A/N: I have written some on this story lately, and now decided to post one chapter and see what you guys think. Please give me a comment. I am so unsure about my writing these days.

Authentic Emotions

Your life is like a butterfly; you go through changes before you become something beautiful.

"Phailin, have you seen my keys?" Summer rushed through the apartment, lifting on books and toys, opening drawers and emptied all her purses. "Of course you haven't," she mumbled to herself while checking all the cabinets in the kitchen, "you're three."

Summer was always late, or just in time which was sort of the same thing as late. Getting yourself ready, a small daughter and making sure you had everything with you that you were supposed to have was not easy. At least without getting late or having to stress. This morning was a proof of that, among many others.

The morning routine in their little family was for Summer to get up when the alarm rang at 6 am, and not a minute later. She'd take a quick shower and get dressed before waking her daughter up, dressing her and then making breakfast for them both. A quarter past seven, they had to be on their way to the bus which would take them to Ivana, who was Phailin's day mother.

Summer had chosen to start work early to be able to have her afternoons and evenings free and spend time with Phailin. Though she hated to wake her up while it was still dark outside. Phailin would never be very difficult though, much to Summer's gratitude. Maybe she could feel how guilty her mother felt and maybe she understood how much worse it would get if she wasn't being an angel. Summer doubted it though; her daughter just happened to be a morning person and get used to routines easily.

"Here they are, sweetie." Summer had found her bunch of keys under Phailin's dress-up things. The Sleeping Beauty costume was thrown in a corner and obviously covering the bag Summer had used the day before. "Let's go. We don't wanna miss the bus."

Lifting her daughter up in her arms with both of their bags on her shoulder, Summer exited the apartment and struggled to lock the door. "It'll be fun visiting the zoo today, won't it? With all the animals."

"Monkey," Phailin said as she played with some of Summer's hair. She tended to do that a lot, and most of the times Summer let her. Even if she always had to brush out big tangles the minute she got to work.

Summer laughed and manoeuvred the little girl, tightening her grip of her. "Maybe you'll see some monkeys there. You like monkeys?" She felt a nod against her shoulder and noticed how Phailin got quiet. The girl rested her head on Summer's shoulder while still fumbling with the brown straps of hair falling onto Summer's back. "You're tired, sweetheart?" At these moments, when she could feel her daughter snuggle against her and leaning her whole sleepy body onto Summer, she really wanted to turn back home and stay there the whole day, spending it with Phailin. At moments like these, she could actually feel how dependent

Phailin was on her and how much she needed her to take care of her. It felt good to be needed and loved, and even if Phailin never talked much she was still the best company Summer had.

She loved the weekends when they could make pancakes together for breakfast and when they could stay in their pyjamas until late and watch cartoons. They would visit a park and go to some cosy café and Summer would love to see the little girl laugh while bathing in the tub, splashing water on Summer so that she always had to change clothes. It would just be the two of them, the Roberts family.

Work was fun most of the time; she got to do things she'd dreamt of doing and actually helped people. Everyone was good hearted and nothing was particularly boring. Summer enjoyed her job and never wanted to do anything else. Sometimes though, the underside of it would show; the wage, the working hours and the fact that mostly you couldn't help but bring the work with you home. Summer hated to have a pile of papers in her bag to go through at night, or a book which she had to read. Nights were for family; it should just be Phailin who had her attention and not work.

But, unfortunately, there was this promotion that Summer was hoping for. She really needed those extra dollars per month. Loans, rent and bus tickets took away too much of the money Summer needed to have in order to buy Phailin a new bed and maybe move to a bigger apartment or decorate Phailin's room so that it looked more like a little girl's room. She loved to be independent and actually felt better making her own money than getting too much than she needed from her dad. Being spoiled and treated like a princess as a child was nothing she'd disliked; on the contrary she'd adored it. Summer was born as a shopper and loved to spend money. So she did miss a little bit of that constant shopping and that feeling of security that money brought.

Now though, she had her own support system and she was happy with making her own money. It felt better to "deserve" the things you bought and throughout the years she'd learned to be less selfish. She didn't need more money for herself; she could wear the same clothes two days in a row and she had gotten used to shop in less expensive stores. It was for her daughter she wanted more.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

"Seth!"

