She sat with trembling fingers, trying to steady them. Concentrate, Cairo. You haven't write much in a month. Get your act together, she scolded. She stared blankly at the screen. Writer's block. Great. It was only the second time that Cairo had ever come across it. The first was before she had moved, but then it wasn't writing the story, it was finding an idea to write about. But this was different and all the more frustrating. She had an idea, she had three quarters of it finished.

But she couldn't write a word with out erasing it. Nothing seemed to please her. Enough of this, she thought and stood up. She saved her file, backed it up on a disk, shoved the disk into the desk and went and sat outside.

It was early in the morning, still. The sun still shone down with the yellow tinge that it had, only in the morning. She breathed in the fragrant air and looked at her watch. 10:45 a.m. What time did he say he'd be here? She asked herself. He didn't. After a few minutes, Cairo gave up the illusion that she wasn't waiting for his return, and disgusted with herself, she stormed into the house. She walked over to the fridge to find something to drink, when suddenly she heard what she had been listening for.

A car door slammed shut. She heard a voice, so familiar it made her heart ache. Gulping down the small amount of juice that she had poured, she threw the glass down and raced to look out the window of her front door.

Only to see the people across the street arriving home, presumably from vacation. Get a grip, Cairo. You're being pathetic. He'll be home some time today, stop freaking every time you hear a car drive by, she ordered herself. She was just about to turn around and assess the damage done to her glass when she had thrown it down when she heard a car pull up. She whipped around and glanced out her window.

There he was. The car pulled up in Nick's driveway. She saw his tall blond figure step out of the car, and she was out her door like a shot.

"Nick!" she called out. He turned around smiling, and she ran towards him, and before she knew it, she was hugging him fiercely.

"You're back!" she exclaimed, pulling back.

"That I am. Much better reception than I got last time, that's for sure," he said, remembering what had happened the last time he had returned from a tour. Just then, a high pitched voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Hi, I'm Veronica, Nick's girlfriend," a woman of medium height with black hair and dark features said, stepping out of the car. Cairo felt as if she'd been punched in the stomach.

"Nick?" Cairo asked questioningly, as Veronica put her arm around Nick's waist and looked up at him expectantly.

"Cairo, this is Veronica. Veronica, my neighbor Cairo," he said glumly. Cairo was in shock. Girlfriend? He never told me about a girlfriend. I guess that would expect the telephone silence that had lasted for two months, she thought sadly.

"Oh, you're Cairo. Wow, I heard a lot about you. I would have expected someone prettier, though," she said thoughtfully. Cairo eyes widened at the unexpected rudeness of this girl.

"Veronica!" Nick exclaimed, clearly shocked.

"I'll be in the house, Nicky," she dismissed him, picking up a bag and walking away.

"So, you have a girlfriend?" Cairo asked quietly, when Veronica was safely out of earshot.

"I have to explain that to you, because…well, it's something that needs explaining," he started to say.

"What's there to explain?" Cairo broke in, her voice rising as the shock of the situation became more real, until it had sunken in.

"You'd be surprised," he commented, sounding slightly bitter.

"Talk about surprises? What about this? You come home and you don't even tell me about her? I mean, when were you going to let me know? The day of your wedding?" Cairo demanded, pain turning into outrage.

"Cairo, calm down. There's more to this than what it looks like," he tried to reason.

"Well, from it looks like, there can't be much more. You have a girlfriend. How long? And why didn't you tell me? I thought we were friends, and friends normally tell each other these kinds of things," Cairo yelled.

"Kay, you'll understand it all when I've had a chance to tell-"

"NICK! Come here!" the shrill voice bellowed, interrupting him.

"I can't talk now, but I will later, okay?" he promised. Cairo nodded and turned around and walked into her house. This was not at all what she had expected. No, correction. It's the last thing you expected, her mind screamed.