She lingered in front of the mirror for longer than she meant to. This had become a routine for GG. She knew she wasn't supposed to, she knew she could get into big trouble if she were caught, but the very fact that she hadn't been caught yet was the reason why it took her 30 more seconds to unhinge the pearl necklace from around her neck and place it back around the neck of the headless mannequin on Mrs. Former's dresser.

The necklace did not go with anything she was wearing, but she admired the way it looked on her. She frowned at the thought of taking it off, going back to her mediocre roses that hung from a chain that'd been broken and relinked more than a few times. She'd had those roses for a long time, as well as the dark blue skinny jeans on her legs, punctured and torn in various places, and the gray tank top with a faded picture of Bugs Bunny laying across his famous catchphrase 'What's up, Doc?'. GG's reflection was cut off just below her neck line by the small size of the mirror on the dresser. All she saw was her white smile and the pearl necklace. GG envied the girl in the looking glass.

Those extra 30 seconds of envy made GG oblivious to the creaking of the bedroom door as it opened. When Mrs. Former saw GG willfully going through her collection of expensive jewelry instead of doing her job, she fired the young woman on the spot.

That is why GG found herself eating the leftover pizza in her older sister's kitchen at 8 o'clock in the morning. Of course, Evelyn -GG's sister- didn't know that this was occurring, otherwise she would not have sent her husband downstairs in nothing but an open robe to fetch a slice of that same pizza. It would have saved GG a scarred brain and a couple hundred pounds worth in therapy to have simply phoned ahead.

"GG, you can come out of the loo now. Arthur's back upstairs." Evelyn reassured her younger sister through the bathroom door. This was her third attempt at convincing GG that the coast was clear, but GG would not enter into the hall until she had heard the man's footsteps wander back upstairs. The younger sibling avoided her sister's eyes and coughed nervously to begin her apology.

"Next time, I'll phone."

"Yes, seems like a good idea." Evelyn smiled at her sister and led her back into the kitchen to sit at the island counter. "Now. What on Earth are you doing in my kitchen at 8 in the morning? I thought you'd be at work." She pointed to the empty pizza box and added, "I wanted that last slice, by the way."

So GG told her what had happened and, as she predicted, her sister gave her the look of disappointment that she dreaded oh so much. "Oh, don't look at me - you look like mum when you do that."

"Well, someone's got to. What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't going to steal the bloody thing, was I? I tried it on just for a mo, Ev. I've done it before."

"You've done this before?!"

GG jumped at the volume of her sister's voice. "Louise, that woman with the cats I've told you about. She caught me once and wasn't upset. I spent a good long hour of my shift trying on dresses instead of cleaning. She sent me home with that bracelet, you recall?" She defended herself. Evelyn was unaltered by GG's words.

"Oh, that's not the point, GG! What if she thought you were going to steal it? She could have phoned the police. I don't have the kind of money it would take to bail you out of jail."

GG shook her head and pondered on the tone of voice her sister was giving her. She never liked to upset Evelyn. "I'm sorry, Evie. It was stupid."

"Very much." Evelyn replied. "You're lucky Mrs. Former didn't call Harriet." GG was silent, tapping the table with her knuckles. Evelyn sighed. "She called Harriet."

"She called Harriet." GG confirmed.

Harriet was the woman who ran the cleaning company GG worked for. She never like GG much, but was asked to hire her on account of the girl's mother who use to work for the same company some odd years before. After her mother died, Harriet was determined to give GG every excise to quit.

"How many times, GG?" Evelyn asked. GG answered with a sarcastic chuckle.

"I'm out of the job, Evie." GG said with a sigh. Evelyn glanced over her sister and shook her head.

She got up from her chair and went to the counter, reaching in the Deathstar-shaped cookie jar on the other side of the kitchen, and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

GG had been trying to kick the habit for awhile, ever since her and her boyfriend, Ianto, had first got together several years ago. He never knew that she smoked and GG was determined to keep it that way, so she hid a pack at her sister's house and would come over whenever she desperately needed one. Even though GG and Ianto were no longer together, GG got use to the routine of coming over to her sister's whenever she needed to be consoled.

Evelyn lit the cigarette for her sister and one also for herself. GG was playing in the ashtray with a toothpick while she thought in silence. Evelyn wanted to help her sister, but at the moment she didn't know what else she could do. She gave her the only advice she could think of.

"Go on holiday, GG." At that, GG laughed. "I'm serious. You need one. In the last six years, you've hardly gone out and done anything for yourself. You've cleaned other people's messes for far too long. You've got to start focusing on the mess you've left behind for yourself. Get out of that ghastly flat; you're paying way too much for something that isn't half worth it, anyway. Maybe actually publish some of those stories you've hidden in that craptop of yours."

