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up with her mother, she decided to get out for the day.  It was a rare occasion when she wouldn’t feel like keeping herself holed up in her apartment and so she took advantage of it.  She went out for lunch, did some grocery shopping, stopped in the library for a bit, and then bought a few new bottles of nail polish at the drugstore around the corner. 
     
    She was polishing her toes in a color called Koala Pink, remembering how she and Rachel both went through a pink phase when they were twelve.  Their rooms, clothes, shoes, accessories, and even pencils they bought for school all had to be some rosy color. 
     
    “Remember when we washed all of our white socks with my mom’s red blouse on purpose?”  Adrianna said out loud to her late best friend.  “You said they were the color of cotton candy and then put one in your mouth to see if it tasted like it.  You were such a nut, Rae.”                                                                                                                    
     
    Adrianna liked days like that, when she was able to reminisce about her friend without having a meltdown.  Those days were few and far between. 
     
    She sat thinking about her best friend and where they would be right now if they hadn’t been in the accident while she waited for her toes to dry.  They’d be finishing up with med school, probably sharing an apartment together and applying for residencies.  Maybe they would be planning Rachel’s wedding to Jason.
     
    With a heavy sigh, Adrianna lifted herself from her carpet not wanting to dwell and spoil her good day.  After she placed the bottle of nail polish in her bathroom cabinet she heard a knock on her door.  Her jaw dropped when she saw through her peephole that it was Jack.
     
    Pulling away from the door quickly she waited silently for him to go away after knocking again.  Then her cell, which was sitting on her sofa, rang.
     
    “I know you’re in there, I can hear your phone ringing through the door!”
     
    Damn, he really was clever, wasn’t he?
     
    Pulling her hair down from the ponytail it was in, Adrianna fluffed her bangs and looked down at her wardrobe.  A pair of black yoga pants and a Kermit the Frog t-shirt wasn’t the most flattering thing she owned but it would have to do.
     
    “Why are you so persistent?” she demanded when she opened the door.
     
    “Why are you so stubborn?” Jack countered.  He looked good.  He was wearing a pair of well-worn blue jeans and a white button-down shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.  His dark hair was styled neatly on top of his head and he stared at her with a gleam in those striking, blue eyes.
     
    “Do you wear contacts?” Adrianna asked by way of changing the subject.
     
    “No.  Can I come in?”
     
    Adrianna dropped her gaze to the bag Jack was holding in his hand.  “What’s that?”
     
    “Chinese food,” he said simply, as if it was totally ordinary for him to show up at her door with dinner after she had avoided his calls for more than a week.  She wanted to tell him no but she was hungry and Chinese sounded amazing.
     
    “You bring egg rolls?” she asked with a raise of her eyebrow.
     
    “Of course.”
     
    Adrianna stepped to the side and opened the door wider to let him in.  With a satisfied grin Jack stepped into her apartment and kicked the door closed with the heel of his brown leather shoe.
     
    “Why didn’t you take my calls?” he asked, shifting their dinner to cradle the bag in his arms.
     
    “I was out of town.” 
     
    “Oh?  Where?”
     
    Adrianna looked down at her toes .  “Australia.”
     
    Jack laughed.  “Australia, huh?  How are things down under?”
     
    Adrianna slinked away towards her kitchen with Jack right on her heels, ignoring his question. While he deposited the bag of food on her counter