A/N: I am so sick of people posting updates of your favorite shows and creators, only for it to be an April Fools Prank. That's just wrong! I would NEVER pull that on you, so believe me that this chapter is legit and fun to write.

I have begun outlining yet another project that I plan to put out a little further down the line: don't want to take time away from my OTHER project.

I gotta admit, this originally started as one of my short fluffier stories, but it just grew and grew. Seriously, we would have been at the mid-point as envisioned. But our girls haven't even crossed paths yet. I guess my biggest lesson from "VictoriNEXT" was that some stories are too good to be in a hurry. And many of my fellow writers have shown the joys of taking your time with a tale.

Finally, I have...deep breath...begun writing chapter 1 of the sequel. My outline is nearing completion and I'm always writing ideas down for the future, but I wanted to kick things off with an opening that brought us back to speed. I will drop this sometime in April, I PROMISE! And updates will be weekly at a minimum! This is so exciting, and I plan on dropping the name of the new story the closest update of Stuntwoman to the premiere of PART 2!

Please drop a review and I'll see you soon!

;-)

Jade walked through the automatic doors into the IKEA in Burbank.

There was a litany of furniture stores to pick from, but Jade wasn't sure how long she was going to occupy this particular apartment. She didn't want to spend a fortune on something nice if she was just going to move in a year or so. Maybe down the road when she settled into a larger space, maybe a house. Then she could really splurge on the finer things. For now, it was function only. So, why break the bank?

The building was humongous. Jade expected a furniture store, albeit with more plain boxes stacked around. This place was laid out like a wholesaler, one of those subscription bulk megastores. It even had an eatery on the one end. That reminded Jade of the Sam's Club back home, where you could sit down and get a slice of pizza or a hotdog. She never imagined having that much fatigue from a simple shopping trip that you needed to recharge. The food courts in malls made more sense to her because you're covering much more ground and could spend the day in a mall.

Jade first caught sight of the kitchen section.

"Okay, now I'm gonna need some dishes..." she said to herself as she scanned the section. "Ah!"

Jade grabbed a box for an 18-pc dinnerware set. It had large plates, small plates, and bowls; enough for six seatings.

"Uh...FÄRGKLAR?" she struggled to pronounce.

(The amount of Ingmar Bergman movies I watched; you would think I picked up a little Swedish.)

She made a face at the bright white dish set.

"I dunno," she sighed softly. "Just seems a little plain. Not very me..."

Then Jade set her eyes on an identical 18-piece set but colored dark grey. She set the one she had down and snagged the last box in this dark shade.

"Hello there!" she grinned.

Upon studying the box, it finally hit her that the set was for six seatings, which made Jade scoff.

(Who, me? Invite five people over at once? Move over, Jay Gatsby!)

Back in college, Jade mostly lived off of paper plates. She didn't really cook all that much apart from a cup of noodles. Basically, she just needed something to survive two minutes in the microwave, tops. But that was college. Jade was starting her new "adult" life down here in L.A., so she had to present as an adult. That meant actual dishes. Besides, what was the point of having a dishwasher in the kitchen if you never use it? Plus, she would look really strange if there were nothing in her cabinets.

Jade imagined if her mother came to visit. The last thing she wanted to do was make her worry. That woman would lose her mind if her only daughter, the apple of her eye; didn't have food in the fridge and a stack of dinnerware to eat off of.

"Alright," she sighed triumphant with her first real item for her first real place. "Now...where...is the...flatware?"

Took her a few minutes, but she acquired a 60 (!) piece set called DRAGON; with two kinds of forks, two kinds of spoons and knives. Jade didn't feel like doing the math in her head right now and just put the stainless-steel utensils in her cart.

"That's probably fine."

Over time, Jade added more small appliances and other necessities to her cart. Now she had a stainless-steel cooking set, a coffee maker, a toaster, a wall clock for the living room. She also threw in a cooking utensil set complete with all the spatulas, oversized spoons and a pair on tongs.

Now came the time to start picking out furniture, which Jade would have to pay extra to have delivered to her apartment. No way in hell will anything like that fit in her little car.

Then she saw it: The EKEDALEN

It was a beautiful dark brown table with matching chairs, each with a light grey cushion. What really put it over the top for Jade was that it was a long table with six chairs. She looked down at her six-person dishes set and breathed in. Jade was doubtful if she was going to have room for it, but she eyeballed it from the short end and figured it can fit in that little area between the closet and the kitchen this way.

