The Adventures of Sheila Robles - Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - A New Beginning

Oakville International Airport, USA. A not too crowded place on the outskirts of the city with the same name. A passenger aircraft from Europe has just landed at terminal number 2. The occupants, eager to get their feet on the ground after a long trip, start to exit the plane in an orderly manner as soon as the door opens. None of them stands out for anything special, they’re normal people with ordinary lives… except for one girl. This girl doesn’t know her life is going to change drastically from now on. Our story is going to focus on, no more no less, than this girl.

Our newcomer had just gotten off the plane, and following the directions she had been given, the very first thing she did was to go pick up her baggage. After walking down a long hallway, she met with a great conveyor belt, where she had to wait until she saw her suitcase coming out. After a while, the belt started to move, but what was coming out from it wasn't very pretty. Instead of baggage coming out, people started to see loose clothing: a sock here, a shirt there… It seemed that some suitcases had opened with the rattle of the plane, what really worried the passengers, our leading lady included. It was a real relief to see how her suitcase appeared in the end, intact. She picked it up, lifting it as she could and put it on the ground. It’s not like she was carrying much baggage, but the girl wasn’t exactly strong, but rather slight build, so any little heavy thing was difficult for her to carry. Good thing the suitcase had wheels, which made it easier to move.

The next step was to go through customs. The airport was well signposted, so it didn’t take long for our leading lady to find it. Even though there was a line, this one was moving forward quickly, so she didn’t have to wait long. Once she got to the window, a woman in uniform received her.

“Passport, please” said the woman in a serious tone.

The girl took out her passport, gave it to the officer and this one introduced the data in the computer.

“Name: Sheila Robles. Nationality: Spanish. Profession: student. Is that correct?” asked the officer, seriously again.

“Y-yes, that’s correct…” answered the girl, nervous.

The woman started to search the database to check that everything was in order. She typed so fast that even the best computer scientist would’ve been envious. Although it was routine procedure and have nothing to hide, our girl couldn’t help but feel nervous. The same way when she had to pass through the metal detector, it was the first time she was doing something like that, besides she was aware that she was all alone in case of problems. “A little girl in a foreign country” was the phrase she kept saying in her mind over and over. Then, right when the officer finished checking her data, she gave the passport back to Sheila and with a smile she said: “Welcome to America, Ms. Robles”

Sheila was relieved. The thing was fast and the officer turned out to be nicer than she looked in the first place. She thanked her, and the woman gave her a map so she could leave the airport more easily. Sheila had a good sense of orientation, and she knew she could find the exit following the signs, but the place was big and she was feeling like an octopus in a garage, so she preferred to be cautious and listen closely to the indications provided by the officer. The woman showed her the way and Sheila thanked her again. Then she took her passport, grabbed her suitcase and went to the exit.

The first thing Sheila did when she left the airport was turn her phone back on and look at the time. It was 2:00 in the afternoon and the weather was good, maybe a little hot for her taste but she couldn’t complain. Although she would’ve liked to enjoy the wonderful day, she had an appointment on her next destination and she didn’t want to be late, so she decided to look for a taxi as quickly as possible.

There was a taxi stand near the airport entrance, so she didn’t have to walk much. The problem was later, when she realized that the stand was empty and there were no taxis available. It was to be expected, because probably every passenger who got off the plane had the same idea, and surely they were faster than Sheila. “That’s my luck, I must’ve landed on the wrong foot” she thought. But that wasn’t going to upset her. She had to get to her appointment on time, so she decided to hail one of the taxis transiting through.

After trying for a while, she saw that no taxi had the intention to stop and pick her up. She was there for several minutes waving her hand in the air, but even so the taxis kept on going like nothing. Of course, who would notice such a little girl? “They must think I’m waving at somebody, or maybe I became invisible and I don’t know about it” Sheila thought. But Sheila wasn’t the type to give up easily, so she took an almost desperate decision in the end: she stood up in the middle of the lane where the taxis were passing by, hoping to stop one… and she succeeded, despite the risk. Then she approached the driver’s seat, and this one rolled down the window.

“What are you doing in the middle of the road, do you want to be hit?” said the taxi driver, looking seriously at Sheila.

“I’m so sorry, sir. Could you take me?” answered Sheila, still with her heart pounding because of the shock.

The man, guilty for nearly taking out our little leading lady, gave her a sign with the finger to enter the car. Quickly and without hesitation, Sheila put the baggage in the trunk and sat in the back of the taxi.

“Where are you going, miss?” asked the taxi driver.

“Dusk Street No 20, please” answered Sheila politely.

