Autumn (Chapter 1) (Patreon)

Mike sat on the cement stoop and looked out at the apartments across the street. The building directly in front of him was his, but the old brick one to his left was where Autumn lived.

He took another drag off his cigarette. It was an early afternoon in May and the sun was shining through his short dirty blonde hair and bouncing across his handsome face. He’d only moved to the neighborhood a week ago, but he thought that by now he would’ve seen her, at least once, but he hadn’t. Not one time had he witnessed her come out of her apartment, not even for a cigarette. Did she quit? She’d been trying to give up smoking back when they worked together. That was over four years ago. Of course, he had seen her since then. They went on a date, well sort of…but still, even that was a few years back. God she was really beautiful, why hell didn’t he pursue her further?

Every time he went over to that stoop for a smoke, he’d kept an eye out for her. Countless girls came in and out of her building and whenever he got excited that one of them might be her, he was left disappointed. From a distance, it was hard to tell.

Maybe that’s her! No, too tall.

Is that Autumn? No, not pretty enough.

Is that-no too short.

Maybe….nah

He’d probably have a better chance of spotting her if he focused more on men and whether or not their heads snapped around when a woman walked by. That woman would no doubt be Autumn. Aside from her looks, and though he thought it seemed kind of superfitictial and dumb, one of the things he liked about Autumn was her size. She was around 5 feet 5 inches tall and 130 to 140 pounds or so, a perfect match in his mind, for his 5 foot 11, 165 pound frame. She hit all the checkmarks of the ideal girlfriend that he’d always fantasized about.

He looked at his phone. He thought about texting her again but he didn’t want to come across as needy or overzealous. He hadn’t necessarily planned to move in right next door, but when he saw the location and the available studio apartment, he took it without hesitation. He didn’t have time to be choosy. Living in the building next to Autumn was just a happy coincidence and that was all.

He took a final puff on his cigarette, stomped it out on the sidewalk then grabbed the pack out of his jacket pocket but it was empty.

Shit.

It was a short walk to the corner mini mart. Just down the sidewalk and across the street. The place had the selection of a small gas station, but he could buy cigarettes there and it had become his main grocery store.

He turned down the aisle and scoured the cold cases for his usual drinks. He grabbed a couple of Red Bulls, cradled them in one arm and headed toward the front checkout counter. He stopped.

There was a girl in his way. Not just any girl either. Although her back was turned Mike could tell that this was a very attractive, and very shapely young woman, and she wasn’t hiding much in her black tights and green camisole. Was it her? No, it couldn’t be. This girl had some hips on her and Autumn never had quite that much junk in the trunk. She turned and tossed back her shoulder length reddish brown hair.. “Mike?”

His knees suddenly weakened and butterflies fluttered in his stomach. “Autumn?”

He blinked and did a double take. She was more beautiful than he remembered, and with the way she filled out those leggings, she was a bit curvier than he remembered too. She looked like she was closer to one hundred and sixty pounds than to 130. He was prepared for that though. Part of what had rekindled his interest was that he knew from Facebook, that she had put on a little weight, and there was something about a woman with curves that excited Mike like nothing else. Perhaps because all of his ex-girlfriends had been slim and petite.

Anyway, Autumn had broken her foot or something a while back and there were a few photos of her online with friends at an outdoor country music concert. She was sitting on the grass next to a pair of crutches, wearing cutoff jean shorts that displayed softer, chubbier legs. An understandable and slight weight gain that was no doubt the result of her injury. Autumn was many things, but fat, or anything close to being overweight or out of shape was never one of them, or so he thought.

Standing before him now she flashed a big smile. “Omigod I thought that was you! Sorry I didn’t get back to you, I’ve just been super busy.”

Mike’s heart thumped and he tried his best to keep his gaze from lowering too far south of her alluring neckline. Since when did she have breasts like that? “That’s okay. How have you been?”

She shrugged, then gestured at her leg. “I’m alright, still kind of limping around a little.”

“Yeah, I saw that.”

“Next!” the small Asian woman behind the front counter said.

Autumn turned with her bag of cheetos and iced tea in hand and went to check out. She asked for a pack of American Spirits and paid. Mike followed behind and did the same, trying hard not to gaze too longingly or obviously at her butt.

They stepped outside and slowly started walking together toward home.

“So which building are you in?”

“That one.” Mike pointed across the street. “The blue one with the white…pillars.”

She had a slightly amused expression on her face. “Wow you really are right next door.”

He shrugged as the walk sign came on and they started crossing the street. “Yeah, it was a good price.”

She continued to move gingerly, trying not to put too much weight on her foot. “I think you’ll like living on the hill, it’s a fun neighborhood, great restaurants all around this area.”

“I’ll bet, although I hope you haven't had to walk too much with that foot.”

“I manage just fine.”

They approached their buildings. “We’ll have to grab coffee and catch up,” Mike said.

She looked and smiled. “I’ve got a meeting right now but I’d love to have coffee with you. I’ll text you when I’m free.”

“Ok Autumn, sounds great.”

“Bye Mike. Good to see you.”

Goddamn she really was beautiful. He packed his Camels against his palm as she turned to walk away. He could hardly believe how much bigger and rounder her ass was. Gone was the cute little barista girl that he had known and in her place was a stunning and fully grown sophisticated woman of substance. He actually felt a little intimidated by the shapely contours and curves of her alluring figure. “You too,” he said.