Jade nodded and wrote down the item name and number. Other similar sized set she saw for a thousand or more didn't look as nice as this $700 one.

She went over her mental list, checking the small notepad with the furniture pieces she chose and wrote down.

"Okay, table and chairs, sofa, end table, nightstand...oh!"

She still needed a bed.

Halfway to the back of the store were the bedding sets. Jade had wanted to get something with a headboard but found the ones with headboards included were kind of ugly. Plus, the mattresses looked rather thin. Seemed like those beds were more concerned with storage underneath instead of comfort. That was an area Jade was not going to compromise. She would rather go for the thicker mattresses with the base and no headboard because they looked nicer.

(Whatever. I'm just going to have the pillow side against the wall anyway.)

"Hi!" waved a cheery Korean girl in a yellow and blue shirt. "I'm Emily, can I help you with anything?"

Jade leaned over her shopping cart, gripping the handle tightly.

"Oh, I was...just...looking into a..."

"Bed?" she offered.

"Right!" Jade snapped her fingers. "That."

"What were you looking into, size wise?" Emily asked. "A twin maybe?"

Jade cleared her throat and looked down at the twin set beside her.

"It's...awfully small," the pale girl remarked.

She slept on a bed this size in college but in a dorm, that was the standard mostly due to the living conditions. Unofficially, they didn't want to encourage "overnight guests." But this was Jade's place, and she could do as she pleased. Maybe her optimism was getting the better of her, but she wanted something bigger.

(Dinner guests? Someone to share your bed with? You've got some high hopes, girl!)

"Is it just you?" the salesgirl asked.

Jade chuckled and tugged at the collar of her black shirt.

"I mean...I would like..." she coughed. "...the option...to..."

At the rate she was blushing, Jade wished Emily would swoop in and save her.

"Oh, I get it! Just follow me."

Jade nodded and pushed her cart in her direction.

"These are the king mattresses," Emily indicated. "Or, if that's too big...personally, I think the queen is a good choice."

It was at least a foot less wide than the king and considerably larger than the itty-bitty twin bed.

"Why don't you give it a try?" she offered.

Jade set her cart aside and sat down on the bare mattress, already taken by how soft it was.

"Go ahead," smiled Emily. "Lay on it."

She slid further on, attempting to keep her shoes off it. Now with the full weight of her back on the mattress, Jade could really appreciate the balance of springy and firm. It cradled her body very well. Her eyes grew wide when Emily joined her on the bed.

"See? It just adapts to your body, but none of those issues you get with a memory foam model."

Emily continued to elaborate on the cutting-edge spring technology in this line of mattresses, but her voice was drowned out by Jade's petrified mind.

The salesgirl sat up and got off.

"And as you can see," Emily leaned in and whispered. "Big enough for two."

"I'll take it!" Jade's voice squeaked. "I mean, I'll take it."

Emily smiled and helped Jade with the process of arranging delivery as this was her last purchase of the day.

Satisfied with her purchases and embarrassed by the scene in the mattress section, she quickly made her way home.

Hijinx was a lesbian-owned club in West Hollywood, but not as loud and crowded as most clubs in town. It leaned more towards a bar with its laid-back atmosphere; it just happened to have a dance floor for patrons that we so inclined.

This was one of Tori's main haunts, beyond the gym. Speaking of which, the bartender who looked more like a gladiator, Beatrice (or Bea for short) was someone Tori spotted working out from time to time. But she's been noticeably absent the last few months.

The stuntwoman entered and nodded to a couple who recognized her from also being regulars.

Tori sat at the bar and waited for Bea to turn and acknowledge her.

"Hey, Vega!" the Norse goddess smirked. "You look exhausted."

The tan woman sighed and knocked on the bar, which was the signal for bring on my usual first if you want me to spill the tea.

Bea understood and quickly threw together a rum and coke, Tori's go-to. She didn't go for much harder most times. She mainly drank it to fit in, not wanting to look like the sober bitch. Truthfully, Tori could hold her liquor; she just didn't care for most drinks.

"Okay, for someone who is pushed off of buildings and set on fire..."

"One time!" Tori said, finger raised.

"You usually don't look this disheveled when you come in. What kind of day did you have?"

Tori cracked her neck.

"Just a new partner," she sighed.

