June 20th, 2004

Angel Grove, CA

Over the course of the next couple of days, things between Nick and I got better. He did return home that night and apologized. When I showed him the bruise he had given me, he broke down and cried. He held me the entire night and helped me keep a bag of frozen peas on it to help with the pain. He made me promise to not over do it during the day and to go to the doctor if he got any worse. Things were good and I knew that he didn't mean for me to get hurt. I should have moved when he asked me too and I had pushed too hard. It was my own fault and he helped me see that.

I started working at the theater. For my first couple of days, Mr. Ridley showed me around and how the bookings worked. The theater group was supposed to meet me my second day but something came up. Instead, Mr. Ridley and I sat in the theater and watched past performances on a projector screen that pulled down on the stage. He even made popcorn in the machine, showing me how it worked and how to clean it once we were finished. It was nice and it was fun to sit with him while he pointed out different tricks they had used for various shows. My favorite by far was My Fair Lady, a show they had put on two summers ago. It was a successful turn out and they were able to sell out all but one of the six showings that weekend. I took notes as we watched, hoping to capture those kinds of numbers again.

I came home to a surprise that Friday. Tucked into the mailbox was an envelop from my Aunt Patricia. She had called her friend to run the key to the house over to me. Inside there was also a letter from Patricia, letting me know what she had done to the house since Mom went to Paris. The lines would need to be flushed from the lack of use but other than that, we would be good to go. I was excited about the concept of having our own home, giving Nick the privacy he needed to not be a dick to everyone.

"Babe?" I called out, walking in the front door. Trini and Jason were still off to work and I knew that Nick had the day off. He's been working every day, pulling in more money now that he was working for his boss back in Miami. He seemed to enjoy the work too. He'd come home from work with a new found energy that was making me think that we had finally found something that was working for him. He was getting along with Jason better now but I knew that Jase was still keeping an eye on him. I couldn't be certain but I think Trini had kept her promise to not tell him about my fight with Nick. My side was healing now, a large black and blue mark now there. It seemed to be fading more and more each day and I couldn't wait for it to be gone.

"In here." He replied from our room. Walking up the hallway, I saw the door was open slightly. Pushing it open, I saw he was closing up the front pouch of his backpack by his side of the bed. "Hey." He said, smiling up at me. "How was work?"

"Good. Another day of watching some classics." An odor suddenly hit me and it made me gag slightly. "Oh god. What is that smell?" I asked, plugging my nose. "It's like burning rubber and vinegar."

"I was using some chemicals to fix the drywall." He said, pointing behind the door. I leaned over and saw a white patch over the spot where the hole had been. "I'll open the window and air it out some."

"I got it." I replied, walking over to the window. I unlocked it and pulled it until it opened. "I have good news though!"

"What's that?" He asked. I held up the house key.

"My aunt sent over the house key. We are cleared to move in once we do some minor things." He smiled, jumping up. He took a couple steps towards me and wrapped his arms around my waist, picking me up off the floor. I giggled as he twirled me around.

"This is fantastic news! I can't wait to be in our own space."

"Me too." I said, kissing him. He set me back down on my feet. "Now, you just gotta have your friends send our things. We can store everything at the house while we get everything set up."

"Oh." He said, his face falling. "I thought I told you."

"Told me what?" I asked.

"I had the guys pack up all our stuff a couple weeks ago and they shipped it out. I thought I could surprise you with it. But the company called me and said they lost it all during the delivery."

"Everything? They lost everything?" He nodded. "All of our furniture and stuff?"

"I'm afraid so. I'm sorry, babe. But at least we grabbed all the important stuff, right?" Frowning, I nodded. He was right. I had made sure to get everything I wanted with me. But there were still some things there that I wanted like our bed or my wedding dress that had been in my closet.

"Yeah. I'll just have to get some new furniture."

"There you go! You love that kind of stuff." He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear before letting me go and walking over to the dresser.

"I do. And at least we still have some extra money in our savings. I can get us a new bed and maybe a new couch. That'll be nice."

"Don't do that." He said, looking at me over his shoulder.

"Why not? We can afford it."

"I had to dip into our savings a bit." He replied, pulling on a pair of socks.

"How much is a bit?" I asked. He shrugged his shoulders. "Nick?"

"I had to get some tools and stuff for work." He said, not looking at me. "And Pete said that they needed some cash to show I had interest in being a partner."

"How much did you take, Nick?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"$8000." He muttered. I gawked at him before letting out a gasp.

"That's almost all of our savings! When were you going to tell me that you had taken nearly all of our money? What are we supposed to do now? We have to pay to get the utilities turned on and for stuff for the house. We can't do that without money."

"It's not a big deal, Kimmy. We're both working now. I can use the money I make tonight and put that towards the house. And when you get paid, we can get everything turned on. Right now, just use what we had for furniture. Second hand shops are your favorite."

"Because it's all we can ever afford." I muttered, running a hand down my face.

"Look," He said, slamming the drawer of the dresser shut. "What did you want me to do? You want me to work, don't you? Sometimes, you gotta spend money to make money." Walking around me, he grabbed his backpack and put it on his back. "I gotta get to work."

"I thought you had the day off."

"So did I but Pete called and said that he had some clients that needed help with a roofing project. I'll be home late." Leaning in, he kissed my cheek and walked towards the front door. I listened as it shut behind him. Sighing, I leaned against the wall and looked down at the key.


