It's already 10am when I open my eyes the next morning. I sit up, yawn loudly and stretch myself. A few delicate rays of sunshine are shaft through my window and tickle my nose. For a moment, I just enjoy the warmth of my bed and smile.

Today is going to be a good day. It will be nice to see my friends in the evening. After last week, I'm so down for a night out and simply switching off for some time.

I get up and walk over to the kitchen unit to cook some coffee. With the steamy cup in my hands, I walk over to the window and open it. Sitting down on the windowsill, I take a sip of my hot coffee and hum with relish. My gaze wanders to the opposite side of the street and last night comes back into my mind.

It was weird seeing Zachary standing in front of my window. This mystery which surrounds him won't let me go, and I still wonder what he was doing out there.

My ringing phone pulls me out of my thoughts. A look at the display tells me it's my mother.

"Hey, Mum!"

The voice of my mum echoes in my ear, "Hey, darling. Happy birthday! We wish you all the best for your special day. How are you?"

"Thanks, Ma. I'm fine. How're you? And how's Jude?" I ask her with a big smile on my face.

Jude is my younger brother. He's sixteen, a proper teenager at the moment, and lives in Vancouver with my parents. Well, with my mom and my stepfather, to be exact. They moved to Vancouver three years ago, when my mom married my stepdad Logan since it's his hometown and he wasn't willing to move to Calgary.

In a nutshell, my mom packed all her belongings, including Jude much to my sorrow, and moved to Vancouver. Since then, I hardly ever get to see my family, and I really miss them.

As a waitress, my salary is simply not enough to visit them regularly and my mom is always busy with her work. She's a musician and mainly plays gigs on weddings or in bars. I always thought having a mother who is a singer is super hip, but now that I'm a grown-up myself, I see how much she's struggling to get enough bookings to pay for her life. She's still waiting for her big breakthrough, I think.

"Oh, we're fine, honey. Jude had a sleepover at a friend's and is not back home yet, but he wishes you all the best as well and sends lots of love and a very tight hug!" my mom replies cheerfully.

A wistful smile plays on my lips at the thought of my brother. We used to be inseparable when we were younger and every now and then, I catch myself missing those times a lot. Especially when I'm feeling lonely which is quite often the case lately. Hearing from my family and that they're doing fine always makes me happy. They supported me ever since I was a little child and never pushed me into something I wouldn't want to do. Which was always an issue, by the way. Knowing what to start with my life has never been my greatest strength. Just look at me now, twenty-five years old and still no clue what to do with my life.

I chat with my mum for a whole while and rant about my boring job at the Diner and she's talking about how stubborn Jude has been lately. I can't help smiling broadly as I imagine her sitting cross-legged at the kitchen window of her small townhouse, gesturing wildly, while telling me from her life and all the recent gigs she's had.

After about thirty minutes, I say my goodbye, "Thanks for calling, Mom. I love you so much and I miss you immensely. Hope to see you soon, and please give Jude and Logan a hug for me!"

My mum wishes me a nice birthday celebration with my friends before we hang up.

The rest of the day, I spend with answering loads of calls and messages full of sweet birthday wishes while hanging around on my beloved sofa. I am particularly happy about Jude's text.

* Hey big sis. Happy birthday! Sadly, I can't hug you on your 25th birthday, but I'm sure we'll meet again soon! Love ya! <3 *

By late afternoon I start getting ready for my little birthday celebration. As always, I have no idea what to wear. After going through my whole closet several times, I decide for a black corduroy skirt combined with an off-white turtleneck pullover. Slipping into my black velvet boots, I eye my reflection in the big mirror of my hallway. My outfit is classy, but still casual, just how I like it. I air-dried my caramel-brown hair today and now it falls over my shoulder in soft waves. I've never been that type of girl who needs hours to get finished for a party, I don't even have the nerves for that, but it still feels nice to dress up sometimes. As a finish, I apply some mascara and a bit of blush and slip into my coat. Being pretty happy with my appearance, I grab my bag and hit the road.

On my way to Nora's, I put in my headphones and happily hum along to the loud music booming in my ears while soaking in the fresh air.

None of the girls have arrived yet as I enter the bar. I spot Nora pouring out a round of ales, so I walk over to the bar and wait until she has served the drinks to the group of young men sitting on the barstools in front of her.

"Hey babes," Nora welcomes me with big grin enlightening her beautiful, pale face. "Happy birthday, love!"

Happily returning her smile, I say, "Thanks, Nora. How're you doing?"

"I'm okay. Me and Jackson had a huge fight last night. I haven't seen him around since then." She rolls her eyes in annoyance, but I'm pretty sure she's actually hurt and sad and is just playing it down in front of me now.

I sigh deeply. Jackson is Nora's toxic boyfriend. Every two weeks they break up just to end up back together again three days later. No matter how many times we tell her, Nora just doesn't want to realize how bad Jackson treats her.

A few months ago, I was in a similar situation. I groan as I think of my last boyfriend. His name was Alex, and he was extremely aggressive and possessive. It took me almost a year to muster up the strength to finally break up with him. I didn't want to listen to my friends either when they told me how bad he was and that I urgently should dump him, so I guess Nora has to figure it out on her own as well. In my opinion, it's just a matter of time, but who knows. Those assholes have malicious ways to cast a spell over us girls to keep us whipped. They have the devil under their skin, that's for sure.