The taxi driver warned Sheila it could take some time to reach their destination, because it was a working day and there was some traffic. But Sheila didn’t mind, she was a patient girl and she could also enjoy the views and get an idea of how the city looked. Not that there was much to see: it wasn’t a big city, but enough to feel even more lost thinking about everything she had to explore.

After approximately half an hour, the taxi driver stopped in front of an apartment building south of the city.

“Here we are, miss” said the taxi driver.

“How much do I owe you, sir?” asked Sheila, polite as always.

The taxi driver made the final count based on the distance travelled and gave the ticket to Sheila. He charged her 10 $, what didn’t seem much compared to rates that taxis had back home, but she wasn't going to complain either. Sheila took out her wallet, but right when she was about to pay the taxi driver, she realized one little detail: she forgot to exchange the money, so she only had a few euros she had brought from Europe. The taxi driver couldn’t help but feel sorry for the girl when he saw the desperation on her face, so he told her she could pay him in euros and he would make the exchange later.

“Is the least I can do after almost hit you, don’t you think?” said the taxi driver with a smile.

Sheila, very grateful, gave him the money and got out of the taxi. She grabbed her suitcase and said goodbye to the man.

“Thanks a lot for everything, sir!” she shouted to the taxi driver as she walked towards the building.

“My pleasure, miss. Enjoy your stay in our beautiful city!” answered the man while he was driving away over the horizon with his taxi.

Sheila approached the building slowly, observing it while pulling on her suitcase. It was a practically new five-story building, what could be deduced from its modern structure and good condition of the front. When she got to the entrance, she noticed a paper clip hanging on the door, which reads as follows: The lock is broken, thump the door to enter. The information was very useful for the neighbors, and a nice advert for thieves. “What kind of administrator has the building spotless on the outside, but is not able to fix a simple lock?” Sheila thought. It didn’t make much sense to dance around the issue, so she just did what the note said, thumped the door and went in.

The hall of the building was nothing special: a short hallway leading to a stairway next to an elevator. Sheila was about to go upstairs, but then she remembered something important: she had been told the place and the time, but they forgot to mention the floor and the door. There wasn’t time to search house to house, and she didn’t want to bother the neighbors either, so Sheila decided to use an old but effective method: look on the mailbox. It didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for: Alessandra Rossi, 5 A. With no time to lose, she went to the elevator, got into along with her suitcase and pushed the fifth floor button.

Sheila couldn’t help but feel nervous, since she didn’t know what to expect once she reached her destination. Although she didn’t have much time to think about it, because the trip didn’t last long. Once she reached the fifth floor, the elevator stopped and Sheila opened the door slowly. She saw three doors when she came out, each one marked with a letter: A on the left, B on the middle and C on the right. She knew which door was the correct one, so she approached the one marked with a C and rang the doorbell.

After a few seconds, the door opened. A young girl appeared on the other side, of about 1.65 m high and elegantly dressed with a red dress and same color open-toed heels. Not that the girl was very tall, but she was compared to Sheila, although that wasn’t what shocked her the most. The impressive thing was, with no doubt, her enormous breasts. They were the biggest ones Sheila had ever seen, it gave the impression that the bra was going to explode at any moment and she couldn’t help but stare at them for a few seconds. They were so big that the girl couldn’t see Sheila in front of her during those few seconds, since they covered her completely.

“Who’s calling? Ah, excuse me, I didn’t see you down there. You must be Sheila, I was waiting for you” said the girl after finally realizing there was someone in front of her.

Sheila nodded her head, and then the girl invited her in and closed the door.

“First things first. Let me introduce myself: I’m Alessandra, but everyone calls me Alex. Only my mother calls me Alessandra… or Miss Rossi if she’s very angry” said the girl while she looked at Sheila with a smile.

Sheila noticed that the girl was very friendly, so she decided to play along and laugh with her.

“You don’t want to carry that bag all day, right? Come, let me show you your room” said Alex all of a sudden.

At that moment and without notice, Alex grabbed Sheila by her free hand and took her to the room, without giving her time to react. She took her to the other end of the house and opened one of the doors there.

“I decorated it myself, I hope you like it” said Alex as she opened the bedroom door.

When she entered, Sheila observed the decoration of the room. There was a pink bed in the middle next to a nightstand on its left side. There was a brown desk with a black cushioned chair right in front of the bed, perfect to study comfortably. On the right side of the bed, right beside the door, there was a little wardrobe where Sheila could store her baggage. Finally, there was a balcony in the back of the room, which faced the street allowing the sunshine to light up the room.

“What do you think?” asked Alex, looking forward to a response.

