Lost In The Moment (Moment #1)

Lost In The Moment

By

K. M. Nichols

Copyright © 2015 by K. M. Nichols

My name is Katie Daniels, a 24 year old girl who is ready for a change in life. It wasn't until about a year ago that I realized how much one event could completely change my life and in return give me everything a girl could ask for. In just a year, I suffered a devastating lost, made my biggest dreams a reality, and learned what true love really felt like despite the pain and heartache that came with it. With all the great things I gained, it took a lot of bumps to get here and I now know I'm a better person for it and can honestly say I wouldn't change a thing. I'm now a full believer in the saying, everything happens for a reason.

There's always those moments in life that change everything. My moment changed 4 months ago when my grandmother, my last close relative, passed away. Before my mom passed away 4 years ago, my mom was always more like a big sister to me, she came and went and continued living her life while my grandmother took me in and raised me. I never met my dad, the reasons why were always kept short with something along the lines of, he wasn't ready to be a dad. They were both teenagers so I wasn't angry with them for not being ready, besides, I had a great life with my grandmother, I was always happy and she made sure of it. I know that if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be the strong confident woman I am today.

Just a week after she passed, I found documents where she had an insurance policy along with savings set aside for me in the event she passed away. I was shocked when I called and realized it all totaled up to a very large amount, enough to completely change my life. I never knew that all this time she lived so simple, that she secretly had so much stashed away just for me. It took a few weeks for everything to come through and it gave me time to decide how I was going to use it for good and take my life into a different direction. She always used to say, "Katie, you're meant to do great things, you just have to believe in yourself and never give up." I always found joy in helping people and I combined that joy with my love for being fit and healthy to become a personal trainer, but I wrote short stories in my spare time. Since writing was my real passion, I planned to set aside my career as a personal trainer and focus on writing.
So there I was, packing for my long journey to start a new life far away from my hometown in West Virginia to the beautiful city of Los Angeles. Since I was born in Florida and had moved back and forth between there and here, I always knew I wanted to get back to a place where it was always warm and sunny, so I chose Los Angeles.
After about two months of waiting for everything to be finalized and my house in LA to be move in ready, I only took a week to pack, after selling all of the big furniture items that wouldn't fit in my SUV, and donating whatever was left over, I was finally ready to start my journey. Los Angeles, here I come.

