Natalie peeked with one eye into the hospital room. There in the railed bed, covered with a thin blue blanket and surrounded by a jungle of tubes and wires and inscrutable monitors encased in beige, lay Vanessa. Her neck was fitted with a hard plastic cervical collar and the back of her hand bore the … Continue reading chapter 20 something: visitation

Chad burst into the room where Mikhail and the chick were (thank God) only talking. The chick begged “Can I please come?” obviously because she wanted to get him alone, the same way she had been pestering him since she got there. “Do you even know who she is?” he asked. The chick claimed she … Continue reading chapter something 19: hurry up

Natalie sat on the edge of the bed and covered her burning face with her fingers. “This is so crazy. I never expected this.” Mikhail remained standing in front of her with his arms crossed, appearing mainly engaged with the carpet. But what most people regarded as a face without any meaningful expression, Natalie could … Continue reading chapter 18 something: reconnecting

Vanessa dragged Tiffany by the hand through the lobby into the front vestibule, leaving Chad and Brad alone. She threw her wrist away and stood back. “How could you do this to me? He’s my ex-boyfriend. How dare you flaunt him in my face—” Tiffany put her sunglasses back on. “How could I know he … Continue reading chapter 17 something: downward spiral

Chad downed his bottle and left it on the gym machine. There was an easy way to fix the situation. He called up his girlfriend who said she’d be over in a little while. She hadn’t seen the place yet and this would be the perfect time to impress her by kicking the guy out … Continue reading chapter 16 something: memories

I am not a bad girl. I missed a day because I typed this on another computer away from home and forgot to upload it last night before I left. Doing the best I can out here. This is draft zero, y'all. There's no hard-drive harvesting going on. Three days on the job as a … Continue reading chapter 14, something, 15, something: another reunion

After Tiffany left, Vanessa was silent. She rifled through her own things without paying attention and reflected on Tiffany’s cryptic statement about saying hi to Chad. Tiffany was in boarding school when she was dating him, so she never really saw him. Why would she say bring him up? There was no telling when she’d … Continue reading chapter 13, something: the sleuth

Mouse cage in one hand, handle of her wheelie bag in the other, Natalie arrived at the door to the building. She took a deep breath, tucked her hair behind her ear, and went in. At the desk, she informed the guard that she was the new tenant of 7B and could she please have … Continue reading something 12: surprise

Tiffany, in her now iconic red convertible, swung into the circular driveway in front of her house and parked. She pushed her Wayfarers up on her head and pulled off her gloves. There was another car parked further down the driveway with a “Go Warthogs!” bumper sticker. She smiled. This was going to be a … Continue reading Chapter 9. Stairway to conflict.

Gram leaned heavily on the handle of the shopping cart, her pocketbook and oxygen tank in the child seat. Natalie and her mother flanked her as the three of them meandered through the local discount home good store to shop for Natalie’s new place. Her parents had been caught off guard by her sudden announcement … Continue reading ch 8 something: packing up is hard to do

With both hands on the steering wheel, Chad’s girlfriend smiled at him over her shoulder as he pulled his luggage out of the back of her convertible. “See you at seven, babe!” She waved as she drove off.   Chad watched her with a big smile on his face. He took the elevator up to … Continue reading 7 something chapter: Moving Day.