“I like how you decorated my room, especially the bed. Pink is my favorite color” answered Sheila with joy.

Alex felt greatly relieved. You just had to see how she was dressed to know she wanted to cause a good impression on Sheila.

“Thank you! Want to see the rest of the house?” asked Alex with enthusiasm.

“I’d love to” replied Sheila nodding her head.

Sheila left the baggage in her room, she would worry about sorting it out later. Both girls went out the door one behind the other and Alex set out to show Sheila the rest of the house, starting with the living room. A huge living room, at least for Sheila, where there was a sofa with yellow cover which was facing the window. There was a dresser with a big mirror on the left side of the sofa in which probably Alex dressed every day. There was a big nightstand with lamp on each side of the dresser, perfect to light up the living room during the night. There was a plasma TV in front of the dresser and on a diagonal with the sofa, put on a high but narrow table, which allowed to store things inside.

Sheila observed the dresser for a moment. She saw that there were two little silver boxes on top of it and asked Alex what was inside them.

“I keep my watches in one of them and my bracelets in the other one, but I’m wearing my favorite ones right now. You can borrow some if you want” answered Alex with her usual smile.

Then Sheila looked closely at what Alex was wearing: she was wearing one of those fashionable wooden watches on the left wrist, and a classic pearl bracelet on the right wrist. Sheila wasn’t exactly a fashion expert, but it was clear that Alex liked to dress up fine and she knew very well how to do it. Sheila didn’t like to carry anything around, and that meant not wearing jewelry, not even earrings, but she chose not to decline the offer and nod for now.

The dining room was next to the living room, composed only by a large mahogany table in which up to eight people could sit, or even more if they pressed against each other. The table was lit by a window like that of the living room, through which the street could be seen. “Much table for so few people” thought Sheila at first, but since she was new to the place she chose to keep her thoughts to herself. The good thing was that, as there wasn’t any wall in between, you could turn the TV to watch it while eating, which was always a comfort.

The kitchen was located right in front of the living room. An ordinary kitchen, with enough to cover the basic needs of any person: a ceramic hob with oven included, a washing machine, a kitchen sink and a fridge, the latter of black color. What caught Sheila’s attention was the kitchen bar, it was perfect to have breakfast or a drink without needing to stain the dining table or move anything over there. That made the kitchen a little tight, but it wasn’t a problem for a little girl like Sheila.

“I guess you want to see my room as well. You have my permission to enter, don’t worry” said Alex while she opened a door located next to the dining room.

Sheila went inside slowly, thinking about what she could find there. The room didn’t have much, in fact, she was impressed that it was even smaller than hers: a big red bed, a nightstand on its right side, a small window giving on to the street just like the others and a large wardrobe. Nothing special at first, until Alex walked up to the wardrobe door intending to open it.

“I hope you’re ready for this” she said while turning her head looking at Sheila.

When she opened the wardrobe, Sheila was able to appreciate an amazing scene. There was a large collection of dresses and shoes inside, perfectly organized by color. It was the largest collection she had ever seen, even to make her feel a little envious despite not being interested in fashion. Upon seeing her face, Alex wanted to offer one of her dresses to Sheila, but she knew they would be too big for her, so she chose the shoes.

“You know? I think you would look great with heels. You want to try some on? What size do you wear?” asked Alex.

Alex got surprised when she learned that Sheila wore the size 43, while she wore the size 40, what was already big.

“How is it possible for such a little girl to have such big feet?” asked Alex without shame.

Sheila wasn’t offended, she simply told her she always wore trainers and she wasn’t used to wear heels anyway.

“What a pity, I would’ve liked to see you with heels” said Alex with sad face.

Since Alex seemed so interested in the subject, Sheila decided to observe the girl’s feet for a moment. She saw that she had red toenail polish and she was also wearing some jewelry: a silver chain bracelet on her left ankle, along with a silver toe ring on the second toe of her right foot. Then, when she raised her head to talk to Alex she thought that, for some unknown reason, she saw her biting her lower lip. “What’s wrong with this girl? Does she have a mouth sore, or maybe the breasts in the middle don’t let me see well?” There were several questions, but Sheila was a little tired and she preferred to focus on more important things, like going on with the guided tour.

Both left Alex’s room, and Sheila wondered if there was still somewhere in the house to show. Then, Alex approached a room located wall to wall with hers, the first one that could be seen right after entering the apartment.

“The best in the house is yet to come” she said while turning the doorknob.

