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It was the beginning of a bright, sunny morning in the small, never-changing town of Edenrigde. In a lovely four-bedroom home located on the nicer side of town, the sounds of soft classical music slowly began to fill a big, neatly-kept master bedroom. A young woman slowly rose from beneath the bedsheets of a queen bed, rubbing her tired eyes with the back of her hand and her shoulder-length, blonde hair suffering from an adorable case of bedhead. A pair of blue eyes adjusted to the soft brightness in the room as her body took its time to fully wake up. Slowly shifting into a sitting position, the woman reached to her nightstand and pressed the ‘off’ button on her alarm. Her eyes then turned to the shaggy-haired, still-sleeping figure beside her, and a sweet smile rose to her lips. She took a moment to admire just how handsome he was, how peaceful he looked, and how lucky she was to have him. Still smiling, the woman gently kissed her husband’s cheek before finally getting out of bed.

Elaine Lancaster had never been a morning person. Not when she was child, [i]certainly[/i] not her teenage years and not as an adult. Even when she had first started working at Edenridge High as a social worker, she hadn’t been able to smoothly adjust to waking up early. But, of course, fate has a funny way of messing around with people, and had decided to bless Lanie with an early riser. Her daughter, two and a half year-old [url=https://img0.etsystatic.com/004/0/5952628/il_fullxfull.372131750_s96h.jpg]Ingrid Danielle Callahan[/url], had inherited her father Roddy Callahan’s habit of waking up alongside the sun. And so, Lanie had finally gotten used to being an ‘early riser’ herself.

Ever since turning into a mother, Lanie’s days had taken up a routine: get up, take a shower, make breakfast, wake up Ingrid, feed her, get her dressed and ready for the day, then get [i]herself[/i] dressed and ready for the day, drop Ingrid at her grandparents’ and make her way to work. Right now, as she mixed pancake batter while leaning against the marble counter top, Lanie remembered what day it was. It had been ten years since the Edenridge High School Shooting: the day that had changed Lanie’s life. Though neither she or any relatives had been injured physically, the consequences of events of that day had sent her to rock bottom. Before that day, Lanie’s life was going pretty well. She had a boyfriend that loved her to no end, a repairing relationship with her parents and had earned enough confidence in herself as to not purge in about a year. But after her boyfriend’s brother had been one of the victims of the shooting, things had quickly changed for the worse. Her boyfriend had disappeared without a word or a trace, consequently triggering back nasty old habits that ultimately sent Lanie to the mental preserve she spend four months of her life in. If it hadn’t been for Roddy’s and Trish’s support, she was pretty sure she would have died. She would have never guessed that, in ten years’ time, she would have been happily married for four years and blessed with the ray of sunshine that was her daughter.

Tonight, the old alumni were scheduled to attend their 10-year class reunion. And after being informed of the news that her old boyfriend had inherited the town’s mechanic shop after its owner passed away, Lanie was afraid that Mordechai Boaz would choose this moment to come back to town. She’d worked too damn hard to get to the point she was in her life to have someone come out of nowhere and stir back old, painful memories.

Pushing the unwelcome thoughts aside, Lanie went back to cooking breakfast and doing the rest of her morning routine. The worry of what could happen loomed over her like a dark cloud, but once her daughter was up and going there was no time to brood over anything.

“Ingrid, honey, you’re going to be spending the night at Grandma and Grandpa’s today, okay? Mommy and Daddy have a special event to attend.” Lanie told her daughter as they stood in front of the Callahan’s house. Roddy’s mother took care of Ingrid while her son and daughter-in-law worked, and she did so happily. She was head over heels in love with her granddaughter, after all.

“But I’m gonna miss you,” the little girl said sadly, a small pout appearing on the full lips she’d inherited from her mother. Even knowing fully well she would be away from Ingrid just one night and that she would be in the excellent care of her loving grandparents, it still broke Lanie’s heart to see her baby girl sad.

“I’m going to miss you too, bumblebee,” Lanie replied, giving Ingrid a big hug. “But don’t worry, love. Grandma will cook some mac and cheese for you tonight, Grandpa will read you a bedtime story before bed and we can go out for [i]ice cream[/i] with Daddy tomorrow when we pick you up. Does that sound like fun?”

The blonde child seemed to think about it for a few seconds, then her face lit up with a bright smile. “YES!” she cried out happily, jumping into her mother’s arms again. The two shared a long embrace before the time arrived for Lanie to be off.

“Mommy has to go now. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Be a good girl for Grandma and Grandpa.”

After making sure to give her daughter extra kisses, hugs and cuddles, Lanie left Ingrid with her grandparents, boarded her car and made her way to Edenridge High. She would need all the love Ingrid could give her to get through this day and stay sane.[hr][hr]

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“AAAAAAND cut!" The director's voice rang through the air, signaling the end of Izabella Wellington’s first scene back in the set that had gotten her career started. “Nice to have you back, Miss Academy Award winner Izabella Wellington.” he teased, going over to Bella and giving her a quick hug.

Bella smiled gracefully at his praise, waving an airy hand. [color=darkturquoise]“Oh, please.”[/color] she simpered, her native English accent coming out in all of its glory. [color=darkturquoise]“If it hadn’t been for this opportunity I wouldn’t have an Oscar to brag about in the first place, so it’s good to be back where it all started.”[/color] Having said this, Bella carefully stepped out of the set and walked to where her assistant stood. [color=DarkTurquoise]“Norah, dear, any messages?”[/color] Bella asked her Norah, the young and lovely Asian girl that had been working as her assistant for the last four years, as she made her way to her appointed chair on set. 

[color=pink]“As a matter of fact, yes. Let’s see...”[/color] Norah declared, glancing at her notepad and pointing somewhere in the page with a fancy-looking silver pen. [color=pink]“Okay, here. Nina Ricci’s PR team want to confirm the date for the photo shoot of her new fragrance next week, while Valentino’s assistant confirmed he’s sent you the new season footwear collection for you to try, aaaaaaaand Donatella wanted to personally inform that your dress for the Met Gala is ready, and to schedule a date for a try-on.”[/color]

[color=DarkTurquoise]“I see…”[/color] Bella mused, mentally going over what had just been said and sorting everything out before responding while she took a seat on her chair. [color=DarkTurquoise]“Very well. Please, confirm the photo shoot for Nina’s fragrance, add a reminder to my calendar for a thank-you call to Valentino, and ask Donatella if she’s available some time next week. Also, would you please be a darling and fetch me some coffee and sandwiches? I’m feeling rather hungry at the moment.”[/color] she added with a good-natured laugh.

Without wasting any time, Norah took notes on everything Izabella had said and went off to fetch the requested snacks. Feeling satisfied, Bella whipped out her phone to give her social media a quick check while she waited for any one of her cast members to approach her. Whereas she would normally retreat to the peace and solitude of her trailer after every scene, this was a special exception. With so many old and dear faces to catch up with, it was best to stick around for a while and see if anyone wanted to chat.