Upon waking, It took Chloe a moment to erase sleep from her mind.

Once she gained her senses back she realised, the darkness in the room complemented the darkness outside.
She switched on the lamp, the murky room brightened up immediately.

The fatigue of journey had begun to seep out of her. She stretched her limbs above her head and yawned.

The gleaming numbers of the clock on nightstand said, 9:00 pm. It has been five hours since she had arrived to the Skyscraper city.

Slowly, she got out of the bed, her legs dangled over the chestnut brown carpet as she walked towards the bathroom.

Chloe washed sleepiness away from her face and walked back in the room. Her stomach growled, she grasped her stomach and tried to silence the rumbling.

Grabbing her mobile, she dialled the nearest takeout.

"Hello, Thank you for calling Smith's Takeout. What would you like to order ?" A sweet feminine voice asked.

"May I please order a small- margarita pizza and coke ?" Chloe questioned politely.

"Of course, please provide us your address." She told the lady her address and thanked her.

"I'll have to go for grocery shopping tomorrow." She mumbled to herself as she hung up the call.

To distract her mind from the hunger she decided to have a look outside.

The black night sky had married to the poetry of stars. It was that friendly blackness that allowed her to feel at home. Chloe sat by the window and enjoyed the silence. No noise could be heard except for her soft breaths and the fan propelling against the ceiling.

Her gaze wandered around. Red- brick terraced houses were build across the narrow tarmac street. There wasn't a single soul out there.

She rested her head against the window and was busy in stargazing until she heard a high pitch squeal and in surprise, jolted back in her seat. Sound came from the house beside. From what she heard, she concluded it to be a voice of a child, who seemed to be very excited. A smile etched her face.

She closed her eyes, letting her mind fill up with the images of her parents.

She immediately grabbed her phone and called them.

"Princess" She heard her dad say as soon as the call connected. Her smile seemingly widened.

"Hey dad, What's going on ?"

"It's so quiet here without you." Steven replied, gloominess coated his words. She didn't say anything but in her heart she was feeling the same.

"Where's mom ?"

"I am right here, sweetheart" She heard sweet voice of her mother.

"I miss you both so much." She finally blurted out.

"We miss you too, princess"

"And wait, did you eat ?" Natalie asked.

"I have ordered Pizza."

"Pizza ? It hasn't been a day and you're up with your unhealthy eating habits huh." Natalie sighed.

"Mom, I still have to go grocery shopping. I was just sleeping all day. I was so tired." She told her mom honestly. Natalie sighed again and dropped the conversation there.

"Sleepy head, you're prepared for the first day of your job ?" Her dad asked.

"Slightly nervous but I'll manage." She replied enthusiastically.

"That's like my princess"

"Our princess" Natalie corrected.

"Don't forget to greet your neighbours." She added.

"Ofco..." Before Chloe could say anything further, door bell rang.

"Must be my pizza." She said

"Okay, go have your dinner. Stay safe . Take care of yourself. We love you." Natalie and Steven voiced simultaneously.

"I love you both too. Take care." She replied and hung up the call.

Later that night, she had her dinner and went to bed again.

Unable to sleep, she walked by the window and gazed at the tranquil site: the streets.

A car pulled off at the edge of the street infront of house number 20. From her viewpoint, color of the car wasn't quite visible, thus, she thought it to be black.

She saw a muscular silhouette getting out of the car. His eyes roamed around and stopped at her. His face wasn't visible in the dim lights. Unable to comprehend the situation, she simply waved at him but was ignored.

"Maybe he didn't see it." She thought and went to bed. She pulled up her duvet and rolled towards darker side of the room.

After some tossing and turning finally sleep took over her.

Morning came sooner than expected, twilight had melted away. Colors spread across the sky announcing the new day. Birds were singing. Animals stirred.

The leaves were coated lemony yellow as the sun rose again while the vivid reds and yellows of flowers danced in the breeze.

Chloe looked herself in the mirror. Her eyes were pools of pavonine blue carved upon her creamy face like meteoric gems.

Strands of molten chocolate cascaded down her scalp like waterfall. With her cherry lips and crystal white teeth she was truly a sight to behold.

Her attire composed of a white tee paired with a blue fitted blazer and pants.

Even without any makeup she looked better than those photoshopped models. She looked perfect with her imperfections. It was her softness that made her elegant.

Satisfied with her look, she called for a cab. As her mom told her previous night, she decided to pay her neighbours a visit.

She got out and locked her door. Chloe inhaled in the fresh early morning air and knocked at the door of the adjacent house.

"Coming" She heard a soft voice and within minutes a beautiful young woman opened the door.

With her long black hair, liquid brown eyes and slightly tan skin, she looked Indian.

"Hello, I am Chloe, your new neighbour."

"Hello, Chloe, I am Priya Evans, it's good to meet you." Chloe gave her a warm smile.

"We have recently shifted here as well so don't know much still if you need any help, don't hesitate." She added.

"Thank you" Chloe said. Just then, a little boy, no more than six or seven years old and with caramel brown hair came running and hugged his mother's leg.

"Mommy, daddy is being lazy. I will get late." He whined still unaware of Chloe's presence.

"I'll wake daddy up, but before that say hello to Chloe. She is our new neighbour." His mother told him sweetly. He turned to her.

"Hello" He spoke shyly.

"Hello, I am Chloe. What's your name ?" She bent down such that they were on eye level.

"Chris"

"That's such a sweet name." His cheeks turned red as he ran back to the direction he came from, leaving behind two chuckling women.

"Please come in." Priya offered

"Maybe next time, I have to pay visit to other neighbours as well." She declined politely.

"That won't be much of a problem, this is one of the least accommodated side of the street. It's just you, I, a couple in house no. 27, an old man in house no. 30 and yeah .. a man in house no. 20 . He isn't very social, I guess. We haven't met him." Her words reminded Chloe of the last night. She thought if that man intentionally ignored her.

She thanked Priya and visited all her neighbours and at last his house.

______________________________________

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