* A/N I do not own or claim to own anyone other than my own OC and scenarios I make up. I will try to stick to the story timeline as much as I can. *

Recap

"Wow," I say a little stunned, "it seems I have missed a lot with my being gone."

"Well, with you back in town," Roberta says, "it is sure to get even more interesting."

We spend the next hour or so just chatting and catching up. I inquire about people who could help me clean up my house. She gives me a company and I decide to step out of the Grill and call them. They say they can stop by today to look at it. We schedule a time in the afternoon. I hang up the phone and head back inside. Once inside, I notice that my stool is currently occupied by someone else, and Roberta is in the back again. I go up to the bar and see my check. I take money out of my purse and leave it on the counter.

"Thanks Roberta," I shout to the back. "Gotta go meet the cleaners."

"Alright honey," I hear her shout back, "have a safe drive."

"Leaving so soon," the figure at the bar says.

"Well," I start, "not all of us drink at noon." I start towards the door as I feel a tug on my wrist.

"Ouch. Judgmental much," he says.

"Rude much," I snap back shaking my hand out of his. "Don't you know you can't just grab other people."

I continue out the door and to my car. What a jerk! Who does he think he is to just grab onto other people! People aren't there to do with as you please. Ugh. He had just soured my mood for the day. I drove home blasting my music to try and drown out the thoughts. As I pull into the drive of my house, I saw the cleaners by their van.

"So sorry I am late," I say as I pull up behind them and get out of my car.

"Oh no problem," the one who seemed to be in charge said. "We got a chance to kind of talk amongst ourselves about what might be needed and how to divide up tasks."

"Great," I say unlocking the front door. "Well, if you would all like to come in and see what needs to be done that would be great."

"Sounds good," the boss one says and all 5 of them come inside my house.

I show them around the rooms that I would like to have cleaned up first and then we discuss the other rooms. We sit down at the table and discuss some prices and dates. I mention I will be out all the next day for the funeral if they want to start then. They agree and head out after maybe an hour of discussions and walkthroughs. It seemed like maybe things would be going better than expected since coming back home. I decide to go for a run as there was still plenty of light in the day and it would help clear my head up before tomorrow's event.

I get changed and head to the woods behind my house. If I hadn't lived here for so long, this dense forest would probably scare me, but it doesn't. I start my run through the woods, and I follow a trail that runs by a river. It is always so serene and peaceful by the river. It is one of the spots that I love the most on our property. The sky is growing darker, so I decide to head back home and have some dinner. The run home was not as bad. They always say going home is shorter than leaving.

I arrive home and have a simple salad that I had from earlier at the Grill. After dinner, I take out the dress for the funeral/wake that will happen tomorrow and hop in the shower. I didn't like going to big functions in town. They were always such a bore and kind of annoying with all the snooty rich people bragging about how much money they have.

After my shower, I decide to put on my comfiest pjs and curl up in bed with a nice book and cup of tea. I fell asleep while reading my book I think because the next thing I knew the sun was pouring through the blinds of my room. I groaned as I rolled over off my bed. This is going to be a long day.

I spend most of the morning working on my hair and makeup. I got my dress out and ready to put on. It was a simple black dress nothing fancy or anything. I grabbed an apple and headed to my front door. As I reached the door there was a knock. It was like it was destined. The cleaners were there just as I was leaving. I felt like maybe this day would be okay.

After the service, everyone in town it seemed headed to the mayor's house for the wake. But in reality, it was just another party and a way to stay on the Lockwood's good side. I mingled through the crowd of people until I came to Carol Lockwood.

"Mrs. Lockwood," I say extending my hand, "It is a pleasure to see you again and I am sorry."

"Oh Aria!" She exclaims bringing me in for a hug. "Thank you so much for coming back for this and it is nice to see you again."

"Of course," I say. "I still remember all the ways that you both helped me after my parents, so if you need anything I will do what I can."

"That is sweet dear," she says squeezing my hand. "I think I saw Jenna if you want to say hi."

"Of course," I say. "It was great to see you again."

I head deeper into the group of people looking for my long-time friend. There was so much to catch up on and it would be good to see a familiar face that I liked. I greeted the few people who said hi but didn't engage in small talk until I spotted a familiar head of hair.

"Jenna," I say loud enough to catch her attention, "looking not a day over 20."

"Aria!" She says as she spins around and suddenly, I am in a tight hug.

"Ha-ha," I laugh. "It is good to see you too."