Chapter Two
After a very long and exhausting drive, I'm finally here! As I drive through my new neighborhood, it seems much nicer than I remember from my quick visit to tour and purchase my house, which by the way, I got for half the value since it was up for auction. As soon as I pull into the driveway, I quickly hop out and run through the double doors to look around. It's much different now that it's actually mine. I can't believe it's really mine. I'll definitely need to do some painting to give it some color since every wall is plain white. The floors are a very light finished wood and there are windows all around giving me a perfect full view of my backyard. I never noticed when I first looked at the house that I had an almost perfect view of the Hollywood sign from the balcony just outside my bedroom. My dream really is starting to come true and I'm beyond ecstatic. I can't wait to get everything unpacked so it can really start to feel like home.
After I walked through the house trying to convince myself it was real and no longer just a dream, I rushed outside to start unloading all of the boxes from my SUV. About half way through I decided to take a short break and study my yard. It could really use some landscape work to give it some color since its noting but bushes and small trees. I'm looking around the yard and observing my new neighborhood and all of the beautiful and very large homes around me, when I notice an all black Range Rover with dark tinted windows starts to slow down as it comes to the end of my driveway. It must be a neighbor curious about who is moving in down the street. As I start to walk towards the Range Rover to say hello, the back window on the driver’s side rolls down. I can't quite see their face until I start to get a little closer, by that time I'm stunned by who I see sitting in the backseat. It's the well known and very famous singer and actor Jason Thompson. I can't believe it's him. Does he really live on my street? He's ultimately known for his profession as a singer and actor, but I know him as the Hollywood bad boy. He's the guy with a different celebrity beauty or model every other week, making me not so impressed. I just can't believe I now live in a house on the same street as a celebrity.
I finally get close enough to the Range Rover to say "Hi." He smiles and says "Hello." A brief moment of awkward silence follows before he finally starts to ask "Are you new to the neighborhood?" He must not be very observant since there is an SUV full of moving boxes sitting just behind me, but I casually respond. "Yea, I'm actually new to California, it's my first day here." He gives me a big smile, he does have a very nice smile, I can see why women would throw themselves at him. "So I assume you're not familiar with any of the hot spots in Los Angeles then. If you're into the club scene and night life, I know some of the best places." Was he offering to show me the nightlife? I'm definitely not interested if it was an offer. "I'm not really into the club scene, but if you know of any great places close by to go for a hike or run, I'd be up to checking them out." Did I really just say that, because that sounded like me inviting him for a hike and that was most certainly not what I meant. "So you're one of those girls?" he grins. What the hell does he mean by that? "I'm one of those girls?" I kindly reply "You know, the ones that like to stay fit and healthy and prefers a long run over hitting up the clubs." Yes I'm that girl, the boring sit at home or go for an oh so exciting run, yep that's me. "I guess I am one of those girls, but I still like a night out just on an occasional basis, not as an every night thing. So are there any good places around here to go for a hike?" I only ask if he knows anywhere because I would really like to find somewhere close to go running. Running is my escape, my time to think, and just clear my head. "There's a great place with an awesome view just down the street. Just go 4 houses down and there's a trail beside the last house on your right, the trail starts almost behind the house. It's probably the best place to hike or run with the best view." Wow, just down the street is a hiking trail, this neighborhood really was the perfect choice. "Thanks. I'll check it out." As I start to turn away to go back to unloading my boxes, he says " Wait. I didn't get your name?" I politely reply " My name is Katie, I didn't get yours either." He looks at me puzzled. And there I go, speaking without thinking. Of course I know his name, who doesn't. "My name is Jason." He smiles, "It was nice meeting you Katie. I'll see you around neighbor." Neighbor? Wow I have a celebrity neighbor. "Nice meeting you too." I respond and quickly turn away to finish unloading my boxes and work on getting things unpacked.
I find myself losing my motivation to unpack as I'm somewhat distracted after my encounter earlier. I'm still shocked that I live near a celebrity and I can't help but wonder who else lives in this neighborhood. I look over at the time and realize it's almost 8:00 and I have a missed call from Stephen, probably just calling to make sure I made it here ok, it's still hard talking to him after ending our five year relationship not too long ago. I call him back anyway, after all, we did promise to remain friends. "Hey. How's LA? Is it everything you hoped it would be?" I immediately want to tell him about my new neighbor I met, but I surprisingly manage to think before I speak. I know that the only way to realize it's really over is for me to keep things short and casual, nothing more. "It's great. And yes it's everything I hoped and more." There's really not much to say so I know keeping this call short was the best for both of us. "That sounds great. I'm glad you're having fun. I just wanted to check in and make sure you made it there safe. You probably have a lot to do so I'll let you get going." I know the break up was hard on him too, but I knew we had to end it and since it’s been just over three months now, I'm less upset about it and really don't think about it anymore. "I still have a lot of unpacking to do, but I'm glad you called. Talk to you soon. Bye." He didn't respond, he just hung up, but I try to not think about it and get back to doing some unpacking.
As boredom was starting to get to me, I found myself on social media sites fueling my curiosity about my new neighbor and coming up with nothing but photos of him either drunk at a nightclub or with a different gorgeous girl on his arm in, I decide I need to bring my curiosity to a halt and call my best friend, Kayla. We're not the kind of friends that do everything together, but we are always there when one needs the other. I invited her to come out and stay with me so we could hang out and explore LA together. I can't imagine a more perfect friend to explore the city with than her. She and I are somewhat opposites, which I love. She's the wild one who's always up for anything, I'm usually up for anything, but with her, expect the unexpected. I know if she comes to visit we will be hitting every club in LA, the club scene is her scene. She brings out my wild side while I tame hers. I couldn't wait for her to get here. Just after the first ring, she picks up. "Oh my gosh! Hey! How's LA?" I love how excited she gets when I call. "It's amazing here. I met a celebrity who just so happens to live in my neighborhood and I've managed to get a lot of unpacking done." I know she's going to want all of the details. "A Celebrity! Who?" I already know her reaction is going to be excited and shocked when I tell her who the celebrity is. "It was Jason Thompson." I can hear her gasp through the phone. "Jason Thompson! Oh My Gosh! You are so lucky! I'm so jealous right now." I know I don't want to get too into this conversation right now. I need to try and change the subject. " So have you decided if you will come out to visit?" I hope she says yes. I really need a friend out here. " Yes. I managed to get time off of work. I plan to fly out in a couple days." An instant feeling of relief washes over me. Now if the next couple days could just fly by, it would be even better. "That's awesome to hear. I can't wait until you're here. We are going to have so much fun. I'm so anxious to see you." I was so desperate to have her here that I graciously paid for her plane ticket. I figured that would make her decision a little easier with already having the plane ticket in hand. "I can't wait either. I have to get going, I'm meeting some people from work for drinks, but I'll call tomorrow and let you know a more specific time of when I'll be there. I'm so excited to see you. Love ya." I know that because I'm so excited, the next couple days will feel like forever, but I am so glad she's really going to be here.

"Have fun. Love you too. Bye."
Between both of my phone conversations and my creeping on social media, I managed to kill about an hour of boredom. It's only 9:00 and after a long day, I think I'll just take a shower and get some sleep.

