Chapter 1

He had watched her for a few moments at a time each day from his window near the main entrance of the apartment building. His attention was distracted enough to look up from his computer screen and through his double window as she walked by coming or going.

The red haired girl is about twenty years old. The man who watched her from behind the panes of glass is fifty. He has morals and the limit that he set for himself was to just watch her from afar. Every time that they coincidentally passed by each other in the hallway or the parking lot was a quiet experience.

That happened for months and changed suddenly in one day.

The man approached the row of cars closest to the main entrance from the garage area. He saw the back end of a familiar 'neon red' Pontiac Sunfire and re-read the black bumper sticker applied near the right tail light for the hundredth time.

The message on the sticker was:

'How to impress a man:

#1 arrive naked

#2 bring beer'

He was about to smile at it for the hundredth time, but then the front of car became apparent. There was heavy damage here. The red haired girl had hit something hard. It was amazing that the hood was still attached to the car.

Steam was still gently rising from the front edge of the engine compartment. This indicated that the radiator or some other part of the engine cooling system was damaged. A glance at the ground confirmed this with a look at the puddle underneath the front end.

He let himself into the main entrance door with a big brass key. The door to the man's unit was only fifteen feet away. His hands were juggling to switch keys for this last door when a sound was heard. Instinctively, he stopped all motion and listened.

The sound came to his ears again from around the corner. They were sobbing noises. Quietly, he crept to the corner and peeked from the edge of it. The red haired girl was 20 feet away and sitting on the floor with her back against her door with her legs stretched out in front of her. The man approached slowly and silently.

As he arrived at her feet, he noticed a yellow piece of paper taped to the door over her head. It was from her landlord. It announced that the lock has been changed and all of her personal belongings have been removed to be auctioned for back rent.

The red haired girl looked up at her visitor with mascara running down her face and asked harshly, "What do you want?".

"I heard a beautiful woman crying", he answered.

"Go away!!", she exclaimed.

"I won't go away without you. I'm here to help you", the man replied. He then offered his hand to help her stand.

She looked at him suspiciously for a moment and then took his hand. After she stood, he said, "My name is Anthony. What is yours?"

"Rain", she returned.

"Is that your real name?", Anthony asked quietly.

"Yes", she answered, "My Dad named me and said that I was the dark cloud in his life. My Mom past away during child birth".

Anthony didn't let go of her hand as he said, "Come with me". They made their way back around the corner to the door of his unit. The man unlocked it and ushered her inside.

After pointing to the couch, he stated, "You're safe here. Have a seat". The man pulled out his cell phone and called a nearby auto body shop that he had experience with. He looked out of his window at the damaged Sunfire as he explained his call.

Anthony gave a description of the car, the license plate number, the address and requested that the car be towed to the body shop's location. He told them that he wanted a detailed estimate before they did any work on it.

Rain stood from the couch and grabbed Anthony's arm that held the cell phone. "Please don't", She interrupted, "My insurance was canceled for non-payment. I lost my job. I don't have any money".

"It is okay. I've got this", he answered,"For now, I just want to find out if your car can be repaired for less than its value. You're not going to get your life straightened out if you don't have a reliable vehicle". She let go of his arm. Anthony finished the call by reading credit card information for the towing charges.

He put his phone away and offered his hand to the young woman again. She hesitated a little less this time when she took it. Anthony led her gently to the bathroom. He stopped in front of the vanity, stepped away from it and motioned her to stand in front of him.

The vanity had a large oval shaped mirror mounted on the wall above it. Anthony had his hands on the young woman's shoulders as he looked over one of them to match her image in the mirror. The mascara tracks down her cheeks and her lower jaw were striking.

"The blue towel on the bar is fresh and clean. There are two choices of liquid soap in front you. Clean your face up. We're going out for a meal and shopping", He said as he left her to her privacy.

Rain emerged from the bathroom in a short time. She looked refreshed and even grinned for a moment.

"When is the last time that you ate?", Anthony asked her.