DIEGO AND NEELA'S APARTMENT COMPLEX - AFTERNOON
@diegcfms
She'd finally started to leave her apartment building for more than just the mail. Or a (slow) walk around the block. She'd spent the past two weeks traipsing around town, familiarizing herself with all the local spots, actually buying her own groceries instead of getting them delivered. And it was exhausting. Hopeful, in a weird way, but still exhausting. Neela needed a rest day. Time for her broken body to recover. The fibro fatigue felt worse than a hangover, and it usually took several days of nothingness to get her back to her baseline level of functioning. Hah. "Functioning."
She stayed in bed for as long as possible before Greg, her French Bulldog puppy (her Thanksgiving present to herself!) stirred and needed to be let out to be relieved. Too bone-tired to change out of her pajamas—a ratty old shirt and a pair of bright pink pants with cartoon lemons on them—Neela stood outside of her apartment building with little to no shame about it. Once Greg had done his business, and her back had cracked while bending to clean up his mess, Neela led the puppy on his leash back inside the apartment complex. She took the elevator up to her floor, and was greeted by the sight of Diego, one of her neighbors, upon the doors opening. Her cheeks flushed brighter than her pajamas, suddenly (finally) self-aware of her attire. Not that it really mattered too much; Diego had only ever seen her as a complete and utter mess. Crying because of Izzy, or hearing them fight through thin apartment walls. Neela's hair a matted mess, in the same clothes as yesterday during her self-imposed isolation, when he'd catch her rifling through her mail in the lobby. Her looking so disheveled probably wasn't anything new for him, huh?
Neela tried to swallow the feeling of embarrassment and waved hello to him, Greg's leash twisted around her wrist. "Hey, how are you?" She asked, finding her voice. Smiling. He had a stack of fliers in his hand—the sight of the rainbow flag quickly captured her attention. "What d'you got there?" Neela angled her chin in the direction of his project, curiosity replacing her chagrin. Better to talk about that, or Diego in general, than the state of herself or her outfit.