I walked through the front door. My feet ached with every step, my calves begging for me to sit. Esme looked up at me from the couch, a similar look on her face.  I noticed Esme made herself look comfortable, by putting her black hair in a pony tail and put on her red and blue plaid pajama pants and a red top. "Rough day for you too, huh?"

  Nodding, I collapsed onto the couch right next to her. "Let's do anything but talk about our jobs. I can't take it!" I groaned, and Esme laughed.

  "I definitely agree with you about that," she said, getting up and bringing me a glass of red wine. I was happy to be back in our apartment. It wasn't fancy but it definitely looked comfy, lived in. Yes, our furniture was from IKEA and wasn't top of the line, but we added our own style to it with some of Esme's brother's paintings and some colorful pillows and cute knick knacks.

  "Who would of thought that this is where I'd be in my life? Single, living paycheck to paycheck, and coming home aching from head to toe, only to do it the very next day," I groaned.

  "Cheers to that," Esme smiled, and we clinked our glasses together.

  Ever since Esme's ex-fiance had dumped her, we had grown closer. Esme and I had always been best friends, but losing a promotion at the advertising firm where she works and a fiance in the same week had really caused a strain on Esme. I had tried my best to be there for her, but I could tell that she still wasn't over it. She deserved to be happy. We both did. "I won't go into it, but I wonder if I made a mistake giving up on getting another promotion", she said.

  "Didn't you hear what I said before?" I said half-jokingly. "Let me just tell you. If I had my way, I would be an actress. There would be no more long days at the office, trying to impress people that clearly don't care about you. I use to act in my school plays, and it was one of the only times in my life I truly felt like myself."

  "I wouldn't complain about having all of the jewels and clothes in the world and admirers everywhere begging for my hand in marriage!  I'd never have to worry about a paycheck coming in! I would kill for that kind of life!" Esme agreed.

  "The only problem was that I wonder if I gave up on that dream too quickly," I said awkwardly, thinking to myself why I did.

  Esme cheered me up when she told me she ordered our usual favorites of Chinese takeout. "I'm so hungry, I could eat about anything now!" I said. She joked, "Would you be hungry enough to eat anything, even squid?" She knew I absolutely hated squid.  We both cracked up over this.

  A little while later, we heard the doorbell ring. "That must be the Chinese food!" Esme raced for the door.  I laughed, taking another sip of my wine.

  "Hey Olivia, it's for you!" 

  Sighing, I put down my glass and stood up, my aching limbs not ready to move yet.

  As I looked towards the door, I saw my coworker Kyle standing there, my scarf in his hands.

  He smiled at me sheepishly, holding out the scarf.

  "Hey Olivia, you forgot your scarf at work, I figured I'd come by and bring it to you?" 

  I scrunched my eyes in confusion. "Thanks Kyle, but you didn't have to do that. I would have been at work tomorrow you know".

  Kyle nervously wrapped a hand around the back of his neck. "Oh yeah I know, I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by."

  I grabbed the scarf, smiling at him. "Well thank you! I appreciate it. I'll see you at work tomorrow, you're such a good friend for dropping this off."

  Kyle's face fell, but he put on a small smile, waving goodbye as he left.

  Esme shut the door, grinning at me. "You know he's like, completely in love with you right?"

  Kyle? In love with me? NO way!

  Rolling my eyes, I sat back down on the couch. Esme followed suite, drinking her wine.

  "He's not in love with me. We're just friends,"  I confirmed. I drifted off to sleep that night, trying to convince myself of exactly that.

  The next day, yet again, I woke up late for work. This time I had trouble sleeping because I was thinking about what Esme said about Kyle.

  So when I saw Esme, she had already eaten her breakfast and was ready to go to work, while I had to starve yet again, just to make it on time. "Get something to eat later. I get worried when you skip meals."

