EXTRACT FOR
Hotwife Next Door
(Scarlett Steele)

Saturday comes early for me as I turn off my alarm clock.  Six in the morning and it suddenly becomes clear that I've made a huge mistake in setting the alarm in the first place.  "Fuck," I say in disgust as I push the clock back across the small nightstand.  I don't have to go in to work today since it's the weekend, but I guess some part of me went ahead and set the alarm anyway.  I lie back down, but soon I'm up and looking for my most comfortable tee shirt and shorts.  There's no way I can fall back to sleep once I've been awakened by the strained squawk of my clock, so I decide to make the best of it and do a little working out.  



"Down boy," I say to Max, my golden retriever, as I pick up his bowl from the kitchen floor.  I can tell that he's a little confused by my being up at this time of the day on a weekend.  "Here you go."  I sit the bowl down with a fresh supply of dog food and he immediately begins to work on it.  As I look up, I can see through my window that the light in the next door neighbors' house is on in the living room.  Craig and Lisa Delfont are the work at home types and rarely get out of bed before nine on any morning, so seeing a light on in their living room takes me by surprise.  I walk over to my window and peek through hoping to see some reason for their early rise.  There's movement in the living room, but with their sheer curtains on the windows, I can't really tell what's going on besides that.  



I take a look here and there throughout the morning as I make my coffee and at some point around seven-thirty I see some movement on the Delfont's front porch.  A man leaves the house first, and he's definitely not Craig Delfont.  However, he's followed by both Craig and Lisa.  They're all smiling as they walk out to the stranger's car parked on the side of the street.  After a hug from Lisa and a handshake from Craig, he's soon in his car and gone.  My curiosity piqued, I decide to put my shoes on and wander out to the lawn.  Maybe I can get the neighbors' attention and see what's up today.



"Good morning, Trent."  Craig spots me almost immediately as I make my way to the end of the driveway to pick up the morning's paper.  



"What's up?" I say as I wave the newspaper in the air.  



"Nothing much," my neighbor replies.  "Couldn't sleep?"  Saturday is most often my day to sleep until ten or so and Craig is as on top of my schedule as I am on his and Lisa's.  



"Set my damned alarm clock last night without realizing it.  I was up at six."



"Ouch," he says with a chuckle.  The Delfont's are about ten years older than me, Craig being thirty-six and Lisa around two years younger.  At twenty-five, I'm busier than I've ever been as a manager in a retail clothing store in town.  I'm forgetful at times when I'm really tired, and I guess last night was one of those occasions.  



"Yeah, it's no big deal, though.  I really needed to get up and get a few things done around the house anyway."