Free Rescued: A Festive Novella by J'aimee Brooker

Chapter One
     
    “And that”, Anya sighed, dramatically falling into the overstuffed and uncomfortable couch that she called a bed, “is it! Christmas can officially come now; food, presents, and most importantly our wine is here, safe and sound!”
    Christmas had never been important to Anya; the memories of the Christmas that changed her life were still too raw, too real to distance herself from. But, Sophie was the closest she had to family now and she didn’t want to deny her best friend a day of relaxing and celebrating.
    “Anya! You should’ve told me you were shopping today, I’d have come and helped” chided Sophie as she walked into the living room in a revealing navy and white striped bikini, hair swept into a high ponytail and sunscreen in hand.
    “That’s exactly the reason I didn’t tell you Soph. I’ve seen how much your ‘help’ costs” Anya laughed, instinctively grabbing the sunscreen from Sophie’s outstretched hand and rubbing the cream into her friend’s shoulders and back.
    Sophie was the quintessential Aussie girl; legs that stretched on forever, long blonde hair and the palest of blue eyes. By comparison, Anya with her darker hair, generous smattering of freckles and shorter, curvier figure had always felt plain. Add to that, Sophie with her outgoing personality and carefree attitude to life and love as opposed to Anya’s preference for intense long-term relationships made them truly as opposite as two friends could be, yet somehow their friendship worked. Their bond had been forged as little girls and though the years saw each undergo their separate highs and lows, their friendship had always endured, had always grown stronger and firmer with each passing year. 
    “Swimmers, Anya” Sophie ordered, shifting easily into her usual bossy role, “I’m desperate to get to the beach, I can’t handle this heat! It’s crazy out there, like 35 degrees or something…” she trailed off, grabbing bags of groceries and haphazardly putting them away.
    “Ok, ok” laughed Anya, reaching over to pick up the bag that held Sophie’s Christmas present before walking down to Sophie’s bedroom and pulling out a sensible black monokini from the dresser that belonged to her and slid it on, staring back at her reflection at how the immodest swimwear brought out her curvaceous figure. For years, Sophie had begged her to ditch her one-piece swimmers but Anya could never feel comfortable in public in a bikini, so she’d compromised on a monokini which offered just enough coverage to make her slightly less self-conscious.
    Searching for a suitable hiding spot for Sophie’s present, Anya knew the time had come to talk to Sophie about their living arrangement; they’d have to move soon, the one-bedroom setup had stopped working months earlier and was now simply impossible.
    They’d been so desperate to leave their hometown of North Grove in June that one day they’d simply packed what belongings they had into Sophie’s SUV and travelled east until they hit the coastline of Sydney. A week in a backpackers hostel had been a little too much of an eye-opener and when Anya saw the ‘For Rent’ advert in the local paper for this one-bedroom flat with “ocean glimpses” and refreshing “crosswinds” it seemed too good to be true. But, the price was right and the location, just a minute away from the iconic Bondi Beach was too good to refuse, so it was decided and they moved in that afternoon.
    Anya, with her insomnia and unrelenting nightmares had volunteered to take up residency in the lounge room, which though logical meant Anya had no privacy and nowhere to really call her own. To a degree, Anya didn’t care—what did she have anyway? It’s not as though she needed privacy for anything other than being able to wallow and hide away from life, particularly at this time of the year. It was the second anniversary of her life being torn apart, her second year alone in the world, the second