Ever since I got a glimpse of my new neighbor I tried to get home as soon as possible everyday. Isabella was her name and I found it every bit as beautiful as she was. On top of that she was very nice and kind, with an extremely caring aura that drew me in every time. I was always thrilled when I “accidentally” ran into her, though it didn’t happen nearly as often as I’d like it to. Today was one of the days that it did though. She was returning from shopping and I was just walking up to the house after sitting in my car too long after work. “I seriously can't believe you're older than me and even have a daughter,” I told her as I opened the door of the apartment building for her. She laughed and said, "I'm only a couple of years older than you and well… I had my daughter very young." “You know it just occurred to me that I’ve never seen her around,” I said. “She’s away at school and only comes home on the weekends, and we usually wind up going out when she does. We're pretty close," Isabella said as walked up the stairs. "I mutated while I was pregnant with her and she was born a mutant." “Being a single parent couldn’t have been easy.” "It was really rough. Not only was I raising my daughter on my own, but I was also really depressed.” “What do you mean?” I asked. “My husband left when I mutated. I obviously thought the problem was me and I started hating myself,” she said sadly and shook her head. "I understand what you mean, although I don't see a problem with you. It’s quite the opposite in fact," I told her. “Don't play games with your elders, hunk,” she said laughing as she tapped me on my shoulder with one of her free hands. "Although the truth is that my first job helped me a lot to regain my confidence and get ahead with my daughter." "Oh, what job was it?" She paused briefly, “I'm actually a little embarrassed to say. Nothing illegal or obscene of course." "No, no… of course not," I said, trying to keep my thoughts from going wild. "But if it wasn't obscene or illegal, I don't see a problem with you telling me." She glanced around the hall as she fumbled with her keys, trying to make sure we were alone. "Model," she said softly, barely loud enough that I could hear her. Her face was bright red with embarrassment. “M-Model?” I asked. "Yes. Not high fashion or anything, but I was in a few mutant magazines modeling bikinis.” “Aaahhh, I see,” I said as she tried to improvise a poker face. “Yeah,so you see why I’m a bit embarrassed about it right?” she said as she finally got the door open and darted inside. “Alright see you later!” And with that the door was shut in my face. I stood outside her apartment for a few seconds, shocked. She was a model. Well, that's no surprise seeing how beautiful she is, but… now… I had an overwhelming need to see those photos. "Damn, I should have asked what magazine it was," I cursed myself as I went back to my own apartment. I immediately hopped online. “A magazine where mutants are published, would it be exclusive? It could be Mutant Monthly… no, that doesn't make sense, it's only been out for two years. Her daughter is 16 years old, so the magazine was around at least 15 years ago.” I searched frantically but nothing was coming up under her name. “She probably used a fake name at the time.” I looked at mutant bikini models, mutant models from the past decade, magazines with mutants, blonde mutants with four arms, elf ears and a cat's tail... but nothing. That night, tired as I was, I had trouble falling asleep as my mind swam with images of Isabella in a bikini. Work the next day was a nightmare. I hadn’t slept well and it made me clumsy and forgetful, and my productivity was completely nonexistent. In the end I left early and rushed home to meet Isabella. “Hello!” I warmly greeted the building concierge. “How was your day?” "If you come to ask about Mrs. Isabella, she left a few hours ago and she hasn't come back yet," he said tersely. "Why do you think I was going to ask about her?" I asked nervously. "Because I'm not blind or dumb," he said, not bothering to raise his eyes from his newspaper. "Besides, she left this for you." The concierge handed me a sealed package. I took it and quickly ran into my apartment. Once inside I opened it and an old magazine slipped out. It was called ‘Exotic’ and on its cover was a two-headed girl who smiled with one of her heads while with the other she blew a kiss at the camera. I noticed that there was a page marked. I opened to it and was immediately in heaven. Right there was a photo of Isabella. Although she was obviously younger, her beauty had remained intact over the years. She was wearing a tiny turquoise bikini that barely contained her beautiful curves. And thanks to her generous mutant genetics, there was no indication that she had recently given birth. As I gazed spellbound at the photograph, a small handwritten note fell out of the magazine. “I’m a little embarrassed of these photos, but I know you were curious so I thought I’d share. I hope you enjoy them and don’t laugh at them.” “Laugh? God, her ex-husband was the dumbest man on the planet to leave her,” I said. I couldn't take my eyes off the picture. “I'm going to have to figure out how to repay her.” That night I slept peacefully. Now I was more determined than ever to try to win the heart of my lovely neighbor.