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Disclaimer: I do not own Hamtaro

"It's already morning…" Sandy said as she rubbed her eyes. "I'm so tired… Oh yeah, I don't have work today…"

FLASHBACK

"I want you girls in tiptop shape for tomorrow." Jon said.

"What's so special about tomorrow?" Sandy asked.

"We have the shampoo meeting tomorrow with the Pure Swans." Bijou answered. "We'll get one fragrance and they get another."

"Do you know what type of fragrance we have?" Pashmina asked.

"No, that's why we meet the officials tomorrow to tell us the rules, like how many pictures, what we can use, what we can't use. Stuff like that." Bijou answered.

"So we don't have work tomorrow?" Sandy asked, confused.

"Yes, so don't come to work tomorrow." Jon answered.

END FLASHBACK

"There's no point in arguing." Sandy said as she sighed. Sandy got dressed and decided to head out to the park. "Today's so nice." Sandy said as she smiled.

Sandy was enjoying the walk around the park. The grass was green, the sky was blue, and flowers were pink and so on…

Sandy was walking down a bridge, enjoying the scenery. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then suddenly a bicycle was riding so fast that he couldn't stop.

"WATCH OUT!" The man on bike yelled. Sandy just turned around and saw the bike headed toward her.

"AAAHHHH!" Sandy screamed.

"Gotcha." A man said as he quickly grabbed and pushed Sandy into the water. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine. Thank you." Sandy said, she looked up, trying to look at the person that saved him. "Maxwell!"

"Hey Sandy." Maxwell said as he smiled. "Good thing I was around or that bike would've hit you."

"Yeah. Thanks again." Sandy smiled. Than looked down at her clothes. "I'm dripping wet…"

"Heh, I am too. Sorry for pushing you into the water." Maxwell said as he stood up, then he pulled out his hand. Sandy looked at his hand and blushed, and then grabbed hold of it so she could get up.

"No, I wasn't the one who was paying attention. I'm so sorry." Sandy said as she looked into her purse.

"It's okay."

"No it wasn't, I owe you my life. It was a big deal…" Sandy brought out a handkerchief and started to wipe Maxwell's wet face. Maxwell slightly turned red and looked away from Sandy. "Maxwell?" Sandy called out.

"Yeah?" Maxwell asked surprised.

"Do you want to come over to my house, so we can get you cleaned up?" Sandy asked hopingly. "Please?"

"I-I…" Maxwell looked into Sandy's pleading eyes, her jewel-like eyes. "If you don't mind…" Maxwell just couldn't say no.

Sandy shook her head. "I don't mind. I want you to come over so I can help you." Sandy said as she smiled. "My house is this way." Sandy grabbed Maxwell's hand and started to walk toward her place.

"I never knew these kinds of feelings were real, I only knew them in books. I guess… I was hiding everything behind books. I didn't know they ever existed, but… now I know. Now I know that… these kinds of things to exist. They aren't made up, they're not fake, they are…real…true…" Maxwell thought.

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"This is my home." Sandy said as she led Maxwell in. "Please enjoy your stay."

Maxwell kicked his shoes off and looked around. "It's beautiful. It's nicely decorated."

"Thank you! My friends decorated it for me. Oh, the bathroom is upstairs, the first room to your left." Sandy led Maxwell upstairs. "I'll take your clothes and dry them for you while you wash. The towels are under the sink."

"Okay." Maxwell went into the bathroom and started to take a shower. "Sandy's a really nice girl. Not every girl or even person would let me take a shower into their house. It seems like I've known her from somewhere." Maxwell quickly finished his shower and dried himself. He slowly opened the door and found his clothes next to the door all cleaned and dried. "Wow, she dried these in less than 10 minutes!" Maxwell thought. He quickly got his clothes on and headed downstairs.

"Are you done?" Sandy asked.

"Yes, thank you for letting me wash. You really didn't need to do this..."

"No." Sandy said as she shook her head. "It was my fault that you got wet. You can sit on the couch and I'll make some tea." Sandy headed toward the kitchen and put a kettle full of water onto the stove. "I can't believe Maxwell's here in my house. It was huge coincidence that we met each other at the park." Sandy brought a cup of tea to Maxwell and then sat down on the other couch. "He really does look handsome." Sandy thought dreamily. She saw Maxwell looking at the black-and-white photo on the wall.

