After discussing it for the next several days Elia and Jazmin agreed that they would give up their apartment sooner rather than later. Jazmin would be leaving for Paris early in December and so after meeting with their landlord a moving date of November 30th was agreed upon. Elia would live at her parents home until her departure early the following year and Jazmin would pack up up luggage to take and leave any excess with them to take care of.

Elia did feel a little sad at the idea of leaving their cosy little home, she'd become quite fond of it and loved the location, her parents home in West Kilburn would mean a longer commute for her going to and from work, however, would only be temporary. After that, she'd begin her brand new life in Nice. She had received numerous offers since her 'Baila y Vida' audition, however apart from those related to her photography she'd turned them down. She was happy to sell photos to those who were interested but the rest were just from those who wanted her to appear in photo shoots and adverts etc. She didn't want to get into that, she'd dabbled in modelling before but the circumstances, in this case, didn't feel right to her. She was more comfortable sticking to what she knew best, and she above all, was grateful to Luis and Ivelisse. They had really put her through her paces and seemed genuinely interested in her for her abilities, that had given her some fortitude, and made her even more determined.

Jazmin immediately began apartment hunting in Paris, extending her stay each week returning home Sunday morning instead of Friday evening as she scoped out possible places. Elia found herself alone a lot more often. She missed her sister and was always happy to see her back each weekend. Elia busied herself making late breakfast of taquitos ready for Jazmin when she got home, with her departure creeping ever closer Elia decided this was to be her routine until they left this place for good. She smiled as she heard her come up the stairs, she turned to see Jazmin enter holding an enormous bunch of flowers.

"Wow!" Elia exclaimed. "What's the meaning of this?" She stepped forward to help her sister who was struggling with both her bag and the flowers.
"Thank you" Jazmin murmured as Elia took her bag. Elia then watched in awe as Jazmin carefully put her flowers down on the counter.
"That is a bunch and a half you got there!" She remarked in amazement. "Where did they come from?"
"Alexandre" Came the reply.
"Eh?!" Elia's brow furrowed. "Why?!"
"It's his way of saying thank you." She informed her. "I'd been doing a little tidying and organizing In his apartment and this is way his way of showing gratitude. He'd left it there for me along with a card."
"Tidying?" Elia snorted.
"I didn't expect anything in return." Jazmin mused. "I was just trying to pay back his kindness for letting me stay there," She paused and smiled.
"And" She admitted. "It was slightly disorderly."
"He probably has had someone running around after him his whole life!" Elia scoffed.
"Be nice!" Jazmin smiled "Besides it wasn't like it was dirty or messy or anything, it just needed a little organization!"
"Typical spoiled..."
"Elie that's enough."
"You're very defensive of him!" Elia smirked.
"Well maybe because he being nice and deserves to be defended." Jazmin pointed out. Suddenly remembering the food Elia dashed back to the kitchen.
" Brunch is probably getting cold!" She called.
As they ate Jazmin told her she'd found an apartment she was interested in
"It's a nice little studio and is in the 11th arrondissement, in my price range too."
By the following week, it became official and she had a moving in date of December 4th. Elia felt quite nostalgic on their final night in their apartment, she'd miss the place for sure. Thankfully the moving part was pretty smooth, Noah helped them move their boxes of stuff bit by bit and by the time the day came, there was little left to do.
"I'm gonna miss this place" She mused to Noah as they left for the last time. He smiled and gave her a hug.
"You're going on to bigger and better things luv!" He reminded her.
Jazmin hardly needed to unpack, she was only to spend a few days at the family home before going on to Paris. Elia insisted on seeing her off at the station along with Noah.
"I'll be back for a visit for Christmas and new year!" Jazmin reminded them before boarding the train.
Life at her parents' house went relatively smoothly, Rita fussed at her but that was to be expected. Thankfully, because of her work schedule, she usually had the house to herself in the mornings. Noah, Rita and Kai were working and Lydia and Maris were at school/college. Elia organised her own moving preparations. After discussing it with Cecilia a date of January 23rd was agreed on, two days after her final day of work in London. Her friend insisted she stay with them as long as she needed to but was also happy to help with her apartment search. Elia was grateful, and couldn't wait to see her and Mariah again she then set about booking her flight. Cecilia seemed happy with her new life, she was enjoying being with her daughter a lot more often while taking care of Billy's home she had even begun a part-time hair and beauty course that he had arranged for her.
"You can be my guinea pig!" Cecilia joked. " I can get some practice in."
"Do me some braids then!" Elia suggested. "I could do with a change."
"I already know how to do that." Cecilia retorted. "That's easy!"

With everything set in place, she familiarised herself with what would soon be her new surroundings. Using google maps she searched first the location of the dance center with the address they gave her she saw that it was located on the eastern edge of the city, not far from the 'old town', intrigued Elia looked into the old town a little more and was charmed by what she read and saw. Narrow streets with multicoloured buildings, cafe's, historical appeal, then also both produce and antique markets, surely at the former, she'd find ethical, locally sourced meats etc, at least she hoped so. Old town sounded so inviting, this was the place she wanted to find an apartment!

She noticed also how close Nice was to Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat where Cecilia lived. It looked almost like an island unto itself, stretching out to the ocean like some unworldly claw.

