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Taking a deep breath, Willow got out of her car. She took the bag of groceries from the back seat and locked it up. Making her way down the driveway, stepping between the mud and ice, she finally got to the end, where the tar road met it. She was frustrated with winter, the back and forth weather patterns of forty degrees one day then twenty-five degrees the next, caused the mud and ice situation. As she made her way up the sidewalk toward her walkway and the front porch, her concentration remained on the safety of the path ahead.

“Hello”

Willow ignored whoever it was. There were people on the street often and she knew none of them. She had no desire to know any of them. Many either did or sold drugs. She had made it to the walkway off the sidewalk.

“Hello”

Slowly she turned to see who was spouting about. Her eyes fell upon the woman standing on the opposite sidewalk. Willow did not recognize this woman, so she turned back toward the porch. Once inside she made her way up to her apartment.

**

Willow hated living here. There were too many apartments and too much noise. If the neighbors weren’t fighting and screaming then the kids were pounding up and down the hall, or the dog was barking. Willow lived in her headphones, trying to block out as much noise as possible. But even that didn’t do enough.

Every day went the same; Willow got up, went to work then came home. Not making very much money meant not going out to dinner, drinks, or movies often. She was waiting patiently for her life to finally be at peace. Willow wanted so much, a nice quiet home not fancy but functional for her wants and needs, that was number one on her list. She also wanted to find love if that was really possible. In the past she found trouble and more trouble so had sworn off love until the right woman came along. Problem was she didn’t give anyone a chance to even try and date her.

**

The next morning Willow came out and headed to her car, once again on her way to work. When she returned the woman was again out in the driveway across the street. Taking a deep breath she made her way.

“Hello”

Willow remained quiet.

“Hello, can you hear me?”

Willow continued on, she was almost to the porch.

The woman across the street scrunched her face up in frustration.

The following day Willow was late getting home. The woman was not out waiting for her. Good, that didn’t take too long. Willow made her way inside.

Since this day was Friday and Willow had no plans for the weekend, she intended on enjoying a quiet couple of days.

On Saturday, since it was snowing outside, she turned on her little fireplace for ambiance. Willow opened the blinds so she could watch the big flakes falling outside. With her book in hand she curled up on the couch to enjoy the morning.

Her phone rang at eleven. It was a friend from work. Reluctantly she picked it up and answered it.

“Hey Kim, what’s going on today?”

“I have to go to the mall and buy a new dress for my date tonight. What are you up to today? Do you want to go with me?”

“Oh, I’m sorry Kim but I can’t. I already have my day planned out. Have fun though, and good luck with the date tonight. I’ll see you at work on Monday.”

“Oh, ok. I’ll talk to you soon. Enjoy your day.”

That was close. She picked her book back up then realized that her coffee cup was empty. Do I want lunch or breakfast? Willow was trying to decide. Fuzz, her cat, finally came out from the bedroom.

“Well it’s about time Fuzz. You are getting so lazy. Come on, we’ll get breakfast.”

Fuzz followed behind to the kitchen. She hopped up on the small side table that was hers. This is where she ate. Willow put her wet food on the plate and set it down. She filled a bowl with dry food and a bowl with water so Fuzz was set for the day.

Willow put together her breakfast. She often had breakfast for lunch or even for dinner, so she soft boiled two eggs and made toast to put it on. Since she felt it was going to be a snuggle-in day, she made coffee in her thermal carafe to bring back out. With her breakfast in hand she made her way back to the couch. The snow had been falling at a steady rate all morning and Willow figured it had accumulated about two inches so far. The weather report had said they were supposed to get four to six inches total.

Willow never bothered to get changed for the day on Saturday. But Sunday morning since the snow had stopped she knew she would have to go out and clean off the car and let it warm up so it would be all set for work the next day. She dressed in sweats and boots then headed out the door. She would enjoy her coffee after the car was done and she had taken her shower. The laundry needed to be done, along with the dusting and vacuuming. The car ran to warm it as she cleared the snow. It wasn’t a heavy snow so cleared easily. Willow did a good job and made sure it was all set. She was covered with snow when done so would hang her coat and gloves to dry. With pink cheeks and a feeling of accomplishment, she headed back inside.

The curtain in the window across the street moved as Willow made her way back inside.

**

Sam had driven around town, looking to see where she might want to live now that she had a good paying job. She noticed the for sale sign on the house on the corner of a one-way street. Driving down the street, everything looked good. On her second trip around the street she took a picture of the real estate sign so she could make the call.

Two months later she was moving in. Sam didn’t have a lot of stuff yet, most was from her college days. She planned on getting new stuff soon. It took only a small van to move her in.

Her job in the tech field was going well. She had specialized in robotic engineering and had graduated at the top of her class. Sam had been headhunted for this job and was given a huge bonus to sign on with the company.

Sam walked through the house looking in each room. She wanted to redecorate and make it all her own. Everything was functional so she would concentrate on the fun stuff first. It was winter in Maine and she couldn’t really open the windows to air out paint fumes yet so she was still in the planning phase.

Meeting the neighbors on the street had been more difficult than she figured. Slowly but surely she was making progress. Sam had met the male gay couple two houses down. She had met the elderly couple across the street one house over. The house across the street was made into apartments and rented out. The children in one of the apartments were the only ones on the street that she had noticed so far. She tried to meet one of the other tenants but hadn’t gotten a response when she greeted her. She had tried twice so far. Today when Sam saw her walk out to clear off her car, she watched out the window. She thought about going out and over there to try and meet her but didn’t know why this woman wouldn’t talk to her and didn’t want to push her away.

**

When April arrived, everyone was ready for the snow to be done. There had been enough cold and winter snow. It was time for warm breezes and fresh air.

Sam’s job was going very well. She worked long days often but Sam felt it was worth it. She spent the weekends now painting and decorating. It was all going well. Unfortunately she was no longer there when the woman across the street got home each day ending her chance at meeting her.

It was a Saturday morning when her chance finally came again. Sam saw her coming out the front door, so Sam ran out to catch her.

Willow was backing out of the driveway and saw her in the mirror. Great, here we go again. Pulling into the street, she tried to ignore the woman standing there.

“HEY, STOP, WAIT, PLEASE.” Sam ran into the street and to the car.

“Get out of the street. You’re going to get hit and so am I.”

“Then please talk to me when you get back.”

“Fine, now get back.” Willow watched as the woman made her way back to the safety of her driveway. Shaking her head, Willow pulled away.

**

Two hours later, Willow pulled back into the driveway. There was a bag in each hand and she headed into the building. Up in the apartment she put her groceries away. Wanting to just relax, she sat on the couch. There was a nagging feeling at the back of her neck. Scowling she got up and looked out the front window. The woman was standing in her driveway staring up at Willow’s apartment.

Sam watched from the window when her neighbor pulled in and brought the bags into the building. She came outside and waited. Ten minutes passed and still no neighbor. Sam’s foot started tapping on the ground. Her arms crossed in front of her, showing her impatience. Sam saw the curtain move in the window upstairs. She just starred up at it.

With a sigh, Willow headed back out. She came out the door and saw the woman was still standing across the street in her driveway. Willow made her way across the street.

“Hello” Sam smiled at her.

“Hi” Willow had no expression.

“My name is Sam. It’s nice to meet you.” She extended her hand to shake.

“Ok, was there something you needed to speak to me about?” Willow stood back still.

“Nothing in particular. Do you have a name? Would you like some raspberry ice tea? I made it fresh this morning.”

“My name is Willow and no I don’t need anything to drink. Look I don’t sell drugs or buy drugs or do drugs; so if that’s what you’re looking for, you’re asking the wrong tenant....