Sighs and moans floated down to the apartment below, where the sharp ring of the doorbell startled Kate awake at her desk. She blinked, unsure what had woken her. The moans continued overhead. Her eyes moved from the ceiling to the monitor, where a half-written sentence blinked:

Job responsibilities include…

She squinted at the words. “Job responsibilities include…” she murmured, before the bell rang again, making her jump.

Stacy stood outside, shaking raindrops from her umbrella.
“Hey! Is it three already?” Kate asked, opening the door.
“Rain again—always ruins a day off,” Stacy sighed, stepping in.

 “It never fails. A day off, and the sky has to fall.”

After taking off one shoe, she froze, balancing on one leg. She raised a finger and stared at Kate.

“Do you hear that? What are those moans? Are you watching porn?”

“Oh, stop it. It’s the neighbors upstairs. Fooling around again,” Kate waved it off.

“Honestly, it’s scary living with neighbors that active. I wouldn’t even know what to tell the kids… where sounds like that come from.”

“Oh, please, your kids are ten. They know better than we do where those sounds come from,” Kate chuckled and walked into the living room.

Kate sat on the sofa. Stacy settled in beside her and pulled a small velvet box from her purse.

“Here…” she said, cracking the lid open and sliding the box toward Kate. “Do they… love each other loudly up there often?”

“Often enough,” Kate yawned, covering her mouth with her hand.

She slowly took the gold watch from the box and turned it over in her hands, studying the dial.

“That’s a real gift. Your guy will be stunned,” Stacy winked. “I feel like those moans are having a good effect on you. Huh?”

Kate weighed the watch in her palms, as if deciding whether it was gold or just heavy.

“It’s heavy. He should like it,” she said, examining the small second hand.

Then she shifted her gaze to Stacy.

“At first, those moans really irritated my husband and me. But… we started… well, you know… more often.”

Stacy smiled, her head still tilted slightly, as if listening to another moan from upstairs.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard neighbor sounds being beneficial,” she giggled. “Can I borrow your neighbors? You know, just for a couple of weeks?”

The escalating moans stopped abruptly, and Kate and Stacy simultaneously looked up.