A big firm buidling with a rustical look outside. The neighborhood was all clean and nice, yet that one building gave it a special touch. It was a good part of New York. Kind of a new underground scenery which was about to uprise and live that NY mood up. One or two cute cafes, vintage botiques and a row of jewish, arabic, chinese and african supermarkets. It was a colorful area in its blooming times.

Darya pushed herself against the heavy box shifting it inside her new apartment. She rested her hands in her waist looking around. She let a hopeful and relaxed breath out. One more time she bend over to push the box next to the others in the middle of the big bright room. She strived one strand of her shiny honey brown hair out of her face to put it behind her ear. She moved towards the wall to pull a big rolled up carpet to the ground. She let it fall and cut the bandages holding it. She then put one of her foot on the edge of the carpet and with her other foot she kicked the carpet towards the big windows in front of her. It unfolded itself and a big beautiful persian carpet covered the wood floor. She started to smile "Having a wood floor in such a building is really a lucky incident." She moved her way towards the two big windows which had one glass door in between. She opened it and stepped outside on the balcony "And even a balcony. What more could I ask for, forthis price!" Again she smiled threw her arms in the air and stretched herself for good five long seconds. She looked to her side noticing that the other apartment had a balcony too, of course. Other than hers it covered itselves from stranger looks with wood walls and big beautiful trees. She bit herself on the lip thinking she should get something like that too. She lifted her face to see another balcony above her. So many neighbors she thought. But her landlord told her that her neighbors are really nice and comfortable with each other. Especially the neighbor above her is almost never there.

Darya - also called Ari by her friends - walked back into her apartment and closed the door. She started to open her boxes and put her books up the shelf which was there already. Most things as the kitchen, a desk in the bedroom, which was simply divided by walls without any door and as mentioned before the bookshelf was there before. As she looked around she started to love her new apartment.

She decorated her new home the whole day and let the workers inside who brought her few pieces from back home. Her sofa, a table, her bed and a few other boxes. In the evening the sun slowly went down and Ari wanted to use the last sunrays to let her freshly washed clothes dry on her balcony. She loved that she had a balcony where she could chill in the morning to drink her coffee and let her clothes air-dry and with some more help of the sun. She hung up her last shirt on the rail of her balcony and then she took a deep deep breath to take a spin around herself just like a ballerina. One more time she threw her arms in the air and talked to herself "I love it! This is gonna be great!" She laughed to herself and watched the sun go down. She always knew she had a tendency for theatrical behaviour but this scene was just too perfect. She tried to enjoy every second of it.

Next day

Ari got up and stretched herself looking at the bright light which shed upon her through her window in her bedroom. She walked into the kitchen, which was connected to her living room and made herself some coffee and breakfast. She sat down at the table in her living room, on some of her oriental cushions. She liked it more than sitting on her sofa. After she finished her breakfast she looked around and smiled. Her new apartment was really the way she wanted it to be. It would be her new safe place, her harbour to always go back to.

A layout of Darya's apartment:

Darya took her coffee to go outside on her balcony. Wouldn't her coffee taste way better with some fresh air? She opened her balcony doors and stepped outside. She looked around and then she saw what she didn't expect. Here whole clothes were wet? She frowned her forhead "What the heck?" She ran towards her clothes hanging up on the rail of her balcony "Did it rain?" she asked as she looked around "But everything is dry." She didn't understand what was going on. Suddenly cold water splashed on her head. She screamed while she pulled herself back trying not to let her coffee fall down "Aaah!" She didnt' understand the world. She frowned her forhead one more time after she processed the shock. She slowly walked towards her balcony rail again and looked to her left and to her right, then she opened her mouth slowly "Hello?". Silence. She shook her head "I must be mistaken. But it's not raining." she stuck her head over her balcony rails and watched above. She saw a whole row of plant pots hanging on the balcony's apartment above her. She let out a "Huh!". Suddenly another voice made it to her ears "Hello?". Again she startled and pulled her head back inside. She looked around and slowly answered "Yeah... hello?" The man's voice answered "Ah, yes. I heard a scream. But I wasn't sure if I heard right. Is everything ok?". Darya blinked a few times "Ah, yes. Yes." she said and made a little pause. Then she snapped out of her trance "Actually when I just came out I saw my whole laundry is wet. And when I checked my head got wet too. That's why I was caught off guard." she heard the man put something down and he started to laugh a little bit "Oh yes. I am sorry. I watered my plants. I didn't know... better said I forgot someone moved in. The place you are staying at now, was empty for a long time. That's why I am used to noone staying there." Ari understood "I see. That's ok I guess. But please could you take care from now on? It's ok. I will just let the clothes dry again today." she said as she walked backwards slowly. She wanted to go back inside before she heard the man talking again "Yes sure. I will keep it in mind. Nice to meet you and welcome to the neighborhood." the man said. Ari opened her mouth "Right. Thank you so much. And nice to meet you too." she said before closing the balcony door. It seemed as if the man, who was her neighbor from above, was back. Her landlord told her he stayed in this apartment every year for a short time. She thought to herself that her first encounter with a neighbor was startling but ended nicely anyways. She took a look at her clock on her table, which she didn't hung up yet and noticed, it was time to get ready for work. She hopped into her bedroom to open a box with clothes. She pulled out some nice pieces to put them on. As always a skinny jeans and a loose big blue shirt. She took her black little bag and grabbed her sunglasses. Now she was ready to go.

