A cold breeze went through the room. Steve shivered slightly at this, it was already the beginning of winter and yet he still had no girlfriend or much female interaction besides a few one night stands here and there, but nothing long term. He was already thirty seven he was getting to that age where he had to either settle down or be that creepy old guy at the bar. Steve did not want to be that guy, but how could he? Work was always so busy, not that he tried very hard to do his job. He was always trying to get fired, but every time he did something "bad" the boss would always blame it on an intern or something. She definitely had taken a liking to Steve and after her husband past the past year it had gotten a little worse. Steve did not really like women 55+ so he tried to avoid her at all cost.

Steve was awoke from his deep thoughts when there was a loud crash next door, there was a new family moving in next door. The crash was actually a good thing because it made Steve realized he would e late for work, even though he did not live it he still needed to make money to live. As he walked by the new neighbors home he saw a girl sitting out front, she was defiantly a lot younger than he was..but damn did she look go- NO!, Steve thought to himself he may be slightly desperate for a girl, but he was not going to turn into one of those guys that goes after the ones right out of high-school. That wasn't him.

Annie pulled her sleeves a little farther down her arms, protecting herself against the chill that was floating through the air. It was the beginning of November, and her parents had just decided to moved from the other side of town. Downsizing, they said, what with Annie's tuition bills being so outrageous and whatnot. She didn't ever bother to mention - when they brought up their current "financial strain" - that she had worked two jobs in high school and still lived at home so that she could pay for community college. Never mind that her parents paying a whole third of the bill.

She wrapped her arms around her knees and looked toward the moving truck, not quite ready to unpack her room just yet or pick up the physicsbook laying beside her. there was only about a month left in the semester, and finals were coming up, much to Annie's chagrin. The move just added extra stress to her life, and she just wanted to sit on the front stoop and take a couple of deep breaths. The movers were unloading the last of the boxes - completely disregarding the big FRAGILE written in Sharpie on the side f the boxes - and she couldn't help but smile as her father almost popped a vein yelling at them.

Movement from her left drew her attention, and she turned her head to see a man - her neighbor - leaving his house. He was dressed well, in a nice, tailored suit, and his hair was cut attractively. He looked to be in his early to mid-thirties, but his demeanor seemed younger and laid-back. Not to mention that he was extremely handsome. Annie's eyes met his, andshe blushed, embarrassed, and looked away, unable to hide a smile. She grabbed her textbook from beside her and opened it on her lap, pretending to study. Well, this will be interesting, she thought.

Steve sighed as he loosened his tie while walking to his house, it had been another hard day at work getting hit on by his boss, getting yelled at by his coworkers, and he had forgotten his wallet at home so he did not have any money with him to buy lunch. Just a normal day. As he passed by his new neighbors house he noticed they had, by one glance, finished moving everything into their home. He noticed something on his front steps, a package, he hadn't ordered anything, so he figured it was not his package and as he came close he realized it was addressed to his new neighbors.

A little shake to try and guess what it was, probably a book or something is what Steve decided, he sighed once again he wanted to eat and sleep like he normally did on hard days, but he decided to be nice to his new neighbors and bring that package. He walked over and knocked on the door, there was a little something inside him that wanted the young girl he had seen that morning to answer the door.

"Annie, get the door!" Annie rolled her eyes as she heard her parents yell to her. Here she was, trying to study, and they were probably sitting in front of the television, watching Jeopardy and downing an entire bottle of wine. She closed her textbook and got up from her bed, padding down the stairs in her socks. A brief glance into the living room confirmed her earlier assumption. She sighed and rolled her eyes again, and looked toward the door. Who would be at their house? It had already gotten dark, being the beginning of winter, and they didn't know anyone yet. Of course they would make their only daughter aswer the door in the dark to some stranger. They probably wouldn't even help me if someone tried to kill me.

With a shake of her head, she went to the door and looked through the peephole, only to see the face that she had seen that morning. She found heself smiling. With a deep breath, she opened the door. "Hello," she said to her neighbor with a smile, leaning against the doorframe. She noticed a package in his hands, and than he was holding it carefully, like it didn't belong to him. She realized why he had come over. "Oh! That must be my book that I ordered. Does the name say Annie on it?"

Steve returned the girls smile, "So my guess would be that you are, in fact, Annie?" He shrugged and handed her the package and held out his hand to her, "Well it is nice to meet you, I am Steven Booker and I live next door, but I think you could have guessed that." HIs eyes quickly scanned Annie and he decided that she was in fact older than he had originally thought, but still much younger than he was and damn did she look good. Steve let that thought drift away and spoke again, "Well...why did you move here, not the nicest place to live? You live alone?"

She laughed. "As if I could afford it, even a place like this. I'm going to school and paying for most of it. No, my parents thought that the great burden of their agreed-upon portion of my tuition was cause to downsize. We still have plenty of money, but we probably wouldn't have if they continued their lavish living. So, between stoppingor moving, they chose to move." Annie caught herself and suddenly realized that she had said too much, especially to a stranger. "Look at me, giving you my whole life story and you just came over to deliver a package."

