Music in the Key of Love

Chapter 1: Moving in Day

Bam!

Cressida was nearly knocked off her feet by someone headed out the entry to her building as she was going in. The boxes she was carrying went flying in every direction.

"Hello? A little help, maybe? And an apology?" She huffed out the words as she began to gather her boxes.

The person who'd run into her was heading down the steps, apparently ready to carry on with his day. He was tall and substantial, with very long legs.

No wonder she'd gone flying.

Now he turned from the bottom step to look up at her.

"Excuse me? You want me to apologize to you because you ran into me?" His voice was deep and strong, matching his dark hair and eyes.

Cressida looked back at him, offended. "I was carrying three boxes, obviously I couldn't see you."

"Well, maybe if you didn't walk around with your forward vision obscured you wouldn't run into people!" The hulking stranger turned, preparing again to go on his way.

"You know, you're the rudest person I've met in a long time, and considering we live in New York City, that's really saying something," Cressida remarked as she finished putting her things back in the boxes. Now that she'd dropped them, there was no way she could pick up all three again, she'd have to leave one there, unattended, while she climbed the three flights to her new apartment.

Fuck.

"Welcome to the Big Apple," Hulking Stranger tossed over his shoulder as he began walking down the sidewalk.

Cressida pushed the box with books in it against the wall and began climbing the stairs with two boxes balanced in her arms. He was right about one thing, she could at least now see where she was going.

She climbed the stairs and opened the door to her new apartment.

It was a studio, with no real kitchen to speak of, and a tiny bathroom with the smallest shower Cressida had ever seen, but it was all hers, no roommates to deal with. The neighborhood, too, was kind of dodgy, but it suited her just fine.

Hopefully her other neighbors were nicer than Hulking Stranger.

Cressida sighed as she put her boxes down and went to look out the window. She had a great view of the fire escape and the street. Across the street was another group of apartment buildings, in typical NYC red brick. The summer sun was already heating the pavement and everything else, letting Cressida know that it was going to be another scorching August day. She'd debated buying a small AC unit for the window, but her money just wouldn't stretch that far, and she'd settled for a fan instead. In addition, the only good place for the AC would've been the back window, and that would've obscured her view of the tiny green space at the back of the building. It was a small oasis of plants and flowers, obviously lovingly tended by someone. Cressida didn't see Hulking Stranger doing the weeding and trimming necessary, so it must be the neighbor who lived between them on the second floor. She was looking forward to spending time out there at the small table, communing with nature as it were. The woman who'd shown her the apartment had assured her that it was a common space, free for everyone to use.

She quickly went back for the box she'd left in the entry and miraculously it was still there. She carried it up and sat on it for a moment, resting before going back to the car she'd borrowed to move herself in. She looked around at her new digs, satisfied for the moment. Even with the exorbitant cost of living in Manhattan, she knew she could just barely make it through her senior year living in this tiny space on the Lower East Side.