On a sunny weekend, Bruce moved into his new house.
His original residence was a rented apartment with two units on one floor. He didn't have much personal belongings to move, mainly some clothes. The large pieces of furniture belonged to the original landlord, and he didn't have much interest in taking care of that temporary residence. But the new residence was obviously different. It was his house, although he bought it with a loan after paying the down payment.
He could expect to live here for quite some time. Since he was satisfied with his current work and life, he didn't plan to make any changes.
Bruce made relatively large changes to his new house. He specifically hired a designer to design the house according to the structure of the house and his own needs. He also chose the decorations that were most in line with his preferences. It could be said that although this house wasn't a home yet, it was at least a place that he could live in.
In early February, which was still winter, although the temperature was only about 10 degrees Celsius, the mild sun made people feel comfortable. Bruce took the cookies that had just been baked from his newly bought, fully functional oven and planned to visit his new neighbors.
Although Bruce himself was a person who paid no attention to unfamiliar people and adopted a cold attitude toward most things in life, he could always create an image in front of most people. If you asked the people in the community where he used to live what their impression of him was, almost everyone who knew him would tell you that he was a talkative and helpful young man. His outstanding appearance with a smile easily made people feel good about him. He would also take out some of his free time to do community volunteer work.
Just like what Reid said, on the surface, he was a typical "sociable" person. However, being good at talking was just a skill, not a quality. Being willing to help others was also a deliberate performance. It was just a mask that Bruce wore, a mask that allowed him to seemingly blend into the lives of ordinary people.
The family closest to his new house on the west side was an elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Cook. Their children weren't with them, and they probably had a good relationship with the original owners of the house, Mr. and Mrs. Carter. When Bruce moved in yesterday, they visited Bruce and asked about Mr. and Mrs. Carter. They smilingly accepted the cookies from Bruce and once again welcomed Bruce as their neighbor.
There were two other families in the northeast and east of Bruce's new residence. These three families could be considered his direct "neighbors". The family in the northeast was not there. Bruce saw the owner of this house on the grass outside the east house.
He was a Caucasian man with light blond hair and gray-blue eyes, about thirty-five years old. He was looking at a child in the yard who was playing Frisbee with a dog with a smile on his face. When he saw Bruce come over, he was a little confused. Bruce smiled politely. "Nice to meet you. I'm Bruce Jones. I just moved here." He pointed to his house a few dozen feet away.
"Asa Lawrence, this is my daughter, Emma, and Gina." Asa expressed his welcome to Bruce and looked at the child and the dog. "Emma, this is our new neighbor. Don't you like the camellias there?"
The original owner of the house had a small patch of camellias in the yard. Although they were all potted plants, the plants were not small. There were about ten to twenty potted plants. It was inconvenient to carry them, so he left them for Bruce.
The girl threw the Frisbee to her father. At first, Bruce thought that the Frisbee was thrown to him. At first, it was flying straight to him. He reached out his hand to catch it, but at the last moment, the Frisbee turned an arc and flew to Asa.
"Emma," Asa said in a somewhat reproachful tone. "That's not polite."
The girl stuck out her tongue at them naughtily. Then, she walked over with the big brown dog, which was almost half her height. She raised her small head and reached out a hand to Bruce. "I am Princess Emma. This is my friend, Gina. What's your name?" she said in a proud tone.
Bruce reacted quickly. He squatted down so that he could look at the girl at the same level. He took the girl's outstretched hand and made a gesture of kissing it. "I am your knight, Bruce. I am at your service."
"Hahaha, Bruce, I like you.
like
From now on, you are my Knight Commander. " The girl, who was about ten years old, had a pair of clear gray-blue eyes, which were exactly the same as her father's. Her blond hair shone in the sun.
"It's my pleasure." Bruce smiled and handed a small basket of cookies wrapped in translucent paper to the girl.
"Can I see your camellias?" Emma pretended to be arrogant, but her little eyes were full of expectation.
"Of course, any time." Bruce didn't know which species the red and white camellias in his yard were, but the blooming flowers were indeed beautiful.
After playing with the little girl for a while, Bruce's new neighbor visit, which was supposed to end in about half an hour, was delayed to two hours. He packed five cookies and planned to give them to the five families closest to his house. The furthest one was only a five-minute walk from his house, but one of them was not there. Bruce looked at the remaining cookie in his hand and thought about the large pile of raw materials left in the kitchen. He walked through a small activity square in the community and rang the doorbell of a random house.
“Haley？” Bruce exclaimed in surprise when he saw the woman who opened the door. He then hid his emotions and said with a smile, "I'm Bruce Jones, a new neighbor. It's in this direction. It's about ten minutes across the activity square." He didn't show any embarrassment on his face, but he did feel a little embarrassed when he spoke. This neighbor was a little far away.
"Oh, welcome." Haley looked at Bruce who was dressed casually and looked like a college student. She didn't hide her curiosity and asked, "How do you know my name? I don't think I know you. "
"Well … Actually, I've seen your picture in the boss' office before. Yes, it's Hotch." Bruce shrugged, feeling even more awkward. "I'm also a member of BAU."
Haley nodded and didn't say anything. Bruce knew that she must still have doubts. He was about to take out his ID when he remembered that he wasn't at work and his ID was still in his suit jacket pocket.
"I didn't expect to see you here, Mrs. … Erm …" He didn't know how to address this woman. Or rather, he didn't want to call this woman Mrs. Hotcher. After all, they were divorced.
“Haley
Brooks, just call me Haley. " Haley said, "I remember now. Aaron did mention you before. You were still a new member of their team. It's nice to meet you."
Bruce passed the cookies to her and left. On the way back, he was feeling a little down.
She might not be very beautiful, but she had a kind of intelligence. She wouldn't talk to you in a tough way, but you could see that she was a determined person from her eyes. Her short blonde hair made her look capable and heroic.
Most importantly, she was Hotch's ex-wife, the woman he used to love and perhaps still loved.
'How infuriating.' Bruce looked at the sunset in the sky, looking a little dejected. More importantly, he didn't know what to do. He couldn't say it out loud and it would be over. However, he didn't have that kind of experience. His ex-girlfriend had taken a liking to him.
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