Chapter 1

After Jim and Donna reconciled that day on the beach, the two became totally absorbed in each other almost to the exclusion of all else. They would leave the house to do things outside at times, but mostly they just stayed in and kept each other company. Jim still worked at the bank of course, but he didn't make it the sole focus of his existence. He and Lupe had reached a plateau within the bank where the automated trading system ran so smoothly that it required little fine tuning and almost no major modification. Lupe was happy to see Jim's life so much better and to see him so vibrant and full of energy.

The two of them spent most days huddled together in Jim's office laughing and talking about her life or his, spending very little time discussing bank business. As long as the currency exchange system continued its smooth functioning, no one questioned what the two of them were actually doing. In fact, Jim had recently pushed through a major promotion and pay raise for Lupe. She was now the assistant supervisor of automated forex services. A title Jim had created out of whole cloth. He even got business cards printed for the two of them that they got a kick out of passing them out around the bank whenever they got the chance.

For her part, Lupe had been considering taking the very large step of getting her own place to live and finally moving out on her own. Now that she was 25 years old and well started in a career at the bank, she had begun to yearn for more independence and to have her own life, outside of the family living that was all she'd ever previously known. She had spoken with her mother and father about the possibility and, while they were somewhat concerned, they agreed with her that she was old enough to make those kinds of decisions herself. Every day at work she and Jim would look through the for rent ads in the newspaper and go on line to the large websites that specialized in apartment rentals. There were literally hundreds, if not thousands, of one bedroom apartments for rent and Lupe hadn't even decided yet where she wanted to live. She thought she'd like to live at least 10 miles away from her parents and she also wanted to be close enough to work that she didn't have the long commute times that Jim endured.

After a month of looking, Lupe found a great little second floor apartment in Tustin. It was only seven miles from her parents' house in Santa Ana, but it was only a five minute drive to the bank using surface streets. The rent was within her budget, and the apartment was roomy and it had lots of light from the large windows throughout. The chief deciding point was that there was a tiny balcony off the bedroom which looked out upon a small park that had a playground where children played and where people came to enjoy the day and get some fresh air. Lupe had room to put out a small table and two patio chairs and she knew she'd enjoy drinking her morning coffee there or maybe having a relaxing drink after work. She paid her first and last and cleaning deposit and planned to move in on the first of the month. With her large family, Lupe had all the help moving she could ever want or need. Her parents wanted her to take her old bed and dresser with her, but Lupe had other ideas. She went out and bought herself a new king size bed and bedroom set. She also bought all new living room furniture and a large screen TV. She bought a small dinette with only four chairs and treated herself to a complete linen closet full of fluffy towels and colorful sheet and pillowcase sets. She bought new glasses and cups and saucers, new dinner ware and silver ware and all new appliances. When she was done, she owed $7,000.00 on her bank card and couldn't have been happier with that fact. Her patio set was delivered and set up on her second evening in the new apartment, and she sat out there for three hours sipping her wine and enjoying her new found freedom and her lovely new view.

The next morning, as soon as she saw Jim, she invited him and Donna to be her guests for her first "independence" dinner. She had never met Donna, but she just knew that she wanted them to be her first guests. Jim accepted for himself and Donna and they agreed on Saturday evening. When Jim got home that night and told Donna, she was all excited and insisted that the two of them go right out and shop for a housewarming gift for Lupe. Jim described the apartment to Donna, based on Lupe's reports to him. As soon as Jim mentioned the balcony, Donna knew just what to get.

When Saturday finally rolled around, a bemused Jim and an excited Donna headed off to Tustin with the car top down and a seven foot tree in a 20 gallon pot wedged into the back seat. With the dirt and the tree and the heavy wooden pot, that gift weighed more than a hundred pounds, but Jim dutifully hefted it up and carried it up to the second floor before setting it down and ringing the door bell. When Lupe answered the door and saw the tree she stepped back for a second before hearing Jim greeting her from behind it. He stepped around the tree, pulling Donna with him and introductions were made and the three entered the apartment. Donna and Lupe hit it right off and the two of them spent the next ten minutes traversing the apartment, opening drawers, looking in cabinets, poking through closets and oohing and aahing in the appropriate spots. When the two got to the patio and Donna told her that the tree was for there, the two girls carefully moved the patio table and chairs inside before prevailing on Jim to go get the tree and move it out to its new home. After he did so, and replaced the patio set to Lupe and Donna's critical satisfaction, the three of them moved out to the patio, with Jim getting Donna on his lap, and sat for awhile enjoying the view.

Donna insisted on helping Lupe with dinner, not doing the cooking, but helping to set the table, making sure that Jim always had a beer, refilling Lupe's wine glass, getting things from the fridge or a cupboard for Lupe, and just keeping Lupe company while she prepared the food. The two girls were talking and laughing and looking Jim's way just often enough to make him slightly self conscious. Soon, smells started coming from the kitchen that had Jim's taste buds dancing. By the time dinner was actually served, Jim could hardly wait. They had authentic Mexican food, prepared the way Lupe's mom had taught her which her mom had taught her. Enchiladas, smothered in cheeses and beans and rice with tortillas and a fresh bowl of salsa to spice up the food. Everyone switched to wine for the meal and they just stayed seated at the dinette, enjoying the conversation, the wine and the friendly mood. When Jim looked down at his watch he was shocked to see that it was 1:00 in the morning and somehow seven hours had passed them by. Between the wine and the beer he was feeling no pain and he was sure that Donna had drank much more than he. Lupe seemed a little tipsy herself, some of her pulled back hair had come loose from the embedded combs she wore and she would push it out of the way occasionally, although for the past few moments she had taken to blowing it away and this had caused the two girls to huddle together and whisper before exploding into laughter.

Jim got up and told Lupe that they had to leave. He thanked her for a wonderful evening and told her that he loved her apartment and hoped she'd love living there. As he and Donna walked to the door, Lupe moved quickly over and opened it for them. She thanked the two for coming and gave Jim a little hug. She turned and hugged Donna as well and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Donna blew on Lupe's loose hair strands and the two of the nearly collapsed with laughter. Jim and Donna left and got into his car. He drove home carefully, using surface streets and obeying all traffic laws. The two talked and both said that they'd had a great time and they agreed that they'd like to make new friends and get out more.