| Chapter One |
| The orange and yellow colors shimmered through the window of the small, newly furnished apartment. Empty boxes laid around in various places, each with its markings as to what treasures it held inside. A young lady sat with her long legs tucked beneath her. Her brown hair flowed down slightly passed her shoulders. Her emerald eyes stared in front of her where she was looking through the contents of the final box. This box was labeled �school stuff�. Her slender hands reached into the box and pulled out a frame. Inside this frame was a diploma. The diploma stated that she had made something out of herself, she had accomplished her dream. She was the first person in her family to graduate college, continue with her studies and make a career. It was a long and tough road to get to where she was today. Lots of struggles and sleepless nights. She still thanks god to this day for giving her those scholarships and loans, because without them she would be nowhere
************************************************************************ �I don�t know why you sent your resume and information there? You�re just setting yourself up for disappointment here. And did you realize the fact that you applied for a position over 300 miles away?� David asked as he sat on the coach aimlessly staring off into space as he spoke. �Thank you so much for the support here David. You�re supposed to encourage me and be happy for me. You�re my boyfri�� She trailed off. She and David had been high school sweethearts. He was her first and only boyfriend. She had stayed in state to go to college, she lived in an apartment and when he had nowhere to go she told him he could stay with her. Now thinking back on it, it was the biggest mistake she had ever made. This is where she realized what he was really like. The person she once loved had changed, drastically. He was now trying to control her life and put her down every chance he got just to make himself feel better. And the worst part was, she was letting this happen, this was all she knew. Alexis continued with her words �You know what, as of lately I don�t know who or what you are to me anymore.� �How can you say that? I care so much for you.� He stopped as though he had to think his next statement through before saying it aloud �I..I love you� He said with a timid and low voice. �It sure doesn�t seem that way, ever since you moved in here. Look at what you just told me now. How I�m not gonna get this job. I busted my ass to become what I am and I�m not gonna let you hold me back in anyway. And that�s what you�ve been doing. We�ve grown apart and you know it!� Alexis almost screamed in a teary voice.. David sat there staring at Alexis as though he didn�t understand what she was saying, as though he was numb to it all and didn�t want to believe it. �So if by some slim chance they offer you this job in Orlando, you�re going, leaving your family best friend, and me behind? What about us?� �To tell you the truth, I don�t see an us anymore David. You�ve changed, you have been trying to control me and I�m just not going to take it anymore. You know this is the truth as much as I do. And yes, if I get offered this job I�m going.� Those words came out easily for her. This wasn�t their first fight; Alexis had thought this out and had come to a decision. David was about to open his mouth to plead with Alexis when the phone rang. She walked over and picked it up �Hello?� �Hello Miss. Gray� �Yes this is she, who�s speaking? Oh hello. Yes I�m doing fine thank you. Uhuh, right of course I�d be delighted. On Friday, ok I�ll catch a flight and be there. Ok thank you for the opportunity see you then, good bye.� Alexis hung up the phone, closed her eyes and turned around to face David. She opened her eyes to see him staring at her, burning a hole through her skin. �Who was that,� he asked calmly, almost a little too calmly for her. �It was them, they want to interview me on Friday. ************************************************************************ Apparently the interview had gone well because here she was in her new apartment in Orlando Florida. True it was hard leaving her family and best friend behind in Chicago the place where she grew up, and the only place she�d ever known. She tried to keep David out of her mind; he was out of her life now. Things just didn�t and wouldn�t have worked out. He begged and pleaded and tried to make her see that he was the only one for her. But nothing would change Alexis�s mind once it was made up. Everyone knew that. She knew in her heart that David wasn�t the one for her. Tomorrow would be her first day working at the hospital to become the well-known and respected psychiatrist she knew she could become. Alexis stood up from her position on the floor with her diploma in her hand and went to put it up on the wall in the space she had already set aside for it. That document was more than a piece of paper to her. It held her dreams and made them reality. She inched the frame a little to the left and took a few steps back to admire it. She looked around her apartment and smiled. Her perfectly straight white teeth showed. You couldn�t even tell that she chipped her front tooth when she was 10. �Home sweet home,� Alexis said into the air. She walked over to her CD player and pressed play not knowing what was inside. As the first chords played she recognized the song and began singing along. �I know that I can�t take no more, it ain�t no lie.� The song seemed to have more meaning to her now. She walked over to the kitchen and began preparing herself dinner. As the song played in the background she remembered what her best friend Marissa had told her before she left. �Hey you�re going to Orlando, home of those babes from Nsync.� Alexis laughed at her and just recently learned what her best friend loved so much about these guys and their music. �Hmm� you never know maybe one of those guys might need some psychiatric help.� Alexis said aloud. She laughed and continued singing while she cooked. �Baby bye, bye, bye� Chapter Two |