She woke up bright and early that morning. The radio was on full blast and she was singing along as she prepared for her apartment hunting adventure. Looking at herself in the mirror, she frowned at her reflection. Her eyebrows needed attention and her dry skin was very evident. She took off her shirt and stood in her bra and jeans and arched her eyebrows then put a mud mask on her face. As she waited for the facial to set she danced around laughing at her poor attempt to imitate Britney Spears. She went back to the bathroom, wiped her face, put on her shirt and applied her makeup. She smiled at the girl in the mirror. It was going to be ok. It wasn�t going to be easy; hell there were times she dreamed of what her wedding to Nick would be like and now she was single. She gathered her things and walked out the house.
Shayna walked through five apartment complexes before she looked at her watch and realized it was after noon. She stopped at Wendy�s and sat in a corner booth with all the apartment brochures. She took out her notebook and started writing down all the pertinent information so she could see all the pros and cons of each place next to each other. She looked up and saw two guys looking at her at the table next to her and smiled courteously before returning to her brochures.
�Hi.� She looked over and smiled lightly,
�Hi.� They were both kind of cute, but they had nothing on Nick. Nick, ok Shayna, stop it, she thought.
�You just move here?� the one in the gray T-shirt asked.
�No, I�m just moving into a new place.� He nodded,
�Oh, my name is Dan and this is Eric.� He said as he nodded his head towards his friend. She smiled,
�Hi, Shayna.� She felt so nervous; she didn�t know what to say or how to act. For the past two years anytime she was approached she would simply reject them and carry on. There really was no reason, well no boyfriend, to reject them now. Saying she had a boyfriend was easy, what was she supposed to say now. Eric spoke up for the first time,
�So how long have you lived here?� She swallowed and smiled as they waited,
�Three years.� Small talk was something she had never been really good at and she wasn�t trying to develop it in a fast food restaurant. She took one final sip of her drink, stood up and gathered her things,
�It was nice meeting you, I have to get going.� She didn�t wait for a response and walked out the door. She was at her car when she saw Dan walking towards her,
�Is it ok if I got your number?� She didn�t know what to say and she didn�t want to give him her number. She didn�t even have a place to live; dating was the last thing on her mind. She smiled,
�I�m sorry, I have a boyfriend.� He nodded and smiled as he walked off. Thankfully he took that well, usually they hounded and hounded and she hated that. She sat in the car and threw her head back and sighed,
�A boyfriend?� She shook her head as buckled her seat belt. It just came out of her mouth without her even thinking about it.
�Not anymore.� She started the car and decided to check out the last three apartment complexes and then head off to the mall.
As she walked through the mall, she noticed the looks she received from men and she had to smile to herself, it felt good. There was never a lack of looks from men when she went out but she just didn�t care. She had Nick and the last thing she concentrated on was other men when she was out with him. She walked into The Gap and after she tried on a couple of tops and a pair of pants she was looking at men�s shirt before she realized she had even walked over. It was a habit, anytime she went shopping; she usually came back with a shirt, a sweater, a pair of shoes or something for him. He always told her not to do it. He had more than enough clothes from designers and companies that wanted their clothes to be seen on a Backstreet Boy. Then she reminded him he didn�t like wearing a lot of that stuff and he laughed, told her,
�That�s true.� and the cycle happened all over again every time. She put the shirt down, walked over to the register and smiled as a Backstreet Boys song came over the speakers; it was a remix of one of their older songs. Must be pop season at The Gap, she thought since the song before it was Samantha Mumba. She paid for her clothes and walked out of the store. Its time to head home, well it wasn�t her home anymore. She was driving along and decided to stop at the grocery store; she needed food if she was going to cook dinner that night.
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Full Circle
Chapter 4