The other shoe

Tom lives alone in an apartment. Joe lives in the apartment above him. Joe works the 3-11 shift at the factory. Every night he gets home at about 11:15. Tom routinely goes to bed at 11. Every night, as Tom lies in bed, he hears Joe tromping up the stairs to his apartment. It is the same every night. Joe comes home, sits down on his bed, directly above Tom's bedroom, and takes off his heavy work shoes. And every night, the shoes hit the floor, one at a time, with first one thud and then another. It is part of Tom's nightly routine to listen to Joe's ritual. Thud, thud. Tonight is no different. Joe gets home at 11:17 and Tom lies and listens. Thud. Tom listens some more. Nothing. Tom sits up in bed, listening, listening. Nothing. And Tom begins to wonder about this man he hardly knows. What happened to the second thud? The listening continues. Nothing. Tom is sure he heard one thud. One shoe off. He is also sure there was no second thud. Now Tom gets up, turns on a light and sits on the edge of his bed. And he waits. And he waits some more...for the other shoe to fall...
What you have just read is the simplest of plots. We can picture Tom in his apartment and Joe in his. There is an easy-to-understand narrative - and there is drama as we wait for the other shoe to fall.
If you want to keep your readers turning pages, no matter what you're writing, make them wonder when the other shoe will fall.