Christina Walters

In most neighborhoods, it's an event when someone moves to town. Upon seeing a moving van, neighbors start peaking out from behind curtains and spending a little more time at their mailboxes just to get a few glimpses of their new neighbor without appearing nosey. A new neighbor means a world of social possibilities. Everyone wonders which gym they'll be joining, if they have the cooking abilities to make the quiche that's been missing from the monthly dinner party or if they'll have the common sense to paint over that horrible canary color. Yes, in most neighborhoods, a new arrival opens the door to a world of social possibility but in our town, things are a little different.

When Christina Walters came to town, all she could see was a world of manicured lawns and breezy palm trees. As she breathed in the salt air, she thought to herself "This is the nicest place in the world." A New York runway model who surprised the entire industry with her premature retirement, she had left the fast paced streets of the city for a fresh, sunny start. As she mutters a few instructions as to where the chaise lounge should be placed in the den, she catches the eye of a housewife peaking out from behind a beautiful lace curtain across the street. She waves and smiles enthusiastically and is met with a lackluster smile as the housewife disappears momentarily and reappears again at her front door. They strike up a polite conversation and Christina is invited to spend Friday night out at a local bar with a few ladies from the neighborhood. Christina is elated. Not even in town for a few hours and already invited out!

Friday night comes and Christina takes one last look in the mirror. She really is breathtaking. Long naturally blonde hair, flawless skin, a perfect figure and eyes the color of cinnamon. She thinks the same thing she's thought the entire week, "Moving here was the best decision of my life." A 5 minute drive later, she is at the bar with a cosmo in her hand. She doesn't say much, just listens as her new friends ramble on about local gossip with the occasional comment on a new accessory they picked up at Gucci that afternoon. Christina is utterly bored. She turns to the bartender, orders three shots of Patron and to the surprise of her new friends, throws them back in short succession without a chaser. She hits the dance floor and it isn't long until one strap on her dress has fallen off her shoulder and she's dancing for a cute guy on the hardly used stripper pole in the corner. In many neighborhoods, ladies pass the time with arts and crafts but here, they judge. Once the initial shock wears off that is exactly what happens. The girls decide that this newcomer is trouble and will definitely not be coming to poker night. But there is one of them that doesn't seem as surprised as the others by what she is seeing and just quietly watches what is happening on the dance floor.

Three weeks later, Christina is awoken by Miley Cyrus playing on her new flip Blackberry Pearl. It's Veronica, she tells Christina that Sunday night all the girls get together to play poker and she wants Christina to join her for a pre-game cosmo. As they sip on their drinks that night, Christina fills Veronica in on her recent adventures in town. Veronica is amazed by how much Christina has partied since she came to town. Since Christina has more money than she could possibly spend, she has chosen to take a break from working and just enjoy the local hotspots. Poker night turns out to be a less than enjoyable experience for her now that the inviting smiles have faded from everyone's faces and have been replaced with sideways glances and backhanded compliments. Many more nights like this follow and Christina endures them because she doesn't know very many other people and the ones that she does know don't go out hardly as much as these ladies. She's a city girl at heart and can't fathom spending a Friday night in her kitchen perfecting her mother's quiche recipe. Actually, when she thinks about it one Tuesday afternoon, she realizes that she doesn't know any other group in town that gets as many social invites as these gals.

The next few months are rough. Christina has invested a significant amount of her fortune is a new nightclub and is there almost every night, not so much managing her new business as dancing with her top off on the bar. Veronica and her friends frequent the bar since the drinks are always on Christina and you really can't beat the 20.000 gallon aquarium that Christina had installed underneath the glass dance floor. It's true, the girls would never miss a Saturday at Christina's but every time she hops off the bar to ask if they want another round, she can tell that they've just been talking about her. Yes, the girls are always talking about Christina Walters but it's never very nice.

Her relationship with Veronica continues to grow. Veronica curbs her desire to judge her new friend and rather, tries to see what's inside the pretty packaging. Over the next few months, the two start talking almost every day and become socially inseparable, to the continued dismay of Veronica's inner circle. It's one thing to always be in VIP at Christina's but it quite another to share a table with her at brunch. One day, as they are all lounging around the pool, Samantha casually asks, in between sips of her iced tea, "Where's Christina?" Veronica slowly sets down the newest issue of Runway and responds, "Why do you care? You don't even like the girl." Samantha slides off her Prada sunglasses and says in a tone meant to end this conversation, "I. Am. Just. Wondering."

Over the next few weeks, Veronica notices that Samantha and Christina are often off on their own sharing friendly banter. She wonders how she hadn't noticed this before. It isn't long until all the other girls join Samantha in being nice to Christina. This all happens so quickly that it leaves Veronica a little stunned. Veronica and Christina sometimes sit and reminisce about the way things used to be. Veronica is content knowing that Christina is a strong person and will survive whatever this town throws at her and Christina is just happy that she has someone who will always be up for a cosmo and chat.

It's during one of these cosmo and chats that Veronica hears some commotion outside. She walks over to the bay window, pulls back the lace curtain and displays her trademark lackluster smile. As she walks to the front door, she turns and says to Christina, "This totally adorable girl is moving in next door to you. I'm going to invite her out for drinks on Friday."