⇢ ˗ˏˋ stephen strange & clea layouts !! ࿐ྂ

: ̗̀➛ like & reblog if u save/use !! <3

First look at Doctor Strange v6 #1!

Full interview:

Surprising no one, Dr. Stephen Strange is back from the dead, less than two years after he departed the mortal plane. March’s Doctor Strange #1 resurrects the Sorcerer Supreme for the latest chapter in writer Jed MacKay’s Strange saga, which began with 2021’s Death of Doctor Strange and continued in the Strange series, spotlighting Stephen’s widow, Clea. Artist Pasqual Ferry and colorist Matt Hollingsworth join MacKay for the new series, which focuses on Stephen and Clea’s marriage — and plenty of magical superhero life shenanigans.

Over the past year, MacKay has established Clea as the Sorcerer Supreme of both Earth and her native Dark Dimension, a dual role that makes her an especially formidable hero. Early in Strange, which concludes with this week’s issue #10, Clea declared herself the “Warlord of Manhattan,” and she’s been very aggressive in taking out mystical threats to her domain while searching for a way to resurrect her husband.

Now that Stephen is back, MacKay has the opportunity to delve deeper into their unique mystical marriage. “What I find interesting about Clea and Stephen’s relationship is that it has a pedigree that is up there with all the other great Marvel superhero partnerships,” said MacKay. “This is a relationship that extends way back into Marvel’s history, and I wanted to see that expressed on the page. These are two people who have known each other for a very long time, have suffered their ups and downs, and have come through them to find a new balance in their lives together.”

“I think there’s a certain gravitas in the two of them together — neither of them are young, fresh, unseasoned,” said MacKay. “Stephen Strange is an elder statesman in the Marvel universe, the person that’s always brought in when magic intrudes into lives of other heroes, and Clea is every bit his equal: an alien warlord who possesses great power of her own. I think Clea and Strange are a power couple in every sense of the word, and I’m interested in exploring that relationship and bringing it back to the forefront in the world of Strange.”

Their marriage is especially rife with storytelling potential because up until Stephen’s death, Clea had lost all memory of their relationship in one of those deals with the devil that Marvel heroes do every so often (see: Spider-Man’s “One More Day”). “[Stephen’s death] has brought them together after every power in the world conspired to keep them apart,” said MacKay. “In bringing Stephen back, our heroes have a fresh start. What remains is seeing how they use it.”

With a fresh start comes a new art team. Artist Pasqual Ferry has been working in superhero comics for over 25 years, drawing big-name characters like Superman, Iron Man, Thor, and the Fantastic Four. After taking a few years off from monthly comics, Ferry returned in 2021 with the Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow miniseries, and there was a notable shift in his artwork. He began incorporating panel layouts evoking the grid-based abstract paintings of Piet Mondrian, giving the alternate-universe horror story its own distinct design sensibility.

With Spider’s Shadow, Ferry tackled one of the two heroes he’d been dreaming of drawing since he was a kid. Doctor Strange is the other one, and the new series is a passion project for the artist. “I have always liked magic, I have always liked the world of fantasy and anything that has to do with imagination,” said Ferry. “I’ve been intrigued by the designs by Steve Ditko, whom I admired for his work on Spider-Man. I always thought that the character of Doctor Strange gives artists a lot of potential to play with and imagine new things.”

“It’s the possibility, the challenge, the idea is to bring something new and wonderful to the table,” said Ferry. “There have been many great artists working on the character, from [Mike] Mignola, P. Craig Russell, Paul Smith. Great artists that have given us their version, and it is important that when Doctor Strange is in those worlds that we create an environment maximizing the use of panels and designs.”

“Pasqual is a marvel,” said MacKay. “He brings a seemingly effortless magic to these characters that sets them apart in the way those who live in the worlds of magic should be. He has an appetite for the weird and unearthly, and I can’t wait for people to see the strangeness he’s going to conjure!”

Ferry is also looking outside of superhero comics for artistic influences to maximize the book’s visual impact, from the nightmarish fantasy painting of Hieronymus Bosch to the surrealism of René Magritte and the mind-bending distortion of psychedelic art. He’s excited to translate these more abstract artistic concepts through a superhero whose aesthetic has been shaped by visionary comic book creators. Ferry’s frequent collaborator Matt Hollingsworth rounds out the art team, and his extreme versatility means that no matter what influence Ferry incorporates, the colors will match the style of the line work.