  I had just enough time to make the next subway train and get to my desk exhausted from running from the subway stop to my office. I worked for a big advertising firm as an account executive, which was the type of career I thought I wanted, but it hadn't turned out to be all that it was cracked up to be.  I rushed to sit down and took a deep breath. Suddenly, I was daydreaming about being on vacation somewhere, where I didn't have to rush and be anywhere on time. Suddenly, Kyle popped into my daydream. I don't know how much time has passed when I was startled out of my daydream by a voice. When I looked up, I understood why he popped into my daydream.

  "Psst, Olivia!"  I looked up to see my coworker Kyle staring at me with a smirk on his face.

 "What??" I said confused.

  "You were daydreaming again. You didn't hear the phone ring? I had to pick up your phone." 

  I'm guessing my face must be beet red as he said this to me. "I'm so sorry. I'm such an idiot."

  Kyle smiled at me and said, "At least you don't look like one." Now I felt a little bit better as he put some levity into the situation. "Is everything ok? If not I can come back later."  Now anybody else would have joked about how absent minded I was, but Kyle didn't. Suddenly, I realized why and thought about when Kyle came over last night. I hadn't  noticed it before. We've been friends since we started working together and I'd never seen him as anything else. Now that I was looking at him, I wonder why I never noticed his gorgeous green eyes or his thick, short, light brown hair. We're friends and I don't want anything to ruin that, so that's the end of that.  I don't even know if I felt anything for him more than friendship.

  Kyle snapped his fingers at me. I made some weak comment of how I was thinking about something and didn't hear his question. He proceeded to tell me about my boss calling me regarding one of our current accounts and Kyle ended up covering for me.

  When I told Kyle he was a lifesaver, he blushed and said, "Anytime, Olivia. You know I'm always here for you".

  I hope my mouth wasn't hanging open, because I felt so awkward in that moment and I didn't know what to say. I mumbled something to the effect of having to catch up on my work. Kyle just grinned and waved goodbye. It took a little time but finally I was able to start my work and not think about what happened with Kyle last night and today.

  Finally, it was nearly the end of the work day and Kyle rushed into my office cheering. "Yes, party time!" I laugh at him. "And you are going to join us! This time I'm not taking no for an answer," he said mock seriously. 

  I quickly retorted, "I couldn't abandon my girl's night with Esme. She needs me. Besides, it's a tradition".

  Kyle rolls his eyes and said, "Both of you sitting around in your pajamas and watching soaps sound like two old ladies." Now it was my turn to roll my eyes at him. I was starting to get a little bit frustrated at him, but I tried not to show it.

  "You don't get it. Going out and drinking isn't what it's cracked up to be."

  "You'd be surprised. You probably haven't gone out with the right people to the right places," Kyle says, looking at me suggestively. I certainly didn't misinterpret his intentions there, I thought, but quickly dismissed it.

  "You know if you change your mind, all you have to do is let me know."  He smiled again and before I say or think anything more about the situation, I went on the computer and pretended to open up a file. Kyle didn't get the hint and he said, "If you want Esme to come, she's more than happy to join us. I know Tyler would be excited to see her."

  I take a deep breath. I want to decline but I feel bad about that because Kyle is so nice, he doesn't deserve that. "That may be so, but you know Esme doesn't want to have anything to do with anyone who's friends with Colin," I said.

  "But wait," he said. When I didn't respond, he got the hint and left. 

  I should have made my escape then. This was the time that Tyler pops in to look for Kyle and say hi. But, I started to think about Kyle again. Most of the time, I left before his friend comes, but I stayed sometimes too as not to be rude and make Tyler suspicious. Also, I got awkward when his friend asked me about Esme. Before I know it, his friend and my colleague/acquaintance  walked in. Now Tyler is a cute guy, but he didn't have the type of looks I am normally attracted to. He has that more rugged look with facial hair and dark hair and eyes, where I prefer usually lighter hair and eyes.  Come to think of it, he was actually more Esme's type.

  Tyler smiled at us and said, "Hey, Kyle! Are you ready to go to the bar? He glanced at me and asked,  "Hi Olivia! Did Kyle finally convince you both to join us at the bar for a few drinks?" Here we go, I thought. And what happened next is nearly a repeat of what has happened in previous weeks.

