"Are you sure you want to stay here?" asked Natalie as they walked into the Angel Square Hotel.

"Sure—I mean you said your mom owns this place so it can't be that bad," said Nick as he took a look around.

"You're thinking of the wrong mother," she said as she reached the desk and yelled, "Rox—you here?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she said as she waved her hands in the air trying to dry her nails quickly. "Hey Natty—who's this little stud muffin?"

Natalie could already tell she was going to be embarrassed beyond words, "This is Nick Dawson—he's new to town and needs a place to stay. You think you can accomplish that without too much difficulty?"

"Sure—I just had Johnny's old room foliated and the sheets are clean too—you know him and his lawyer friend, they do the mattress mambo every time they fight—and they fight a lot," smiled Roxy as she kept looking him up and down.

Natalie shook her head and whispered, "They aren't that bad, and she meant fumigated."

"Thank goodness for small favors," he laughed. "Where is it?"

"I'll show you," said Natalie as she went around and grabbed the key—then leaded the way up the stairs. "You have to excuse Roxy—she's actually my adopted mom and I love her to death—but her vocabulary is one garbled mess and she always mixes up words at least ten times a day," she said as they reached the door. "Room number four—it's all yours."

"Thanks," he smiled as he messed with the key a bit. "Any chance I'll get to see you tomorrow?"

"Jessica and I are having breakfast at the diner—just ask and someone will point you in the right direction."

"Ok—see ya."

"See ya."


Nick walked down the steps with his briefcase in tow—hoping someone would be down there that could help him but the place was empty.

"Hey Dawson's Creek!" yelled Roxy as she ran around the corner with papers in her hands. "Last night I didn't get a chance to have you fill these out—can you do this now? I have to keep my records in order."

"Sure," he said as he sat down on the couch and began filling them out. After a minute he stopped and saw Roxy still staring down at him, "Is there something else?"

"I was just wanting to tell you that when it came to her childhood my Natty was pretty depraved—never had too many friends growing up. So if you are interested in her don't beat around the bush about it—that's what happened to poor Johnny. Don't wait too long or my Natty will be off with someone before you know it."

"Uhm, thanks," he said as he finished filling out the papers and handing them back. "Can you tell me how to get to the diner?"

"Sure—you just take a left out of here," she said as John walked down the steps and into the lobby. "Hey John—can you show him how to get over to the Diner for me? I'm awful with directions—once I was driving home and made it all the way to Philly before I realized I'd missed my turn back in AC."

John grinned and shook his head, "I'm on my way there already," he said as he walked out the door and actually made a right out of the building. "So I take it you've met Roxy now."

"Yeah, if Natalie hadn't told me about her already I would have thought she forgot to take her medicine."

John laughed loudly, "Natalie once told me it's easier to just shake your head and let her continue the story than to try and correct her." They were soon at the diner and he walked in to see Jessica and Natalie already sitting at a booth. . John just gave a quick smile and went to get a cup of morning coffee before going to the station.

"You chumming it up with the Chief of Detectives?" laughed Natalie as she gave a smile to John then put her attention towards Nick.

"He was getting me out of an awkward situation with your mother," he grinned.

She laughed, "What'd she say?"

"First she called me Dawson's Creek then she told me you had a depraved childhood and was trying to set me up with you before John walked in and saved me," he said as Natalie burst into laughter.

"That's Roxy for you. I need to do some errands before my early shift today. You two have fun at the rival newspapers," said Natalie as she took the last sip of her coffee and left.


"Why do you have your notepad out?" asked Natalie as she brought her lunch over and sat down with Nick at Rodi's.

"Well, I was hoping to do an interview—if they will agree."

"Who is it?"

"You."

"No. Sorry—no way is my life at all interesting."

"You grew up with Roxy for a mom—it's got to be interesting."

"Fine—as long as I get to do the same for you."

"Fair enough. I guess you get to ask the first question."

"Parents—names and are they married or divorced?"

"Teresa and Joseph. Still happily married. Ok—reason for taking the line of work you are doing now?"

"I'm working here because I needed something to do to keep my mind off of Cristian's death—that's my husband. We were already working over at Crossroads—it's a bar on the edge of town—before he died, and then I just started here. And you?"

"When I was a kid I loved to ask questions—whenever a new friend of my parents came I would sit there and ask them all sorts of questions. And the news—I always read the paper and wanted to know more about the people that went with the captions. You ask the next question."

"Who is one person in your family you look up to?"

"Hmm—I guess my Uncle Mike. He always said 'Follow your goals Nicky—don't quit because life gets tough'. Not that my life has been tough at all—he just didn't want me to quit. He lost use of his legs when he was a teenager and never let that get him down—kept on moving," he said with a slight chuckle at recalling a memory.

"When I was little he'd ask if I wanted to race to the end of the driveway and I always said yes, and I'd jog really slow so he could keep up but he'd stop in the middle of the driveway and yell foul at me for not giving it my all. But when I ran and didn't try to let him when—that's when he was the proudest of me."

"He sounds great. As for me—I guess it's my Uncle Bo. I just really admire him for what he does—and for him being there for me to talk to. He always tells you how it is—never sugar coats it."

"I haven't met him yet, but sounds like I'll like him when I do. Ok, one more and then lunchtime is over for me—what would someone not know about you if they just heard your name in casual conversation for the first time?"

"That's easy. People think because I have the last name Buchannan I have had everything handed to me on a silver platter and that's far from the truth. I've only been a Buchannan for a little over three years—my life before that, well that's what made me who I am today. And you?"

"Trust is a big thing—especially with those I expect to have as frequent sources. I expect them to be as straight as they can with me and I'll be straight with them in my articles. That's why I didn't want to work for your Uncle—he seems like a great guy but I realized that to work for him I'd have to lower my normal standard of writing and that's just something I couldn't see myself doing."

Natalie smiled at him brightly and looked at her watch, "Oh no—I've got a meeting with someone in a few minutes. I'll see you later, Nick."

"Later," he smiled as he watched her rush behind the bar and grab her purse before running out the door.


Jessica walked into the apartment and could smell something cooking in the kitchen and went towards it. "Hey."

"Hey Jess—how was your day?"

"Fine. I went by Rodi's for lunch and Mac said you were out for the rest of the afternoon. What's up?"

"Oh—that. I was going to wait until dinner to tell you but this as good a time as any—I went by the University to see Mom and tell her my new plan for myself," she said with a smile.

"New plan? Sounds intense."

"I'm going back to school. It's something I've wanted to do for awhile and I know Cristian would want me to go back eventually also. The thing is the semester is almost half over so I'm going to just be sitting in on a few classes this semester—taking notes, participating in class discussions while reviewing also the information from the first half of the semester. I can take the tests they've already taken when I'm ready and if I do good enough on everything then I get credit for the class and don't have to take it in the fall."

"That's great, Natalie," she said, giving her a hug.

"Except for one thing. I'm worried that working full time at Rodi's and trying to complete an entire semester of multiple classes in half the time isn't going to work. I talked to Mac and he said he could put me on part time, but then I'm worried about my half of rent."

"Don't be. I'll take care of the rent—you just take care of getting your life on target."

"I'm not asking for a handout, Jess."

"And I'm not giving you one," she said as she gave her twin a hug. "I love you and I'll help you anyway possible to get you to the next step in your life—ok?"

"Ok," she smiled and then went on finishing dinner.