“So, has anyone met the new girl on the third floor?”.
     Owen couldn’t remember the name of the woman asking the question, he thought it might be Stephanie.  About a dozen people were in the lounge, and Owen would have been surprised if he knew half of them.  He’d heard about the tenants getting together the day before, and came hoping Beth would be there, without any such luck.
     Another unfamiliar person, a young man, the name Keith came to mind, spoke up, “She lives across from me, but she keeps to herself.  I’ve seen her once or twice.”.
     “I’ve talked to her.”, Owen spoke up, “She kind of odd, but really nice.  Her suite’s right above mine.”.
     “Odd.”, Murray chimed in, “You mean that she’s Caucasian but has almond eyes and an Asian accent, that she paid the first fifty year’s rent up front, or that she wears heavy wool in a heat wave but still smells like a field of flowers in bloom?”.
     “Actually, I meant that she tends to sing to herself all the time, but those are all good points.”, Owen said a little sheepishly.
     “I’ve only talked to her when she came to rent the apartment.  We hadn’t even had time to run the ad yet when she showed up.  I figured she must have been a friend of Mitch’s.”.
     “Mitch?”, Owen asked.
     “The last tenant.  You didn’t meet him?”.
     Owen shook his head.
     “He was surly, not very social, I can’t say I’m surprised.  Now that I think about it, how would he know someone like Avrianus?”.
     “Maybe she knew his sister?”, Stephanie suggested.
     “Did he have one?”, Murray asked.
     “I think so.”.
     “That must be it.”.
     “Why is everyone so curious about Avrianus?”, Owen asked the group.
     “You’ve seen her and you have to ask?”, Keith asked him pointedly.
     “I see your point.  Why don’t I go up and invite her down?  We can get to know her.”.
     Stephanie turned to Owen, “Will she come?  From all I’ve heard, she seems kind of shy.”.
     “I’m sure I can talk her into it.  We are friends.”.
     “I thought you said you’ve only talked to her once?”.
     “The conversation went well.  I’ll go get her.”.
     Owen left the room and headed to the stairwell, pausing only for a longing glance at Beth’s door.  He couldn’t hear any noise from inside, so he guessed she was at work.  With a sigh, he opened the door to the stairs, and climbed up to the third floor.
     As he got closer to Avrianus’s door, he could hear her softly singing, and was once again struck with the strange familiarity of her voice.  He shook his head, dismissing the thought as the accent throwing him off, and softly tapped at her door.
     It opened a crack, and Owen could see a single brown eye look at him and then vanish.  The door swung wide open and Avrianus leaped out, giving Owen a hug as she called out his name.  After standing with her arms around him for a few seconds, she let go and rushed into her apartment, looking as if she might topple over at any moment.
     “Come in!  Come in!  Have you had supper?  Of course you have, it’s seven o’clock!  How about dessert?  I’m sure I have something around here, some cookies and fruit.  Or did you want to listen to some music?  There’s lots we can do!”, Avrianus spoke so rapidly it was hard for Owen to tell where each word began and ended.
     Avrianus stood as tall as her 5’3” frame would allow, beaming at Owen in anticipation of his answer.
     “Actually, I came to invite you to meet a few of the neighbours.  We’re down in the lounge, and everybody is interested in getting to know you.”.
     Owen stood a couple paces in from the doorway, watching Avrianus as her eyes grew wide with panic.
     “But why would they want to get to know me?  There’s nothing interesting about me.”, her rapid speech continued, “I’m just an ordinary girl.  That’s right!  I’m just an ordinary girl!”.
     Avrianus ended her speech with a sharp nod, shaped her hands into fists and placed them on her hips, and stared at Owen with a proud and determined expresion on her beautiful face.
     “Okay, I’ll just tell them that you’re busy, and maybe some other time.”, Owen said, and turned around to leave.
     Avrianus lept out again, tripping over her own feet and catching Owen around the hips.
     “Wait!”, she implored him, hanging on for fear of falling, “Don’t go yet!”.
     She steadied herself slowly with Owen’s help, and hung her head low.
     “I’m sorry,”, she apologised, “I’m just really not good with groups of people.  I get nervous and jittery and I say to much and I talk too fast and I don’t know when to stop and I really do want to meet them but I don’t have the right clothes to wear and I run on and on and you’ll be the only person there I know!”.
     She looked up again at Owen, taking deep breaths as she gave him a pleading look.
     Owen put his hand on her shoulder, “Why don’t I go tell them you’re a bit nervous right now, and I’ll be back in five minutes.  Then tomorrow we’ll go shopping and find you something nice to wear when you do want to meet everyone, okay?”.
     Avrianus bobbed her head up and down rapidly, and rushed into the kitchen without saying goodbye to Owen.  Owen left for the hallway, closing her door behind him, and headed down to the lounge.
     “What is it about this place and odd people?”, he asked the air around him, but it didn’t answer.

