Real joy enters Joe's life when he meets Melody. As their romance develops, Joe starts to see a future for himself again.
Joe
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Leati Joseph Anoaʻi (Samoan pronunciation: [a.noˈaʔ.i] ah-no-AH ee; born May 25, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and former football player. As a wrestler, he has been signed to WWE since 2010, and currently performs on a part-time basis on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Roman Reigns. He is the leader of The Bloodline stable and a member of the Anoaʻi family. Reigns's title reign of 1,316 days as WWE Universal Champion was the fourth-longest world title reign in WWE history and the longest championship reign since 1988.
Melody
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Melody Aiysha Wasilla (born June 19, 1991) is a Cuban-American former professional basketball player and interior designer. She is a three-time Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. women's national basketball team and a six-time WNBA All-Star. Throughout her playing career, she played for the Minnesota Lynx, Los Angeles Sparks, Seattle Storm, and Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), winning a championship with each team. She is the founder of Wasilla Interiors and has been featured in newspapers, magazines, websites, and TV appearances for her interior and product design concepts.
Tampa, Florida
Joe stood in the middle of the penthouse he had recently purchased after the demise of his marriage. The spacious interior was filled with a maze of cardboard boxes and scattered belongings waiting to be unpacked, remnants of a life now irrevocably changed.
He felt small and lost amidst the clutter, the echoes of his footsteps on the hardwood floors emphasizing just how alone he was.
Surrounded by the unfamiliar, Joe found himself searching for a reason to contact his new neighbor, Melody. He had run into her in the hallway as the movers were bringing his things in just yesterday. She lived in the penthouse next door, and they had exchanged phone numbers in polite neighborly fashion.
But Joe had been lonely these past nine months since his wife left, and he was yearning for company. He felt drawn to Melody in a way he couldn't explain, and wondered if she could be the companion he craved.
Joe's finger hovered over her phone number on his screen before he started typing out a text. Taking a chance, he asked if she could recommend an interior designer to help him decorate and arrange his new home.
There was a long wait for her reply, during which Joe agonized over whether he might have overstepped some unspoken boundary between neighbors.
But then Melody texted back that she herself was an interior designer, much to Joe's surprise and secret delight.
Before he could even respond, his phone vibrated with an incoming call - it was Melody.
He hesitated for a moment, pulse quickening, before answering uncertainly with a soft "Hello?" Melody's voice greeted him on the other end, inviting him to open his front door.
Joe's heart raced as he went to open the door for Melody. "Hi," he managed nervously as she walked inside the penthouse and looked around appraisingly.
"How long has it been since your divorce?" she asked, getting right to the point.
Melody could tell just by the haphazard state of the place that Joe was a newly single man, clearly out of his depth trying to set up house alone after relying on his ex-wife for so long.
"It's...it's been nine months," Joe stammered in reply, a bit taken aback by her forwardness. But he found he didn't mind at all.
There was something magnetic about this woman that made him want to open up and share more than he knew he should.
"I can tell. So, you need an interior designer, and I am willing to do it, I need a new project anyway," Melody said, looking at him.
"How much do you charge?" Joe asked her.
There was a long pause before Melody finally spoke. "Um, $100 to $200 per hour, typically totaling around $5,200 in design fees, not including the cost of materials and furnishings, as well as contractor fees. Is that okay with you?" She answered.
Joe couldn't contain his excitement. "Yes, that sounds great!" He said.
As Melody confirmed she would take on his interior design project, Joe felt a shiver of anticipation run down his spine. He had never felt this spark of excitement with a woman before, certainly not one he had just met. Yet her confidence and take-charge attitude stirred something primal within him. As they discussed her fees, all Joe could focus on was how he didn't want this encounter to end.
When Melody finally left with a parting wink and word of advice to just be a friendly neighbor, Joe was more determined than ever to get to know his alluring new neighbor on a much more personal level.