"Is that you?" Maxwell asked pointing at the photo.

'"No, I don't know who it is, but I'm guessing it was the previous owner. Doesn't she look cute?" Sandy asked.

"Yeah, but I feel like I know her. Her face seems really familiar." Maxwell said.

"Did she used to go to your school?"

"I don't know. Maybe I didn't know her. So Sandy is your only job at the bookstore?" Maxwell asked.

"No… I mean yes! I'm a part-time worker at the bookstore." Sandy said worriedly.

"Oh, it must be wonderful to work there."

"Why?" Sandy asked, not knowing why working at a bookstore so great.

"There are a lot of books there. If I worked there, I'd read all day." Maxwell looked at Sandy. "I love books."

"Oh, I don't really like books. I never have time to read them." Sandy said, a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize, I didn't like books when I was younger but someone inspired me."

"I used to love books when I was young though… my favorite book was Gone with the Wind." Sandy hesitated.

"That's great. Gone with the Wind is a classic." Maxwell looked at his watch. It was 7:00 pm. "I should be going. It's almost dinner time." Maxwell said as he stood up.

"Um…" Sandy called for Maxwell. "If you don't mind… would you like to stay for dinner? Unless there's someone waiting for you at your home…" Sandy said as she looked down.

"I can't stay. My wife and daughter are waiting for me at my house. It was nice chatting with you." Maxwell said as he smiled.

Sandy was surprised. "He was already married?" She thought. "Oh, then you should be hurrying home."

"I'm kidding." Maxwell responded.

"What?" Sandy said surprised. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not married and I don't have a daughter. I'm single; no one lives at my house." Maxwell said as he smiled.

Sandy frowned and opened her mouth, about to say something but then her frown disappeared and turned into a smile. "So do you want to stay for dinner Maxwell?"

"Do you know what you're going to make?" Maxwell asked.

"I'm not sure… it depends on what I feel like. I was thinking about spaghetti. Do you hate it?"

"Spaghetti sound great. I'll stay for dinner. Make sure to make it good."

"Okay."

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"Here's your spaghetti." Sandy said as she handed Maxwell a plate of spaghetti.

"This looks really good. Thank you for letting me eat here." Maxwell said.

"It's no biggie. It's nice to have company once in a while." Sandy said as she smiled.

Maxwell blushed lightly and started to eat. Sandy was eating slowly, deep in thought. "Maxwell seems… nice. He's different than I thought but, he's still wonderful. I wonder if we can be like this again…"

"You're food's great Sandy! The sauce tastes really good." Maxwell said. "Is it your homemade recipe?"

"Yeah, it was my mom's recipe. I think she experimented a lot with the sauce. When I was younger my mom's sauce would taste different every time. Sometimes it tasted sweet, another time it was awful, but one day, she finally got it, the perfect spaghetti sauce. She's even won two awards for it."

"Your mom seems wonderful. What about your father?"

"My father… passed away a while ago. After his death our family was having a hard time because he was in debt. Mom never knew about it so when we learned that we were in huge debt, we sold most of our possessions but it still wouldn't be enough."

Maxwell looked worried. "I'm so sorry about your father. Is your family having a hard time now?"

Sandy shook her head slowly. "We still haven't paid our debt but we're used to it by now. We know that we can't have any fancy things, that why I couldn't go into the college that I wanted to go to. I went to a business school instead."

"What college did you want to go to?" Maxwell asked curiously.

"I wanted to go to a gymnastics school and work hard to become the best gymnast, but I gave up on my dream." Sandy looked upset. "Life has a lot of choices, right?"

Maxwell nodded slowly.

"Everyone wants a lot of choices. I had some too, but I had a choice of helping my family or achieving my dream. My dream was right in my hands but… I couldn't turn down my family. Many people think choices are great, but for me… I don't want to choose, I want to know… I wanted to know what might be the best choice. Sometimes I wonder if I went for my dream, maybe I could've made more money and we wouldn't be living uncomfortably. But the past is the past, right?" Sandy had tears in her eyes. She quickly wiped them. "I'm sorry. I was getting a little emotional. Here I'll clean the plates." Sandy got up and took the plates and started to wash them.

