Nicole did not acknowledge the words the woman had spoken. She began to take small steps towards her, keeping her arms close to her chest as a subconscious form defense. When she had closed the gap about halfway, she stopped again. For several seconds, she was frozen. Whoever this woman was, there was something about her that reminded Nicole of someone. She couldn't quite remember who, but there was something vaguely familiar. Then again, she had thought the same thing with everybody else she had been tangled up with. At this point, Nicole wasn't sure if all of these people actually reminded her of someone before or if she was just drawn in by some sort of similar feature. 

Regardless, Nicole continued her baby steps forward, examining the woman before her. She took in every feature, every wary glance, every cautious movement. Every drag of the cigarette, Nicole followed closely. She was being naive and she knew it, but she couldn't help herself. There was something that completely drew her in. But once again Nicole looked to her past; no matter how many times she had found herself sucked into somebody, she had just as quickly pushed herself out or found herself pushed out. Nothing lasted forever in this city, and trust was perhaps the rarest commodity around. There was nothing permanent for Nicole. She could not keep herself in one place for more than a few months, at best. Every time she could recall, she had been betrayed or she had run off. Emotional attachment never meant much to Nicole for very long. So the question she found herself asking was, why this woman? Why do all of that again and again when she could just move on and avoid the struggle of having to leave once more? Nicole had no answers, just the unshakable feeling that this woman was all she wanted to focus on at this very moment.

With a sudden start, her hand dove into her pocket. A corner of her mind acknowledged the ridiculousness of her spontaneity, but she didn't care. She pulled out the silver watch she had stolen from the drunk earlier. With a newfound energy, Nicole closed the remaining gap between her and the woman in front of her in a flash, and held the watch out in front of her. And just like that, her moment of confidence faded as quickly as it had come. Her body language shifted dramatically: her shoulders dropped, her arms drifted back towards her chest, and she seemed to shrink into herself. Her arm holding the watch had dropped, and Nicole weakly lifted it back up towards the woman in front of her. She gave a slight nod, though she was unsure if she was really behind the idea of offering away a watch that had caused her more problems than she would have liked.