A day passed that had not, for once, been drudgery with every breath. The cloudy, grey skies that dampened the spirits of normal people, bestowed a sense of comfort and security on Victoria. While the common complaint amongst Londoners was when the bloody sun would appear, Victoria wished it wouldn't. She adored gloomy, winter weather. Sliding her arms into the sleeves of her heavy, great, coat felt as if she were wrapping her arms around a massive teddy bear.

She had traversed the entire city-walked amongst thousands, if not millions of people, and absolutely no one gave her a second glance. Victoria had told her friend she was "going out to think about what she should do..." The real truth was that, for one of the few times in her life, Victoria simply ate lunch, shopped, and lived-like a real person. She was also propositioned by a drunk who claimed to be some sort of Irish Priest-but that event, she would keep to herself.

Throughout the evening, the euphoria continued and only stopped when Denise (her mate from University) passed out, fast asleep on the couch. As Victoria retired to her own bed, only for a split-second did she wonder why things were so quiet, and why, despite numerous voicemail message nothing had happened yet.

After an overdue absence, sleep finally embraced Victoria. Snuggling closer to her pillow, down in her blankets, her thoughts, as she finally dozed were occupied with someth-err someone pleasant, and decidedly not with events that had passed.

"Mmgdrrg...I did...why cops?" A blue light flashed in her peripheral vision. One half awake, the other half thinking she was being pulled over by a traffic cop, it wasn't until she felt the slight vibration emanating from the petite nightstand that she opened one eye to investigate the source. Once it registered that it was her mobile, a force of habit compelled her to answer-without even checking the caller ID.

"Lil' Girl! Jus what the hell you think yer doin?" A thick, Texan-laced man shouted into the phone.

"What the..." only then did she bother to look at the still illuminated LCD screen to learn the identity of the caller. "Suuuuuuum bitchhhhh..." groaning into the pillow that had previously been the source of what promised to be pleasant dreams, she berated herself for picking up on the one...the only...

Unabashed snickering was audible from the other side of the line. "Yup...that'd be your Daddy, Lil' Girl..."

More snickering was heard. Out of all the people that she just happened to pick up the phone for, it had to be Stone Cold. Of course she loved him as she loved all of her adopted Uncles...but...Dr. Phil he is not.

"An what's this I hear about you runnin off? You can't jus up and leave your man like that...what the hell is wrong with you woman?"

Good Lord, is he drunk? Better yet, am I drunk? "Excuse me? What the hell?"

"And it's nice to talk to you, Lil' One. Now I said...what the hell is wrong with you? You done missed this boy's match..."

"Look, Steve...it's like...shit...it's 4:15 in the morning...can we have this discussion another time? I don't even know what the hell you're talking about..." Victoria made the mistake of yawning into the headset.

"Helll no we can't have this discussion another time..." She hated it when the mighty Stone Cold imitated her like that. "Now. You've got everyone's panties in a bunch...jus what the samn hell is going on?"

Boy? What Boy? Who is this Boy of which you speak? Not able to comprehend the entirety of the miniature tirade she had just been subjected to, Victoria responded to what she assumed Steve was calling about. Sighing heavily, she gave him the pat answer she prepared on the plane ride over. Sooner or later, she knew she'd have to utilize it. "Look, Uncle Steve. It just...it's too complicated. I just...I can't do it anymore..." So that hadn't come off quite as she had planned, but still, for being half awake in the middle of the night, it wasn't half bad. "I thought-hoped that one day Vince would, I dunno...wake up and see the light...and well-" Victoria forced herself to quell the anger she was starting to feel. "Well...that's obviously never going to happen...so what's the fcking point?" What a fool-was absolutely right.

"You know..." it stunned Victoria to hear just exactly how sober Steve sounded. "If this only involved you and Vince? Hell...I'd have bought you the plane ticket myself." Did he start to choke up? "I wouldn't blame you one bit and you know it, Victoria. But it's NOT, and you know that as well. You've got a lot of people that care an awful lot about YOU, Lil' Girl..." Victoria's heart, restrained by a massive knot, suddenly could not pump. Her rationalization, when she left, was that not all the comfort in the world could fill the void she felt-when it came to her family. It had, for a while, but it just was not enough. "...including that boy of yours. Don't let that prick of a Father you've got make you throw your entire life away...Don't you dare do it." Stunned by the brief, insightful outburst, Victoria sat agape, phone in hand, unaware the caller had hung up.