[kebuzf]

This is a tense little scene from Mr. Baxter, one of the seven short stories in the collection, The Man In the Background, now available on kindle for 99 cents

In this scene-Julia has had one or two non threatening incidents from her neighbor, who she suspects is a peeping tom.

Several more months went by without incident. Then Mrs. Neddle told her in passing that she had heard that Mr. Baxter had been talking to some real estate agents. Maybe he was thinking of moving.

Finishing the wine, Julia stood up and walked into the kitchen, taking the glass over to the sink to rinse it before placing it in the dishwasher. She bent to open the dishwasher to place the wine glass inside when she heard the screen door! Hadn’t she locked it?

She stood up and turned around and Mr. Baxter was standing in her kitchen- HER kitchen!
He stood right there- just a few feet from her, as if he were in a museum, standing quietly, admiring a beautiful painting or sculpture. A quiet, serene look on his face. But no smile.

She gasped loudly, placing her hand to her mouth - but it hadn’t frightened him. With just five steps he would have been able to touch her, that’s how close he was. She couldn’t move, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights of a car that wasn’t slowing at all, impact only a moment away.

Then, as if he had a sudden thought as to how he should be reacting, he changed his facial expression to that of a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar, or that of a grown man caught peeking into the window of a married woman.

“I’m sorry, Julia. It won’t happen again,” he whispered. A quick finger up to his lips, he quickly walked out through the screen door, closing it gently behind him, and he was gone.