Prologue

"Attention passengers, flight 1286 from LAX to New York's LaGuardia airport will be arriving on runway 7 shortly, please keep your seatbelts fastened until the pilot has turned off the fasten seat belt light and put your seat back and tray tables in an upright position." Came a flight attendants voice lightly over the soft hum of music that had been flowing in through Rose Brennan's headphones.

The flight had been so long thus far, that Rose was sleeping through the majority of the flight, but the sudden voice in her headphones woke her up. She blinked her eyes lightly, as she opened up the window shade covering the glass opening beside her window seat, and smiled a bit sadly as she saw the sky line of New York City looking back to greet her. Had she made the right decision in coming here? This city was so new, so unfamiliar to her...and so big. Rose felt a small knot in her stomach as the plane came to a hault on the runway, and moments later, they were de-boarding the plane. Once they got off, several passengers were greeted by family members, smiling and running up to embrace their loved one after having been seperated for a period of time, but no one greeted Rose...that was alright, she hadn't expected them to, she was a newbie New Yorker, and felt completely out of place here. She almost wanted to run back onto that plane, and make the return flight back to Los Angeles, her hometown.

LA was where Rose was raised her entire life, her mother and father lived there, all her friends lived there. Rose's father, Daniel Brennan, was a well known Hollywood producer and her mother, Gloria Brennan, was the socialite wife. Rose herself was a model, recently graduated from college a few years back, with a degree in fashion merchandising, and was now persuing her true passion which was modeling off the new fashions themselves. So far she'd done fairly well for herself back in LA, doing runway shows and the occasional ad here and there; things were good as far as she was concerned, or so she thought. A month prior to this plane ride, she'd gotten a call from IMG Models in New York City, they wanted to sign Rose to a contract with them, and promised her more fame and salary than her current LA based company ever could. Rose loved her career and wanted to get as far as she could in it, so after some deliberation, she packed up her things and headed east.

That was how she got to New York City, but what was she to do now that she was here? Find a place to live for starters. Rose knew how hard it was to find an apartment in The Big Apple, but there would be something out there for her, even if she had to live in a hovel for a few months, until something better came along, at least it was a roof over her head. Although preferably, she wanted something flashy, something showy...Rose was Hollywood to the core, and she did enjoy rubbing things like that in people's faces, she'd been raised to think that way after all. As she walked outside into the cold, winter air of New York, she froze (literally). She was used to beaches, suntans, and ocean waves....not snow hitting her in all directions and blustery winds. "God..." She said, quickly digging a sweater out of her carry on bag, and wrapped up in it tightly, as she put her arms around herself. "It's freezing out here! No wonder the people in this city are known to have such crabby attitudes..." she muttered, as she stood on the curbside of the airport, waiting to catch the next free Yellow NYC Taxi.

Just as she reached for the handle however, another hand did as well, "Hey watch it! Ya god damn moron I got here f-fir...st...." The man's voice drifted off, as he saw with whom he'd run into in the race to the cab. "S-sorry I...uh allow me," The man smiled in a nervous half smile, as he held the cab door open for Rose, who crawled in.

Rose returned the man's smile, and thanked him for the cab. "Do you want to share this cab ride? I'm in no hurry to get anywhere anyhow, I'm a complete stranger in this town...where are you heading?" she asked, figuring she'd head where ever this guy was, so long as it was still in Manhatten.

"Heading? I....I mean yea! I'd love to share," The man smiled once more, as he quickly crawled into the cab beside of Rose.

"Hey pal!" The cabbie coughed from up front, as he glared in his rear view mirror at the two, "Where to, the meters running and we ain't even moving." The cabbie smirked.

The man beside Rose scowled, as he clenched his fist together lightly, and Rose swore she saw a few sparks of light, but owned that up to jet lag. "The Met, and if you charge me one god damn more cent than this ride is worth, I'll make you eat it!" he said, and well this man meant that literally. The cabbie muttered something under his breath, before he pulled away from the curb, and headed off into the city.

The man seated beside Rose noticed how she continued to stare out the window in a sort of awe, and smiled lightly, "So judging by your lack of accent and lack of clothes I'd say you're not from around here miss....? Sorry I didn't get your name..."

"Hmm? Oh I'm...sorry my name is Rose," she smiled, holding her hand out towards the man," Rose Brennan and you are? My New York knight in green flannel?" she giggled, taking notice of the green flannel shirt the man had on, causing him to blush lightly, as he put his hand behind his neck.

"Heheh, I-I'm...Max...Dillon. Max Dillon," Max said, as he took Rose's hand and shook it lightly. "S-so Rose...where from?"

"I'm from Los Angeles, and...I have a feeling it's going to be awhile before I earn my New York legs, and get used to everything around here." She admitted, "I don't even have a place set up to live yet, but I'm going to find a real estate company and a hotel room once I get out of this cab." she grinned.

Max smiled, "No you really aren't from around here, an apartment is hard to find around here, but a girl like you...'ll have no trouble getting some shark of a real estate agent to get her a nice place to live. And m-maybe if...." Max paused, "I'm sorry I shouldn't even ask...." he said, blushing a bit more.

Rose smiled, well she thought all Max's blushing was charming, and rather cute. "Heheh no it's alright, go ahead..." she said lightly.

Max twisted his hands around nervously in his lap, "I....well I was going to say...if you're ever feeling lonely in this city and need a local tour guide....born and raised," he smiled, pointing to himself. "I'll give you my number, feel free to call anytime..." he said, jotting down his number on a piece of paper, as they pulled up to The Met, and Max paid the cabbie, "It's on me."

Rose smiled, jotting down her cell phone number for Max in return, as she took his and crawled out of the cab. "Thank you for the offer Max, I think I'll take you up on that...and thank you for the cab ride."

"Heheh it was...nothin...." Max said, shutting the cab car door, as it drove away, leaving Rose and her carry on bag on the side walk with Max, who glanced at his watch and gasped. "Fuck!....oh s'cuse me...I uh, heh I gotta get going, like I said, call me anytime!" he said, before he ran off, looking like he was in a hurry to get somewhere.

Rose watched Max leave and waved, "Alright and....you too, bye!" She called not sure if he heard her, before she laughed a bit, and turned to go find her hotel.