Tessa
The city felt bigger when you were standing on the sidewalk with your whole life stuffed into the back of a Jeep.
Tessa Morgan wiped her palms on her jeans and blew out a breath, looking up at the three-story brick building in front of her. Ivy curled up one side of it, thick and wild.
Next to the entrance, a cozy coffee shop hugged the corner — its faded green awning stretching over a few small tables and colorful chairs set up outside. A chalkboard sign leaned against the door, advertising cinnamon scones and pumpkin spice lattes in looping handwriting.
It wasn’t the glossy apartment she’d dreamed about when she first decided to move away from home.
But it was hers.
Her new start.
Beside her, Moose — her overly enthusiastic golden retriever-saint bernard mix — tried to eat a stray leaf and succeeded only in tripping over his own paws.
“Moose, buddy,” she laughed, grabbing his leash before he could barrel into traffic, “we have to look cool, okay? First impressions.”
He wagged his tail in response, immediately flopping onto the sidewalk like a starfish.
Tessa shook her head, smiling. She grabbed one of the lighter boxes from the Jeep and balanced it on her hip, feeling the strange, giddy swirl of nerves and excitement bubbling inside her.
New city. New life. New everything.
And possibly, she thought, new friends — if she could survive the moving process.
Graham
From the second-floor office window, Graham Carter watched the scene unfold with a familiar sinking feeling.
Miles had mentioned a new tenant moving in today. A photographer, he’d said. Energetic. Creative. “You’ll like her,” Miles had promised, like that meant anything.
Graham crossed his arms over his chest, surveying the girl and her beast of a dog sprawled on the sidewalk.
She was small, with messy hair twisted up in a bun, wearing a giant sweatshirt that almost swallowed her whole.
Bright, he thought immediately. Too bright.
She hoisted a box into her arms with some difficulty, laughing when her dog tried to follow and nearly took her down with him.
From his perch, Graham could also see the coffee shop — The Nook — bustling beside the apartment entrance. A few customers were already perched at the outdoor tables, sipping lattes and scrolling through phones.
He watched as the girl struggled with her keys, the leash, the box, and her own feet, somehow managing to look triumphant when she finally juggled everything inside.
Graham could practically hear the chaos radiating off her from up here.
He should go back to his spreadsheet. He had reports due. Deadlines.
Instead, he stood there, watching longer than he meant to.
This was going to be a disaster.
He told himself he didn’t care. He managed the building from a distance. That was it.
Still, he found himself lingering at the window a few seconds longer than necessary.
Tessa
By the time Tessa wrangled her first two boxes upstairs and dumped them inside her tiny new apartment, she was dripping sweat and Moose was trying to climb onto the single chair she’d managed to drag from home.
“You’re no help,” she told him fondly, wiping her forehead with the sleeve of her sweatshirt.
Moose thumped his tail.
Her stomach rumbled. Loudly.
Tessa hesitated for half a second — and then shrugged. “Pizza can wait,” she said. “We need caffeine. And friends.”
The coffee shop was only a few steps away — literally attached to the side of the building. The open door spilled out the smell of fresh pastries and espresso, wrapping around her like a hug.
Inside, the space was warm and cozy, filled with mismatched chairs and tables, fairy lights strung across the ceiling.
Behind the counter, a woman about her age — with curly auburn hair and a sunflower tattoo peeking out from her sleeve — looked up and grinned.
“Hey there! Welcome to The Nook. First time?”
“Yeah,” Tessa said, smiling back instantly. “I just moved in… next door, I guess?”
The woman’s grin widened.
“Oh! You must be the new tenant Miles was talking about. I’m Lucy.”
“Tessa,” she said, stepping forward to shake her hand. “And this is Moose.”
Moose, delighted by all the attention and new smells, attempted to jump up on the counter, his giant paws scrabbling at the wood.
Lucy laughed, reaching over to scratch him behind the ears. “Friendly guy, huh?”
“The friendliest,” Tessa agreed. “Also the clumsiest. Sorry in advance.”
Lucy waved her off. “Please. You should see Miles after three cups of coffee. Moose is practically graceful by comparison.”
Tessa laughed, feeling the knot of nerves in her stomach ease a little.
This place — the twinkle lights, the smell of cinnamon, the easy kindness in Lucy’s voice — already felt more like home than she’d expected.
Lucy slid a menu across the counter. “First drink’s on me,” she said. “Welcome to the neighborhood.”
Tessa beamed.
Maybe — just maybe — she’d made the right choice after all.
Graham
From his office window above The Nook, Graham watched the girl — Tessa — accept a coffee from Lucy and sit at one of the outside tables, Moose sprawling across her feet like a living rug.
She tossed her head back, laughing at something Lucy said, and the sunlight caught in her messy hair like a halo.
He should be working.
He had a spreadsheet open on his computer. An expense report waiting for his signature.
Instead, he leaned one arm against the window frame, watching the way she fit into the afternoon — bright and messy and utterly alive.
Too bright, he reminded himself.
Too loud.
Too much.
She’d shake up the building. Wake the neighbors. Wreak havoc.
He didn’t like unpredictability. Didn’t need it.
But even as he turned back to his desk, he caught himself thinking — just for a second — that maybe, maybe…
The building could survive a little chaos.
Maybe he could too.
Baawa Unfiltered 