"Are you going to belittle everything I have?" GG asked, her lips curving into a half smile. "And my flat is not ghastly. It's just small, but I like it. And I'll never publish any of those stories. There're not even proper stories."

"Than why keep any of them at all? Why even write at all if you won't so much as put them out somewhere?"

Before GG could answer, the two sisters were interrupted by the sound of pattering feet running down the stairs. Both GG and Evelyn quickly put out their cigarettes and brushed away the smoke as Evelyn's daughter, Elise, came running around the corner.

"Aunt GG!" The little curly headed 6 year old squealed with joy as she ran into her aunt's arms.

GG opened her eyes wide and a large white smile crept across her face. She picked the young girl clean off her feet and attached her to her hip. "My sweetest angel babe!" She called the girl one of many nicknames; this was her favourite. They shared a long, hard embrace and GG wondered where Elise had gotten so much energy at so early in the morning. "My, my little one. Why are you up so early?"

"She passed right out at the cinema last night, not even halfway through the film." Evelyn replied for her daughter. Elise confirmed that with an enthusiastic nod, her honey-brown locks bouncing with the movement. GG smiled at her niece.

"Daddy took us to see Zootropolis*!" Elise added with small, but excited smile.

A pretty little thing Elise was. She looked far more like her aunt than her mother, but this was sometimes the case with daughters. It made GG happy. Elise made GG happy. The young woman said to herself years ago she would most likely never have children of her own, but little Elise was, in some ways, like her own child (exept that she could offer her back to Evelyn whenever the six year old was too much to handle). She had golden eyes like GG, but her nose and her ears belonged to Evelyn. And when she smiled, she lit up the whole room.

"Auntie GG." Elise was tapping GG's cheek with her tiny little fingers to get the woman's attention. "Can I go with you to Miss Rosberry's house. I want to watch you play the keys".

GG smiled. "It's Miss Roseburren, Elise. And I'm afraid that's up to your mum." She said this without hinting at the anticipation within her at being able to spend the early morning with her niece. When she looked back at her sister, however, Evelyn was slightly shaking her head.

"Dentist," Evelyn whispered in an attempt to inform her sister but not allow Elise to hear. GG understood now; Elise had never asked to go to her piano lessons before.

Evelyn attempts to remain discreet failed. "I don't want to go to the dentist!" Elise informed the two women. She struggled to release herself from her aunt's grasp and, when she was free, ran back up the stairs to hide.

"Bullocks." Evelyn sighed. "She's been at it for two days now," she informed her sister. "Went for a checkup less than a month ago. The little thing's got two cavities already. It's those sweets Arthur gives her before bed. I tell her to brush her teeth everynight, but I know she won't, no matter what she says." She glanced behind her at the clock and sighed, adding, "We've got to leave in 45 minutes."

"I'll go talk to her," GG offered. Evelyn nodded and then left the kitchen, leaving her sister to confront the scared child hiding under the unicorn throw blanket in the nursery.

"No dentist! They'll steal my teeth and make them into a necklace!" Elise cried out from under her refuge. GG laughed and laid on the floor beside her niece.

"Where on Earth did you hear that nonsense?" She asked, tugging on the blanket.

"Bevy told me! She lost a tooth because the dentist took it. She showed me. Don't make me go, Aunt GG."

GG slipped the blanket off the six year old and rolled it in a ball in her arms. "Bevy probably lost that tooth because she didn't brush it like she was told." GG said in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone. "Dentists don't steal teeth, Elise. They fix them. Your mum told me you have cavities. Have you been brushing your teeth, little one?" Elise stared at her aunt blankly, like a deer caught in the headlights. "If you don't go to the dentist, they won't be able to fix your teeth, and it'll rot right out of your face just like Bevy's did. Do you want to look like Bevy?"

Elise's face scrunched up in disgust. "Nooooo!" She exclaimed, giggling and rolling away.

"Elise, look here! Do you see this silver in my tooth?" She opened her mouth and pointed to one of her teeth in the back of her mouth and Elise crawled forward to peer inside. When she saw the tooth in question, she nodded. "That use to be a cavity. I went to the dentist and they fixed it. It didn't hurt at all, I promise. Isn't it shiny?"

"Will my teeth look like yours, Aunt GG?" Elise asked. She smiled wide when her aunt nodded.

Little Elise jumped into her aunt's arms with a giggle. They both went back downstairs for some breakfast and after, GG watched her niece proudly brush her teeth.

*Now bare with me, I realize this chapter has literally nothing to do with Misha or GISHWHES, but we're getting there. Beginnings are always slow.

*Fun Fact! Zootopia was released in the UK as Zootropolis to give the film a unique name that worked better for UK audiences.