Sarah let the warm water drain the exhaustion from her back and shoulders. She tilted her face upward and let it stream across the features of her face. This had been a long day. As late as it was, she didn't want to go to bed feeling smoky and drunk. The walk home had been almost enough to sober her up, but she was still reluctant to let go of the fuzziness in her brain that would let her lonely and sad thoughts return. For the most part, she was happy. She had a successful job, a great apartment on the first floor of an old Victorian house in the "young" part of the city, friends who wouldn't let her sit home at night while there were things to do, and a family who loved her. But on nights when she was left alone with her thoughts, she would wonder what events in her life had left her without…HIM. The one who would know her, really know her.

Relationships had never been easy on Sarah. The guys were always too needy or dramatic. She had found her ideal guys in movies and books; the kind that would always know when you needed someone to snuggle with, or just listen to your opinion on something. Her friends told her she was a relationship snob; that she wouldn't give anyone a chance, and how would she ever find someone if she kept being anti-social? She just grinned. She just KNEW that her guy was out there, somewhere. She couldn't explain how, or even if it were a false dream like the ones she had clung to when she was young. In the same way that she was certain that she would find HIM, she was certain that she could not give up on the dreams that were her life blood.

Someone in the apartment above flushed the toilet, and the water grew suddenly scorching hot. She yelped and cowered at the back of the shower, testing the temperature with her toes. When normality was restored, she returned to her thoughts. She wondered about her musician. How had he ended up here in the city? Most of the people who surrounded her were young professionals; recent college grads trying to work their way up the corporate ladder at businesses in the city. The city was cruel to true artists.

That fact was close to the heart; Sarah had graduated with high hopes of working as an actress in New York. Instead, she had been forced to move back home, and was working for a non-profit theater. The hours were long and the pay was just enough to allow her to pay her bills. She longed for a more comfortable lifestyle; a great part, maybe even enough money to put a down payment on a small house. But jumping from one rock to the next in the career pond was proving highly difficult. Without experience, you couldn't land a job. Without being able to land a job, you couldn't gain experience. It was a Catch-22 that she shared with many of her neighbors and friends.

So how did he do it? Sarah had never seen him leave regularly, which would indicate some part time job. On the contrary, he always seemed to be there, playing his instrument, all hours of the day. Perhaps he was writing amazing songs and making a fortune from them. But why, then, was he living in a small city, in a post-grad apartment?

This time the shower water turned to ice. Squeaking loudly for a second time, Sarah yanked the water faucet to the right. She breathed harshly and scurried to find a towel and then a robe. She glanced at her reflection in the fogged bathroom mirror. Her eyes were drooping with lack of sleep and her dripping hair hung limply across her face. She scowled at the reflection. Pulling on boxers and a t-shirt for pajamas, she wandered out to her living room, drying the ends of her hair with the towel. She stopped short. He was there, standing in his window, staring over at her apartment. She was just out of view in the doorway but had a clear view of him, standing and peering out. Sarah hid in the shadows, watching him.

The next moment someone came up behind him and gave him a light punch in the shoulder. Sarah's eyes widened; it was the blonde guy who had been half carrying the drunk girl earlier. She instinctively glanced toward the coffee table where she had casually thrown the 'stolen' book. Taking it had seemed like a good idea at the time; now she wasn't so sure. The blonde guy was now talking animatedly to her musician. Even with the short distance and two panes of glass, Sarah could tell that there was a close relationship between the two. They had known each other for a long time. Silently she chastised herself. She had to end this fascination with her neighbors before it turned from curiosity into obsession. She turned away from the window and headed to bed.

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"Girl Scout camp, girl scout camp, the doughnuts that they give you, they say they're mighty fine, but one rolled off the table, and killed a friend of mine…" Toby's new friend Angela was not quite as adorable as Sarah had originally thought, after the sixteenth rousing chorus of the 'Girl Scout Camp' song. She glanced at her brother to see if he was getting bored with the song as well. No such luck. The boy's eyes were glazed over with admiration, and he was rolling, giggling furiously at the nonsensical lyrics. Sarah couldn't help but grin a little as well. Toby was scheduled to go to camp himself in another week, a treat for her parents as well as the twelve year old. Sarah would have three extra precious afternoons to herself. She loved her brother, but couldn't wait for the break.

Toby and Angela, exhausted with the song at long last, ran off to play outside. Sarah shouted after them to be careful; the city streets were dangerous, and it was too easy for the children to follow a lost basketball into them. She yawned and stretched; it had been an exhausting week, and it was only Wednesday. Her theater was beginning rehearsals for a new show; Antigone, where she would be playing the main character. This meant that she would have the bulk of the play's lines, and would be spending many sleepless nights learning them.

The theater was hurting for players at this time of year. Drama students who were home on summer holiday from the universities were being hired by the larger theaters. There were two parts which needed to be filled still; the part of Ismene, Antigone's sister, and that of Haemon, Antigone's betrothed. The other parts had been quickly scooped up by the players that most embodied the traits needed to play them; Marcus Short, who was a power hungry 30 year old, was playing Creon; Jessica Frank, a quiet girl who best played minor roles was playing Creon's wife, Eurydice; Jonathan Richards, who had sudden bouts of stage fright at the wrong times was playing the dead Polynices; and Mark DiCrasto, with his wise eyes and measured speech, would play the prophet Tiresias. The producer himself, Richard Curtis, would be playing the shifty man who guards Polynice's body and then later catches Antigone.

As excited as Sarah was about the new play, she couldn't help but wince when she thought of the hours it would take to prepare it. Kate would chide her incessantly for not having a social life. Theater had used to be a social thing; when the small theater had first opened, it was a place for twenty-somethings right out of college to meet and test their skills. Now, two years later, most of the players had found themselves with job offers out of town or in larger theaters. For some reason, Sarah couldn't manage to get out of the small town theater.

The sound of squealing tires brought Sarah out of her reverie. Heart in her throat, she shrieked, "Toby!" and ran outside. The first thing she saw when she opened the door and raced down the steps was that the car had slid off the road, leaving a deep imprint on the front lawn. Only then did she see her little brother and Angela, standing together and looking up at the tall blonde.

"My God, what happened?" she raced over, embracing the children before stopping to think. "Are you alright?"

"We're fine, Sarah, we just wanted to get the crystal ball out of the road, but it didn't break." In her panic, Sarah wasn't even processing their words.

"I could break your necks for running out into the street!" she shouted, but her tight hug let them know that she wasn't serious, and was only worried.

"They're fine, I promise you," came a low voice from above. Sarah remembered then that the children had been talking to someone when she had come outside. She straightened, and met the eyes of the same blonde guy that she had seen the night before. Sarah couldn't hide the recognition in her eyes, and he smirked slightly. "They just ran out into the road, luckily I stopped in time."

"I'm sorry," Sarah apologized, "I thought they were old enough to know better." The man smirked.

"No harm done. Well, except to the lawn, maybe." He walked toward the driver's side of the vehicle and started to fumble again for his keys. Sarah's heart jumped; as much as she wanted to drag the kids inside and give them a good verbal thrashing, she felt an impulse to say something to the man.

"I'm Sarah," she said lamely. He smiled.

"I know," he stated, then closed the car door, started it, and drove away. Sarah's jaw dropped.

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I know this is taking AGES to develop, but I'd rather take it slow and do a decent job. Thanks for all of the reviews! I'm glad that you guys like it so far!