37Chapter 1: The Greatest Thing That's Yet to Have Happened
The Alaskan air was fresh and powerful, nothing like the air in Georgia of which Shelley Luong had been breathing all her life. The second she got off American Airlines flight 265, she smelled the fresh air as it permeated through the halls of Juneau International Airport. The smell of burnt nachos and overweight businessmen was still lodged in Shelly's nasal passages since the plane made a layover stop in Denver.
Denver. Why did it seem like all businessmen—the overweight ones especially—always do business in Denver? Not to mention they're the same ones who purchase the aforementioned nachos for the wait, and purchase more for the long flight to Denver. The smell of Juneau, Alaska was a welcome smell to Shelly, which pleased her to no end. She would have to get used to such new in air in her new home.
Life in Savannah, Georgia was but a memory for Shelly Luong, whose mind was intent on success with her new frosty neighbors. Canada was but a short drive over and Shelly did have her passport. She needed it for when she visited relatives in Vietnam as a child. She never enjoyed those visits. She didn't speak a word of Vietnamese, and she wasn't going to start for her overprotective mother, her deadbeat father, or her bothersome ancestors, and distant relative in a faraway country.
Now she had a new life with new air to breathe. "The Alaskan air is so fresh! I can't believe I've been missing out on this my whole life!" It took Shelly a few seconds to realize she had said that aloud. Not long after, she realized her voice was so loud that it drowned out the loudspeaker.
People were looking at her. There was even a fat businessman looking at her. What was he doing here? Did he forget to get off in Denver? "That's not Alaskan air," someone corrected her. "That's the air conditioning."
Shelly gave the viewing audience a crooked embarrassed smile. It matched her clothes, which were embarrassing for any native Alaskan. All Shelly wore was a pair of long denim jeans and a light jacket over a pink halter-top. Average temperature in Alaska during September was around forty to fifty degrees Fahrenheit and Shelly was going to learn the hard way not to underestimate Mother Nature. Not even the fat businessman felt the need to point out her error.
Baggage claim was the next obvious step. Shelly took the escalator two floors down. The wide extensive building structure was visible to her as she rode down, as well as her first glimpse of the outside world off the continental United States that still spoke English. The baggage claim was adjacent to a pickup lane full of car waiting for passengers to get their luggage and get in the car. The lane was also full of money-grubbing taxicabs. Shelly kept her eye on a cute cab driver as the baggage conveyor belt began to move.
Her attention was spit. There was no surprise that her one bag escaped her view the first time around. The second time around, there were fewer bags to choose from, but Shelly still managed to miss it. The third time, Shelly managed to glimpse at her bag before it disappeared behind the wall. Finally, Shelly managed to take her eyes off the pretty cab driver long enough to grab her personal belongings, but at a price. The cab driver was long gone.
Shelly pulled her bag to the door. She took a deep breath as she looked outside. There wasn't much to look at. Alaska wasn't snowcapped year round, but the final days of September—the twenty-fifth to be exact—found a few mounds of snow to be littered around the street and sidewalks. Shelly hadn't seen snow in years. She took another deep breath. "This is it. This is the beginning of the rest of your life Shelly-"
Shelly froze just as another woman pushed the door open, allowing a quick gust of cold air to shoot through the baggage claim area. Shelly was literally frozen. The cold gust made her knees buckle below her. She was literally that cold in just a matter of seconds. "No one told that it was gong to be that cold!"
The fat businessman simply chuckled. "And you! You were supposed to get off in Denver!"
Shelly managed to gain the strength to brave the weather after pulling a heavy coat from her bag. Shelly stole the first cab that came in sight and slammed the door behind her. "You're not from around here, are you?"
"Not before now," Shelly explained. "But I'm here to stay."
"I say your little shivering routine back in the baggage claim. You can't take Alaska. She'll chew you up and spit you out. Why don't you just got back home?"
"With all due respect," Shelly said. She only said that when she had no respect for the person she was talking to. "Alaska is my home now. Georgia is but a memory. Take me to the Sable Apartments, please."
"I know where that it. I know a shortcut, so I can get you there in about fifteen minutes. In the meantime, why don't you just tell Morty what happened in Georgia."
"You really want to know?"
"No."
"I'll tell you anyways." Shelly got herself comfortable. Morty the cab driver smiled and began to pull out of the pickup lane. The road titled up back to level ground and Shelly could finally view the landscape. It was a city. Mt. McKinley wasn't in view. There were not polar bears roaming around. Beautiful pine trees were scarce to spot. Juneau was just like any other city, just colder. The real Alaska awaited her outside.
