"Who are you?"

Frankly, that was the very first thing that Ney managed to say at the cheery party-girl in front of her. Frankly, it was the only thing that she could say to the new neighbor, or to anyone who does exactly what this bubbly bundle of metaphoric sunshine did. Frankly, Ney wished that she wasn't brought up to be so wonderfully tolerant and that she could could slam the door in her face.

"Oh, me?" the redhead giggled, managing to point at herself despite the incredulous load she was carrying. "I'm Chartette Langley! I thought that I should say hi to my new neighbors, and you're the only one in!"

The only one in. Was that a privilege, or the evening's misfortune?

"Nice to meet you," was Ney's nonchalant, standardized, monotonous answer. "Welcome to the Atria Suites then."

"Thank you! Your name please?~"

Oh joy. Chartette's eyes were practically blinking every second in anticipation.

"Ney Marlon. You can call me-"

"Ney! That's such a cool name! You're the daughter of the Marlon Corp. CEO, right? Right? Oh my gosh, you're staying here! And I'm your neighbor! And we're neighbors! And-"

Oh dear god.

Condominiums

a Ney Marlon and a Chartette Langley fanfiction.

1: Pass-codes

"Simple. Don't talk to me."
Ney Marlon, 24, Vice President of Marlon Corp.
INTRODUCTION #1

That was what happened approximately a day ago.

It was a wonder that Ney managed to survive a shopping trip with Chartette constantly prattling on and asking her questions. The only facts that Chartette Langley could get from Ney Marlon were the facts that Ney hated romance novels (much to the girl's horror), Ney hadn't cut her hair since she was 11, and from observation, Ney didn't know how to pick fresh vegetables. Ney was the type of person who would go to the organic section of the supermarket and toss in random packets of organic spinach, organic tomatoes, organic capsicums and any other wrapped packet of vegetables that had the word organic on it.

At that point, Chartette really wished that she could do at least an adequate Sherlock scan, just like Sherlock Holmes always does in the books. The only word that popped up in Chartette's vocabulary-enriched mind was 'anti-social' regarding her new neighbor, and their brief meeting abruptly ended with Chartette following Ney back up to her suite, and with Ney shutting the door in her face without even a word of thanks.

But that was what compelled Chartette to knock on her door the very next morning at 7 am, when most people would go to work, or be at work already.

"Go away," replied the owner of the suite.

"Are you going for work?" Chartette asked, still being cheery as ever.

"No."

"No?"

The door finally opened, revealing Ney's ever sharp-looking yet uninterested expression. "No."

"Oh! So, um...are you free?" Chartette smiled, pushing her luck. "I mean, I know we went to the supermarket yesterday, but we can always go somewhere else to hang out-"

"Why are you so insistent?" Ney asked, still not moving from her position behind the door. "Tell me this, why are you so insistent?"

Why was she so insistent? She didn't know. Maybe it was because Ney was an interesting person? That's most probably it, maybe. Ney was an interesting person, even if she had only met her for a day. Even if she had just met her last night.

"Because I wanna be friends! Can we be friends?"

The answer was a slam of the door in Chartette's face again.

"An open book."
Chartette Langley, 32, Langley Bookstore Owner.
INTRODUCTION #2

Well, it seemed that Ney Marlon wasn't a very approachable person. Even Chartette was having quite a challenge, and it had only been two days.

Apparently, Ney Marlon does not have Twitter. She does not have Facebook, nor Instagram (but seriously, can anyone imagine Ney Marlon with Instagram?), or maybe it's the fact that Chartette just doesn't know her accounts. At the least, Ney should have WhatsApp or Line, but there was one thing that always came first.

How the hell can she get her accounts? Chartette can't speak to a closed, solid, rigid door.

The only things that were known to Ney about Chartette was the fact that she was like an open book. A book that was way too eager to be read by others. Rays of metaphorical sunshine. Imaginary flowers everywhere. Some funny story about knights and princesses would spill out from that prattling mouth, and Ney would never even pay it any heed. Why would she, anyways?

Unbeknownst to Chartette, Ney actually found this very new, weird and annoying.

