The Artist

Chapter One

"If you could just put that box over there, that'd be great!" I smile at the mover guy. He obliges and puts the last box down. I pay them their fee and a tip for being so courtious. Home sweet home, I think to myself.

My phone begins ringing and I scramble through the sea of cardboard, bubble wrap and cellophane to find it. I flip it up and answer my mother's call. And yes, I still own a flip phone.

"Ellen! Have you moved in yet, am I interupting?" My mother says excitedly, I can tell she's pacing around the kitchen.

"No momma, the movers just left. I just have to unpack everything now." I balance the phone between my ear and shoulder while I rip open a box, it's full of bid linen... I'll leave that one till later.

"Oh good! Now, I don't want you lifting heavy boxes and hurting your back, you did make the movers put the boxes where you'll need them didn't you Ellen Georgia Darke?" She frets. She's such a worrier, always panicking about her kids.

"Don't worry, I have everything sorted." I say while hauling a box into my arms and putting it in the bathroom, ignoring my mom momma's warning. "How's everything in Cleveland?"

I take out a bundle of towels and put them in the bathroom. Leave it to my momma to call at the most inconvenient of times.

"Good, good. Scott told me to tell you that he loves and misses you, very much and so does your dad, and all the family and," I hear sniffling from her end of the phone as she pretends not to cry and starts mumbling about hayfever.

"Momma are you crying?" I stop and stand up straight, rolling my eyes and opening up the blinds and curtains in the living room.

"No, no. Just a little emotional Ellie-bellie." She calls me by the ridiculous pet name I acquired many years ago. "My only little girl gone off to be a big swanky artist. It's all very much sometimes hun." She laughs lightly.

"You know I'm not gone forever, listen momma I gotta go. I have all lot of unpacking to do. Love to everyone."

"Okay Ellen, you call me if your in any bother you hear me?"

"Yes momma, bye." I laugh and listen to her say 'bye Ellie-bellie' until I hang up on her.

I put my phone on silent and put my hands on my hips. I scan the mess in front of me. Ok, time to sort this stuff out...

Three long hours and two coffee breaks later and I'm finished. Everything's in its place and the apartment really feels like my own now. Of course I still have to paint the living room. It's a hideous shade of grey that depresses me. It's the only room Scott and I didn't get painted last week.

We came down to paint some rooms before I moved in. So now, I have a white bathroom, a yellow bedroom and a concrete grey living room which is seriously bugging me. I need to paint that as soon as possible. And, it's an excuse to have Scott down for the weekend! I'll have to go to the DIY store to pick out some paint soon.

I make my bed and put all the cute little pillows momma bought me on top. I run the hoover over the floor and fill the fridge with the small bag of groceries I bought on my way here.

When I have everything finished, the apartment is spotless and I have nothing to do. It's late now, and dark, so I can't go for a walk in the park outside. I don't know anyone here yet, so I can't go visiting. And all of a sudden, it was very lonesome in my new apartment.

I come to the conclusion that my temporary best friend was to be the TV. I switch it on, it was an old box of a thing that came free with the apartment when I bought it, but it's all I need. I find a channel showing back to back reruns of Greys Anatomy, and since it's my first night in Seattle, I figure I could get to know the local hospitals.

Somewhere between an open heart surgery and a kidney transplant , I drift off to sleep.

"Shut the fuck up!" I blink a few times, rolling off the couch and landing on the floor with a thud. I snap me eyes open and sit up immediately, looking around my apartment for the source of the speaking. No one's here. I'm guided only by the lights outside up to the door, where I press my ear to the door to see if there's someone outside.

I hear laughing, a man's laughter. It's a nice laugh, but it sounds fake. "I fucked your girl." The second, well I'm assuming second, guy says in a mocking singsong voice. He repeats it over and over and I wait for a response.

Before I realise what I'm doing, and that I am completely eavesdropping, something hits the door, so hard that the lock gives a little. I jump back, my heart rate accelerated from the shock. There's repeated hitting at the door, something keeps banging off it.

If I had a courageous bone in my body I'd go out all guns blazing telling whatever drunk teens are outside to go take a hike. But all the nosey bones in my body tell me to peep through the keyhole. So I do.

First of all I see nothing but the back of someone's jeans, but that person moves away, calling foul profundities at another man, slumped against the wall on the opposite side of the corridor. I gasp and wait till I'm sure the other man is gone before running out to help the stranger, sitting in a bloody heap on the ground from the supposed beating he received.

"Are you okay? How bad are you hurt?" I gush as he groans and shifts up on his elbows. He opens his puffy eyes and they lock with mine. His nose is bleeding quite a bit.

"I'm not." He pushes me away from him and stands up, shakily, and dusts himself off.

"You just took a beating, let me help. You nose is bleeding." I frown and take a step back from where the blood is dripping in small puddles on the ground.

"Big wow. Go back to bed lady, and keep your nose out of my goddamn business!" He spits and walks off down the hallway.

I just stand there for a moment, what the hell just happened? I go back inside and lock the door, double checking that it is locked. It's 4am for the love of god. I need sleep. You know I try to believe in the good of people but hell, if I try help someone again and get a response like that I may have to change my views.

This time I rolled into bed, instead of off the couch and close my eyes, thinking of everything that happened today, and imagining everything that will happen tomorrow.

New fanfic! Uhm, I haven't written anything in ages so I apologise if I'm a little rusty! All the love,
-C.X