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This was a momentous day! A day to be marked in the calendars and damn near celebrated. The entire family would be rolling over if they knew. Cristiana skipped work! She had been set to go in as per her normal daily ritual. Wake up, take a steaming hot shower so hot the skin nearly boils off the body and you come out looking like a lobster. She had her outfit for work laid out on the bed. Her darling husband had left a cup of the steaming hot brew from the Station Net Cafe sitting on her nightstand. Her eyes stared at the clothes laying there on the bed. A silent mental debate happened in that moment when she looked at them. Ever since returning from Russia she had not taken a day off. The clothes were snatched up to be hung back in the closet. Instead she pushed the business suits aside looking for something more relaxing. She pulled out designer jeans custom tailored to fit her body like a glove. The shirt was a little trickier, the debate was more does she grab one of her husband many tee shirts or one of the Chanel sweaters so soft it teased the skin like lace or satin. The sweater won out.

Without any warning to Becky or the club, she put the phone to vibrate leaving a message on the voice mail she was unavailable to be reached, please leave a message at the tone. Following the beep, she was sure to hear from the people within the club who were lost without her being there on a daily basis. Becky could handle things at the shop; it was both of them who ran it. Lia and Kleo did their part in helping out. Sales were fairly decent, enough to make a meager profit off of it. But she needed a day to relax. She went to a closet in the hall of the building, a closet which wasn't one at all but rather a large room disguised as a closet. In this room there was equipment of all kinds, sporting equipment in case the family ever decided to get together. In the farthest corner, lay the fishing poles of all sizes and shapes. She grabbed the bait lures from the neatly hung arrangement on the wall and the tackle box. The fishing pole she had was specifically meant for her in the vibrant purple. Even the handle was an off hue of lavender slightly darker than the actual shade with its rubbery grip. The gear was already, she made her way out of the building but her memory had failed as to which direction to go. It had taken a few times to make her way toward the boat but she finally made it.

The last time she had been here to the boat, Quoth had been with her. She thought he had come to rescue her from the night of work but truth was he had to have words with her. Unpleasant words that left them both angry; angry enough she didn't go home that night and from the surveillance footage neither had he. Instead the two spent a few days away from one another. It was always her who broke first; he hardly ever apologized to her first. He was stubborn and therefore always in the right, just like she was. Everything he had said to her, he was just as bad about. He had his opinions but never realized how much he hurt her as well. How he cut certain aspects of his life from her then complained that she did the same. He was just as guilty in that as she was but most of her nights were spent working. She didn't want to bore him with the monotonous details of how she stacked bottles behind the bar or took inventory weekly and a few times in between to make sure nothing had gone missing. Or how she did the paperwork from the previous day, making sure each register balanced within the span of five dollars or write up the people who hadn't balanced their drawers. She did that for four separate places; three stores and the club. Every day a new average was added to the charts, examining how the previous year’s sales versus the current year’s sales played. This year two of the three wedding shops were doing better. Enough so that she was thinking about selling the location that was failing and dragging the business as a whole down with it. She hadn't done it yet, but it might happen. Or somehow think of turning it around.

At the boat, the one she purchased for both her and her husband as their private little get away from the world, she cast the line out into the choppy water. Sitting at the edge of the boat in a lounge chair, one that folded into making a straight line and could be tucked into its own duffle bag making it easy to carry she sat with her legs stretched out in front of her. The line was in the water for only moments when the tug came. She reeled in the line for the Carp to be dangling from the line. With a perfectly good manicured hand she took the hook from the fish mouth and tossed him into the water filled bucket big enough to hold a few beside her. Again the cast flung high over head and dropped into the water creating only a few rivets in the wave. She pulled fish after fish, mostly Bass and carp, and tossed them into the bucket beside her.

