Front Page Lives

Justin was distracted by the knock on the front door of his apartment. He turned down the volume of the television and opened the door. There she was, Joanna, his new neighbor. He looked at her black, long flowing her and lightly tan complexion. She looked like something was bothering her.  

He just stood at the door staring at her. He had a thing about her eyes. They were a beautiful shade of green with a slight hint of blue. Such gorgeous eyes, he thought, still standing at her, making her look away. "Sorry," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. He often had to remind himself that he was in a relationship when he saw her. She had a beauty that he couldn't get over. "Um, is everything all right?" 

"Um, are you busy?" she asked, rubbing her arm, standing nervously in the hall. 

"Yeah...I mean no. What's up?" he asked trying not to sound like a complete idiot. He's around women all the time, but there was something about her that he couldn't get over. He was staring again. "Did you need something?"  

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you could help me out with something." 

He looked back into the condo at the clock on the wall. "Well, I was waiting for Nina to come back from her agent's office. Why, what's up?" 

She bit her lower lip and looked down the hall. "Oh, never mind. I was just going to ask if you could help me with something. But if you're busy, it's okay." 

He grabbed her arm when she started walking away. "I didn't say I wouldn't help." He had forgotten how much his girlfriend Nina didn't like her. He always blamed it on the fact that there was another woman in the building that had no problem getting attention from all the other men. And he was no exception. Those eyes of hers, he thought, staring again.  

"So, you can help?" she asked, pulling her hair over her shoulder. 

"Uh, yeah, of course," he replied with a smile.  

"What about Nina?" She could tell that Nina didn't like her. She tried to be nice to her, but there was always some tension between them.  

He closed his door and walked down the hall with her. "Nina won't be back till later. How do you like the building so far?" He thought he could bring up some conversation to stop his obsessive staring.  

"It's nicer than the last place I was at. Everyone seems nice." She smiled and opened the door of her condo. "Oh, how did that script reading go?"  

He was surprised that she remembered. "It went all right. I haven't really found any that I like," he lied, knowing that he hadn't touched any of the scripts his agent sent him. Nina would nag him constantly to read through the scripts. She wanted him to work while he wanted to just relax after coming back from his tour. "It's going alright I guess," he answered knowing that he hasn't read any of the scripts yet despite Nina's constant nagging for him to read them.  

He enjoyed acting and being on concert tours, but he felt he needed a break to just be normal and Nina didn't understand that. Joanna opened the door and turned on the lights to her four bedroom condo and Justin walked in and closed the door as she went into the bedroom and came back out with a large painting setting it down on the sofa. Justin walked over to her wondering what she needed help with. 

"Here it is. I have this client that is extremely picky over everything and if I show him another painting that he thinks is too bland or artsy, he will fire me and I need to find something that would work and that's why I need your help. Could you take a look at this and tell me what you think?" she asked as he stood in front of the painting on the sofa.