Maxwell was just staring at Sandy. "She was living through hard times… All this time, she's been hiding her sadness with her smile and cheerfulness… she could fool anyone…" Maxwell got up and went to Sandy and gently hugged her.

"Maxwell?" Sandy said softly.

"It's okay to show others that you're sad. You don't have to endure it by yourself. The people around you care about you too." Maxwell said as he hugged her a little tighter.

"Maxwell…" Sandy said with little drops of tears running down Sandy's face.

"You're allowed to lean on others for help…"

Sandy started to hug Maxwell back and tears were rolling down her face. "I-I-I miss my family! I wish I knew what was right! I wish I can help my family and my friends! But I don't know how to do that without giving up what I want…" Sandy said as she sobbed. Maxwell hugged Sandy gently, comforting her.

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"Hmm…" Sandy woke up rubbing her eyes. She looked at her clock. It was only 5 in the morning. "It's still dark…I can't go back to sleep…Today's the meeting with Pure Swans…" Sandy stood up and made her bed, and went into her bathroom. She looked at the mirror and gently touched her swollen eyes. "I cried a lot last night." She washed her face and brushed her teeth. Sandy got dressed into a pair of jeans and a red tank top with a white over shirt. Sandy got her bike from the storage room and started to ride down the road.

"It's okay to show others that you're sad… you don't have to endure it by yourself…"

"Thank you Maxwell… for last night." Sandy thought. She was riding slowly down Starlight Ave. and met Maxwell walking down the street. "Ah, it's Maxwell. Good morning."

"Good morning Sandy. Are you feeling better?" Maxwell asked, concerned.

"I'm feeling a lot better. Thanks. But what are you doing this early in the morning?"

"I'm taking my daily morning walk. What are you doing?"

"I couldn't sleep so I decided to ride my bike. Uh..Maxwell?"

"Yes?"

"Can I walk with you? I mean, if you don't mind…"

"I don't mind. Please join me." Maxwell said as he led out a hand. Sandy grabbed his hand and got off her bike. "You can leave it there; no one in this neighborhood steals." Maxwell said as he pointed to a small parking area.

"Okay." Sandy said as she let go of Maxwell's hand. "What's your daily morning routine?"

"I usually go around the market, just in case they have a sale. But there's someplace I want to take you." Maxwell led Sandy down the road until they were in front of the flower shop. "The flower shop is open early in the morning. In the morning, fresh flowers are delivered so they're all alive and strong."

"Wow, let's go look at the flowers!" Sandy said excited. Sandy quickly went into the shop and looked at all the flowers. "They're so pretty!"

"Pick your favorite one. I'll buy it for you."

"No, it's okay." Sandy said as she blushed.

"It's okay, I want to buy it for you. So pick out your favorite one."

"Thank you! Let's see…" Sandy started to walk around the store. She looked at roses, sunflowers, paper whites. "There're all so beautiful." Then a flower caught Sandy's eye. "This of flowers used to be my favorite. I forgot what they're called…"

"I think they're called azaleas." Maxwell answered.

"Oh yeah! They were my favorite when I was in high school. Can you get me these?" Sandy asked as she held out a pot of white azaleas.

"Sure." Maxwell took the flowers and went to the cash register and bought it for Sandy. "Here you go."

"Thank you very much. I'll take care of them." Sandy smiled. "I need to get going. Bye Maxwell."

"Bye Sandy." Maxwell waved as Sandy walked toward her bike and got on.

"Maxwell bought me flowers today. Azaleas…actually I did know what they were called. I love it when Maxwell answers question like that. Maxwell's such a sweet caring person. I wonder if I'm worthy of being with him…" Sandy thought as she rode home. "But it's okay. As long I'm with Maxwell, I don't really care if the whole world says I'm not allowed to be with him. I feel so comforted when he's with me. Everything else seems so stupid when I'm with him. I want to be with him forever…"