The tug was harder this time, but not from resistance, from weight. She thought for sure this would be the big one! She let the line go a little then reeled it in slowly. When the head popped out of the water, she chuckled to herself. It looked like Simon’s head, so that is what she named it; Simon. Again, she set the line in the water when her phone went off on vibrate from her jean clad pocket. When the vibrations stopped a second a third and fourth set came through. Work finally realized she wasn't coming in. The first message was from Elaina who manned the bar during the day wondering where she was. The second was from Jacob asking if she would be in soon. The third was from Becky who was called by the staff over at the Metronome Club. Then finally, Becky texted her.

‘Ms. Cristiana, it isn't like you to miss a day of work. The staff is showing grave concern over your well being thinking you are frightfully ill. Where are you? What should I tell them?’

After the tenth call and message combination from the staff of now all the stores and the club, she replied to Becky with one simple line, one group of words that made her intent perfectly clear.

‘Personal day! Tell them to stop bothering me.’

Now, it was this point she missed getting a fish on her line but more so the thought of Becky’s face going over the emotions of seeing that message. First, shock, her face would contort into a gasping O that her mouth formed into. Second her brow would perch inward, creating lines of wrinkles along her forehead in confusion. That brought a smile to the small woman’s lips. She could imagine Becky staring at her phone or dropping it seeing those words splayed across the screen. When she finally recovered the message came through.

‘I will inform them and go after my shift here to the club and give it a once over Ms. Cristiana. Enjoy your night off.’

She intended on doing just that. Fingers pushed the still damp locks over her shoulder knowing that in this low of a chair they would be touching the floor of the dock. It was very rare she wore her hair down and free, not tightly compact into the bun, today was definitely a hair down kind of day.

Her gut told her that Becky was now texting everyone in the free world that Crissy had taken a day off of work. She must be ill. Maybe she was wounded so badly she was getting away from everyone until the wounds healed or whatever else Becky’s vivid imagination could come up with. Imagine their surprise when they seen her sitting on the edge of the dock with the line in the water doing….. nothing but enjoying the night!

Klara slammed the keys with her hands. “Damn it, just play the ******* notes Klara” she yelled at herself. Frustrated at the measure, black with notes sat there laughing at her. She had determined to get the piece down. Why she had chosen Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 for her audition piece was beyond her comprehension right now. She stood up, stretched, walked a circuit around the room and returned to the piano.

Taking a deep breath she once more started. The gig wasn’t even for classical music so why they wanted a classical piece played for the audition was ridiculous she thought. The keys flowed beneath her fingers, more confident now as she approached the spot and this time flew through it and played it perfectly. She let out a loud whoop as she continued to play.

The phone sitting on top of the piano began to sing out “Dude Looks like a Lady”. “Damn it” she cursed as she grabbed the phone to shut it up since it had interrupted her. She hated being interrupted before a piece was finished. The blue light flashed alerting her to a new text. She rolled her eyes, turned the phone off and slammed it on the piano before beginning the piece once again.

The music came easy this time, the music filling her soul and calming her as she continued to play, lost to her surroundings. She smiled in bliss as the notes trickled through the air. The song took her back to precious memories of her mother. As the last note died she smiled remember how her mother had always loved this song the best and would ask her to play it over and over. Tears trickled down Klara’s face as she remembered the last time she had ever played this piece. Seeing her mother’s body in the casket across the piano had been the hardest thing ever to do but she knew it would have meant everything to her mother.

The clocked chimed on the wall as she got up to stretch. She hadn’t realized she’d been playing for six hours straight. She went to sit down and relax in front of the television and wait for Simon to get home when she remembered the text she had received earlier. She went and retrieved her phone turning it on. She flipped the television on as her phone booted up and began to flip through the channels settling on a re-run of “Big Bang Theory”. The phone finally on she pulled up the text. It was from Becky, Cristiana’s right hand gal. This doesn’t sound good at all.

*Becky texts there is something wrong with Crissy*

“Hmmm. Any word?” she quickly texted back. The reply she was taking a day off. “Well good for you Crissy.” She smiled glad that the woman had finally had taken a day off. She had threatened it but Klara honestly thought she’d never go through with it. She was happy but she could only imagine the havoc being wrecked at her businesses. It was about time that Crissy saw her employees were perfectly capable of handling things in her absence and took some well-earned time off.