Stylistic contrast also plays a big part in how Doctor Strange’s and Clea’s specific types of magic are represented on the page. “I am going to try to differentiate Clea’s powers from those of Doctor Strange, making it clear that Stephen’s are fundamentally White Magic, while Clea’s come from the Dark Dimension, inherited from her parents, Umar and Orini,” said Ferry. “Aesthetically, while Strange’s spells will be bright, perhaps with an art deco touch in their shapes — I love P. Craig Russell’s designs — Clea’s will be darker in tone, more twisted, baroque, while remaining harmonious in shape. It could be said that Clea’s are more subtly threatening.”

That extra bit of menace ingrained in Clea’s personality will cause tension between the Spouses Supreme. Like any marriage, Stephen and Clea’s relationship has its own challenges, largely stemming from fundamental differences in their perspectives and how they engage with the world.

“We’ve seen in the past how Stephen’s background as a doctor is something that informs his every action,” said McKay, “while we’ve also more recently seen Clea carve her way through the arcane gangsters with little concern for bloodshed. How will these irreconcilable philosophies clash?”

[Source]

Sparkling Spaces: Elevating Sydney's Pubs and Clubs with Comprehensive Cleaning Services

In the heart of Sydney's vibrant nightlife, where the atmosphere is electric and memories are made, the cleanliness of pubs and clubs is a critical aspect of ensuring a positive experience for patrons. At Comprehensive Cleaning Services, we recognize the unique cleaning challenges that pubs and clubs face. Our dedicated pub and club cleaning services are tailored to meet the specific needs of these dynamic venues, ensuring that they shine as brightly as the city itself. In this exploration, we delve into the importance of professional cleaning for Sydney's pubs and clubs and how our services contribute to creating inviting, hygienic, and memorable spaces.

The Essence of Pub and Club Cleaning

Enhancing the Customer Experience

The atmosphere of pubs and clubs is a crucial element of their appeal. Clean and well-maintained spaces contribute to a positive customer experience, encouraging patrons to return for more memorable nights out.

Ensuring Hygiene and Safety

Given the high foot traffic and varied activities in pubs and clubs, maintaining hygiene is paramount. Professional pub and club cleaning services eliminate germs, reduce the risk of infections, and create a safe environment for patrons and staff alike.

Preserving Aesthetics and Reputation

Aesthetics matter in the competitive world of nightlife. A well-kept venue not only attracts more patrons but also enhances the venue's reputation. Regular cleaning preserves the visual appeal of the space, contributing to positive word-of-mouth and online reviews.

Meeting Regulatory Standards

Pubs and clubs are subject to health and safety regulations. Professional cleaning ensures compliance with these standards, protecting the establishment from fines and legal complications while prioritizing the well-being of patrons.

Comprehensive Cleaning Services: Tailoring Cleanliness for Pubs and Clubs

At Comprehensive Cleaning Services, we understand that pubs and clubs require a specialized approach to cleaning. Here's how our pub and club cleaning services are designed to cater to the unique needs of Sydney's nightlife venues:

Customized Cleaning Plans

We recognize that each pub and club has its own unique layout and cleaning challenges. Our team collaborates closely with venue owners and managers to create customized cleaning plans that address specific requirements, ensuring a thorough and tailored cleaning service.

Flexible Scheduling Options

Understanding the operational demands of nightlife establishments, we offer flexible scheduling options. Our cleaning services can be performed during non-operational hours, minimizing disruption to the venue's activities while ensuring a comprehensive cleaning process.

Specialized Cleaning Techniques

Pubs and clubs often have diverse surfaces and materials that require specialized cleaning techniques. Our team is trained in the latest cleaning methods, including the safe and effective cleaning of dance floors, bars, seating areas, and other high-touch surfaces.

Eco-Friendly Cleaning Practices

We prioritize the use of eco-friendly cleaning products and practices. Our commitment to sustainability aligns with the growing emphasis on green business practices, contributing to a healthier environment for both patrons and staff.

Why Choose Professional Pub and Club Cleaning?

Thorough Cleaning for Diverse Spaces

Pubs and clubs encompass a variety of spaces, from dance floors to kitchens and bathrooms. Professional pub and club cleaning services are equipped to handle the diverse cleaning needs of these venues, ensuring a thorough and comprehensive approach.

Efficiency in High-Traffic Areas

High-traffic areas like bars and entrances are prone to rapid dirt and grime accumulation. Professional cleaning services efficiently address these areas, preventing the build-up of contaminants and maintaining a clean and inviting ambiance.

Minimizing Downtime

Closing down for cleaning can be a concern for nightlife establishments. Professional cleaning services are designed to minimize downtime, allowing pubs and clubs to maintain their operational hours while still ensuring a top-notch cleaning service.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Often Should Pubs and Clubs Be Professionally Cleaned?

