Disclaimer- I do not own any of these characters except for the ones I make up. This Disclaimer also goes for chapter 1 because I didn't know how to do authors notes or page breaks.

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Let it be known that Emily Fields is a hard worker. She is a hard worker who always shows up to work on time. She always tries to be punctual ,but when your car has two flat tires from God knows what ,and you have to run almost three blocks to the nearest bus stop, being on time just isn't an option. Emily sighed as she walked into the small café/coffee shop that she currently worked at ,and tugged fruitlessly at her wavy damp hair that was slowly trying to make its great escape from her ponytail.

"Emily your forty-five minutes late," shouted Zach from behind the counter. Zach was her boss and the owner of the Rear Window Brew and Café at which she worked. He was laid back and easy going except when it came to his workers being on time.

"I know and I'm sorry. My car had two flat tires this morning and I missed the first bus over here. It won't happen again Zach ,I promise," explained Emily as she grabbed her black apron and pulled it on. A light touch to her elbow caused her to flinch and look over to see Zach's face alight with worry and sympathy for her predicament.

"Emily it's okay. It's just one day late, I'm not going to fire you over it. If there's anything you need just tell me," Zach murmured before walking away into the kitchen. Emily shook her head and set her mouth in a hard line. Ever since the whole debacle with Maya, everyone she knew was treating her like she was some fragile glass doll that might tip over at any second and shatter into a million pieces. While she was still hurt over the whole Maya predicament ,said incident had happened over two months ago. She was fine. She was over Maya.

"Forget about Maya. She isn't worth your time," mumbled Emily to herself as she picked up a rag and a bottle of cleanser to wipe down the tables with.

"Talking to yourself again Em."

Emily jumped and turned to see one of her best friends ,Aria Montgomery ,standing behind her trying to fish a stray pen out of her apron pocket.

"What I wasn't, I was just, what," stammered Emily internally rolling her eyes at her lame answer. Aria tilted her head to the side and peered up at Emily.

"You seem a bit jumpy today Em. Is everything okay? You were late to work this morning and you're never late to work."

"Car problems. I woke up and discovered that my car has two flat tires and I missed the bus so I had to wait for another one to come back. On top of all of that I got another tuition bill today that I have to pay ,along with my rent ,and these two flat tires. I just can't afford all of this Aria. I have no money left to pay for my car to be fixed up."

"I'm sure Spencer will let the rent slide."

"No Aria, I can't do that to her again. It's not fair for her to have to cover for the both of us." Emily sighed and tugged roughly at her ponytail again.

"Maya called again didn't she." Aria said it like it was a fact carved out in stone for all the world to see.

"How could you tell?" asked Emily absentmindedly as she began to wipe down the wooden tables hastily.

"Whenever your distraught you pull at your hair and whenever Maya calls your always jumpy and moody the very next day," reasoned Aria as she refilled the napkin dispensers.

"I am not moody. And Maya did not call me," lied Emily. Aria shot her a look that said 'I don't believe this line of bullcrap you're feeding me'.

"Emily."

"Aria."

"You have to get over that girl Emily. She's not right for you. She stopped doing right by you a long time ago."

"I know and for the most part I'm over her."

"I sense a but coming on. Probably having to do with why you don't date." Emily chuckled lightly at her friends dry humor before answering.

"I just don't feel like it Aria. I don't want to just jump back into dating again. I want to wait and meet someone I'll have a connection with."

Before Aria could answer their conversation was cut short by the sound of the bell over top the door ringing to alert them to a new customer. Emily turned and her breath hitched in her throat as she took in the appearance of the stranger who had just arrived. She was tall. Probably a few inches taller then herself ,and her hair was an attractive shade of auburn and tied back in a sloppy bun. Strands were escaping and loosely falling around her face. Her skin was pale and smooth. Her shoulders were broad and her entire body was toned and muscular ,but there was an air of femininity to her body as well. She was dressed in a comfortable pair of old jeans that accented her long legs nicely and a deep grey v-neck t-shirt. An old khaki shoulder bag was slung across her back. The girl sat down at one of the booths and picked up a menu.

"Breath Emily," teased Aria before she walked back to the counter. Emily shot her a look before taking a deep breath and walking over.

"See anything you like," asked Emily as she stood beside the stranger. She turned slightly and stared up at Emily with the deepest brown eyes Emily had ever seen.

"Not sure. Do you count," asked the stranger playfully. Emily felt her stomach flutter at the compliment and she blushed slightly. Wait what?! What was wrong with her? Blushing at a complete stranger's flirty compliment. That just wasn't her. Emily internally smacked herself.

"Unfortunately no," Emily replied back ,smiling just a bit too wide.

"Hmm oh well. What do you suggest?" the girl inquired.

"The bagels and french toast are pretty good," answered Emily shivering slightly at the slight husk in the other girls voice.

"I guess I'll take a plate of french toast and a cup of coffee, black," said the stranger placing the menu back down and tilting her head to the side a little as she stared up at Emily who was jotting down her order.

"All right I'll be right back with that. By the way my name's Emily." With that said Emily walked away from the hot stranger and over to the kitchen window to give Zach the order. As she waited for the food Aria sidled up alongside her and winked before fluttering her eyelashes at the strangers back. Emily just rolled her eyes and grabbed the plate of food and a mug of steaming hot coffee. She walked over to the patiently waiting customer and placed the food down in front of her ,and noticed that her face was buried in a book. The pages and cover were well worn and it appeared to be a crime novel.

"Enjoying the book?" asked Emily.

"Yeah. So far it's pretty good," replied the stranger. Emily noticed a scrap of paper stuck between two pages halfway though the book ,acting as a bookmark. This stranger was reading at the beginning.

"Aren't you going to start at the place you left bookmarked ,or did you forget the whole first half of the book," teased Emily playfully. At once the stranger tensed up ,and Emily wondered if she had said something to offend her. However after a few awkward seconds of silence she relaxed before offering Emily an easy smile.

"I guess I did. I don't have the best memory. My sister calls me an elephant because I have the memory capacity of one," said the stranger before taking a sip of her coffee.

"Well if there's anything else you need just tell meeee..." Emily drew out the e's in hopes that the beautiful stranger would reveal her name.

"Paige," she said offering Emily a small smile.

"Paige." Emily let the name roll off her tongue. It suited her. She gave Paige one last fleeting smile before walking off to go see to some of the other customers. However no matter where she was in the café ,her eyes found themselves on Paige. She was just finishing her second cup of coffee and setting down money for a tip before she walked up to the front counter and paid for her meal. Her deep brown eyes caught Emily's before she walked out ,and she offered Emily a small smile and a wave goodbye. Emily sighed before walking over to Paige's booth to collect her tip and clean the table. Her eyes landed on a crisp ten dollar bill folded neatly and stuck under the edge of the plate.

"She tipped you a ten. Huh she must have liked you," remarked Aria as she passed by. Emily blinked twice in surprise then shoved the tip in her front pocket with all her other tips. Her mind wandered back to Paige ,and she wondered if she would ever meet her again.