Chapter Three, Part One

"So I can count on you to pair with Molly and help her put together that research program?" I asked as I walked Nick to the door.

"Of course, I'll help her. Have you mentioned any of this to the Hospital Administrator though? You know Juan, hates it when employees put together these kinds of things without him knowing." Nick asked, looking at me with curious eyes. Nick is one of my closest friends here in Twinbrook, ever since seeing me moping in the hospital cafeteria four years ago. It was probably a week or so after I had learned that Shamus was married and that he had hidden it from me for some unknown reason. Nick was a new employee at the hospital, I remember reading his name on some employee form and happened to notice the date that he would be starting work there. But what I didn't know was how great we would get along together, and before you even start to think that I have a crush on Nick, you're mistaken. He's a sweet guy, but in more of a big brother type of way, so it would be pretty awkward if either of us ever made a romantic advance on the other. The point is, Shamus and I aren't as close as we once were, but we have managed to stay friends, sort of.

"Don't worry about it Nick. I've got this under control. I already left him a detailed letter about the whole project, so it should be fine. Besides, I'm the Head Surgeon at the hospital, and not many people ever have anything negative to say about the medical research programs I set up." I reassured him, as I opened the door for him to exit. "I'll see you at work." A smile appeared on my face as I waited for him to be on his way out, it was getting close to time for dinner and I had a million things left to do before work in the morning.

"Okay, okay, I trust you then. I'll see you later." Nick smiled, and let out a little laugh as he gave me a quick hug and then started out the door, only to stop and turn to face me once more. "I almost forgot, Estelle... I, um, sort of told a buddy of mine that I would introduce him to you."

"You did what?" My eyes widened at this unexpected news, and no matter how many words I wanted to say to him right at that moment, I couldn't force myself to put together a coherent sentence.

"Wow! Calm down, Estelle.. Let me explain... You see, my friend Jay, he just moved here to Twinbrook, and he is a really nice guy. He's really just needing to expand his group of friends, and I thought it would be nice if the two of you could get together and maybe be friends." Nick explained, his voice was serious so I knew he wasn't messing around with me and that what he was telling me about this Jay, guy was true.

"Well... I guess it wouldn't hurt to go hang out with the guy, besides I could always use another friend." A smile spread across my face as I became a little more familiar with the idea of becoming friends with someone new.

"Oh, and he's single!" Nick randomly added, after hearing what he had hoped I would say, but when the word single registered in my brain, I shot my friend a glare.

"Don't. Even. Go. There.." I stated, still shooting him a nasty look.

"I was kidding! Lighten up a bit," Nick said softly, but then his lips transformed into a smirk, "besides I can't help it if I'm stating facts." And with that Nick let out a huge laugh, and decided that now would be the best time to go home. Good thing too, because I was literally about three seconds away from punching him in the head. Before Nick left, he handed me a piece of paper that had a number scribbled on it, and the name 'Jay Welsh' written above it. A sigh escaped my lips and even though I wanted to curse at Nick for teasing me, I knew that he had my best interests in mind and if he thought this guy was worth me being friends with then, I was going to give it a shot.

Twenty minutes passed after Nick left, and the repairman finally got the television fixed. After paying the fifty dollars it took for the guy to come out to the house and repair the television and seeing him out the door, I went into my bedroom and pulled out my cell phone. For several moments I started at the keypad, and thought about if I really wanted to call this guy and ask him if he wanted to hang out sometime. However my stomach started rumbling, which caused me to be pulled from my thought process. "I can do this." I said to myself as I took out the piece of paper with Jay's number written on it. After carefully looking over the numbers on the paper, I began to punch it in on my phone, and within seconds my thumb hit the call button and I placed the cell to my ear.

The sound of the phone ringing on the other end made me nervous, it wasn't even a big deal to be calling this guy. As I listened to the ringing on the other end of the line, I made up my mind that I was going to invite him out to dinner with me tonight, I really didn't feel like cooking anyway, and I really wanted to meet/hang out with the guy as soon as possible just to please Nick. 

Riiinnnggg... Riiinnnggg... Riiinnnggg... Riiinn--

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Jay Welsh?" My voice was cheerful as it normally was, and for some reason the nervousness that I had felt only moments before my call was answered suddenly dissappeared. It was as if, I were the most confident woman on the face of the planet, which is a stretch in most aspects of my life, except for work.

"Yes, this is he... May I ask who's calling?" Jay asked, his voice was so gentle and friendly, there was just something about it that made me smile to myself.

"My name is Estelle Rodriguez, I'm friends with Nick Knack, he gave me your number and said to call you." I replied, as I explained how I got a hold of his number.

"Oh, okay... Yeah, Nick said he was going to introduce me to a really good friend of his. I just didn't expect him to be so quick to give you my number." Jay laughed as he spoke the last part of his statement.

"Hah, well, that's Nick for ya. He always gets things done when he tells someone he's going to do it. But yeah, he told me that you would be interested in hanging out sometime..." I let my voice trail off for a moment before I finished what I was going to say. Mostly so that I could give Jay a chance to object to hanging out any time soon, but when there was silence on the other end, I quickly began speaking again. "...and I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go get some dinner with me in, I don't know... about, thirty minutes?"

"Sure, that sounds great. Where do you want to eat at?"

"Let's go eat at Brunton's Boxcar Diner. I heard that place was amazing."

"Okay. So I will see you there, in thirty minutes!" Jay replied quickly, his voice now showing signs of excitement, which got me excited too. Once we had said our goodbyes on the phone, I quickly hung up and went to check my make-up in the mirror, even though this was just a friendly, get-to-know-each-other type of hang out session, I still wanted to make sure I looked okay. And since we were just going to the local diner I saw no need to dress up in anything too fancy, so my every day attire was perfect for this occasion.

Before I knew it, I had already wasted about fifteen minutes just checking my make-up in the bathroom mirror. But it was okay since I had said thirty minutes until we would meet up at the diner, so I still had a little bit of time. It was almost seven o'clock in the evening and the last rays of daylight were starting to fade away as I exited my house and headed for Brunton's Boxcar Diner.

When I arrived at the diner, I saw a large group of people standing around talking, laughing, some debating on whether or not they actually wanted to go inside and have a meal. But to my surprise I didn't see anyone else outside that seemed to be waiting or looking for someone else to arrive. That was until I fought my way through the sea of people and emerged on the other side. There he was, a young man, around my age, dressed in a rather nice grey suit standing by himself. Immediately, I knew that was Jay Welsh, he was the reason that I was venturing out into the town during the evening hours instead of running around at home, performing my nightly clean up ritual. I took a deep breath, and approached him, and within seconds we were standing face to face.