It made her happy to know that her friend would only be a short distance away from her. She also noticed that Beaulieu-sur-Mer was right next to it, this was the place Joél's family lived. She wondered how far Alexandre's home was, all she could remember though was it began with an M and had more than one word. Nothing, however, in the immediate area fitted the description so she figured he lived further away.
She got an email from Luis. He was currently in Puerto Rico until January 15th but told her how they were hosting together at their house for everyone in the dance troupe, on January 31st. It was so that new and current members can meet and get to know each other in a relaxed environment.
Jazmin stuck to her promise though and arrived home just in time for Christmas. She stayed until the morning of the 2nd much to Rita's disappointment, their mother had wanted her to stay longer, Elia felt that Jazmin was probably pleased to be going back, her poor sister had been putting up with some frantic fussing from their mother over how she'd been eating in Paris.

"You're too thin!" She'd bemoaned. Elia, however, noticed hardly any difference. Swapping stories Jazmin told her about the new friends she was making. She also confessed that Paris was becoming cold, colder than she'd experienced for a long time, and she was spending as little time as possible out and about. She'd soon enjoy a break from it though.
"I'm taking my first trip to cape town at the end of next week." Jazmin told her "Only for 5 days but I'll be back there in February for another 4 days."
"Keep me posted!" Elia demanded eagerly.

She heard little from Joél during this time. Just a few short conversations via message. He claimed to be happy for her and offered his support but he mostly seemed to want put her off from it all. Elia, however, didn't want to hear it. She didn't need to be protected, she'd weighed it all up and had firmly made up her mind.
She soon heard from Jazmin again, her sister messaged her on Whatsapp giving her reports and photos from Capetown which showed rocky mountains and rugged bays. Elia was enamoured.

'Gorgeous! But stay out of the water whatever you do!' Elia warned jokingly her replying message. Jazmin responded in jest with a cage diving photo clearly pulled from the internet.

Elia couldn't help but giggle, not bothered in the slightest by her sister's dig at her biggest phobia. Elia was not a great lover of the ocean, never venturing further than knee height in depth.

Her four-year-old self-was in a way to blame for that but few four-year-olds are aware enough to realise how unwise it is to lean too far over a small boat to try and touch the irresistible dolphins that were following. All it took was one moment in which her mother had been temporarily distracted by a question from a then six-year-old Jazmin. Elia didn't remember the whole event clearly, she did, however, have a snapshot vivid in her mind as it was when it happened. Being under the water with the dolphin's eye just centimetres from her own moments before it accidentally knocked her spinning through the water. The whole thing couldn't have lasted more than five, maybe ten seconds, not even long enough for her to be out of reach from her father's outstretched arm as he grabbed her from the water. She remembered him pulling her out, everything else, however, was a distant fuzzy blur. Ever since then she'd had an irrational fear of dolphins. Her much older cousin, a short time after thought it would be fun to scare her with

Jaws movies heightening her fears to the point she's always imagined meeting one or the other if she ever attempted to go too far out into the water.

She mused over the irony of how she was scared of heights yet was enamoured with mountain and now, even though the ocean made her anxious she was moving to the French Riviera of all places. She didn't want to be too held back by her fears though, she'd not been on a boat since the incident but the more she thought about it the more she wanted to try it. The only thing she knew for certain that she would not be able to do is get in. The helplessness of bobbing in the deep, at the mercy of whatever might be swimming nearby was too much to bear, even the thought of it made her tense up.

All too quickly her final week of work arrived, Elia hated goodbyes and now she had to face a whole load of them, many of the cast members had something new lined up, they'd all had plenty of time to make sure of this. She stayed around with everyone post-final show for a little celebration/goodbye, Rachel joined her too, eager to see Elia off in style. One of the stagehands, Marcus tried, not for the first time, to turn on the charm. He was a gorgeous looking man, with his ebony complexion and dreadlocks down to his knees, Elia had been highly attracted to him when they first met a year or so earlier, despite their fourteen year age gap, he certainly didn't look his age! However she quickly had been put off with his overly flirtatious manner, he also had a string of ex's that was just too long for Elia's liking.

"Lemme give you a little something special to remember before you leave, eh?" He coaxed with a grin. Elia turned down his offer, that was not her style. Elia and Rachel left the party soon after to celebrate together and share giggles over his offer.

Things were all go for her the next day, using a large suitcase she tried to pack as much of her life into as she could, including as much of her camera equipment she could manage. However, like Jazmin she'd leave behind a lot of her belongings, including the clothing Alexandre had given her for the video shoot, she packed the red lily hair clip though, for no other reason than she simply liked it. She already had it organized so that everything she was taking was set aside ready to be put in her suitcase which she did the morning before her departure. By the end of that day, she'd packed, arranged all her documents and everything was ready and she went to bed that night filled with nerves and excitement.

Those feelings intensified the following morning as she prepared to leave. She'd said most of her goodbyes the night before, her mother and her siblings were not at home, Noah, however, had made it so he could take her to the airport.
"First thing ya gotta do when you get there is let us know you arrived safely" He insisted before she headed to the departure area.
"Yes, dad!" She quipped. She then gave him a hug and a kiss before heading through security.

And so, that's it for this 'London based' part of the story. From here on Elia's life is in the south of France. There will be plenty of drama for her to deal with, and some surprises and a shock from almost the moment she arrives. There will be more interactions with Alexandre and his personality etc will become clearer. Catherine and Gabriella Dargas (aka Lady Catherine and Georgiana) will also be introduced.

Thank you for all those who have taken the time to comment, I'm sure I've said it before but it really does help keep me going, so thank you again and again.