on a date”. Danielle smiled and pushed Clara away towards the sofa. “Shut up and eat your pizza”. They turned the lights and TV back on before settling back down for the night with some nice simple cartoons. As nighttime approached the pair headed to bed ready for the events of the next day to unfold.