Intertwined

Chapter One

Finally, I brought my last box to my room. I just moved in to San Francisco to fulfill my lifelong dream: to become a writer. I had always loved writing. I knew I was born to do this. It took a lot of convincing my parents to let me take on San Francisco all by myself. We had been very close. Being their only daughter meant all love was on me. Besides, they could visit me since we were all just a mile apart. However, I suggested to them to let me enjoy the feeling of independence. They didn't protest and promised to not call me every second. I'd surely miss them of course. But it was time to unpack.

As I was unpacking, I heard a knock on the door. I opened it and there was an old woman in my doorstep.

"Hello. May I help you?" I said to her.

"Welcome to the apartment sweetie. I am Emily but most of the people here call me Nana." Emily or Nana seemed to be very nice. Even with her gray hair and wrinkled face, she still looked stunning. Nana continued to speak, "I would like to invite you over to our room for some cookies."

"Ohh, that's lovely Nana. But I don't want to be of much hassle to you," I felt bad saying that because it seemed as though I hurt her feelings.

"Please. I really want to welcome you." She insisted. I looked over my pile of boxes and Nana looked too. She guessed what I was about to say so she spoke before I could even utter a word.

"Don't worry sweetie. My nephew will help you unpack." She smiled at me and I just couldn't turn down this old woman's offer. Besides, I did need friends. I smiled back at her and said, "Okay. And where are my manners. I am Vivienne Andrews by the way."

Nana's room was just a floor below mine. When I entered the room, there was this smell of homemade baked goods everywhere that made me miss home. She ushered me to the couch and then went to the kitchen to prepare her baked goods. I looked around the room and there were a lot of pictures. Not just family pictures but also pictures of various sceneries. I was totally amazed and I hadn't realized I was staring for way too long.

"Those are my nephew's works," she said while looking at me from the kitchen.

"Well these are fantastic Nana."

As I was scanning through the pictures, I saw a picture of Nana with a guy with black hair. He looked to be my age. Just as I was done looking at the picture, the front door opened. And I saw in front of me the guy in the picture. I didn't know what to do. We were both staring at each other. And I was just standing there probably looking awkward, ashamed, and terrified. Or maybe I was just stunned by how handsome he looked. Thankfully, Nana came to the rescue.

"Charles you're here!" She said as she planted kisses on his cheeks. Even as Nana greeted him, he kept on looking at me. He was just looking at my eyes. It was not the time to turn red. We only broke eye contact when Nana was done showering him with kisses.

"Nana, not in front of a girl," he whispered to Nana. But even so, I still heard him. He seemed to look a bit of embarrassed. Well, I just couldn't stand there and make myself look more of an idiot. So, I introduced myself.

"Hello. I'm Vivienne." I said with a smile.

He took me by surprise when he grabbed my hand. He looked down to my hand and when he was about to kiss it, he looked at me and said, "I'm Charles Scott." He asked me to kiss my hand, "May I?" Alright, I turned red but he was totally being playful and so I said, "Maybe." He let of a smirk and kissed my hand. Nana was still behind him and she could probably see my flushed face. I needed to get out of this awkward situation. Again, Nana came to the rescue.

"Stop it Charles. You're scaring her," she said as she went back to the kitchen.

"I am sorry. I...uhh...you just look beautiful so I thought you deserve a wonderful greeting." He said with a smile on his face. Good heavens, he called me beautiful. I needed to watch out for this man. He could easily catch me off guard. I laughed at what he said and before either of us could say a word, Nana summoned us to eat.

Charles did most of the talking. He talked about different places that he wanted to go so that he could capture its magnificence.

"Greece. You could go to Greece." I said.

"Well Charles still needs to go to college," Nana told.

"You're going to college? Where?" I asked.

"I will be taking Photography at the Academy of Arts University." Charles answered. He added, "It's just the start but I am getting to my dreams."

"No way! I am also going to the Academy of Arts University. I am gonna do writing," I said. Maybe I wouldn't be alone on my first day of school. Charles said excitedly, "This is great! I now have a friend." I could tell we were both genuinely excited in going to the same school together. This was going to be great.

We talked a lot and I hadn't realized that it was already late at night. Well the boxes had to wait until tomorrow. I was so tired. I hugged Nana and thanked her for the delicious meal and above all, for welcoming me. Charles walked me to the door and before we said goodbye he told me, "Thank you for coming. It really means a lot to Nana."

"Well how could I resist?" I chuckled and Charles broke into a smile.

"Well, see you tomorrow." Charles said.

"Yeah. See you too."