Note: None of the main characters are mine.

I would like to start by thanking every single person who has reviewed and even those who just stopped to read and give me a chance. Like I said before it is the first time I have dared to write and it is something so personal and liberating at the same time. The feedback is the inspiration I need to keep going so thanks for that. I do have two jobs and a family so I don't know how often I will get to update but I am aiming for at least once a week.

Happy reading! A

When I used to walk my dog at night I always stopped to look at the moon. For some reason it has always brought me comfort and peace. Anytime I need to get away from all the noise I just sit and look up at it. Tonight, as I'm lying on my rooftop under the bright and full moon, all I feel is lonely. I'm not scared of being alone, I normally love my space and independence. But in this beautiful city full of life, lights, and noise I feel like I'm drowning. The noise reminds me that everyone in this huge city is rushing to get somewhere. Whether it's happy hour with coworkers and friends or home to eat dinner with the family. Everyone has someone and I have no one. Back in Miami Rosie was my someone. With her at my side I never felt alone. She is like the Meredith to my Christina, my person, and speaking with her today made me feel homesick. We spoke for almost an hour about my first day of work and my run in with Masen. Rosie works for a communications company in Miami and is a newbie so she has to do all of the dirty work. One of her duties is to summarize articles for publication announcements. Coincidentally one of the articles she had to do last week was about the Cullen Corporation which is owned by none other than Edward Masen Cullen.

"Do you realize who you ran over?" Her screams are making me doubt myself.

"Stop screaming. I didn't run him over I just bumped in to him. There's a difference. And am I supposed to know who he is? He didn't look or sound familiar."

"Bella, you really need to start reading the gossip sites more. I did a thing for him at work last week. He is like New York royalty or something. He just took over the family business and it's a big deal to people because he is only thirty, I think. He's always coming up in the gossip sites with Fucker or women." This I had no idea about. How am I supposed to keep up with my own life and that of every celebrity out there? I didn't know what to even say or think.

"You totally just killed my hopes. I knew it was too good to be true. The guy just had to be some kind of celebrity. Now I hope I never run in to him again, that would be embarrassing. Oh my God, what if there was paparazzi there and they have a picture of me. Oh jeez!"

"You're rambling again. If they took a picture of you you'll be the new celebrity in town. That's so exciting. Are you going back to the park tomorrow?" How is it that all of a sudden she is so calm about this? Just a minute ago she sounded like a screeching teenager.

"You're calmness scares me. I have no idea if I'm going back. I'll probably sit at a different part of the park if I do go just in case."

"Bella consider yourself lucky. Do you know how many of us would love to just bump in to Edward Cullen? At least you get to say that you have. Don't stress it. You're in a new town with so many people to meet and this is just the beginning."

"This is why I miss you so much Rosie. You always know what to say." Let the homesickness begin.

"I know, I miss you too and don't worry I'm still looking for a job there. I'll make it happen. I have to let you go though I have to start my dinner. Love you."

"Yeah, I know. Love you, bye."

When I got home my roommate Alice was not home but she did leave a note on the fridge that she went out to happy hour. I know I only moved in a couple of days ago but I feel like a complete stranger here. Looking around the apartment it is beautiful. It has a modern but homey vibe. As soon as you walk in the entryway there is a hallway that leads to the living room. The walls are a very light greyish blue. The entertainment center is dark brown with a huge flat screen TV in the center. There's a few pictures of Alice around and a bookshelf full of fashion books. The coffee table is wooden and the side tables are of glass or mirror. Nothing matches but it all goes perfectly together. The kitchen is right across the living room, connected through a bar. All of the kitchen appliances are white while the pots, pans, plates and cups are a light blue. When I move out on my own I'll probably ask Alice to decorate my new place because she has a great eye for it. Alice has the master room which is on the right side of the apartment and mine is on the left. My bathroom has two doors, one leading to my room and the other to the living room. I do hate having to share my bathroom with anyone and everyone that comes to our apartment but I know beggars can't be choosers. There's nothing special about it. It is a new bathroom with a glass shower door. It is very small but perfect for me. Then there's my bedroom. Compared to my room in Miami this is probably the size of my closet but considering how small people usually say the rooms here are, it is spacious. I only have a bed with no frame against the wall opposite from the door. In the corner by the window I have a five drawer chest with my TV on top. My vanity which doubles as my desk is next to my chest and across from my bed. The closet isn't big but that works for me since I really don't have a lot of clothes and don't shop much either. My window is as big as the ones in the living room and has a view of the surrounding buildings. At night I love seeing of the lights so I don't think I'll ever put any draping's.

I'm now looking over the city and at all of the buildings around. And I have to admit that as alone as I feel I can't help but also feel proud of myself. Regardless of how this job ends up or if I even survive in New York, at least I get to live it and try.

