Chapter 1

New city, new job, new life. She took a shaky breath, exhaling slowly watching the slight cloud of mist that curled away from her up into the cold autumn air. Cars flew by, people hurried past, heads tucked low into collars hoping to fight off the growing chill. After another quick glance at her phone she thrust it deep into the pocket of her old gray coat, the soft lining of the pocket long worn away, leaving the rough wool to scratch at her hand. Stopping briefly to pick up the large thin package she was caring she stepped off the curb into the street, warm, brown eyes darting quickly back and forth looking for a cab, one arm clutching the package, the other in the process of jamming a stocking cap tighter onto her head.

A short drive and several dollars later, she arrived at her destination, boots clicking up the marble steps to large, reaching columns that stretched up towards the sky. Once inside the ornately carved wooden doors, she breezed past security with the flash of her keycard, struggling with the awkwardly large package, she stopped just inside the atrium and visibly relaxed. THE INSTITUTE OF ART OF VANCOUVER, BC read the large welcome banner overhead. She sighed, and turned toward the hallway that led to labs in the back of the museum. Hefting the package, which was growing heavier by the second, she began the long trek to the restoration center at the back of the building. It was the beginning of a new part of her life, the chance of a lifetime. When she had gotten the call in the middle of the night with an offer to curate a show at one of the biggest museums in Canada, she didn't think twice about it. She'd dropped everything to be here, her house, her job, her friends. Well, almost everything. Her boyfriend, Gavin, had insisted on coming with her. She didn't know how she felt about this development, sure Gavin was a nice guy, he was always there for her, supportive and encouraging. But something just wasnt right, it felt too strained to her, too forced, but now that he had uprooted his entire life for her, she couldn't exactly bring up the tension that was now a familiar weight in the pit of her stomach.
"Miss Hollis?"

Stephan, the security guard grinned up from his seat at the booth.

"Oh, hello! I'm sorry. Here," She thrust her badge into the space underneath the glass with a startled smile, "and please, you can call me Laura, everyone's so formal around here, it gives me the creeps."

"Alright Miss Hollis, you have a pleasant morning now." He handed her back the badge and the door to the left clicked, signaling her right to pass. She smiled at him and shouldered the door open, disappearing inside. She liked Stephan, he was the first person to smile at her when she'd gotten here a week and a half ago. He was pleasant to absolutely everyone and loved his job. She'd seen the picture of his wife and kids smiling on a fishing boat somewhere, and often wondered if he enjoyed fishing as much as she did. Perhaps she should ask sometime. She missed casual conversation.

Humming slightly, she placed the package on the steel work table, and turned to her locker. Shrugging off her overcoat, she removed a lab coat from her open locker, she frowned, glancing down in obvious frustration, the museum issued coat clashing with the cute floral print of her button up. She'd tried on four shirts before picking this one, the least she could do was look cute in it. Upon removing the stocking cap, a frantic battle between dark blonde hair and a disgruntled hair tie ensued. After several minutes of trying to jam her hair into a bun, she had mostly succeeded. Huffing angrily, she pinned the remaining hair out of her eyes and glared at no one in particular. To anyone who had never witnessed the battle of Laura's hair vs. Laura's hair tie, she appeared to be the the all time master of casually messy buns. Queen of the hot mess. She giggled at the thought. As if any one would find her that attractive.

In her eyes she was just average, completely happy with herself, but average. Short, a grand total of 5'2" (what she lacked in height, she made up for in pure, unbridled emotion) average build, strong but still pleasantly soft, average face, two eyes, a nose, mouth, two ears, a light dusting of freckles, nothing too exciting. She had a few piercings, courtesy of her college roommate LaFontaine, and her crazy girlfriend Perry. In total five, one on her nose, and a scattering of them across both ears. She liked them, but they often snagged on her hair which made her even more angry about the untamable explosion that spread wildly in all directions unless reigned in by several clips and ties. Grinning fondly at the memory of the two girls, she reached into the pocket of her lab coat and pulled out a pair of black horn rimmed glasses and a set of headphones. Gently placing the glasses on her nose and connecting the headphones to her iPod she scrolled down to 'Laura'S SUPER SECRET WORK PLAYLIST', grinned at the Demi Levato that now blasted through her thoughts and turned back to the brown paper package. Selecting an exacto knife from a steel tray she carefully inserted it into the top corner and began to slice down.