The Neighbor Who Changed in Front of the Window

I was still in high school when she moved into the house across the street. She was in her twenties, worked at an auto parts distribution warehouse on the main avenue, and an older man used to drop her off in a gray sedan almost every night. My friends and I would sit on the curb smoking in secret, and from there we’d watch the long kisses and the hands slipping inside the car before she got out.

Her name was Lorena. And very soon it stopped being a secret among us that there was something about her that had us obsessed.

Her bedroom faced the street. Every night, after saying goodbye to the man in the sedan, she’d go upstairs, turn on the light, and open the closet door. The dresser mirror was at just the perfect angle: from the curb, if you stayed still and silent, you could see her taking off her clothes in the reflection. First the blouse. Then the skirt. And sometimes she would linger in front of that mirror a little longer than necessary, as if she knew.

I’m sure she knew.

That scene repeated almost daily and drove us crazy. Three teenagers pressed up against a fence, holding our breath, whispering and fighting over the best spot. We never talked about anything else the next day.

***

The summer my friends went away to the coast, I stayed in the city. We couldn’t afford the trip, so I spent my days circling the block on my bike, dying of boredom and heat.

On one of those laps I saw her cleaning the living-room window. She was wearing shorts and an old T-shirt, her hair tied back, no makeup. As I passed, I greeted her almost without thinking, and she greeted me back with a smile.

That gave me courage. On the next lap I stopped beside her window.

—Don’t you get bored going around and around? —she asked, resting her elbow on the frame.

—A little —I admitted—. My friends left and there’s nothing to do.

We stayed chatting for a good while. About silly things, about the heat, about school. She had a calm way of talking, unhurried, looking me in the eyes as if what I said really interested her. I left there with my heart pounding in my chest.

From that day on I started hanging around her place. I’d sit on the step of her porch and we’d talk until dark. When my friends came back from the coast, I introduced them to her and won the bet we’d made about who would speak to her first. But what I didn’t tell them was what happened when I visited her alone.

***

Alone, the conversation changed. I worked up the nerve to tell her I liked her, that she was the prettiest woman in the neighborhood, that I thought about her. Lorena went along with it, laughing, treating me like a cheeky little kid and nothing more. Until one afternoon she invited me in.

—I made a cake —she said—. I want you to tell me if it turned out well.

She served me a slice and a coffee, and sat down beside me on the sofa. She was wearing a wide skirt that, when she sat, revealed part of her thigh. When she crossed her legs, the fabric slid a little farther and I caught sight of the edge of her underwear. The tank top outlined her breasts: they weren’t big, but they had a shape that dried my mouth up.

—And your parents? —I asked, trying to sound normal.

—They’re not here. They went to the movies. —She put her hand on my knee and added—: So we can talk more calmly.

I leaned in a little, without bothering to hide it, to get a better look at her leg. She noticed right away.

—Do you like looking at my legs? —she asked, sliding her fingers along her own thigh.

I went red all the way to my ears.

—Of course I do —I answered—. They’re beautiful. You know I really like you.

And, timidly, I put my hand on her leg. I stroked it all the way down, slowly, to the edge of the fabric. She stopped me gently.

—Do you like what you see… or do you like it more when I change in front of the window? —she said, and smiled.

I laughed, suddenly much more relaxed.

—I knew it. You did it on purpose. You like being watched, don’t you?

—At first, no —she confessed—. But I’d see you boys down there on the curb, and one night I was in the mood to play a little. After that it became a habit. I liked knowing you were still there.

—You have no idea what you did to us —I blurted out.

—Like you are now? —she murmured, and ran her hand over my crotch.

She didn’t say anything else. She took me by the hand and we went up to her bedroom, the same one with the window, the one with the dresser mirror.

***

She pulled the curtain shut and closed the door. She came over and we started kissing, slowly at first, then with more hunger. We undressed each other between kisses. I took off her top and she unclasped her bra with a slowness that felt eternal. Her breasts were there in front of me, firm, nipples hard. I took them in my hands, stroked them, and lowered my mouth to taste them, one and then the other.

