Page 13 of Silas

“8 AM sir. Bright and early.”

I will do anything to ensure that we meet our goal, even if it means that I have to work the hot cocoa stand. Fuck my life.

Chapter 8

Nova

It’s moving day. Well, officially, since the moving trucks are arriving today with all my stuff. I can finally deflate the air mattress. I am so ready to fall into my tempurpedic mattress and hopefully get this crick out of my back.

“Alright ma’am. You selected for drop-off but not install. Where are we dropping off all the furniture?” The gruff, hairy delivery driver that smells of a stale pack of cigarettes lifts an eyebrow at me. At least I think he is lifting the eyebrow at this point. They are one solid line, so it’s really hard to tell. I am having a hard time being near him with the cigarette smell. I really hope that my furniture won’t smell that way.

“Uh, can you at least put it inside the house?” Please say yes. Don’t tell me you are going to put it on my lawn.

“No ma’am. With your current selection, we can only unload from the truck. We can place it in the yard but we aren’t permitted to enter the home. For extra money, we can place them into the house.”

“Nevermind, just place the stuff on the lawn and I will move it into the house.”

“By yourself,” he for sure is lifting an eyebrow at me this time, “I don’t see any men around here to lift these heavy pieces of furniture.”

“I don’t need a man to do this. I will be just fine. Why don’t you do your job and not worry about what I am doing?” Crossing my arms across my chest, I pop my hip out and give him the sassiest no bullshit look on my face. Who does this man think he is? Just because he thinks I need a man doesn’t mean that I actually need a man.

A couple of hours later, they unloaded all of my stuff onto my front lawn. You can’t see a speck of grass underneath it. Glancing at the sky, I am grateful that there isn’t a cloud in sight. I hope this weather holds up.

“Here you go ma’am, if I could get you to sign right here that you received your delivery and that we followed all the set out instructions, we will be on our way.” He hands over the clipboard with the work order and a ballpoint pen.

Scribbling my signature quickly, I hand it back to him. A few more scratches of the pen later, a rip of the paper, and the rumble of the box truck leaving. Here I am, just standing, staring at all my worldly belongings. Sighing in resignation, I don’t quite know how I am going to get all of this stuff into the house. I really didn’t think this one through. Okay, okay. Let’s think about this. Who do we know that could help us? Gail!

I shoot off a text to her asking for her help and she lets me know she will be by shortly. Meanwhile, I start bringing in the boxes that I can handle on my own.

Roughly an hour later, drenched in sweat, and already feeling as though I am going to collapse, I hear Gail calling out for me from the front of the house. Following the maze of boxes, I find not only Gail, but a group of ladies standing behind her. She gives me the warmest smile, “I thought I would bring some more help. These lovely ladies are here to help. Meet Hazel, Willow, and Aspen. There are a couple of local store owners and we are here to help you!”

“Awe Gail, that is amazing. I am dying here. The delivery guy was disgusting, and I hadn’t considered the sheer amount of stuff involved. I don’t know how I am going to get all of this stuff into the house.” Coming over to me, she wraps me in her warm hug.

“We got you, dear. We don’t need any men. Woman empowerment and all that.” I sniffle back the tears. I didn’t realize how much I needed this. My move here initially filled mewith worry about being alone. Gail is showing me I don’t have anything to worry about.

Hours later, we are all drenched in sweat sitting on my couches amongst the boxes. Clinking our wine glasses together, we sip on our crisp Merlot. “Thank you so much, ladies, for helping me with moving in today. I think I would have collapsed before I even had the first row of boxes in the house. You guys are amazing.”

“You are more than welcome, dear. This is what I have been telling you about when it comes to the community of Jasper. We are so closely knit that we are always willing to help fellow members of our community in their time of need. Now I had a dual purpose to bringing Hazel, Willow, and Aspen. I know you moved here all by yourself and you haven’t made any friends yet. So, I thought I would bring along some ladies who I think you will hit it off with.”

Hazel rolls her eyes, “Gail, you are always up to something I swear.”

Giggling, Aspen leans over to nod her head at Hazel, “Yes, but she is never wrong in her meddling. She always has a sense about people. I, for one, am glad she brought me here to meet Nova.”

“Me too! I definitely think that we are going to be fast friends,” Willow says as she raises her glass towards me. Raising my glass in return, I take a small sip of my wine.

“Why don’t you tell us all a little more about you? We can all share stories and drink more of this delicious wine together.” Hazel says as she pours herself another glass of wine.

“I’ll order us some food! Jason, our local deliver kid, is always looking to make some cash! He will jump on the opportunityto grab the food for us! You said slumber party, right?” Aspens giggles as she clicks through different apps, doing as she said she would.

Gail gets up and starts a fire in my wood-burning fireplace. I never even dreamed that I would have one of those. I have always wanted one, but there was never a way to have one in NYC.

Later that night, after hours of laughing, my sides are hurting, but I am feeling a sense of contentment that I have never felt before. I piled all the ladies on my living room floor, except Gail, who I let sleep in my bed. This feeling of fullness in my heart confirms that I’ve finally found where I belong. I still feel as though there is a part missing. Not really sure what it is, but there just seems to be this piece of my heart that is empty.

“Hey,” comes whispering from below me.

Looking over the edge of the couch, Aspen is looking up at me. She smiles a small, sweet smile at me. “I really am glad you moved here, Nova. I feel that you’re my long-lost soul sister, and that we were always destined to be best friends.”

Smiling back to her, “I feel the same way Aspen. I really do. Something drew me here and while I believed it was the job offer. I don’t know if something feels like this is where I was always meant to be.”

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