Spring 2006

Isabella stood in front of the large window in her newly established apartment. It was a nice place, just enough for her to afford. She was hoping she could start a new life here, move away from her old one; not that she wasn't happy with her old life. She came from a privileged life in California, thanks to her parents; they were both doctors at Stanford. Her life there was different from the one she was about to encounter. In California she lived with a girl she had met on a web posting, they had nothing in common and it didn't make for such a good living situation. She wore baggy clothes to hide her arms from where she would shoot up cocaine. Isabella remembered all the times she would have to go get her roommate at some guys' house. And the one time she had to take her to the ER because of an overdose. Isabella hated the phone calls in the middle of the night that her roommate would get. But that life was over. She was on her own. Isabella looked out the window and out into the busy East Village, she didn't know why she picked this part of New York City. Her eyes sparkled; she was excited to be here. Her phone rang and it startled her.

"Hello?" She said.

"Hi honey," Said a familiar voice. It was her mother.

"Hi mom" She said, walking into her bedroom. She could see out the window that the sun was starting to set.

"How are things, are you unpacked yet?" her mom asked her.

"Almost." Isabella said. "Listen mom, I gotta go. I'm pretty tired and need to still do some unpacking"

"Alright honey, call us again soon. Dad says hi too," Her mom said to her.

"Okay, Goodnight" Isabella said hanging up her cell phone and walking back into the main room.

Isabella sat down on her couch. It was a fairly nice couch that her parents gave her when they found out she was moving. She reached over to a box that was on the table in front of her. It was full of photos from her life in California. The first one she pulled out was of her and her mom. It was her graduation from Stanford; they both had a big smile on their face. She went to place it on the mantel, and she walked back to the box and pulled a photo out of her and her brother. They were both five in the photo. A tear ran down her cheek. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her brother Kayo was 6 when a drunk driver hit him. Isabella remembered that moment well. They were both playing in the yard on a warm summer night when a car came flying around the bend in their street and went out of control. Kayo had no time to move at all. Isabella wiped her tears away as she set the frame next to the one of her and her mom. Walking back over to the box she realized that she needed to get a carpet for her room, the wood flooring was cold against her bare feet. Her next photo was of her and some of her friends from college. After graduating Stanford they all went out into the real world or back home. Isabella only stayed in touch with the three in the photo. Emily, Alexis and Jin. They all met in freshman year at a Welcome. Emily now lived in Los Angels, Alexis moved to Paris when she was offered a job in International relations and Jin lived here in New York City with her boyfriend of 2 years. The photo was taken on Emily's 21st birthday. The three of them were dressed to the nine's and at some bar. Isabella laughed to herself as she set the photo down on the mantel. Again she walked over to the box and pulled out another photo, it was one of her and her dad on her 18th birthday. They were standing outside on their driveway; her dad had just passed down his '68 red fire truck red convertible firebird to her. Something she had always wanted. Just like her father she had a need for speed. The photo showed the two of them hugging and smiling. She set the photo down and walked over to the couch and sat there staring at the mantel. This was the part where she really missed her life in California, she missed her family most of all. She stood and headed to her bedroom, which right now just consisted of lots of brown moving boxes and a mattress. She had to go furniture shopping the next day she thought to herself. Isabella flipped on the light and pulled some Pajamas out of a box and slipped them on flipped the light back off and fell on to the mattress and quickly fell asleep.

In the early morning Isabella was awoken by a ringing noise. She turned over and looked at the alarm, the numbers glowed 9:32am. Okay, so it wasn't that early. She stood up and walked into the living room searching for her phone. After a minuet of searching she finally found it, the name flashing was Jin. It was the phone call she was waiting for. She needed to see a familiar face.

"Hey!" Isabella said trying not to sound to sleepy.

"Isabella! It's so good to hear your voice, did I wake you?" Jin asked her.

"No. Of course not" Isabella said.

"God! You were always such a horrible liar" Jin said laughing. "Anyways, so are you ready for today?"

"Always. What time will you be here?" Isabella asked, walking back into her bedroom and switching on the light.

"Well, you live over in East Village right" Jin said to her.

"That's right."

"Okay, I live in the Upper East Side" Jin said. Jin was always a glamorous sophisticated person, so the Upper East Side fit her well. "I could be there in about an hour, sound good to you?"

"Sure" Isabella said. That would give her at least until 10:15.

"Alright then I'll see you in a bit" Jin said.

"Do I get to meet your special guy?" Isabella said before Jin could hang up the phone.

"Maybe; if he ever gets up. I swear he could sleep forever" Jin said laughing. Isabella laughed too.

"Alright, well I should go get ready" Isabella said.

"Sounds good, I'll see you in a bit." Jin said hanging up the phone. Isabella hung up and set the phone down on the mattress in her room. She knew she had to get ready even though she just wanted to sleep more. She bent down by some of the brown moving boxes and rummaged through them for a towel and her many other bathroom products. After finding them she gathered them all and took them into the bathroom. Isabella was the type of girl who had a neat bathroom; everything had to be in its place. This was yet to happen. She turned the water on in the shower to hot and let it warm up before she stuck her hand under the water to test the temperature. When it was a perfect temperature she hopped in. She let the warm water hit against her face letting it wake her up. The warm water felt so nice she thought to herself, hopefully it could wash all her stress away.