 So, Kyle looked frustrated and Tyler didn't seem to notice this. He reminded Tyler again about our girl's night.

  Tyler looked crestfallen. "That's too bad. One of these days, maybe I can convince you both to come?" he said.

  Then Kyle reminded Tyler about our girls night again. "Anyhow, have a good night Olivia and say hi to Esme for me," Tyler said. "Same here Olivia and we will miss you," Kyle replied.

  "Will do. Enjoy the bar! Have a good night Kyle and Ty. Say hi to everyone for me."

  It seemed like hours have passed by the time I get home. I saw Esme standing by the doorway with a worried look on her face. Esme smiled reassuringly and said, "Go change and we'll eat".

  Finally a little while later, we got ready to watch our favorite soap opera. I'm in love with the soap opera, "A Life's Journey". I started watching it when I was younger with my grandmother who had moved in with us after my grandfather died. I didn't realize this show would became a way to bridge the generation gap and to strengthen our relationship. Through a conversation I learned it was one of her favorite shows. So, it became a tradition that whenever I was home I'd watch the soap with her.  Even when we were no longer living together, I still watched the show because I enjoyed it so much and honored the tradition of watching my grandmother's favorite show.

  I had Esme start watching it with me when we moved in together. I explained the importance of the show to me and just like my grandmother, told her about all the characters. We ended up watching most of the shows on the weekend, because we were too tired to watch them when we got home late during the week.

  "I heard that Kaleb will be featured a lot on today's episode. I don't get why he's your favorite?"

  Esme blushed and said, "You know how hot he is!"

  I crossed my arms at hearing her response. "I agree that he's very handsome but his personality leaves something to be desired. I'll give him that, but he's still such a mama's boy."

  Well, we have a habit of becoming very passionate about our characters. "That's not true! He has been going through a traumatic situation! That's why he's not working and planning on moving in with his parents."

  I just sighed. This sounded very similar to other conversations we had about Kaleb. "Yeah, and that doesn't sound like a mama's boy to you?"

  Esme gave her standard response, and proceeded to roll her eyes at me.

  "To each their own," I said. We both started to giggle because we know how excited we get about our favorite characters and how we always had the same response.

  "You're jumping to conclusions. We don't know much about what happened on his last police case and why he abruptly left the force."

  I'm thought about this for a minute. Then Esme said, "They're slowly revealing some flashbacks. I wonder if you will see your hottie, Dr. Brandon Clark?"

  "Ha-ha. I wish he was my hottie," I said wistfully.

  I turned on the show. We were so excited and smiling at the screen waiting for the show to come on. 

  Scene 1 of "A Life's Journey" in  Renee and Kaleb's old apartment 

  "I'm sorry, but I can't do this anymore," said Renee.

  "What do you mean you can't do this anymore? Us?" Ok, I could see why Esme would have a crush on him, with his gorgeous green puppy dog eyes and his sweet, forlorn face.

  "Yes, Kaleb. I tried but I can't deal with you like this." She looked both sad and frustrated at the same time.

  "I told you to be patient with me, after what I went through on the force with my last case."

  "I know, but I was hoping you would open up to me, let me in and be there for you," she said sadly.

  Now, Kaleb had a dark expression on his face. "I'm not trying to push you away..."

  "But you are! I don't know what to do anymore!" she said defensively.

  "Is that why you kissed my ex work partner?"  We both gasped as he said this even though we kind of figured this was coming.

  "What are you talking about? I only wanted you," she cried.

  Kaleb pointed his finger at Renee and said, "I noticed you used past tense! Anyhow, don't hide it. I saw you kissing in the park!"

  Renee started to look embarrassed, but quickly became angry again. "You were spying on me?!" 

  This time instead of being angry, Kaleb looked miserable again. "No, I was actually considering finding you and opening up to you."

  Renee looked surprised. "You were?" 

  As quickly as he became sad, his expression changed as his eyes became steely. "Yes, big mistake that was!" 

