Claudia made her way down the hallway and stopped when she reached studio seven. She was there to pick up a demo for Jack, but she also wanted to talk to Josh. She entered the lounge and knocked on the control room door, before poking her head inside.

    Josh looked up at her from where he sat. She wore a stylish, yet formal blue-denim pants suit and a dark gray, ribbed turtleneck underneath. Half of her curls were pulled back in a large clip at the nape of her neck while the rest hung loosely around her shoulders.

    “I’m sorry to interrupt…Jack wanted me to pick up something for him. Do you mind if I come in quickly?” she asked.

    He motioned her in, while he read something on a piece of paper in front of him. Claudia walked over to a CD rack and scanned it for the CD she was after.

    “I noticed that you left in the ice cream shop in a hurry yesterday,” she began, without looking away from the CD rack. “I was wondering if you were alright.”

    “I’m fine.” he answered, sounding slightly annoyed.

    Oh no, he’s gone back into ‘jerk mode’. He was completely nice to me yesterday, and now it’s like yesterday never even happened.

    Claudia found what she was looking for and turned around. She watched him write something down on the piece of paper he held in his hand, then re-read what he had written. He hummed a tune to himself, erased something on the paper and studied it again.

    Finally he spoke. “I saw you and Jacob after I left. You had an argument,” he stated.

    “Well, something like that, yes,” she said, looking at the floor, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

    Josh turned around in his chair and looked at her with a serious expression. “I know it’s none of my business, but--” he hesitated. “Did he hurt you?”

    “Hurt me?” she repeated, not sure she completely understood.

    “I saw him grab your arm. Did he hurt you?”

    “N- no, he was angry but he didn’t hurt me.”

    “Has he ever hurt you before?”

    “No! He would never do anything to hurt me.”

    “You’re sure?”

    “Yes Josh, I’m positive. Thank you for---for being concerned.”

    Josh just shrugged. “I didn’t know you had a boyfriend,” he said, turning back to the table. “You don’t speak of him much.”

    “Well, no I don’t find it necessary to go around bragging about my love life.”

    “Listen, Claudia. Yesterday was great and all, and I appreciate you inviting me in like that but this just isn’t going to work out.”

    “What isn’t going to work out?”
 
    “Us being friends, I’m sorry it just- it won’t work.”

    Claudia was confused. “What---I don’t understand.”

    “I know, neither do I.” He ran a hand over his face and sighed.

    “You were so different yesterday. You were nice to me… you were, well, human.”

    “I can’t explain my reasons, Claudia. I would just prefer that we kept our relationship on a professional level.”

    “Well how can I do that when you won’t even let me see your lyrics or listen to your songs?”

    He paused and shook his head at her, as if he was confused. “I’ve been a jerk to you since the beginning, why do you even care that I don’t want to be your friend?”

    “Because yesterday, you weren’t a jerk. You were somebody else, Josh. You were you. I knew from the day I met you that there was more to you than your rude, stubborn side and I saw that yesterday. You don’t have to hide out from the world. I’ll let you in Josh, I’ll be your friend.”

    “No. Claudia, I can’t,” he said firmly, even though it wasn’t what he wanted. He stood up and walker past her to the door, trying to ignore the hurt and confused expression on her face. “I’m sorry.” He then disappeared from the doorway.

    Josh hurried down the hallway in long strides, blinded by the loud pounding of his heart and the emotions floating in a heavy cloud around him. His mind chanted over and over: you did the right thing, but couldn’t help but feel terrible for what he had just done.

    “Uh-oh," Nicole frowned when she saw Claudia come through the front door that night. “What happened now?”

    “Am I an open book or what?”
 
    “Your face tells me everything I need to know. You’re upset about something that happened at work today. And let me guess, it has to do with Josh?”

    Claudia sighed and sat down on the loveseat. “You’re good.”

    Nicole sat up and folded her legs underneath her. “Come on, I want all the juicy details.”

    It was time for another one of Nicole and Claudia’s talks. They would always sit in the living room to share their problems and the events of their daily lives. Nicole was a good friend. Sure she was a little boy-crazy sometimes, but she was a fun-loving girl who just loved to have a good time. And she was always there when Claudia needed a shoulder to cry on.