Chapter Three

I haven't slept that well for as long as I can remember. It must be my new bed, it feels like sleeping on a cloud not to mention my bedroom really looks amazing, I'm so glad I hired a decorator to purchase most of the things I would need and want for the house so it would be somewhat ready when I got here. Don't get me wrong, I'm not rich, but I have a little extra money and needed as much help as possible with my move so I figured hiring a decorator would help the moving process tremendously so I hired one. Her name was Lydia, she was so great and very helpful. I told her everything I liked and wanted and she managed to get everything perfect, maybe even better than if I did it myself. Now all I have to do is unpack and put away what I brought with me.
I finally manage to pull myself out of bed and get myself some breakfast to start the day. I think I'll go for a run through the trail Jason told me about. I jumped out of bed and just threw on my usual running apparel, a pair of black shorts, a sports bra with a white cut off t shirt over top, and my favorite running shoes. I could really use a nice quiet run to think and luckily there's a perfect spot just down the street. I put on my headphones, turn my radio on to the hip hop and r&b station, and take off.
I count the houses as I'm running looking for the fourth house on my right, just as Jason described. I get to the house where the trail starts, this house looks like the biggest one on the street. I'm not sure if I should go through or not. The trail looks like it's apart of the houses property and I don't think I should be running through someone else's yard. I look around and think surely he wouldn't tell me it was ok if it wasn't. So I go ahead towards the trail. As I get almost to where the trail starts, I just barely hear a voice through my music. I stop and take off my headphones to hear a man yell " Hey! Stop!" I quickly turn to see a very large and intimidating looking man walking from the driveway of the house over to me. "This is private property." This is just great. I can't believe he would tell me it was ok to run here if it wasn't. I'm sure he's allowed to since he's famous, but not just a regular person like me. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I was told it was ok to run here." I am so embarrassed. Within my first couple days here, I've managed to trespass on someone's property, not exactly a great way to introduce myself to my new neighborhood. "Damien, she's ok." Who was that? And I'm guessing this very scary mans name is Damien. And then I see him, walking down the driveway towards us. It's Jason Thompson, looking very casual wearing a plain t-shirt with gym shorts and tennis shoes. "She's ok Damien. You can go ahead back inside." Damien turns and walks back up the driveway as Jason walks over to me with a big smile on his face. He almost looks cute and then I remember, he's the Hollywood playboy and that makes him not so attractive. "So you decided to check out the trail. Sorry about Damien, I forgot to tell him you might be running through here." So this is his house, it's amazing. I should've guessed that it was his when I first saw it. If this is his house, that means he lives only 4 houses away from me so I should probably get used to run ins like this. "It's ok. He just startled me. I didn't know the trail was on your property." I'm glad I know now. "The whole trail isn't apart of my property, it just starts here." Well that makes me feel just a little better. "So it's ok for me to run through here?" I should just go home, but since I'm already here, I might as well run the trail. "Of course, but under one condition..." What could he possibly want from me? "What would that be?" Do I even want to know? "Let me join you." So much for a quiet run. Just say yes and maybe next time I'll be able to run without being disturbed. Just suck it up and let him join Katie. "Sure, but only if you can keep up." I'm sure he works out, but I doubt a party boy like him goes on frequent hikes. I'm sure he will be wore out about half way through. This could be amusing. "Deal." And off we go.
It's quiet for a minute as we both are just walking through the hiking trail. The point of this was to do some running so I decide to just start running and get my amusement to see if he can keep up. As I start to run he follows along. I figure as long as we are running, the talking will be minimal. I usually run a little and walk little and as I'm about to come to the walking part, I realize this is where the talking will start. It's quiet for only a minute as we start walking, when he starts up conversation. "So Katie, so far I know you like hiking and running and you don't do much going out. What else do like?" Seriously? It's not that I don't like the nightlife, it's just not my scene, but on occasion I do enjoy it, like when Kayla gets here, I know that's all we will be doing and I look forward to it. "I like going out every now and then, just not all of the time. My friend is flying out the day after tomorrow and I'm sure we will be doing a lot of going out when she gets here." I really just need to keep my responses short and sweet, he doesn't need to know every detail. I'm just so excited after Kayla called right before I left this morning to tell me she will be arriving the day after tomorrow sometime in the evening. It seems to be the only thing I can think about, so of course I would mention it. "That must be nice, having your friend come out to visit. Need anyone to show you two around, I'd be glad to. I know some of the best places in the city." I will definitely pass on that offer. I'd rather just enjoy hanging out with Kayla without him there as a distraction. "I think we will be fine, but thanks for the offer." That's better, just short and sweet. "Ok. If you change your mind, I'm only a few houses away. So what else is there to know about you Katie?" I won't be changing my mind and does he really need