"Hey, you must be Jay. I'm Estelle." I offered him a bright, friendly smile as I extended my hand out for him to shake. But instead of him grabbing my hand like I was used to, he just kind of stood there, it was almost as if he was in shock or something.

"W-wow.. You're beautiful!" Jay managed to speak after standing there for a good minute in silence with a look of pure shock on his face. Then suddenly he snapped out of it and grabbed my hand, shaking it a couple times before letting go. "Oh jeez, I'm sorry.. I hope I didn't offend you. But yes, I'm Jay, we spoke just a little while ago on the phone." He said softly.

"Don't worry about it." I laughed as I kept my eyes focused on his face. "You're not too bad looking yourself." I replied, my voice taking on a slightly flirty tone. But once I realized what I had said, my cheeks turns a light shade of pink. My gaze was set on Jay's face, as I saw him smile from the second part of my statement, he definitely felt like less of a fool now, even though I felt like a big one. He was obviously flirting with me, and I had just obviously flirted back. This seemed like an all too familiar feeling in the bottom of my stomach, but somehow it did feel a bit different. Quickly, I shrugged off all the feelings I was starting to feel and redirected the conversation. "Let's go eat, I'm starving!" With that being said, Jay nodded in approval and we both entered inside the diner for a hopefully amazing meal.

Dinner was great and we had a wonderful conversation about all sorts of things, like how we both wanted to visit Champs Les Sims one day and view the art gallery there, as well as go to the nectary and for a tasting. We also talked about my job as a Surgeon at the hospital, and how Jay was currently looking for a job, but really would love to start a career in something artistic, such as becoming a painter or a famous pianist. We were engaged so deeply in our conversation and having such a great time chatting and getting to know each other that we had lost track of time. It was almost ten o'clock and the diner was closing down for the night. Needless to say we were shooed out by the manager, seeing as he was tired and was ready to get home for the night.

Once more we found ourselves standing outside of the diner, only this time there wasn't a large cluster of people hanging around in front of the diner. We continued to talk and laugh more, but when we noticed the lights inside the diner turned off, we decided that it would be best to leave. But where would we go now? Thinking for a moment on where we sould continue our awesome hang out session, my brain came up with an excellent idea.

"Jay, do you want to come over to my place for a bit?" I asked quickly, a large smile on my face, as I waited for his answer.

"Right now? It's getting late, I don't want to keep you up any longer, I know you probably have a million other things that are way more interesting than hanging out with me." He replied as he locked his eyes on mine.

"It's fine, really. I'll get enough sleep... Please come over, just for an hour and then you can leave and I'll go to bed. I want to hear more about Sunset Valley." I replied, looking up into his eyes, and giving him a bit of the puppy dog eyes.

"Ugh... Okay, fine, you win!" Jay finally said in defeat, with a small grin on his face. "Just for an hour though, I don't want you to be performing a surgery and then pass out in the middle of it from a lack of sleep."

"Yay!" My voice came out way too excited and happy that he agreed to come over to my place for just an hour. But he didn't mind my extreme enthusiasim, and he wasn't being forced to say yes to come over, even though I did plead a little tiny bit. However, I was really enjoying his company, and for the first time in a long time I really felt like I could get used to spending time with a guy, other than Nick that is. Before long we caught sight of a taxi and we flagged it down, and hopped inside once it came to a stop in front of the diner. Within a couple minutes we were on our way to my place.

As the taxi pulled to a stop in front of my house, Jay got out quickly and ran around the car to the side I was sitting on to open my door for me. It was a nice feeling to have this guy acting so kind towards me, and it was a nice surprise that we had hit it off so well in the first place. When I got out of the taxi, Jay offered to pay the fare and then closed the door behind us.

"You know, you didn't have to pay the taxi, I could have done it." I stated as we walked together up the driveway, towards the front door of my home.

"I know, but you paid for dinner, the least I could do was pay the taxi fare, and it was no problem at all." Jay replied, his voice was so sweet and soothing to listen to, it made me want to invite him to stay the night, but I knew that asking him that when we had only just begun getting to know one another would make things between us awkward. So, instead I pushed back those thoughts and enjoyed the rest of the night with him. We chatted about our favorite books and television shows, as well as our favorite colors. There were also some really great jokes that I had to tell him, since pretty much everyone loves it when I have a new joke to toss out there randomly. But the best part of the night was when we were just being goofy and making silly faces at one another. It was nice to know that I could be my goofy, fun-loving self around Jay, something about him just made me smile.

But like all good things in this world, there must be and end to the fun at some point. So when the time reached eleven thirty, that was when our fun had to end for the night. Jay and I said our goodbyes, and I walked him to the door. The high light of the night though was when he had walked out onto the porch and turned back to face me once more and told me that he had an amazing time with me and wanted to hang out again when my schedule would allow it. When he said that my heart fluttered with joy and my stomach did a bit of a flip, but in a good way this time. Even though we had just met, this guy was quickly making me feel things that I thought took several weeks, months, and even years to feel for someone. I simply replied to him by saying that I would call him as soon as I could for our next hang out session, and that seemed to be good enough for him. With that, he took his leave and I closed the door and locked it behind me. Tonight had been long, but fun and amazing all the same.

The events of the day and night were fun and exciting, but they also caused me to become extremely sleepy. I don't even think I'm normally that tired after pulling a double shift at the hospital, which is saying a lot because my job normally sucks the energy right out of me by the end of my shift. Anyway, as soon as Jay had left and I straightened up a little around the house, I walked sleepy self into my bedroom and didn't even bother to change clothes or turn on the light when I entered the room. I just made my way to the bed, pulled the cover back and got into bed. Within moments of laying down and closing my eyes, I was asleep.

Estelle -- Chapter Two, Part Two

Ah, six o'clock in the morning, and waking up in my newly remodeled bedroom to what looks like, an already beautiful, sunny day outside. But then a sudden reminder hit me like a ton of bricks, I have to work, not to mention today I had my first vaccination clinic to work at so there was no way I could be even a second late. Now don't get me wrong, I love working, and I've worked hard the last seven months to get to where I am as a Paramedic, but today I'm just not feeling it.. Something about today just feels a bit off. There wasn't much time for me to be lazy and contemplate why I just didn't feel like getting myself up and out of bed. So I pushed myself up out of my bed and forced myself to go take a quick shower. Today was going to be a long day, I could already feel it in the pit of my stomach.

