Stacy wanted her friend to be the first one to see her makeover. She had driven to Julia’s gated community and had checked her hair one more time before ringing the doorbell to her friend's exclusive brownstone. Julia stared at her. "You look amazing." It had been a couple of weeks since she'd last seen her. "Getting rid of an ex will do that," Stacy said stepping inside. She followed Julia to the kitchen and heard the TV where Julia's seventeen-year-old daughter, Emily, sat in the family room. Julia hugged her friend. "What happened?" "I've finally got a life and I've met someone. We're meeting again soon." Julia took Stacy's coat and hung it in the closet. "And you thought you'd never find love again." "I didn't say anything about love. But he's great. I'm taking things slow," she said although in truth she wanted to speed things up. She couldn't wait to see Chance again. Don't do this to me, she heard Chance say. Stacy froze surprised by how real and close his voice seemed. Like an auditory hallucination.
