“I’m so happy you moved to Santa Monica,” Giselle said as she hugged me tight.
“Me too,” I said as my eyes began to swell with tears.
“Who’s the hot guy that’s walking towards us?” Gretchen smiled as she pushed her hair back behind her ear.
“Hello, ladies.” Sam smiled.
“Sam, this is Giselle, and this is Gretchen; they’re my two best friends.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet the both of you,” Sam said as he held out his hand to each of them.
“Sam lives next door, and he’s been helping me bring the boxes in,” I said.
“We also went out for coffee this morning,” he blurted out.
Giselle looked at me and smiled. “Did you hear that, Gretchen? Lily went out for coffee with a guy.”
“I sure did, sis!” Gretchen smiled at me.
I turned and looked at Sam. “Don’t listen to them. Thank you for your help; I appreciate it.”
“No problem. If you need anything, just knock on my door or wall.” He smiled.
I grabbed Gretchen and Giselle’s hands and led them into my new apartment.
2
“So, Lily, tell us about Sam from next door, and what’s going on between the two of you?” Gretchen smirked as she ran her hand along my new couch.
“Nothing’s going on between us!” I exclaimed. “He helped me bring in my boxes; that’s all.”
“But you went out for coffee with him,” Giselle said.
“Correction, we went and grabbed a coffee to go. Besides, he’s gay anyway.”
“Shut up! He can’t be,” Gretchen moaned.
“Yes, he is, and Luke is his boyfriend,” I said as I started unpacking the box for the kitchen.
“What a shame,” Giselle said. “He seems like a nice guy, and he’d be perfect for you.”
“First of all, I’m not on the market. I’m done with men, remember? And second of all, you’ve known him all of ten seconds. How do you know that he’d be perfect for me?”
“We can tell,” Giselle and Gretchen spoke at the same time.
I rolled my eyes. “Come on, help me arrange this furniture.” I smiled.
We moved the living room furniture around until it was perfectly placed. My bedroom furniture had been delivered, and most of my boxes were unpacked.
“What’s this?” Giselle asked as she held the box labeled: SCRAPBOOK.
“Those are just some photos I took when I left Seattle. I was going to make a scrapbook dedicated to the start of my new life. But since I ended up staying in Portland, there isn’t much in there. Just put it in my closet, and I’ll go through it someday.”
“Oh, ok,” she said as she headed to the bedroom. She came back out a few minutes later, holding my guitar. “Aren’t you going to keep this out?”
I looked at her and then at the guitar. “Yeah, I almost forgot about that. I put it in the closet so that it didn’t get damaged while I was unpacking and moving things around. Thanks, Giselle; just find a corner in the bedroom and set it there.”
“I’m starving!” Gretchen blurted out.
“Me too,” followed Giselle.
I looked at the clock, and it was already 6:00 p.m., and I realized I hadn’t eaten a thing all day. “Let’s order a pizza and a salad,” I said.
“Sounds good; where are your menus?” Gretchen asked.
“Considering I moved in last night, I don’t have any menus.” I laughed.
“I have an idea; why don’t you go next door and see if Sam has any pizza menus?” Giselle winked.
“I have an idea; why don’t you just do a search on your phone?” I said.
Giselle rolled her eyes just as there was a knock on the door. I walked over and looked through the peephole to find Sam standing on the other side. I opened the door, and I was surprised to see him standing there, holding two pizzas and a large brown bag.
“Sam, what’s all this?” I asked as I pointed to the pizzas.
“I thought you ladies would like something to eat since you’ve been working hard all day.” He smiled.
“Come in, and thank you!” I smiled.
“You’re a lifesaver!” Gretchen proclaimed as she walked over and kissed him on the cheek. “We’re starving.”
“That was very nice of you to think of us, Sam. Let me get my wallet; how much do I owe you?”
“Nothing, it’s on me. Consider it a housewarming gift,” he said.
“You didn’t have to do that, but thank you, and please join us,” I insisted.
“Don’t mind if I do.” He smiled.
I took some plates from the cabinet, grabbed some forks from the drawer, and sat down next to Sam at the table. Gretchen had already torn into the breadsticks while Giselle opened the salad. Sam grabbed a slice of pizza from the box, put it on my plate, and then smiled at me.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“You’re welcome,” he whispered back.
“You could have invited Luke to come over,” I said to Sam.
“I already asked him, but he refused. I told him that we’d be in the company of three beautiful women and great food, so it was his loss.”
“And what did he say to that?” I asked.
“He said he’s good and just for me to come alone.”
I got up from my seat and grabbed the bottle of wine Giselle and Gretchen had brought over. I took the wine glasses from the cupboard and set them on the table. Sam stood up, opened the bottle, and poured each of us a glass. He held up his glass for a toast.
“To my new neighbor, Lily. May we become great friends and share many good times.”
We all smiled and clanked our glasses. “Thank you, Sam.”
We talked for a few hours about our careers. Sam’s an architect and works for a well-known company called Glassman and Fillmore. I shared my love of photography and the fact that I have a teaching degree, which was the reason that brought me to Santa Monica. Gretchen and Giselle talked about their modeling careers and the exotic places they’ve been. It was late, so Gretchen and Giselle called it a night. I hugged them goodbye, and Sam walked them to their car.
I was cleaning up the kitchen when a text message came through from Gretchen.
“I’m in love with Sam; why does he have to be gay?”
I smiled and shook my head as I replied, “All the good ones usually are.”
I finished cleaning up and looked at the clock; it was 2:45 a.m. I turned the lights off and walked into the bathroom. I turned the shower on, undressed, and stepped inside. It was a long day, and all I wanted to do was stay under the stream of hot water forever. After I managed to drag myself out of the shower, I put my pajamas on and looked at the guitar sitting in the corner of my bedroom. I walked over and picked it up. I sat down on the edge of the bed and started strumming a few chords. Memories of my father came to my mind, and I started to play the song that he used to sing to me when I was a child. When I was done playing the song, I looked at the clock again, and it was 4:00 a.m. I put the guitar back on its stand and climbed into my new bed. I prayed to God to please let me sleep peacefully.
My eyes flew open from the nightmare I was having. The clock read 6:00 a.m. as I glanced at it, and I had only slept two hours. I laid in bed, but I tossed and turned; there was no way I was going back to sleep. My mind was racing with the fact that I begin my teaching job tomorrow. I loved kids, and I loved being a teacher, but I also loved photography and would like to make that my career. I’m twenty-six years old, and I’m still undecided on what I want to do with my life. I thought I had it figured out with Hunter. My life was all planned out. We were going to get married, have a couple of kids, and live in a house with a white picket fence. I was going to pursue a career in photography while tutoring kids on the side. He was going to come home from work, and we were going to eat the meal together that I spent all day preparing. Was I just desperate to find some normalcy in my life?