As soon as she opened the door, a wonderful mix of different smells took Sheila’s attention, but the room was dark and she couldn’t see anything. Then, Alex pushed what appeared to be a switch, and there was light. You could see a couple of huge shelves inside the room, so wide they filled their respective walls completely and so high that it would’ve been impossible for Sheila to reach the top without help. The shelves were full of food of all sorts: meat, fruit, vegetables… there was nothing missing. It was clear what the purpose of that place was: it was the larder, but not any larder. A well-stocked one, the dream of every cook. There was enough food to withstand a war. Sheila stared at the shelves and Alex, when she saw her, asked what she thought about it.

“Amazing…” replied Sheila without taking her eyes off the shelves.

Sheila was so distracted looking at the shelves she didn’t notice that Alex was out of the larder and waiting for her sitting on the sofa, until she called her from the outside. Sheila left the room, closed the door and sat on the sofa beside her.

“How did you like the house? I’m sure you have a lot of questions, so go on” said Alex smiling as usual.

Of course Sheila had questions, but she didn’t know Alex well enough so she had to be careful with her words, since she didn’t know how she would react. Sheila didn’t have people skills, so she thought it would be something like a visual novel: a wrong question would make her lose points with Alex, or even end her game. Therefore, she decided to be cautious and gain her trust with a line that Alex might like, with a compliment.

“First of all, thank you for taking me in and showing me the apartment. I like how you’ve decorated both my room and the rest of the house” said Sheila a little nervous.

“Really? Thank you very much! I wanted to make a good impression, glad to know I succeeded” said Alex, euphoric.

It was clear that Alex wanted Sheila to like her from the start, since nobody dresses like you’re going to a gala in a dress, heels and jewelry to be at home.

“Well… And what do you think of me?” asked Alex staring at Sheila.

This was a crucial moment, the reaction could vary depending on how Sheila responded. She was still a little nervous, but she had her answer clear.

“I think you’re very pretty, I’m impressed you dressed like this just to welcome me” replied Sheila.

That said, she thought she saw how Alex blushed for a moment, assuming it was a good thing.

“You really think so? Thank you very much for the compliment! But the truth is I always like to dress like this, even if it’s just to be at home” said Alex with enthusiasm.

Sheila had it clear at that moment: this girl likes to wear heels even to go to the bathroom. Although she thought it was a bit excessive, she didn’t mind living with someone who liked to look pretty.

Sheila still had a question to ask, but she thought she might be intruding too much into Alex’s private life. Despite this, she also thought she had won her trust, so she decided to ask about something more personal, but with caution.

“I don’t want to put myself where I don’t belong, but I realized that your room is smaller than mine. How is it that you didn’t take the big one, having balcony and everything?” asked Sheila.

Alex turned red for a moment. It seemed that Sheila hit a sensitive issue, which she had feared from the start. “Congratulations Sheila, you screwed it up, again…” she thought to herself. But to her surprise, Alex answered with an atypical story.

“The truth is that the big one was my room before, but I had to move because of certain issues” mentioned Alex.

She told her the difficulties she had to change clothes inside that room, not because of the space, but for the balcony. The main problem was that the balcony was right in front of an apartment building across the street, and there were people in that building who entertained themselves looking at Alex’s sculptural silhouette through the window. Some even bought their own binoculars to avoid missing the smallest detail, which triggered in problems with their respective wives, and in the end with Alex herself. From the moment she switched rooms she never had any problem, but that didn’t change Alex’s personality, and even less the way she dresses.

“If they think I’m going to hide this great body just because of that, they don’t go nowhere with me. It’s not my fault being so beautiful! Envious…” said Alex, almost mumbling.

Sheila couldn’t believe the story she just heard. Her intention was to calm the nerves talking to Alex, and she not only didn’t make it, but now she was even more nervous. She imagined Alex naked in her head for a moment, posing in her room in front of the balcony. Alex noticed how nervous Sheila was. She had caused Sheila’s reaction, so she thought that she was supposed to fix the situation and calm her down a bit.

“You know? I think you look very cute when you blush. A shame your bangs cover your face” said Alex smiling.

Sheila used to have long hair, and her bangs covered half her face. She wore it that way out of shame, she was afraid that the others could see her getting emotional, but that didn’t seem to work with Alex. The extroverted Alex wanted her guest to feel comfortable, but she saw that chatting on the sofa seemed fruitless, so she decided to go even further and go on the attack. Without warning, she moved her hands closer to Sheila’s face, moved her bangs and took off her glasses. That took Sheila by surprise, to such an extent that she froze up and couldn’t help but blush while she was looking at Alex with her eyes bulging out.

“You see? You look adorable! You should show your face more often” said Alex while holding Sheila’s glasses.