A big smile spread across Klara’s face as she began to try and find where Crissy was located. She was able to finally triangulate her position. She next went and bought a couple bottles of “special” champagne. Quickly writing a note to Simon explaining where she was going and she’d be home later she closed her eyes and teleported to Crissy.

The woman sat there, relaxed, fishing line in the water, the moon glistening off the water she walked over to Crissy. “It’s about damn time you took some time off. Congratulations, you deserve it woman!” She handed her one of bottles of the champagne. “I thought this might help you relax. Mind some company?”

(Becky from inside Enchanted Wedding Inc. In Honeymead)

The woman paced from behind the counter of the wedding shop. She was now worried that Cristiana was terribly ill or perhaps in a weakened mental state. She contacted every one of the employee’s and Cristiana’s family. Cristiana never skipped out on a day of work. She left work if something happened but always came in either early or late. She didn’t take a day off. It wasn’t like her. And why no one else seemed concerned over this was beyond her. She tried everyone she could think have that knew Cristiana. Something, it had to be something. Did she loose a limb in a fight? Even then she would run into the office quickly so no one would see her, be there before anyone got in and leave after everyone else left. There was just something off about her doing this.

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(Cristiana from her private boat)

Cristiana sat back in the chair, one arm perched at an angle supporting her head while the other held the pole that had the string dangling in the water. She was sitting there at ease just watching the moon reflect off the dark waters where the fish were nibbling below. For a split second her sensations vibrated as someone cast something, the ritual told her when someone was looking for her. Becky must be having a panic attack over her not coming in today. It wasn’t going to be the end of the world, the company ran just fine when she was in Russia. She could afford the day off relaxing.

When Klara arrived, she was doing nothing. And it felt great. She looked over to Klara with a lazy look on her face then nodded slowly, “I was wondering who would be the first to find me. Is Becky having a heart attack yet?” The smile lines creased at the corners of her mouth with the smile. She accepted the champagne from Klara. With a motion of a finger off the pole, “Extra chairs are in the seat cover, a little storage bin inside of it. I thought my husband would figure it out first, but I guess he is busy as always.”

She moved her eyes back out onto the glowing moonlit waters. “I think Becky needs a day off too, but she insisted she had nothing better to do last week. I think my influence rubbed off on her.” She laughed, “So how are you Klara?” but she hadn’t pondered about Simon’s well being yet.

“Did Simon tell you what I did to him?” It was rather funny, he confessed up to so many things. She called him to her, or yelled for him to come to her. When he got there she acted like she had known about something he did and was waiting for him to tell her, the only difference is, she hadn’t known a thing and called him that way to make him jump to attention. He’d come in explaining everything, twice over wondering what he’d done when the reality was, he’d done nothing wrong. She was just messing with him, kidding around. Sometimes it was good to add a little humor into the night. And he visibly relaxed when he seen she was kidding around.

Klara grabbed herself a chair and plopped down next to her popping her cork on her champagne, drinking deeply from bottle. The liquid flowed smoothly down her throat. “Mmmm I could get used to drinking this!”

Looking at Crissy she started laughing thinking about what Becky was probably going through right now.

“I didn’t go check on Becky but according to the text I’d say she’s freaking out. My guess is Quoth hasn’t checked his phone yet and Simon, well you know how awful he is about checking his phone. I had a feeling you finally did it and I have to say I’m happy see you did.”

Klara looked out at the water, she saw a fish jump. She heard the call of a night bird. It was so peaceful out here. She could understand why the woman had picked this spot to hide at. She laid her head back staring up at the moon. It was so close and lit the night almost like daylight. She scooted her chair closer to the edge and cocked her feet on the side of the boat and crossed her feet.