Bea perked up.

"Oh?"

"Business partner, sadly" groaned Tori. "Who also begged me to be her workout partner."

The barkeep nodded sympathetically.

"I know that feeling. That's why I gave up being a personal trainer. They can just be so rude to you!"

"It's not even that."

Tori sipped her cold beverage, appreciating the quench of her thirst.

"While we're on the subject, why haven't you been at Champion lately?" Tori asked.

Bea huffed and shook her head.

"What can I say? Haven't had the time."

"Still seeing Megan?"

She grinned and leaned on the counter.

"That girl is something else," Bea admitted. "When I'm not here, she wants to Netflix and chill."

Tori was happy for her.

"What about you, thrill-seeker?"

"What about me?" countered Tori.

"When are you going to find yourself someone?"

The Latina gulped the rest of her drink and exhaled.

"Not interested in romance."

"Bitch, who are you fooling?" smirked Bea.

"I'm busy," Tori said, looking to the side. "Have a new movie coming up and everything."

She held up her empty glass with ice still unmelted.

"Another?"

Bea obliged and refreshed her beverage.

"If you have time...to shoot the breeze with my huge ass...which Meg by the way adores..."

"T.M.I." Tori winced.

"Then you have time to find your own lady to Netflix and chill with."

Tori rolled her eyes and accepted the rum and coke.

"Thanks, but if I need to bust a nut, I can take care of myself."

"But that's not as fun," Bea pointed.

"You knockin' self-love?" grinned Tori.

Bea shook her head.

"It just hits different when someone else says they love you."

"Eh," Tori shrugged. "I can get the same from a hooker. Did you know saying 'I love you' is extra?"

"I'm sure the janes appreciate your company over some smelly dude, but that doesn't seem like a long-term solution for you."

Tori raised an eyebrow.

"How so?"

"Well, you stopped picking up the occasional sex worker long before I stopped going to the gym."

Bea picked up a bottled water she had beneath the counter.

"The point is..." she started before taking a swig and setting the water down. "Things are different now but at least...I'm happy. Are you?"

She didn't have an answer.

Tori sat at the bar while Bea went to help a small group who walked over.

She ended up sitting there for a while, just staring down at her drink.

Alone.

Returning home, Jade noticed a new email from CWE. She opened it and relieved she had, because it was from Dorian Pierce at Clearwater Entertainment. It was a PDF of the script for the movie. He suggested in the body of the message to give it a once over during the weekend, so she had an idea of the project come Monday.

She nodded and downloaded the PDF to her phone. It would be so much easier to read on her tablet, but its dead and her charger is missing.

(MENTAL NOTE: buy new tablet charger. Type-C and not a crappy one.)

Jade put her cookware and dinnerware away in the cupboards. She then neatly arranged the utensils in the drawer right next to the stove. Fortunately, the cooking utensil set she bought came with a big container for everything to stand in for easy grabbing.

Then when that was finished, she enjoyed setting up her countertop with her new gadgets.

"Now, we're ready for breakfast!" she nodded to her toaster and coffee machine. "At least it would be when I actually pick up some groceries."

She Google searched for local supermarkets in the area and found a store called Pavilions on Santa Monica Blvd.

"Okay," Jade shrugged. "Guess they don't have Acme or Shop-Rite out here."

Tori left Hijinx and started her walk home.

It was convenient to only live blocks away from a bar, removing the temptation to drive home tipsy. Not that she had a means of transportation anyway.

Besides, unlike most women walking along at night, Tori didn't harbor any dread. She kept her wits about her but figured her chances were good of making it home in one piece. Nobody in their right mind would mess with her if they came at her with anything less than a gun. And even then, she could reasonably relieve a man from his firearm if need be.

Ten minutes later, Tori was home to her apartment and didn't bother to turn on a light. She just made her way to her bedroom, only guided by the streetlights coming through the windows.

Tori took a couple of aspirin and chased it with a warm soda, as added insurance against a morning hangover.

She then yawned and collapsed onto her unmade bed.

The Latina regarded the ceiling until sleep finally set in.

A/N: The name of the club Tori frequents is the same one from "Does Your Mother Know" in my anthology Thank You for the Music, in case it sounded familiar to anyone.

Those items that Jade bought are very real, I found them on the IKEA website. You can go out and buy them if you wish to furnish your place like Jade here LOL.