Breaking and Entering

Chapter 1

The door to Gail's apartment swung open with a bang. The intruder stood in the doorway wielding a metal bat, prepared to strike. The trespasser stopped short at the sight of Gail, who was standing in the middle of her living room, vase in hand, staring dumbstruck at the invasion of her home by the woman she knew to be her neighbor, but had not yet become acquainted with.

Gail spoke first, attempting to conceal her shaky voice, "What are you doing?"

"Um... I—I uh, I heard some crashing, and I, um, I thought, I mean, usually this apartment is pretty quiet, well, unless you've been out drinking, then you do some lovely karaoke renditions, but I never hear things crashing, so I thought, maybe someone was breaking in, and uh, stealing things." The stranger standing before Gail deflated a bit, the bat she was carrying in her hands dropped to hang by her side.

Horrified realization dawned on Gail's face.

"Oh my god, you've heard my drunk singing?"

"Well the walls aren't very sound proof..." the stranger began, a little confused. "Uh, so are you ok? No one's trying to steal all of your possessions?"

"What? No, of course not, it's just me here. Well, except for you," Gail replied. "Why are you here? Aren't you the new chick who moved in next door?"

The other woman awkwardly peered around the living room, avoiding Gail's gaze, while the rest of her body looked like it didn't know what to do with itself. Her left hand wrapped itself around her stomach protectively, while the bat slipped a little lower in her other hand.

"Yeah, I moved in a few weeks ago. I'm Holly, by the way." Stepping forward, the woman fumbled with the bat in order to hold out her hand, but Gail just stared at it. Quickly pulling her hand back, Holly continued, "I just thought, what with all the crashing and banging, that maybe someone was robbing your apartment." Holly's eyes fell down to her feet, Gail's incessant staring was making her feel incredibly embarrassed.

"And so what? You thought," Gail spoke, shrugging, causing water to spill from the vase in her hand, but she didn't seem to care, "that you'd come over to your neighbor's apartment, a person you've never met before, with a baseball bat, and beat up the intruder?"

"It's a softball bat," Holly corrected her.

"What?"

"The bat. It's not a baseball bat, it's for softball. There are some minor differences, for instance, the barrel is more narrow than that of a baseball bat, and—"

"Ok, stop with the words. Is this a regular thing that you do? You just go around swinging your softball bat at home invaders? Because that's a good way to get yourself shot."

"Well... I— uh, no. It's not really something I do. I just, like I said, you're usually pretty quiet, so..." Holly's voice trailed off as she finally met Gail's eyes.

Gail carefully studied the other woman before speaking, "Do you ever have people in your life that you thought were your friends, but then you turn around for five seconds and they stab you in the back?"

"I'm not sure I understand..." Holly's brow creased, as she tilted her head to the side.

"Friends, Holly, do you have them?" Gail asked, a bit impatient.

"Yes?"

"Are you asking me, or telling me?"

"Yes, I have friends." Holly gave the other woman an exasperated look.

"You never, ever break the cardinal rule of girl code." Gail was still staring at her, rather intensely.

"Ok, you lost me again." Holly regarded the woman in front of her carefully.

"Girl code, Holly, keep up. Exes are off limits. You never sleep with a friend's ex. But apparently McNally forgot that rule."