Jessica Day stumbles straight into the door and quickly curses the black shinning stilts her friend Cece calls high heels. Well, high is right! Jessica Day happens to be more of a flats kind of girl. Quirky is her style but tonight the goal is sexy. And heels are a necessity. Taking a deep breath, Jess tightens the belt to her trench coat and opens the door to her shared apartment. Inside is the unsuspecting boyfriend she's been in love with for months now, sitting on the couch a look of surprise on his face. Surprise and a hint of... Guilt?
Ignoring what should have been a warning signal, Jess continues to stumble into the living room trying her best to stand upright and appear sexy. Sexy is not a word commonly used to convey Jess's character. What comes to her naturally is easier described as fun, out going and unexpected. Maybe a little clumsy.
Tossing her long dark brown curls over her shoulder she bats her doll like lashes as she wobbles toward the couch and settles in front of him. Still he appears stunned and Jess takes that as a good sign. I mean, how is this supposed to go? Not knowing what to do next Jessica throws herself onto her boyfriends lap. With a giggle she begins to untie her trench coat revealing the true surprise. Not only is Jess not supposed to be home tonight, she is home... in a trench coat... with nothing underneath. Just as she begins to peel the trench coat past her shoulders, she hears a giggle that does not belong to her. The first reaction is to look up towards the television which is not on. Why was he sitting here without the TV on? Next Jess follows the sound of laughter and turns to look behind her.
In Jess's line of sight is a girl, also naked, wrapped just barely in Jessica's robe. Her hair is in a messy heap above her head and Jess can feel her heart begin to sink. She tries to laugh it off, tries to find a logical reason that isn't the truth. But the truth is Jessica Day has been cheated on in her own apartment by her soon to be ex boyfriend. Her laughter turns to distressed whimpering. Her once calm face passes through the phases of confused, to sad, to just completely broken.
Pushing the trench coat back on, feeling more exposed then ever, she runs towards the door.
"Jess, honey, I can explain. She's my sister. I mean, you know I'm a single child but my mom has a daughter with another man" her ex cries out.
Jessica looks back in disgust and total disbelief. As she looks back the girl approaches what was once hers and stops him from coming towards Jess with a devious smile and places the devil's kiss on his lips before giggling mischievously. I have to get out of here.
Tightening the coat once again Jess stumbles towards the door way and slams the heavy door behind her. She makes her way towards the stairs but collapses right at the bottom. Heaving and panting, Jess begins to think of the next step. She pulls off the stiletto heels and runs out on the streets of LA. Just barely escaping the impact of a taxi, Jess climbs into to its back seat and calls her friend Cece, sniffling and barely audible.
"Hey darling, how'd it go? I gotta say I definitely expected it to last a bit longer an hour at least..." Taking note of Jessica's silence Cece carefully approaches the situation. "Honey are you ok? It's fine if he didn't last, most men don't "
Jessica begins explaining the story allowing Cece the necessary mhmm's, ohmygod's and threats to cut off his balls.
"Oh Jess baby you could stay with me for a little then".
"Thanks so much! I'll be over I a little bit. And Cece...?"
"What do you need"
"Ice cream, lots and lots of ice cream"
Giving the cab driver directions and money Jessica arrives at Cece's apartment. But little did she know, a little while meant a few weeks of nonstop Dirty Dancing.
"Jess if I have to hear 'the time of my life' one more time! Argh!"
"But Cece, they look so happy. Why can't I be that happy?!"
Cece takes Jessica's laptop and places it in front of her quickly shutting off the tv all in one swift motion.
"I love you, I do, but you're going to have to leave eventually. You can get an apartment yourself or live with some one. But you just can't stay here upset all day. "
Cece is a model also leaning towards a bit of an acting career. For most of the day Cece is home taking care of a heart sick Jess. During the night she is partying, meeting guys and auditioning or working. She'd like to come home one day and just have the peace of walking around her apartment eating HER chocolate ice cream Jess is now shoving down her throat. Cece stomps off towards her bedroom.
Staring at the blank screen, Jess clicks the laptop on. Plugging in a near set of headphones she finds Dirty Dancing online and watches it quietly before drifting into her thoughts. She knows that she has to leave and that life has to go on from here but is she ready to start up her life again? With fear weighing heavy on her mind, Jessica grows tired and makes up her make shift bed. Settling into the couch, Jess begins to fall asleep.
Right as sleep takes her, Jessica is awakened by the crashing sound of her laptop. As she picks it up off the floor, hoping she didn't wake Cece, she takes notice in an apartment ad in a newspaper on the floor. Her big bright eyes begin to water as she considers moving on. Retrieving her glasses off the coffee table, Jess reads the ad.
One full bathroom, nicely operating kitchen, one room open, three rooms taken on the top floor of an LA apartment complex. Looking for someone clean and classy, smart and challenging, and relaxed.
Well, it's certainly worth a shot.
Plugging the number at the bottom of the ad into her phone Jessica smiles to herself. Maybe this is the puzzle piece that's missing. An apartment with a few girls, no drama of men, all to start on the route to fix what's broken. Jess drifts off into sleep, finally a peaceful rest.
A/N I'm new. please let me know what you think. Thanks!