“Please, give them back, I can’t see anything with them!” Sheila finally reacted.

Sheila’s myopia was nothing new, at least for her. She wore glasses since she was a child, and even if she could defend herself at close range, she was totally useless from a distance. She wouldn’t be able to distinguish between a pig and a chicken beyond the palm of her hand.

“Talking about pig, I haven’t offered you anything to eat. You must be hungry after the flight, let me make you something” said Alex with intent to get off the sofa.

“Don’t worry, I’ve had something on the plane and I’m not a big eater anyway, I’m not hungry now” replied Sheila to her offer.

Sheila ate in proportion to her size: little and in small quantities. Unless we were talking about sweets, that’s another story.

As soon as Sheila finished her sentence, the apartment phone rang suddenly. It was located on the nightstand next to the sofa, so Alex only had to reach out to pick it up. “Saved by the bell” thought Sheila relieved. Alex seemed to have an important conversation, so she decided to be polite and not disturb her until she was done speaking. When she hung up, her face changed and told Sheila what was going on.

“He was my boss. I’m sorry, but I must go to the workshop right now” said Alex with a sad face.

“Hold it! Boss? Workshop? Now I’m lost…” said Sheila, confused.

“Haven’t I told you? I’m a fashion designer” said Alex while getting up from the sofa.

Then all the pieces came together: the dress, the shoes, the jewels… Alex didn’t just like to dress nicely, but it was part of her job after all. For when Sheila finished making out of time deductions, she realized that Alex was ready to go out the door. It was an advantage that she was already dressed, no doubt.

“I’m sorry to cramp our conversation like this, but work comes first. Anyway, I’ll be back for dinner. I’ll cook you something nice, I promise!” Said Alex while turning the doorknob.

Sheila still had many questions for Alex, but she didn’t have time to ask them now, so she chose one last question before she left.

“And what I’m supposed to do until you get back?” asked Sheila.

“I recommend you to go for a walk and know the neighborhood, or you can stay home and relax. Ciao!” said Alex just before walking out the door.

And the same way she came, she left. Sheila was alone again, and even though she knew the place a bit more now, she didn’t know what to do next. Stay home and wait, or go out for some air? But then she thought: why not both things? There was still time until dinner.

The first and more logical thing she decided to do was to take another look at the house. There were some places where she didn’t look closely enough and she thought that doing some digging would help her understand better what kind of person she was dealing with.

“Let’s see what we can find out” said Sheila when she started her investigation.

There was a room that Alex didn’t show her. She didn’t know the reason, she thought that maybe it was some kind of secret room that Alex didn’t want her to see or something like that. But that wasn’t going to stop our leading lady, so she began to open the door right in front of her room, and when opening it she found… the bathroom. A simple bathroom with its toilet, shower, sink and mirror. Mind you, impeccably clean and with a sweet scent in the air. There wasn’t much more to see there, so Sheila decided to look somewhere else in the house.

The living room seemed like a good place to investigate, since there is where fun things are kept and maybe she could find out more about the tastes of Alex. Sheila had already seen the dresser with the jewelry and knew that Alex liked to dress well, so it wasn’t necessary to look there. Then she noticed the little table underneath the TV, thinking that maybe she could find some important clue inside.

The table wasn’t too high, but Sheila wasn’t either so she didn’t even need to bend down to open it. In doing so, she found a nice surprise. There were two shelves inside: an old boom box on the top and a lot of cassette tapes on the bottom. It was a ‘80s music collection, in alphabetical order and with a large variety of groups: A Flock of Seagulls, Hall & Oates, REO Speedwagon… While she was reading the tape titles, Sheila remembered when her parents, who liked the same kind of music, listened to those songs at home and in the car when she was a kid. This discovery was very important, since knowing what kind of music does a person like is literally vital to know her on a deeper level. Sheila liked synthwave and electronic music, so she and Alex were in agreement with regard to taste in music, which was a plus point.

There was nothing else to see in that table, but there was still one place to search: Alex’s room. The chances of finding something interesting in that place were high, so Sheila headed there without a second thought. The truth is that there wasn’t much to look at, since Alex already showed her the wardrobe and inside, and apart from that there was only the bed and an ordinary nightstand. What she noticed was that Alex’s bed was twice as big as hers, which was logical being bigger than her as well, but there was another difference apart from that: the bed had some drawers at the bottom. It couldn’t hurt to inspect them, so she opened them one by one. She didn’t find anything abnormal: sheets, blankets, covers… But the last drawer hid something different. Inside was what seemed to be a collection of magazines, but no ordinary magazines. You could read the same title on every front page: Muscular Measurement. Sheila could see that there were many issues, all of them in chronological order. She heard about the magazine before: it was generally about bodybuilding and nutrition, and it was her understanding that the magazine was selling very well in the United States, but it also had its own Spanish edition. In any case, the magazines she found were logically in English, but that was no trouble for Sheila. “So Alex likes bodybuilding? Now, this is a discovery” Sheila said quietly.

