Cyberspace Romance

Zoey sung along to the CD player as she organized her closet. She knew that a move was soon, and she wanted to do some stuff early. She was separating the items of clothing she wanted to take to West Chester with her, and the items she wanted to discard. She planned on donating them to the homeless shelter in town.

She was beaming with excitement. She had just settled all the paperwork for the lawsuit this morning and taken care of everything else. She had emailed Linda, and let her know she was interested in buying the home. She was waiting for a phone call. She had also phoned Jessica, her last day of work would be Friday. She couldn't wait to move, and start a new phase in her life.

"Zoe! Zoe!" Ryder walked into her bedroom laughing. He had also been cleaning out his closet for the move. He held up a tiny baby blue shirt, that he had wore when he was six or seven.
"Haha-- I have a pink one." Zoey said fishing through the pile of clothes in the corner. She held up the pink shirt that she had been forced to wear when Ryder wore his baby blue one.

Ryder laughed and then folded the shirt up. He would keep it forever-- just as his mother planned to do.

"The real estate woman call yet?" Ryder questioned.
"Not yet-- I only emailed her two hours ago, she might wait til this afternoon." Zoey said.

Ryder nodded his head and walked out of the room, he still had hours of sorting through clothes a head of him. Zoey groaned looking at the pile of shoes in the bottom of her closet. She didn't know why she bought them. She normally just wore her raggy pair of converse, or a simply pair of flip flops. She had over ten pairs of heels, but never saw the purpose of having them. She decided to keep a pair of plain black heels, and a pair of white heels, the rest of them could be discarded.

After two more hours of discarding clothing, she ended up having two large black garbage bags full of clothes for the shelter. She packed them into the living room and tossed them in the corner. She could drop them off on her way to work in the morning. Just as she started to walk back through her house, the phone started ringing. She rushed over to it; in hope of it being Linda.

"Miss Moore?" The lady on the other end ask -- Zoey could tell it was Linda.
"This is she." Zoey said, trying to hide her excitement.
"Hello, this is Linda, the real estate lady from West Chester. I was just calling to talk to you about your email." Linda said.
"Yes, yes. Uhm. I'm ready to pay straight out for the house. I'd like to move in as quickly as possible." Zoey said.
"I'm sorry, Miss Moore. But the house was purchased two days ago." Linda said.

Zoey's heart dropped to the pits of her stomach. Someone had bought the house? Her perfect house? How was that possible? No one had even showed an interest in the small white house for two years, and as soon as she wanted it; someone bought it.

"But-- I thought you said no one was interested in it." Zoey said confused.
"I had no clue this woman was interested- Miss Rothsetin just contacted me, and said she wanted it. I'm sorry Miss Moore." The woman said.

Zoey mumbled a hateful goodbye to the woman. She had no intentions on being rude-- but she was pissed. She had made plans of moving to this house-- made plans of making it her new home, and now it was gone and she was going to have to start from scratch. She knew Ryder would be angry about this. She decided to break the news to him right away. She walked over to his door, and knocked gently on it. She heard him yell 'Come In' and pushed open the white door.

His room looked like a tornado hit it. Clothing was scattered everywhere. Game systems were unplugged and set into boxes; skateboards were lined up against the wall ready for the move. Zoey bit on her bottom lip as she looked over at her brother, who was sitting in the middle of the floor tossing through older magazines that he hadn't seen in years.

"Hey. . .That was the real estate lady." She mumbled.
"Great! So when are we moving?" Ryder ask.
"We're not. . . not yet. Someone bought the house, Ry." She said.
"What? Are you fucking kidding me! Who the fuck wants a small house like that besides you!" He said.

Zoey burrowed her brows together. He had just insulted her and didn't even catch on to it.

"Linda said a Rothstein bought it suddenly."
"I knew fucking seeing Jessica Rothstein there was trouble!" Ryder said getting up from the floor. Zoey could see the rage building in his eyes.
"Wait-- what, who?" She questioned him.
"You know the girl on the porch? I thought she looked familiar-- the more I thought about her-- the more I recognized her to be Missy's little sister. She probably saw you looking at the house, and then went over and inspected it. . ." Ryder said.
"And once she found out I was interested in buying, she informed Missy, and she bought it instead." Zoey said finishing his thoughts. "Unbelievable." She muttered.

She couldn't believe Missy was going to these extremes to make her unhappy. Rude conversations in a grocery store was one thing, talking shit in a magazine was another. But buying property and a home that Zoey had picked out-- was just horrible.

"She really wants me to go to jail for murder, doesn't she?" Zoey said walking out of the room.

