Chapter 1 - Normal Life to Wish for

Brown exhausted eyes went to the vintage old clock of the large hall which told it was past five in the evening. Time to go home. 

Stacy's fingers took speed, eyes moving on the paper as she edited the last sample of the news which would be the next day's headline of a local newspaper, 'Cityscape'.

'Unknown Murders in The City' was the headline that her fifty-seven years old employer, Mr Wallace suggested. The old man had some weird headings but people wouldn't care as long as they got some topics to hold a conversation about.

"Miss Cyrus, is the news ready?" A man came in a hurry, his voice breathless as he had been running round and round in the whole old two-story building. He was the run-dog of the office, Jacob. A new trainee under them. She almost fell bad for him as everyone was taking advantage of him. 

"Yes, almost." Stacy said, reading one last time if she had missed something. The small company was always late when it came to collecting mind-blogging news because the three-four journalists they had were lazy and they always complained about the petrol fees. Although Stacy couldn't argue, her employer was stingy as hell.

But the new journalist they had hired was really good. Joana Steve. She would sneak into anywhere and grab the great news which was why the whole building was now flooding with work. Everyone was excited including Stacy.

In two years of working in the company, it was the first time she got overwhelmed by work and she enjoyed it. 

Stacy let out a sigh of relief as she handed the papers to the man and gave him a small nod. "There you go."

"Thank you, Miss Cyrus." The man returned the gesture and went away immediately. Now it was time to go home. 

She got up from her chair that had served two generations since the day it had arrived and now to the third generation. The office needed a renovation but they hardly had money. And more importantly the owner was stingy.

She took her sling bag and said to her colleagues a bunch of 'byes', she left the building to her favorite cafe. 

She bought a packet of cookies along with her favorite strawberry muffins. She wanted to spend her free time in the cafe for a while but she wanted to go home. She hadn't slept last night because of the new romance book she had bought and she wanted to know the last conclusion of the story badly. 

As she reached home, she saw the apartment door was locked. Her roommate, Mikaela must be working late today as well. 

She sighed and brought out her keys. Lately Mikaela had been very busy and she could hardly see her now. For the past one month, Mikaela had been doing night shifts and when Stacy woke up, she would find her in her bed still sleeping. No clue when she would come. 

She opened the door and put her bag and the packets as she went for the bathroom. 

A hot shower would be nice to throw away the exhaustion. 

A slow and peaceful life that she had always dreamt of. Waking up, jogging, going to the office, reading books, cooking and then sleeping were all she had been doing for the past two years and she enjoyed each moment but sometimes, she felt a little lonely.

She was twenty six yet she had no boyfriend nor had she gone on any date. Her life never let her indulge into those sorts of things. 

Stacy couldn't remember her parents and when she reached the age when any child could remember, she saw her aunt. That lady was too old to be called aunt.

But after she died, she got two foster families and the memories weren't good at all. All she could remember was quarrels, poor behavior and negligence. When she turned eighteen, she entered into a girl's dorms and worked in a small mart to keep going. She couldn't go to renowned colleges so she had to study hard to get a scholarship for a cheap college. 

All these years she had to sacrifice and compromise but it was all worth the peaceful life she had now. 

As she came out of the bathroom, she found Mikaela leaning against the couch, tiredness sipping out of her. Dark bags concealed with concealer under her eyes said she had been working tirelessly.

"You got home early today..." Stacy said as she brought out the strawberry muffins and gave her one taking a seat beside her. 

Mikaela took it lazily and said, "I am tired and I got a really good deal for tomorrow."

Stacy nodded. "What deal?"

"Um... Well, if I managed to crack the deal, I would be getting ten-thousand bucks." She said as Stacy's eyes went round.

"That's wonderful!" Stacy exclaimed and asked, "But would the company pay that much? I've never heard any company giving that much for a single deal..."

Mikaela nodded. "They are just very impressed by me so..."

Stacy nodded and said, "Then we should celebrate it tonight, shouldn't we?" 

Mikaela let out a dry smile. "I am feeling sleepy. I am sorry."

Stacy chuckled and patted on her head saying, "Alright. Take enough rest."

Then her eyes fell on Mikaela's left arm. It had a bruise and now it was purple. Worry came crashing on Stacy as what could have made her arm so bruised. She wanted to ask her but Mikaela slept immediately after eating the muffin. 

*****

Stacy woke up early and saw the black stray cat, Mimi had arrived on her bed. She smiled at Mimi as she meowed as if giving her a greeting. She gave her food and went to jog. When she came back she saw Mikaela was still sleeping.

She made breakfast and called Mikaela, "You want some breakfast?"

"No. I am very sleepy." Came in a hoarse yet in a weak voice.

Stacy went to her and saw, Mikaela wasn't looking well. Her face looked dull even though she had a really pretty face. Her auburn hair looked like a nest and she felt drained.

She touched her forehead and it was burning. "You got a fever."

"It will go away if I take enough rest." Mikaela mumbled which didn't assure Stacy.

"But don't you have the deal today?" Stacy asked, a little worried. 

"I will go there. Don't worry." She said and went back to sleep. Stacy looked at her for a moment and left some paracetamol on her desk hoping she would take it once she woke up. 

Before leaving for her office, Stacy said to Mikaela, "I have left some food in the freezer. Be sure to take it and take the medicines."

Mikaela mumbled something but Stacy couldn't hear it as she left.