Isabella's intercom buzzed at exactly 10:15am. She smiled. Jin was always on time for everything, no matter what it was. She was never early and most defiantly never late. Isabella reached for the door handle and opened it.

"Hey there stranger!" Jin said almost tackling Isabella as she gave her a hug.

"Jin! It's so great to see you" She said hugging Jin back.

"You too! Oh and there's someone I would like you to meet" Jin said motioning to her boyfriend. "This is Charlie" Charlie stuck out his hand to Isabella.

"Nice to meet you, I have heard so much" He said to her.

"Nice to meet you too Charlie" Isabella said. And then looking at Jin she gave her the 'he's hot look'. Jin laughed.

"Well are we ready. Our car is in a five minute parking zone" Jin said.

"Let me just grab my purse" Isabella said. Running over to the couch she grabbed her purse and her pea coat. She flipped out the lights and shut the door and locked it up.

Isabella met Jin and Charlie downstairs. It was a warm spring day. The snow had just started to melt and the streets of New York had a slight snowy frost. They hopped into Charlie's car and took off down the busy street.

"So we figured we would take you to the Ikea they just put in here" Charlie said looking at Isabella in the back seat. "They just put it in" He had a really thick New York accent Isabella thought to herself.

"Sounds good to me. Do it all in one go" She said laughing.

"I can't wait to help you decorate!" Said Jin. Isabella just laughed. They were already stuck in traffic. "Is it always like this?" She asked.

"Always" Charlie and Jin said at the same time.

"That's why half the people in New York don't have cars, or if they do, they don't drive them" Charlie explained.

"Good thing I left mine at home then. Oh, but how I will miss that car. But I am sure my Dad is happy to have it back" Isabella said. She left the '68 firebird home with her Dad for good reasons.

"Very good thing. Trust me, you would get nowhere with all this traffic everyday, its almost as hard as catching a cab. Sometimes you just gotta hold up a one hundred dollar bill." Charlie said laughing. The light turned green and he shot off like a rocket. Apparently the Ikea wasn't to far from where Isabella was living. Isabella stared out the window of the car; Charlie was driving pretty fast for there being so many people around. People were swarming the New York Streets. Sometimes Isabella wondered where all these people were going and why were they in such a hurry. People need to slow down and enjoy life.

"So" Jin started. "We want to take you out to lunch to our favorite place down in the city after this, you do eat Chinese food, right?"

"Of course, it's one of my favorites" Isabella smiled. She knew New York had some of the best food ever. It was almost like San Francisco, there were so many options here too, so many cultures.

It took them an hour and a half to drive a short 5 miles. Isabella was in disbelief. How in the world could it take so long? She could see why people didn't dive in the Big Apple. They pulled into the familiar bright blue parking lot. Isabella knew of the one out on the 101 near her home. But she had never gone in.

"This place…is huge" Isabella said as she was climbing out of Charlie's car.

"Yeah, it takes up 2 blocks" Jin explained. "Which in New York is a lot of space."

"Do you want a cart for small things Isabella?" Charlie asked walking over to the long trail of carts outside the large glass doors.

"Sure, why not. You never know," She said.

"Oh, by the way" Jin started to say as Charlie ran off into the big glass doors "Charlie goes crazy in this place, for some strange reason he loves it. Don't ask me why. But it's the only reason he would come" Jin finished saying just as her boyfriend was yelling at her to come see something.

"JIN!" He yelled as she and Isabella walked in the doors. "I want to show you this." he said pointing at some kind of funky lime green chairs. It was only something you could ever find at an Ikea. Jin rolled her eyes at Isabella.

"Great" Jin mumbled and walked over to Charlie. Isabella headed over to a kiosk that stood in the middle of the large entryway and grabbed a map. What store needs a map, Isabella thought to herself. They also had a catalog, which she also grabbed. She looked over at Charlie and Jin; Charlie was making Jin sit in the chair, the look on Jin's face made Isabella laugh. She headed over to them laughing.

"You two look like freaks" Isabella told them.

"Why thank you" Charlie said. "We like being told that" He laughed. "Check out this cool chair" He said, making Isabella sit down in it. She didn't get why he was so obsessed with the chair. It was a weird one at that. I mean who would put this in their house Isabella wanted to say.

"Charlie, why in the world would you even consider this chair?" Isabella asked him. "I mean look at it, It's bright green"

"Just because of that. I like the bright green" Charlie said.

"Don't get him started Isabella. He could go on forever about why he would put this in the apartment" Jin said turning to her.

"Listen you two. My taste may be a bit out of the world. But I would use this chair. I would. I mean look at it. It's something that would stand out of all the other things in the apartment." Charlie explained to the girls.

"That's just it, it would stand out. Do you think that's the first thing I want people to see when they walk into our place?" Jin said to him. "Come on now Charlie…Step away from the chair" Jin said laughing. "We need to get Isabella's stuff" Jin started grabbing on to Charlie's arm.

"No. But I want the chair" Charlie said as he was dragged away. The threesome headed over to the elevator and stepped in with their cart. It was a huge steal elevator; it looked like it could fit at least 50 people. The door chimed when they got to the second level and the doors opened; there were people everywhere shopping for who knows what. The three came stumbled across bed wear first.

"Here" Charlie said. "This right here" He said picking up some ridiculously colored bed sheets that were orange and green.