    Claudia began with how Josh had left the ice cream parlor in a hurry the previous night. Then she continued with what he had said in the studio that day, and how he had walked away without letting her object.

    “He just told you he didn’t want to be your friend anymore?” Nicole asked, with confusion. “But why?”

    “He didn’t explain why. He said he couldn’t explain his reasons.”

    Nicole frowned and bit her lip, considering the information Claudia had given her. “So let me get this straight. Last night you guys went out for ice cream, and he acted weird as soon as Jacob got there and he left abruptly. Then today, he told you that he only wanted to know you on a professional level and wouldn’t explain why?”

    “That’s what happened.”

    “Duh! It’s so obvious, Claude!”

    “What? What is?”

    “He’s jealous!”

    Claudia rolled her eyes. “Nicole, you’ve really got to get over this. I know you think he’s hot and you want us to get together but it’s not going to happen!”

    “No, I mean it! Did he say anything about Jacob at the studio today?”

    Claudia thought for a moment about anything he had said about Jacob, besides asking if he had hurt her. Telling Nicole about that would only cause more problems. She would immediately jump to outrageous conclusions that Jacob was abusing her and become protective. Claudia knew that it was better to not mention that part.

    “Actually, he said he never knew I had a boyfriend and that I didn’t speak of him much.”
 
    “I am so right! He wants you!”

    “Oh, please! Give it up already!”

    “Put the pieces together. He acts weird when he meets your boyfriend. He came out and said he didn’t know you had a boyfriend, and then out of no where he says he doesn’t want to be your friend! Don’t you get it? He knows you’re involved and he doesn’t want to fall for you and get hurt!”

    “If you want him so much, why don’t you ask him out? You trying to convince me that he’s interested just isn’t working.”

    “You say that now, but you just wait.”

    “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Claudia dismissed as she headed up the stairs.

    For the next few days, Josh’s mind wouldn’t stray from Claudia. She had been ignoring him ever since he had declared that he wouldn’t be her friend anymore, and he didn’t blame her. Josh knew he had hurt her feelings; it was written all over her face when he’d left the studio. He had been unfair to her, but he just couldn’t tell her his reasons. Josh felt that it was better to leave the situation alone, rather than get himself wrapped up in it again.

    I’m such a jerk. No wonder she’ll barely even look at me anymore. I wish I could at least explain…then maybe she would understand and she wouldn’t be so hurt. But I can’t, I just can’t open up to her. I don’t want to get hurt again. She’s involved with someone else. If I distance myself, I won’t get hurt like I did last time.

    Josh wanted so badly to let Claudia into his life. When he had treated her like dirt, as he did to everyone else, she sucked it up and continued being nice to him. It had been so long since he had found someone who had spent so much time and effort to try to get through to him. Everyone else usually gave up easily, but Claudia was different. She cared about him, whether he wanted her to or not.

    He just had to give her a chance. Claudia had given him many chances already and she deserved to get the same from him. All right, I’ve got to do this. I’ll just keep kicking myself if I don’t.

    He knew he had to talk to Jack. Jack was a smart, well-rounded guy and he was a friend of Claudia’s. Josh knew that Jack would advise him on what to do.

    He waited until the very end of the day, after he knew that Claudia had already left for the day. Jive Studios was nearly empty and Josh prayed that Jack hadn’t left yet. He looked in Jack’s office and searched all of the recording booths with no sign of him. He asked people he passed in the hall and the secretary at the front desk, but he got no answers.

    He rode the elevator to the main floor in dismay. He had really hoped that he would catch up with Jack, just to ask him how Claudia was doing.

    When the elevator doors opened, Josh’s spirits were lifted when he saw Jack, heading for the main door.

    “Jack! Wait, hold up a second!” Josh called after him.

    He turned and was surprised to find Josh jogging towards him. “Hey man, what’s goin’ on?”

    Josh caught up to him. “I was um, I was just wondering how Claudia has been.”

    He gave Josh a curious look. “She’s been alright I suppose. Why, what’s up?”

    “I just- I think I should talk to her about something. I think I upset her the other day.”

    “Oh that’s right. I remember her telling me that you didn’t want to talk to her anymore or something like that.”

    “Yeah…uh, kind of,” he muttered, scuffing his shoe on the tile floor. “I think I need to fix things, I just…don’t know what to tell her.”

