New Beginnings

The New Girl

Lana's p.o.v.

I woke with a start as the new neighbor's obnoxiously loud uhaul clattered into her driveway. How does that company stay in business when all of their trucks sound like they're about to sputter their final breath?

Oh well! Time to start my day! I run downstairs blaring my favorite playlist on itunes while busting out some of my signature dance moves around the island in the kitchen.

"Geez, Lana! Can you be any more obnoxious at this time of day? I mean really! Who is this happy when they wake up?" My father complained.

"Relax, old man! I'm going to make breakfast for everyone so you can stop being so hangry."

My dad guffawed at that, came toward me, put me in a headlock, and gave me a noogie.

"Really Dad! I'm 18 years old. Don't you think I've outgrown that childishness?"

"I haven't, so, nope. I'm gonna keep giving them and you're gonna keep enjoying them." At that, we both burst out in laughter.

"I love you Dad, but you know I hate being watched when I cook so get out of here if you'd like to eat sometime today," I said as I kicked him in the butt to get him moving.

He left the room chuckling to himself and I got back to dancing, singing, and scrambling eggs.

Talia's p.o.v.

I parked next to the moving truck and got out of my brand new lotus, looking around. There were tree's everywhere. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming. All in all, it was a picture perfect fairytale. "Damn it! I was really hoping this place wouldn't be so great."

When Joss, my ex, had heard me say that I'd rather be on another continent than stay another minute in her house, she had really taken me seriously. She booked my flight, had my things packed, signed the divorce agreement, and bought me an amazing car and a house, as far away from her as she could find, all within the course of 4 days! I didn't even think you could find a house you liked in that amount of time, nevermind finalize the sale of one. I guess money really can buy anything... except happiness.

Joss was many things, but happy wasn't one of them. In the 4 years we'd been married, she'd made her way through 11 jobs searching for something that 'spoke to her.' She never had to worry about money. She was the heiress of an incredibly wealthy family so bouncing from job top job wasn't really a big deal to her. She bought anything that struck her fancy in the moment, only to be bored with it 5 minutes later. When those things didn't satisfy her, she decided we needed to 'expand our sexual horizons,' and she began inviting new people into the bedroom. As you can imagine, I wasn't too happy about that, but still, I placated her childish fantasies in the hope that one day she'd wake up and realize that happiness is a choice and she was choosing to be miserable! When I came home from work one day and found her in a compromising position with another woman without me, I had finally had enough! I walked out the door and bluntly told her that I'd never be back.

Realizing that I'd been standing in my yard for the better part of a half an hour, zoning off into space and thinking of everything that had gone wrong, I finally went inside to check the place out. Hardwood floors, beautiful handcrafted moldings, wrought iron sculptures. It was incredible! Either Joss had actually paid attention when I told her about all the things that I liked, or she was trying to buy my forgiveness from afar. I really couldn't decide which was more likely.

I walked into the kitchen after checking out the rest of the house. Now that's what I'm talking about! Omg! It's an open concept floor plan into an enormous dining room. Double oven, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, an over the counter hanging wine glass rack (Not that I drink wine. I actually can't stand the stuff. It all just tastes like rotten fruit. If having an "acquired taste" means forcing yourself to drink something that makes you almost vomit, time and time again, until you can finally stand the taste of rot, I'm all set with all that), the list goes on and on about how incredible it is. I could seriously live in this kitchen!