“Don’t worry, I am too. There is no way she could have known right? I mean… how could she?”
The girls stare and ponder a bit longer before Melanie speaks again.
“She said she dreamed this?” she inquires, in as much disbelief as Avery is herself. At Avery’s nod, she continues, “Who do you think those shadows belong to?”
“I don’t know, that part has me the most confused.”
With a puzzled “humph”, they both go back to studying the picture before a car alarm outside the window startles them back from their innermost thoughts.
“All in all, I think it’s kind of cool she had this vision and drew it, as dark as its background may be. If it is all four of them it shows that they’re watching over you, because obviously, that girl in the drawing is you. It’s a bit comforting actually.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I think I’m going to frame this and hang it up. It’s beautiful.”
“It really is. She was so talented.” Melanie sighs quietly, then shakes her head. “Anyway, we’re going to head back in a bit, but we wanted to give you this.”
Taking the box from Melanie’s hands and shaking it lightly to hear the rattling within, Avery watches a grin grow on Melanie’s face as she tears apart the paper and flips over the frame. It’s a beautiful shadow box containing a key to the old apartment, Avery’s old name badge, her college identification card, and eight pictures.
The first picture is of Mila holding Avery as a toddler. She’s looking at the baby lovingly, just as any mother would. Next is a picture of Avery holding a sleeping baby Aria, followed by a picture of the three of them at Avery’s high school graduation. Below is a picture of Avery and Nick on the day of their engagement; a photograph of Melanie, her, and Max, taken at their wedding; a candid shot of Declan and Avery at another music festival they had gone to, dragging Melanie and Max along with them. One of the last pictures is of her and Aria outside in the courtyard of their apartment, squirting Nick with water guns as he steps out of his car. Boy, Avery remembers that day; by the time they all came inside they were soaked to the bone, fighting off the chill from the cool night. Glancing at the final picture in the box, Avery’s breath is stolen completely from her lungs, like a fist squeezing around her diaphragm. Before her is a seamlessly created photograph of Max, Melanie, Declan,
herself, Aria, Nick, and Mila. Gasps of air, like a fish out of water, are the only sounds escaping Avery’s lips as she finds herself utterly lost for the appropriate words to describe the impact of this gift.
“This is… wow, Melanie. I’m speechless.”
“I hope you don’t mind. When we were packing things up, I took a few photos from the albums you had boxed away. And Max spent some time compiling a bunch of them for that last one. He’s a bit of an editing whiz.”
“It’s…it’s… extraordinary, Melanie. I can’t ever thank you enough for this,” Avery sniffles as she holds back the tears.
“None of that or you’ll have me blubbering, too, and I am not a pretty crier, as you know.”
Avery chuckles as she places the box on the bed beside Aria’s drawing. She hugs Melanie one last time before they discover Max outside, waiting for them.
“I’ll miss you guys. Thank you, for everything.”
Max leans forward and hugs her before stepping back and cupping her face in his hands.
“You can do this, Avery. I have the utmost faith in you. You’re one of the strongest people I know. Please don’t hesitate to call us if you need anything.”
“Thank you, Max. I appreciate everything you all have done for me. I’m in a good place right now and I’m excited about the move.”
They both hug Avery once more with promises of a visit soon, then she watches as they drive off into the proverbial sunset.
As she steps back from the sidewalk to head toward the apartment, a small set of arms wrap around her shoulders from behind, startling her in their haste.
“I’m Nikki, your new roommate,” she exclaims cheerily, not realizing that she has scared the crap out of Avery.
Turning around and stepping back, Avery glances at her new roommate before mirroring her smile. The good genes must run rampant in their family, as she is a spitting image of Melanie, except that her hair is a golden blonde where Melanie’s is black. Nikki is alarmingly attractive.
“Hi, Nikki, it’s great to meet you.”
“I am so excited to have you here. At first, I thought it was Melanie and Max moving in, but then she told me all about you and I knew we would be a good fit.”
“She told you about me?” Avery asks hesitantly, not quite ready to start answering any intrusive questions.
“She did, but I am certain you don’t want to talk about it, so we’ll just skip ahead and agree to be lifelong friends, ok?”
Chuckling at her bubbly personality, Avery says, “Sure,” with relief. “Do you want to head inside and give me the low down on how we’ll work this out?”
“Yep, follow me. Lucky for us, all of our neighbors are amazing. Mrs. Jacobson lives in the apartment two doors down and brings me cookies every Sunday. She is just going to love you.” Opening the door to their apartment, she tosses her bag on the small table in the foyer before continuing on, “I left three cabinets available for you to use and feel free to use whatever cookware I have. No need to buy more, right? I also left a shelf free in the fridge for things you don’t want to share. Otherwise, the top shelf is a free-for-all. If you get this job, we’ll be working the same schedule so we can switch back and forth for dinners if that works for you. And I prefer reading to television so I only have limited cable channels.”