    “Well if you want her back as a friend, you’ve got to say something. Wouldn’t it just be more awkward if you just leave with strange closure and have to avoid each other all the time?” he reasoned.

    “Yeah, I know. It’s already been awkward. I just don’t know if I can bring myself to do it,” he mumbled, mostly to himself.

    “Claudia is a very nice person. And from what I can tell, you are a very lonely person.”

    The word lonely struck Josh and caught him off guard. No one usually bluntly came out and said something like that to him, but he knew it was the truth, so he continued listening.

    “She’s a great friend, and I think you’re the one who’s missing out if you shut her out of your life.”

    Josh nodded slowly. Jack was right; to push Claudia out of his life would be his loss, not hers. Claudia had plenty of friends, and plenty of things going on in her life. All of his childhood friends, including his four best friends, had moved on with their lives, or moved away. He had nothing and no one left.

    Sure, Claudia was a little upset about losing their developing friendship, but Josh was the one that had to deal with the fact that he’d pushed away the one person who cared enough to want to be there for him.

    “I’m not sure why you did it…but I think you should reconsider.” Jack could see that things were clearing inside of Josh’s head.

    “I don’t know what I was thinking,” Josh sighed.

    “Now that you’re coming to your senses, just talk to her. She’s very understanding as long as you’re honest.”

    Half and hour later, Josh was pulling into an unfamiliar apartment complex, searching for the right building. When he found it, he parked and walked up to the step in front of Claudia’s apartment. Once he had gotten her address from Jack, he had contemplated whether or not he should go through with visiting her. He knew he should but basically, he was afraid…

    Afraid that maybe she wouldn’t forgive him, or that maybe she just didn’t care to be his friend at all anymore. Or maybe he would just chicken out and not be able to tell her at all. But he knew he had to do it, now or never.

    Josh stood on the step, checking the number on the door for the tenth time. He took in a deep breath and held it, then raised a hand up to the door, hesitating, before finally knocking quickly. He heard footsteps, and a second later, Claudia’s friend Nicole opened the door, and looked at him curiously.

    “Oh hey, you’re that guy I met at the retirement home, right?” Nicole asked.

    “Uh, yeah, that’s me. Is Claudia around?” he asked. “I mean, if she’s busy or something I could just---”

    “Hold on, I’ll go get her,” Nicole interrupted. Nicole disappeared into the apartment and hurried upstairs to get Claudia.

    “Hey Claude, your boy-band hottie is here,” Nicole smiled, poking her head into Claudia’s bedroom.

    Claudia looked up from the romance novel she was reading and gave Nicole a blank stare over her rim of her reading glasses.

    “Ha ha, funny joke Nicole,” she said rolling her eyes. “I know you’ve got some obsession with the thought of me hooking up with him. And you would love to see me jump off the bed and run down the stairs to see if my so-called dream date really is here, but I know for a fact that he’d never go out of his way just to come by to see me. Sorry to spoil your fun Nikki.” Claudia turned back to her book in dismissal.

    “No Claude, he really is here, I’m serious,” she tried to reason.

    “April Fools day is long gone, and Halloween was over a month ago, so unless they’ve come up with some new prankster holiday that I don’t know about, drop the joke.”

    “He’s standing on the front step probably freezing his ass off by now! If you don’t get down there, I’ll go get him and bring him up here to prove it to you!” Nicole declared, getting annoyed. “Either that or I’ll bring him into my room and let you make your own assumptions about what’s causing all the noise in the next room,” she teased raising her eyebrows up and down.

    Claudia studied her friend for a second and realized that she was telling the truth. There was no way that Nicole could keep a straight face for this long.

    Claudia marked the page in her book and stood from her bed.

    “I’ll be in my room if you need me…or if he needs me,” Nicole teased as she went into her bedroom.

    Claudia was surprised to find Josh standing in the doorway as she descended the stairs.

    “Josh, what are you doing here?” Claudia asked in surprised.

    “I’m sorry, I should have called first. I know you probably don’t want to see me,” he began. “Jack gave me your address…I wanted to talk to you about what I said the other day. Do you mind if I come in?” he asked hopefully.

    “Well, it’s better than standing in the cold, right?” she teased, inviting him in.

    Actually, I think I’d rather stand in the cold than come here to admit that I was wrong and do the hardest thing that I could possibly try to do… share my feelings.