Instead of waiting around the house for Trini or Jason to get home, I decided to get out. I changed into a pair of blue jeans and a pink t-shirt before heading out. Trini and Jason don't live too far from town. It was about a ten minute walk and I found myself actually enjoying the alone time as I walked. The sun was shining brightly and it looked like it was going to be a promisingly nice weekend. We had talked about heading to the beach or going somewhere for the day tomorrow. But now, I didn't feel right knowing we barely had enough money to afford living, let alone a day out with friends. I still couldn't believe he had spent all of our money in such a short time. It had taken me months to save that kind of cash and it had been our money for treatments towards a baby. Without it, it would take even longer to build up the funds to afford treatment now.

I pushed those thoughts out of my mind though when I entered Re-Used, the second hand store. It was located in a two story brick building and housed a large number of items that were either bought whole sale or donated. I used to come here all the time with my mother when I was a kid. She loved antiquing and loved dragging me out of bed early on Saturdays to find stuff that we didn't necessarily need. It helped fill the void after her and Dad split though so I humored her. I actually enjoyed it a bit myself and continued it in Florida. It was a good activity that involved finding treasures that some people viewed as trash.

I roamed around the first floor, rooms filled with various objects such as china, glassware, records, old televisions, porcelain dolls that made Chucky look innocent. Each room was set up with objects from the different rooms most people have in their houses. As I went along, I made a list of things we would need and how much it would cost from here. The prices were dirt cheap and it would be a good start until we were both back to getting a steady paycheck. I found a kitchenware set I liked along with some linens that would match them. There was a wall full of rugs that I dug through until I found some that I thought would look good in the hallway and the living room.

I made a right hand turn into the next room and found myself in a room filled with mirrors. There were full length mirrors, brass framed ones that hung on the walls, smaller ones in bins. It was like a fun house without the horrifying music. Walking through, I stopped to look at one. It had a dark copper color to the frame and there were birds molded into it. I ran a finger over one that resembled a crane and I smiled. Movement behind my reflection in the mirror made me look and I was surprised to see that there was someone standing there. I was even more surprised to see that it wasn't just any one. It was Tommy. He was bent over, looking at a flat, full length mirror that was on the other side of the room. The mirror had no frame to it and it reminded me of the floor to ceiling mirrors you'd find in a gym or dance studio.

"Tommy?" I said, stepping towards him. Standing up, he looked over his shoulder with a confused look on his face. When he realized it was me, he smiled.

"Hey, Kim. What are you doing here?" He asked, shifting his whole body to face me.

"Browsing for furniture for the house. Are you in the market for a new mirror?" I pointed at the mirror behind him. He nodded.

"We had a bit of an accident at the dojo this morning. Two kids were messing around and one of our mirrors shattered. I was hoping we could find something here before I shell out big cash for a new one."

"Oh no. I don't blame you there."

"So, you guys are moving into your old house?" I nodded.

"We got the keys this morning. I just gotta find some stuff first. All of our furniture was lost on it's way here so we have to start from scratch."

"Yikes. That's rough. I know I saw some good stuff upstairs. I can show you if you're interested."

"Sure." Tommy headed over to the wide staircase that led up to the second floor. This was more open up here, furniture set up around the large room. It was still sorted by room, couches and living room furniture to the right and bedroom things on the left. There was an entire stack of mattresses in the far corner, some of them still in plastic wrap. In the middle, whole kitchen table sets were placed here with tables and chairs pushed to them. "What are we looking for?"

"Everything." I replied, letting out a sigh. "I don't even know where to begin."

"Well, everyone needs somewhere to sit, right?" He asked, walking towards the couches. There were about fifteen of them, mixing between couches and loveseats. There were even a few recliners here but they looked to be in some rough shape. I did spot a three piece set that was a soft maroon color. Walking closer, I noticed it had fabric similar to corduroy, the rippled fabric felt like velvet under my fingers when I touched it. There was a couch, a loveseat, and a matching chair. They had even placed a glass topped coffee table in front of the three of them and it looked perfect.

"Oh, I love this!" I said, walking over to stand in front of the couch. "It would match the living room perfectly."

"It's a nice set." He said, standing behind it. I spotted the price tag on the arm and leaned over to look at it. I frowned when I saw that it was $400. That was nearly half of my budget and all of what I had intended to spend for the day. "What's the matter, Kim?" Tommy asked.

"Nothing." I said, standing back up. "I think we need a bed first."

"You sure?" He questioned. I nodded, giving the set one last longing look before walking towards the bedroom section. There were a lot of beds over here, mostly with wooden head boards and foot boards. I spotted one in the corner that had little cabinets built into the headboard with sliding doors. With the queen sized mattress, I saw that it would come to $200, the price I was hoping for.

"What do you think?" I asked, looking at Tommy. I saw he was back a few feet, pretending to be looking at a bed frame.

"Looks good." He said, shifting from one foot to another. I went to ask him what was wrong but then I realized I was asking my ex-boyfriend about the bed I would be sharing with my husband. Sometimes, I'm thicker than Rocky.

"Tommy, I'm sorry." I said, feeling a blush in my face. "If you have to get going, go right ahead. I can do this myself. I don't even have a way to get anything to the house today anyway."

"You walked here?" He asked. I nodded.

"Yeah. Everyone was at work still so I figured it would pass the time."

"Well, are you sure everything is going to fit through the doorways? I remember that time your mom had to move your new couch in and they had to take the doors off." He replied.

"You're right. I had forgotten about that. Maybe I should wait until I get a second to measure the doorways. I can come back another day."

"I can just drive you over there quickly. It's not that far and I have my tools in the jeep." He offered.

"Tommy, I don't want to impose or anything." He smiled.

"You're not. I offered."

"Alright. Let's go then."