10.

‘’Oh my gosh! Tessa, you look so beautiful,’’ Sophie said after pulling Tessa into a hug and was now staring at her with amazement.

Tessa on the other hand, could not believe her eyes. She was shocked, unexpectedly meeting a friend but she wondered how Sophie could recognize or even remember her. Especially when she was putting on a hoodie. After all, they weren't exactly close friends back in school.

‘’Sophie!’’ Tessa finally replied with the same amount of surprise-filled enthusiasm.

Sophie had a round face with full lips which were carefully colored with her red lipstick. Her eyelashes have always been long, but at that moment they seemed longer and darker, giving her the pretty gothic girl look with her red knee-length gown.

‘’Tessa, I am so happy to see you. I just spotted you down the hall. I kept wondering if you were the one but after a much closer look. I could not control myself from calling out your name," Sophie said all through, with a smile on her face.

Tessa was shocked at how fast she said all those words in less than two seconds.

‘’I am sorry for jumping on you, but I need to do it again,’’ Sophie added while pulling Tessa into another hug.

‘’Sophie, you look all grown and pretty. It’s a surprise meeting you after all these years’’ Tessa replied after they broke from the hug.

‘’It’s equally a surprise meeting you here. What brought you to NYC?’’

‘’Hmm… nothing. I just needed a change of environment. You know the pack and all of that’’ Tessa chuckled but only she noticed how tense she was as she squeezed her fingers.

‘’Okay, I understand. I think I also need to take a vacation from all the workload in the pack.’’ Sophie laughed.

‘’You sure do."

‘’You just started shopping?…’’ Sophie asked as her gaze trailed to the almost empty basket.

‘’I just needed to get some few things.’’ Tessa lied.

‘’Let me get you some chocolates. I know you always loved them back in school.’’ Sophie replied while walking towards the chocolate section despite Tessa’s act of trying to prevent her from buying anything.

Inwardly, Tessa wondered how Sophie knew about her love for chocolate when they were not even close friends.

‘’This store does not have what I need. I need a box of the latest Versace shoe and a piece of falon cookies, but they don’t seem to have any of my needs.’’ Sophie lamented after dropping the box of dairy milk fruit chocolate into Tessa’s basket.

‘’How long have you been here?’’ Sophie asked while adding a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon wine into Tessa’s basket.

‘’Just a few days…’’

‘’Wow! That means I still have the opportunity of showing you around the town.’’ Sophie interrupted in an elated tone.

By the time they reached the counter, Tessa’s basket was overfilled with packets of cereals, snacks, vegetables, and drinks despite all of her pleas for Sophie to stop buying for her.

Sophie brought out her debit card and paid for all the goods.

Tessa was a bit shocked at her hospitality, but she appreciated her kind act. Anyway, she was broke. She wasn't going to act like a privileged brat especially when she needed it.

Then, both ladies exchanged contacts before parting ways.

Tessa got into a taxi taking her to her house. As lucky as she was, she knew that she could not remain lucky forever. She needed to find a job or the little money she had with her would be finished and she would be left bankrupt.

To her surprise, the taxi driver seemed to be a much kind man who helped her offload her grocery bags at her doorstep before she paid him and he drove off with a wave.

She wondered why he was so nice to her. Unable to figure it out, she unlocked the door to her house and stepped in.

Tessa took off her hoodie and sighed relief.

‘Finally, some fresh air can touch my face’ she landed on her couch.

Tessa was frustrated and confused. She had no idea what to do. She had no money in the bank and the little money she had would not even last her for two days.

The incident that occurred with Sophie certainly had to be a blessing from the moon goddess. After all, why would a long-time friend who she wasn't close with back in high school smile so much at her and even pay for her grocery while purchasing some more?

It even baffled her more why the other party knew so much about her. More so, why she remembered what she liked?

Tessa dragged herself from her bed and with her grocery bags in both hands, she headed towards the small kitchen.

It was a small square-shaped kitchen with a small wooden table at the center and two long stools by the opposite end.

There was a narrow-looking sink in front of the window just beside the exit door.

The stale food smell seemed to portray that someone else had been leaving in the house before her.

Luckily enough there was a working refrigerator, where she could keep her food.

She needed to purchase a microwave, oven, and a small camp gas because the one that was situated in the kitchen seemed like something that could break apart any second from then.

Tessa opened the refrigerator and was shocked at how dirty it was. It has an assembly of cobwebs and it smelt like spoilt pizza.

Tessa sighed as she looked at the mess before she began the work of cleaning the refrigerator.

While cleaning it, Tessa could not stop her mind from racing to the fact that she had applied for a job and still had not gotten a reply or confirmation mail.

The job was her only hope at the moment.

If she didn’t get it, then she would have to resort to begging on the street while waiting for an acceptance mail from the other ones she had applied for.

The idea of going with a dry pocket and an empty stomach for days scared her to death. Especially since it wasn't just her any longer. She had a baby with her and she owed the child good nurturing.