    He pushed his thoughts aside and stepped into the warm apartment. She looked cute with glasses on. She looked even more intelligent and sophisticated with the frames around her green eyes.

    Claudia took his black coat and hung it on the rack next to the door. She was dressed casually, clothes that said she was relaxing after a long day at work. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, loose but comfortable, sweatpants hugged her hips, with a baggy tee-shirt, advertising some walk-a-thon that she had no doubt, participated in.

    “I was just going to make some hot cocoa, would you like some?” she offered.

    “Sure,” Josh agreed with a nod.

    Josh’s eyes wandered through the tidy apartment. It was rather large, and somewhat luxurious in his opinion. It was fully decorated in the spirit of Christmas. Colored lights and wreaths decorated with lights, ribbons and pinecones hung in the windows that were lined with tinsel and garland. A manger scene sat on top of the end table, a village scene on another table, and scented candles sent the smell of pine through the room.

    He studied her small Christmas tree as he commented, “You’re really into Christmas, aren’t you?”

    “Of course,” she said matter-of-factly, from the kitchen. She broke into song: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”

    Josh couldn’t help but shake his head and chuckle at her. He took a seat on the white leather couch in front of the warm fireplace, while he waited for Claudia to return.

    “So, Nicole is your roommate?” he called to her.

    She appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe. “Yeah, she’s a pretty good roommate, besides having her friends over all of the time, and hogging the bathroom, and never picking up after herself…” she told him with a chuckle. “Do you have any roommates?”

    “No, I’ve got my own place. I like the privacy, but it gets lonely sometimes,” he admitted. “Why don’t you live with your boyfriend?”

    “We’ve been dating for quite a while now, but I’d rather not live with him yet. I like my place, I like living with Nicole, I like the neighborhood and I don’t want to risk losing any of that just in case living arrangements with Jacob don’t work out.”
 
    He nodded. “Yeah, I can see what you mean.”

    She disappeared back into the kitchen. “Besides,” she said to herself, “he’s so busy it would be like living by myself, anyway.”

    She didn’t mean for Josh to hear that, but he did.

    Claudia hadn’t told anyone her true reasons for not living with Jacob. She made up excuses about loving her apartment and how Nicole was such a good roommate but the truth was, she was scared. She was afraid that if she moved in with him things would change. Living with him might cause her to find out things about Jacob that she just wasn’t ready to accept yet. Living with him would force their relationship to a new level and Claudia wasn’t prepared for any new levels. Things were fine the way the were, and she wanted it to stay that way.

    A few minutes later, Claudia came from the kitchen, carrying two steaming mugs. She handed him a mug and curled up on the love seat adjacent to the couch.

    “It sure is chilly out there,” Claudia commented, blowing on the hot liquid.

    Josh, just nodded while he mentally tried to plan out what he was going to say to her.

    “But the fire’s going now, so that should help warm us up,” she added.

    After the way I’ve treated her, and after telling her I wouldn’t be her friend, she is still being kind to me. There must not be a rude bone in her body.

    Josh’s eyes landed on the grand piano in the far corner of the living room, next to the French doors. It too, of course was decorated with garland.

    “That’s a beautiful piano,” he commented, not taking his eyes off of it.

    He got up from the couch, and walked across the room to where the piano stood. He ran his hand gently over the polished wood.

    “It’s like my baby. I polish it nearly every day,” she told him with a chuckle. “You could take a white glove to it and never find a spec of dust.”

    He sat down at the bench, and pressed gently on the keys, playing nothing in particular for several moments.

    “I need some inspiration,” he said finally, not quite realizing he had said it aloud.

    “Inspiration for what?” she inquired.

    “My music,” he replied, still playing the keys. “I need some substance, something more to my life. Something good to write about.” He paused. “I hate being a songwriter without ideas.”

    “Yeah, it sucks,” she agreed. “But don’t force it, it will come naturally; probably when you least expect it.” She approached the piano and leaned against it, holding her hot mug between her cold hands. “You’re creative, I know you’ll come up with something wonderful,” she assured.

    “You treat me like I’m some genius,” he mused, looking up from the keys. “What makes you think I’m such a good song writer? I’ve never let you see my lyrics,” he pointed out.

