"Why the heck are you going there? Isn't Annapolis Royal like the smallest town in all of Nova Scotia?" Sean asked.

"That is exactly the reason I'm going there! Alex is moving to L.A. in the states, Spin isn't doing too well with the cancer treatments and only has time for Jane anyway, and you, you're heading off to God knows where to legally kill people! What do I have left in the big city? Nothing, so I'm going to exactly the opposite of what I've known all my life." I yelled .

"I would prefer 'serving my country' but whatever. One question though, do you really need to change the scene so much. I mean you could easily get lost in another city, or stay here in Halifax; you would definitely be able to start over here."

"Nah, I want try out the little town life. Hey don't you have a connecting flight to catch?" I asked as I glanced over at the clock on the wall of the terminal.

"Oh yeah, and Jay…" said Sean.

"What?"

"I expect to see you again."

"Same here don't go and get yourself killed on me, or Emma, who knows what she'll do without you."

I watched him as he nodded and slowly headed off to his gate. So this was it? The last time I would ever see anyone I had ever known before today. I slung my worn brown leather bag over my shoulder and stepped onto the plane. It was a small plane with about fifteen other people one it. Row F seat 2, a window seat with no one next to me, good, I didn't want to have to talk to anyone. I watched the view as we flew farther and farther away from all I had ever known. I'm not the sentimental kind of guy, so this 'watching the view' thing is something I usually don't do, but I needed to get my mind off …….everything.

We landed around noon and it took about another half an hour to get to Annapolis Royal. Okay, I had heard this place was small, but this place is really small. From my spot at me new apartment I could practically see the whole town. The only place I couldn't see was the few houses along the shore, but that's only because they were down a small hill, I could still see their roofs though.

I walked into my brand new apartment. It was a small, dark, and had mostly wood paneled walls, with the exception of the one bedroom, which was painted with a dark maroon paint that was chipping in few places. It had four rooms; the bathroom that was the size of a closet, the bedroom that was the size of a larger closet, the kitchen that had a counter and oven on one side and then a bunch of cabinets and worn down sink on the other side, and lastly a small area that was supposed to be a living room.

Since I didn't have any money I would be sleeping on the floor and living off canned soup for a little while. I just really hoped that my garage would take off and I will be able to make a living off the only thing I was good at.

I wiped off the last window on the third garage door for at least the hundredth time as I anxiously awaited the beginning of the business day. I was scared to say the least, I mean I had never actually done anything with my life except to party and drink. It was something new for me, as was everything else. All the sudden I saw a sexy blond walking her way over to me. She was tall and was wearing a business suit and black high heels to match.

"Hello. All I need is your name, business aspirations, and a picture of you in front of your…. What are you here for again?" she asked the first part almost robotically.

"The name's Jay Hogart," I extended a hand which she glanced at then ignored but did right down what I said in a small notebook, "and I'm hoping to be starting a car garage here." I finished then added, "You seem extremely thrilled to be doing this interview." Then I cocked my eyebrows at her.

"Well, no offense, but you're not all that interesting. I asked my friend Ellie to do the interview for me, and she did agree to do it, but when the time for it rolls around, she calls in sick! And the weird thing is, I asked her boyfriend how she was on my way here, and he said she told him she went to work today. By the way he asked me to ask you if you could go to fix his truck up at his house, there is something wrong it, he said it wouldn't start or something. His name is Jarrett Hadley by the way, I don't personally like him, but El is in love with this guy. You'll be able to find him at the docks later, he's a fisherman." She didn't even take a breath the whole time.

She reminded me of Paige a bit, only taller and skinnier. This made me hate her almost instantly, but she wasn't Paige, and I had to keep reminding myself that I was at least one thousand kilometers away from Toronto and all those memories, the few good and many bad ones.

Just then something she said dawned on me, she had said Ellie was the name of her friend, interesting; it was name of the girl that disappeared off the face of the Earth last year after her dad died. Ellie is not a very common name and if this Ellie is also a writer then they are either really alike or the same person. If it is the same girl, then this truly is very a small world.

"Uh, could you please stop daydreaming so we could take this stupid picture and I don't get fired?" Her annoyed voice took me out of my thoughts and I quickly posed as the camera flashed and she left without another word.

A few cars later and it was already time to close up. The day went by quickly, and the only person that I disliked here, was that reporter. I threw a few of my tools in a tool box and headed down to the docks.

I saw about six or seven young guys sitting around a cooler of beers laughing and talking in front of a small red and white boat.

"Hey, which one of you is Jarrett Hadley?" I yelled out and all heads turned on me.

"Me, why?" It was a muscular man about the same size as myself with black hair that answered. He was a little buzzed, but otherwise stable, you could tell that much from his voice. He was leaning against the boat and when he answered he placed his beer on the wooden dock and stood up straight.

"I'm Jay, I own the new garage some girl said you needed your truck fixed?" I answered tentatively.

"Oh, right," he smacked his head as if he had totally forgotten, "Hal can give us a ride. My house is at the edge of town so it's a little far to walk." Hal, a blond guy the same build as Jarrett, led us to his red, shiny, Ford.

About three minutes later, after driving on the shore we pulled up into a sandy drive way right next to his rusted blue truck.

"There it is." said Jarrett casually then leaned against Hal's truck and waited. I nodded then lifted up the hood with some difficulty and fiddle around a little. I jumpstarted the battery and wiped the back my greasy hand against my forehead as I put the hood of the truck down.

"Okay, start her up."Jarrett took his keys and turned the car on, and immediately the engine roared and sounded perfect. I smiled in achievement. He turned the car off and came over to me with my payment in hand.

"Thanks." During this transaction I saw this man's eyes for the first time; they reminded me so much of the ice cold eyes of my abusive father. To an untrained eye, his eyes would seem like nothing out of the ordinary, but once the sting of someone else's skin, or even something worse like a belt, hit your own for no reason at all, you could read all eyes like an open book, and these particular ones were hidden better than most, but still screamed abusive and a very bad temper. Whoever this Ellie may be, old girlfriend of my best friend or not, I was truly scared for her.

Okay I really have to stop comparing the people here to the people of my old life if I want to move on and start over.