My shower was refreshing, and even though today I would have preferred to call into work and go enjoy a beautiful day at the park, it just wasn't going to happen. Once I was dressed in my work uniform, I quickly made a bowl of cereal and sat down at the table to eat it. But when I sat down, my eyes glanced around my living room/kitchen/dining room, it was all so boring looking, and a bit empty. My thoughts returned to how beautiful my bedroom looked now after the interior designers had had their way with it, yes, I would just have to call them up again and ask them to do a much larger job for me. But that will have to wait until after work, the time was now close to eight o'clock and the carpool would be here soon, so I hurriedly shoveled a few big spoonfuls into my mouth, crunching and making loud eating noises as I ate. Normally my eating habits would have been a little more lady like but I really didn't have the time, besides I live alone so there was no one to impress.

Thankfully the carpool was on time and I pretty much rushed out the door as soon as I heard the first honk, and yes, I did manage to get my bowl washed, dried, and put away all before the carpool arrived in front of my house. The ride took all of about two minutes to get to the hospital, since I only live right down the road. I could have walked, it would be a healthier alternative, but the thing is, I'm a bit lazy when it comes to actual physical exercise. When the car stopped, I quickly looked at the time on the digital clock in the car, and seeing I only had about five minutes to get inside and clock in, I literally jumped out of the car and ran for the hospital's doors.

Good thing there weren't a bunch of people outside of the hospital milling around like there have been, because if I would have gotten stuck in one of those crowds, there's no way I would have made it inside to clock in and would have been late. A smile appeared on my face as I saw Shamus emerge from his office, he waved and smiled before continuing towards the stairs. As much as I wanted to follow him and ask how his morning was so far, I knew that I couldn't, the vaccination clinic was going to be taking place at ten thirty and I had to get out there early. After walking all the way down to the clock in room, I quickly found my time card and punched it -- yeah, I thought by now the hospital would have been more current about how their employees clocked in, apparently not though. Now it was time to get going to the vaccination clinic, I then jotted my name down under the clinic duty list and wrote the time, date, and type of clinic I was performing. As soon as that was done, I headed out the door and was on my way to the cemetery to perform vaccinations.

It was crazy how many people were already there waiting for me to begin the vaccinations, now I know why they say to get there at least thirty minutes early and why some even suggest to arrive an hour early. But for my first day of vaccinating the citizens of Twinbrook, it went very smoothly and was very uneventful, who knew four hours of vaccinations could fly by so quickly? Sure I had a few who could barely tolerate the pain of getting this extra large shot in the arm, but I don't blame them, look at the size of those syringes. However the majority of the people whom I had the pleasure of vaccinating were actually pretty tolerant of the pain. Today was starting to get better, and I actually started thinking I made the correct choice in forcing myself to get up this morning. But soon it was time to go back to the hospital and write down that my vaccination clinic was finished and to get some lunch. Once everyone cleared out, I gathered all the empty syringes and placed them in the special disposal container I had brought with me and I hailed a taxi to take back to the hospital.

 After returning to the hospital at two thirty in the afternoon from performing the vaccination clinic, I had my lunch break and caught up on some medical research. It seemed like the day was flying by and I still hadn't seen Shamus all day today, it just seemed like he was avoiding me. My mind was set on finding out why Shamus had been so elusive today. Now I just needed an opportunity to talk to him and somehow ask him where he's been all day besides treating patients since we normally take our lunch break together at two forty-five in each day. But as I sat and waited for either an emergency call to come through or for Shamus to pop in and chat with me, the time passed by way too fast and before I knew it the clock on the wall read, four o'clock, which meant it was time to clock out and go home. Saddened by the fact that my friend hadn't even been able to send me a quick text telling me how swamped he was at work (if he even was that busy). So I went and punched my time card, and made sure the 'Time Out' was punched correctly, sometimes the ink doesn't transfer properly, which would be a good reason on why the hospital should upgrade their clocking in/out methods. As I exited the building, I couldn't help notice a familiar figure getting into their car, it was Shamus!

"Shamus, HEY!" I called while dashing towards his car, waving my arms about trying to get him to look my way, but apparently my attempts to get him to notice me were in vain and he didn't hear me. A sigh escaped my lips, and I felt defeated. All there was left to do now was to return home and spend the entire evening reading the new medical journal and wondering what was going on with Shamus and his weird actions today. Slowly I walked over to the carpool that was waiting to take me home and opened the door, sliding myself inside the car. Once I was in and the door was shut, I secured the seat belt around myself and before I knew it the car began moving in the direction of my home.

 It was nearing five thirty in the evening and it was beginning to get a little darker outside already. But I wasn't even feeling a tad tired yet. Normally when I get off at four in the afternoon, I'm already worn out and barely have the energy to do anything unless it involves cleaning the house, but it was already spotless. Boredom was beginning to set in as I planted myself on the couch and crossed my legs, there wasn't anything to watch on the television at the moment since my favorite show got cancelled a few months ago. There was absolutely nothing to do and it was beginning to irritate me. But just as I was about to get up, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and a second later I heard the familiar ringtone... Shamus was calling! A huge smile formed on my face as I stood up quickly, pulling my phone from my pocket and answering the call.

 "Hey Shamus!" I said cheerfully as I walked across my living room, my voice must have been way more enthusiastic than it normally is when I answer one of his phone calls because he let out a small laugh before greeting me.

"Hey Estelle," He began, his voice taking on a friendly yet serious tone. "Listen, about today, I'm really sorry about not meeting you for lunch, but I was extremely busy at work and there was a ton of paperwork to do and an even greater amount of patients to examine and treat..." Shamus explained, trailing off at the end of his sentence.

"Oh, Shamus, don't worry about it.. It's fine, but you know you could have asked me to help you out, at least on the paperwork. There weren't any emergency calls today, and the whole hour and a half I had left of work after I got done doing the vaccination clinic today was spent pretty much staring at a wall." I replied quickly, my voice took on a slightly aggravated tone, but once I realized how harsh I must have sounded to him, I quickly softened my tone. "But it's really okay, I was just worried I had upset you in some way, you're my closest friend here in Twinbrook.. Actually, you're my only friend.." There was nothing else I could say at that moment, and I suddenly became very sad at the fact that I had lived here in Twinbrook for several months now and still only just had one friend to show for it. Sure, I was happy, but I did get lonely at times when Shamus couldn't hang out. It also didn't help that I had recently started to feel a bit more than friendship feelings for Shamus.