"No way Charlie" Isabella said laughing. She went towards a soft pink set.

"I think I like this one." She said picking it up. "What do you think Jin?" She asked turning towards her and showing it to her.

"I like it. It's very you!" Jin said. "What size do you need?"

"Well, I need to buy a bed first" Isabella laughed, realizing they were looking at bed sheets when she didn't even have one. All she had was an old twin size mattress back at her apartment.

"That would be a good thing to go and look at first" Charlie said.

"So, the question is. Where are they?" Isabella said looking around for someone who worked there.

"I think they may be over there." Charlie said pointing.

"Trust me, I think he knows. I wouldn't be surprised if he worked here secretly." Jin said laughing and following Charlie.

"Ah ha!" Charlie said. "I was right! Look at that. I think I deserve a prize, that chair maybe" He said giving a puppy dog look to Jin.

"No forget it, your not getting that chair" Jin said. Isabella looked across the ocean of beds in front of her. Which one to get; she knew she wanted a king, so she passed by anything that was any smaller then that.

"What about this one Isabella?" Jin asked pointing to a nice looking pine one.

"Ummm" Isabella paused. "I like it. I'll take it" She said ripping the tag off the bed so later she could hand it to the cashier.

"That was to easy" Charlie said.

"Now I need some dressers to match" Isabella said.

"Why don't we just go to you know, those already set up rooms?" Charlie said. "That way you can see all those fancy-ed up rooms and everything that matches"

"Nah. I'm going to do it the hard way, just for you Charlie" Isabella told him.

"Great." Charlie replied with a smile. "I like that idea" and he laughed. Jin and Isabella headed over to where the dressers were.

"I kind of would like a tall one and a short long one to put a TV on" Isabella said. "What do you think?" She said turning to Jin.

"Sounds good to me." Jin said walking over to a dresser that looked almost like the bed. "What about this one as the shorter one?" Jin questioned Isabella.

"I like it. It's plain. It's simple. I'll take it." She said ripping off the sign. "Now for a bigger one that matches"

Three hours later, Isabella had found everything she needed. From the bed, and bed sheets to a frying pan that was big enough to make two pancakes in. Isabella and Jin were pushing out the small carts and Charlie took care of the huge flatbed cart, which held all the large furniture; A bed, 2 dressers, a storage cabinet for the bathroom, 2 very large bookshelf's for the living room, a entertainment cabinet, A few shelf's for the wall, a kitchen table and four chairs and a large desk. Not that it was a whole lot of furniture, but it was the basics. She would have to hit up a pottery barn or something of the sort for a few nice chairs.

"This is a lot of stuff." Charlie said while loading up his huge SUV. "I mean how much stuff could one girl need?"

"A lot of stuff." Isabella put it simply.

"Really?" Charlie said.

"Yes, Really" She said again.

"Would you guys just please load up, I'm starving!" Jin said throwing a bag of smaller things in the back.

"Right. You wanta lift some of these boxes into the truck hunny?" Charlie said to Jin.

"No, Not really." She said laughing and putting yet again another small bag into the truck.

"Hey you two, just focus, we're almost done anyways. And then we can go get some lunch" Isabella told them as she lifted a large box into the truck. She had always been a strong girl, yet she didn't look like it. After only a little more bickering between Jin and Charlie the car was packed and they were off.

"So what's this place called?" Isabella asked clicking in her seatbelt.

"Master Wong" Jin said turning to Isabella. "Trust me, you'll love it. Won't she Charlie?"

"Yes. She will. Or at least she had better." He said looking in the rear view mirror at Isabella.

"Haha, your so funny Charlie." Isabella said to him. "So how long is it going to take us to get to this place?"

"From here. A good hour." Jin said. "Right?" She said looking at Charlie.

"Right" he said.

"Wow" Isabella said. "You really can't get somewhere fast around here"

"Not unless your in a cop car. But then again, most cops here in the city ride motorcycles." Charlie explained.

"I'll have to look into that." Isabella said out loud.

"What? You drive a motorcycle?" Charlie said almost laughing.

"Are you mocking me?" Isabella asked.

"No. I just can't see you on one" He said to her.

"I know. I'm just kidding. But I should look into getting a bike." Isabella said.

"Now that's more like it. A bike without a motor." Charlie said looking back into the rear view mirror at her.

"Ha. Thanks Charlie. Your so kind" Isabella said with a smirk.

An hour and a half later; it had taken them longer then expected to get to the restaurant because of an unexpected traffic jam. They arrived in the Upper East Side where Jin and Charlie lived. It was a nice area. Nicer then Isabella's. But this was all upper class. Isabella lived in the up and coming area. Charlie parked the car with a valet.

"Thanks man" he said to the guy. "You girls ready?" He asked them holding out both of his elbows. Isabella and Jin each took an elbow and laughed.

"What an ego." Jin said and then kissed him on the forehead. They walked towards a very nice looking place. Firefly lights were hanging around the trees on the outside dinning area, and little candles flickered on the tables. Even though it was afternoon, it was grey out. There were mostly couples and large groups of friends. Isabella almost felt underdressed.

"Hello there sir" The host said to Charlie. "Three tonight?"

"That's it" Charlie said.

"Inside or out?" the host asked Charlie.

"Take your pick Isabella." Charlie said. It was cold out, but Isabella liked the atmosphere outside.