Seth was sitting in the computer chair, fumbling with a pencil and gazing out through the window; his mind obviously someplace else. That pen seemed to be far more interesting than his work; the computer screen showed an empty word document and a paper lay over the keyboard. He had his chair turned away from the desk and was absentmindedly looking out through the window a few metres down the corridor.

His gorgeous girlfriend brought him back to reality though as she walked into his little workplace and sat down on his desk, a huge grin on her face. "Guess what?"

Seth looked up, trying to be present. "What?"

Jordan beamed, causing tiny sparks to form in her green eyes. "We're going to work together!" Seeing the confused look on Seth's face she continued, with the same amount of excitement. "Ian just told me. We're doing this article that maybe can turn out to be something else, a series."

"Wow. We get to work together?" A trace of surprise was still evident in his voice and his eyes were a little wider than usual. Seth was surprised. Not only because he'd never worked together with Jordan before - he'd always just seen her from afar as she sat working enthusiastically – but also because their boss really disliked them being together, two employees dating.

"Yes. Isn't it great?"

A smile spread over Seth's face while he placed his hands on either side of his girlfriend's hips. "It's awesome. We won't have to run away from work to see each other all the time. Actually that's more a thing I do, but now I don't have to. It's great, Jordan."

Moving down from the desk, she made her way over to Seth in the chair. "Staying in a hotel will be all-time. Kind of out own vacation."

"What do you mean? We're not working from here?"

"No, I guess I forgot to say that," Jordan laughed. "Ian's sending us to another city. It's going to be so good to get away from here." She leaned in to kiss him, passionately crashing her lips against his and wrapping her arms around his neck to bring their faces closer. Jordan was usually so solemn and it felt great to experience her like this, see her the way she was when with him.

Suddenly an irritated cough was heard behind them, immediately causing them both to pull away. A little clumsily Seth pushed Jordan away from him and got up from the chair, watching how it rolled away a few centimetres. Ian Schwartz stood right in front of them, tapping with his pen. "I see you two are happy about the news, huh," he said in a bored tone.

"Yes we are, sir."

"Soo excited," Seth shot in just after his girlfriend. "Because you know, it'll be a good experience and stuff. Not that it's not great to work around here, because that's also sort of great but-"

"Seth." Jordan placed a hand on his arm gave him a meaning look. He was rambling again, in front of their boss who may just be the most peevish man existing. Seth whispered a pathetic "sorry" and nervously gulped.

Ian once again cleared his throat and gave them an irritated look. "I've got some information that you might be interested in." He sighed and put both hand s in his pockets. "I've booked a meeting with a journalist the day after tomorrow. Which means that the plane takes off tomorrow afternoon. You can get your tickets down by the reception."

"Thank you, sir. We'll make sure to do our very best," Jordan politely said, trying to make the man pleased.

"I'm sure you will, Jordan. Now, I won't keep you occupied. Please continue with your work."

"Yes, sir." The twosome watched how the older man walked away and as he was out of sight Seth started to laugh. He sat down in his chair and held his stomach from laughter.

Jordan smiled confusingly, letting a giggle out. "What is so funny?"

Continuing to laugh Seth pulled her closer to him with his hand. "We have," he began after gathering himself some, "the most spectacular boss."

"You could wonder why he wants the two of us to go together," she agreed smiling.

"Exactly. Why is he being so kind?" Seth suddenly got a very serious look on his face. "It's like he's hiding something, like maybe we're going to this really dangerous place. Maybe Iraq."

"It does seem a little too good to be true, but maybe he's just being nice for once. Maybe he's realized that people might like him better." Jordan grinned while she sat down in his lap, bringing her arms around his neck. "And we're not going to Iraq."

Seth frowned, clearly still suspicious. "We're not? How do you know? I do think he's up to something."

Jordan smirked and traced a line from his chin and up to his cheek with her delicate finger. "I happen to know where we're going; he told me before. I just haven't mentioned it."

"Again!" Seth pouted, but quickly put a smile back on his lips, showing his excitement. "Okay, where is it then? Is it Alaska? I've always wanted to go there."

Jordan laughed. "No, it's not Alaska. Quite far from there." She paused. " Providence, we're going to Rhode Island."