Duets - 3. Chapter Three

Matthew thought The Beatles would be a good place to start. Hey Jude was popular enough his buddy should recognize it. It was somber enough not to be annoying to someone feeling down but the cheer up theme was still there. So when he got home and heard what was now the usual depressing playlist Matthew cranked his own stereo so it would be heard over the music from next door. It was only a little ways into the song when his neighbor turned off his own music, as if listening to the song Matthew was playing for him. Matthew hoped it would at least put a smile on his face.

⤐⤞

Matthew didn’t want to push his luck so he waited until the next day before he tried again. He cut off the black cloud music with Keep Holding on by Avril Lavigne and Bad Day by Daniel Powter. Later that night he nearly jumped out of bed and rushed to strip down when he heard his neighbors shower running. He sang loud enough to be heard over the water but still gently, Brave by Sara Bareilles. He hoped it would encourage his friend to talk to someone if not Matthew himself. There was no response from the other side, no applause either. But his shower buddy didn’t run away and Matthew thought that was a good sign.

⤐⤞

It had been almost a week since Matthew had heard his neighbor shower. The apartment next door had been eerily silent since then. A couple times he had thought he heard someone moving about but now he was sure he had been wrong. It was safe to say Matthew was getting worried. His mind kept plaguing him with horrible scenario after horrible scenario. He was having trouble sleeping, jumping out of bed at every slight noise. He called in sick to work two days now just so he could keep a metaphorical eye on the apartment next door. This morning he woke up as the shower was turning off and he heard someone, for sure this time, moving around the apartment. He threw on his track pants and whatever shirt was lying around before rushing out the door and down the hall. And that's how he found himself in front of the door wringing his hands trying to get the courage to knock

With a deep breath he steeled himself and wrapped his knuckles on the door. He waited and had to hold himself back from knocking again. He heard a door and the shuffle of feet. The sounds stopped, the lock clicked, and the door was pulled open. Matthew was frozen in place, was it possible he had been so wrong about everything?

“Can I help you?”

“You don’t live here.” It wasn’t what Matthew and planned to say it sort of just slipped out when he saw a young girl standing in the doorway. She looked about as confused as Matthew felt.

“Excuse me?”

“Sorry, I just meant, a guy lives here. I was sure he lived alone.”

“Oh! You must mean Jack, my brother.”

“Jack. Yea.”

“Are you a friend of his?”

“Um.. well.. Sort of, no but … I mean. Okay, so we’ve never actually met, but sometimes we sing in the shower together. I mean, separately, in our own showers, not together together… just sing together.”

“What?”

“No! I mean...shit. May I start over? This isn’t coming out right at all.”

The women crossed her arms and leaned her weight on the door jamb, “I think you should, yes.”

Matthew took a deep breath. “I’m Matthew, I live next door. I’ve never actually met your brother, but our apartment walls are pretty thin and sometimes we play each other music. At least I play him music and I think he returns it. Our bathrooms share a wall, and it seems he shares my love for shower head karaoke. Also we seem to share a taste in music.”

“So sometimes you sing together, separately, in the shower.”

“Yes. But recently… he hasn’t been singing and then all of a sudden things got really quiet over here like he’d been gone. And I was a little worried, so when I heard someone moving about…”

“You came to check on him?”

“Yes. That’s not creepy is it?”

“No, it’s actually kind of sweet. Most people don’t give a crap about their neighbors anymore.”

“He always sounded like such a happy guy, his music taste was very bouncy and bubbly. But lately… it’s changed. I just wanted to make sure he was okay. I had never heard him have any company over, I wasn’t sure if he had someone to check on him.”

“He’s a bit of a lone wolf that’s for sure. Unfortunately I live out of town so I don’t get by as much as I would like. He’s going through a rough time right now, he’s not going to be around for a while.”

“He’ll be back though, right? Like, he’s going to be okay?”

“Yea, he’ll be okay. I can tell him you were asking about him.”

“Thanks, as long as you’re sure it doesn’t make me sound like a creep.”

“I think it will make him smile.”

“Good. Let me know if there’s anything I can do, even something small as watering the plants or getting the mail. Cooking, cleaning. Just, let me know.”

“You know, I think I will probably end up taking you up on that. Thanks, Matthew.”

“You’re welcome…”

“Nora.”

“You’re welcome, Nora.”

⤐⤞

For the first time in his life Matthew actually felt depressed when the time came he needed to shower. The water never felt quite warm enough, the spray never quite enough to relax. The sound of water hitting the tile made the silence from next door deafening. A hard time. He couldn’t help but worry about his singing partner, his shower buddy. He had wanted to ask for more information but didn’t want to seem rude. He had brought over food twice in the week, when he heard Nora moving about. She was more than grateful. He had made plans to run some errands for her this evening after work and promised to help her tidy up and join her for dinner. She told him Jack should be coming home by the end of the week, and she wanted everything to be perfect for him.

Matthew rubbed the towel over his hair as he stood in the living room. He wanted to do something, something special. But with his limited knowledge of Jack and what he was going through it was difficult coming up with something that would be well received. When his eyes landed on his stereo he had his answer. He sat in front of his computer and got to work.