We’ll Meet Again Someday

The Past…

Come Christmastime of 1992, two months after her spat with Audra, she would learn that having a single woman living next to her wouldn’t necessarily guarantee her any more peace than a large family or a group of college guys, and she would end up wondering if transferring studios had really been worth it in the end. Andrea, the Mexican girl next door, had been quiet until she had her sixteen younger siblings stay with her for a few days, none of whom were a day over fifteen or the least bit civilized or quiet. Even Mark could hear the ruckus, despite his studio being diagonally across from Andrea’s. At first, he had thought the noise was coming from her place. Mary lived below Andrea, and Riana had felt so bad for her. If it could be this maddening from next door, then it certainly had to be a nightmare over one’s head. She and Mary had spoken to Andrea, but it had no effect at all. They finally agreed that one would call the office while the other went to complain in person, so it wouldn’t look like they had conspired to gang up on Andrea in any way. Because it was hard for Mary to get around with her disability, Riana volunteered to be the one to go to the office. As she walked along the palm-studded walkway toward the office, she felt her heartbeat quicken. She hoped Judith would be in the office and not Audra. But she wasn’t in the habit of getting what she wished for in those days, and this would be no exception. Audra glanced up at her from behind the desk in the main room that Judith and Pauline usually shared. “Riana,” she said with a curt nod. “Hello,” Riana began, feeling highly uncomfortable. “What can I do for you?” “Audra, I know you don’t like me, but I need your help.” “I don’t not like you. Have a seat,” Audra said, gesturing to the chair in front of the desk. “You said you knew everything that went on with me, so don’t you know what’s going on right now? Right next door to me?” For a minute, Audra’s bright blue eyes turned icy gray, then back to their usual shade of blue. She shook her head, gesturing for her to fill her in. Riana explained the situation with Andrea. “I’ve asked her to quiet them down, but it’s done me no good. The walls sound like they’re going to cave in any second. It’s been a total nightmare! I can’t even hear myself think, let alone get any decent sleep.” Audra looked at Riana with an odd expression. It was almost as if she were looking at her with some sort of dreamy admiration, as if it were commendable of her to share with her the never-ending slew of bumps and bangs from Andrea’s army of untamed siblings. “I understand it’s the holiday season and all that,” Riana went on, “and I don’t want to rain on anyone’s party, but I’d really like to see at least some of the peace restored around here.” Audra continued to eye her in silence a moment longer, tapping her pen gently on the desk before her. Finally, she said, “I’ll have a word with Andrea.” Riana remembered thanking Audra and walking back to the zoo she called home. It was the day she realized she had a crush on the tyrant as well. As she sat listening to the racket next door, she doubted Audra really would speak to Andrea, but she did, much to her surprise. And she did so in person, too. Her and Andrea’s doors were right next to each other. Riana quietly scurried over to her door and listened intently as Audra spoke to Andrea in her doorway. She heard Audra inform Andrea that it was way overcrowded in her place and that they’d gotten many complaints. “They’re leaving tomorrow,” said Andrea. “And besides, she’s noisy, too. She blasts her music every day.” “I know she does, and I understand Riana’s situation.” Understands my situation?Riana wondered to herself. And what situation would that be? “So how are things going?” Audra asked when Riana called the office about a week later. “I’m afraid things have gone from bad to worse,” Riana told her. “Andrea’s been a really poor sport about things, and she’s gone out of her way to be even noisier. I would think that this time around, there were twice as many people over there if I didn’t know better. Obviously, she couldn’t handle people’s complaints and is very angry about it. Except for during the workdays, when she’s not here, she’s slamming and banging around like crazy. I’m working late nights now as a dancer in a club, Audra, and I need to be able to sleep in.” “But she has a right to have company, Riana.” “This is no longer about her having company. She hasn’t had company since her family left. This is about revenge. She’s been driving me crazy instead, okay? What do you not get about that? The bitch is waking me up early in the mornings and bouncing off the walls in the evenings, on weekends, and whenever else she happens to get the chance. Compréndeme?” Audra giggled with genuine delight. “What do you think this is, a joke or something?” Riana shouted into the phone with both exhaustion and frustration. “Why don’t you try living here and see what it’s like for yourself?” More laughter. “Oh, go to hell, you worthless idiot!” Riana slammed the phone down. Riana had hoped that Andrea’s unfounded anger would fizzle out and that she would get tired of pulling her childish spite tactics, but her torture continued, and it was all Riana could do to keep from literally beating the girl still and silent. She continued to see Audra around the complex periodically, and the nosy tyrant was always quick to utter a cheerful “Hello,” as if they were old buddies and all was as peaceful as ever. One day in late February, Riana spotted Audra standing outside her building. She appeared to be pointing toward the floor below her and giving someone instructions. She went downstairs and said to Audra, “When are you gonna do something about this nut next door to me?” “Riana, I can’t tie her down to a chair or anything like that,” Audra said, “but at least I’ll be setting the place up below you as a model, so you won’t have any neighbors there.” Riana glanced toward the unit below her and saw a couple of the maintenance workers placing a couch in the main living area. “Oh, awesome!” she exclaimed, her mind momentarily diverted from Andrea. “You picked this place to be a model?” Audra nodded, glancing at the clipboard she’d been holding. “Thanks, Stace. Maybe you’re not so bad after all.” “Wouldn’t you know it,” Audra said with a grin. And so the unit below began as a model, as did the gifts. They were being left outside her door and mostly consisted of hair-care products. Everyone she knew denied having any knowledge of it, and she knew them well enough to know that if they were behind it, they’d have said so. She saw more and more of Audra with the studio model being right below her. Audra. Could she? Would she? Riana decided to leave a message as a test one day. She called when she knew the office would be closed and no one would be there to answer, and left a message thanking Audra for the items left at her door. The days passed, and she never received a denial.