Claire pulled her Prius up to what would be her new home, her own New York apartment finally. She got out of the car with excitement and nervousness all at the same time, a feeling of this is where she belongs flushed over her as she went to the outside steps of the apartment building. This was the start of her new life, a life that would hopefully fulfill her dreams of becoming a successful photographer. She walked with one of her boxes up to the 2nd floor of the apartment building, 5B was hers. She unlocked the door to her small, studio apartment and surveyed the room, this really isn't much Claire thought to herself. She was use to living in a big house, of course she had to deal with dead people being in the basement. After finally moving in her belongings, Claire sat down on the worn, wooden floors to take all of her emotions in. She decides to call Ted to let him know she got there safely along with missing him.

Before leaving for New York, her and Ted had not made any promises about staying together due to the long distance. Deep down Claire would of gladly stayed in California for Ted but she would have repeated the same mistake she makes over and over again, it was time for Claire to do what is best for her. It was the first time Claire hadn't let a man dictate what she was going to do with her life and Ted agreed. That was what made Ted so special to Claire, he wasn't going to let her give up on her dreams.

Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring "Hey! How is my big city woman?!"

"I'm okay, just got done bringing everything into the apartment and wanted to let you know I got here safely."

"I'm glad, I miss you like crazy already."

"It's only been a couple of days, you couldn't of missed me that much."

"You really have a hard time believing it don't you. He laughs."

"This is just very surreal to me right now, I'm actually here in New York finally. I've always wanted this but at the same time I feel like there is something missing."

"Like what?"

"You,...my family, …..mostly my mom,"Claire says as she is holding back tears6.

"Don't worry so much, you needed to do this for you."

"I still can't believe I came here with no job prospect, I don't know even where to start looking, how long my trust money is going to last for…7"

"Stop. Don't doubt yourself…... You will be able to figure it out, you're a talented photographer and you'll find something soon."

"I hope so…"

"I know so"

"Well, I guess I'll let you go. I'm going to order some chinese…..try to conform to my new New York lifestyle."

"Ok, I love you."

"I love you too….."

As Claire hangs up the phone she tears up again. She knows this is what she needs to do but she is still harboring guilt about leaving her family, mostly her mother after everything that had been going on the last couple of months. As she wiped her eyes she said to herself ,"I can do this". She then found a pamphlet for a chinese delivery place that was hanging outside her door and ordered some delivery. After eating, she laid a sheet on her bare mattress that was in the middle of the living room floor and fell asleep to the noise of police sirens outside her apartment. Claire woke up to loud music blasting from an apartment down the hall, she rolled her eyes and threw her pillow over her face as she was trying to get herself back to sleep. Since it was a Tuesday, Claire figured that the person thought it was ok to blast music at 9:30 am due to everyone usually being at work. Just then Claire started to fluster up with anxiety over not having a job. She slowly removed the pillow from her face and decided it was time to get up instead of staying in bed any longer. I might as well get started on organizing the apartment and unpacking everything, Claire thought to herself.

It was late in the afternoon when Claire decided to take a break from unpacking. She decided to make some popcorn since all she had at the moment was packaged goods. She had finally hooked up the television and decided to watch something on TV while she took a break. As she was flipping through channels, she stops on a funeral home commercial. Her family's funeral home immediately came to her mind, she knew every single space of that house like the back of her hand. She had grown up in that home since she was born and now it was thousands of miles away, existing without her.

After watching some old reruns of Three's Company, Claire decided it was time to go get some actual food at the store instead of relying on bags of popcorn and chips. Then she realized that she wasn't sure where to go to get groceries, this

was only her second day in New York. She had never really had to go grocery shopping due to her mother always doing it back home but now was the realization that she was in charge of everything. Welcome to adult life, Claire thought to herself, it's a bitch. Claire thought what better time than now to explore the city, she'd find a store eventually. She grabbed her camera along with her purse and enthusiastically headed outside her apartment. What awaited her was a brand new world to explore.

Claire arrived back to her apartment around 9:00 pm, feeling familiar to her new life. As she walked in to enter her apartment building she saw a guy with tattoos and shaggy hair walking up the stairs. She curiously looked at him, he seems pretty attractive, she thought to herself. She then wondered if this was the neighbor who had been blasting music earlier in the day. The signs are there Claire thought, tattoos, shaggy hair, and lean body, he has to be a musician or some type of artist. Claire was all too familiar with these types of guys and quickly reminded herself how disinterested she would be in someone like him. Besides, Ted was still in her heart, even though they weren't really together. It was funny to see how Ted, the republican, lawyer who played by the rules was the man that had meant more to Claire than any guy before.

Claire had just finished eating a bowl of spaghetti squash when she heard her phone ring, Ted was calling. She blushed as she picked up the phone, excited to tell him about her day.

"Hey!", Claire grasped while she was smiling

"You sound like you've had a better day"

"I actually went outside of my apartment today to go get groceries and explore the city a little."

"How was it?"

"Well, I apparently live close to a store run by drag queens, who complimented me on my gorgeous red hair."

"They idolize any woman with red hair, it's a drag thing," Ted replied laughing

"What would you know about drags? I bet you've never even seen a drag queen in your life, you'd probably of clammed up and looked down like you were lost if you had been with me," Claire laughed.

"You know me too well"

It was true, Ted was like Gene Hackman's character in the movie The Birdcage, a conservative politician who believes a romantic relationship only exists between a man and a woman. Although, Ted would never say that out loud

or be childish about it.

"Maybe you should come here soon and I can show you one in person," Claire jokingly said to Ted.

"How can I pass that up!? I'm booking the red eye right now,"he joked

"If only…."Claire sighed. Thinking about Ted coming up to New York made Claire feel so happy but it hurt knowing that it wouldn't be permanent.

"Hey...if it were that easy I would of been there with you"

"I know."

"Is it okay if I talk to you tomorrow during lunch? I had a long day at the office and have to already get ready for bed."

"That's fine. I've got nothing but time right now."

"Ok, I love you"

"I love you too."

As Claire ended the phone call her heart sank again. Not only where they thousands of miles apart but even just having phone conversations was hard to do. When they tell each other "I love you", it makes Claire long for him even more. Maybe I should stop saying it, Claire thought. It's not helping either of us to keep saying it when we aren't even a couple anymore, whatever we are anymore. I'm here and he's there, if I keep holding onto him I'll always feel this empty, longing feeling. Claire decided to get her camera and look through some of her photos to get her mind off Ted. New York gave her a lot of inspiration and she felt happy with majority of the shots she had taken. She felt reaffirmed in her decision to come to New York, forgetting about Ted for a moment. While looking through the photos she stopped on one of a mother and her daughter eating ice cream on a bench. Claire then remembered the last thing her and her mom said to each other before she left for New York.

"Thank you for everything and thank you for giving me life," Claire said to her mother.

"You gave me life", said Claire's mother.