City Romance

**A/N** So this is something new.. I'm trying it out and will post the next chapter if this gets high reviews. Rate and Review please :-)

Kay

City Romance

Monday

It had been a long day. My body was sore and I definitely needed a shower, I reeked of hard manual labor. My hair had sweated itself into a mass of tangles stuck flat to my forehead and face; I was the epitome of a hard worker. My clothes were caked with a layer of dust collected over the years in a filthy attic.

What's sad is that it isn't even my attic I've been cleaning. The elderly lady next door had been asking me to help clean her attic for a while, and I finally had time with the winter break from my college classes. This past semester had been my toughest yet. I had elected to take anatomy and had never guessed at just how hard the class would be, but boy did I know now.

I've lived next to Mrs. Greenwich for two years now and I've noticed that not too many of her family members seem to visit. I know a little about her family from listening to her stories during a shared lunch every now and then. For instance, I know she has three sons and a daughter. I also know that two of her sons have passed away and her remaining children live on the west coast.

I can relate to Mrs. Greenwich, or Louise if addressing her directly, because I've lived without my family for some time now. Although not separated by death like hers, my family is separated by old grudges and distance, lots and lots of distance thank god. I'm still close to my mother and brother, but other than that I have no immediate family, even though I have a sister and some other 'should be' close family members.

I've worked hard over the years to prove myself to no one in particular. Most of my family believed that I wasn't good enough to go to college and that I should just settle down and pop out babies... Well, that's definitely not happening if I have my way about it.

So here I am, about to be a college graduate with a degree that means something. Oh, and ya know... enough loneliness to fill the ocean three times over, but that's just something I try to look over. The guys I've dated in the past were alright, nothing too special. Mostly, they were the kind that just wanted in my pants and be done with it... that obviously didn't work well for me seeing how I've been single for the past two years.

Damn, has it really been two whole years? No wonder I'm graduating early...

I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Santana, Anna for short and I beg of you not to call me Sandy. I'm around five foot six-ish, very pale skin, a little bit of meat on my bones and I have long red-ish brown curly hair. From what I hear walking down the street, I have a nice rack and apparently a ghetto booty. I've been told that's a good thing... but, I've never been to the ghetto so... I wouldn't know honestly.

sigh

Yes, sadly, I was

that

sheltered growing up.

Louise had worked my ass off today, sentencing me to hours in her attic sifting through 'fifty years worth of junk' as she referred to it. When I asked why the sudden interest in clearing the clutter, I was informed that her grandson was coming to stay with her for a while and that she thought she'd use the attic for his personal space. I was intrigued by this, I had seen times where Louise would leave to visit but I had never encountered one of them visiting her.

I walked up the stairs of my front porch and dug around for my keys.

Shit, I must have left them next door.

Disappointed, achy, and tired, I made my way back over next door and walked in. I started to yell out to Louise that I had lost my keys when I heard her speaking on the phone.

"Yes, I'm so excited! They are perfect for each other and I can't wait for him to get here and meet Anna. I can see my future great-grandchildren now! What? Of course she doesn't know what I have planned, there's no way she would agree. She's much too prideful for such nonsense."

Her conversation continued on as I found my keys on the coffee table and bolted for the door. What in the world is that old lady planning??

Future great-grandchildren my ass!

I couldn't help but be a little miffed at Louise. I mean, here I am spending my winter break helping her clean out her attic and she's conspiring against me! Well, ok, maybe she's just trying to set me up but if you ask me it's the same thing.

I slipped into my claw-foot bathtub and soaked in the steamy hot water, hoping to soak the day's events away. I caught myself wondering what Eli looked like and couldn't help but feel the loneliness swell up inside me again. My heart ached to be treated with love and care like it deserved, but I hadn't found anyone willing to fill that void lately and I didn't hold high hopes of finding someone soon. I decided right then and there to pretend I hadn't heard Louise on the phone, I shouldn't have eavesdropped anyway.

I pulled myself out of the tub and did a quick job of drying myself off. It was then my body screamed its protest for sleep. I gladly obliged by slinking towards my big warm bed and quickly dozing off.