“It’s beautiful out here. I see why you came.” A rather large fish jumped from the water. “I’m actually feeling wonderful. For once things seem to be peaceful and Simon isn’t in one his angst moods. He told me you gave your blessing so he took me out to buy my wedding dress and his tux.”

She started laughing, “And you know what’s funny about it all. We still don’t have a date set yet!” She took another long swig from the bottle her eyes widening as she mentioned Simon.

“Oh dear, what on earth did you do to him?” Klara shook her head knowing poor Simon probably hadn’t seen it coming. Simon had his demons and had certainly put them all through hell but he was also so trusting when it came to Crissy that she could imagine what she had put the poor man through.

“So could I.” She said raising her glass in the air in a silent cheers. The toast was to no one, everyone and especially the night that brought them such slender. At the end of the line, it tugged at the pole but she didn’t care so much anymore. It was just about relaxing. She could feel her shoulders slumping, the bow in her back as she slouched. It was a perfect night to do nothing. So she could enjoy the drink, she handed off the fishing pole to Klara.
“I called Simon, or should I say screamed for him to come to me. Pounded on his door until the hinges nearly broke off then walked calm as a cucumber back to my apartment waiting on him. When he finally made his way to the apartment, I acted like I knew a secret he had done. In a quick version he ran down everything he’d done in the past few weeks like he was in trouble. I just kept asking if that was all or what else could it be. The man damn near confessed the whole lot of it. But I didn’t know anything. I was just trying to get him to come fill me in on the past few nights. Anything that might have struck his fancy and what not. Sooo, he was freaking out, spilling his guts out and he’d done nothing. I think he finally figured it out eventually because I didn’t yell at him but sat there chuckling. He calmed down and just started talking. You never know with him sometimes.” It was even m ore amusing to tell then actually live through it. “A good trick if you need one for later.” She said clearly giving the woman pointers.

She looked out at the waters swearing in the far distance there might be a whale or dolphin under the crest of the waters, she didn’t know but kind of hoped. “I did give my approval when I seen him, because he was acting a fool. He understands now how it feels to be on the opposite side of that green eyed monster. He knows how badly he disrespected himself, you and our family.” She said making a point of including her in the family. “What he did at Christmas time was dreadful, he sees that now and even in his own way thanked me for stopping it. I might be hard on him, but I tried to be nice. Nice got Micah inadvertently called a rapist, he was picking fights with Jhen who was Micah's wife at the time. Those two nearly killed Simon, Micah didn't let it happen out of respect for me because I said I would handle it. And I did but not in a way that pleased Micah. I took away the satisfaction when really I was just taking away his ex wife going near my childe again. She was lucky I respected Micah as much as I did, or we'd have been in more unpleasant tidings. ” She waved a dismissive hand before going on, “What happens behind Simon’s closed doors is not my issue but he brought the girl in public when he should have brought you. I’m not holding a candle for his love life, and honestly I would rather send him to the realm again for the ... fourth time I think or gouge out my eyes and burst my ear drums, whichever came first. But, it was wrong to have another girl on his arm. He needed reminding. I brought him into the office, yet half the town knew what was going on not before long. I mean the girl whispered in my ear, no one but us two heard what she said. By the time I woke up, everyone knew about it. Yet, not one person came to ask me. How sad. They just assumed to know what Simon and I really talked about in the office. It was really simple, if he was going to run around town with another woman on his arm then he had no right claiming a fiancé.. And by that I mean anyone which was not generalized to you. If he wants to be a player like… say Niklaus was then own up to it and make no promises and no regrets. But, if he wants one woman then he needs to be loyal to her. Somehow that all went out the window and I was the bad guy, but in this, I wasn’t. Yes, it could have been more private. What drag the girl and guy in the office, ignore it and make him think I approve… you see why I took him into the office! It’s not easy being his sire. Or a sire at all. Anne-Ly is good. Quoth is for the most part. Tyler has yet to understand himself, but he will come around. The rest sleep, in deep heavy sleeps. Yes I am strict on them, I see such potential in them.” Was she even talking to Klara anymore or just thinking out loud? She wasn’t even sure anymore. She glanced over to Klara to see if she had bored the woman to death.