So came day 2 of 'earning Ney Marlon's friendship.' Chartette curled her hair, set them in place, reloaded some paper on the oh-so-trusty typewriter and headed out. Pin codes and passwords were so useful at this time of age, yet it also meant that people couldn't tell whether someone was home or not. In the Atria Suites, no one actually leaves their shoes outside their door, so it posed as a problem to friendly neighbors wanting to come over.

It's only day 2. Pathetic. But Chartette didn't lose heart. She raised a finger, puffed out her cheeks and pressed the doorbell for more initiative.

"Go away," replied the owner of the suite. Deja vu.

"Aren't you going to work today, Ney?"

"I'm thinking of a new pass-code."

"Can I help?" Chartette asked enthusiastically, wishing that this was the open window to potential conversations.

"Of course not. You'll know my pass-code, idiot. I'd be an idiot too if I were to let you help me make one."

Three lines! A stellar improvement! However, it did put a frown on Chartette's face.

"An idiot! That's not very nice!" the redhead exclaimed.

"And I'm not a very nice person," came the reply.

"Can't you open the door?"

"Don't want to."

"Why not?"

"I just don't want to."

"Please?"

"No."

"I can give you hints on your new pass-code!"

"No thank you."

Silence. Chartette was out of options. Breaking down the door would be very rude, especially when she was capable of doing such a thing. It would even lose further potential chances of Ney ever talking to her, but how could she keep up a positive conversation with Ney when Ney was being like...

"...Come back later," Ney said from behind the door.

What?

"...Eh?" the redhead said.

"Mm."

Come back later. That was the very phrase that made up Chartette's mind. No one's entirely unapproachable after all! It just took a little persuasion, and if Ney told her to come back later, then she would! Maybe one more try at mundane conversation would do?

"When's your birthday?" Chartette instantly asked, overly excited at the fact that she was given at least a hinted chance.

"November 1. Come back later," came the staunch reply.

"Cool! Mine's at April 1! I don't look like it, but I'm 32, by the way! We're both born on the first day of the month-"

"Come. Back. Later."

A black Belstaff Millford coat. That was what Ney wore almost every day in this cold winter.

Chartette noticed minute details about the person that she was eyeing. A sudden interest, a sudden force of attraction towards this antisocial blonde was all it took for Chartette to doggedly take in details, sneak peeks of her daily life and other nonsense that she could divulge into while she sat on her desk in her bookshop, typing away on her laptop as she looked at her Samsung every 5 minutes.

Silly me, she thought to herself. Ney doesn't even know my number!

Google. Yahoo. . StartNow. Any search engine that she could type. Her searches mainly consisted of Ney's name as well as the words 'twitter,' 'facebook,' 'myspace,' 'friendster,' 'instagram,' 'tumblr,' and even 'youtube.' What she did get, however, were newspaper excerpts about her running the Marlon Corporation, which was the main trading company for the entire country of Marlon.

There was also a tiny fact in a forum where it was revealed that Ney 'didn't care much for any country's royalty.'

Langley Bookstore was a safe haven for the carefree soul; made by a carefree soul for other carefree souls. Hard-covered books containing information as well as valuable stories adorned the teak bookshelves, carpets blanketed the wooden floors, sofas and beanbags were readily available and the best part: coffee. Iced coffee, hot coffee, cocoa, tea, you name it. Beverages and snacks made the bookstore smell heavenly. The charm, the allure and the innocent homey atmosphere easily attracted customers, to which Chartette was glad for.

So Chartette locked up, drove back home and got off the lift to the 34th floor, she saw Ney keeping her keys in her coat as she prepared to punch in her pass-code before realizing that someone else was there. So Ney stopped, withdrew her finger from the keypad and with a wave of her other hand, she motioned for Chartette to look away.

"Look away," she said, for more comprehension. Chartette did so, looking at the lift doors.

Five digits later, and the door successfully opened, causing the redhead to hear a relieved sigh from the blonde. And right before Ney stepped into her flat, she turned her pretty blonde head around and looked right at Chartette, who now turned back in curiosity.

"...Care to come in?"

A happy smile.

"Of course!"

So ends day 2 of 'earning Ney Marlon's friendship.'

A/N: Ney has an iPhone. Tette has a Samsung.

-Densetsu-no-Maguro.