Some bad luck, but mostly good luck

Mackenzie's good luck didn't last too long. Normally she kept a spare key hidden in a fake plastic rock in near her backdoor. But, as she remembered with a grimace upon finding the container empty, she had neglected to place the key back in the rock last time she used it. Mackenzie was locked out of her house. She tried to get the spare key she'd lent her neighbor, but Rachel hadn't answered the door. And perhaps that was for the best, as Mackenzie still wasn't exactly sure if she was on good terms with her or not.

Luckily, Samantha was generous enough to drive Mackenzie over to Marianne's apartment. But after standing on the front landing in just a skimpy robe, buzzing the apartment for a full two minutes, Mackenzie had to conclude that Marianne wasn't home either. And it wasn't like she could text her friend, since her phone had been lost. Mackenzie would simply have to wait for Marianne to come home for the night. She wasn't exactly looking forward to standing in front of the building for who knew how long. Maybe someone would be nice enough to let her into the lobby, but Mackenzie wasn't counting on it. But before she began her long wait, she walked back to thank Samantha again and to let her know she could leave.

"No luck, huh?" Samantha asked empathetically.

"Nope..." Mackenzie muttered, "She must be out to dinner with her boyfriend or something. Anyway, thank you so so much for all your help tonight!"

"You know..." Samantha said, seeming to sense that Mackenzie was about to dismiss her, "If you want you could just crash on my couch for the night. I know we don't really know each other but I'd just feel terrible if I left you stranded and barely dressed. Then I can bring you back to your friend's place tomorrow morning."

"Oh!" Mackenzie said, genuinely surprised by the woman's generosity. She glanced back over at the dimly lit landing for a moment and immediately made up her mind. "That would be amazing, thank you."

So, Mackenzie climbed back in the car and a few minutes later they were pulling up to a small apartment building not too far away from Mackenzie's place.

"Here we are!" the sandy-haired woman said. She unlocked the front door and led Mackenzie up to the second floor before entering her apartment. "It's not much to look at..."

"No, it's great!" Mackenzie said. "Thank you so much again Samantha."

"It's nothing, really. Especially after all you've been through today." She dumped her purse on a nearby table and kicked her shoes off. "I'm gonna go take a shower, but feel free to borrow something to wear tonight." The tall woman pointed at a nearby doorway as she stepped into the bathroom. "That's my room. Grab whatever you want from the top right drawer. That's where I keep my sleep stuff."

Mackenzie thanked her once again, glad to have met someone so kindhearted for a change. As she heard the water turning on, Mackenzie entered Samantha's bedroom and made her way over to the big wooden dresser.