That was creepy

My retired neighbor at the end of the hall, Walt, is 90 years old and alone. So when he appears to be in need, I try to help. After all, that could be me some day.

So this afternoon we rode up together in the elevator. We'd both been grocery shopping. We chatted amiably.

Then I got into my apartment. The heat has been on until just recently and so it was sooo hot and stuffy in here. After I put my groceries away, I turned on the a.c. and stripped down to my underwear as I waited for it to cool off in here. That's when Walt decides to come over.

Fearing that he needs help, I put on my robe and answer the door. He is having trouble with a bill of some sort and wants to come in and show it to me. I don't want him in my apartment because I'm not dressed and my place is a mess. But he is pushy about it.

Now I am covered, more than I'd be at the beach or the health club. But he tells me twice, as I look at his Comcast bills, that he finds me "sexy" in my robe. The first time I told him I was uncomfortable. The second time I told him we were done.

It wasn't hostile. I was telling him he should abandon Comcast and switch to AT&T and then I said, "Well, we're done," and handed his papers back to him.

But I am finished with Walt. He has always been entirely too interested in me, I don't like being interrupted on a quiet Saturday afternoon, and I don't appreciate being leered at. From now on, whenever I see him, I will pretend to be on my phone. When he knocks at my door, I will also pretend to be on the phone.

When I was a little girl, I used to fantasize about living atop a lighthouse. That isolation has never held more appeal to me than it does at this moment.