Saturday night.

The clock had just hit eight. For almost a year, every Saturday night at eight, Sharon Raydor would be adding the latest adjustments to her outfit to go out with her partner Andy Flynn. It wasn't one of those Saturdays, though. She withdrew her phone from the purse and checked for any missed call or message, the first thing to come to her attention was his name "Andy". She wanted so badly to give him a call and ask him to run there to her, to talk and clarify the misunderstanding.

"I am not sure I am the one you want", were his last words, and how much they hurt. She had wanted to slap him and also cry, but she had instead remained there, unmoved, watching him go and saying it was better to take some distance to think. He was breaking up with her, but he didn't want to say the words.

Sharon felt the fire in her eyes as tears started to fall down. She loved him, she knew it, but never had the guts to take those words out of her mouth, and it was too late now. In the past months, every time Andy had spent the night over, she had been sitting on the bed watching him sleep and she had whispered them, three simple words that changed everything "I love you". Three words that meant she was ready to give herself to him, not only physically as it had already happened, but also emotionally. She was putting her heart into his hands, but now he would never knew she did.

The phone distracted her thoughts. A single beep brought her back to reality. Sharon closed her eyes and took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she would read.

"LANDED! Baby's home to mama in 1hr. Resist!" Ever since Emily left home the first time to go to New York, her nickname wasn't honey anymore but had become baby, which in the beginning really annoyed her but with time passing she started to like it making it seems like Emily had never grown up and would always be her little dancing star. Sharon and Emily missed each other very much and every time they reunited, according to Ricky, was an exaggerated display of affection, with all the "Mommys" and "babys" flying from their mouths. It seemed like it had been decades since they had seen each other instead of just a few months.

Sharon would call her children every day, and while Ricky was able to visit more often, Emily had been very busy with the season and sometimes she would only have time to message a quick "Busy bee and tired baby. Miss you mommy." But no other message made Sharon more happy and teary than the one she received on a night in December, a few days before Christmas "Brilliant night with a surprise ending" and attached was a photo of her hand with an engagement ring. Sharon had jumped on the bed in happiness and screamed so loud that Rusty had ran into the room armed with a lamp thinking someone had broken into the house and was assaulting her. Emily was going to finally settle and get married to her long time partner and co-worker of her company, in Los Angeles where both came from. Sharon had met him a few times and really liked the man, he seemed really sweet and caring and very passionate about his job just as much as Emily. Sharon and Rusty had also met his parents and they seemed like good people too, a pediatrician and a lawyer, who sadly knew Jackson Raydor very well and didn't like him that much, which seemed to be a common thought of everyone that had ever met him. It didn't really surprise Sharon.

Holding back her tears she tried to type a reply that seemed vaguely appropriate "Hurry, mama needs to hug her baby!" She knew that such a short message would have somehow alarmed Emily about her status, but all she needed at the moment was her arms, solid and warm around her baby girl's shoulders.

Sharon went to the kitchen to pour herself some wine for a bubble bath treatment that was waiting for her. Opening the fridge door, the first thing that jumped to her sight was the pancakes from that morning that Andy had prepared for her with a note on them, "EAT ME. Breakfast is the most important meal, don't leave me alone here A." with a small face that was smiling at her. Less than 14 hours before they had been discussing her absurd habit to eat only one pancake after he had cooked breakfast for her, and here she was now crying over a smiley face in an empty house. The urge to run to the phone was strong again, to find his name and make a call. She ran through the contacts, clicked on his photo and placed her thumb on the green button. After a few rings she hung up. It was wrong to call him, he asked her for space and she wasn't giving it to him. Andy had taken a week off work for sickness and it was clear that he wanted to avoid her. While her thoughts went on how wrong it was for her to call him, her phone rang. His photo appeared on the display. She let it ring, until it stopped. Sharon didn't stop looking at the display, while his image disappeared from it for just a few seconds, to reappear with a message "Sharon, are you okay?"

She made a mistake, making him worry something was wrong and now she couldn't just ignore him and not reply. Knowing Andy, he would have run to her and broke through the door thinking of the worst. In her heart, Sharon wanted him to run to her but she knew it was not right and decided to reply "Was calling Andrea and I hit the wrong name. Sorry." They both knew it was the most pathetic excuse, she had her under "Hobbs" not Andrea but it made it for the embarrassment of the moment. Sharon waited a few more seconds to see if he was going to reply but nothing came . She decided to pour herself that glass of wine and go take her bath. It would only be a few minutes, less than an hour, until Sharon had to clear out her mind and heart and smile for her daughter and in preparation for the intense week that was ahead of them, until the day of the wedding, next Sunday.

Entering the warmth of the water, her tense muscles started to relax a little bit. She lost herself completely in sipping her white wine and the background music that lulled her head with soft notes.

"You get out of there your way or my way?" Emily was standing in the bathroom in front of her. Sharon opened her eyes to realize the music had been put off and her daughter had arrived already. Checking the watch she put on the window-sill she opened her eyes wide: it was nine already.