That last drawer had proven to be a mine, but Sheila had already mined all the gold inside, so she decided to close it and leave the room. Sheila thought there was none left to look for in the apartment, but she was glad to have found all that valuable information. Nevertheless, she had a feeling that there was one last thing to check, as if there was something weird in the house. She decided to lean on the back of the sofa, standing to observe the apartment from the hall once again, this time from a wide shot. Then, after turning her head looking everywhere, she realized what was different between that house and the rest: everything was tidied up and in place, with almost pinpoint precision. Not only the cassette tapes or the magazines, also the furniture, the dresses in the wardrobe, the food in the larder… She would dare to say more: everything was very tidy and clean. Sheila was a tidy person, so she was happy to know that she was going to live in a place like this, but Alex was out of line. Everything was so clean that almost seemed brand-new.

And that way, Sheila concluded her investigation. She didn’t even know what time it was, but judging by the position of the sun that could be seen from the window it had to be afternoon. Sheila wanted to know the exact time, but she didn’t use to wear a watch and she was too lazy to get the phone out of the bag in her room. Then she remembered that she had seen a wall clock in the kitchen when Alex showed it to her, so she went there to check the time.

The clock was pretty high, and since Sheila was short she had to raise her head a lot, almost to hurt her neck. The clock said seven in the evening, so Sheila calculated that she had at least a couple of hours available until Alex got back from work. While she was standing in front of the clock, or better said under, she saw that there was a square glass container on the kitchen bar, inside of which was a small wad of paper. She took one of them and was able to read what was written: Alessandra Rossi - Fashion Designer – The best of Milan in your own home. There was no doubt of what those papers were: they were Alex’s business cards, which she had as publicity to promote herself. These kind of cards were always useful, to know where Alex was from in this case. Nothing that Sheila couldn’t have deduced by her name and accent.

There was nothing else to check in the house. Sheila thought that she gathered enough information to have an overview of what kind of person Alex was: her physique, her origin, her taste… There was hour and a half until dinner and Sheila wasn’t ready to spend it indoors dying of boredom. She decided that it was the moment to listen to Alex and go out and take a walk around the block, to see what’s cooking. She put on the trainers that she left in the kitchen when she entered the apartment, and in doing so she noticed something that was there. It was a calendar, ordinary in appearance, but still she decided to take a quick look at it. The first thing she saw was that it was April 27, nothing that she couldn’t have known looking at her phone, but when turning the page she realized that there was something written on the next month: May 27 – Alex’s birthday. It was exactly a month until Alex’s birthday, another important fact to take into account. Seeing that, Sheila couldn’t help thinking about the following: “What kind of person writes down the date of her own birthday? Is her memory that bad?” There was no point in going on about it and the evening wore on, so Sheila finally took the phone from her room, put it in her pocket and walked out the door.

When she left the entrance, Sheila was able to get a better look at the sunset that could be seen through the apartment windows. It was a beautiful sunset, to which she didn’t hesitate to take a picture with the phone. “New wallpaper” she said while saving the picture. Then she put the phone back in her pocket and kept walking forward.

She got to a crosswalk located in front of the building, but before crossing it she thought something: it wouldn’t be smart to get very far from the house, so she decided that the best thing would be to walk around the block and see what was nearby. But while she was thinking about it, a mysterious voice surprised her.

“Girl, over here!” a man yelled at her from across the street.

Sheila looked both ways, but there was nobody around for miles, so she assumed that the man was talking to her. Without a second thought, she decided to cross the street and see what the man wanted from her.

When she got to the other side, Sheila could take a closer look at the man. He was a bald man with a grey moustache, in his early 50s more or less. He was inside of what appeared to be a newsstand, surrounded by magazines, newspapers and some sweets.

“Good afternoon, miss. You must be Alex’s new tenant, am I right? I’m Robert, nice to meet you” said the man with a smile.

“I’m Sheila, likewise” said our leading lady.

The man seemed like a good guy and he knew Alex, so Sheila decided to play along.

“Why did you tell me to come here, mister?” asked Sheila.

“Please, don’t call me mister. Alex’s friends are my friends, call me Robert” said the newsagent.