See what I mean? It's the moon. It took a little longer to work its magic but I'm back to smiling and back to my peace.

I have been looking forward to this day all week. It's the last day of the work week and the end of an exhausting first week of work. When James came back to work on Tuesday it was like a hurricane took over the office. I am still in the water about James. I honestly don't know what to think of him. My current diagnosis is that he is just bi-polar. His first day back he yelled at me for his coffee being too hot, for not coming in to his office fast enough, talking too low, talking too fast, etc. There wasn't anything good that came out of his mouth and I felt like I did everything wrong. I got home that night and cried into my pillow. I'm not talking about silent tears that roll down your cheek. No. This was the screaming, red face, snot coming down your nose kind of downpour. I had to cry into my pillow because for once Alice was home and I couldn't let her hear me. I couldn't call Rosie with this either because I felt like a complete failure. It was as if all of my dreams came crashing down on me. I went to sleep that night clutching my pillow and completely certain that the next morning my ID badge would be denied, in front of everyone, and then I would get told that I had been fired.

Well it's safe to say that was not the case. Angela and I walked in at the same time and were the first ones in our floor except James. I was going through the motions of the morning until James called me in his office. Building my courage, preparing myself for more yelling and what would ultimately be my head on the chopping block. But when I handed him his coffee he smiled and thanked me. He asked me to have a seat and go over his weekly schedule. Thankfully my shock wore off right away because he began to ask me friendly questions like "how do you like working here so far", "has Angela been helpful". My answers were quick and to the point with a simple "Great" or "Fine, thank you." He then told me that I will be receiving several invitations via email and mail to upcoming functions and to make sure I coordinate with Angela, which I already knew to do. Apparently I started working here at the perfect time because it's his busiest event season. The rest of the work day and week went the same. As if Tuesday never happened but honestly, that was fine by me. I always keep my guard up in case he decides to blow up again. I'm practically walking on eggshells but I'm beginning to think he is a bit unpredictable.

One of the best things to have happened this week was meeting Ellen. Ellen works on the same floor as me but she is the executive assistant to the marketing director. She has been with the company about a year and her office is right next to mine. She's lucky because she has her own office so we spent our lunch there today. We just met two days ago and it's as if we are long lost friends who recently found each other again. I think the right thing to call her is my kindred spirit. One of the things we have in common is that we are both from mixed nationalities. Her mother is from Thailand and her dad is German American. To me, she is one of the prettiest woman I have met and not just physically but she is a beautiful person. She is a year older than me at 29 and it turns out that she is also from Florida. She's actually from some town about 2 hours from Miami. I've never heard of it but I think it's a place with a population of like 3,000. I've told her some stories about Rosie and I growing up in Miami and she's told me about her experiences in her first year of living here. We've only been able to spend our hour lunches together so we haven't really been able to talk much. We did make plans to go to happy hour tonight. I'll be honest and say I felt like Christmas was coming. She was my first official friend in New York and was taking me to my first happy hour in this city. I'm literally sitting at the edge of my chair waiting for the clock to hit five. Just a few seconds and… I'M FREE!

Right now I'm feeling like I'm on top of the world. My first official work week was a success and the weather is amazing so I decided to take the long way home. Normally it takes me about a 20 minute walk but I'm going through Battery Park to enjoy the cold. It's October and the weather is not freezing yet but it is pretty nippy. In Miami we don't get many cold fronts but when we did, those were my favorite days of the year. Here I get to experience that every day and ever since Monday I make my tea and head to the park in the mornings. I sit at a different bench each time and fall deeper in love with this place. I don't go with the intention of running in to Masen and Fucker. I haven't seen them since that day and I honestly think that's best. That day was just my luck and I want to leave it at that. I have no business with Masen and I don't really want to know anything about him.

When I get home Alice isn't home. I'm not surprised though since its Friday night. She's probably already at a happy hour with her own friends. Looking at my watch I see that it's already six o'clock and Ellen is going to come around 7:30 P.M. to pregame. I'm not the giddy type like Rosie but I feel like squealing of excitement which also makes me feel like a complete loser who has never been out in her life. First thing I do is turn on my iHeartRadio app to Nash FM station. It's a station in NY that I have been listening to since Miami. It plays all of the current country songs and there's no better way for me to get all pumped up. My hair and nails are already done from work so all I really need to do is pick a Friday night worthy outfit and shower. I decide to wear my tight fitted white ankle jeans, navy blue blouse, black booties and a black coat. I also decide to take off my contacts and wear my glasses. My glasses always give me a sexy librarian confidence. I then take a good shower. I scrub the nasty week away and shave my body. When I get out of the shower Alice also walks in to the apartment at the same time. "Hi Alice, how are you?"

