1.2 New Beginnings and Endings

On Danisha's insistence, they packed up their things and moved from quiet little Riverview to the big city of Bridgeport.  In order to save money while Nielson built up a clientele, Danisha had ended up picking a tiny little apartment in the less-than-stellar part of town.  But it was only temporary so surely it wouldn't be a problem.

"Don't worry, it's not as bad as it looks," Danisha assured her husband, figuring that the glum look he was wearing was because of the atmosphere around the place.  She should have asked him why he looked that way, given that he rarely showed any disappointment on his face, but she'd been just too excited with their new life to really give him much thought.

Of course, it was harder to ignore when he didn't immediately follow her inside.  So she turned to look at him.  She started to consider the idea that he wasn't really happy with this whole thing.  But she still never bothered to ask him what he was really thinking and just assumed, since they'd been friends for so long, that she knew what was wrong.

"Hey, don't worry.  You'll be styling the stars in no time and then we'll have plenty of money to find a nicer place to finally have that family we've been dreaming of.  This is just our starter.  You'll see, we'll be here no more than a week once you get your job," she assured him with a smile.

She continued to ramble on assurances for him and while she didn't think she ever really got to the heart of what was making Nielson so unhappy, her enthusiasm either finally infected him, or he simply pushed aside his own feelings and decided to be happy for her instead.

"You really think I'm going to get a job for people like Emma Starr right away?" Nielson asked with a raised eyebrow.

"With your sense of style, those stars will be lining up at our door," Danisha promised.

Nielson laughed at his wife's confidence.  "All right, all right.  You have me convinced," he agreed.  "Well then, shall we begin our married life?" he asked, before taking her hand.  Before Danisha had a chance to react he spun her around and dipped her.

"You hopeless romantic," she teased, blushing but thrilled with his romantic overtures.

Finally, after much flirting that left the people passing by on the street gagging with the sweetness-overload, they headed up to see their new apartment.  Since the rent was so cheap they'd managed to furnish it decently.  And the one thing Danisha had insisted they bring with them from Riverview was the dining set her grandmother had left her when she died.

And, in addition, there big purchase they'd made despite promising to save up their money for a nicer place was a big king-sized bed for in the bedroom.  It took up most of the room, but it was definitely the most worthwhile purchase in the house in Danisha's opinion.

There other purchase that they'd made to make the place a bit more welcoming was a nice big stereo just inside the door.  And as soon as they got inside, Nielson turned it on to some soothing classical music.

"See?  This isn't so bad," Danisha commented with a smile, turning towards her husband only to see his hand outstretched toward her.

"May I have this dance, my lady?" he asked with a smile.  There was no way Danisha could refuse that smile.  She'd never been able to refuse that smile.  Fortunately, Nielson had never asked her for very much.  He should have asked her for more.  She should have given him more.

"This is the beginning, isn't it?" Danisha asked as they swirled around the room.  Or rather, what little of the room wasn't taken up by the stereo and dining set.

"Yes, it is," Nielson agreed.  He spun her around and held her close against his chest.  He was so warm to press up against.  Always so very, very warm.

They'd planned on making the most of their first night in the new apartment and their brand new bed... but moving such a distance had left both of them feeling exhausted so they headed straight to bed. 

The next morning Danisha rode the elevator all the way down to collect the newspaper, and then all the way back up again.  "You'd think the paper boy could be bothered to deliver these to all of the apartments.  I can't imagine we're the only ones that get the newspaper," she grumbled as she settled into the chair.

"Anything interesting happen in the news?" Nielson asked.

"No... but there's an opening at the salon downtown," Danisha replied.  When Nielson didn't immediately reply with enthusiasm, she shot him a look that said 'you're going to go apply for that job'.

"All right, all right.  I'll go right now.  So much for a lazy morning," Nielson replied with a heavy sigh.

"That's my man," Danisha enthused happily, getting up and giving him a send-off kiss.  In retrospect, she wished that they could have spent that entire day together, but at the time it had seemed so important.  Hindsight always was fifty-fifty.

Danisha spent the day unpacking the last of their things and getting everything organized before Nielson finally got home.  She looked at him expectantly and he smiled at her.  "I got the job," he assured.

"Wonderful!  One step closer to our dream," she declared with a smile.