“I am sure Becky will be fine once she sees me tonight or tomorrow morning. But it would be funny if she called the morgue. They would have her locked up in a cage sleeping off the booze or in the hospital with a thirty six hour Thorazine drip. She’d come back happy as ever.” She laughed, a whole hearted laugh that reached into her bowels and vibrated them.

“These kids of mine are even lucky to have a sire who cares for them, even if they do think I am a horrible sire. Mine didn’t seem to care much when he took off. He just ran off. No regard to what he had done. I’d had a sibling too. She was shy and quiet but he never introduced us. His name was Skyler King. Simon remembers him but he didn’t stick around long enough. He was back for a little while. I had seen him.” She said with a heavy heart. It did kind of hurt a bit that the man just took off, that he’d run off with no care as to what would happen to his spawn, the evil lot they were. “Oh how proud he’d be.” She said flatly, knowing he really wouldn’t care either way.

Her head drifted toward the woman soaking in the views even as she turned in her general direction. “I am going to set a date for you two if you don’t get off your lazy bums. And what is this child thing you had talked about. I want to meet it.” She looked into Klara’s eyes giving her full disclosure to understand, “And I won’t even bite it.”

“How do you think it will be taking his name, well my name? Becoming a Cross eventually. Klara Cross, does it roll off the tongue?” She said arching a brow to her. Now she was rambling on in the laziest of ways, with that European accent and not some southern drawl.

Klara laughed as Crissy told her what she had done as she recast the line into the water. “I bet he about peed himself wondering what he had done that you had found out and how soon before I’d be on his back. Poor guy but he does tend to bring it on himself.”

The bobber dipped into the water hard and she began to reel the fish in but oddly it wasn’t putting up a fight. She finally got the item close enough and pulled up a head. “Really? People need to stop throwing these things in here. You keeping….” She looked down at where the woman was pointing. “I think you’re going to need a bigger bucket if we catch any more heads.” She realized it was a statement she would never utter in her life but oddly it all seems so natural.

Casting the line back out, she sat down listening staring out into the darkness, watching the reflection of the moon dancing on the water. Her eyebrow arched ever so slightly noticing that Crissy had said our instead of my. She listened to her ramble on about her child. Klara knew that Crissy loved Simon deeply and only wanted his happiness. She nodded in agreement.

“I pointed out to him that had I been there no one would’ve thought a thing but by bringing someone else and I’m nowhere to be seen, along with the flirting what did he think people were going to think? I’m not sure when she found out that he was engaged but from what I understand she knew it before the party she should have told him no but I can’t blame her, if a guy is putting himself out there he’s fair game. He’s lucky nothing really happened but he know if anything like that happens again I’ll send him to the shadow realm myself and keep him there for as long as I can.”

Klara sighed popping the pole to see if the nibble would set in the fish’s mouth. “I’ve given him the option to walk away and be free to see who he wants but he keeps telling me no.” Her last text to him playing through her mind wondering what he would have to say. “I think he’s finally decided what he wants.”

“You’ve been a good sire to them. Maybe some disagree with your methods at time but we all do what we feel must for those that we love. It’s not like we get a manual when we sire someone that tells us what to do.” Klara stretched reeling the line in not getting a bite. Looking into the bucket. “Did you cast a spell or something to real them all in?”

Klara laid her head back and looked up at the sky watching the stars twinkle. “I’ve changed my name before when I switched families. This time it will special because it tells the world I’m his. Though when I texted my child to tell her of the engagement she said she would be calling me KC and the Sunshine Band. I’m looking forward to it. It will be different, hell it’s just weird to hear you calling me Klara instead of the West girl! One change at a time woman!” she teased her. Klara Cross. She sat smiling pondering her future.

"You want me to go pay Becky a visit and tell her you're fine?" She snapped a picture of Crissy relaxing. "or I can her this picture even if you do look a little drunk in it."