Dreams Of Fame
1.4 - Welcome to the Neighborhood!
It took Giovanna a good week of grieving, but eventually, she remembered what she'd told Zoe. So, she got to Magnolia Blossom Park early in the morning and flipped over rocks in the park until the found the one with Zoe's note underneath it.
Giovanna slowly read through the note Zoe had left.
Hey, Giovanna.
Tomorrow, lunch at my place? It's the green house in Foundry Cove, with a canal running behind it.
I'd love to hear more about your story.
Keep in touch,
Zoe P
Having no idea about when the note had been left there, Giovanna decided that it'd just be best to show up as soon as possible. So, she dusted herself off, shoved the note in her pocket, and headed off for Foundry Cove.
Once she got there, Giovanna knocked loudly, and kept knocking until Zoe answered the door, still dressed in her pajamas. It didn't even occur to her that she'd been lucky to find the right house.
“Oh! Giovanna? I certainly wasn't expecting to see you today,” Zoe muttered, clearly still half asleep.
Zoe had honestly given up hope of ever seeing Giovanna again. She'd convinced herself that some group had come round the park and rounded up the homeless. Never once did it occur to her that Giovanna might have had other things going on in her life. So, having accepted her presumptions as facts, Zoe had once again resigned herself to dedicating time towards romance novels that would never get published.
“I got your note,” Giovanna said simply as she pushed past Zoe to enter the house.
“I- I can see that,” Zoe stammered, stumbling in after Giovanna.
She loudly closed the front door behind her, and jumped.
Giovanna didn't even flinch. “Could I use your bathroom?”
“Uh, y-yeah! Of course.”
Zoe took the time Giovanna was in the bathroom to quickly change into something other than her pajamas.
Yet, even after Zoe changed, Giovanna still hadn't exited the bathroom. After a while, Zoe got so tired of waiting that she ended up flipping on her cheap tv as she waited.
Giovanna emerged from the bathroom 15 minutes later, hair dripping wet. “You have lovely shampoo.”
Zoe’s nodded very slowly. "You used my shower... and my shampoo... alright. Cool."
Sure, Zoe wanted success... and this Giovanna was certainly unique enough to bring her success. Yet maybe… just maybe, befriending this Giovanna had been a massive mistake. Social norms clearly just didn't exist for her.
But, to Zoe's surprise, once Giovanna sat down on the couch next to her, she was able to discreetly pull out her tablet, and the two got to talking. And once they did, the pair of them really hit it off. Giovanna's stories were wild enough to keep both Zoe and the future readers she was picturing entertained, and Giovanna appreciated just having someone there, listening attentively.
That is until Giovanna's spontaneity totally killed the conversation.
“My husband died last week."
The two fell into a sudden silence, and Zoe even stopped typing things into her tablet. She didn't know how to even begin thinking of a response to that. A full minute passed.
Then, she was saved by a sudden brisk knock on the door.
“Um, I should get that, right?" Zoe said quickly.
Without even waiting for a response from Giovanna, Zoe got up and headed over the front door.
Once she opened the door, she was met with three smiling faces.
A blonde woman stood slightly in front of the other two, and was carrying a sad looking fruitcake.
“Welcome to the neighborhood," she said, with a slight smile. She held out a hand. "I'm Summer."
“I'm Travis,” the one guy said. "It's great to finally have a neighbor that's close to our age."
“Call me Liberty,” the brown haired girl smiled. "It's nice to meet you!"
Summer walked into the house without even waiting to be welcomed in, and the other two quickly hurried after her, not wanting to be left behind.
Summer placed the fruitcake on the table, then gestured towards Giovanna. “Who’s this? Your… mother?"
"I'm sorry, we never got your name," Liberty said, turning back to Zoe, who was just then reentering the living room.
“It's Zoe. And she's certainly not any mother of mine. She's just someone I met recently.”
"I'm Giovanna," Giovanna smiled.
Summer gave her a weird look, eyeing her clothing and hair, which had dried rather weirdly following her shower.
Liberty stepped in. "I'm Liberty, and this here is Summer, and then over there by the sofa is Travis. It's great to meet you, Giovanna."
Giovanna just nodded in response.
Liberty didn't bother continuing the conversation, as she was unsure of how to.
"Uh... if you want any, Zoe, Giovanna, we brought some fruitcake," Travis said, gesturing towards the fruitcake that Summer has so carelessly tossed on the table on her way into the house.
"Um, thanks," Zoe said, walking over and grabbing a slice.
She definitely hadn't been expecting to entertain this many guests today.
"So... what do you guys do for a living?" Zoe asked in-between bites of fruit cake.
"I bartend at the Blue Velvet," Summer said casually. "It isn't that bad of a gig, honestly. Lots of men come in, and I get heavily discounted drinks."
"I just started out programming for this place called Laurent Programmers United," Travis shrugged. "It isn't the most exciting thing in the world, but I'm good at it."
"I'm currently unemployed..." Liberty said quietly. "How about you Zoe?"
"Just a struggling author. I'll hit my break someday. I know it."
"And how about you, Giovanna?" Travis asked.
"Oh, don't..." Zoe muttered, but it was too late, Giovanna was already talking.
"I travel the world with my husband," she said, grinning widely.
"And that's a job?" Summer said. "Alright. If you say so."
"Summer!" Liberty hissed.
"You don't work, Liberty, shut up."
That seemed to do the trick, as Liberty shut up, and the five of them made polite small talk for the next half hour until they decided it was time to leave.
“I, uh, hope you enjoyed the fruitcake,” Travis said, smiling awkwardly. “I'm not the greatest chef in the world, but I baked it myself. Usually that would be Summer's job, but...”
Summer gasped, and swiped at him playfully. “Oh! Travis! Stop exposing me like that!”
Liberty rolled her eyes and pushed her chair back, then stood up. “It was great getting to know you, Zoe, Giovanna. You should both definitely keep in touch."
"Will do," Zoe nodded.
Not long after, the three of them made their exit.
Zoe moved to her bedroom and watched from her window as the three walked down the street to their house. Giovanna eventually joined her.
“They were some rowdy children,” Giovanna sighed.
“I can’t be that much older, are you calling me rowdy?”
“Yes.”