—Well, you sure know how to do that —she sighed, burying her fingers in my hair.

While I kissed her, I pulled down the zipper of her skirt. A tilt of her hips and the garment fell to the floor. She, for her part, already had her hand inside my underwear.

—What a surprise —she said, opening her eyes wide—. Where did you get this? It’s rock hard, and for your age it’s thick.

I was on the verge of trembling, but I wanted to show her that her confidence didn’t intimidate me, that I wasn’t the inexperienced kid she thought I was. I guided her to the bed and gave her a little shove. She fell back, knees bent. I leaned over, parted her legs, and kissed her sex still covered by the last piece of clothing. Then I pulled it down and off completely and stood there for a few seconds just looking at her.

Well-shaped legs. Rounded hips, not too much. Flat belly. And there she was, arms crossed behind her head, letting herself be looked at, completely exposed.

—Are you going to keep looking or…? —she said, smiling.

I started at her feet. I kissed the arch of her foot, ran my tongue between her toes, and she laughed and squirmed. I moved up over her ankle, the backs of her knees, the inside of her thighs. With every kiss she lifted her hips a little more, impatient.

—What are you doing? —she murmured when I reached her sex and kissed it for the first time.

I pushed aside the hand she was using to try to stop me and focused on licking her, slowly, from bottom to top. I slid my other hand up her stomach to her breast and caressed it without stopping giving her pleasure.

—Oh, you do that so well —she gasped—. I haven’t felt anything like this in a long time.

She arched, opened her mouth, drew in hard breaths between moans. I slipped in one finger, then two, moving them in circles while I licked her. When she started begging me to stop, I didn’t stop: I kept going until she closed her legs around my head and her whole body jolted.

—Please, enough, enough —she said breathlessly—. I can’t take it anymore.

***

I sat up and took off the rest of my clothes. I put her legs over my shoulders and entered her in one thrust, halfway in. Lorena screamed and clutched the sheet. I stayed still for a moment, stroking her breast, and began to move slowly, gaining ground little by little until I was completely inside her.

Then I fucked her harder, again and again. She dug her nails into my arms and moved her hips to meet me. We stayed like that for a good while, until I brought her legs together, tilted her slightly, and kept going, now with a steadier rhythm.

—How many times I dreamed of you, Lorena —I whispered in her ear—. I can’t believe it.

—I never thought you’d make me feel this good —she replied, running her hand over my arm—. You’re a cheater. So serious, so shy…

We came almost at the same time. I slowed down, but I didn’t stop while she finished. When her breathing started to settle, I pulled out, turned her over, and set her on her knees. I entered her again, this time deeper, and she lifted her head with a long moan.

I held her by the hips and drove into her with everything I had. Her legs began to tremble; she leaned forward, gripping the sheet in her fist, moving herself against me until she went still, panting, lost in another orgasm. I stopped for a moment, feeling her, before moving again slowly and finishing inside her a second time.

We stayed like that, joined together, until I caught my breath. I kissed her neck, her cheek, the sweat-soaked skin of her back.

***

When we finally pulled apart, she squeezed my hand and opened her eyes.

—You’re anything but inexperienced —she said—. You’re a cheater. No one had ever done to me what you… feeling your tongue there was incredible.

—I liked it too —I answered, unable to wipe the smile from my face—. I like doing it that way.

We got in the shower. I sat on the edge of the tub and she soaped me slowly. It didn’t take long for me to react again, and then she climbed on top of me, letting me in while she moved with her arms around my shoulders. I held her by the hips, helping her go up and down, until we finished once more, both of us laughing at the water turning cold.

I got dressed. She stayed in her underwear with a robe over her shoulders and walked me to the door.

I crossed the street to my house thinking about the look on my friends’ faces if they knew the youngest one in the group had been the first to be with the neighbor we all wanted. I never told them.

And that afternoon was only the first of many.