"Annie!" a male voice called from another room. "Who is it?"

Annie rolled her eyes."Because they can't come and check for themselves," she muttered to Steve. She turned and yelled back, "It's nobody!" and then turned back to Steve. She msmiled and bit her lower lip, leaning agaist the door frame. "They'll meet you eventually," she said with a wink.

She winked, right? Steve though as he listened to this girl talk about her life. Since he had seen her wink he decided in his mind to just screw it and go for it, besides where was his life going at this point. "Basically, I don't know who you are, but you interest me so how about tomorrow I show you around this part of town?" It was a simple question he may get shit from people he knew about "going out" with a younger women but it didn't matter to Steve any female interaction for him would be nice.

"Well, you move fast, don't you?" she asked with a laugh. As soon as she said it, she mentally kicked herself. Shit, she thought. He was probably just being nice and not actually asking me out. Anyway, he's too old for me anyway. She stopped. Was he? Yes, she was only nineteen, but she felt much older. Besides, he was handsome, charming, and from what she could tell, a really nice guy. Plus, she had been single for quite a while and it wouldn't hurt her to go out every once in a while. Provided, of course, that he actually was asking her out. "That's, of course, if you were asking me out. On a date. And I just realized that you could just be offering to be nice. Either way, I'd love to." She blushed at her embarrassing assumption and smiled sheepishly.

"Annie! Who are you talking to?" The sound of her father's footsteps echoed through the hallway and she looked behind her. "Shit," she muttered as her tall, gray-haired father came around the corner. She cast a look to Steve, trying to urge him not to say anything about him showing her around. That would not sit well with her father. The stately man stopped at the doorway and gave Steve an intimidating glare. "Who are you and what do you want?"

Steve laughed to himself a little, "This girl sure was interesting," he thought as he heard a male voice come from behind Annie. Her dad is what Steve presumed and then Annie shot him a glance that meant to not say anything about the previous conversation. Annie's father was an older man probably close to a decade older than Steve was, but Steve did not look his age so the old man made him feel young. HE pondered what to say for a second, it was a little weird that he had a "long" conversation with Annie. "Oh, hello there Sir," Steve paused and held out his hand, "I'm Steven Booker, or you can just call me Mr. Booker if you would like. I live next door and I was just returning a package that was wrongly delivered to my home."

Annie's father narrowed his eyes at Steve, a frown plain on his face. "Mr. Booker. Thank you for taking the time to deliver this." He snatched the package from Steve, took a quick glance at the name, and thrust it into the unsuspecting hands of his daughter. "Now you may leave."

He began to close the door in Steve's face, but Annie, reached out and held the door open. "Father, don't be rude."

Her father glared at Annie. "You shall not tell me what to do and what not to do in my own home. I believe that it is time for you to end this conversation and return to your room."

Annie tried to hold his intense gaze, but faltered a little. "I'm nineteen and in college. I can speak with whomever I want for however long I want."

Her father's rage seemed to pour out of him as a tense silence surrounded the three of them. Finally, he noticed Steve still at the door and took a deep breath. He spoke to his daughter in an eerily calm voice. "You will end this conversation within the next two minutes. Then you will close the door and return to your room, where I will not see or hear you for the rest of the night."

Annie opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a meek "Yes sir," after which her father turned and stormed down the hallway away from her and Steve. She turned back to face her neighbor, her face red from embarrassment. "I am so sorry about that... He really has a temper..."

Steve watched in awe at this confrontation between parent and child, what intrigued him that most was the fact that Annie had no rebellion even though she was and adult and had been for a year. Steve remembered back when he was that young...back when he led a mostly care free life, and he could actually hold a girlfriend for more than one night. He was torn from his thought when Annie's father told her she only had two minutes to fins their conversation. "So I guess this is the end of our lovely conversation...your father is definitely and interesting character."

As he was walking ways from Annie's home he turned back to her and said, "Just knock when you got some free time tomorrow, my schedule is pretty open." And with that Steve turned his back to her and walked to hid house not 20 feet away waving most of the time.

Annie waved back, finally closing the door when she could no longer see him. She clutched her package to her chest and practically ran up the stairs to her room, crossing to her window when she closed her door. From her room, she could see the side of Steve's house, a couple of the windows illuminated against the night. She bit her lip when she saw him cross in front of one of them. Tomorrow she would be going out with him. On a date/non-date. She flopped down on her bed in frustration. Why had her father had to barge in right then? She never got a straight answer from the man. Well, she thought, whatever it is, it'll be better than being here. With that final thought, she felt overwhelmed with tiredness. Her eyes drooped closed and she drifted into sleep.

The next morning, she woke to daylight streaming through her open window. She looked around, groggy, and realized that she had fallen asleep with her clothes on. All of a sudden, the events of the previous night came rushing back to her, and she remembered her outing with Steve. She jumped up and took a quick shower, taking extra care to put on nice makeup and do her hair, and went to her closet, half of her clothes still in boxes. She sighed as she picked through what was on her hangers before finally deciding on a soft v-neck sweater, her favorite pair of dark skinny jeans, and a pair of knee-high boots. With a final satisfied look in the mirror, she emerged from her room, happy to find both of her parents gone for work. She grabbed a granola bar and ate it quickly before stepping out of her front door and into the chilly morning air.

