Not again! Katrina cursed her bad luck as she fumbled around in her purse. The pouring rain pattered on the roof of the apartment complex, daring any one of its occupants to step outside and get drenched.

"No, no, no, no, no," Katrina grimaced quietly as she literally turned her purse upside-down, spilling its contents on the floor. "Please be here." She dropped to her knees and ran her fingers over her belongings. She checked three…no four times, but there was no sign of her apartment key. "Crap!"

Katrina covered her mouth and looked around as the swearword left her lips. She didn't like saying bad words, but sometimes they just came out. They especially liked to slip out when she was upset or exhausted. She was both at this particular moment.

She grimaced again and leaned back against her door, sliding down to sit on the floor of the carpeted hallway. With a sigh, she put her head down on her knees and tried not to cry. This was the fifth time this month that she had lost her room key. Surely the landlord would have gotten tired of it by now. He would definitely kick her out if she asked for yet another copy.

"Who are you giving these keys out to?" he would ask irritably. "I don't want every Tom, Dick, and Harry running around in my apartments."

"Um, hey," said a voice above Katrina. "I think this probably belongs to you."

Katrina's face shot up and looked at the figure standing in front of her.

He was a bit on the short side, but not as much as to make Katrina imagine a midget. He wore a kindly smile on his face, which made dimples push up on each of his cheeks. His sandy-blonde hair was combed neatly by his ears in a bowl cut. He wore a crusted diner apron over his arm. In his hand, he held a key ring with a solitary key on it and in his brown eyes, he held a concerned look.

"Oh my God," Katrina shouted as she stood up in a flash. "Thank you so much! You have no idea how much trouble I would have been in without this key."

The man handed the key to her without hesitation and shrugged.

"It was nothing, really," he smiled. "But you should really be more careful with your room key. If I was the wrong kind of person, I could've taken everything you have." He reached out his hand and took Katrina's. "I'm Peter." He shook her hand. "I'm your new neighbor."

"I'm Katrina," Katrina grinned. "Nice to meet you. I'm glad you're not the wrong kind of person. Sure will make a change from the last neighbor I had. He snuck into my apartment at least four times and ate my fancy chocolate out of my fridge."

"You have fancy chocolate?" Peter asked teasingly, running his tongue over his lips. "Mm. Maybe I'll have to sneak in a couple times…just to make sure everything is ship shape." He punctuated this statement with a wink.

"You don't have to do that," Katrina giggled. "You can just knock, you know. I'm not a mean person."

"I can see that," Peter laughed, eyeing Katrina carefully. "Well, see you 'round, Katrina." He waved before unlocking his own door and heading through.

"Nice boy," Katrina muttered to herself before doing the same with her own doorway.