"Okay, so I've lived in Savannah, Georgia all my life. The only time I ever left that city was when I went with my parents to visit relatives in Vietnam. Terrible times. The beds were terrible. I had no friends. No computer. No fun at all. Luckily, when I got back, I had my best friend forever Tiffany with me. We'd been friends ever since middle school. We graduated the same year and went to the same college. Georgia University! On top of that, we both got a job at a real estate firm. It's like we were destined to be best friend forever. College was going great and I had a steady, well-paying job that would help me pay for my college. And on top of all of that, I had Rick Mason. Literally, the sexiest guy you'd ever lay your hands on and he was my boyfriend."
"Sounds good to me."
"Me too! Except not everything is what it seems. Okay, first of all, I dislike my father with a passion. I've always been impartial towards my mother, but at least he had been tolerable. Two weeks ago he did something unforgivable. My brilliant father though just because he got lucky and won two scratch-off games, he could run off to Vegas with my savings and gamble with them so he could surprise me. Needless to say, I was surprised to find out that all my savings were gone, and all I had to show for it was vaguely apologetic father."
"Is that all?"
"Not even close! Remember when I said Rick Mason was the sexiest man you'd ever lay your hands on? Well, I apparently wasn't the only person to lay my hands on him. Julie. Hannah. Morgan. Piper. Maria. Dana. Lizzie. Nina. Bridgett. Penelope. Holly. I think you get my point. Well, it was evident that relationship wasn't going anywhere. I dropped him like a hot potato about a week and a half ago. Trust me, it's not easy breaking up with a man as sexy as Rick Mason, even if he is a dirty cheater.
"I can understand being mad at that," Morty replied. "My wife caught me cheating on her once. Only once. She asked if she could join. I have sex with other woman to avoid having sex with my wife. I stopped sleeping around after that. Anyways, that's still no reason to pack up and leave."
"One more beautiful thing happened. I can handle losing my education and my boyfriend. I have the best friend in the world to help me cope, right? Wrong. I don't know if Tiffany was ever my friend, but she wasn't when we got the job. Ever since the beginning that conniving witch had been conspiring with the boss, of which she was having a sexual relationships, to get me fired to ensure she would get the promotion. Some friend! And the best part is that it actually worked. I was fired, and Tiffany was promoted. She didn't even look at me when I started cleaning out my things. I had no one to turn to."
"So you just packed up and left?"
"Not exactly. I hate what my life became in Georgia. I wanted nothing to remind me of it, so I sold my entire life on eBay. Check it out. I sold my house. I sold both my cars. I sold my position at the University of Georgia. I even sold an invitation to meet any of the minor friends I still had. In only four short days, I had a buyer. The cash was in my hands. I was making the transactions to lease an apartment here in Alaska. Some people should be coming by tonight to bring in the new bed, couch and television."
"So you have nothing from Georgia with you? What about your bag?"
"I have absolutely nothing with me that came from Georgia. The clothes I'm wearing now I purchased during the layover in Denver. The clothes I was wearing I summarily keelhauled them into the trashcan. I bought the bag in the airport as well. Same with the coat. Everything else I get from now on will come straight from Alaskan retailers."
"No way you're telling the truth."
"I am so telling the truth."
Morty didn't reply. Instead he pointed out the window. Snow covered part of the sidewalk the laid between the cab and her new home. Shelly was willing to brave the cold to get a better look as she stepped out. The apartment complex was made out of three simple buildings, each of them with three floors. Each of them was marked either building A, B, or C. Shelly was going to live in room A305, so the young lady turned to see building C and how high the third floor was.
"The fee, girl?" Morty requested. Seemingly only on instinct, Shelly managed to pull out the right amount of cash necessary to pay the fee without giving Morty too much extra. All with her eyes still glued to her new pink home. "You got guts, girl," Morty told her. If you're really determined, you can take Alaska head on. Good luck." With that, Morty took his leave.
Shelly really didn't notice that he was gone. She just noticed something distasteful about the building. "Three floors and no elevator?" Shelly slung her bag over her shoulder and began to climb up the steps to her new third-floor home. Shelly made it to the third floor and found C305 to be the first floor on the right.
Just as Shelly put the key in her door, the apartment door next to her opened up. A young lady with pitch-dark hair was standing across from her. They both just stood there in silence before the dark-haired girl decided to lead the introduction. "Hi, I'm Nora. Nora Dunlap. I guess you're the new neighbor Mr. Mertz was telling us about."
"That's me! I have a really interesting story of how I got here, but I'll tell you later. It looks like your going out someplace. A date, maybe?"
"At this time of day?" Shelley didn't realize that the sun set sooner in Alaska. The sun was on its way down, but it wasn't much passed five in the afternoon. "Anyways, even if I was one for an early dinner date, I wouldn't be in the position for one anyways. James and I just had a baby and it's been pretty hectic. Oh, James in my boyfriend. He's at work right now. You'll meet him eventually, I'm sure. I've got to get going. I have to pick up Dylan from my mother's house. I don't think you've told me your name yet."