She crossed her yard and stepped up onto Steve's porch, suddenly aware that it might be too early. She hadn't checked the time before leaving, but now as she looked at her phone, she realized that it was only nine. Oh well, she though, taking a deep breath and ringing the doorbell.

A breeze woke Steve up the next morning, he had forgotten to close his window and he was pretty much freezing at this point. A nice hot shower and a change into some casual clothes. Some nice dark jeans and a simple black sweater was what he decided to where. He looked at his watch, and it was only eight thirty, he was still hungry from the lack of food the day before, so he decided that pop tarts would be a good idea. Coffee too, Steve could never really start a day without a good cup of coffee. HE thought about the events of last night, him and a girl he knew for about five minutes were "going out," he shrugged at the thought he just hoped one of his coworkers did not see him with someone so young.

That is when Steve heard the bell rang, he sighed to himself the thought never crossed his mind that it could be Annie, it was definitely too early for that. He took a quick peek through his little peep hole and he realized that it was infact Annie, a little earlier than he had expected, Well I guess that mean a second breakfast Steve thought to himself as he opened the door. "Well hello there Miss, would you liek to come in for a cup of coffe?"

"Yes, thank you," she replied, stepping into Steve's foyer. She took a look around the space, whice was small, but not cramped. What she could see of the house was surprisingly well-decorated, not what she wouldn't have assumed for a single man's bachelor pad. It was cozy. "I am so glad that you are up. I was terrified that I had woken you up or that I'd catch you in a bathrobe or something." She laughed nervously, tugging her sleeves down around her hands. "I want to apologize again for last night," she said, giving him an embarrassed look. "My father is not the most congenial man. After meeting him, you can probably tell why I haven't dated much. I don't even have many friends."

Steve smiled at Annie, she was an interesting girl, and she was pretty talkative especially about her life. "Ah that is fine, your dad reminds me of mine, but I know people like that...and from what I know from the time I've been on this Earth, I believe that your dad just wants to protect you, he just loves you." Steve took another sip from his coffee before he poured some more coffee from himself and some for Annie he justed used a little bit of cream just like he liked it and gave the cup to her. "SO you're in college now, what are you studying? I used jumped around a lot in college finally settled on Computer engineering...I'm only and IT guy though."

Annie was surprised that Steve made her coffee in the very way that she liked it. She didn't bother to mention that she knew that her parents resented her; they never missed a chance to tell her so. Suddenly she realized that he asked her a question and stammered to answer. "Um... yeah. I'm studying physics. For now, anyway. I would reeally like to study astronomy and do research, but try finding a community college around here that has a worthwhile astronomy program." She laughed at the sad truth and stared down into her coffee. Eventually she looked back up at Steve. "So, do you like working in IT? Or do you want to do something else?"

Steve heard the regret? maybe sadness in her voice, he could not tell from the quick words Annie spoke to him. He laughed at her question, "IT? Do I like it? Well...let me describe how IT is...imagine being a professional pitcher you are perfect at what you do, hell you get paid to do it, but then there are the fans. The people who think they know what is right and try and tell you how to do your job, you to pitch a strike..." Steve trailed off from his little rant, then he laughed a little to himself, "Oh and then there is your Sixty or so year old boss that likes to hit on you whenever she can." Steve brushed the thoughts always, "Well how about I do what I promised to do and show you around town, we can talk on the way to this nice little cafe I know of."

"That sounds great. I have all day." She set her half-empty mug on the counter and smiled. "I love cafes, so it'll be nice to know of a local one around here where I can go to study." They started to leave, Steve lockong the door on the way out, and walked to Steve's car. For reasons that she couldn't explain, he stomachwas fluttering as she was leaving with this man. She realized that this still hadn't been estabished as an official date, so she chastized herself for being so nervous and took a deep, calming breath.

Steve's car was nothing special just a black sedan that was about five years old, but it go the job done. The ride was not to far away it was jts down a couple of blocks but that was still time to have a little conversation with annie because the traffic would be rough that day. "So, astronomy eh? what got you into that, by my calculations your parents don't seem very..."interested" in you so I do not think they would be the ones to get you into the stars."

Annie laughed, his observation correct. "You're right about that. They don't know what they want me to do. Anything to get me out of their hair, I think." She looked out the window at the other cars in a standstill. A group of grubby men were huddled in a circle outside of a questionalble-looking store. One of them noticed her and they all turned to see her. One gave her a creepy, buck-toothed grin, and she shivered and turned back to Steve. "No, I kind of got into it myself," she continued as traffic moved forward a bit. "I would always look up at the stars when I was little. They were so far away; they gave me hope, I guess. A distraction from my parents, too, I guess. I learned about the constellations. I was obsessed, always reading books about space. I guess it just kind of followed me as I grew up." She laughed to herself. "That was probably the obsession that bothered my parents the least," she said, remembering her "wild years" in high school.