"How about outside. It's so pretty out here." She said. "Do you guys mind?"

"Not at all" Jin said.

"Outside it is" Charlie said to the host. The host took them to a small circular table that sat just beneath a cherry blossom tree. It wasn't too much in bloom yet. And the light snowy frost covered the branches. There was one of those tall heater stands nearby, so it wasn't too cold. The host placed menus in front of them.

"So tell me what's good here." Isabella said.
"Anything" Jin said.

"She's right" Charlie said. Isabella could see why this was their favorite place to eat out. It was fancy, and it catered to couples. It was a place where the boyfriend would get down on one knee and propose. Isabella found herself wondering if Charlie was going to do that to Jin in the sometime near future. She smiled and looking at them.

"What?" they both said at the same time.

"Nothing. So I think I am going to have the sweet and sour chicken" Isabella said. "Rice too?" She said.

"Oh, their sweet and sour chicken is the best. And a dish of rice sounds good, we can all share. It's a pretty decent size." Jin said.

"Well I know what I want" Charlie said.

"Same old thing?" Jin said. "Beef and broccoli?"

"Yes" He said closing his menu. "And I'll have a cup of the hot and sour soup."

"Wow, something different?" Jin said. "I'll have curry chicken with some rice, and also a cup of the hot and sour soup" Jin said closing her menu.

"Very well. Any drinks?" The waiter asked.

"Ah! Yes. Of course" Charlie said. "I'll have a Corona"

"I think I will go with just a coke." Jin said.

"I'll have the same as her" Isabella said. "Thanks"

"I'll have those right out" The waiter told them and walking away.

"I like this place." Isabella said. "It's fun, and it has a cozy atmosphere"

"Yeah. It's pretty fun." Jin said. "Me and Charlie came here on our first date"

"That's right." Charlie said.

"Wow. Talk about a nice first date" Isabella said.

"It was. And then he took me to a show in the park just around the corner" She had seen that park as they were driving earlier tonight. It was a quaint park, nothing like Central Park, which she had yet to go to. She told herself that she would have to make time to go there sometime in the following days. The waiter came back with their drinks and Charlie proposed a toast.

"To trying new things." Charlie said with his glass raised.

"And big changes" Jin said raising her drink.

"I'll drink to that." Isabella said as she raised her drink and clinked their glasses together and all took a sip.

"So Isabella what's next?" Charlie asked.

"A job" She responded taking another sip of her drink.

"Sounds good to me. What kind of job are you looking for?" He asked her, taking a sip of his beer.

"I don't know really yet." She said pausing. "I guess anything that would take me."

"Isabella, you should look for something creative" Jin said. "I mean you were always so creative in college." She said. "Anyways, Isabella you could start your own photography company. Do you know how much those people make at weddings and stuff? Or go write for a top-notch magazine here in the city" Jin told her.

"I've thought about that." Isabella said. She always liked writing. And it seemed like the thing to do here in the city. Much to her parents dismay too, in college she majored in Journalism. Maybe now was the time to put it to use. She could write for the New York Times, or some other top-notch magazine. 'Who knows? I just need a job." Isabella said.

"Well…" Charlie started just as their food came. "If you decide t try out the whole writing thing, let me know, I know a few people." He said. Of course he knew people Isabella thought. It was to good to be true though. But it was a good to good to be true. Maybe things would really work out.

"God, this looks really good." Isabella said.

"It is, trust me." Jin said.

"Anyways, so Isabella what are you going to do with all the stuff you bought today?" Charlie asked starting on his soup.

"I don't know. I have all day, I could start cleaning up now, rearranging things and building…" Isabella said also starting on her soup. "Why are you offering to help?" She said laughing.

"Well. Maybe" He said. "What do you say Jin?" Charlie said turning to her.

"I say…." She paused. "Sound's good to me." She smiled. "Anything to help Isabella out."

"Great. And I didn't even have to ask you guys" Isabella said laughing and taking a sip of her drink.

An hour later, they were on their way back to Isabella's. Isabella was happy she didn't have to ask them to help, and that they just offered. She had a lot to do, and a lot to build. She knew she couldn't have done it herself.

"Now the question is…" Charlie said once they were outside Isabella's apartment building, "is how are we going to get all this stuff up there, Now why did you choose the sixth floor?" He said turning to her.

"It was all they had." She said opening the car door to grab some bags. "Besides there's and elevator" She said starting up the steps to the building with three bags.

"Right." Said Charlie as he opened the rear hatch to his car. "How about 'How is Charlie going to get all the heavy boxes up those steps? I mean did we think about that?" Charlie said to no one in particular.

"We'll help you. Gosh Charlie, I didn't know you were such a lightweight" Isabella said. "I mean you offered to help." She said holding the door open for Jin.

"Right. I remember now." He said as he grabbed the smallest box. "Hey. Hold the door!" He said as he started up the stairs.

"There we go. Good macho boy" Jin said to him.

"Ha. Don't mock me" He said as he walked in the door. "Now, where is this elevator?"

"Over there" Jin said pointing to the left of Charlie.

"Right. Want to hit the button there sweetie?" he said to Jin.

