Ok, so here goes chapter three and the introduction of my original character! I know many of you will probably not like what I'm going to do here but I have a ton of ideas to play with the dynamic of the two together and how they each effect the other, so if you have the patience, please stay with me here. Some of you may think you are getting a feeling where this might be headed, but chances are it might not be what you're expecting with regards to certain things. Without giving too much away, I'll just say that you might be surprised at some stuff. This is truly only the begining.

Also, as I've said before, I'm still working hard on IHYD, so hopefully I will have an update for that soon!

Please R&R, I'd like to know what you think.

Emily Garrett was struggling with her emotions as she walked into Zen Spiritual Center. It was the ground floor of a small building in Princeton that specialized in classes of several different types of yoga styles as well as a few different meditation techniques. She had dabbled in yoga over the years, but she would have preferred to be at a dance studio. That was where she belonged. It was also part of what had gotten her into so much trouble back in December. Well, to be honest, the trouble started long before that; it simply came to a head at that point. That was why she came here to give her hand another try at yoga, more specifically the Ashtanga yoga which she had sometimes tried.

She was intensely uncomfortable in new situations and even more so around new people. To be comfortable, everything had to be in the right order and it had to be routine. For a moment she simply stood just a few feet inside of the doorway until she felt somebody behind her trying to get through. She looked around the front room and saw a few empty chairs. One chair was next to three women chatting loudly. Another was in between a man and a woman who appeared to be arguing. How very calming, she thought. The third chair she spotted was next to a woman who was completely absorbed in her blackberry. She decided that would be a safe place to sit.

She sat down next to the woman and started to try to focus her mind on something. Just about anything would do at this point. All she needed was to shut up some of the clamoring thoughts racing through her head. She found her eyes were drawn to the woman next to her. She noticed how she was simply stunning, even from the simple profile she was able to observe. Not what you need right now, she thought. You are not here to chase after the ladies. She turned her gaze to the wall across the room; at least, she tried to. She kept sneaking quick glimpses out of the corners of her eyes. One of the first things she noticed about the woman was her hair. It was a beautiful deep shade of dark brown and had just a little wave in it. When she saw the woman put her blackberry away, she decided that she was definitely NOT going to look back. That was when she felt the gaze of the other woman on her.

Lisa had noticed someone sitting next to her but she was so absorbed in an email she was reading from a member of the board that she didn't have the thinking power needed to see who it was. She had only been coming here a few times a week for about two months, but she had gotten to know a fair number of the regulars. Finally finished, she looked to her right and saw that this was not someone she was familiar with. The woman looked like she was trying to center herself but then obviously gave up for the time being, so she decided to introduce herself. "Hi," she started.

Emily immediately broke her internal resolve and looked towards the other woman. The next thing she noticed about this woman was her eyes. She felt like she could get lost in those eyes forever. They were an amazingly unique shade of light blue. So light, in fact, that they were practically gray. The mysterious woman's welcoming gaze suddenly calmed her nerves a bit. "Hi," she responded feeling more than a little tongue tied.

Lisa's eyes momentarily locked with the other woman's and her breath was practically knocked out of her. Her very bright yet deep emerald eyes seemed to match perfectly with her golden hair. She couldn't figure out why, but she suddenly felt nervous. She pushed the feeling down and offered her hand. "I'm Lisa."

Emily took the hand and their hands lingered together for just a moment, and although neither woman would admit it, it felt like time had stopped for both of them. "Emily," she responded.

"Do," Lisa started her sentence but the word came out more like a squeak than an actual word. She cleared her throat, took a deep breath, and started again. "Do you come here often? I haven't seen you around, although I've only been coming for a couple of months."

Emily smiled and to Lisa it seemed as though her eyes became even brighter. "No, this is actually my first time. I recently moved here from Philadelphia. I actually haven't done much yoga before. I've tried it a few times, but I used to put my energy into other activities."

"Oh?" Lisa inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah." That was all Emily supplied.

Lisa was about to inquire about those other activities when she felt a vibration from the pocket of her bag that was resting against her leg. She pulled out the blackberry and read the brief message before sending one back just as quickly. "Sorry. No matter how hard I try, I just can't get away from work."

Emily nodded. "I used to know that feeling. You spend all day every day there to the point where your entire social life revolves around the people you work with. You never intend for that to happen, but eventually, after you lose your last connection to the outside world... I'm so much freer now I guess, but I miss it a little I suppose. What do you do?"

