[center][color=teal][h2]Jessamyn "Jess" Bailey[/h2][/color][/center]

[color=teal]"N-No, it's ok,"[/color] Jess insisted, knowing she sounded nothing like the kind of friendly, confident person customers would expect to answer the phone. [color=teal]"I'm happy to do this."[/color] After everything Roxy had done for her, she wanted to give something back - and it was about time she developed some useful skills. She had to ease her way back into the world instead of cowering away from it.

Even so, she went tense as the door opened. She had to resist the urge to step back. This would be her first interaction with a stranger since she'd first met Roxy in the cabin. [i]Think of the person you should be by now,[/i] she told herself, [i]and pretend to be her.[/i]

In theory, it was easy. In practice, not so much.