I am exhausted today. I could hardly sleep last night in anticipation for today's meeting with the bank for the purchase deed of the property next door. I dress in my best, primping myself up, to look as professional as possible. Exhausted or not, it doesn't matter. My heart beats excitedly, because I know in a short time, I will be the owner of the property.

I enter the bank, a swift swishing of my skirts is the only sound made as I check in with the receptionist.

"Good day. Rakara Langridge. I'm here to speak to Mr. Monet."

"One moment, please." She calls Mr Monet up and announces my arrival. "You may go see him, third floor, take the hall to your left, his name is on the door."

"Thank you." I am allowed into the office area by the security personnel who points me to the lift. After walking down the hall and finding Mr. Monet's office, I knock tentatively.

"Come in."

"Good day, Mr. Monet. How are you fairing?" I greet him as I enter.

He motions for me to sit as he responds cordially, "I'm fine, Ms. Langridge. How may I help you today?"

"I'm here to pay the down payment for the purchase deed of  54864 Locking Cog Way. I must inform you, I have been so excited about this. I hardly slept a wink anticipating the chance to expand my cozy shop into a more comfortable experience." I begin to pull my purse from my person and Mr. Monet holds a hand up to stop me.

His eyes are heavy with disappointment, giving me the horrible shadow of heart break.

"My sincerest apologies, Ms. Langridge, but someone else has beat you to the property, by two days. Gentleman said he had a big plan in mind for it too. Normally in these situations we would have told him that it was already pending with another buyer, but since he had the full amount requested, the trust for the property went with the cash buyer. It was out of my hands, Ms. Langridge. I do however have some other properties you may be interested in around the same price in different parts of the districts levels, if you care to look."

My heart's stopped as I put on my best face and respond normally, "Why yes of course, please show me."

I pay attention and look at the pictures of the shop exteriors and gain some knowledge of the options. One is smaller than my own, with no apartment, and is ten thousand gold more in the first level of the Works. Another is going for eighty thousand gold, larger than my own with an apartment, in level 2. Then there's a property that needs a lot of work, bigger than all of them combined with three attached studio living quarters for only thirty thousand.

"Why is this one so cheap? That's a steal?!" I question in reference to the third property.

"It's on the first level too. It does need a substantial amount of work, dear. It suffered a fire in the boiler room and destroyed much of the rear of the building before the fire scooters were able to arrive and put out the blaze."

"What happened to the previous owners than? Why didn't they try to rebuild?" I ask.

Saddened eyes meet mine, "They perished in the blaze. The apartments stairs were on fire being over the boiler area. It was too late by the time help had arrived. Sad and tragic occurrences like that tend to cause people to avoid places like that."

"I see. Well, I will give these places some thought, Mr. Monet. If I choose one, I'll let you know. Oh by the way, the place next to my own, do you know who purchased it?" I ask curious, even though I'm sure I 'll find out soon enough.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Langridge, I can't reveal that information, even though I'm sure you'll find out soon enough."

I chuckle lightly, "Yes, I suppose you're right.  Thank you for help and showing me these other properties. Good day, Mr. Monet." I stand and give a polite curtsy, leaving his office and the bank behind as I head for Mr. Wellsew's place.

I had missed out on the purchase of the property next door, but I now had the money for a decent rental from Mr. Wellsew for tomorrow nights theater with Mr. Fairchild. I could always save up more money and hope for a better option to open up for me.

"Good day, Ms. Langridge. How may I be of service my dear?" Mr. Wellsew greets me as I walk into the shop. He motions me to follow him to the settee area where we can discuss things more privately than the front area.

"Good day, Mr. Wellsew. I'm here to see about renting a dress for a special outing tomorrow evening. My budget is modest, only two thousand gold for something I can wear in the gilded district to the theater." I swallow my fear down, afraid he'll laugh in my face. Most gilded rentals for everyday wear go from two to six thousand depending on the fashion craze they're going through at the moment.

Mr. Wellsew chews on his bottom lip. "Well, my dear, I don't have much to choose from for the theater, at least for the latest craze which is mirrors." He shakes his head as his eyes roll back to look at his silver eyebrows. He lowers them back down and focuses on something over my shoulder. I look over in the same direction, only to see the bolts of fabric he has out. "However, I believe that I can do something for you. Do you trust me my dear?" He asks seriously.

"Of course I trust you." I pat his hand quickly and he nods.

"Let me get your measurements my dear and I will personally come by your place later tonight for a final fitting. Let's hurry though, time is of the essence!"

I have never had so many different fabrics wrapped around my body as I have today. Velvet, satin, silk, charmeuse, chiffon, poplin, I had them all in varying colors and designs.

I tried to tell Mr. Wellsew, that I couldn't afford a  new dress for the Gilded district, but he kept hushing me saying not to worry.

When I had finally left, he sent me off with a bag of napkins and table cloths, that I had not ordered. Knowing the girls were handling the lunch rush by themselves, I hurried back to the shop.

Upon seeing the shop next door still quiet and empty, my heart wrenched in disappointment. I entered the shop to find the girls cleaning up from the rush, setting a few people down at now clean tables.

"Hello, Rakara ma'am! You've been gone rather longer than expected! It went well I'm guessing?" Elaine twittered in her cheerful way.

"I'll be in my office for a while ladies, call if you need me." I went straight to my office, locking the door and breaking down into muffled sobs.

