"Oh my gosh, come in!" she said. "What am I thinking? I set up some of the furniture in the living room. I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all,” I said. "The place looks great!"
It really did.
The ramshackle couch had been covered with a hand crocheted quilt in a rainbow of colorful granny squares. A small wooden coffee table had a collection of different sized candles in various shades of purple as the center piece. In the far corner I saw a huge roll top desk with a large floor lamp next to it. That looked like the perfect study nook. I walked over to the desk and touched my fingers on the surface of the edge.
"My mom made me bring the desk,” she said. "It was mine in my room when I was a kid, but I don't think I'll be using it. I figured you could use it with your job and stuff. "
"Of course I’ll take it. I don’t have anything like that," I said.
"Let me show you your room,” she said.
We walked down the hallway and she showed me the kitchen just off the living room, the bathroom which contained far more space that I could have imagined. The large bathtub looked like almost big enough to be a spa.
Then finally we arrived at my room.
There wasn’t anything in it as of yet, but the large window let the coastal sun stream in making a small offset rectangle on the lavender carpet, giving the room a cheerful, welcoming feel.
"Thanks, Kelsey," I said as I stepped into the room.
I took a deep breath taking in the fresh scent of the clean room. This had to be my favorite feeling, standing in an empty room, as if it were welcoming me to my new home. I raised my arms, through back my head and spun around.
I turned to her. "This place is great."
"Isn't it?" she said with a twinkling grin.
"You know what I'm going to do next?"
"What?"
"I’m exhausted from traveling, so I’m going to take a bath in that fabulous bathtub. I have a week before my job starts, so maybe tomorrow I can go shopping."
"That sounds awesome,” she said, hugging me. We wondered back to the kitchen and she handed me a soda, grabbing one for herself. "Are you excited about your new job?"
"Well,” I said, swallowing the hesitation I felt. "When I was driving across the border into California. I couldn't decide if I wanted to leap for joy or run away. But now that I’m here... I guess it's just a little bit overwhelming. I can tell you one thing though. I'm going to get that job. Game on."
Kelsey laughed and raised her soda can. "To new beginnings," she said. I clicked my can against hers feeling a grin break across my face.
"To new beginnings,” I said.
The following week consisted of getting furniture for my room and mentally preparing for the first day of my upcoming job. I had settled on a futon so I would have both a sleeping area and a place to sit if I decided to do any work in my room. Even though Kelsey had offered me the use of the desk, I liked to have my options open. I also invested in a cute bean bag chair and a fun colorful throw rug to give the place a homey vibe. I placed a few pictures of me with my parents from my college graduation on the top of my bookshelf. I felt pretty good about how it turned out, as I collapsed on the futon, having spent the day putting it together.
I glanced over at my closet ruminating on what to wear next week when I would meet my competition.
I wanted to wear something professional, slick and maybe even a little intimidating.
I could do that.
I stood up and stepped over to the closet, pulling open the sliding door to reveal my wardrobe. As I slid the hangers across the metal bar, I wondered if I needed to go shopping again except with an eye for clothing this time. I had plenty of casual items as my life up to this point had consisted of college classes and high school before that.
I wondered briefly if there would be any significant drawback to being a female competing against a male.
I hoped not.
My closet was filled with tops, blouses that could be dressed up, but I needed a few more skirts and pairs of pants to do so. Maybe I could ask Kelsey if she wanted to go shopping tomorrow. She had wanted to show me the neighborhood since she had already been here for a few days before me.
It felt pretty good to have a friend here, otherwise I would have been battling loneliness along with the butterflies of the new situation.
Kelsey and I had known each other in high school, but ran in different circles. She had been one of the charismatic and popular kids, always with the starring role in the school play. I was more of a book worm, an introvert who liked to keep to myself. I didn’t speak to many people while at school except for my best friend Aiden, who also lived a few houses down from me.