At that moment, Robert bent down with the intention of getting something from inside the newsstand. Maybe he had something for Sheila? She was about to find out.

“I called you because I’d like to ask you a little favor. Could you deliver this to Alex? I’d do it myself but I can’t leave the stand unguarded” said Robert while giving a magazine to Sheila.

When she saw the front page she couldn’t believe it: it was the latest edition of Muscular Measurement, the same magazine she found under Alex’s bed. You could see the following on the cover: a muscular woman, with short black hair, dressed with a grey top and a tag around her neck. She was flexing up her right arm, showing off her big round bicep while relaxing her left arm, touching her hip with a closed fist. Her abs, also relaxed but well-defined, were shining along with the rest of her sculpted body. The woman was looking at Sheila showing her teeth and squinting, making it look like she was dangerous. If she wanted to impress the reader, she certainly got it.

“What do you think, Sheila? Can you do me the favor?” asked Robert with a smile.

“Impressive… I mean yes, don’t worry, I’ll give her the magazine in person” answered Sheila while wiping the droll off her face.

For a moment, Sheila thought that Robert would be a good source of information about Alex, but she chose to be careful and ask nothing about her. She still wanted to take a walk, so she began to cross the street. But right when she turned, the kind newsagent called her again.

“Wait a moment, Sheila. Before you leave, I would like to thank you for the favor. Here, take this” said the man while opening one of the sweet jars that he had inside the stand, right behind him.

He put his hand inside and took a strawberry lollipop, which he gave to Sheila. Now the question was: how did the man know that Sheila liked lollipops? And what’s more, how did he know that her favorite were the strawberry ones?

I’ve seen you look at the jar as soon as you approached the stand. Observing that kind of thing is very useful to know the tastes of my clients” said Robert.

The man had selling skills, there was no doubt. With no more time to waste, Sheila said goodbye to the newsagent and crossed the street to the other side, right where she came from.

Again next to the apartment, and hoping there weren’t more distractions, Sheila started to walk around the building. The more she walked, the more she realized that the street had nothing in particular. It was an ordinary street, with a footpath, some benches to sit down and lampposts here and there. However, when she got to the back of the building, something caught Sheila’s attention. She could see that part of the street was under construction, covered by a wall so nobody could pass.

The wall was covered with all kinds of posters, announcing from fast food to music concerts. There was a different poster on top of them all, which announced the following: Unauthorized billposting. “It feels like home” thought Sheila when she saw that. Between all that unimportant publicity, something caught the attention of our leading lady. A poster announcing something different, with the following text written on it: Tired of feeling small and no one taking you seriously? Come to Nicole’s Muscle Gym and make a big change in your life. The ad looked promising, and even tough Sheila would have wanted to take and analyze it, she knew that she couldn’t do that, so she decided to use a method learned in class so she didn’t have to copy notes: she took a photo of the poster, and that way she could inspect it quietly later without anyone noticing.

This was the end of the road, which gave no choice but to come back. Sheila didn’t know what time it was, but right when she put the hand in her pocket to check it on the phone, the street lamps suddenly turned on. It was a sign that the night had come, almost without noticing it the sky had gone dark giving way to the stars. The clock said quarter to nine, almost time for dinner and a good moment to go home. She walked all the way back to the front door, came up in the elevator and got into Alex’s house. She took her trainers off, put them near the entrance and laid down on the sofa hoping to rest a while until Alex came home. She stretched her legs, looked up towards the ceiling and took a break. All the things she had been through in the day passed by her head at that moment, since she got off the plane until that very moment. She especially remembered Alex, how nice she had been to her… and how incredibly beautiful she was. A strange feeling came over every time she remembered her, something that she had never felt before. “What’s wrong with me, am I getting sick?” Sheila asked herself. But right when she was busy asking questions to the ceiling, she heard how someone opened the apartment door, assuming it was Alex.

“Sheila, I’m home!” yelled Alex as soon as she came through the door.

For a moment, Sheila waited on the sofa for Alex to take off her heels like the rest of the world would do, but Alex wasn’t the rest of the world. She arrived home with them, and with them she continued.

“Wouldn’t you be more comfortable without heels in the house?” Sheila asked her.

“Don’t worry, I’m used to wear them, besides I look great with them, don’t you think?” answered Alex while pointing the finger at her feet.

Sheila thought that she did, apart from the fact that she wasn’t at her own home and wasn’t who to go against Alex, so she decided to keep quiet and nod.

Alex went to the kitchen, willing to make dinner.

“I thought I’d cook spaghetti tonight, I hope you like them” said Alex from the kitchen.

“Oh yes, I love them!” exclaimed Sheila from the sofa.

