Welcome to the Neighbourhood

Chapter 1

Dylan Hazel huffed as she picked up a particularly heavy box of her worldly possessions, while her best friend Paige played around with Instagram filters on her phone.

"Thanks again for all your help with me moving, Paige" muttered Dylan sarcastically.

"Okay moody don't worry, I'm here – just trying to find the perfect story aesthetic for your big day" winked Paige, slipping her phone into her pocket and grabbing a few tote bags stuffed with Dylan's belongings.

Dylan rolled her eyes playfully at her friend as they trotted from the U-Haul to Dylan's new building. Although both in their late twenties the two were like chalk and cheese: Paige was tall, willowy and blonde – light green eyes and a figure that any catwalk model would envy. Dylan was more of an average height, dark haired with eyes to match and a curvier shape. She'd spent their college days and beyond in the shadows behind Paige, used to men gravitating towards the slender blonde while Dylan hovered at the side-lines. Little did she know Paige was actually intensely jealousy of her friend's larger bust and curvy hips.

The two were also very different in demeanour. Paige was very gentle, sweet and would happily chat to anyone who gave her the time of day. An optimist who believed the world could be made better with small acts of kindness. Dylan on the other hand was more jaded, quietly cynical and didn't suffer fools gladly. But she was also creative and smart, and fiercely loyal to those she loved, an endless defender of the underdog – calling out injustice and sticking up for the little guy without needed to be prompted. They had been friends since their first day at college, and although others struggled to understand how these two very different women could be so close – Dylan and Paige very easily understood that they evened each out nicely, yin and yang, a perfect balance.

They'd lived in NYC together since graduation, hopping between cramped, damp apartments and surviving on ramen and bagels as they stretched their meagre pay checks as far as they could go. Paige worked in Fashion PR, of course she did – she always looked like a Vogue spread. She'd slowly worked her way up the ranks and was now making decent money for the first time, her career going from strength to strength.

Dylan was a writer, specialising in romance novels. She'd worked as everything from waitress to office temp to support her writing, occasionally selling an article to a magazine or writing copy for a blog to help supplement her inconsistent income. She'd finally landed a literary agent a few years ago and made a small splash with her Daisy Dixie series – a feisty cupcake shop owner navigating love in the big city. Two of the Daisy books had been considered a modest success and had a bit of a cult following – and now she was writing the third. Although by no means rich, Daisy had allowed Dylan to live a bit more comfortably – she had moved out of the roach infested shoebox she'd shared with Paige, managing to afford her very own leased apartment in Brooklyn. She had a decent chunk of her advance left which she had budgeted carefully, meaning she wouldn't have to work while writing as long as she was sensible.

And so here she was, moving into her shiny new apartment with Paige's (occasional) help. The building was nice, a relatively small unit – but Dylan already loved her wooden floors and large windows which bathed the space in light.

"So are you gonna be alright without me?" Dylan asked Paige as they dumped the first load of stuff in the apartment and wandered back downstairs to get the next.

"I think I'll cope, Dyl" Paige laughed. "My new roommates work in Fashion too so it'll be a lot of fun. But I will miss you..."

"I'll miss you too Paigey" grunted Dylan as she lugged another box through the doors to the building lobby. "But we won't be far away from each other, we can still do movie nights and brunch and all the other stuff we do now".