"Why of course hunny." She said hitting the button and smiled at him. They both waited for the doors to chime and when they opened Jin let Charlie in first. It was fast for an elevator.
"You know, if we had a longer elevator ride, I would throw this box down and kiss you right now" Charlie said looking over at Jin. Jin just smiled at him. "You know you would too. I can see it in your eyes. Your thinking about it now" he said to her as the doors opened.

"Well don't you know everything." Jin said. "Alright, she's apartment number 15B. So it's got to be this way." Jin said going to her left.

"Please let it be close." Charlie said.

"Come on Charlie, it's right there." Isabella said.

"Isabella!" Jin yelled out.

"Hey Jin. You guys finally made it?" Isabella said laughing.

"Funny Isabella…" Charlie said. "Where do you want this?"

"What is it?" She asked him.

"It's one of the small boxes." He said. "So I think it's a chair"

"Over by the kitchen area then" Isabella said. "Thanks Charlie, You're the best."

Once the hard part was over; moving everything up to Isabella's apartment they were ready to start building and putting everything in it's place. Charlie started on Isabella's bed while Jin and Isabella working on the chairs and kitchen table.

"What's this?" Jin asked as she picked up a screw.

"That Jin is a screw. Are you sure you know what your doing?" Isabella raised an eyebrow at Jin. "I mean I can't have people sit in a chair and have it collapse." Isabella said finishing up her first chair.

"Haha. Funny Isabella." Jin said putting the screw in the chair. "I wonder how Charlie is doing?" Jin said.

"He just started. He probably just put the first screw in" Isabella said.

"YO! Charlie!" Jin yelled from the kitchen.

"YO! Jin!" Charlie yelled back. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine. I wanted to know if you were done?" Jin yelled back.

"Oh sure! Because remember I am a macho boy!" Charlie said laughing. "No, I just started."

"I told you so." Isabella said. She looked around. Boxes of furniture were everywhere, and Ikea bags sat around; Most of them on the one couch she had.

"I have to thank you again for helping out." Isabella said to Jin. "I don't know where I would be with out you…or Charlie."

"No problem. What are friends for?" Jin said.

"There's got to be something I can do for you guys." Isabella said.

"No. Don't worry about it." Jin said. Isabella just smiled as she opened another chair box. She had gotten four, because four was the number to get. Everyone always had four chairs at their kitchen table. Forty-five minutes later Charlie was done with the bed and starting on the larger dresser, Jin and Isabella were done with the chairs and kitchen table and were now putting away the few random things Isabella had gotten. Pots and pans, candles to spice the place up; the apartment was starting to have a more homey feeling and Isabella liked that.

"The apartment looks more alive now" Jin said backing away from the kitchen and looking at the work she and Isabella had just done. Everything was in its place. The kitchen chairs had seat covers that matched the tablecloth. Nice posters in frames hung on the walls. A large vase on the kitchen table held a sunflower. The sun shined in through the large pane glass window, it was getting late out. By the looks of the sun it looked like it could have been four P.M. Isabella glanced at the clock, it was four thirty. She was almost right.

"Can I order pizza for you guys?" Isabella said a loud. "It's the least I could do."

"Sounds good to me." Charlie said coming out of the bedroom. "Thanks. And the bedroom is done; two dressers, a bed and some heavy lifting later." Charlie said as he headed over to the fridge for a bottle of water.

"Thanks so much Charlie." Isabella said walking over to give him a hug.

"Beware, I smell" He said laughing. "Looks nice." he said.

"So pizza guys?" Isabella said.

"Sounds good…" Jin and Charlie said.

"Yeah. So, what's good?" Isabella said.

"I could go for Johns" Charlie said.

"Johns?" Isabella questioned.

"Yeah, best pizza in the city. It's been voted. It out won everything." Charlie said.

"Do they deliver?" Isabella asked.

"I think." Jin said. "Do you have a phonebook yet?"

"Yeah, its over there." She said pointing to a drawer near the stove. Jin went over and grabbed it and sat down in a chair, which fell to pieces as soon as she put the phonebook on the table.

"Wooooah" She said.

"Jin! Are you okay?" Charlie asked.

"I'm good. I'm good." She said standing up and whipping herself off.

"See Jin. I asked you if you could build a chair." Isabella said. "See what happens." She said. "Are you okay though?" Isabella asked walking over to Jin and gave her a hug.

"I owe you a new chair." Jin said. "I'll pick it up later this week."

"No rushes." Isabella said. "Not like four people are living here" She said smiling.

"So John's pizza?" Jin said. She started flipping though the phonebook "pizza, pizza, pizza." Jin said to herself. "Ah, here it is, Charlie get a pen and paper."

"Uh. Where?" he said.

"I got it." Isabella said, running back over to the drawer where the phonebook was and pulling out a pad of paper and a pen. "What's the number Jin?" She said.

"243-1608" Jin read a loud. "Got that?"

"Yup." Isabella said. "So what does everyone want?" She asked.

"I'll have one with everything on it." Charlie said. "And I mean everything."

"Okay." Isabella said. "Jin?"

"How about just pepperoni?" Jin said.

"That sounds good to me too, is a large big enough to share?" Isabella asked.

"Yeah." Jin replied.

"Alright so a small with everything on it and a large pepperoni."

"Can you make that a medium with everything on it Isabella?" Charlie asked. He could eat a lot. And he was hungry. Blame it on all the moving and building.

"Sure" Isabella said.

