Back In My Life Again 4

Right at that moment, Chelsea was so upset she almost forgot what she wanted to ask her friend. While Shelby was talking about how wonderful it was that missionaries were finally permitted behind the former Iron Curtain, she remembered.

"I have kind of a dilemma," she said. "I have this great opportunity to move to San Francisco, but I don't want to leave my roommates, Amy and Melissa, in the lurch with no one to pay a third of the bills. If you don't already have plans, would you consider moving in with them?"

Shelby beamed. "This is an answer to prayer!" she cried. "Before I came here, I prayed and asked the Lord to open up a way for me to live on my own without having to depend on my parents, and he has!"

Relief flowed through Chelsea. She couldn't wait to tell Erik the good news. They'd planned to Skype later that evening.

"You look really happy today," he said when he saw her face.

"Great news!" she replied. "Shelby wants to move in with Amy and Melissa and be their roommate!"

"That is great news!" said Erik.

"Now all I have to do is get a job transfer and introduce Shelby to Amy and Melissa."

The following day, she picked Shelby up at her parents' house and drove her to the apartment to meet her new roommates. They were sitting in the living room, watching Sex and the City and drinking wine coolers.

"This is Shelby," Chelsea told them.

"Hi!" said Amy. "I'm Amy, and this is Melissa."

"Hi," said Melissa. "Would you like a drink?"

"What do you have?" asked Shelby.

"Seagram or Bartles and James," said Melissa.

"I'll just have a diet Coke," said Shelby.

Melissa went to the kitchen as Shelby and Chelsea sat down on the sofa.

"What's this show called?" asked Shelby.

"Sex and the City," Amy told her.

"What's it about?"

"Four young women living in New York City."

"Are they married?"

"A couple of them are."

"The ones who aren't married shouldn't be having sex."

Melissa returned from the kitchen with Shelby's diet Coke.

"It's a good show," Chelsea told Shelby. "I think you'd like it if you gave it a chance."

"Humph," Shelby snorted.

After helping Shelby move into her new apartment, Chelsea traveled to San Francisco. Erik was waiting for her at the airport, and they flew into each other's arms. Then Erik held her face in his hands and kissed her lips.

"I'm so glad to see you again," he whispered.

"Me too," she replied.

They walked outside to his car, hand in hand.

"How are your friends working out as roommates?" asked Erik.

"They're having a little trouble," Chelsea told him. "Shelby thinks some of the TV shows Amy and Melissa like are immoral, but I think she'll come around in time. I hope so, anyway."

"Per asked me about Shelby just the other day," Erik mentioned.

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him she'd returned to Los Angeles and was taking your place as Amy and Melissa's roommate."

"And what did he say about that?"

"Nothing." They'd reached the apartment, and Erik opened the hood so they could get to Chelsea's suitcases. The apartment building was very nice. It was four stories high and was painted pink. There were flower beds along the bottom floor, and each floor had a nice balcony with room for tables and chairs.

Erik lived on the second floor. They took the suitcases up the stairs and down the hall to his apartment. He opened the door, and they walked into the living room.

The walls were painted white. There was a pale blue sofa with a large dark blue pillow on it along one wall, and across from it was a chair with dark blue padding and a white pillow with dark blue stripes. A glass coffee table with a bowl sitting on top was in between the sofa and the chair.

"Wow, this looks really nice!" Chelsea said, looking around.

"It looks even nicer with you in it," Erik replied.

After a couple days of settling in, Chelsea started her new job at the hospital in San Francisco. She reported to the nurse's station on the fifth floor, as she'd been instructed to do.

"Can I help you?" asked a smiling middle-aged lady with dark hair and glasses.

"I'm Chelsea Risovich, and I'm supposed to start work here today," Chelsea replied.

"Excellent," said the woman. "We've been expecting you. I'm Dorcas, the head nurse, and this is Ashley. She'll be showing you the ropes."

Ashley was a brown-eyed blonde with a friendly smile who looked to be about Chelsea's age.

"You can help me change Mr. Seymour's bandages," she told Chelsea. "His right leg was amputated yesterday."

As she followed Ashley to Mr. Seymour's room, Chelsea wondered how Erik's day was going.