Another Step. And another. A few more left. Normally, walking the stairs wasn't a big problem for Betty, but today she was carrying a few heavy boxes which made the task a little bit more difficult. If she'd miss the stair, she'd fall down with a lot of fragile stuff. There was sweat forming on her forehead, but she didn't have her hands free to wipe it away.
"How many stairs do we have left?" The girl groaned, shouting at her mother who was in front of her and had already carried a few boxes inside.
"We're almost there, honey!" Alice encouraged her with a smile, even though it was everything but genuine.
Still, if she was the one mocking all day that would guarantee that her two daughters wouldn't be smiley either.
The woman who normally wore pastel pantsuits had changed into the more suitable clothes for an activity like this, and so she was wearing her denim jeans and a plain white t-shirt. She pushed a few more boxes inside and almost ripped her jeans and sighed quietly before she turned around to the hallway again.
"Moving here is fun already." Polly complained, as she was behind Betty and carried a few (less heavy) boxes upstairs.
She had promised herself to do as less a possible, since she didn't even want to be here in the first place.
"I don't like the attitude, young lady. You better help us instead." Alice stated firmly and handed her one of the boxes that was standing out in the hallway that could be carried inside to her own bedroom.
She understood where Polly's behavior came from, but that wasn't something she could use today. One more snap, and she felt like she was going to lose it. Not because she didn't feel like the way her daughter felt was valid, but because part of her felt exactly the same. The girl's frown was raised till into her hairline, but she walked inside nevertheless. In the end all her stuff needed to be in her room, so she'd better to that now.
"It isn't that bad, right?" Betty tried to ease the situation as they looked around the apartment, which was seemingly smaller than the house they used to live in.
"It's absolutely lovely!" Polly chirped sarcastically as she walked back into the living room.
She earned another eye roll from her mother, who had given her already too much today.
"I will get some bags from the truck." The girl sighed and turned around with her eyes spitting fire.
Not that she was mad at her mother for the situation, but it was her only way to let out any of the rage she was feeling inside. Alice knew that, since that was a quality she had gotten from her, but that didn't made it any less difficult to deal with.
"Mom, I have to admit... carrying all those heavy things on the stairs is kind of a shitty start." Betty said quietly, as she didn't want to put more on her mother's plate than necessary but also feeling that in a way she needed to back up her sister.
"I know, Betty. It's not like I asked for the elevator to be broken." Alice sighed and walked out the door again, gesturing to the broken thing that could have saved them a lot of trouble.
Across of them, another door opened, revealing a man with brown hair and a beard. He was wearing his jacket, probably on his way to something. Alice didn't give it much attention, since she had bigger things to focus on-- her moody daughter for example.
"Moving day?"
Fred gestured to the few boxes that were still in front of their door, trying his best to make light conversation with the people that seemed to be their new neighbors. The apartment had been empty for a while, so he was happy to see that it was occupied again.
"No, on my free time I like to move heavy furniture three floors high!" Alice said sarcastically, giving the man a glare.
"Yeah... the elevator has been broken for a while. Sorry, they will fix it soon enough. You need a hand?" He offered politely, not taking her compliment personally. Moving wasn't easy, so she was probably tired from carrying everything this high.
Alice's face immediately softened when he told her he wanted to help out, realizing that she had been harsh to the first person in the building they had met. Off to a great start, Alice.
"We don't want to bother you." She figured that it was only a question to be polite, nobody ever wanted the other to say that they indeed needed help with a task like that. But he wasn't backing out. Whenever Fred offered help, he meant it.
"Don't worry about it, I'd like to help out." There formed a smile on his face, and for the first time that day Alice could get herself to genuinely give a smile too.
"That'd be great, thanks. Sorry for reacting like that, I'm a little tense." Alice apologized, but Fred didn't mind.
They walked down the stairs, followed by Betty who was glad to see that people seemed to be friendly around here.
"Gotcha. Moving can suck. Where are you guys from?" He asked politely, curious to see what kind of people had moved next doors.
As long as they lived so close to one another, he better put some effort in making their first day a good one.
"We moved here from New Jersey." Alice told him, hesitating to tell him the full story, but changing her mind just before she did.
That would be a little bit too much oversharing, would it? Nobody wanted to hear a sob story from a divorced woman.
"Ah, so from the city back to a small town like Riverdale. That must feel new." He emphasized with them.
Not that he would know, he had lived in this small town his whole life. Though, he had heard before that people who were done with the big city life moved to a smaller place to enjoy the peace and quiet.
"I got a job here and we wanted to start over, so that kind of fell together." She explained, revealing that she didn't necessarily chose Riverdale, but that in a way Riverdale had chosen her.
"What do you do for living?" Fred asked curiously, already liking the vibe around her.
"I'm a journalist. Next week I start at the RIVW as a news anchor." Alice beamed proudly.
There weren't much things in her life that gave her joy except for her daughters and her job and she proudly wanted to show that off.
"That sounds fancy. So I will see you on my TV every day?" He smirked at her and she chuckled in return.
If the whole building was filled with people like him, then maybe moving here wasn't so bad after all.
"Most likely." She raised her eye-brow knowingly.
When they reached the lobby and walked out of the front entrance, they saw Polly grabbing the last few bags out of the car, the frown still on her face.
"Polly, come say hi to our new neighbor. Your name was....?" She turned back to the man she had just met, realizing that she had either forgotten his name already or that she simply didn't know yet.
"You didn't ask yet. It's Fred Andrews." He shook her hand with a smile.
"I'm Alice Smith, and these are my daughters Betty and Polly Cooper." She gestured to the two blondes, but only Betty gave Fred a smile.
