Prologue

A thirty four year old woman glanced at herself in the mirror. Her fingers came up and delicately and lovingly, brushed the small crows' feet gracing the sides of her eyes. She let out a small sigh and uncapped a tube of lipstick the color of a soft pink rose.

Today was a special day. Eleven years to the day was their wedding. A corner of the soft pink lips lifted up in a half smile. It was this day eleven years ago that Sarah Williams became Sarah Gwynne. Sarah put the tube of lipstick down and gently touched her wedding ring before lifting up a black eyeliner.

Sarah had just gotten back from the University of Etton, where she worked as the Professor of Creative Writing. Sarah smiled into the mirror as she went to line her other eye. She had found the love of writing after her trip; she also found that her love of writing was stronger than that of the call of the stage, though occasionally the stage called her back. It was a good thing that not only did she major in Creative Writing with a Drama minor, but also that wonderful major was a wonderful setup for a career in theatre.

Everything had turned out perfect for Sarah. Not only did she have the love of her life as her husband, but she also had two young boys with him and a career she absolutely adored. She had everything that she dreamed of, except the fame a glory of being a Broadway Diva, but she had grown out of that the moment she saw Toby asleep in his crib. In fact, a new dream had been brought forth at that very moment in time. A dream to become a mother.

It was in the last year of high school that she met Matthew, her husband. He was the perfect vision of prince charming, with wispy fair blonde locks and beautiful sea blue eyes. Three years after they met, they married, six years after that they had their first child, Liam, and two years ago, they had their second child, Thane.

Sarah sat still, examining her reflection closely. It was so rare that they went out, considering Liam was in school and the domestic chaotic ruler who answers to the name of Thane. Tonight she was determined to look perfect for her husband, who, unfortunately, was still at work. He too was a Professor, but of Physics. Sarah grimaced slightly, while she did have a strong interest in Physics, she didn't know a quarter as much as he did, and when he tried to help her along, she would always be in the dust. It was then that she had a sudden feeling of pity for Wile-E-Coyote.

As Sarah sat examining herself, she started to cross off her mental list of looks. Hair was like art, with large loose curls framing her strong face. Make-up strategically placed to bring out the best of her features, dark colors of purple black and green creating a smoldering smoky look around her eyes, causing the dark green to shine brightly. Soft pink lipstick to make her lips look kissable and a one of a kind soft colored blush to bring out her smile.

Teeth were brushed, flossed and pearly white accompanied with a mint fresh breath. Over all smell was a dab of Jasmine and Roses, barely noticeable unless a soft breeze went by or in close proximity. Nails were clear and in proper shape, skin was a soft and smooth as her baby's bottom. Last was the knockout dress of black silk that flowed to her knees. It was simple and plain, the neck line high and loose, almost brushing her throat with it's slightly excessive materiel loosely bunch together. There were no sleeves to the dress and the back dipped nicely with the same excessive materiel framing the peek of her back that showed her creamy skin from neck to mid back.

Sarah stood up from the vanity and smoothed her dress for a moment before turning around and walking out of the bedroom she shared with her husband. She softly shut the door and calmly went down the stairs to see her two children sitting; watching the cartoon series her husband blamed her for hooking them on: Teen Titans. She rather enjoyed the show and their children always sat quietly when it was on, their eyes transfixed by the artwork.

She quietly slipped by them, spotting the baby sitter sitting on the love seat, studying her homework Sarah sat down next to her and waited for her husband to come home from work, which should be in about fifteen minutes. He, she thought quietly as she watched Starfire from the T.V. show punch a pink limousine, could change relatively fast in the classroom, while she had to spend two hours in front of a mirror.

She snapped out of her reverie as her children giggled at the funny face of Starfire mutating her mouth, which had fallen off, and giving a T-Rex roar to a prom couple.