"I'm still sorry though, you must have thought I was so rude." Shamus replied quickly, and then paused for a moment before saying something else. "You should stop by my place tonight."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it'll be fun. I'll cook dinner for the two of us, and then we can hang out and catch up, I'd love to hear about how the vaccination clinic went today." He said excitedly, his words were so enticing and it sounded like so much fun to go see where her boss lived. Not to mention it would most definitely get her out of the house and cure her boredom for the night.

"Okay! I'll be over in about an hour or so, see you then!" My reply was quick and dripping with enthusiasim as I hung up the phone without even waiting for Shamus to tell me bye. Quickly I went and hopped into the shower. Tonight was going to be amazing, and the only thing my mind could think about was what if he was planning on making a move tonight? Oh yes, this would be a good night indeed.

 At exactly six thirty, I was walking out the door heading to Shamus's house. Part of me was nervous for this hang out session to even be happening while the other part of me was ready to get there and have some much needed quality time with my friend. As I made my way down to the steps and to the edge of the driveway, I stopped and waved my hand in the air, signaling for a taxi whenever I saw a yellow car in the distance. To my pleasure the yellow car was indeed a taxi, and it slowed to a stop in front of my house. Quickly I opened the door and told the driver where to take me as I got inside and shut the car door behind me. Buckling my seat belt, I prepared myself for the thirty minute car ride.

 At first when the taxi pulled to a stop on the marshy, foggy side of Twinbrook, I thought that the driver had made a navigational error. But as I looked closer at the number on the mailbox, it revealed that the driver wasn't wrong. This was the place, this was where Shamus Drudge, one of the finest doctors in Twinbrook resided... The inside must have looked really amazing, because the outside didn't appeal to me at all. I thanked the driver and paid him his money, then got out of the taxi and walked up the steps to the front porch. My palms got sweaty and my nerves began to get to me as I reached the front door and extended my right hand out to press the door bell. Ding, dong. The deed was done, and now there was no turning back, carefully I backed up a couple of steps and waited for Shamus to come to the door.

But when the door came open and I was greeted and invited inside, it wasn't Shamus who let me in the house.

 In fact it wasn't even a man who let me inside, it was a young woman, who looked to be maybe two or three years older than me. The look on my face must have been priceless because she quickly apologized and began talking a mile a minute.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, I should have introduced myself first. My name is Eva, and Shamus told me you would be stopping by.. He also said something about you picking up this extra box of Gain laundry detergent. You're Estelle right?" Eva asked quickly without even pausing to take a breath.

"Yes, I'm Estelle. What's this about laundry deter--" My voice stopped right there, as I quickly thought about what was coming out of my mouth and wondering why on earth Shamus said I was coming over to pick up a box of laundry detergent. But there was no time to ponder that, I had to play this off. "Oh, yeah, the laundry detergent, I ran out and I didn't feel like going to the store to get any, those long lines at the grocery store really bother me... But I don't use Gain, sorry, Shamus didn't tell me that. I'm more of a Tide person when it comes to detergents." As corrected my response to Eva, and played it off like I really was here to just pick up a box of laundry detergent, my eyes caught sight of something that reflected light. My eyes shifted downward and there it was staring me in the face, there was a golden wedding band on her finger. Surely this Eva woman was just a sister, cousin, maybe even a sister-in-law? Now my curiousity was sparked.

 As Eva was talking my ear off, I pretty much just tuned her out. My mind was too preoccupied to truly pay attention to all of the rambling that she was doing. Although whenever I made up my mind about asking a question, I didn't even try to think it through. I glanced around the living room and spotted a couple pictures that I thought would be interesting enough to spark a conversation about how Eva might be related to Shamus and why she would have that wedding band on her finger. It was now or never.

"So, Eva, that's a lovely photo of you and Shamus. Where was that taken?" I asked, when she finally stopped talking to catch her breath. Then I motioned toward the beautifully framed picture in question, which was of them dressed in Christmas themed clothing, there were also several other people in the photo as well and they were all smiling happily.

"Oh, that one there? That was taken at his mom's house at Christmas time, we had just gotten married about three months prior to that though." Eva replied happily, she was absolutely ecstatic that I had asked about their lovely picture. But me on the other hand, I felt my stomach do a flip flop, and my face immediately dropped. My heart even felt like it sank lower in my chest and, even though I had not really flirted or dropped any hints to Shamus that I had any type of romantic feelings for him, it still hurt me to hear this. Now the only question is why he never mentioned having a wife, or why I never noticed him wearing a wedding band. There were just too many questions, and frankly, I didn't want to know the answers anymore.

Regardless of how silly, or hurt, or whatever emotion I was feeling at the moment, there was only one thing that I knew for certain. I had to get out of this house and fast, preferrably before Shamus returned from where ever he had gone, since he apparently had this all planned out. As fast as I could, I shifted my facial expression from one of shock and hurt, to one of happiness and pulled out my phone to check the time, hoping that using the 'oh, look at the time, I need to get going' excuse would work and I could get out of here.

"Oh wow, it's nine fifteen, I need to get going... I have a million things that need to be done around the house and I have a busy day tomorrow. It was nice meeting you Eva..." My voice trailed off as I turned and headed for the front door.

"It was nice meeting you too Estelle, have a good night!" Eva called from the spot she had been standing in for the duration of our conversation.

"You too!" I called back, as I twisted the knob on the door and pulled it open, letting myself out of the house, all while trying to fight back tears that threatened to pour over the rims of my eyes. It baffled me that Shamus had never once cared to invite me to his house sooner to meet his wife, or even bring her with him when we hung out around town.

 All of this was just so confusing, and while I was fighting the urge to let the tears freely roll down my cheeks, I was at least happy to learn that Shamus was married. At least now I couldn't make a huge fool out of myself by telling him about how big of a crush I had on him, that was about the only good part to this whole thing. Now what was I suppose to do though? I had no interest in calling Shamus and demanding him explain to me why he never told me that he had a wife until I just put two and two together when I came over for a hang out session that was apparently just a lie to get me over here. Really though, all I wanted was to just clear my head.

Once I was off the front porch and down the steps, I made up my mind about where I was going next. I called the taxi service and had them come pick me up. When the bright yellow taxi appeared in front of the house, I immediately got inside and told the driver where to go.

