After 3 years, I found myself staring at my apartment as a single man. I don't know why it felt different, or why it looked different, but it did. I guess it had something to do with not having to worry about coming home and seeing her.
'Her' was my ex, Beth. We had met roughly 3 years ago and had, I thought, fallen in love with one another. Almost 3 months into our relationship, we had decided that she should move in with me so that we could spend more time together. Things had been great for the next two years, but towards the end of this year, things began to fall apart. We would suddenly argue and they'd last for days. It got to the point where we would break up, then calm down a few hours later and patch things up. This roller coaster went on for too long and, finally, we broke up for good.
Now, with her belongings out of the apartment, it felt different and barren. While I didn't miss her, I missed the feeling of someone else's presence. Still, it was great to be away from her and on my own for some time.
It only took a few weeks of this new, single - and slightly depressing - life for me to realize that I wanted someone back into my life. I dunno what it was; waking up alone, I think, was the number one thing. I detested the thought of going to sleep and waking up alone, not being able to curl up alongside someone special. Eh, I figured, sooner or later someone would come along. Until then, I planned to just wait it out.
*****
It was a Saturday, a little after noon, when I heard a knock on my door. A little surprised, since I wasn't expecting company, I paused my show - just started up Arrested Development again for the 1500th time - and got up to answer the door. When I opened it, my eyes fell upon the cutest girl I had seen in a long time.
"Hi," she said, a bright smile on her gorgeous face. She had short brown hair and was wearing black-framed glasses; on her, they seriously looked perfect. "My name's Jessie. I'm your new neighbor."
"Hi Jessie," I replied, giving her an awkward smile. "I'm Chris, pleasure to meet you."
I swung the door open wider and took a step away, unsure if I should invite her in or just talk right at my door. I guess she figured I had invited her in because, sure enough, she strode right in and looked around. "I just moved in," she began, making her way towards the couch in the living room, "from outta state." She plopped down on the couch and turned to me. I could feel a big smile on my face, which brought her to smile in return.
"Make yourself comfortable," I said, a hint of sarcasm and joke in my tone, which prompted her to laugh.
"Shit, sorry!" she quickly stood up but I shook my head.
"No, no, I'm teasing you. Please, sit down."
"You sure?" she asked.
"Definitely," I replied. "Care for something to drink? I got some juice and some water."
"What kinda juice?" she asked.
I walked to the fridge and opened it, peering inside to see the contents. I hadn't gone shopping, something I had planned to do later in the day, but was relieved to see I still had some various juices left. "There's this V8 Strawberry-Banana stuff that's pretty good," I said, "and then your usual suspects; orange, apple, cherry limeade."
"Ooooh, cherry limeade, please!" she answered. "What are we watching?" she added, which got me chuckling.
"Well, I was watching my favorite show, Arrested Development. Ever seen it?" I grabbed two glasses from the shelf and poured the juice into both. Mine only filled halfway before the contents of the container emptied, much to my disapproval. "Dammit," I cursed under my breath, before I capped the container and set it into the bucket for recycled. I walked to the living room and handed her the glass with the most juice. "Yours," I said.
"Why does mine have so much more than yours?" she asked.
"I ran out." I sat down and took a long drink. That limeade always hit the spot.
"Oh." She paused, then shrugged and took a sip. "Oh, to answer your question... Nope. I've never seen this show."
I gasped. Audibly. "How is this possible?" I blurted out, my nerd-dom on full display. "This show is, like, the Holy Grail of comedy!"
She chuckled, before sitting back into the couch and nodding to the television. "Then, play it."
I shook my head, set my glass down and grabbed my PlayStation 3 remote. "Nah, I can't from here. You won't understand. I'll have to start from the beginning. Then, you'll have a reason to come back and watch the rest of the series with me."
"Unless I hate it," she dryly remarked, which brought me to a pause. Immediately, her infectious laughter filled the room. "I'm teasing!" I couldn't help but smile; she was, without a doubt, one of the cooler people I've hung out with in... years.
Over the next few hours, we watched a few shows, laughing and generally getting to know one another. I found out that she, too, had recently severed ties with a significant other and realized she needed to get away. An aunt in San Diego (my old neighbor) was going to move, so she told Jessie she could move into the apartment. Her aunt was apparently loaded and was nice enough to help Jessie get a new job and would help pay for her expenses here, until she was on her own two feet. I told her about my recent breakup, about Beth, about my life; she was real easy to just open up to and connect with. For the first time in a long time, I had met someone that put me completely at ease and made me feel comfortable.
Only when I noticed the sun had begun to set did I notice the time. "Oh shit," I groaned, standing up and stretching. I didn't even realize we were watching some comedy flick, but the time caught me off-guard. Jessie, too, stood up and followed suit with stretching.
"What's up?" she asked. She caught sight of the time and let out a gasp. "Holy crap, have we really been sitting here for this long?"
