CHAPTER 1
"Hello. Is anybody here?" She asked as she came through the front door. She looked around at her new surroundings. The modest two-bedroom apartment she was sharing with her best friend was situated in the heart of Mickey Mouse Land itself, Orlando, Florida. This was going to be her new home. She hadn't been to Florida since she was a child; family vacations to Disney World were the highlights of the year for her. She sat her bags down and walked over to the window. There, she noticed a park adjacent to the apartment building. She noticed children playing on the swings, men and women walking dogs and riding bikes. One site caught her eye. She saw a couple lying in the grass. They appeared to be talking. The woman lay on her side, running her hand through the guy's hair. He was on his back laughing, probably from something she said. She watched them for a while. They looked so happy together. I had that once. What went wrong? She was lost in thought and didn't hear anyone come in the apartment.
"ANYA! You made it."
She turned around to find her best friend since elementary school, standing in the doorway of their new apartment. She was a welcome sight. The two had not seen each other for months, and now they were rooming together.
"LISA! It's great to see you."
The two ran towards each other. Instead of hugging, as most friends do, they did their secret handshake. They had come up with this back in middle school. They never shared it with anyone else. This was what made them best friends. Sure, they each had other friends they hung out with, even boyfriends, at times, but the two of them knew that they were each other's lifelines. If ever one of them needed anything, anything at all, the other would be there. That was why Anya had come to live with Lisa. She needed her friend now more than ever.
"It's so good to see you. Was the trip okay?" Lisa asked as she shut the door to the apartment.
"Yeah, it was okay. I have the truck downstairs with my stuff in it. Care to help?"
"Let's get started. I have a date tonight and I don't want to be late." Lisa was putting her bag down on the counter.
"A date? I'm not even in town five minutes and you're leaving me already?" She pretended to be mad. Lisa knew Anya was kidding. The two hadn't been mad at each other since 9th grade when Lisa accused Anya of stealing her boyfriend, an accusation that proved to be false later. Lisa found out he had been cheating on her, Anya found out, and was trying to get him to admit it to Lisa. She ended up breaking up with him and her and Anya spent the night crying and watching old movies.
"Hey, I'm not the one that came a week early. Besides, this guy is hot. I met him at a club the other night. We really clicked. He's taking me to dinner and then we are hitting the clubs." She began to dance around the room.
Anya had to laugh at her antics. Lisa was the one who could make her laugh. It had been so long since she had smiled, just the thought of that, made her stop.
"Yeah, well, I had to get out of there. That place was too much to deal with."
Lisa knew right away, what Anya was talking about. When she had heard what had happened to Anya, she immediately invited her to move to Florida to live with her. She knew her friend needed a change in scenery, a break from the real world, a place she could feel safe. Lisa would give her everything she could to get her back on her feet.
"Listen, I'm sorry about that. You know you are welcomed anytime. I wished you had taken me up on my offer to move here a long time ago."
Anya looked on the verge of tears. "I know. I do too." She cleared her throat and began to walk towards the door. "That was in the past, I have a wonderful future to look forward to, right?"
"Hell yeah, you do."
"That's more like it. Now, let's get started so you can make that date. Hey, do I get to meet him?"
"Not on your life. I'm not having you steal this guy from me."
"What?" Anya was shocked as to what Lisa just said.
"Kidding, only kidding. Yeah, you can meet him. He'll be here around 8:00 p.m. to pick me up. If things go well, maybe we can double date with a friend of his." She hoped she had not stepped over a line with that commit.
"NO WAY! I have sworn off guys. I can be friends with them, yes, but that is all." Lisa gave her that "yeah right" look.
"So, you had one bad relationship. You said it yourself, you have a wonderful future ahead of you."
"Bad relationship? I would call it a catastrophe. But yeah, maybe in time, I could go out again. Look are we going to stand around here all day and talk about my love life, which there is none, or are we going to move me in here?" She barked out the order.
"Yes ma'am. Right away, ma'am." Lisa saluted Anya.
Anya smiled at her friend. I just might be okay after all.
The rest of the day was spent moving Anya's stuff into the apartment. Anya had the better of the two rooms. Lisa's old roommate married and moved out several months before. This left Anya with the bigger room, which included a huge walk-in closest and connecting bathroom. They had been able to carry most of her stuff up to the 2nd story apartment. Lisa asked a couple of neighbors to help with the furniture. After they had everything in her room, the hard part came: unpacking. Lisa would be no help because she had her date to go on. Anya started what would become hours of unpacking and sorting through her things.
Around 8:00 p.m., she heard a knock at the door. That must be Lisa's date. She checked herself in the mirror. Her hair was falling out of her ponytail, she didn't have any makeup on, and she probably smelled from moving all day. Great first impression. Good going Anya.
"Anya come here, I want you to meet someone." Lisa called from the living room.
As Anya approached the stranger her friend was going out with, she felt she knew him from somewhere but couldn't place his face. He looked to be about Lisa's height, 6' or so. He appeared to be around the same age as her: 23 or 24. His hair was definitely brown, she could see his roots growing out, but the top had this very red color to it. She had seen people like this before and thought they looked like weirdoes, but for some reason, it looked good on him. In fact, he looked good all over. What the hell are you thinking? This is Lisa's date. You swore off men, remember?
She extended her hand to shake his. "Hi, I'm Anya, Lisa's new roommate."
He took her hand and kissed the back of it. This made Anya flinch. She immediately took her hand away, looking nervously around the room.
"I'm sorry. Did I offend you?" The man before her asked.
"Um…no…it's not that…I'm just not good with people I don't know." Both girls knew it was a lie. Anya had never had trouble making friends. Lisa would always say that Anya never met a stranger. She always wanted to be everyone's friend. She never shied away from it, that was, until recently. This guy didn't know that and they weren't about to inform him.
"'Well, we can remedy that situation. Hi, my name is Joey. There, now you know me."
Anya smiled at him. She liked him instantly. She could tell right away that he and Lisa would hit it off. Their personalities matched almost perfect. Let's hope not too perfect. He's a flirty one and I know Lisa likes the men. Heaven help them both, she thought to herself.
"Well, it's nice to meet you Joey. I won't keep you and Lisa from your date. I have a lot of unpacking to do. So, I'll see you later."
"Okay, bye Anya, I'll talk to you in the morning." Lisa grabbed her keys and they were out the door.