to remind me that he lives just a few houses away. And here he goes asking more questions. "There's really not much to know, I'm just an average girl that enjoys and likes the simple things in life." If it's my life story he wants, then I could go on for hours, even days with everything, but I'd rather not. "Ok well, what's your favorite color? I'll start with simple questions for a simple girl." My favorite color? Which one does he want to know, I have two favorite colors. How did I get myself into this? "I actually have two favorite colors. Purple and Blue, what's yours?" I really don't care what his favorite color is, but it seemed like a natural response. "Those are both my favorite colors too." He's just saying that. There's no way we can honestly have anything in common. Purple? He's definitely making that up. "Are you just saying that or is purple and blue really your two favorite colors?" Of course he's going to say they really are his favorite colors. "They really are my favorite colors. Seems we have something in common." We have nothing in common and I'm sure if I keep letting him ask the questions, he's going to have the same favorite as everything I say. "Ok since you're going to ask what all of my favorite things are, let's just ask a question and both answer at the same time. That way I know you're not just saying it to say we have something in common." I give him a quick smirk as he smiles widely at me. I figure this is the only way to prove we really have nothing in common. "Ok. That's fair. You ask first." Why do I have to go first? Now anything I ask he will assume I actually care to know. How about a question so broad, there's no way we will have the same answer. "Ok. What's your favorite TV show that you have and could watch over and over again? 1 2 3 Go." We both quickly blurt out "Smallville" No way! It's such an old show, but it's seriously one of my favorites and it's his too. This can't be happening. Ok so we have one thing in common. "See, we do have things in common. I'm actually surprised you said that was your favorite. I've seen every episode at least three times." Great! He had to point out that we do have something in common. It is a great show, I'm sure a lot of people consider it their favorite. "I'm on my third time of watching the entire series. So I guess we do have one thing in common, but it's your turn to ask a question and I doubt we will have the same answer." So I'll admit, I am somewhat enjoying myself right now, mostly because I finally have someone to talk to even if it's someone I'm not too fond of. "Ok. Now I know there's no way we will have the same answer to this question. What's your favorite downtime hobby that you enjoy when you're just sitting at home?" That's easy. "Video games." We both respond. He plays video games? He doesn't seem like the type to have much downtime at home let alone play video games. "I can't believe you like video games, that's awesome. I never would've guessed, there aren't very many girls who actually like playing video games. You may just be my dream girl." Wait! What?! I can't believe he just said that. It's time to end this game of Q&A and hurry home. "So, how much further? I still have a lot to get done before Kayla gets here." I just need to get home and lock myself inside. "Just around this turn is where the trail brings us back out by my house." Thank goodness! I start to walk a little faster until we finally come to the end of the trail. "Well Katie, it was nice getting to know you. Thanks for letting me join you." Thanks for letting him join me? He makes it sound like I had a choice. "You too. See ya." Now just turn around and run Katie. " I'll see you around Katie." He waves and I wave back as I'm already starting to run home. Since I didn't get to do much running, I figure I will just sprint home. I can't shake this feeling like I can't breath. Maybe I'm just over thinking his comment, I tend to over think things a lot. What if I'm not over thinking it and that's his way of hitting on me. The last thing I need is becoming the next "rumored girlfriend" of the week. Maybe I just need to relax a little. He could have any girl, there's no way he meant anything by that comment.
Finally! Home sweet home. As I look around and admire what Lydia has done in the living room, I think it could still use a little more me. She really did an incredible job, she got the red and beige tones exactly how I wanted. I have noticed she went with black finish for all of the wood furniture, but it really looks nice. The living room isn't quite the modern style like the bedroom, it's a bit more cozy. I was a little nervous when I first saw the light beige colored sectional sofa, but it is a very nice sofa, it wraps around into a full U shape and extends almost across the entire living room area. I love how she managed to use just enough red colors to brighten it up, but still keep it simple with just a few red and brown throw pillows, a red area rug, and mix of red and tan colored curtains. The black chair really helps pull it all together with the black tables. She will be the first person I call if I ever decide to redecorate.
As much as I enjoy sitting on my couch watching Smallville and unpacking some boxes in between episodes, I really need to get a shower and make something to eat. Between the humidity and spending the entire first half of my day outside, a long hot shower is just what I need, plus I've been dying to try this new hair product I bought at a little shop I passed on my way here. It was a little pricey so hopefully it works. My hair is dark brown and thick with very wavy curls and the humidity makes it instantly frizz and I have yet to find a product that tames it without making it look oily. I will say, although I'm pretty fit and try to work out as much as possible, I'm already starting to feel a little sore from that hike today, we must've walked two miles or at least it felt like two miles, off to the shower I go.