Lisa looked Emily in the eyes and then shied away slightly. "I run a hospital." Emily looked at her skeptically. "Seriously, I run a hospital. I'm a doctor. Well, I guess now I'm a doctor that does more with administration than actual medicine, but I still see patients. I'm the Dean of Medicine at Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital," Lisa said as she absently tucked a stray lock of hair back behind her shoulder.

Emily was impressed.

"What do you do?" Lisa asked.

Emily made a silly face. "Nothing nearly as glamorous as that, I'm afraid. I'm a barista. I make coffee, espresso beverages, sandwiches, that kind of thing. It's just a temporary job though. I've been doing it for a few months now."

"What is it you want to do when 'temporary' is over?"

Is this woman flirting with me? Emily wondered. She honestly wasn't sure at this point. The vibes she got from the other woman sent completely contradictory messages.

Emily thought. "I'm really not sure yet to be honest. I actually sort of like what I'm doing now I guess. I'm not feeling a whole lot of pressure to move on at this point."

Lisa saw that Emily appeared to be in her early thirties and probably not fresh out of college which made her curious. "So, Emily, if you've been at this for a few months, what is it you used to do?"

"I was a dancer," she responded casually.

Lisa blinked and simply stared at the woman. "Like a, uh, you know," she gestured with her hand a gesture that both women understood to mean 'as in an exotic dancer'. She looked at the woman. She was beautiful, that was for sure, but she didn't really have the body for an exotic dancer. She was sitting down but Lisa could tell that she was rather tall, or, at the very least, she had a few inches on herself, that much she had going for her. It was the rest of her build, though, that just didn't seem right. She was very thin and her breasts and hips just didn't seem like they would hold much appeal for the kinds of men who frequented that kind of dancer's venue, if House's tastes were anything to go by.

Emily laughed and Lisa felt an unfamiliar tightening in her chest. She didn't know what it was. "No, no, nothing like that," Emily said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I was a ballerina. I used to dance with the Pennsylvania Ballet."

Now that she certainly had the build for, Lisa thought. She was about to say something else when the pair noticed that many of the other people waiting were beginning to file into the back room. Emily followed Lisa in and chose a spot on the floor towards the back of the room next to her. They unrolled their mats before the class began with breathing. Throughout the entire class Emily tried as hard as she could to focus and concentrate internally, but she couldn't. Every chance she got she snuck peeks at Lisa. Everything about the woman was perfect; her balance, her movements, not to mention the fact that her body was seriously put on this earth to drive her insane.

"Namaste," the class finished.

As everyone was as packing up their belongings nobody spoke. When they entered the front room Lisa broke the silence between the two. "So, how did you like the class?"

Emily considered her answer. "It was very good. I found it relaxing, but my…" She was about to say eyes, but caught herself just in time. "My mind kept wandering."

Lisa smiled. That was a sight Emily could become easily addicted to. Stop it! You need to stop thinking like that! Emily was lost in thought until Lisa spoke. "Yeah, that happens sometimes, especially when you're really stressed."

The two were now standing in the middle of the parking lot. Lisa felt like she couldn't move. What she wanted more than anything at that very moment was to remain in the other woman's presence. It was at that moment she realized that she desperately wanted this woman to become a friend. She very much wanted to get to know Emily. No, scratch that. She very much NEEDED to get to know Emily. "Do you think you're going to come back?" she asked.

Emily smiled again and Lisa felt that same tightening in her chest. "Yeah, I think I will. When do you usually come?"

"Ideally I like to come Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I plan on coming Wednesday again."

"Well then," said Emily. "I hope to see you then." Reluctantly, the two parted ways. You're in big trouble now, thought Emily. She had known Lisa for less than two hours and she was already falling for her hard. You're an idiot.

Usually when Lisa returned home after doing yoga she felt calm and collected. Today she was a mess. During the short ride home all she could think about was Emily. She saw the woman's eyes, her smile, the way she so casually tied her shoulder length hair into a loose ponytail, even the subtle flaring of her nostrils as she laughed, every time she went into her memory. She thought about the way she felt funny every time she got a smile or a laugh from Emily. Nobody had ever had that effect on her before. She didn't know what to make of it. She didn't even know what it meant. All she knew was that she had to know this woman. She walked inside the house and paid Tracie before checking on her sleeping daughter.