Nora waves in front of my face and pulls me out of my thoughts. She eyes me with a questioning look and a raised eyebrow.

"I'm so sorry to hear that, Nora," I say and give her a sympathetic look. "What happened this time?"

"Honey, let's not talk about me tonight," she retorts with a big smile, and turns around to prepare some fancy cocktails for two pretty ladies sitting at the bar.

Her long and straight, black hair almost reaches her hips and reflects the dimmed light of the bar as she whirls around, putting different colorful liquors in the glasses on the counter. She's truly adorable with her blue eyes and those full, red lips of hers. Her flawless appearance leads us to playfully call her our Snow White at times.

Wandering over to our table, I giggle as I notice it's decorated. With the white confetti and two big, golden helium balloons in form of a two and a five our little booth looks quite fancy.

The sound of the doors being pushed open draws my attention and I turn around to see my friends entering the bar. They come over and pull me into a tight group hug.

"Livie, happy birthday!" they shout excitedly, making me giggle at their enthusiasm.

"Thanks, girls. It's so good to see you all!" I smile at each of them before we gather around our table.

Just a minute later, Nora approaches us carrying a tray with five glasses of wine on it and hands one to each of us before grabbing one herself.

"To Livie!" She raises her glass, and the other girls follow suit.

"To Livie!" they shout back and with a big smile on my face I clink glasses with them.

Putting my drink down, I eye my friends. Aside from Abbey and Nora, also Hailey and Sadie are part of our small girls' clique which makes us five.

Hailey, who's sitting on my left, excitedtly squeezes my hand.

"So, Livie. We've heard you saved a handsome guy's life?" She smirks at me with sparkling eyes. She's definitely the loudest member of our group and always full of energy. Hailey wears her blonde hair in a short and messy bob, and with her expressive, green eyes and her tall but graceful figure she looks a bit like a female elf from lord of the rings.

"Yeah, that must've been traumatic for you, lovely!" That's Sadie. She looks at me with a worried expression. In our group, she's like the mum and always gives good advice. Sadie would move mountains for her friends and if she could, she would free the entire world from pain, hatred, and enviousness. As a woman who loves other women she has experienced a lot of hate and discrimination herself, but she never lost her happiness or her positivity. Her brunette, curly hair is usually tied back in a high bun and you will almost always see a smile on her full lips.

"Oh yea, right. Uh...," I'm a bit overwhelmed as I didn't except this topic to be the first coming up tonight. Besides, I really don't know what more to say about it. Abbey already filled them in on everything I told her.

Imploringly, I face Abbey, who's sitting to my right, and she takes the hint and protectively puts her arm around my shoulder.

"Ladies, stop overwhelming our birthday child!" she says in a playful voice and then adds, "We've got the whole night to talk about everything and anything, but first..." She pauses, reaching into her purse, and takes out a light blue envelope.

"...we'd love to pass our little birthday present to you!" Abbey ends her sentence with a mysterious smile on her lips.

"Ooh, exciting!" I respond with a chuckle and grab the envelope. Olivia is written on it in golden letters.

I carefully tear it open and a beautiful picture postcard comes to light. I instantly recognize the city on it.

Vancouver!

I flip it over and read out the words on it. It's handwritten in big, cursive letters.

NEW YEAR'S EVE IN VANCOUVER

I look up wide-eyed and glance at the girls in disbelief.

"Girls..." I'm at a loss of words.

They know how much it means to me, to finally see my family again. Especially my little brother, Jude. I haven't seen them in almost five months now.

"Brace yourself for a few days full of action and luxury!" Nora gives me a conspiratorial wink and I pull each of my friends into a big hug.

"You girls are amazing. Thank you so, so much!" I couldn't be happier right now. A single tear of joy leaves my eye, I quickly wipe it away.

"We're staying at a fancy hotel in downtown Vancouver!" Hailey roars in my direction, her voice full of excitement.

I raise my drink in the middle of the table and with a whoop of joy we all clink our glasses.

Time flies as we laugh, chat and drink. Sadie insists on hearing everything about the gunfire again, whereas Hayley is more interested in the details of the handsome guy's look. I tell them everything about that night and about the Officer, and Zachary's strange appearances. We spend a lot of time dancing freely to all my favorite songs, which Nora put in a playlist especially for tonight.

It's almost 2 am, when we leave Nora's and part our ways.

I must admit haven't had this much fun in a long time.

When I step out into the fresh air, I suddenly feel the amount of alcohol I've had. Probably, I shouldn't have drunk the last glass of wine.

On my way home, I plug in my earphones and turn on my music at full volume. I move forward in a dancing walk and sing along cheerfully.

As I turn into my street, I stop dead in my tracks, as I spot a man sitting on my doorstep.

He doesn't seem to have noticed me yet, so I quickly hide in the shadow. As the streets in my neighborhood are dimly lit, it's not that difficult to avoid being visible at night. I narrow my eyes and try to catch a clearer sight, but I can't identify the guy. He's too distant and it's too dim.

I carefully sneak up, trying to remain in the shadow. As I realize who's sitting there, my eyes widen, and I catch my breath.

Now I can see who's sitting there, in front of my house.

It's Zachary.

*****

What do you think does Zachary want from Liv? Any ideas?

Please remember to comment and vote.🦋

Katie🤍