The pizza from Johns was the best Isabella had ever had. But you know what they say about pizza and hotdogs in the Big Apple. The best you can get is here.

"It's getting late." Jin said. It was already eight thirty.

"Hey time flies when your having fun!" Charlie said, hoping the girls would note the sarcasm.

"Are you guys off then?" Isabella asked.

"I think so. We both have to work in the morning." Jin said.

"Sounds fun" Isabella said.

"Alright. It's time to call it a night." Jin said walking to Isabella to give her a hug goodbye. "And I owe you a chair." Jin said grabbing her coat off the back of the couch.

"Isabella it was a pleasure." Charlie said as he went to give a hug to Isabella. "We'll have to do dinner again soon, and I'll make sure that Jin has that chair to you, un-built by her of course" He said smiling at Jin.

"Funny Charlie." Jin said throwing his coat at him.

"Alright, we're off. Call us if you need anything." Charlie said heading to the door where Jin was already standing.

"Night Isabella." Jin said. Isabella watched them walk down the hall to the elevator. They looked so happy together. She was happy for Jin. Jin had never had a real boyfriend in college. Just people she dated, nothing became too serious. Isabella smiled and shut the door. She was alone now.

"What to do…" She said out loud. Looking around she decided to watch some TV, try to find something good on TV. "This is boring." She said to herself. There was nothing good on TV, nothing to do and no one to talk to. "This has to change." But she didn't want a roommate. Maybe she would get a fish. Isabella found herself in bed at only nine thirty that night, just lying there thinking about her days to come.

Isabella awoke to the sound of a dump truck just down her street. She wondered if this was what it was going to be like every morning. She peered out the large window, what the hell kind of dump truck comes at six am. Her phone rang. She knew who it was, it was to early for her parents to be calling and Jin was one of two people she knew in New York. She walked over to her phone. Sure enough it Read Jin.

"Hey." Isabella said.

"So, how was your first night in the fully, or almost fully furnished apartment?" Jin said.

"Why are you calling at this time in the morning?" Isabella asked.

"I knew you would be up. The dump trucks come at six am every Tuesday." Jin said. "And I know you're a light sleeper."

"Oh my God Jin." Isabella said into the phone as she fell back on to the couch. "I just wanted to sleep."

"I know. Anyways. I was calling to see if you wanted to go to lunch today?" Jin said.

"Don't you work today?" Isabella questioned.

"Yeah, but I can take a pretty long lunch break." Jin said. "So lunch?"

"Sounds good, it can be my first adventure out on my own." Isabella said laughing. "Where can I meet you?"

"There's a place down where I work, it's a café, called The Café, believe it or not." Jin said.

"And Jin, where do you work?" Isabella said.

"Oh right." Jin said. "I work downtown at a law firm. Morgan and Gilmore, why don't you just meet me here." Jin said.

"Alright, that sounds good. An address?" Isabella said standing to go get the paper and pen that was left at her brand new kitchen table.

"Got something to write it down on?" Jin asked.

"Yup. Shoot!" Isabella said sitting down in the chair.

"Alright 51 West 52nd Street, just call for a cab and he'll know where to go, but beware, most of the cab drivers in the city are crazy. But you'll survive." Jin said.

"Okay sounds good." Isabella said walking back into the living room. "What time should I meet you at?"

"Does noon sound good, it'll be busy out, so make sure you grab a cab early." Jin said.

"Alright, I'll see you at noon then" Isabella said.

"Alright, later" Jin said hanging up the phone.

Isabella had quite a few hours on her hand and she didn't know what to do. She sat down on one of her new kitchen chairs staring at the flowers in the vase. She thought; I could go for a run, but where? She knew there was a park a few blocks away, maybe one, maybe two blocks. She had seen it when she was driving on her very first day here. It was now six thirty, and the sun was starting to peer in through the kitchen window. She finally stood and walked to the bedroom, she was finally living in dressers and not the ugly brown moving boxes. She opened the first drawer on the larger of the two and pulled out a sports bra and some underwear, and the bent down to the last drawer and pulled out some running clothes. She slipped everything on, including a light sweater. There was some snow outside, and besides she didn't know how cold she would get.

"This is good." She said to herself. She grabbed her apartment key and stuffed it in her pants pocket. And walked out her door. It was the first time she was going out alone. Good idea she thought, I don't even know my way around yet. She still headed down the hall to the elevator. She hit the circular button and it lit up, she heard the ding and backed away from the elevator waiting for people to come out, not like there would be anyone. The doors opened and she stepped in, the classical music made her want to go back to bed, she sighed. At least the elevator was a fast one. It's one reason why she picked this apartment complex. The elevator hit the ground floor and the doors opened; Isabella was greeted with a very beautiful lobby. The sun was shining in through all the large glass windows and the large revolving doors. There was a man at the desk in the front.

"Hello miss" He said and smiled.

"Hi" Isabella said. He looked like he was in his late 60's; he had wispy grey hair and bright blue eyes. "Where's a good place to run around here?" She asked.

"Oh there's a park about 3 blocks away from here, its called Washington Square Park. I take my Grandkids there all the time." He smiled.

"Great…" Isabella said.

"Do you want directions?" The man asked.

"Sure" Isabella said, hoping she could remember them all once she got out on the streets.

