He had never been entirely comfortable with the girl from the flat across the hall.
He felt quite ashamed of the fact that he had always judged her on her appearance alone. They hadn’t spoken other than brief ‘hellos’. This was the case with just about all of the tenants in the block. He often worked late, so, by the time he got home most were at their evening meal. This was how it was with him; early mornings and late nights. This evening she happened to be coming down the stairs as he was making his way up. Beyond the usual greeting, he had time to witness a beautiful smile. It was stunning; positively radiant. Beneath the dark make-up, the spikey hair and the daggy clothes, there was probably a beautiful person!
A couple of weeks passed and he found himself doing some late night shopping. He was looking for a USB flash drive of a particular size when she saw him and entered the shop. At first she seemed to be looking for something for herself, but after a few minutes she came and stood next to him. She looked up with that same smile and said, “Hi! Fancy meeting you, eh?”
He smiled back. “Yes. Just looking for a one-hundred-and-twenty-eight gigabyte flash drive. I heard they were on special here, but they seemed to have sold out. Not surprised really, they were going for a very good price.”
She looked along the racks with him for a while. Then she moved very close to him, she winked and whispered, “If you like, I can lift one for you, and let you have it for half-price.”