Domestic Bliss

Chapter One

"I don't know, Tiff, I'm starting to think that I'm going to have to sell the condo." Teri Hatcher sighed into the phone as she slowly walked down the aisles of a grocery store. A lot of women her age much preferred texting to phone calls, but sometimes Teri preferred a good old fashioned gab session. Especially with her best friend, who still cheered in San Francisco and she hadn't seen in months. Not since before her divorce was finalized. Teri sighed again, pondering a can of beans. She'd married a much older man and their marriage was over in almost a blink of an eye, when he'd realized the glamorous sexy cheerleader he'd married was actually the most boring 25 year old on the planet. At least that's what he said anyway. She'd been left with an expensive condo and a mortgage payment and not a whole lot else in the divorce. She hadn't wanted his money, she'd married him for love because she was an old fashioned romantic fool.

"That bad?" Tiffany said. "You haven't found a roommate yet?"

"Oh my God," Teri groaned. "All the people who answered my ads have been losers, creepers or idiots."

"Well that's what you get for advertising on Craigslist in 2021!" Tiffany said with a laugh.

"I went for Facebook too! But that just gave me single moms. Which you know is fine, but I don't wanna live with kids that aren't mine. And I don't know, Tiff, do people not you know, discipline their kids any more?"

"I haven't any idea, Teri. But I do have a potential lead for a roommate."

"Are you coming to LA?"

"Hardly," Tiffany scoffed. "No, Titus has a friend."

"A football player?" Teri asked. Titus was Tiffany's boyfriend, who played for the 49ers. He was a really decent guy, one of the most straight up football players she'd ever met. Most were not honorable like him. Still, if he was a friend of Titus maybe he wouldn't be so bad. He didn't befriend many of the guys.

"Well, not anymore," Teri could almost hear her friend's shrug. "He got hurt, career's over."

"That sucks."

"Anyway, Dean is so sweet! He's 26 but he's still got the fresh faced kid from Michigan thing going on. He's really nice, maybe a bit naïve."

"Why's he in LA?"

"He's pretty," Tiffany giggled. "I mean, he's really good looking, despite his personality. Agents jumped all over him to be an actor. I honestly think he's gonna be eaten alive. But he's still got money from football and Titus and I are worried about him. I thought maybe this could solve all your problems. You'd get a roommate who could help you pay the bills, and we'd have someone looking after him."

"Hmm," Teri was a bit skeptical. "Is this a setup?"

"No!" Tiffany may have been a bit quick on her reply and Teri rolled her eyes even though her friend couldn't see it. "He just broke off an engagement. I mean Mindy probably wasn't right for him, but he did love her. At any rate, I doubt he's looking for someone so soon. It's just he's over this breakup, still rehabbing his injury and I just don't want the sharks to get him. We tried keeping him here with us, but without football, I don't think he wants to stay."

"So why LA? Why not go home to where did you say he was from?"

"He's been staying with his brother, the wanna be rock star. I don't think it's working out either. Another reason why he needs a nice place, in a good neighborhood with someone that I'm vouching for."

"Oh, so you put in a good word with him about me. Well, I won't be a babysitter, but it does sound like he could use a friend. And I need a renter. If you and Titus vouch for him, then sure, give him my info."

"Thanks Teri! You won't regret this!" Tiffany said her goodbyes and hung up.

Teri went back to her grocery shopping shaking her head. She probably would regret this, but it was a better offer than she'd been getting. And she really didn't want to sell and go back to some dingy apartment. The condo was in a really good neighborhood and it was the best thing about her present life. Which reminded her, she needed to finish up before the boss sent her on some stupid task.

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Two weeks later, a young former football player was packing up his belongings in his brother's apartment. Dean wondered why he'd moved in with Roger in the first place. It wasn't like he couldn't afford to buy something or at least rent an apartment of his own. However, he was his father's (well technically his stepfather but he was more a father than his biological father ever was) son. His dad had told him to invest most of his salary right from the get go and it was invested with a trusted family friend, not any of the sharks connected with football or Hollywood. He had a modest but still pretty generous allowance to live on now, so he could still afford to rent a decent place. But not as decent as this Teri's condo. And he was better off keeping that money invested now that his career was over. He'd not be making that kind of money any time soon and it was good to have it squirreled away for the future.

He'd moved in with his brother because he'd not wanted to be alone. Dean didn't cope well with living on his own. Barely days into training camp with San Francisco he'd become best friends and roommates with Titus Jackson. Titus and his girl looked after him, realizing that Dean was the kind of guy who just didn't adjust to living on his own. Then he'd met Mindy and moved in with her. But that engagement had ended about the time his world had come crashing down. Titus and Tiffany had invited him to move in with them, but he just couldn't, he couldn't see a happy relationship right now.

So with Hollywood agents beckoning, he'd moved to LA to try for a fresh start. He'd moved in with Roger, but honestly Roger's lifestyle was not his taste. Nor was his brother's girlfriend who either tried to pick a fight with him or get him into bed behind his brother's back. He was starting to really worry that Bridget was gonna come on too strong, get rejected and cry rape. It was time to move on. So when he'd poured out his guts to Titus and Tiffany, well his dear friends had pointed him in the direction of Teri Hatcher.

He'd met her at a Starbucks and they'd worked out a roommate arrangement. God, she was beautiful. Not really his type . . .whatever type that was. But she was not even remotely in his league. She was possibly a little younger than him, but she'd already been married and divorced. She had an amazing condo in a great neighborhood and a glamorous job as a personal assistant to a celebrity. And he had a sneaking suspicion that she regarded him as a charity case. Basically room and some babysitting (god he hated that, but he had a feeling she was looking at him like he was a teenager) in exchange for his money.

Still he could do a lot worse and it was a really really nice place with more than enough room. He'd get the company he needed without them really getting on each other's nerves.

It was a big step moving in with a total stranger. But he had a feeling he needed this push. Maybe he could finally find the ground under his feet in a new situation without having anyone with expectations or preconceived notions about him around.

For the first time since he'd woken up in that hospital, two weeks after Mindy had thrown his ring back at him and stormed off, he felt hope.