    She ignored his question and sat down on the bench beside him, pushing him over slightly. She set her mug on a coaster and took over the keys, playing various chords.

    “So what are you doing for Christmas?” She wanted to know a few moments later.

    “I don’t know, I’m not very into the whole Christmas thing anymore,” he muttered rather quietly.

    “How come?” Claudia questioned.

    Josh took a deep breath and held it, Claudia hardly noticed. “My parents died on Christmas Eve two years ago,” he blurted.

    He let out the air he’d been holding. There, he had said it. He had finally opened up to her, at least let her foot in the door.

    She stopped playing feeling almost embarrassed. “I’m so sorry,” she said sympathetically, feeling ashamed that she had intruded into such a personal topic.

    “It’s okay,” he assured her. “I think I’m going to just spend Christmas alone this year,” he mumbled, mostly to himself.

    “Alone?” she repeated. “I won’t hear of it! Come spend the holiday with me and my family,” she offered.

    “No, that’s okay. I couldn’t intrude like that,” he declined.

    “Really, we don’t mind. There will be an extra seat at the table; Jacob isn’t coming, he’ll be with his family. And I’m still entitled to invite one person of my choice.”

    “I don’t think so…”

    An idea came to Claudia and she began playing a tune that was all too familiar to Josh. His head jerked up at the sound of the familiar song as she sang the melody:

    “Outside the wind, it seems so cold / Your heart is frozen like the snow / And there’s no one home, to keep you safe and warm…”

    Josh’s eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat at the remembrance of the beautiful song he had written years ago. In shock, he listened as her sweet voice carried on with the melody, and her small, gentle hands wandered over the keys with perfection.

    “You’re eyes are red because you’ve cried / You fell asleep by the fireside / But there’s one thing you should know / On this Christmas, baby, you don’t have to be alone.”
 
    She looked up from the keys when she had finished. “So what do you say? Will you spend Christmas with us?”

    Josh stared at her in bewilderment, his heart pounding. “How- how did you…”

    “I play by ear,” she explained with a little shrug. “I’m not clueless to your music Josh. I’m actually quite familiar with it. I’m not afraid to admit, I was a pretty big ‘NSYNC fan…still am. I have all of your CD’s, solo albums and all. Go see for yourself if you don’t believe me,” she said pointing to the large CD rack next to her entertainment system.

    Josh was at a loss for words. No one ever talked to him about, asked him about, or even mentioned ‘NSYNC. It was like forbidden territory, an unspoken rule. She had entered the “sensitive zone.” He forced down a gulp, still surprised at her statement.

    “Is that so hard to believe? You guys made a very talented group. I mean, I may be a little old for boy bands, but that doesn’t bother me any.”

    She noticed him squirming in his seat. “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” she kidded.

    He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, it’s just… it’s been a while since somebody has mentioned that part of my past,” he muttered, uneasily.

    And suddenly it hit her. She could have kicked herself. Damn, I’m such a fool! I’m so stupid to bring that up!

    “Oh gosh! I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” she apologized quickly.

    “It’s alright, I guess its about time I stopped acting so stubborn about the whole thing.”

    Claudia waited, unsure of what was going to happen next.

    “Those were the best years of my life, by far. I don’t why I’ve tried to push them out of my mind for so long,” he admitted with a sigh.

    “Maybe you miss it.” Did I say that out loud?

    He looked at her, surprised, but nodded. “I think I do.” He looked dreamy for a moment as he spoke of his past career. “The performing, the attention, the traveling around the country and around the world with my four best friends, creating music that I loved…I’d be stupid not to miss something like that.”

    “Do you still talk to them?”
 
    “No, not for over a year now.”

    “Any reason why?” she asked quietly, afraid of asking the wrong questions.

    “I guess we just lost touch, that’s all. We all live in different states, and long distance calls are just too expensive to call each other all the time. Besides, we all have our own careers and families…”

    I also shut them out by being a complete jerk after I lost the only girl I had ever loved…

    “Um, you don’t have to answer this, but I’m dying to know. How did you guys break up?”

    “We didn’t really break up…we just kind of… faded.”

    “How so?”

    “Well when we began working on our fifth album, we were busy with so many extra things that the album release date kept getting pushed back. Lance had his management, Joey had lots of offers in acting, Chris had the clothing line, Justin was doing just about everything, plus there were girlfriends and other promotional things that got in the way.

