Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Why hello, Samantha darling!", came the pompous voice of Steph from over the phone, "You don't sound too delightful at the moment. Bad day at business for you? Well, how about we fix your mood?"

Samantha could practically hear Steph smiling over the phone as she spoke. "Ah, yes. Very good. Do tell me, how is my brother treating you? I would say he very much loves you. Would you agree to that?"

Before Samantha could answer, Steph continued to speak. "He's quite the Romeo, isn't he? Well, that's the kind of man that's been raised by the Latimer family. It only makes sense that Paul would find that perfect woman for him some time or another. Of course, you know that already." From the other side of the speaker, Steph could be heard inhaling, as if she were smoking again.

"Well now that you mention it...", Steph's voice replied, "There was something that I needed to ask of you."

"Since you're going to be marrying my brother, the two of us are going to become sister-in-laws. And of course, family loves one another. Family sticks together. So if we're going to become family, I suggest that we spend more time with one another. We really need that bond, you know?"

"So I was thinking I would start by inviting you to a game of poker. Let's say, tomorrow night? Of course you can change it to when you'd like! As long as we get to spend time, I'm okay with any day."

"Ah, yes! The cinema.", Steph replied. "What a wonderful idea that is. Though why just watch a pre-recorded performance, when you could see one live? Botteleir Pepper: The Musical is coming to town. Shall I buy us some tickets?"

[Wow! That was fast! A brief exchange between Samantha and Steph, then BOOM! 30 minutes passed mid-conversation!]

[Do you think we could finish Samantha's conversation before we get to the other one? I'm worried it might get a little confusing. Or would you rather have Samantha and Steph be time travelers? I'm fine with either one.]

"Oh no, don't trouble yourself over it!", Steph said. Samantha's phone was beginning to reek of smoke. "It will just be between the two of US. Just for this one night, I would prefer to be alone with the woman who's marrying my brother."

Steph's voice sounded rather joyous over the phone. "Tuesday, you said? You're referring to tomorrow! That would be a perfect day for the theatre! Shall I see you at 5 o' clock, so we may get there at 6?"

Finally, Stacy's long shift had come to an end. It was 7 o' clock, and she punched out for the day. Now it was time to ride the elevator back down, and leave for home.

Though once she had left the building, she had remembered something. "Drat! I had Samantha's driver take me here. My car's still at home." She needed some other way of travelling home, as being a pedestrian was too time-consuming with the distance she was going.

A yellow sign crossed her as she took the sidewalk. It was a taxi stop. Perhaps she could get back to her house via taxi service. She began to wave her arms up and down in hopes of attracting a ride.

It wasn't long until a taxi stopped before her. "Where ya' need to go at this time a' night, lady?", the driver said to her. She fed him the address, and gave him some money, so she could come in.

As she simply relaxed in the back seat, watching the city lights pass her by, she heard her phone ringing. She looked at the caller ID. It was Maddy. Finally off work, Stacy was able to respond. She pressed the talk button, but not the speaker this time. "Hello?"