Once the taxi dropped me off, I spent a while meandering about, which involved me visiting the consignment shop and the bookstore. Then as I was walking down the sidewalk about to start on my walk home, I stopped in front of the Salon/Tattoo Parlor. There was something about the word 'tattoo' that excited me. Although a lot of doctors and other highly thought of people in professional careers would look down on a person who decided to 'ruin' their bodies with such things, I thought a bit differently. Even though I'm studying to become a great Surgeon and I'm currently working full time as a Paramedic, I saw nothing wrong with at least getting a tattoo that would be covered for work, but could be shown off outside of work if I pleased. So that was it, I eagerly entered the building. On the first level was the salon, and near the back of the salon there was a stair case leading into the basement of the building, with a sign that indicated the tattoo parlor was in the basement. Without a second thought my feet were carrying me down the steep flight of stairs and into a whole new world it seemed.



The tattoo parlor had this very different vibe about it that set it apart from all the other places of Twinbrook, there was a sense of excitement that washed over me as I discussed what tattoo I wanted and where I wanted the tattoo to be placed at on my body. The very relaxed, and intriguing atomosphere of the tattoo parlor was definitely helping me to forget all about my issues that I was having, which was fine by me. If I could just completely forget about Shamus altogether for the rest of my life, I would be happy, even if it does sound a bit harsh on my part.

The tattoo artist and I talked for a good half an hour about the tattoo I wanted and making sure that she had the correct ink colors availiable for my tattoo, then it probably took maybe five minutes to figure out exactly where I wanted it to be placed. The time was close to ten fifty-five by now, and the shop would be closing at midnight, the estimated time for the tattoo to be completed was around one o'clock in the morning, which was fine with me since it was apparently fine with the tattoo artist as well, she actually enjoyed working over a bit. After all the details were settled and I signed the paperwork that needed to be signed in order to get the tattoo, I went and changed into this really cute bathing suit that I had bought earlier at the consignment shop. Then when I came back from the restroom, I settled myself into the chair and waited for the magic to begin.

 When the tattoo artist finished the tattoo, I stood up and checked it out in the mirror. It was perfect, the two different pinks looked stunning together and the black outline was flawless. While most people would regret getting a spontaneous tattoo that had pretty much no meaning, I knew that I wouldn't. This tattoo may have been random, and may not have been the best decision in the world, and it may cause people to judge me if they know I have a tattoo. However, it gave me hope that perhaps I could easily change my life around and find the one I'm destined to be with just as easily as I have altered my body. It might not make any sense to anyone else, but to me, it makes perfect sense.

Estelle -- Chapter Two, Part One

*Note: I apologize for those of you who were wanting to see what Estelle's first day of work was like, something happened when I was sorting them and I have no clue where they went.. -sigh-, so again, I apologize. I did manage to locate the end of her day so that's what this chapter is going to be about*

Squinting down at the keypad on my cell phone, I carefully dialed Shamus's number. He had given me his cell number right before I clocked out of work earlier this afternoon after asking me if I wanted to hang out after work and discuss how my first day had gone. Of course it seemed a little weird at first, but the more I thought about it the more I really did want to hang out with him outside of the workplace. It wouldn't hurt to be on good terms with him, it might even make work a little easier on me if I was on the boss's good side. As I finished dialing his number, I quickly put the phone up to my ear and waited for him to pick up as the ringing on the other end began.

On the third ring Shamus finally answered, and a smile spread across my face, I only hoped the he would still want to hang out with me since I pretty much took all day and half the evening to decide on what I wanted to do.

"Hello?" He asked as he answered the phone.

"Oh, hey! Shamus, listen this is Estelle a--"

"Estelle, hey! I was just about to call you and see if you were going to accept my invite." Shamus interrupted.

"Yeah, that's what I was calling about. Um, would you like to meet me at The Red Rendezvous in a few minutes? I'm at the bookstore and I'll be heading that way in a minute." I replied, my voice dripping with excitement and hope that Shamus would still want to meet up with me.

"That sounds fine, as soon as we hang up I'll be on my way then. Can't wait to see you!" He replied, his voice sounded as enthusiastic as mine did, which made me feel really good inside.

"Okay, I'll see you in a few minutes then." I said quickly before hanging up the phone and sliding it back down into my right pocket. Moments later I was hailing a taxi and being whisked away heading to The Red Rendezvous for some much needed time out of the house. This taxi ride felt like it was taking forever, but in all actuality in only took about ten minutes to get there, the traffic was pretty thick tonight for some reason.

Almost as soon as the taxi stopped, my door flew open and I jumped out, quickly handing the driver a little more money than what was needed to cover the total cost of the ride, but I just told him to keep it as a tip for his excellent driving habits. He smiled and thanked me and as soon as I shut the door he was off again in search for someone else needing his taxi service. I on the other hand quickly focused my attention on scanning the area in front of The Red Rendezvous for Shamus. I knew he lived across town so it may have taken him a bit longer than it did for me to get here. So now it was a waiting game, but it shouldn't be long, however I found myself a seat on a wooden bench outside of the building and just waited.

Luckily, I was correct in the fact that it wasn't long until Shamus showed up. Quickly, I stood up from the bench and walked over to him, everything about me showing how happy I was for our friendly hang out session. "Hey!" I said cheerfully as we stopped in front of each other.

"Hi, sorry it took so long. The hospital called right after I hung up with you and said they needed me to come sign some paperwork, so I had to go there first." Shamus explained, his face displaying a slightly nervous expression.

"It's okay, I understand. Work comes before play, you know." I replied playfully. That was the motto I lived by, then again, I'm a bit of a workaholic so working is my idea of fun. However my reassurance did help Shamus relax and he even smiled and feel better about being a little late to our outing. "Well, since this is all squared away now. Do you want to go in and relax?" I asked. All he could do at this moment was nod his head yes, and with that we both headed inside. This is was my first time going to a place like this. I only hoped that if we ended up having a few drinks that it wouldn't turn out really bad or embaressing.

As we entered The Red Rendezvous, we both looked around in awe, it was a nice looking little hang out/pub type of place. No wonder this place gets a lot of business it's the perfect place to come with friends or even on a casual date. But instead of hitting up the foosball table or even getting a drink from the bar, we went straight for an empty table and took a seat on opposite ends of the small rounded table. The chairs were pretty comfy as well, and it definitely took a load off my poor feet, since I did foolishly wear a new pair of high heels today. Once we had gotten situated at our table, Shamus was the first to break the silence.