Her thoughts were still racing. She was finding it hard to focus on anything so she tried to go through some of her techniques for relaxing. Deep breathing didn't help. Sparkling emerald eyes and golden hair. She couldn't even get herself to step onto the "relaxation elevator". Gentle laugh and easy smile. She pulled out a stack of files from her briefcase and hoped that she could exhaust her mind with mundane tasks but she couldn't manage to make the letters on the page form coherent words let alone sentences or full reports so she gave up with that. Emily. She made her way into the bedroom and put on some soothing music before drawing a hot bubble bath. Around the bathroom she placed a few of her favourite (and well matched) aromatherapy candles. She finished off the mood of the room with a glass of her favourite red wine before lowering herself into the bath.

It wasn't nearly long enough later that the bath had grown cool, the bubbles had disappeared, her wine glass had been drained, and the candles had burned low. She was still just as out of sorts as she had been before. She dressed in a pair of comfortable, light pajamas fitting for the warm July evening and cleaned up the items strewn around the bathroom.

She stood in front of the kitchen sink while washing the glass and looked around at her surroundings, surveying the room. She knew of one thing that would shut her mind off, but she also knew that was the one thing she couldn't do. Despite her racing thoughts about Emily, now compounded by thoughts about work thanks to having tried to look at a report or two, she could clearly hear one particular train of thought standing out. No, no, no! This stops now! Yes, you relapsed for a few months. Get over it. Many people do. It's not uncommon. You're done. Satisfied with her decision, she walked to the living room and flicked on the television to see what could help to silence her mind.

It was just over an hour later that she was sitting on her heels on the bathroom floor having just finished what she had decided she would definitely never do again just a short while ago. She noticed, though, that for the first time in hours, her mind was silent. No more racing thoughts; no more worries. Just nothing. It's far from good, but there are one or two worse ways to shut up your brain, she thought. Death would be one of them for sure.

After getting ready for bed she checked on Rachel one more time before tucking herself into bed, exhausted. Just before drifting off into dreamland she wondered for a quick flash of a second what Emily was doing at that moment.

When Emily got home she briefly entered her apartment to grab a bottle of water before going back outside. She quickly jogged the half mile to the park nearby before starting her night run. It was already getting dark so she knew she wouldn't get in as long of a run as she usually would have liked. She figured she could only get in a little over half before it got too dark to see even with the lamps which studded the jogging path, but eventually her eyes adjusted and she completed her run to her satisfaction. She walked the route back to her apartment and let herself in.

By the time she had showered and changed it was nearly midnight. She flipped through the guide menu of several hundred channels on her television. Thanks to the God of digital cable you could get just about anything any time of day. She turned on an old favourite of hers, ER. It was long finished its run, but the repeats still played late at night on an obscure channel that specialized in shows from the past two decades. ER, she thought. Lisa was a doctor… That put a smile on her face.

She left the television on in the other room as she walked through to the kitchen to make some herbal tea all the while thinking about Lisa. There was something about the woman that just seemed magical. On the exterior she projected a cool calmness, but Emily could tell that inside the woman had a storm of insecurities and heartache brewing. All she wanted to do was to comfort Lisa and let her know that there were people out there who still cared. She couldn't figure out though why she cared. After all, she didn't even actually KNOW the woman, but she was damn sure she wanted to. Ok, she had to admit, she was definitely attracted to her, but even so…

Emily walked back into the living room and immediately recognized the episode that was airing. It was 'Ambush'. That was the episode that they had done live on air on both the east coast and then the west coast a few hours later. It was actually pretty good. She couldn't remember the exact plot, though. As she neared the coffee table she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. That woman. That woman. Stunned, she completely forgot she was holding onto a steaming cup of tea and it fell from her hands shattering into pieces spilling the hot liquid across the floor. Whoever that actress who was playing the documentarian was, she looked and sounded like she could be Lisa's twin. Hell, she might actually be for all Emily knew. Hell, for all she knew that actually WAS Lisa. She shook her head and decided to change the channel before she went crazy, settling on the movie Ella Enchanted. It was a children's movie and she was thirty-one, but she had a soft spot for that kind of entertainment. After cleaning up the mess, she remembered to set the alarm on her cell phone before getting too engrossed. Like most nights, she fell asleep on the couch instead of in her bed. It was now only two hours before she had to get up for the morning.