Noon Time, Aylin’s House:
Aylin stirs the homemade soup she made for Sarah. It was a Mexican soup that was spicy and rich in chicken broth. She learned how to make it from a cooking course she took with Mark and Dakota. She had been surprised to see Dakota in the class.

She took it to increase her cooking knowledge and talents. She could follow a recipe from a cooking book, thanks to her mother teaching her. She found out that she loved cooking and developing new dishes.

Sarah was sitting at the counter watching Aylin as she made lunch for the two of them. She was glad that Aylin had found her when she did. She watches as Aylin adds some spices to the soup she was cooking. She inhales the aroma floating around in the kitchen.

“Boy, Aylin. What is that you are cooking?”

“Chicken Fajita Soup. I thought you might like it. The chicken broth in it is good for you.” Aylin picks up a spoon and scoops some of the soup out for Sarah to taste.

She walks over to Sarah with the spoon “Open wide.”

Sarah opens her sore mouth for Aylin to put the spoon in her mouth. She feels the spoon enter her mouth, as she closes her lips around it and swallows the soup. A low moan escapes from her lips as she swallows the soup.

“Oh, man. This is good soup.” Sarah looks at Aylin with a smile on her face.

“Good. It’s not too salty or spicy for you, is it?” Aylin loved spicy foods, but her tolerance level for spicy stuff was higher than most.

“Not at all, it’s perfect.” Sarah loved the heat level and everything.

“Good.” Aylin turns the burner off and gives the soup one final stir before serving up a bowl for both of them.

After serving up two bowls and making some toasted cheese toast to go with it. Aylin sits down next to Sarah and eats her soup. Little Mark was upstairs in his crib asleep. She finally managed to put him down for his noon time nap.

Sarah turns and looks at Aylin “This is good.”

“Thanks, it’s one of my favorites.” It was one of Aylin’s favorites.

Sarah eats a few more bites of the soup. She was hungry and feeling sore all over. She had to be careful because she had a couple of broken ribs and both her wrist were sprained as well. Her right ankle was sprained and both her eyes were black and blue.

Her jaw hurt when she spoke or ate anything hard. If Aylin hadn’t found her when she did, her broken rib would have punctured her right lung. As it was, her broken rib had bruised her lung.

The last thing she remembered, before blacking out was hitting the asphalt and seeing Aylin’s face before her. When she woke up, she found herself in the spare bedroom of Aylin’s house. She has spent a few nights at Aylin’s and knew she was safe from her attackers. No one was dumb enough to come after the Mad Hatter.

“How do you do it, Aylin?” Sarah looks at Aylin when she asked that question.

“What do you mean?” Aylin looks into Sarah’s bloodshot hazel eyes.

“How do you manage to be a mom, a fighter, a wife, and a CEO of a company?” Sarah was curious because her parents never had time for her. She was lucky if they remembered her birthday or volunteered to go on a school field trip with her.

“Very, very carefully. I have to organize my time to be able to cover all my responsibilities. Some days I’m worn out and other days, I feel like I am carrying the world on my shoulders. But the real reason, I can do everything I do. Is because I’m not doing it alone. I have Mark to help me.” Aylin was glad she had Mark, Jamie, her mother, and everyone else in her life that helps her out.

“Well, I hope I meet someone as dependable as Mark.” Sarah knew her luck with men hadn’t been the greatest.

“You’ll meet the right person, Sarah. There is someone out there for everyone.” Aylin didn’t believe that at first. It took time for her to trust Mark and his friends when she first met them. After that, she knew Mark would never disappoint her.

As Aylin is eating her soup. Her cell phone beeps, letting her know her assistant was sending her a message. She picks her cell phone up and looks at the message. She reads it and her eyes get wide. She wonders why her half-brother is trying to get in touch with her.

Sarah looked over towards Aylin when she hears Aylin’s cell phone beep. She watches Aylin’s facial expression and notices Aylin’s eyes get wide for a second. Normally, Aylin was hard to read, but not now.

“Something wrong, Aylin?” Sarah was wondering why Aylin seem a little upset.

“No, just curious about something.” Aylin puts sets her cell phone down on the counter.

She doesn’t know if she is ready to confront her half-brother. It’s been years since she killed their father and Mark has been telling her that she needs to bury the hatchet with her brother. It wasn’t her brother’s fault that she was put into the mental hospital. He was just as much a pawn by her father as she was.

After thinking about it for a few minutes. She picks her cell phone up and switches to her privacy mode on it. She types in her address and her brother’s number and sends the message to her brother.

As she puts her cell phone down on the counter, she hopes she is doing the right thing. She also wants to know why after all these years he was looking for her.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City:
Archie and George were exploring the artwork in the museum. George had a major in Art and loved the old Masters and art from the past. He was enjoying their exploration in the museum. He looks over at Archie as he read about some piece in the gallery, they were in.

“Man, can you believe the collection of artwork here?” George looks over towards Archie.

“Who would believe they could amass such a collection for a country so young.” Archie was impressed with all the artwork and artifacts in the museum.

The place was on par with or better than any of the museums back home. He was fascinated with the place and the collection.

“I agree.” George walks over to where Archie was standing.

As he approaches Archie, he hears Archie’s cell phone beep. He wonders if it was the others letting them know where they wanted to meet up for lunch.

“Who is it?” As George watches Archie reach towards his back pocket for his cell phone.

Archie pulls his cell phone out of his back pocket and notices a message had appeared from an unlisted number. He saw that it was an address here in New York.

Archie looks at George “my sister.”

“How did she know you were looking for her?”

“Someone at her business must have passed on my number to her.” A smile appears on Archie’s face.