"So, Estelle, how did you like your first day?" Shamus asked curiously, he was very interested in hearing about how my day went, which was nice to have someone to talk to, even if it was my boss.

"It was actually really great. I was nervous and excited all the same. I'm just happy that I'm able to work in a field that will help save lives. However, I can't wait until medical school is over, because my true calling is becoming a very well-educated and world renowned doctor. I want people from all over flocking to the Twinbrook Foundation Hospital seeking me out to be their doctor. Helping people is my passion and that's why I truly have no complaints about my current position in the medical field." I replied, it must have been an ear full for Shamus because he sat there in silence for more than a minute just trying to absorb all of the information I had just dished out.

"Wow, Estelle, you really are serious about taking the medical care up a few levels around here, aren't you?" Shamus finally mangaged to reply, his face still displaying a shocked expression. He hadn't met anyone with such a wonderful work ethic in a long time, not even he had that much of a passion for the medical field, he mostly became a doctor because of the large salary they made every year.

"Yes, I am. I will do anything and everything it takes to excel and surpass all of the other students in my medical school classes, and the same goes for my job and surpassing all of my co-workers." My voice was filled with such a fiery passion while talking about my job, and my plans for the future of my career that it intimidated Shamus, he knew that one day I would in fact surpass his level of skill and perhaps even go as far as becoming the head MD at the hospital.

Shamus sat there for a moment and then replied, "honestly, I can see your medical career sky rocketing as soon as you graduate and finish your year long residency at the hospital. You should become a Paramedic in the meantime, it pays better than being an RN at our hospital.You will have to do vaccination clinics and health clinics every week, as well as be on call and work pretty long hours, but you seem like a very determined woman and I'm sure you could do it." A smile began to grow across his face, as he paused for a moment to catch his breath, but then added in another little bit of information. "However, you will be required to complete a Paramedic Certification Course. The PCC lasts for six months, and it covers a ton of information, so studying is a must. Also, at the end of the course you will take a final exam, which is broken into two parts, a written test and a skills test. The skills test is the hardest, because you will be put into a simulated emergency situation and based on how well you handle yourself, the situation, and display the knowledge you have learned in the course will determine if you pass or fail the whole course. The written exam is only 10% of your final PCC grade, the skills test is 90% of the final PCC grade." He finished, and quietly looked away for moment, since a bunch of people had come into The Red Rendezvous and were being pretty rowdy. After glancing at the group of people who had just entered the building, Shamus turned his attention back towards me and was ready to hear my reply.

"That's a lot of information, Shamus... But you know what? I'm up for the challenge of it all!" My voice became laced with excitement and confidence. If my boss, who just so happened to be my only friend here in Twinbrook so far believed in me then there's no reason why I shouldn't believe in myself. Besides, he was giving me such helpful tips and now I knew what I was up against. But there was one more thing that I needed to know. "How many people will be enrolled in the PCC? Oh and about how many actually pass their final exam?"

"Hm, I'd say there will be about eight or ten others, including yourself that will be enrolled in the PCC. Only about four actually pass, and maybe one student will pass both sections of the final exam with a perfect score." Shamus replied slowly, he was for sure a big help in this. "So, are you going to enroll? The next PCC will be starting up in about a week, and right now there are only three spots left, I can text Molly and have her add you to the list, she's working in trauma tonight so she's already at the hospital."

"Sure. Why not. I'll just see how difficult it is and if I don't pass this time, I'll try when the next PCC begins." I said quickly, this was turning out to be the best night that I've had in a long time, well, besides yesterday when I got settled into my new house and picked up my work schedule. But as much as I loved talking about work and discussing my plans for the future of my medical career, I needed to let loose and have a bit of fun tonight. So as I stood up, I flashed Shamus a smile. "I'm going to get a drink from the bar, do you want anything?"

"Yeah, I'll have whatever you're having." He smiled up at me, and I nodded then happily bounced off to go get our drinks.

As I came closer to the bar, I looked around to see if the bartender was nearby, but I couldn't even find anyone who even remotely looked as if they worked here. So after a few minutes of standing around looking like a complete idiot at the bar, I just assumed this was a 'serve yourself' type of place and rummaged around the shelves below the counter top of the bar and found some interesting things to try. Finally finding just the bottle that would be the perfect drink for tonight, I stood up and grabbed two glasses and poured the liquid into the cups.

But it always seems that something comes up when I'm having fun, or in the middle of something else. There was a bit of a commotion and when I looked up and focused my eyes upon a man who looked as if he worked at the hospital with me, my eyes grew wide. While he didn't look as if he was in a terrible amount of pain, he did seem rather uncomfortable and the commotion was from him wailing about his uncomfortableness. Now, if I were him and felt crummy, I wouldn't have left my house, let alone my bed. I will never understand the thought processes of some people, but from what I heard he was actually a good doctor, so I decided to go see if he needed some help.

Stopping about a foot in front of the man, I could tell even in the dim lighting of the room, that his allergies were bothering him. His eyes were a bit puffy and he was complaining about a scratchy throat and a headache, those were all things that happened to me usually when my allergies flared up around certain animals, and sometimes when the seasons change.

"Sir, are you allergic to any kind of foods or medicines?" I asked, my eyes locked on him, waiting for his reply. Sure it was a long shot since I already knew just from looking at him that he was just having seasonal allergies, but it couldn't hurt just to be sure.

"No.." He groaned as he tried to swallow, but made a face that indicated how painful it was for him. "And no my throat isn't tight, it's just scratchy.. Ugh I always feel crummy in the spring." He added in.

"Here, sir, I think this will help. It's a Benadryl capsule, it'll take the edge off of the symptoms and it will help you get to sleep as well. At least they always help me rest whenever my seasonal allergies flare up, thankfully it's been a while since the last time that happened though, but it's always good to be prepared." I smiled as I extended the capsule to him.

"A-are you sure it'll help?" He asked, he was rather nervous about taking the pill, but he just wanted relief from his annoying symptoms and to feel better.

"Yes, it will definitely help. Just get a friend to drive you home or take a taxi home if you drove, these things will make you a bit dizzy if you're not used to them." I replied softly, reassuring him that he would be fine at the same time. After a moment of standing there and debating on if he wanted to take the pill or not, he finally reached for it and quickly took it. "Oh, and if I were you, I would make a doctors appointment and get your seasonal allergies checked out, just to be sure that you don't need to have a prescription allergy medicine, if the Benadryl doesn't work, okay?"

