"Right side of the dream, left side of the truth. Show me the way."- Hyde, Love Flies

After pressing the play button on his answering machine, Leon collapsed onto his bed. His eyelids began to close rapidly as a voice on the machine whispered, "Leon…it's me…I'm okay." Unable to stay awake any longer Leon mumbled Chris' name and then fell into a deep sleep.

Despite being asleep for several hours, Leon felt just as tired as the night before. He awoke to a ringing phone and struggled to make it over to the desk beside his bed. His hand latched onto the black plastic object and he answered the call. "Yeah?" He mumbled into the phone.

"Hey, it's me." Claire greeted.

"Hey." Leon grunted, barely roused.

"You don't seem all that happy to hear from me."

"What time is it?" Leon asked, ignoring Claire's comment.

"A little after ten. Aren't you supposed to be at work?" Claire asked.

"Shit." He spat, willing himself to sit up at least. "What's up?"

"Nothing. I was going to Sunrise to let them know what happened, but I figured that I should call you first." Sunrise was the agency that both Claire and Jill associated with. They had both done a little bit of modeling; Jill being the more successful of the two.

"Oh. Thanks. I should take a shower to wake myself up before work. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Sure. Love you."

Leon hung up the phone and tossed it onto the bed. Rubbing his face, he stood up and walked to the bathroom.

Not one hour later, Claire was in the Sunrise building, dressed fashionably in a white blouse, shin length brown skirt and black leather heeled shoes. They clacked against the marble floor as she made her way to the second floor offices. Claire wasn't as well-known as she would have liked there. Most people didn't recognize her as a model yet. Jill, on the other hand, everyone knew. Her simple beauty and grace made her quite popular.

Claire marched into the room where the agents were. There were six desks in the room, each with a person chirping on the phone. Walking over to the last desk on the left, Claire sat in a chair. She smiled at the blond woman behind the desk who was on the phone with a potential client. "Great, so tomorrow at three? Excellent. I look forward to meeting you. Bye bye!" She hung up the phone with a loud clack, and made a few notes before looking at Claire with a smile.

"Don't we look gorgeous!" She commented, reaching into a bowl of MM's on her desk.

"Thank you, Stacy." Claire replied. She did try to doll herself up that day. She was glad to see it was paying off.

"So what brings you down? You didn't have an appointment, right?" Stacy Keebler questioned, her jaw moving in a clockwise motion as she crunched some candy.

"Oh, no. Actually, I came by to tell you some rather disturbing news." Claire replied, tossing some of her hair behind her shoulder.

Stacy paused, then picked up a pencil. "Have you found another agency?" She asked, pointing the pencil at Claire.

"No, nothing like that. Actually, it's in reference to Jill Valentine." Claire replied.

"Has Jill found another agency?" Stacy gasped. The woman was kind of an air-head.

"No." Claire said, slightly annoyed. "She's in the hospital."

Covering her mouth, Stacy made a noise. "What happened? Is she alright?"

"We don't know. She was shot…in the head. She's in a coma." Claire informed her.

"Oh good Lord! How'd she get shot? Was she in the ghetto?"

"No one knows why she was shot yet…but I thought you guys should know, that way you could replace her for any gigs that she had." Shaking her head, Stacy opened a program on her computer.

"This is such a tragedy. A pretty young thing shot in the head, and for what? Such a shame." She muttered to herself. "Well…she has a job next week for a magazine ad. Should we reschedule?" Stacy asked, turning to Claire.

"The doctors aren't sure if Jill will make a meaningful recovery. She may never even come out of this coma. Maybe it would be best if we replaced her for now."

Claire nodded sympathetically while Stacy turned back to her monitor. "Well, let's see who was in charge of the photo shoot…oh, great. He's in the building now, so I'm going to go find him and let him know the news." Stacy hopped up from her chair and hurried out of the room. Claire followed behind her, eager to meet another photographer.

"You didn't have to come with me, Claire." Stacy chirped, pressing the call button at the elevator.

"Oh, that's alright. I'm always eager to meet new photographers. What kind of ad was this, exactly?" Claire replied.

"Some kind of skin care product I think. Jill had been using it to give the ad some authenticity." Stacy replied as the elevator doors opened.

"Well…I don't have any appointments next week. Maybe I could take Jill's place." Claire said coyly.

"Oh, I don't know about that. We'll have to see what Bill thinks. Jill was hand-picked after all."

Claire bit her tongue. She was jealous of Jill's success, and while heartbreaking, this accident was a chance for Claire to catch up with her friend. The duo made their way to the auditorium where many of the photo shoots were held. "Don't distract any of the photographers while they're working." Stacy instructed, as they made their way to the mysterious "Bill".

After locating him, Claire and Stacy waited until he was taking a break to talk with him. "Bill, darling!" Stacy exclaimed, throwing her hands up.

"Stacy, what are you doing down here?" Bill asked, less thrilled that she was.

"I have terrible news. Jill Valentine has been shot." Stacy said dramatically. Claire wondered if the woman wanted to be an actress.

"Oh, no. That's awful. Is she alright?" Bill seemed crestfallen.

Stacy nodded. "She's alive, but comatose. The doctors don't know if she'll recover…it's so tragic."

"Wow. Thanks for letting me know about it. I was really looking forward to working with her next week. She's such a bright person." Bill replied with a sigh.

"Well, actually, it was her friend Claire that came in to let us know. Claire's a model for us too." Stacy remarked.

Claire smiled brightly when Bill looked over at her. "I thought you should know about Jill's situation, that way you can find a replacement for the ad." She said, walking over to the two of them.

"Is that so? Well that was very kind of you." Bill replied. There was an awkward silence for awhile. What do I have to do? Beat him over the head? Let me do the damn ad. Claire stuck her lower lip out, a habit she had when things weren't going her way.

"You know, I'm free next week and as a close friend of Jill's, I would be honored to take her place." She blurted without sounding too desperate. Bill looked thoughtful.

"Yeah…I guess that wouldn't be a problem. Actually, why don't you come over tomorrow, instead of next week. I had a cancellation and would like to get things done as soon as possible." He answered finally. Claire grinned and sighed. Victory.

"That's perfect. Just give me the information and I'll get out of your hair." She said cheerfully.

While Bill scribbled some notes on a piece of paper, Claire looked around the auditorium. It really wasn't an auditorium per say. There were no chairs and the stage was used to store lights and backdrops. There were big windows that allowed the light to come in, so there wasn't much need for artificial lighting. Claire's eyes drifted to a man leaning against the wall to her left. He had his hands in his pockets and wore a pin striped suit. His Asian eyes met with Claire's.

She suddenly felt very intimidated, like she was being judged, so she quickly looked away. "Alright, that's everything you need to know. Try and buy some of that lotion so you at least know how it works, 'kay?" Bill said, motioning to the product information.

"Sure, I will. See you tomorrow." Claire quickly walked out of the room, no longer interested in staying by Stacy's side. It seemed like things were finally going to start picking up.

END

Question. If I were to include a sex scene in the coming chapters, would you like it to be a) graphic b) slight imagery or c) pretty much ignored. Please let me know if your reviews.