Becoming First Lead

iv stephanie

I was walking into the elevator when I heard someone asked me to hold it for her. A flurry of blonde hair hurries inside with her huffing and puffing , "thank you, can you hit floor 10."

Obliging to the request I pressed the button to her floor. She must be new, I've never seen her around before. She must've felt me observing her , "take a picture, it'll last longer," she jokingly says. "I'm Stephanie, I just moved in."

"I'm Alex."

The rest of the ride up was quiet and when she got off her floor she turned around and saluted me . She's an interesting new tenant and not half bad looking either . I made it up to my floor when a delicious aroma hit my nose. One thing I can say, Nikki, is an amazing cook . I swear she must've gone to culinary school because she definitely knows how to serve a meal.

"Hmmmm," I say.

She looks up at me from the stove, "hey, dinner is almost ready. Did you have a good day at work?"

This has been our routine and I'd be lying if I say that I wouldn't miss this when she decides to move out. I've come to realize that she's great company and a really good friend. In a short period of time, I've become quite close to her and even protective. Not because I'm in love or anything but because we've bonded.  And I don't easily let people in my life . She's become a dear friend to me.

"It was long, we have a new contract that Warren is making us work over the weekend for. Oh , we have a new neighbor," I add in.

"Oh yeah? Is she cute?" She asks with a smirk.

"How do you know it was a girl?"

"Oh please, would you have mentioned it if it were an attractive man?" She asks. Touche.

"Fine, you're right," I admit .

"You know, this might be a good time to meet someone new . Get out there . I know you're still madly in love with Aria but you realize that she and Warren are in it for the long haul. Right?" She asks. We've had this conversation a lot . For someone going through her own divorce , she sure is pushy about dating. Her reasoning, she likes seeing her friends happy and not pining over someone they can never have a chance with.

"You've mentioned it , only every other day."

"Tell me about this woman," she asks.

I shrug, "not much to tell. She's definitely sassy. She's attractive,  lives on the 10th floor and her name is Stephanie," I spill to her all the things I know.

"You should invite her up , make her feel welcomed to the building. Just how you make me feel welcomed," she beams at me . Nikki is right and I know she's probably saying that for more than that reason. She's definitely going to play matchmaker and she also wants more friends around . I know , because she seems lonely at times. She will never complain about my company but women do need that female companionship . She sees Aria but with the baby and all, it's hard to get good quality time. Sonja has been working a lot, especially since her and Trip's wedding is almost here.

"Okay, if I bump into her, I'll ask her to join us," I tell her. Her face breaks into a wide grin. She definitely seems happier than she did a few weeks ago . She's slowly opening up a little bit more about her marriage to me . I know that she met Rick when she was in college . That both Aria and Sonja had bad feelings about him and he made her choose. She was going to dump him when she found out she was pregnant. That's how he got her. She doesn't talk more into detail about how she lost the baby but it's enough to know that her ex had something to do with it.

The more she revealed the more I became relieved that she moved far away.  He's attempted on more than one occasion of trying to get a hold of her, especially after the divorce papers were served. Their prenup expedited the whole process. Unlike here, when you have to wait 6 months and a say for it to be finalized, theirs would only be 3 months.