Chapter 2

True to her word, Mags arrived with two very large coffees, too damn early. I considered not opening the door, but her screeching would probably piss off my new neighbors enough to call the police.

"Let's get to it, chicky," she said, thrusting a cup in my face, when I opened the door. She shoved past me and sat at my desk. "Were you writing last night?"

I walked over to shut down my laptop. "A little bit, mostly I rearranged things on my calendar. I just need my shoes and we can go." I treated my large cup like a shot of vodka and downed it, wiping the back of my hand across my mouth when I was done.

"That's pretty hardcore, missy," she commented, heading to the front door."Look, I brought my truck this time."

"Thanks, Maggie. I appreciate it." I hopped into the truck and off we went to get me a new washer, dryer, TV, DVD Player, and stereo system complete with surround sound.

We wandered the longer than necessary, because Maggie kept seeing shiny things and taking off. She tends to need constant supervision. Once I found a sales rep, it was easy to point at the things I wanted. I knew I could hook everything up myself, so I declined their offer to drop it off for me, other than the washer and dryer.

When we got back to my house, I ran to prop the door open so we could get everything inside. I had insisted on a very large TV, so we struggled a little getting it into the house, but we were finally able to get it unpacked. When we went to mount the TV, I realized I had left the few tools I owned at Jared's.

While Maggie ran to get a drill and hammer, I placed a call to get the cable hooked up, then unpacked the surround sound system. Once Maggie got back, it was easy to get everything hooked up and hung up where I wanted it. Now I at least had music and DVD's until the cable guy showed up.

Mags ordered pizza and we settled out back at my new patio table, chatting and watching the sun go down.

"Have you heard from Jared?" she asked.

"Not yet. It wouldn't surprise me if he didn't notice I was gone until later in the week," I laughed.

"You'll hear from him tomorrow," she surmised.

"Wanna bet?" I offered my hand.

"'Sure." She scrunched her nose in thought. "If I win, you have to double date with me and whomever I choose for you."

"I just got out of a relationship, Maggie. I don't want to date right now," I insisted.

"You left Jared a long time ago. It just took you months to realize it. Now what do you want if you win, which you won't."

"Dinner at Ruth's Chris,"I answered without hesitation. We shook on it, and Maggie headed home.

I grabbed my laptop and went back outside to sit. I decided to edit the last few paragraphs I'd worked on the previous day. After yawning for ten minutes straight, I saved my work, shut down my computer and crashed on my mattress, thankful I only had one more night on the floor.

A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing. I'm flattered by all of you that are following this story, already. If you've reviewed, I responded (if you were logged in)

If you notice any mistakes, it's my fault, not MissEli's who did her BETA job, but I fidgeted after

Thanks Mirror for the banner xoxo