She worked as a research assistant in the department of sinology in a well known university nearby. She knew that many would ask what sinology is and Ari always gave the same answer smiling " Chinese studies"and then people usually gave an "Aha!" or "Oh!" as a response. At work she made herself familiar with her new few co-workers and her boss. There were many professors who were going to work with her but one of them was going to look after her more than others. After all, she was going to write her PhD about a work where she needed to work together with that one certain professor. She actually liked having her own office with a desk and a computer. It made her feel kind of important and it made her feel as if her work was meaningful to the world of academics. On her first day not many tasks were on the due. She just had to get to know the systems the university worked with. Other than that she did some little research for her own work. When she looked out the window she realized that the sun didn't shine as much as it did the day before. She thought about her clothes on the balcony and immediatley she thought of her neighbor. She asked herself what kind of a person he was and how he looked like. She remembered his voice being kind of husky, yet calm and kind of hypnotizing due to the slow way he talked. She nodded her head and thought he indeed talked slowly but not too slow. That was good. Really good. Then she shook her head to snap out of her little thought. She let herself fall into her desk chair looking at the clock at the big white and empty wall of her office. It was time to go home she thought. Home. The way she thought of her new apartment made her happy.

She took the subway home which only took her around 15 minutes. It was slowly getting kind of dark and as she made her way towards her building. She saw a tall figure come out of the building she lived in. Maybe not super tall but taller than her since she was only about 167 cm. Which was average in her opinion. The person was wearing a shirt, jeans and a baseball cap. That was everything she was able to figure out in the dawning light. She noticed that the door to her building was about to fall closed. She ran to grab it and made it inside like a quick little flash. She saw an older lady in her 60s getting her letters. Ari looked at her and greeted her while making her way around her to push the button of the elevator. She extended her hand to shake to woman's hand. The old lady smiled and shook Ari's hand "Hello! Are you the new neighbor?" Ari was happy that the lady was so nice "Yes indeed. That's me. Nice to meet you, my name is Ari." The old lady seemed overjoyed "Oh how nice, how nice. Usually neighbors in big cities don't know each other. Especially the young kids nowadays don't care about knowing their neighbor. I'm happy to see I was wrong. So your apartment is 402 isn't it?" Ari nodded "Yes exactly. How about you ma'am?" The old lady took Ari's hand into hers and patted it with her other hand lightly "Oh, oh I am in 301. I am living there with my husband. We've been together for more than 35 years now." Ari laughed happily when the elevator opened its doors. She could have used the stairs but she was too lazy after a day of work. Ari smiled "Are you gonna take the elevator?" the women shook her head "No my kid. I am gonna go out now." Ari nodded and took the elevator and waved at the old lady as the doors got closed.

When Ari arrived in her four walls she tought of what she should eat. She wasn't gonna cook on her first day of work. So she just put a pizza in the oven to relax on her sofa. She then got up one more time thinking of her laundry. She went onto the balcony touching them "Still a bit wet. Well I guess when I leave them dry until tomorrow it's gonna be all dry again." She made her way back into the apartment and ate her dinner to finally relax, read and watch some tv. After she lay in bed and let the two days pass review she thought that it was pretty good. The little accident with her neighbor and her wet clothes was definitly not worth labeling as bad and she thought that after all it was just the way she imagined it. She felt warm under her blanket and in between her red brick walls. She slowly forgot her thoughts and fell into sleep.