To New Beginnings. Sequel -(On Hold)

Chapter 6

Candice

It had been a long week since my bar hijinks with Cleo. I could not get Leonard out of my head for the life of me...

Tonight was a wine and chill type of night and all I wanted to do was melt into my comfy couch and binge watch every drama show on Netflix. With my life so hectic, I could only afford to watch a few hours of television once every week and that was a luxury that I did not take for granted. My phone would be placed on silent and I would indulge in a somewhat decent night filled with a whirlwind of emotions.

As I was about to flop onto the couch, wine glass and snack in each hand... there was suddenly a loud bang on my front door. Almost as if someone had slammed a hard object to it. Startled and cautious, I froze mid squat, staring in the direction of the door. which was in the outside the room.

At times I reminisced on my old studio and how cozy it was, but then again... My large two bedroom was a blessing all on it's own when it came to not being conformed in a tiny space. Instead, here, I had time to find a place to run and hide before danger ensued. Not that I was in any immediate danger, I hope...

There was movement and and then suddenly the door knob began to rattle as if someone was fighting to open it.

oh hell no!
This apartment complex had never had any complaints as far as a robbery or anyone getting hurt.. but there was always a first for everything.

I quickly freed my hands of food and shot up from my position. I lapped around my coffee table and went for the baseball bat behind my T.V. stand. I proceeded to make my way to the front door, the knob still moving. I shifted it bit to the right and positioned myself to where I would be able to come out from behind the door and strike, then make a run for it.

Suddenly, the commotion came to a stop and there was a brief moment of silence... A faint click, followed by the knob turning once and the door slowly swung open, more silence. A hundred things ran through my mind at the moment, my body began to heat up out of the blue and all could do was hype myself up so the fear wouldn't take over.

I couldn't contain myself for much longer. My body disobeyed my brain and I kept replaying the image of me getting shanked over and over for some strange reason.

I froze.

"Girl are you OK?" A voice whined faintly. It was familiar and it gave me a sense of hope, even though I assumed I was about to die not a long ago.

"Candy!" It was almost as if this person screamed. I snapped out of my daze and rocked back a bit.

My vision cleared and I focused as hard as I could and then a lethal scream followed.

"Reyyyy!" She was startled but couldn't help but smile. "What are you doing here?" She looked taken aback and her hand clung to her chest

"Is that any way to greet your Best Friend?" She spoke, pretending to be in disbelief. I rolled my eyes.

"Well excuse me for thinking that I was about to be robbed." My body slowly began to relax and adjust to the fact that there was no imminent threat. I lowered the bat and gently placed it behind the door as Rey proceeded to shut it behind her, her little pink carry on trailing in. Then it hit me, "I thought you were in traveling South America for another year? Why are you back so soon and well... no offense... here?" The room grew silent and I knew that it would only get awkward from here.

Rey and I haven't spoken in almost two and a half years since we split after college. Rey had transfered from UCLA to NYU for law and was on the verge of taking her bar exam. She was at the top of her class and would have graduated a year earlier with honors, until, she dropped out suddenly a week before bar. She refused to discuss why she had made such a drastic decision. Her family had cut her off completely and we had a huge fight before her departure. It went downhill for our friendship from there!

"Girl, I've sent you several text messages and called, with no answer." She placed her luggage against a random wall.

Call, Text? I immediately ran to the living and spotted my phone on the coffee table face down. A realization washed over me and a facepalm would be in the works. I hear footsteps tagging behind me. I turned and met Rey, feeling the judgment shooting from her orbs.

"What?" I calmly Shrugged and tried to play it cool, "you caught me on my relaxation day!" She looked on with a blank expression, her arms folded.

"You don't have to apologize. I know my timing sucks, as always!" The guilt slowly began to creep. I knew that wasn't her intentions, but I felt bad for it of course. "You know I'm infamous for showing up uninvited." I hear a crack in her voice, almost as if she was about to cry!

I took a deep breath and released heavily, staring at the girl in front of me who looked defeated and in need of comfort. In all the years that I've known her, I've never seen her so distraught. She always carried on with a smile no matter how trivial life what life threw her way.

"You know that I'm here whenever you're ready to talk." Rey shifted her weight to the other foot. I could see she was ready to put on her defensive mask, but that changed, when she dropped her tightly crossed arms and flopped onto the couch. The room was quiet for a while, but it wasn't so bad. I knew that she was trying to collect her thoughts but, her unusual behavior had me worried.

What's going on?