     The next morning was mercifully cool for the first time in two weeks.  Owen sat on Avrianus’s chesterfield waiting while his friend shuffled loudly through her closet searching for some lost item.
     The noise suddenly stopped, and she marched proudly out of her bedroom holding a bundle of bills, which she presented to Owen.
     “Will this be enough to buy a couple of dresses?  I like white ones.  And a blue one too, if I have enough.”.
     Owen thumbed through the stack, his eyes wide at the amount of money he held in his hand.
     “These are all fifties… Avrianus, this is five thousand dollars!”, Owen cried out.
     Avrianus frowned, and said, “Not enough?”.
     “This is enough to buy an entire wardrobe, and quite probably a great used car to drive it all home in.”.
     “Oh.  I don’t need a car.  I just need some dresses.”, she smiled and nodded her head solemnly.

     “What do you think of this one?”, Avrianus stood before Owen, modeling her choice of dresses for him.
     “I don’t know, isn’t it a little old fashioned?  It looks like something from the fifties. ”.
     “Really?  I think it looks nice on me.  I need a hat to go with it.  Could you go get that one right over there please?”, Avrianus asked, pointing out a wide brimmed hat on a distant shelf.
     Owen followed her finger with his eyes, seeing the object in question, and retrieved it for her.  Avrianus placed it proudly on her head, adjusting it to an angle she liked and shuffled away to a mirror.
     After appraising the clothes, she came back to Owen and pointed down at her feet.  She had on a pair of weather worn leather sandals with wooden soles.
     “Do you think I need new shoes?”.

     “So when did he say he’d be back?”, Jim asked Kenrick.
     Kenrick popped his head out of the fridge, and replied, “Umm, he didn’t.  What do you want to drink?”.
     “Is there any cola?  I have to drive home tonight.”, Jim asked from his place in the A/V room.
     “Enough for half a glass.  We’re out of pop until we get some groceries.  There’s lots of iced tea.”.
     “We’d better save that for Owen, he’ll drink at least a liter when he gets home.  I’ll just have some water.”.
     “Suit yourself.”, Kenrick said as he grabbed the jug of cold water.  He poured two glasses and put it back, then headed off to the A/V room.
     He handed a glass to Jim before sitting down on the opposite end of the couch.
     Jim took a long sip of the water and asked, “So where did he go?”.
     “Umm, he went clothes shopping with somebody named Avrianus.  They left around ten.”.
     “He’s been gone six hours clothes shopping.  That poor bastard.  Who’s Avrianus?”.
     “I’ve never met her.  She lives right above us, though.”.
     “The girl who’s always singing?  Owen knows her?”.
     “I guess.”.
     As if on cue, they heard soft footsteps above them, and the sound of two people moving about.  They watched the ceiling, and heard the footsteps leave the room and travel towards the door.  Less than a minute later, Owen’s front door opened, and he could be heard talking.
     “Don’t worry, you’ll get along fine with them.  If you want to meet new people, what better way to start than by meeting two of my friends?”.
     Avrianus waited by the front door, nervously rambling, “But what if they don’t like me?  You said the dress was too old fashioned and what if they don’t like it I’d be so embarrassed and then I’d have to go and I don’t know if I’d have a chance to meet them again and then I wouldn’t have any friends and I won’t know what to do!”.
     Avrianus stood hyperventilating in the doorway, not wanting to enter or leave.  Owen stood by her, holding open the door as he waited for her to recover.
     Jim came out of the A/V room, got a paper bag out of Owen’s pantry, and went to give it to Avrianus.
     At the sight of Jim coming around to corner, Avrianus tensed, ready to run away.
     “Here,”, Jim said, and handed her the paper bag, “breath into this.”.
     Avrianus took the bag and placed it over her mouth, breathing rapidly as the bag inflated and deflated in time.  After a minute, her breaths slowed to their normal pace, and she handed the bag back to Jim.
     “Avrianus, this is my best friend Jim.  Jim, I’d like you to meet Avrianus.”, Owen gestured to each of them in turn.
     Jim held out his hand to Avrianus, and she grabbed it and shook it rapidly, smiling nervously.
     “Why don’t you come in and join us?  Kenrick and I were just waiting for Owen to get home before we watched a movie.”, Jim stood aside to allow her past.
     Avrianus walked past him slowly, carefully but clumsily putting down her feet in even steps.  Owen started to follow, but Jim stopped him as he moved past.
     As Avrianus made her way to the open door of the A/V room, Jim whispered to Owen, “That’s the singer from upstairs?  I’m surprised we don’t hear her crashing every half hour.”.
     “So she’s not graceful.  What’s wrong with that?”.
     Jim watched her as she placed herself in Owen chair looking constantly in the direction of where he remembered Kenrick sitting.
     “Absolutely nothing.”, he said and then paused, “Is she seeing anyone?”.
     Owen stammered, “I… I don’t know, I didn’t ask.  She’s so jittery she’d probably take it wrong and run off somewhere.  She’s a sweet girl, but she needs to learn to relax.”.

     Avrianus and Kenrick sat in the room, staring at each other.  Avrianus started to open her mouth, but Kenrick shook his head and held his index finger to his mouth.
     He pointed at her with his index finger outstretched and shook his head, and then pointed with his thumb towards himself and shook his head again.  He nodded once and looked at her for an answer.
     Avrianus, confused, nodded her head.

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