"Hey Bella, I'm so happy its Friday! I didn't know you liked country music?" She is practically jumping in place.

"I know it must be weird since I come from Miami but I actually love country music. I mean I like all music but this is my absolute favorite. I'm sorry it's so loud I thought you were out for the night so I just had it on while I get ready. I'll put it down now." Though it's the last thing I want to do since they are playing one of my jams from Sam Hunt.

"Are you kidding? Put it up. I love this song. Girl I love country music too! I had no idea but we can totally go to concerts together and bars and shit." Can my day get any better? Alice and I are finally acting like roommates and bonding. I'm actually starting to like her too.

"We must definitely plan that. I actually have to start getting ready since it's my first night out in this town and my coworker Ellen is coming over to pregame in a bit."

"This night should be epic for you then. Where are you girls going?"

"I honestly don't know. We could go to a corner bar for all I care I just want to go out and have a good time with great company and drink to my first week here."

"Well my friend recently opened up a lounge in East Village. It's the only bar in that area that plays some country music so it'll be fun. Do you want to come? There's a list but I can get you guys on it." I would love to go to the lounge that Alice mentioned. Not only is it in East Village which I have read wonderful things about, we wouldn't have to make a line, and I would be able to listen to the music I like at the same time. But since I made plans with Ellen first I just want to make sure it's something she would want to do too.

"That actually sounds like fun. Let me text Ellen and see what she says."

"Do they have a cover charge? Oh wait, Ellen says that she would love to go there. Apparently she knew about this place but hasn't had a chance to go to yet. Yay! I'm even more excited now."

"There is a cover charge but we don't have to pay. Let me text my friend Jasper and start getting ready."

"Okie dokie. I have to do the same since El will be here soon. I'm going to serve myself some lemonade and vodka in the meantime do you want?"

"Sure. That sounds delicious."

When I was in high school my mom considered me an alcoholic because of how much I used to drink. Like I said before, I have some very interesting stories about growing up in Miami. Anyway, after high school I stopped drinking for quite a few years which made me lose any tolerance I had for liquor. Now I only drink a glass of wine every now and then and when I go out I drink vodka and lemonade. It's not too strong but not too fruity either. After handing Alice her drink we head to our own rooms to finish getting ready. As soon as I finish putting on my makeup the ringer buzzes with the doorman asking if we want to let El in. We are both wearing something similar except she is wearing knee high boots and dark blue jeans with a black blouse. She greets me with a bottle of Moscato in her hand. Alice walks out as I take her coat and just as I am about to introduce them –

"Hey El!"

"Alice! I didn't know Bella was your roommate? How funny." Wait, what is going on here?

"Um, so you guys know each other already?"

"Yeah. What a small world. Alice and I go to the same bars so we always run in to each other there." Alice and Ellen are laughing.

"That's perfect. No awkward introductions needed then." We all laugh as I pass out the glasses of Moscato.

We drink our glasses and apply our lipstick. Then we spend a good thirty minutes taking selfies before walking out to hail a cab. In the cab Alice explains that we are meeting her cousin Tanya who is already at the lounge. She also tells us that her friend who owns the bar is a close family friend so we don't have to pay for drinks or anything. We pull up to the lounge a good 15 minutes later. There is a line to the end of the block and I am feeling these huge butterflies in my stomach that also makes me feel like I have to use the restroom. Alice walks us straight to the front of the line and this huge guy hugs Alice as soon as he sees her. Alice is a tiny thing with a mini dress on and he just picked her up like a sack of potatoes. It was one of the funniest things I've seen by far.

"Are these your girls?"

"Yeah, this is my roommate Bella and our friend El. I think you've seen her around? Girls this is my friend Emmett."

"Oh yeah, you do look familiar. Nice to meet you welcome and enjoy. I'll meet up with you ladies later."

He opens up the rope and lets us in. As soon as I walk in to Black Boots I take it all in. I was expecting a small little bar but it is actually a huge two story lounge. While I look around the place although it's a country lounge it is very upscale. Everyone is dressed to the nine's. There's a huge beautiful chandelier in the middle of the room that can be seen from both floors since they are open floors. I am loving every single moment of this night so far. Alice leads us to the VIP section where they let us right through. As soon as we go through I pull on both of them so that they can turn to me.

"Ladies I am having the night of my life and the night has just started. I predict a great time ahead but wanted to thank you now for making this night one that I already will always remember. And now, TO THE BAR!" We all laugh and come in to a group hug.

"Alright let's go."

While we're waiting at the bar for our drinks I feel someone tap my shoulder and clear their throat very close to my ear.