Somebody to Love - A Joe Mazzello FanFiction

Chapter 1 - A New Beginning

I look around a neighborhood that I had only seen before on Google maps street view and notice nothing familiar. Had you already gotten yourself lost in your new town? I thought to myself. Getting lost everywhere was a terrible flaw of mine, but I made myself a pact to try not to get lost as much in LA. Granted the streets were much harder to figure out compared to the grid system of Chicago, but it was something I had to get used to. I can do this, I thought and kept looking at my phone and then the street. Thankfully there was no one behind me.

"Oh, there it is!" I say to myself as I come upon a tan building with two floors and balconies off the sides of the apartments. I park my car in the parking lot next to the building and call my landlord; an instruction I was given over email. The phone rings in my ear while I stare at the other cars in scattered lots.

"Hello?" I hear a sweet, slightly high pitched voice on the other end.

"Hi. Is this Mrs. Spencer?" I ask slightly moving my body forward in my chair as if I was speaking to her in person.

"Yes, it is. May I ask who's calling?"

"Yes, hi, my name is Julie and I'm moving in today. I'm calling from the parking lot. I believe that's what you told me to do, right?" I all of a sudden become very nervous. I had never been this far from home by myself before and I feel like it all started to sink in with the phrase I'm moving in today.

"Yes, dear. I'm inside. I'll come out of my apartment and meet you at the front door."

"Do I need to bring anything with me right now? Papers, emergency numbers, extra rent?" I started to sound insane and I became much more nervous. I could feel myself starting to hyperventilate, but I just took a deep breath and sat back in my chair more.

"No, dear. All of that will be settled later. You can bring in whatever you wish. I'm not your mother. Goodbye." She hung up the phone before I could say goodbye. I looked around my car for what I needed to bring. Everything in the seats around me was my life; well at least the parts I could take with me right now. The moving truck would be here in a couple days. But this was the precious cargo. I thought about what to take with me, but the decision paralysis made it too difficult, so I just grabbed my purse and turned off the car, locking it behind me.

I take a big stretch as I leave the car because driving from Chicago to LA takes its toll on your back and legs. Stopping along the way helps, but you just want to keep going until you get to the finish line. I walk to the front door where Mrs. Spencer is waiting for me. She is a lovely looking woman in her early to mid-forties with dyed blonde hair and brown roots. She has a welcoming smile and she seems very welcoming overall. This was the type of person I really didn't expect seeing in LA, let alone being the first person I see.

"Welcome!" She exclaims opening the door for me. "I'm going to give you a quick tour before we get you to your apartment, okay?"

"Yes, that's fine." I retort. She shows me the mailboxes and how to open the front door, along with how people get into the building. She also shows me all of the security cameras and other safety precautions that were put up. It seemed as though the safety of her tenants really meant a lot to her. She then shows me to my apartment. A floor level, two bedrooms one bath apartment for just me and myself. She dangles the keys in front of my face.

"Why don't you open her up?" I take the keys away and open the apartment door. It was better than I could have imagined. Every kitchen appliance was up to date (something I was actually really worried about) the windows and balcony let in a lot of light. Plus, something I didn't realize before was that this was a corner apartment, meaning I had windows in my living room and bedrooms. "So what do you think?" she asks as I walk from room to room. I was speechless for a couple of seconds.

"It's perfect," I said in almost a whisper tone.

"Good. Well, I'll let you get settled in then." We said our goodbyes and she left, closing the door behind her. I stood in the middle of the living room admiring everything around me. I couldn't believe I was here. I couldn't believe this was happening. Just two months ago I had thought to myself, Hey, wouldn't it be crazy if I moved to LA. And now I'm here. All of a sudden, there was a knock at the door and it opened right after, it was Mrs. Spencer again. "I meant to ask, and I hope I'm not prying, but why do you have two bedrooms if you're here by yourself? Are you going to use the other one as an office?" She asks quite gingerly and shyly to try to not offend me.

"An office of sorts," I say. "I'm a musician. So, I'm going to make it my music room slash possibly a guest bedroom. I really haven't decided yet." She laughed a little and nodded before leaving again. I look around one more time.

"Well, I guess it's time to make you mine," I say to the apartment as if it can hear me, and I leave to start unpacking my things from my car.