Chapter 1

Such A Pity

Sarah woke far too early in the morning with a splitting headache. She sat up slowly and the sheets slid off her bare breasts. She realized she was naked, but she wasn't the only one. There was a man sleeping next to her, a complete stranger to her. Grasping her throbbing head with one hand, she sighed and grumbled, "What the hell did I have to drink last night?"

Sarah struggled to remember… the last thing she could recall was being at a party thrown by her agent in honour of her new single.

Sarah shoved the covers off of her and wrapped herself in a robe just as her agent, Walter, barged through the door.

"Hey, uh, you're up," he said lamely, trying to ignore the naked stranger in her bed. Sarah glanced at Walter dully and said, "Yeah. What's the schedule for today?"

"Totally clear," Walter grinned. "You didn't actually forget, did you?"

Sarah blinked when she suddenly realized what he was talking about. Today was her eighteenth birthday… she was a legal adult now.

"Happy birthday to me," Sarah said dully, venturing to her drawer to hunt for some designer jeans. "And if what's-his-face in my bed hasn't woken up yet he must have been more wasted than I was."

"Why aren't you taking this seriously?" Walter exclaimed. "You're an adult!"

"Yay, I'll be able to do all the things I wasn't able to do when I was a kid," Sarah said, smirking. "Like drinking. Well, legally anyway. At least in Canada."

Walter sighed. "Get dressed. I have a surprise for you."

"Is it more booze? My head's killing me."

"I wonder why."

Walter left the room, and finally the stranger in her bed woke up.

"Good morning, Mike," said Sarah dully.

"Dylan," he corrected.

"Pack your things and leave, Mike," Sarah demanded, but he wouldn't leave. Instead he sat there and watched her change with apparent interest.

"You have the hottest ass on the planet," he noted, before Sarah glared at him and ordered, "Leave."

'Mike' clambered up, grabbed his clothes and left.

There was a faint cooing sound coming from the window, and Sarah looked up as she pulled on her jeans. There was a barn owl watching her with wide eyes through her bedroom window. Sarah smirked and flounced over to it, knowing full well that she wasn't wearing a shirt. Or a bra, for that matter.

"Hello, Mr. Goblin King," she sneered. "Spying on me like a pervert, are you?"

She opened the window and shooed the owl away before continuing to dress.

This was a normal thing for Sarah Williams. It all began at her cousin Geoff's wedding, when she'd been forced to be the wedding singer. Geoff had recommended her to an agency, which had provided her with an agent — Walter — and her debut single had skyrocketed to the top. Things went downhill from there. On her seventeenth birthday Sarah performed at her first club and ended up getting drunk and sleeping with the bartender. After that she began picking up random bar guys and having one-night stands. She'd lost her copy of the Labyrinth and never once called on Hoggle or Ludo or Didymus. What was once a timid but determined girl was now a dark, cold empty shell of a person.

Once dressed, Sarah met up with Walter who led her outside to her limousine.

"What is this?" Sarah asked apathetically, when Walter beckoned her into the limo.

"Surprise!" squealed her stepmother and father, and Toby. The three of them were gathered in the limousine, and a three-year-old Toby was holding a blue balloon that had Sarah's name written on it in a messy scrawl. The 'S' was backwards.

Sarah forced a smile and said, "Uh. Hi. What are you doing here?"

"We flew to Hollywood to celebrate your birthday, honey!" said Robert eagerly. "We're taking you to Nobu."

"Mm, sushi," Sarah said sarcastically, climbing into the limo. "Fun."

"Look, Sawah!" Toby shrieked. "Balloon!"

"Yep, that's a balloon all right," Sarah said uninterestedly.

Now I know why I wished this kid away.

Dinner with her parents was as dull and slightly irritating as she'd expected. Sarah and her parents ordered sushi (salad for Toby). Irene prattled on and on about stupid things such as how Rosamund was four months with child, and how Geoff had gotten a job at a construction site. Robert kept repeating how proud he was of his daughter, and that he had always known that she had talent just like her mom. Toby started crying when he dropped his salad bowl on the ground, and then he cried harder when he accidentally let go of the blue balloon and it floated off to the ceiling.

Happy mother fucking birthday to me, Sarah thought bitterly. When Sarah took Toby out of the restaurant to calm him down, she suddenly noticed the barn owl watching her from a pillar.

"You can have him back," Sarah called out to the bird, which only twitched its neck back and forth with unblinking eyes. Sarah scoffed and Toby finally quieted down.

"Who are you talking to?" he sniffled. Sarah pointed to the owl.

"I'm talking to the owl," she said. "Say hi to the owl, Toby."

"Hi Mister Owl," said Toby, waving energetically. "You won't get me again!"

Sarah gaped down at her sibling, who looked up at her with piercing blue eyes that showed he had no idea what he'd just said. Sarah smirked and said, "'atta boy," and re-entered the restaurant with her back to the owl.

Her family rented a room at the Holiday Inn, leaving Sarah to do her usual nighttime routine, only this time she'd decided to mix it up a little. Sarah had restrained from getting drunk, but her 'date' was one hundred percent smashed. He led her over to the bed, kissing her lips ferociously and groaning as Sarah's hand disappeared into his jeans. His hands travelled underneath her shirt to grip her firm breasts, and then to yank off her shirt.

At that moment the phone rang. Sarah grumbled irritably and slid out of the stranger's grip to grab her phone.

"Hello?" she said crossly.

"Hi, it's Irene," said her stepmother's voice. "I hope I'm not interrupting, but I was wondering if you could take Toby for tomorrow, if you're not busy with celebrity affairs."

"Sure, I'll take the kid," Sarah grumbled. "I gotta go, bye."

She hung up on her stepmother and turned back to her date, who was now snoozing on her bed. Sarah sighed and lay down next to him, knowing full well she wasn't going to be able to wake him up. The owl swooped onto her windowsill and gave a sceptical coo. Sarah glanced at it and rolled her eyes.

"I know, I know," she said irritably. "Such a pity."

A/N: Chapter 2 will be up next Friday. SWD will be up after this one is completed.