“What the hell is this?” Alice asked, holding up a bronzed sculpture of a foot,

Bette frowned and took it from her, placing the heavy expensive piece of art up and out of reach on a shelf, “Here …” Bette passed her a half filled container of odds and ends, “take this and go make a start on the kitchen,”

“Done it already …” Alice replied cheekily, taking the box from her, “take-out menus are all in the drawer to the left of the fridge!”

Bette glared at her triumphant grin as she upped and walked away, knowing that she was right and despite the neat, functional kitchen in her new stylish apartment she’d undoubtedly never cook,

By the time the last box sat waiting to be emptied in the middle of the living room floor Alice had declared a strike and sat with her feet up on the coffee table watching the goings on outside the window.

The woman across the way reappeared, several hours after finishing her morning swim. She came out overdressed for springtime, wearing a long grey cardigan and fashionable knitted boots, her long hair loose with a chunky black scarf wound several times around her neck, one end still trailing along the floor,

“Did you move to Vermont?” Alice asked sarcastically, watching as the woman took a seat on the rustic wooden table and sat with her feet up on a log stool, pulling out a packet of cigarettes and lighting one,

Bette craned her head to look, shrugging, “She was out swimming earlier,” she offered, not entirely sure why,

Alice grinned, looking her over, “Hhmn, I bet underneath all that clothing there’s a pretty nice bod, what do you think?” she asked Bette, who’d resumed unpacking the last box,

“Huh …” Bette frowned up at her, “oh, um … I suppose,”

“You’ve seen it,” Alice pointed out,

“Al I don’t make a habit of perving on my neighbours,” Bette replied glibly, she opened the box to find blankets and cushions for the chairs outside. “Here …” she threw a couple of cushions at Alice, “go put these outside and you can ask her,”

Alice slid back the patio doors and stepped outside, shivering a little in her thin shirt since the warm spring weather didn’t seem to have quite kicked in yet.