-----

Sarah sighed and fidgeted with the hem of her dress. She stole a glance at the clock on the wall to her right. Three a.m. it said. She got up and paced, a cup of coffee nestled in her hands. She took a cautious sip, completely ignorant of the fact that it was stone cold. She placed it on the mantel of the fireplace as she paced it and turned around to pace back towards the wall holding the clock. She crossed her arms and started to bite her lower lip. She glanced at the clock again: Three a.m. the hands pointed She sighed again and turned towards the other direction, picking up the cold coffee on her way past the fireplace. Sarah took another sip of it and, on her way towards the wall, placed it on the light wood coffee table.

-----

Three-o-one a.m.

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Her brow furrowed as she rubbed at it in frustration and worry. She had called Matthew's cell phone, no answer. She figured that maybe the battery was dead. She had waited for an hour after the time he was supposed to be home, listening for the phone to ring or the door to open as she read to their children before bed. Sarah had dismissed the baby-sitter, telling her that she would call her if needed. Then thirty minutes after she put the children to bed and tried to call his cell phone again; no answer. With her nerves on edge, Sarah had called his friends and had received the same answer, not one peep from him since that afternoon.

Sarah had been reduced to biting her manicured nails by ten 'o'clock, her mind thinking of scenarios that became worse with each passing minute. After a thought of him dying horribly, she wrenched out the phone book from under the table and started a process of finding hospitals and dialing their numbers. Not one held Matthew Gwynne. Frustration and fear brought rivers of tears to her eyes as the thought of finding her husband lying in a gutter somewhere kept replaying repeatedly in her mind. Sarah thought about phoning the police and almost had the number dialed when she thought that they would've called her if they found her husband somewhere.

'But that doesn't mean that they won't' her mind had said to her.

That's when she made herself a batch of horribly made coffee and sat down, waiting for the front door to open, it was eleven by then.

-----

Sarah looked up at the clock again, frustrated that only thirty seconds went by. By now they should've either still be out celebrating their eleventh wedding anniversary or be home either asleep or cuddled on the couch watching a movie or something.

Her hair, which had been set to cascade in rivers of luscious curls, was now hanging with frazzled limpness around her face. Her make-up was smudged to almost non-existence and the black dress that was her favorite was wrinkled and harassed beyond possible repair. She had long ago abandoned her two-inch heels in favor of bare feet.

She sat down on the edge of the coffee table, propped her elbows on her knees and let her head fall in her hands. Visions of her husbands' body mangled, bloody and bruised lying lifelessly in a dark alleyway or in the gutter filled her mind. They were, after all, living in Manhattan. Maybe he was robbed for five measly dollars or hit by a car or maybe got caught in a gang war, looking for a quicker way to get home. She let her fingers entwine with her thick mussed hair, tears slowly dropped from her eyes to the floor, as she thought. She turned her head to the left, her hands still in her hair and looked at the clock.

Three 'o' five a.m. it said.

The front door opened in time for Sarah to glance at it. In it came a harassed looking Matthew. Sarah quickly launched herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, crying and thanking God for keeping him safe.

She wanted to tell him what all went through her head, how worried she had been, how thankful she was that he was all right but couldn't.

"Shh, it's alright. Everything's alright." Matthew said in a whisper as he stroked his wife's hair.

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Eh, I hope this updated version is to your liking, oh great reviewers.

Trivia: Jennifer Connelly is actually very interested in Physics and was majoring in it for a year before she switched to English. She studied at Yale for two years before transferring to Standford (smart girl). She was 26 years old when she had her first child, whom she planned on naming Liam, but due to his exotic looks, dubbed him Kai. Her second child was born in August of 2003, her at the age of 32, and dubbed him Stellan, after the Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgå rd, who is close friends with her husband, Paul Bettany. Her father-in-law is Thane Bettany, an actor. Her husband comes from a theatre family. Her husband has a sister named Sarah. His grandmother's maiden and stage name was Olga Gwynne. His brother, Matthew, died at age 8, (May he be in peace).

So that is how a create personal background. I snatch it from the original mold's persona. Heheh.