My husband and I were both 25 when we got married. We came from Northern Wisconsin, so it was quite a shock when Kevin’s Company transferred him to Georgia. We moved to a suburb outside Atlanta and found ourselves a small one-bedroom apartment in a very nice complex while we looked for a house we liked.

It was a nice community filled with mostly young professionals who were starting out or passing through. We were on the backside of our building at the bottom of the stairwell. Our door opened up to a little landing that was shared with the apartment across the way. A small pond with ducks and lots of frogs was just past the landing. It was part of the landscaping and was surrounded by small walking paths. I liked to stop and watch the ducks build their nests when I got back from errands or the gym.

I didn’t know anyone; we’d only been there about 3 weeks. In fact, I was really lonely. I’d thought about getting a job, but Kevin told me that we would probably be moving again in 6 months, so I said, “Why bother?” Each day as Kevin left, I’d go to the door and give him a kiss goodbye and then try and find something to keep myself busy until he came home 12 or 13 hours later.

Last Wednesday, Kevin left very early. He had to go north of Atlanta, so he was out the door by 5:30. I got up with him and followed him to the door. I kissed him goodbye, wished him luck, and watched him go up the stairs to drive away.

OK, I thought, another day in this place. Maybe I’d go to the pool or just do some laundry. It was really hot even at that hour. Georgia in the summer back before air-conditioning must have sucked. I watched the sun beginning to poke its head up over the trees and watched my friends, the ducks, swimming around. I saw one that looked to be chasing a frog and walked over to the edge of the landing to get a closer look.

A warm breeze came along. Damn, I thought, even the wind is warm. Then I heard the bang. It took me a second to realize what it was. I spun around and my front door was closed. My stomach became all knotted and I swore out loud. I ran up to it and checked; yup, it was locked. Didn’t I feel like a jerk? OK, Kevin was gone, I didn’t know anyone, and it was only 5:30 in the morning. What the hell do I do now? I paced around trying not to panic or cry and tried to decide what to do.

All right, I thought, I can’t exactly just walk around. I was still dressed in my short VS pink bathrobe and some pink tap pants. Kevin always liked this robe. He said it showed off my legs. I did have pretty good legs; guys used to tell me that my legs and my ass were my best qualities. My breasts were kind of small, but as long as my husband liked them, who cared?

I hadn’t even put my blond hair up in my normal ponytail, which kept me cooler. No shoes, and it kept getting hotter. I was starting to sweat. I could feel the heat coming from the sun and felt the water drip down my back as the robe began to stick to my skin.

I heard someone coming down the steps and turned around. It was the guy next door. His name was Samuel. He was about our age and must have been a lawyer or something. He was always immaculately dressed in a nice suit and had hours that were often as long as Kevin’s. He was never around. He must have just come back from an early morning run. His coal-black skin was soaked with sweat. His sleeveless shirt clung to his body, which I had to admit was very muscular. He stood about 6 feet and must have weighed about 195. He had what looked like a tattoo of what looked like an Omega on his arm.

“Problem?” he asked.

“I’m locked out,” I said. “You don’t know how to pick a lock, do you?”

He raised his eyebrows and said, “Afraid not.”

I explained what happened, and he tried the door. He jiggled the door and asked if any of the windows were unlocked. I told him that as far as I knew, they were all locked.

“Well, I can offer you a cup of coffee while you wait for the office to open up,” he said.

I hesitated for a second.

“Or you can wait out here. I have to get ready for work,” he added. “I make a mean cup of coffee.”

I agreed, and he unlocked his door. I had a little pit in my stomach as I followed him inside. This was a little weird. I was following a Black guy into his apartment. It was not what I expected.

I’m not sure what I expected. He had a nice leather couch and lots of books. A computer sat in the corner along with a small weight machine. A TV, VCR, and DVD sat in a very nice cherry cabinet. He went to the kitchen and poured me some coffee. He looked at me, smiled, and said, “I have to take a shower and get ready for work. The remote for the TV is on the table.”

He walked back to his room and closed the door behind him. The coffee was very good. Strong and dark, it needed a little cream to mellow it out. I took another sip and sat down on the couch. The air-conditioning was on really high. The sweat from outside was cooling off, and I actually felt chilled.