"Look Baby, its daddy" I said, unlatching the hotel room door. Beas little face lit up as James reached out to take her. I shut the door behind him as he kissed Bea and threw her up in air above him. Her giggles were contagious. She loved James.

"How are my girls doing?" He asked, blowing raspberries on her tummy.

"We are doing well" I replied, taking a seat and watching them together. I couldn't help but smile. He met my gaze and smiled back.

"Where is Clark" He asked, before turning his attentions back to Bea who lapped them up.

"She's crashed" I replied, gesturing to the bed on the other side of the room where she lay under a book she had been reading only ten minutes previously.

"So you are off out for the day then" He asked, not turning away from Bea above his head.

"I am. I have a storage facility to go and check out with all my old stuff in it, and then Drew and I are off out tonight to catch up some more"

He sat Bea down on the bed and gave her the beloved toy bunny. "Well have a nice day, and don't worry about these two, we will have a great time"

"Clark really wants to go to the beach today" I explained "so I've packed you up a beach bag with snacks and lotions and anything you may need. They had a good lunch an hour or so ago so they should be happy for a couple hours"

"They are my daughters Sam. I can look after them just fine. I don't need a list or bags packed for me" He said, standing now by the bed.

"It wasn't a reflection on your parenting James. I just like to plan in advance. I'm sorry you feel that way" I grabbed the bag, upset by his attitude, and I handed it to him. I picked Bea up and kissed her cheeks. "Mommas going to miss you bumble Bea but Daddy is going to take you out and have fun with you" I leant down and kissed Clarks forehead.

"If Clark needs to speak with me when she wakes up I have my cell on me"

I handed Bea to James and kissed her head and then his. "You know I love you James. You're my children's father, we can do this, and we can do this together"

"Have a good weekend" I said, genuinely, whilst pushing the girl's bag over his broad shoulder. I turned and headed to the door.

"Wave goodbye to your mommy Bea" James asked her.

Bea waved goodbye as the door shut behind me.

...

Drew collected me from the front of the hotel and drove me the twenty minutes to the storage facility that had been rented by Amber for me to collect my old belongings.

On arrival, Drew pulled up to the lot numbered on the keys that Amber had left for me. It was one yellow door among a sea of others.

"Do you want me to come in with you?" Drew asked kindly.

I peeled my eyes from the door to our left and took a deep breath. "I think it's something I have to do alone. Is that okay with you?"

Drew placed her hand on my lap. "Of course. Take your time and call me when you are ready to be picked up. My girlfriend's apartment is a few blocks away so I'll go visit for a bit"

I leant forward planting a kiss on Drew's cheek. "Thank you"

As Drew pulled away and the red Jeep left the lot I found myself rooted to the spot outside the canary yellow door. My heart fluttered at the thought of entering the space Amber had left for me. It felt like a tomb uncovered in Egypt full of the past and all of the mystery of a life left behind. The fear of a curse however was not worrying me, unlike those in Egypt I was already cursed. What more could possibly happen?

The key took some force to turn in the lock, and my fingertips pinched my skin as I forced the key to move. Once the door jittered open I found myself in a dark room with only the light from behind me pouring through the doorway. I turned to the wall behind me and felt along it for the light. I fumbled blindly before finding the switch. Light flickered from above me as the entire room lit up. I felt like a child at the zoo not knowing what exotic creature to look at first. The room was large, but the contents, boxes, clothes rails and a push bike were all piled in the middle of the room like a pyramid. A light green high backed chair was sat in the middle of it all with a note attached.

Sam,

I'm not really sure what to say other than I am glad that you are reconnected with Drew. She will help you find answers to the questions you must have. I am hoping that this room also holds answers for you, in all that was Sydney. This is mostly everything that she left in our home, not counting our wedding photos and sentimental items I cannot let go of. They would mean nothing to you or add to your journey so I hope you don't mind. I think that the first box you may want to delve into is marked with a pink sticker, and you will find the Holy Grail in there, Sydneys journals. There are many journals from her childhood right up to the years of our dating. I have not read them. Those were her private thoughts, you though may require them to help you fill in blanks, and I don't think she would mind if it helped you find some closure.

Don't judge her is all I ask. Especially the clothes rack to your right, full to the brim of questionable fashion choices.

I have paid for this lock up for the next six months, so please take what you wish and anything that's left please offer Drew, the rest can be donated to charity or thrown away.