  Renee tried to diffuse the situation. "Listen, I'm sorry. It's not what you think. I was only trying to get answers, the kiss was an accident."  Kaleb began to look thoughtful. For a brief second we thought that maybe Kaleb will forgive her. He suddenly changed back to his unforgiving expression he had a moment earlier.

  "So you were going behind my back to get information about me! Then you just accidentally put your lips on his?! You probably thought seducing him would help you get more information!" he roared. Renee was taken back by what Kaleb said to her. She instinctively rushed to go slap Kaleb. He was also surprised by this action.

  Kaleb returned to his dejected expression.  "I can't believe it has come to this."

  Renee frowned and said, "This just proves even more that we need to move on from each other."

  "I can't believe this! You seemed so happy when I proposed a few months ago," he said. Now he looked shocked.

  "I know. That was before all this drama went down."

  "Thank you for referring to my struggles as drama!" snaps Kaleb.

  Renee tried to reassure Kaleb as she said, "I didn't mean it that way. It's just that you changed and I didn't know what to do with this "new" you."

  This just made Kaleb even angrier at Renee. "I thought couples were supposed to work through difficult times together!"

  "I thought that too. But you pushed me away one too many times," replied Renee wistfully.

  Renee looked like she was about to cry and she pulled off her ring and put it in Kaleb's hand. "Here's your ring. I don't feel right keeping it," she said crying.

  "So are you and Rick getting together?" said Kaleb defensively.

  Renee took a deep breath, paused for a moment and said, "Listen, I don't think it is right to talk about this anymore. I'm sorry and good luck to you. I really do wish you well. Bye."

  "Bye", said Kaleb. The camera first zoomed in on Renee wiping away her tears and then on Kaleb looking partially shocked and depressed.

  This time Esme grabbed the remote and paused the show. She crossed her arms and said, "Kaleb doesn't deserve Renee. If he was my man, I wouldn't give up on him."

  "Even if he shut you out every opportunity you tried to get him to open up to you?" I said doubtfully.

  "I'd be more persistent and make him feel more at ease than Renee did."

  I daydreamed for a moment and then said to Esme, "Though don't you wish that sometimes we could have the lives of the characters in our favorite soap?"

  "Maybe. But their lives aren't all perfect either."

  "I get that. But the romances they have and their jobs, it's all so wonderful," I sighed.

  Esme didn't look convinced. "First of all, it's just a show. But even so, things aren't always what they appear to be with everyone. Kaleb's a good guy but he doesn't seem much like husband material so far. He's already had three wives to this name."

  I interrupted her response as I said, "And this is the guy with whom you have a crush?"

  "Yeah but that is just a fantasy. I know it's not real. I wouldn't want a guy like him in real life," she said.

  She continued her conversation and said, "Dr. Brandon Clark and Lena seemed the perfect couple until she dumped him for the sleazy Dr. Carlos Martinez."

  "She didn't deserve him. She doesn't realize he's twice the man that Dr. Carlos Martinez is."

  Esme quickly ended our conversation and resumed the show. The majority of the show was boring except for a scene with my favorite doctor, Dr. Clark and his nemesis, Dr. Martinez. It was great scene because Dr. Martinez tried to take all the credit for a successful surgery but finally the normally meek Dr. Clark called him out on it and they had a bit of an argument.

  After I shut off the tv, I turned to Esme and said, "There was some really good stuff on the show today. As for what we were discussing before, wouldn't it be worth it to have the life of a soap character?"

  Esme looked at me thoughtfully, ready to say something but decided to wait for me to finish my thoughts.

  "Yeah, they have drama, but at least they have more fun than our boring lives. I wish I could try it," I said.

  Esme was still thinking about what I said and finally responded, "I don't know. We'd probably find out it's not as great as we'd think."

  "You're being negative! It's not like it would happen anyhow," I said frustrated.

  "Anyhow, I can't wait to see tomorrow's episode!" she said.

    Unknown location, unknown woman's POV  

   I stare in from the fire escape at the two women. Yes, I figured these are the ones I was supposed to visit. They should be interesting to work with. Olivia didn't realize how soon we were to meet.