She wasn't going to allow this to get the better of her. Missy couldn't keep screwing up her life. There was other houses for sale in West Chester. Whether Missy liked it or not, Zoey was moving there and being with Bam. She walked over and picked up her cordless phone. She knew Bam was helping Chad with something, but she needed to tell him this. She wanted to inform him of how pathetic his ex wife was being. How immature the woman was.

Bam picked up on the third ring.

"What's up, babe?" He questioned.
"Someone bought the house." Zoey said, skipping right to the point.
"What? You're kidding me! Who the fuck bought it?" Bam said, not figuring she'd actually know who the owner was.
"Oh, That's the funny part. Missy bought it." Zoey said.
"Missy? Missy bought the house?" Bam said.
"Mhm." Zoey replied.

Bam bit down on his bottom lip while he thought about why Missy would buy the house. He had heard rumors of her living with David in New York-- and she had only won 100,000 dollars in the divorce (along with the lambo, and any other presents he had purchased/gave to her while they were married). He knew she had probably already spent through most of that. So what would influence her to buy a small 60,000 dollar home, when her boyfriend owned a nice sized house in New York? He didn't understand it.

"Why would she buy it?" He questioned.
"Out of spite." Zoey mumbled.
"Zoe. . Baby, I'm so sorry." Bam said, knowing how much she wanted the house.
"Don't worry, it's not your fault. However-- I'm sick of being nice. Next time I see her; don't be surprised if I don't get a bit physical." Zoey warned him.
"Babe--"
"No, Bam! I'm serious. She doesn't know who she's messing with. I've been nice so far. I'm done playing the nice card." Zoey said.

Bam tried to calm her down; but truth be told she didn't need to be calmed down. She was actually feeling fine about the situation. Zoey had gave Missy several chances-- and even remained as civil as she could in the situation. But she was truly done playing the nice girl game-- if Missy wanted a war, then Zoey wasn't scared of a challenge.

Once Bam ended his phone conversation with Zoey, he ran his fingers through his hair. He couldn't believe Missy. Her behavior was totally childish and immature. But he truly didn't expect anything else from her. The day she left-- she swore she'd make his life a living hell, and she was doing a damn good job so far.

"What happened?" Chad questioned.
"You know how Zoey found the perfect house for her?" Bam said, Chad nodded.
"Missy fucking bought it." Bam said.
"Are you fucking kidding me? How insane is Missy? Dude, Zoey's not going to take much more. . . She's going to catch Missy out and give her exactly what she has coming to her." Chad said, he had got to know Zoey pretty well the last time she was in West Chester. He liked her character, and was glad she was a girl who stood up for her self and didn't let anyone walk over her.
"I know. . I don't know what to do." Bam said.

He and Chad decided that work was done for today. Bam decided to stop off and see his parents before he headed home for the night. Ape was always glad to see him; especially since he had started dating Zoey. Every time she saw him, she never failed to mention how happy he looked. He didn't bother knocking; he walked straight into the home. Phil was sitting in the recliner reading a newspaper, while Ape was painting in the corner of the room.

"What a surprise! I like these random visits." Ape said, coming over and hugging her son. She noticed he wasn't his usual self though. The smirk wasn't on his face, and the life in his eyes was gone at the moment. She instantly wondered if something had happened between him and Zoey.
"What's wrong?" She questioned, taking a seat beside him.
"Zoey didn't get the house." Bam mumbled.
"Why not?" Ape questioned.
"Missy bought it." He said looking over at his mom.

Phil folded the newspaper and set it on the table. He looked at Bam with disbelief.

"What do you mean Missy bought it?" Ape said.
"I mean. . . Missy owns the house Zoey wanted. The real estate lady called her today, and said a Miss Rothstein bought it. . . Well, Ryder thought he had saw Jessica walk into it the day he and Zoey left. It makes sense-- Missy's not going to stop until she really makes my life a living hell." Bam said.
"How's Zoey holding up?" Ape ask.
"She's calm. . . though, I really think if she see's Missy out-- things might get physical."

Ape was never the one to enjoy violence. She had always frowned upon it, but under the situation Zoey had been placed in. She really wouldn't blame her if she clocked Missy. She couldn't believe the girl was stooping to these extremes in trying to make her son unhappy.

"Maybe I could talk to Barbra and see if she knows about any houses in the area." Ape said, remembering an acquaintance from one of her paint classes.
"Could you?" Bam pleaded.

His mother nodded his head. He hated that Zoey was being put through this. He knew Missy couldn't keep it up forever though. No one was interested in what she had to say anymore. She would soon run out of money from the divorce-- and then what. What was left for her to do?