"Shelly Luong!" she reported gleefully. "It's pronounced like "Long", but it's spelled L-U-O-N-G. I don't know why. It's Vietnamese. I don't get the language at all."
"Nice to meet you, Shelly Luong." Nora smiled and dashed down the stairs without realizing that she left her door wide open. Shelly could tell Nora was just trying to be nice under the crazy circumstances, so she decided to do the nice thing and close the door for her. She wouldn't have done it for anyone else.
"My apartment," Shelly said as eh entered her new abode for the first time. The couch was already in the living room, so the landlord Mr. Mertz must have let them in when they came early. Shelly inspected the room to see the bed had arrived as well. It was all set up, too. The apartment came with a fridge, a stove, an oven, and a dishwasher. Shelly was just happy to get some rest and relaxation after a terrible trip over, and slumped herself on the couch. The young girl was asleep within minutes.
Shelly didn't know what time it was when she woke up. She still didn't have a clock in the house, and she threw her old watch away at the airport. All she knew was that the sun had already set outside her window and she was awoken from the heavy sound of knocking at the door. The room was nice and hot. She didn't want to risk getting cold now that it was night. Once again, there came a knock. Clearly the person wasn't going to give up, and leaving the poor person out in the cold was just torture.
Shelly slowly opened the door to se the glowering face of a young man with brilliant blond hair and matching smile. The only thing he was wearing was a "Breaking Benjamin" T-Shirt with a pair of jeans. He had a backpack on him with the strap over his chest and across his back. He was cold, but he was doing a good imitation of a person who was actually strong enough to take it. The young man was tall, but it didn't look like he had ever gone to the gym in his entire life.
"Hi," managed to say. His breath was a cold as ice, and he probably could feel the ice particles forming as he spoke. "You must be new around here. I'm Caleb Shanowski. I really hope to get to know you in the future. As a matter of fact, I was really hoping I could get to know you right now. Can I come in?"
"Caleb, what are you doing here?"
"I'm just trying to be neighborly."
"No, I mean what are you doing in Alaska? Why aren't you in Georgia where you're supposed to be? I left everything behind, and that includes you."
"I left everything behind, too," Caleb insisted. "I sold my car, which managed to pay off the late payments on my rent. I sold an invitation to my friends, but that only netted me five bucks. I sold all my furniture and even sold my dog just to get a plane ticket here last minute."
"Why? Why did you follow me all the way to Alaska? Didn't you have a good life back in Georgia?"
"No I didn't," Caleb explained. "The only thing I had going for me was my job, and Tiffany was doing the boss so much that she even had me fired to bump herself up even higher. No job, no life, but you were always there for me in Georgia, and I figured if you moved to Alaska to start over, I'd do the same."
"Okay, so where are you living?"
"I was kind of hoping there was an opening on the couch in C305?"
"You're kidding right?"
"My life wasn't worth as much as you life! You got all of this along with thousands of dollars in the bank to last you for some time. My life barely covered the cost for the plane ticket."
"Fine. You've embarrassed yourself enough. Get in here Caleb." A whole new look of excitement washed over Caleb's face. He rushed inside and dropped his bag on the floor against the wall. "Ground rules," she began. "We do not speak of Georgia. Everything that reminds us of Georgia is gone. The clothes you're wearing? We're shopping for new ones tomorrow. These are going in the garbage as soon as possible. We will not remain in contact with anything of our prior lives. We get new cell phones. We get new Myspace pages complete with new friends. We'll get on that as soon as the Internet is installed. Do we have an understanding?"
"Yes ma'am!" he said enthusiastically.
"I'm glad. Now if you'll excuse me, it's late. I have to get to bed."
"It's only about 7:30," Caleb corrected.
Shelly looked back out the window to see the pitch-black night sky staring her in the face. "Damn you, axis. I'm never going to get used to this."
"Relax," Caleb assured his roommate. "Your life—our life—in Alaska in the greatest thing that's yet to have happened! Go to sleep. Our lives begin tomorrow!"
A/N: This is probably the first story in which I've felt the need to continuously write a brief author's note at the nd of the chapter. I've never written one before. I've never found them necessary. Well, I still son't find them too terribly necessary.
Basically, this is here to warn everyone that this is my first attempt to write a story based specifically on romance. I've had it as a subplot before, but never straight up romance. I accept all kind of criticisms when it comes to this story. It's not my forte so to speak.
I hope you enjoy! Oh, and the chapter title comes for a line in the song "Pas de Cheval" by Panic at the Disco.