Elaine's question had put the final cut to my heart. Saving up twenty thousand gold for the shop next door in only five years had been no easy feat since I had to explain the amounts in my tax sheets come tax time. When the majority of that amount was obtained through illegal dealings, creating false receipts and logging them into the registers properly was tedious and had to be done at the right amounts to avoid paying extra taxes.

All of that hard work had been for naught. I couldn't be in two places at once, I trusted Elaine and Maraquette, but to run another building I would have to hire more people. I am not too keen on throwing my trust out there on some random person, in hopes I am fortunate enough to hire an honest one.

As I wallowed in my disappointment, I could hear the girls moving back and forth, cleaning and taking care of the stocking. Finally one stopped and tapped gently on the door.

"Rakara?" It's Maraquette.

I wipe my tears and face, and open the door, "Yes, Etty?" I put on a forced smile and she flings her arms around me.

"Oh! Rakara, they didn't approve you all of sudden, why?!" She holds me close and steps us back into the office closing the door behind her.

"Some one else purchased it, two days before me, Etty. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. They gave me three other properties to look over, but I'm just not sure of how to go about them. I need to clear my head and really think these through."

She had calmed me down after talking about the other properties and I informed her of the visit at Mr. Wellsew's. Delighted, she asked if she could stay for when the dress was brought over for the fitting.

"I don't see why that would be a problem." I nod and stand, "Well, let's prepare for tea time, shall we?"

"Did Mr. Wellsew send us more napkins and cloths?" Marquette asks pointing to the bag.

"Oh, I forgot all about those! Here I'll hand you them and you may put them away." I tell her, reaching inside and pulling out the stack of napkins and send her out to quickly check the bottom. Finding nothing to worry about, I sigh and pull out the cloths.

"Here you go Etty. I don't know why he gave me so many, I did not place an order for more." I tell her handing them over to be put on the shelves on display.

"At least we have a good amount of stock for this month." Elaine chimes in. She gives me a quick hug and looks at the new napkins and tablecloths. "These are great quality, although rather plain with just the simple lined embroidery. I'm sure someone will appreciate them though."

"Yes, I agree. Oh ladies, looks like we should do some dusting. Is there a towel and bucket handy?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'll grab it for you." Etty goes to the kitchen and hands the bucket and cleaning towel over to me.

I pull out the smaller four-step step-stool and set the bucket up on top and begin cleaning the dust away. Lost in my thoughts I begin to hum and sing a little tune my mother used to sing when I was little to calm me.

"Wind blows steady, water still flows, flowers will seed and grow.... The sun still shines warm and bright, casting me in it's elemental light.... With all of life and its wonders to behold, you are my greatest gift, my love, and my home..."

"Beautiful."

A voice states scaring me to death, I squeal and jump on top of the stool and lose my balance.

Closing my eyes waiting for the impact, I'm instead caught in strong, firm arms, next to a chest that is riddled in a sweet intoxicating, and exotic musky scent, that I almost moan as the scent invades my senses.

Opening my eyes timidly, I turn ten shades darker, blushing. The heated gaze that looks into my eyes is enough to end my life and bring me back as Mr. Fairchild asks me, " Are you alright, Ms. Langridge? I didn't mean to startle you so."

"Thank you, Mr. Fairchild, for catching me, but do you mind letting me go now?" Even though I asked to be released from his embrace, my body screamed to stay right where it was.

"Of course, Ms. Langridge, my apologies. This is quite improper of me to continue holding you up."

"Mr. Fairchild?"

"Hmmm...?" He questions me gazing deeply into my eyes.

"You're still holding me up." I cover my face with my hand, embarrassed.

"Oh, right." He clears his throat and sets me right on my feet, before taking a step back.

"Did you come for tea and pastry today?" I inquire attempting to disappate the heavy, awkwardness that hangs in the air.

"Yes, but I also wished to speak to you about tomorrow. Are you able to join me again today?"

He looks, hesitating a moment before giving  me a smile.

'Oh no... is he going to tell me he's taking someone else?'

"Of course, I can join you. I'll go prepare your tea and pastry." I say nonchalantly, picking up the cleaning rag and taking the bucket with me to the kitchen.

After washing my hands and preparing the tray, I mentally prepare myself for the worst. Smiling the best I could manage, I guide my feet to the table.

"There you are Mr. Fairchild. So, what about tomorrow do you wish to speak to me about?" I ask sipping my tea.

"Thank you, Ms. Langridge. Yes, as you know, a business associate of mine gave me the tickets for tomorrow. He has invited us to the soiree he's holding after the play. I don't want you to feel obligated to go. They are a group of entitled, obnoxious, and arrogantly ignorant, prancing peacocks. I would hate for you to feel uncomfortable, as I aim to make the night enjoyable for the both of us. I'm more than happy bringing you back home after the play, if you so wish."

I can't help the giggle that slips past my lips. My hand flies to my mouth to stifle it, " My sincerest apologies, Mr. Fairchild. I do appreciate the consideration you are showing for me. I couldn't help but chortle at the thought that you would think I would choose to come home after the play, instead of enjoy more of the evening with you."

Mr. Fairchild sets his tea cup down and clears his throat. "Thank you  for such a complimenting statement of reassurance. You found a dress, I am assuming?"

"Yes, Mr. Wellsew will be stopping by for a final fit later this evening."

"Excellent! I'm glad we have that all taken care of now. So how has the last few days been for you?"