Alex asked Sheila to wait at the dining room table while she was making dinner. Sheila got up from the sofa and sat in the chair next to the window, so she could face the kitchen. She had a perfect view of the house, but she couldn’t take her eyes off Alex. There she was, moving her wonderful body across the kitchen, showing off her beautiful red dress. It didn’t take her long to prepare dinner, Alex was a cautious girl and had dinner almost ready so she only had to heat it up.

It hadn’t been up for more than five minutes before Sheila saw Alex walking towards her with the plates, but then she realized that the table still wasn’t ready for dinner.

“You need me to help you set the table?” asked Sheila.

“No way, you’re my guest and it wouldn’t be polite. Just sit down and enjoy” answered Alex while putting the dishes on the table.

Right after she went to the kitchen again, to come back later with two forks, water and napkins. She put them on the table, perfectly appointed, and sat down next to Sheila. At that moment, our leading lady remembered something important: she didn’t gave Alex the magazine that Robert asked her. She thought that it would be good to give it to her before dinner, because that way she could ask her about it and have a conversation piece while eating dinner. Sheila got up from her chair, took the magazine and gave it to Alex.

“So you’ve met Robert. A lovely man, don’t you think?” said Alex while looking at the magazine.

Sheila nodded her head, and they both started to eat. She thought it was a good moment to talk about it, so she went to it.

“I didn’t know you liked bodybuilding” said Sheila, obviously lying.

“That’s right! In particular I like muscle women. I couldn’t explain, it’s something I feel since I was a kid. I guess it runs in my family…” said Alex excited.

Sheila didn’t understand what family had to do with liking muscle women, but since she didn’t know what kind of family Alex had she decided not to think too much, and it wasn’t polite to ask about her family just like that either.

Both girls kept talking while enjoying the dinner. Alex told Sheila about her day’s work. She told her that she was a fashion designer and she was born in Milan, which Sheila already knew from the business card. Sheila told Alex about her walk and how she met Robert. She told her that she was a student and she had come to the United States to improve her English, which was quite good already. Sheila noticed how Alex listened closely to every word she was telling, it was the first time in a long time that she felt comfortable talking to someone and she appreciated it. They had such a great time that they finished their spaghetti almost without noticing it.

“What did you think of dinner, you liked it?” asked Alex looking forward to an answer.

“You may not believe me, but they’re the best spaghetti I’ve had in my life” replied Sheila with a smile.

Alex was insanely cheerful, but Sheila was telling the truth. She had eaten spaghetti many times in her life, but never ones as delicious as those. It was clear for her at that moment: Alex had a good hand for cooking, and she was very lucky to taste one of her dishes.

“You want some dessert, a coffee maybe?” asked Alex.

Sheila would have liked to keep enjoying Alex’s food and company, but she was a light eater and she was a little tired. She didn’t want to be rude to Alex, so she made up an excuse to avoid hurting her feelings.

“The truth is I’m a bit tired, I’ve had a long day” said Sheila while getting up from the chair.

“Don’t worry, I’ll clear the table. Rest well!” said Alex while smiling.

Sheila walked on down the hall up to her room, but right when she was about to enter, she heard how Alex called her from the kitchen.

“I’m glad you’re here with me, Sheila” she said while picking up the silverware.

Sheila couldn’t help but blush to such an extent that she wasn’t able to answer. She went into her room and locked the door from the inside.

When she entered the room, Sheila realized that her baggage wasn’t in order yet, but she was so tired that she chose to put it off until the next day, since there was no rush either. She simply removed her jeans and socks, put them on the desk chair and got into bed as is, with her shirt on. It was a hot night, something that Sheila hated, so she decided to sleep with the least amount of clothes possible.

From the bed she could see how the moonlight was coming into the room from the balcony, it was a beautiful view. Sheila began to reflect on everything that happened during the day, since she got off the plane until she got into bed. She took the phone before sleeping with the intention of turning it off and not be disturbed, but before doing so she remembered something: the picture she took of that poster when she was out. She was alone now, so it was the best moment to check it out. She put it on the screen and zoomed in to see if she could find something interesting, and saw that there was an address under the name of the gym. That got her thinking. At that moment, all the pieces were coming together. Meet Alex, the magazines under the bed, the magazine that the newsagent had given her, Alex’s confession about muscle women and the Nicole’s Muscle Gym poster. Everything was connected, and what’s more, everything had been discovered in the same day. Was it some kind of signal? The world was trying to tell her something? Then Sheila made a decision before falling asleep: she was going to the address on the poster the following day. It was time to change. It was time to get stronger.