"So... uh... do I get a reward...?" Nielson asked tentatively and with a blush.  Danisha was about to step forward to kiss him until she realized what he was actually referring to and blushed herself.  Despite being married for a few days now they'd never actually consummated their marriage.  Oh, they'd fooled around and done just about everything up to that but they'd never really found the right moment to go all the way.  And she supposed this was about as good a moment as any.

"Well, come into the bedroom and find out," she replied, faking a confidence she didn't feel as she headed into the bedroom.  She wished she had some sexy underwear, but the best she had was her pajamas which she changed into.  Nielson discarded everything but his boxers as he got into bed with her.

"You'll be gentle, won't you?" Danisha asked tentatively as she gazed at Nielson.  The blond man pushed her down and crawled on top of her.  The eyes he gazed with were completely solemn as he looked down at her.

"I would never be rough with you," he promised.  Danisha should have known better.  Nielson had never treated her with anything but gentleness.  Treating her as though she were made of fine china.  But she'd just been so nervous that she'd had to ask.  Hopefully he hadn't taken offense at her question.

Their first time was clumsy and probably full of mistakes.  But the important part was that in the end it felt good for both of them.  And they both drifted off to sleep feeling completely content.

The next morning, Nielson insisted on making a celebratory breakfast.  Between the two of them, Danisha was the natural cook but it was sweet of him so she let him.  Although, she had to question what he was making when she saw all of the vegetables that he pulled out of the fridge.

"Really?  Salad for breakfast?" she asked teasingly when he was done.  Nielson blushed and smiled hesitantly at her.

"What?  It's very healthy for you.  I read somewhere that greens after... uh... you know are a good way of replenishing energy.  Uh, besides, I don't know how to use the new stove," he confessed with a shrug.  Danisha laughed and took a few bites.

"Well, it's delicious so I forgive you," she assured.  And it had been delicious.  Which was good, since that taste was forever entwined with her memories of that night.

That day, Nielson headed off for his first day of work.  Since Danisha really didn't have anything else to do around the apartment she decided to head out and explore the city.  The shopping district quickly pulled her in.  They'd only had a couple of shops back home.  A clothing shop with all of the essentials, a second-hand store, and antique shop, and then the grocery and bookstores.  But this place had all kinds of stores.  Even stores dedicated to specific types of clothes!  There was a store filled entirely of dresses.  The prices were all ridiculously out of her budget, but it was fun to look nonetheless.

It wasn't until the sun started going down that she realized how late it was.  "Oh my gosh!  Nielson's probably been home for a while by now!" she exclaimed, feeling ashamed that she'd left him alone.  Although part of her wondered why he hadn't called her by now.  It was dinnertime and she'd think he'd be wondering where she was.  Then again, he did give her plenty of space so maybe that was why.

For a moment she considered picking up some groceries on the way home to make something special for dinner, but decided she just wanted to get home soon.  Maybe they could even go out to eat tonight, she thought.  She never got any bad feelings or sense of foreboding at all.  In the stories, they always said you would when something bad was going to happen, but she was blissfully unaware as she rode the elevator up to their apartment and opened the door.

The first thing she noticed was that the door wasn't locked.  The second thing she saw, was something red on the wall.

Slowly her eyes drifted downward.  What she saw made her lose all feeling in her body.  "No..." she whispered.

There was Neilson, sitting slumped in a pool of blood.

She tried to run to him, only to slip and fall.  There was blood trailing all the way out to the door.  She wondered distantly why she hadn't noticed any out in the hall.  It's amazing how your mind slows down in times of panic.

She knew she should get up, that she should rush to his side.  But she just couldn't.  Part of her probably already knew that he was dead and that there was no point.  She hoped this was a dream.  Oh god did she hope this was a dream.  "No, no, no, no, no..." she repeated the word over and over like a mantra, closing her eyes and trying to block everything out.  Maybe when she opened them she'd find it was all a hallucination.  A result of her panic to get home to her husband quickly.

But it wasn't a dream.  This was her new reality.  And it was all her fault for dragging Nielson to this place.  Thinking back, he'd probably never wanted to come here.  He'd been happy in Riverview.  They'd been happy in Riverview.  And now all of those rose-colored memories were overwhelmed by that single image of her husband that was now burned in her memories.

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I would like to apologize for the dramatic change in mood in this story.  At least I killed him off before anyone had the chance to get too attached, right?  I'm sorry.