"Okay, thank you. I'm going to call my wife and have her come get me." He replied and shook my hand before pulling out his cell phone and taking a seat near the front doors of the building. I stood there and watched him for a moment before I pulled out my own cell phone and checked the time, it was already nine o'clock. Letting out a small sigh I entered into my text messages and typed out a text to Shamus.

It's 9. I need to get home. Would you want to come over? ~ Estelle
Sure.. Where r u? ~ S.Drudge
Near the front doors. See you in a minute? ~ Estelle
Yep. ~ S.Drudge

Close to a minute after our text message conversation, Shamus walked up next to me and smiled as he grabbed my hand and led me outside of The Red Rendezvous. My heart fluttered a little bit, but I quickly shut out however amazing it made me feel. Besides my stomach was growling and my eyes were beginning to droop.

The ride to my place felt really long, and was actually sort of boring since by now Shamus had started feeling a bit on the tired side and I was now battling to stay awake. So one could only imagine the look on my face when the taxi suddenly stopped moving, yeah, I sort of got jolted from a bit of a dream. Anyway, once we were out of the car the two of us made it inside and I quickly prepared some sushi for us to eat. It was now close to nine thirty at night and all I really wanted to do was go climb into my bed and fall asleep.

"This sushi is excellent!" Shamus exclaimed, his eyes wide with surprise. He had never been a fan of sushi, that's what he told me anyway, but there was something about the way this sushi was prepared that made him fall in love with it.

"Oh, thank you.. It's just a little something I learned from the cooking channel. There was a special about Japanese cuisine that I watched a few days before I moved here. I thought tonight would be a good night to try it out." Strangely once Shamus started talking, my eyes didn't seem to droop as much and since we were having dinner now my stomachs gurgling had been put at bay. Now, it felt as if I could stay awake all night long.

"You're welcome. You'll have to make it for me again sometime." He replied sweetly, his voice took on a new tone and my ears picked up on it. It sounded as if he was trying to flirt with me. My cheeks quickly turned a light shade of pink, and I stood up to take my plate to the sink once I had finished my food and quickly washed the dish. But just as I was turning around to come take Shamus's plate to wash it, he stood up. "I'm sorry Estelle, but I have to go now. There's an emergency at the hospital. I'll see you in the morning at work, okay?" All I could do was smile and nod as he handed me his dish and gave me a quick hug before bolting out the door to get to the hospital.

Even though I was extremely tired, I still washed the plate that Shamus had ate off of and dried all the dishes, did a load of laundry and then finally made my way into my bedroom. A yawn escaped my lips as I changed into my pajamas and walked over to my bed. Quickly, I pulled back the cover and nestled myself under the warmth of my sheet and the comforter. Today had been a long but very fun one, Shamus and I got to know each other a little bit more and he was quickly becoming a very good friend, but there was just something else about him... He just seems so sweet and he's even sort of cute. There's just something about him that makes my tummy do flips and my heart flutter. My mind was filled with the thoughts of the day, but mostly of the night's events, but soon it was all faded to black as I turned the light off once more and quickly fell into a restful sleep.

Estelle -- Chapter One

One would think that a young, single woman like myself would show a lot more excitement in beginning the journey into the adult world, especially if they had just purchased their first home. But the truth is that I was scared, not excited. Excitement was the farthest thing from my mind at the moment. Here, I was finally out on my own and not to mention going to a quick meeting with my boss at the local hospital here in Twinbrook. Since I'm already a Registered Nurse, it was easy for me to snag this job up. However, I plan on becoming a World Renowned Surgeon in a few years. Currently, I'm enrolled in medical school and right now I'm excelling, and with the way that I'm learning the material, some say that I may even be able to finish Medical school early. Anyway, this is also the first time that I've ever been on my own, and it's really just frightening.

However, I couldn't spend all morning moping and feeling sad or scared about how my adult life will pan out. It was time for me to meet up with my boss, Shamus Drudge, and discuss my work schedule. After all, this place will be owning me for the rest of my life, I might as well get there somewhat early and get on his good side. Who knows, maybe I'll become the favorite employee and all my co-workers will be jealous? Hm, well, it doesn't hurt to dream, even if it's highly unlikely. The morning sun was warm and on my face as I rounded the corner and ran for the doors of the hospital. My stomach was doing flips as my feet carried me closer and closer to the building, but I knew that this was the correct career path for me to follow, I could feel it inside my soul. Entering into the medical field and one day becoming a World Renowned Surgeon, is what I was meant to do, even if I wasn't the smartest person in the world, I was at least very passionate about helping people and establishing my career.

After meeting with my boss and him telling me that I would be working Monday through Friday from nine o'clock in the morning until three o'clock in the afternoon and adding up the amount of money I should be making a day, I couldn't complain. Shamus seemed like a nice man, and a great boss, though he did have that essence about him that told me if I was a slacker that he would definitely be on me to improve my work habits or I would be fired. Once I had left the hospital, something told me to go pay a visit to the local library, so I did, but instead of taking a cab there, I walked. Sure it was a bit of a walk but I didn't mind, it was soothing.

Once I was inside the library and had a quick look around at all the different areas, I found a computer and logged on there. At first I didn't think about logging onto the hospital's employee site to check for things that needed to be done, but after a few minutes of scanning the local Twinbrook chat room, I did end up logging onto the hospital's employee website. Something just compelled me to search for things that needed to be resolved, but I couldn't find anything. Though when I was about to log off after searching for a good twenty minutes, a chat box popped up. "What the?" I said to myself as my eyes scanned the message that was inside the box. My fingers rested on top of the keyboard as my brain began to process the message, and after a moment of processing, my fingers began typing.

ShamusE_Drudge: Hey there, I see you couldn't resist logging on here.
EstelleM_Rodriguez: Hi... I guess not, haha.
ShamusE_Drudge: Well, I can't wait to see how you do tomorrow on your first day on the job. It should be interesting. But, I need to get going, see you bright and early in the a.m.!
ShamusE_Drudge is now offline

As I sat there and stared at the computer screen, I couldn't help but be a little weirded out by my bosses sudden eagerness to chat with me outside of work. But at the same time, he was probably just really excited to be getting a fresh employee that hasn't been working at the same job in the hospital for five or more years. Either way though it didn't change the fact that I needed to get going, I still wanted to go explore the park before returning home for the evening. So with that weird, random conversation being pushed to the back of my mind, I logged off the library computer and stood up from my chair.