    “While we struggled to find the time to record in between all of these things, the music industry turned to rock again just as it was before we even emerged in the music industry; the pop phase was over, completely. The world had rebelled against pop, just the way they had with disco. By the time the album was released, it wasn’t as good as we had wanted it to turn out because of our schedules, and we only sold a few million. We were tired from the constant performing, the paparazzi, and the lack of privacy… When Chris’s girlfriend got pregnant that month, he wanted to leave the group to be with her… we took it as a sign that our time was up…”

    It felt like thousands of pounds had been lifted off of Josh’s shoulders. He had never told anyone that story. Most people that he cared to tell were there to witness it and didn’t need it to be told to them. Anyone else who was curious Josh felt that it wasn’t their business.

    “Seems like a fair enough ending…at least you didn’t all get in a big nasty fight…like the Backstreet Boys did,” she said with a chuckle.

    He chuckled. “Yeah, we went out peacefully.”

    “Do you ever think of visiting them?” Claudia wanted to know.

    “Visit the Backstreet Boys?” Josh cried in confusion.

    “No! Your friends, silly!”

    He paused, before answering with a saddened look in his face. “All the time.”

    Claudia was surprised at his answer. She had no idea how much he missed them. It upset her, that he missed his friends so much but they were out of his reach.

    They were quiet for another few minutes while Josh gathered up the courage to say what he had come to say.

    “Okay, I guess I should get to the point and say what I came here to say,” he began, exhaling loudly. Claudia turned from the piano and straddled the piano bench to face him. “I have to apologize for what I said the other day, about not wanting to be friends with you. I guess I didn’t think before I spoke. I thought that, that was what I wanted, but after thinking it over and talking to Jack, I realized that my judgement was completely wrong.”

    Claudia was quiet for a moment while she let his words digest. “What made you think that not being my friend was what you wanted?”
 
    “I can’t really explain my reasons to you. I would like to, so that you could understand my thought process a little better, but I’d rather not make the situation more awkward than it already is.” Claudia nodded slowly and he continued.
“I realized that, if I pushed you away, I’d be losing the only person who cared enough to be curious about me and want to help me; actually, the only person who cares at all. And I couldn’t stand knowing I pushed away such a generous, caring and kind person. You’re the first person in… I don’t even know how long, who has made such an effort to get through to me. So for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for saying what I said. I don’t know if you’ll forgive me, but if you do, I’d really like to give our friendship another try.”

    He stared at his hands in his lap, not wanting to look her in the face. He was afraid of what she would say, but at least he had said it.

    “I have a difficult time trusting people, so it will take me a while to really open up and be myself. But we can work on it,” he added.

    Claudia was quiet. The silence built up suspense inside of Josh, making him more unsure of what her answer would be.

    “When you told me that you only wanted to know me on a professional level I was…surprised, confused and… I was a little hurt too. This might sound conceited in a way, but no one has really ever…pushed me away like that, and refused to accept my help or my friendship. I guess I just automatically assumed that you would accept me like everyone else usually does. What I didn’t realize is that you aren’t like everyone else. Not everyone can let people into their lives easily, and I didn’t respect that by barging in all the time and annoying the crap out of you,” she said with a chuckle. “So if you accept my apology, I’ll accept yours.”

    Josh looked up at her, almost surprised. For some reason, he hadn’t expected such a positive answer out of her. But he was grateful that she accepted his apology.

    “Well…you were pretty annoying…” he teased with a smile.

    “I prefer to call it persistent. There is a fine line between annoying and persistent, and I didn’t cross that line,” she said defiantly.

    “Apology accepted,” he agreed with a smile and a nod.

    They were both quiet for a moment. “I will probably wonder, for a while, what your reasons were, but I won’t pry. And you don’t have to tell me anything if you really don’t want to,” she assured him.

    “Like I said, I want to, but now isn’t the right time. Maybe in the future I can explain, but not yet.”

    “And if you don’t want to talk about certain things, just let me know. I won’t ask personal questions, but if I get into a sensitive zone or something, give me a signal.”

    “Well, lets just take it slow for now, I’m not very good with the whole trust thing. But I’m really going to try.”

    A smile began to spread across Claudia’s face. “I’m glad to hear that. And I’ll be here to help you.”

---