"You're here on Bond Street, so run west and then you'll hit Bleecker street, take a right turn at the end and run north on Avenue of the America's and you'll eventually hit the park." He explained while moving his hands the whole time. Isabella thought; he must be Italian. She smiled at him.

"Thanks so much." She said.

"No problem, have fun." He said as she walked towards the door.

"Thanks." She said and walked though the revolving doors. Once outside she felt the chilly morning air hit her face and she shivered. She pulled her white headphones through her sweater and turned on her iPod. Like the man said she headed west on her street. There was barely anyone out, just a few other runners and their dogs and maybe a few business people that were leaving for work. She could see the dump truck at the very end of her street.

It was almost eight am by the time Isabella got to the park. The park was small and family friendly. Although there weren't too many people there, no kids at least. There was an old couple walking hand in hand, an old lady walking her little white dog and a young guy who looked about Isabella's age. He was cute Isabella thought to herself. There was also a coffee vender under a small tree in the middle of the park, he had his own little set up and everything he needed. He looked tired, like he had been there since five am this morning. The older couple was headed over to him. The coffee vender smiled at them and the old man handed him a ten-dollar bill and the coffee vender handed over two small drinks. Isabella thought I could go for a coffee right now; she headed over to the vender and smiled.

"Hi." She said smiling.

"Hello Miss" he said to her. "What can I get you?"

"Can I have a caramel macchiato..," Isabella said.

"Why of course, what size?" he asked pointing to the cups.

"I'll have a tall." Isabella said pointing to the smallest of cups.

"Coming right up." He said with a smile. It took him only a minute to make her drink, when she got it, it was nice and hot. It warmed her up instantly.

"Thanks" She said as she turned around and went to sit on a bench nearby.

"No worries" The man said. "Have a nice day."

"You too" Isabella said. She turned back towards the bench and took a seat. She looked around and still saw the same people, the older couple was across the park past the small playground enjoying their drinks on another bench, and the older lady was still walking around the park with her dog. The only person missing was the younger guy. Isabella looked around for him. She spotted him at the very end of the park doing pull ups on a bar. He stopped and picked up a water bottle from off the ground. He looked Isabella's way and smiled, and she immediately turned her head. He was cute, with his short brown, she couldn't tell the color of his eyes. When Isabella turned her head around he was coming closer to her, pulling out his familiar white headphones. Everyone had an iPod now Isabella thought. The guy stopped at the coffee vender and got a drink before he stopped right in front of Isabella. She looked up; her chocolate brown eyes twinkled.

"Hi" he said. "So I have never seen you around here."

"Yeah." Isabella said keeping her answers short, she didn't even know this guy and here he was trying to pick her up.

"Are you new around here?" he asked her.

"Yeah. I just moved." She told him taking a sip of her drink.

"Well I'm Andrew." He said holding out his hand. At this point Isabella could see that he had green eyes.

"Isabella." She said shaking his hand. "It's nice to meet you." She smiled.

"You too." He said taking a sip of his drink.

"Do you live around here?" She asked trying to start a conversation with him. He sat down next to her and turned towards her.

"Yeah. Not to far. I live on Bleecker Street." He said. "What about you?"

"Not to far. Bond Street." She said. "Do you run here often?"

"Everyday." He said. "That's how I knew you were new around here." He said smiling. "But I ought to go, gotta get to work or else" He said standing and throwing his cup in the trash next to the bench. "Same time tomorrow?" he said.

"Okay" She said smiling back at him. She watched him walk away. He had a nice ass she said to herself, and shamed herself for thinking it, she had just meant him. She stood and through her cup away in the same trash as he had. She had to get back. There were probably some things she could do back at her place. She headed back out of the park and down the street. The city was more alive at this time. There were more people out; there was a school on Bleecker Street that was just starting, there were little kids running around. Isabella wondered where Andrew lived, there weren't to many apartment buildings around, maybe four or five.

Isabella got back to her apartment lobby by nine. The old man was still there at his desk; he was reading the morning paper. She walked over to him.

"Hi, that was a nice run. Thanks for suggesting it" She said placing her arms on the counter in front of her.

"Hello again. Glad you enjoyed it." He smiled as he folded his paper. "So your new here?" he questioned.

"Yeah." Isabella said. "I don't know my way around here to much." She said to him.

"When I first came here I thought I was going to go crazy. I could never find a street, I was never in the right place" He said.

"I'm lucky I know some people here then I guess." Isabella said.

"You are. I didn't know anyone when I came here." He said. "My name is Gino." He said holding out his hand.

"Hi Gino." Isabella was right; he was Italian. "My name is Isabella."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Isabella. Glad you decided to join us here at the Bond Street Apartments." He said.

"Thanks. Me too. I like it here so far." She said. "Well I'm off. I am meeting a friend for lunch. Can I trust on you to help me call a cab?" Isabella asked before she turned around to leave.

"Of course Miss. Isabella." Gino said.

"Great, I'll see you later Gino" Isabella said. She headed towards the elevator. The doors opened and she walked in, the music once again greeting her, some light song playing; it made her want to dance. The doors chimed and Isabella walked out. There was a girl walking towards the elevator and Isabella smiled and the girl smiled back, she stopped.

"You're the new girl, right?" The girl said.

"That's me." Isabella said.

"I'm Chloe." The girl said. She had long blonde curly hair and bright blue eyes.

"I'm Isabella. It's nice to meet you."