I wish you nothing but luck in all that is your future.

Goodbye.

Amber.

I released the note from my fingers and let it drop to the chair. The finality in her words gave me a sense of urgency. I knew I would see her at the gig tonight and it was the only reason I hadn't bolted to search for her as soon as I read the words 'goodbye'.

I searched for the pink sticker on the boxes around me. I delved in frantically pulling and pushing boxes around myself. I knelt down and pulled at the tape once I saw the pink sticker on a small box to the right. My knees hurt on the concrete floor, scraping skin as I pulled the box onto my lap and sat down. Inside was a dozen journals of varying sizes and colours. I could tell the childhood ones by the cartoons and the colouring etched on their covers. The last four were black with shiny covers and the years marked on the spines. I picked up the most recent journals and eagerly opened the first. I read the first few entries with interest but soon found my eyes skipping whole sections and looking purposefully for the one name I had interest in, Amber.

It was half way through the first journal when I found on a dated Saturday that I had documented our first meeting at the market.

I met a girl in the market today! I know...shocker...a female at a market. I don't know when I realised I was drawn to her, there was hesitation at first of course because I haven't ever been attracted to a girl. I have always been open to it, I like to think I would fall for a person, and not the sex between their legs. Anyway I digress. It must have been almost instantaneous because now I don't remember a moment I wasn't attracted to her. A sensation came over me and would not leave me. I found myself drawn into her aura and her presence like I wanted to be carried away by it, and when she went to leave I found myself longing for her to stay a moment longer. This woman had the most beautiful smile, eyes of honey and a way about her I cannot describe. I gave her my phone number! I know I know that isn't like me at all! But I have to see her again. I'm sitting here on my bed right now, it's late and Drew is out with her friends. I would usually be asleep by now but every time I turn off the light I see her face and remember every second of our brief encounter. Will she call me? Will I ever see her again?

I have to. If I don't I fear I will always wonder what her lips taste of, and what her touch is like. I want to know everything about her, and feel out her thoughts, wants and desires. What is it that makes her so damn intriguing? I can't believe I am even behaving like this but I feel like I am obsessed with the girl. What is wrong with me? I am crushing on a girl that probably hasn't even given me a second thought since this morning.

I took in every detail of my thoughts and descriptions over the next few entries. Some of the moments seemed familiar to me but not as clear as the description I had jotted down years previously. It was evident though, in every paragraph, that the relationship I had had with Amber from the get go was a completely different story than mine and James. What I was reading was what I always imagined love to be like, it was the intense, and both feet jumping in kind of love. James was a comfortable love, and at the time, one I believed was true, but it was clear looking into my past that it was not.

I placed the journal in my purse to read later and pushed the box away before pulling another toward me. I pulled the tape in one long strip and opened the contents. It was photo albums. The first was a brown leather bound album that looked aged. I opened it with slight hesitation. The pages were filled with colourful pictures of a childhood in Italy. I knew I was the child because it was like seeing Bea in there. Most of the pictures were me and my Father, but there were a couple of my Mother in a kitchen, and then sat with me by her side in some sort of garden. Tears licked my cheeks with each page I turned. My parents had been lost in my memories for so long, that the release as they came back to me was overwhelming. I had loved my Father dearly, and after five years of not a thought for him, all the missing of him came back at once.

I put down the album gently and looked through a handful of others. Teenage years with Drew and her family, the Presley's. I had taken their name when my parents had died and they had kindly adopted me. It had been my choice. My family name had been Moretti but it had only reminded me of their loss whenever I was forced to write it.

The last few were full to the brim of Polaroid's of myself and Amber, varying locations and many a picture of us both smiling into the camera together. I stopped on the last page and reached inside and pulled a singular Polaroid from the album. It was Amber, a white sheet pulled around her torso in bed, her head resting on her pillow, fair hair cascading down her bare back and cheeks pulled into a contented smile that met her eyes. In the far corner a mirror that reflected my image. Me, sat naked on my legs, camera covering my chest, my dark hair long, falling down my shoulders, swollen lips from kissing, and eyes that showed nothing but adoration for the girl I was capturing in the image.

I gazed at it for a long while before placing it into my purse with the journal. It was a powerful image that I didn't want to forget.

I stood and lifted my purse to my shoulder. I couldn't look at anything else today. I felt emotionally exhausted.

I closed the door behind myself and dialled Drew.