Alice made a mental note to talk to Polly later about her behavior. That she was taking it out on here was one thing, that didn't mean she had to be mean at someone who helped them out.
"Well, welcome to the building." Fred didn't seem to mind and smiled at the three blonde women.
"Come, let me carry that for you." He took over the heavy stuff from Polly, who could now crack a soft smile. It was a thank you that he'd take, considering that she wasn't having her best day.
"Hey, if you're up for it, maybe you would like to have some coffee?"
As soon as they were upstairs and had putted the bags away he looked at them curiously. He wanted them to feel welcome, and how could he do that better than offering a beverage?
Alice looked around her daughters, asking them whether they would like that or not. If she was being honest, she could definitely use a good cup of coffee.
"Polly and I wanted to go check out the town, but you go, Mom." Betty smiled, knowing that her mother needed a moment of relaxation, too.
Alice smiled at her daughter and gave her a playful wink. It was a smart move to take Polly out for a bit.
"Coffee sounds great, thank you." Alice focused back on Fred and smiled. Maybe this wasn't such a bad day after all.
**
When she entered the apartment across of her, she looked around to see his personal style. The kitchen was attached to the living room and had a kitchen island, that was decorated with a few red bar stools. There was a big couch with room for a whole family, even though she figured he'd probably live alone or with just one other person. At the left corner was the hallway to what she guessed were the bedrooms.
"You have a lovely apartment." She said politely as she looked back at him.
"It's the same you have but mirrored." Fred smirked, making her laugh.
He was right, it was the exact same. Only difference for now was the fact that Alice's was mainly empty and not decorated yet.
"Touché."
"FP! We have a guest!" Fred called through the apartment, probably making sure his voice was reaching the bedrooms.
It was the afternoon, which was why it'd be strange for someone to be sleeping now, but maybe this man had a night shift and had to charge in daytime.
She heard some shuffling and a few seconds later another man with black hair and a beard came walking out of one of the bedrooms. He was wearing a blue flannel and a black t-shirt underneath. His messy hair told her that he had indeed been sleeping-- or at least that he had been lying in bed.
"I didn't know we were expecting someone today." He looked a little suspiciously to woman he hadn't seen before, and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
"We weren't, it was a spontaneous thing. This is Alice Smith, she moved in across the hall." Fred introduced them, and she could see by the look on his face that he relaxed a little. Maybe he didn't like visitors as much as Fred did?
"Nice to meet you, I'm FP Jones." He greeted her politely and shook her hand, looking straight into her beautiful blue eyes.
His heart made a little jump when she smiled at him, and so he looked away quickly as if he could pretend it didn't happen.
"Is it just the two of you here?" Alice asked curiously, as she sat down on the couch and waited patiently until Fred was done filling her mug with coffee.
"No, my son Archie lives with us, too." He smiled and there immediately appeared a proud twinkle in the man's eyes.
"Well, you two make a lovely couple." She complimented them and took a sip of the fresh brewed coffee her new neighbor had just made her. Fred almost choked when he heard those words coming out of her mouth, making FP laugh out loud.
"We're not together. Just friends." Fred cleared up and Alice's face immediately turned red as she realized that she totally misread their living arrangement.
"Oh, sorry. My bad. I just thought--" She nervously started to stutter, which was unlike her, unless she was in an awkward situation like the one she had just created.
"Why does that bother you so much? We would make a hot ass couple, Freddie." FP smirked and looked at his best friend as he had way too much joy in teasing him.
"I'm not having this discussion with you, again." Fred warned him, since this wasn't the first time people assumed they were more than just two best friends. FP laughed once more, but then focused back on Alice.
"What brings you to Riverdale?" He asked her politely, trying to make some conversation with the woman who apparently was his neighbor now.
Alice recalled the moment on the stairs where she purposely hadn't said something, but figured out in those few seconds that she didn't want to be ashamed of her reason to move. Above that all, Fred and FP seemed to be very kind and she didn't expect them for them to be judgemental.
"I got divorced a couple months ago... and my new job was located here, so it felt like the right place for me and my daughters to have a fresh start."
She summed up their story in a nutshell, still not feeling like going into detail which was something the two men quickly picked up on. Though, before they could ask further, she returned the question.
"How about you? How long have you been living here?"
"Almost ten years now. FP moved in with us a year ago." He gestured to his best friend.
It was a complicated story, which FP barely shared, let alone to a stranger. So, he used the same maneuver Alice used. He made a quick joke to focus on something else.
"Don't worry, after a while you get used to seeing that face every day." He smirked as he referred to his best friend and looked at the two of them, earning a laugh from Alice and a playful disapproving look from Fred.
"Speaking of that, the people that lived here way before it was empty always used to have our spare key. Would you mind exchanging just in case one of us gets locked out? We're one knock away." Fred proposed, thinking it'd be a good idea to keep that for each other. That way they'd safe a lot of money when they would forgot their main keys one time.
"Sounds like a plan. I got mine right here." Alice dug with her hand into her back pocket and handed him over to Fred, who in exchange gave her back his own key.
"Be careful with what you give to strangers." FP warned her playfully.
"Can you knock it off, you're scaring her already. Give her a warm welcome instead." Fred warned his friend, but Alice thought his joke was amusing. She wasn't easily scared, especially not by two men who had invited her over with so much kindness.
"I'm kidding, promise. You're more than welcome." FP cleared up nevertheless, giving Alice a sweet smile.
And though neither of them knew it then, it was the start of a life long friendship between the two men, and the new woman.