The Neighbour ✔️

CHAPTER FIVE

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C L A R I S S A

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"Is this Clarissa?" I hear down the phone line as I answer the unknown number.

"Speaking." I reply, wondering who it could possibly be.

"Wonderful! It's Joy from Elegance?" She says like she's trying to remind me.

Like I could forget.

"Hey Joy! How are you doing?" I ask, trying to sound casual when in reality my heart is pumping like mad with excitement and anxiety.

"I'm great, thank you," she replies. You can hear the smile in her voice. "I just wanted to give you a quick call and personally tell you that you got the job."

I jump giddily. "Oh my God! That's amazing! Thank you so much!"

"You're ever so welcome. I'll drop you an email later today with a few bits of info on. Are you able to start Monday?"

"Absolutely!" I cheer. "Thank you so much for this opportunity."

"Don't worry about it, my dear. Enjoy the rest of your week, I'll see you Monday."

The call ends and I place my phone down on my bed, squealing in excitement. I got a job! A very well paid, good job too! This is so exciting. I smile brightly and send a text to Kiera, telling her I got the job and drinks are on.

Today's Thursday and I've spent my last two days doing nothing. I haven't even left the flat unless you count my balcony. My new TV was delivered on Tuesday, so I set it up, started a new series and relaxed. It's been great. Perhaps to celebrate, I should go into town and get myself some new, cute outfits for work. Maybe even treat myself to a new laptop bag. God, I sound like such an adult.

I get dressed into something cute, put my hair up in a curly ponytail, and applied some lipgloss. Feeling cute, I leave the flat and walk to my car. Once I've gotten to my car, I've decided on getting ingredients for English Garden cocktails for Kiera and I tomorrow night to celebrate. Getting into town was easy but finding somewhere to park was difficult. York is such a beautiful, historic city that people travel from near and far to explore it. I managed to find parking by the York Castle Museum and walked into town to do my shopping. Perhaps I should've got the train to Leeds, they have a few more stores than here.

Mum continued to text me, despite me lying to her and saying I'm too busy to be contacted right now and once I'm ready or available, I'll be in touch.

After a couple of hours and a couple hundred spent, I notice someone in front of me, with his head down, baseball cap and headphones on. Artie. What's he doing out at this time? I thought he worked nights and slept all day?

I walk up to him and poke his shoulder, making him turn and pull his headphones off abruptly.

"Oh, you again." He says in a sarcastic over-joyed tone.

"Oh, stop it, I know you like me really. Under that tough exterior there's a little love for your neighbour." I chuckle, positively. "Where you heading today?"

"None of your business." He replies, like usual.

I should've expected that reply honestly. "Okay." I answer. I notice the cut on his face and grab his arm, trying to stop him.