Monday morning, the sky was grey and sullen and the clouds were about to let loose some torrential rains. And the blonde who worked at the jewelry shop walked past the big almost deserted house, observed by a man who observed much of Storybrooke and spoke to little of its inhabitants. Tuesday, sunny and breezy with fresh air that still smelt mildy of rain, and the woman walked to her job once more, the wind throwing her hair around like confetti. Wednesday, rainy, a polka dotted umbrella obscured the strawberry blonde hair but still he knew who it was who walked past. Thursday it was sunny once more and her yellow dress and warm smile seemed as cheery as the cloudless skies above Storybrooke. Friday, partly cloudy and jeans topped with a nice casual purple blouse with the faintest red pinstriping down the length and black pumps which she was carrying in her hand as she walked underneath the shadow of the big house. She always walked past, five days a week, the same time, the same genial smile on her lips. A smile that showed she clearly didn't know who she really was or where she was actually from. Jefferson wasn't entirely sure who she was from the real world, the world he longed to get back to with Grace. She was someone minor, but still somewhere in the Enchanted Forest she had lived and had a life. A life she clearly had no idea of now. How could she? She was happy, and anyone who knew had to feel as he felt, like everyday was a fight to keep a grip on sanity and not put a bullet in your mouth.

Everyday she walked past, and everyday he watched, it was something like eating breakfast or brushing his teeth, it was simply part of the day. Besides, unlike seeing his Grace's smiles through the telescope the woman who walked to work past his house everyday was not so painful. Maybe that's why he had inserted watching her into his daily regimine, it distracted from the cheerful breakfast that was going on in the house where Grace lived, having no idea who he was. He didn't have to watch the loving kisses given and received on the cheek happen in the home across the way where she lived oblivious to his existence. Instead he watched the jewelry shop girl go by. Watched her, occasionally puzzled over what life she lead before she worked selling rings and things and had dated the butcher's son. He had remembered seeing the two go by arm in arm for a while, when she was younger in this world, but that had been years ago, she walked alone now, or sometimes with some girls her own age in a laughing group that seemed perfectly ordinary even if one of those girls was Cinderella, another Snow White or the Little Red Riding Hood and Ariel. She was a puzzle to distract him. That and it was almost like leaving the house and talking to someone whenever she looked up to see him at the window, flashed him a smile and then continued walking by, busy with a life in Storybrooke having no idea who she had been before.

"Good morning Ellyn dearie" came the voice of Mr. Gold as he walked into the jewelry shop.

"And what can we do for one of Storybrooke's leading citizens today?" she said both merrily and with a hint of sarcasm. Gold was decent enough at most times, but something about him made her mistrust him, it's why she did as little business as possible with the man, and what she did was strictly cash, no entanglements, just the occasional sale of something valuable that had come into his pawn shop that deserved a more respectable viewing place.

"I've a pretty gold ring to sell, sadly with the death of Kathryn Nolan" he said looking duly grave "there's a lovely wedding and engagement set to be sold now."

"You want me to sell a dead woman's jewelry?" she asked incredulously.

"Well you might sell it better if you didn't advertise it as such" he remarked.

"No, I can't, it's just wrong" she said flatly.

"And how many people do you think died in foreign lands to give you the diamonds you sell now? Where do you draw the line Miss Carline?"

"Here, I can't control how diamonds are sourced, and believe me ours would be only ethically sourced if I owned this shop" her voice was firm and Mr. Gold gave her the smallest of admiring smiles. She had pluck and spirit and it wasn't often someone tried to defy him.

"And in which case the decision does not rest with you but with Mr Horn" he said with a polite but victorious smile as he passed her by and went into the manager's office behind the counter. She fumed internally as she cleaned the glass cases as she did every morning and after her lunch. Fifteen minutes later Mr. Gold came out with a pleased smirk on his lips and Ellyn threw him a venomous glance.

"Well I guess you and Mr Horn don't care about dealing in bloody merchandise" she said to him as he moved to exit the store. He turned and came over to her, looking hard into her blue eyes which to him seemed too righteous to be real. There was no dirty secret on Ellyn, she was as innocent as a young girl, and he both simultaneously admired her quaint charm of integrity, it also annoyed him that there was this rogue element in Storybrooke. The curse had taken things from her, but it hadn't left her vulnerable. She didn't know what she had lost.

"How about I buy you one of these trinkets and we be friends" he suggested trying to be amiable while also trying to discern more of this innocuous young woman.

"Keep your bartering to those for whom you actually have something they want" she said and looked intently at a spot on the glass.

"And what do you want?" he asked.

"My freedom, which I have, and intend to maintain. I know you and Regina essentially run this town, and while your powerplays with the lives of those around you may be how you get off, not me. I want none of it, my freedom is all that matters to me."

"Like the freedom of being tied to the same job day in and day out" he querried slyly.

"It's a job, my job does not define me. It's how I make the money I need to do what I wish" she answered plainly.

"And what if you didn't have your job?" he asked benignly.

"I'd find another"

"So there's nothing you aspire to, nothing you want?"

She shook her head, though her eyes looked in the direction of the sea. Freedom was truly there. Living a life of her own on the waves. As soon as she had the money she'd buy a boat and sail away from Storybrooke. She might come back and visit her friends, but she'd live life on the sea, maybe bring some with her, she wasn't sure she could man a boat all by herself.

Mr. Gold simply nodded and left. Wishing her a good day.