Within moments of logging off the computer, I exited the library, and made a dash for the park. Today was turning out to be a good day, even if it was a little odd. As I ran, the afternoon sun was out and shining brightly against my face, which was still a bit cool from the air conditioning that had been running the whole time I was in the library, not to mention the vent was right above my head, so my cheeks felt like ice cubes, but slowly they were beginning to defrost. After a few minutes of running, I came up to a stop and noticed that there were some nice outdoor chess tables. My excitement finally hit me, and although I was no genius, I couldn't refuse a quick game or two, even if I was just playing alone. So I took a seat at an empty one and began playing.

 About thirty minutes passed and I was engaged in a game of chess with myself, when a woman approached, she looked a few years older than me, and was dressed pretty nice. Honestly, I didn't pay much attention to her, since I figured that she was just going to pass by after stopping to gawk at the board.and think about how much of a loser I must look like because I'm sitting here by myself playing chess. Boy, was I surprised when the woman took a seat in the empty chair across the board from me and joined in without saying a word. The oddness of this day seemed like it was returning once more, even though I didn't object to her jumping into my chess game. Ten minutes passed and both of us were silent as could be, and slowly I began to think that maybe I should just go home since my chess partner wasn't much of a conversationalist. Yes, I was just about to get up and leave the game, when the woman sitting across from me finally broke the silence.

"So, do you live around here?" The woman asked.

"Oh, yes, I just moved here." I replied, my voice soft, but still loud enough to be heard. I couldn't help but shoot the woman a look when I was speaking to her. "Do you live around here?" I asked, as my eyes were now fixed upon the lady sitting across from me. It was her move anyway, so I could get away with not paying attention for a second or two.

"No, I'm just in town visiting family. I was born and raised here though. I live in Bridgeport now." She replied as she moved one of her pieces and then looked up at me. A friendly smile spread across her face.

"Oh, that's nice. I bet it's really chaotic there, huh? As for me, I grew up in Sunset Valley, but I needed a change of scenery, and I heard that the hospital here is in need of some new medical staff. I just got a job there." My voice was now not as soft as before, and my own face was wearing a smile, this lady was turning out to be not as odd as she had been before.

"You're a doctor?" She asked.

"No, not yet.. I'm a Registered Nurse for now. I'm going to school to become a surgeon so hopefully one day in the future I'll be one." I replied.

"That's nice that you have goals, the younger generations should be more like you these days. It seems like you have a good work ethic and I'm sure you'll make a splendid doctor one day."

"Thank you." I said as my eyes lowered and focused once more on the chess board, it was my turn and once my move was made I looked back up to say something else to the woman, but she was gone already. Quickly, I looked around, but she was no where to be found. Needless to say that was when I got up and left as well, perhaps it was a sign that I should just throw in the towel and head for home. Maybe then my day will seem a little less odd.

 Finally! Home sweet home. Now I could get some food into my system and settle in for a good nights rest, so that I would be able to get up early to get ready for work. Tonight, I felt like cooking up some nice, cheesy macaroni. Yes, this would be just the thing to hit the spot, plus it was cheap, quick, and easy to make since money was a bit tight at the moment. The aroma from the macaroni and cheese was now filling my nostriling and making my mouth water, my stomach had also began to growl at me. I may not have been starving, but the way my stomach was gurgling, and my mouth was watering you'd think I was. In exactly ten minutes my macaroni was done, and I found myself quickly pouring it into my bowl. After placing my bowl of macaroni on the table, and laying my fork next to the bowl, I went back to the counter and placed the pot I had cooked with in the sink and ran some water in it to let it soak, this would make it easier for me to clean once I was done eating my macaroni. Once the pot was soaking, I took my seat at the table and began eating.

 "Mmmm... Best. Macaroni. Ever!" I said loudly, with a huge mouthful of macaroni, my tastebuds were savoring every bit of the cheesy goodness. My eyes closed for a moment as I savored my delicious home cooked meal and this was also the moment when I realized that those trade school classes I took in high school were paying off, since I took a cooking class at trade school and learned a lot of useful things. Maybe being a young, single sim trying to establish a career and a life of my own without failing miserably was going to be easier than I thought after all. Only time could tell that part really, but for now, I was finally becoming excited for my new life to take off.

By the time I was finished eating it was already getting dark, which meant that I only had about three hours before I needed to go to bed. So I quickly got up and washed the pot that I had cooked the macaroni in and then washed out the bowl I had used as well as my fork and the spoon I used to stir the cooking macaroni pasta with. The next step was to dry the dishes, and I believe that I might have set the record for quickest dish dryer,because it literally only took me about a minute to dry a medium sized pot, a bowl, a fork, and a large wooden spoon.

 The dishes were washed and put away once more, now it was time for me to hop into the shower and do my nightly ritual before bed time. It was seven thirty at night now, and I'm notorious for taking thirty minute, hot showers. It's just something about the hot water that relaxes me, and helps me relieve the stress from the days events.

After my shower was over and I had brushed my teeth for the night, I gathered up the laundry that needed to be done and placed it in the washer. By now it was close to nine o'clock at night and my bed was calling my name. It had been a long day and my eyes were beginning to droop, however the excitement about starting my new job in the morning was almost enough to keep me awake all night long. Though I knew that if I were to stay up all night and then go to work in the morning, I would be a zombie, and not a very nice person. So it was final, it was now bed time. I quickly poured in a cup of washing detergent and then closed the lid turning the dial with my right hand and pulling the knob out so that the washer would start up. My tired behind was finally on it's way to bed and my eyelids couldn't of been happier.

 It seemed like the closer my feet carried me to my bed, the heavier my eyes got and the more my eyelids threatened to shut. But I did make it to my bed. Quickly I changed into my pajamas, and tossed my clothes into the hamper, the day had turned out to be quite a nice one. A smile was plastered across my face as I pulled back the cover and gently slid underneath them and turned out the light.

 Once the light was off though, my thoughts swirled about inside my brain until finally they seemed to clear out all at once. My eyes were closed tightly and my smile seemed to fade as my body surrendered and I fell into a deep sleep. Seven o'clock in the morning was going to come early, but that was only the beginning of the rest of my life.





***NOTE: I do realize that in the third picture Estelle's hair looks really funky. It was the only one I had so please excuse that.***