Dear Jolene

Chapter 1.

Chaotic. Messy. Unruly.

Three words had been revolving in Jo's mind since the moment they had entered New York City.

There were people running around, people dressing up in bizarre attires, some rocking it, some looking constipated, people walking around with headphones shoved in their ears and living in their own worlds, and people shouting and scowling at every passing human, car, and dog. There was awful traffic, awful music coming out of a few cars blended together and sounding like an orchestra that could give her diarrhoea.

To sum up, Jo hated it from the moment they entered the city.

"We are here", Emily announced excitedly.

Jo looked up to see a tall building in front of her, The Silver Lining Apartments, it was written in huge Orange painted concrete letters on a white-washed concrete arch over the black Iron Gate.

"Which floor?"
"17th, 11A", Emily answered while taking out her ID from her bag and showing it to the security guard at the gate.

The gate opened and they drove inside to an empty space. Jo noticed how other empty spaces had some numbers painted on the floor, she concluded them to be designated parking spots for the apartment residents according to their flat number.

"How many times have you been here?" Jo asked suspiciously.

"Well", Emily drawled out, and said, "Every time you went for a sleepover the last 2 months".

Jo's eyes widened at the news, "What! Why didn't you tell me anything, you have planned this move for so long bu-" "Shush".

Emily placed her fingers over Jo's mouth in order to shut her up, "Now Baby, I am sorry you had no time to take up the news but there are a few things your mother has to do as much as it hurts her to see her daughter sad".

Emily leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek and said, "It's all gonna be okay".

 "Sorry, I was being immature", Jo said.

"No, this is your time to act immature, if you had taken up the sudden news peacefully I would have been concerned", Emily said, laughing at the end.

Jo shook her head and got out of the car, and took the bags and suitcases out of the trunk. Emily helped carry half of it to the elevator and managed to press the button for 17.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened, Emily rushed out only to crash into something.

"MOM", Jo yelled as she saw her mother tumble onto the floor, scattering the 2 bags she had been carrying.

Jo kept the suitcases and rushed to Emily, and tried to help her stand when a big, rough hand held her mother and picked her up with ease.

"I am sorry, I should have seen before entering the lift", it was the man Emily crashed into.

"Yes, you should have", Jo muttered.

Emily would have reprimanded her for being so rude but she was busy trying to stable her spinning vision.

The moment she felt a little better, Emily looked up at the tall man with her usual smile and said, "Both of us are at fault, it's just our apartment is a little far from the elevator so I rushed out".

The man was very handsome, with a chiselled face, a light beard covering what Emily hoped to be a sharp jawline, and brown hair sleeked to the side just like a proper gentleman, with specks of silver in them. However, she felt those big, brown eyes oddly familiar.

"If you don't mind, let us help you carry your bags to your apartment", the man said with a soft smile.

"Oh yes, do take this suitcase", Jo said handing it over to one of the boys standing behind the man.

"Jo how can we-", Emily tried to say something but the man cut her off and said, "Of Course, Ben, Sam, Anthony, you heard the little lady, get those bags, and Ma'am, let me", he took a bag out of Emily's hand and gestured her to show the way.

"By the way, My name is Andrew", the man introduced himself.

"Well, I'm Emily and this is my daughter Jo", Emily said.

Along the way, Jo couldn't help but notice how much they were talking, they seemed like old besties catching up. Emily was shy when it came to new people, hence it was really shocking to see her talking to someone so animatedly, with hand gestures and head movements, those features of a conversation were preserved only for close friends and family but here was Emily, using them on a stranger they met 2 minutes ago. 

"So here it is", Emily announced as she took out the key from her pocket, "I wish I could offer you all something but our place is empty and-"

"Oh, no, no, it's totally fine, I sure hope your head is okay", Andrew said giving her a charming smile.

Jo scrunched up her face and grabbed the key from Emily and opened the door. 

"Now Benny, Sammy, Tinny please leave them in the living room", Jo said with a smile ignoring her mom and the old weirdo.

The three looked at each other weirdly and entered the apartment while exiting the blond guy said, "My name's Anthony".

"Good for you", Jo replied with a smile before closing the door in his face.  

The three hung awkwardly around their boss for another 10 minutes, while he was busy talking to that woman.

"Oh no look at the time, I am so sorry to keep you like this", Emily said looking at the time.

Andrew laughed and said, "It was a nice time talking to someone like this"

 She smiled and said, "Goodnight Andrew", and turned towards the boys and said, "Thank you for your help, my daughter and I really appreciated it."

She smiled at Andrew once more and opened the door to her apartment and disappeared like a dream.

Andrew hoped and prayed to all his ancestors in hell that this woman was not a dream, for he knew he was a goner the moment he saw that smile.

------------------------

"How was it", Jo asked her the moment Emily entered the apartment with dreamy eyes.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about", Emily said while tucking the loose strands of her hair behind her ear.

Jo rolled her eyes and said, "Gosh, you're acting like a teenager".

"Shut up", Emily gasped.

Jo broke into giggles looking at the pure horror on Emily's face.

"Stop laughing, did you count all the boxes", Emily asked trying to change the topic.

Jo narrowed her eyes at her and then answered, "Yes I counted, all 27 of the boxes were delivered. By the way, did you have to bring the entire kitchen?"

"Of course, I bought them with my own money, why should I buy new ones", Emily reasoned.

"Fair enough", Jo shrugged it off and went to her room to set it up.

She sat on the floor and started opening the boxes one by one. The apartment was pretty cool with 2 bedrooms, a kitchen joined with the dining area, and a spacious balcony through the living room. The bedrooms even had attached washrooms.

Jo started setting up her wardrobe and moved on to fixing her bed while bobbing her head to whatever song came up through her headphones, silently praying that her future days would be bearable.

xoxo

Hey humans!!!
Thank you so much for reading !!!

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<3

See you soon.