"I live next door to you. My roommates name is Marisa." Chloe said. "Well I'm off to work, it was nice to meet you. We'll have to do something." Chloe said walking over to the elevator and pressing the down button.

"Sounds good. Bye" Isabella said heading towards her apartment. She pulled out her keys and put her key in the lock and twisted the knob. She walked in and shut the door behind her; she placed her keys in the bowl on the table next to the door she had gotten. It was chilly inside her apartment so she turned on her heater. She still had plenty of time before she had to meet Jin for lunch. Isabella headed for her desk where she had her cell phone charging. It had been awhile since she had talked to her parents. The phone rang a few times before her mom picked up.

"Hello?" Her mom said.

"Hey Mom" Isabella said in a cheery voice.

"Isabella!" Her mom said. "Let me put you on speaker phone so your dad can hear too" She said.

"Alright." She said. She hated being on speaker phone, but it worked for her parents. So she had to deal with it. "Hello?" She said.

"Hey there Isabella, how's New York treating you?" She heard her dad say, it sounded as though he was far away from the phone, and Isabella guessed he was at the computer doing some kind of work.

"Hi Dad, New York is great. " She said.

"Have you seen Jin yet?" He asked.

"Of course." Isabella said. "She and her boyfriend Charlie took me to Ikea the other day to get some stuff."

"How nice of them." He said. "Is it cold out there?"

"It's got a springy weather. It's not to cold, but there's a little snow here and there. It's actually really nice." Isabella said thinking about it. It was really nice for spring. For the few days she had been in New York the sun would shine, making it warm and melting the snow away.

"That's nice, you should come back to old California. It's gotten really warm here in the last few days since you've been gone." Her Dad said.

"Oh don't say that to her John." She heard her Mom say. "Don't listen to him Isabella."

"I know." She said.

"So how is new York?" Her mom asked.

"Well its only day three." She said. "I haven't seen much yet. I'll have to get Jin to take me around, we're meeting today for lunch."

"How fun. How is Jin these days?" Her Mom asked.

"She's good, she's living with her boyfriend. I met him, he's great for her." Isabella said.

"Sounds great. How about you? I know it's only been three days, but have you met anyone else?" Her Mom asked.

"The guy in the lobby is really nice. He gave me advice on where to run this morning." Isabella told her mom. "And I met a guy at the park today. Oh and I just met my neighbor, she looks about my age; 23 maybe."

"Oh. That's so great Isabella. I'm glad you're meeting other people. But the guy? " Her mom said sounding worried.

"No don't worry Mom, I didn't pick up and crazy people." Isabella said laughing. "He came over to me because he noticed that I had never been around the park before."

"Really now?" Her mom said. "Well was he cute at least?" Her mom laughed.

"Mom." Isabella said. "He had the most gorgeous green eyes." She said.

"Green huh? I thought all you young girls went for the blue eyes." Isabella's mom said.

"Green. Blue. I don't care." Isabella said. "He seemed nice. We're meeting again tomorrow at the park. I figure, he's good looking, seems nice. And he wasn't some crazy stalkerish so I said okay." Isabella said.

"Be safe." her Mom said.

"Oh Mom. Don't you worry. He seems nice. You never know." Isabella said. "Anyways, I got to go. I love you Mom. Dad I love you too!"

"Love ya Isabella!" She heard her Dad yell. "Come home soon!"

"Alright Dad" She said. "Bye Mom, Love you!"

"Love you Isabella. Have fun with Jin today. Tell her I say Hi!" Her Mom said.

"Will do. Bye" Isabella said and hung up her phone. She never thought she would miss life back home. But she did. At times she even missed her crazy overdosed roommate. Maybe it was the fact that it was all new here. It was like that in college; she hated her first semester at Stanford, but then she met Jin in an English class her second semester, along with Emily and Alexis. From then on she loved Stanford. Isabella sighed, hoping that sometime soon New York would turn out like that. She looked at her clock on the wall, another one of the many things she bought at Ikea the other day. It read 10:15. She was wondered what time she should go out and have Gino call her a cab, Jin told her to make it early. So she headed over to her bathroom and turned on the shower, she waited for it to warm up. She placed her blue terry cloth towel on the back of the door on the hook and through her dirty running clothes in the hamper she had placed in the bathroom.

At eleven she made her way down to the lobby. Gino was still there. He was talking to someone who looked about his age. He noticed her and smiled and waved her over.

"Isabella. Come here!" He said. She smiled and made her way over to him. "Are you here for you taxi?" He said.

"Yeah. Can you call one for me?" She asked smiling at the women who he was talking to.

"Of course" He said getting on the phone. "Alright, it will be here in 10 minutes" He said and smiled at her. "In the mean time I would like you to meet my wife, Rose." Rose went in to hug Isabella and Isabella gladly accepted.

"Oh its so nice to meet such a nice young lady!" Rose said to Isabella.

"It's nice to meet you too. Gino here has been such a friendly person to me. It's so nice to know someone like him in such a big place like New York." Isabella said to Rose as she smiled at Gino.
"Ahhh, that's my Gino. Here to help anyone and everyone." Rose said. "One of the many reasons why I married the man." She said. "Anyways, I just came by to drop by his lunch. I'm off to see the Grandkids now. It was a pleasure Isabella. Hopefully I'll see you again." Rose said giving Isabella another hug.