The frequency of professional cleaning depends on factors such as the venue's size, foot traffic, and specific cleaning needs. However, a regular cleaning schedule, whether weekly or bi-weekly, is advisable to maintain optimal cleanliness.

Can Cleaning Services Be Customized for Events or Special Occasions?

Absolutely. We offer flexible cleaning services that can be customized for events, special occasions, or unexpected situations. Our team is adaptable and ready to accommodate the unique cleaning needs of any situation.

Is Comprehensive Cleaning Services Compliant with Health and Safety Regulations?

Yes, our pub and club cleaning services adhere to health and safety regulations. We prioritize compliance with industry standards, ensuring that our cleaning practices contribute to a safe and healthy environment.

Elevate Your Venue's Image with Comprehensive Cleaning Services

In conclusion, the cleanliness of pubs and clubs is an integral part of their success. Professional pub and club cleaning services not only contribute to a positive customer experience but also uphold regulatory standards and preserve the venue.

For more info visit here:-

commercial window cleaning sydney

strata cleaning companies sydney

10 Key Elements That Every Best Web Design Company In Bhubaneswar Must Implement

https://moovon.in/web-design-service/Do you know that observing the visual appeal of your website can increase your Google ranking by up to 28%? 

Do you know that most people today base their buying decisions on visuals? 

Do you know that if the visual appeal of your website isn’t appealing or is otherwise not optimized for search engines and users then it could be costing you customers? 

If you answered yes to any of these questions then it’s very likely that you need a redesign in your virtual presence. good website design plays an important part in attracting visitors and keeping them on the site once they have arrived. Thus, investing in a solid website design is one of the best investments you can make for your business right now and in the future.

User Experience

User experience is defined as how a user feels about using something. In business, we often think about user experience while designing websites, apps, and online systems. A good website should provide users with a great experience before, during, and after they visit your site. 

A professional Web Design Company In Bhubaneswar always tries to make sure its clients’ sites are easy-to-use and have intuitive navigation features. Also, they ensure the visitors to get what they need right away without having to search around, including sharing content with other easily. Good UX design makes your site easier to navigate and faster to load.

A user-centric design focuses on the users. Its goal is to help the user achieve their goals without confusing them. It’s about designing for the end-user experience rather than making the website beautiful. An example would be offering a “Buy Now” button instead of having to search for a checkout option.

Optimization Of Web Pages

Optimization refers to how web pages and applications function well on different devices. When developing a responsive design, the Web Design Company In Bhubaneswar takes care of mobile-first, making sure that the layout looks good and works well across all types of devices. 

Even though optimization might not seem like a priority for the development team, it’s extremely important for SEO (search engine optimization). Without proper optimization, people won’t even know your site exists! Try using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to see where your site stands.

Conversion Optimization

Conversion optimization is the practice of testing different aspects of your website to determine which ones convert visitors into buyers and every professional Web Design Company In Bhubaneswar must be pretty much serious about conversion optimization for their websites. 

Conversion rates will vary based on who your target audience is, but generally speaking, if someone clicks on a link on your website, converts to fill out a contact form, or downloads a file, you want them to complete that action.

Responsive Web Design 

A responsive design is a format that adapts to any screen size—any device, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops, TVs, etc. Your website should work well on almost any device. If you’re looking to build a brand that’s visible worldwide, you can’t afford to miss out on the potential traffic coming from overseas. 

A specialized Web Design Company In Bhubaneswar should test your site using different browsers and operating systems to ensure that it works properly on various devices. To avoid losing potential customers, you should invest in a responsive website. This means the layout adjusts depending on whether the visitor is browsing on a desktop computer or mobile device.

Clean Code

Clean code means writing clean, organized, and readable code. It’s not necessarily difficult to write clean code; however, it takes practice and attention to detail to create code that’s manageable and maintainable. Good code helps us avoid errors and bugs. The fewer mistakes you make, the less time you spend debugging them later.

Clean code is much easier to read and maintain than messy code. If you have never written HTML before, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, or any other programming language, hiring a Web Design Company In Bhubaneswar will help you developing clean code easily.

Mobile First

At the beginning of 2017, mobile usage surpassed desktop usage. As trends shift, businesses should update their website to reflect the latest changes and incorporate mobile-first designs. A mobile-first approach means starting the design process with small screens and optimizing for mobile devices. 

This way, when you start creating larger screens, mobile optimization becomes seamless. Today, approximately 70% of consumers browse the internet via mobile devices. If your website isn’t responsive, then it looks terrible on mobile phones and tablets. 

Customer Experience

Your website is not only a marketing tool; it’s a customer experience platform. Customers want to know what they’re buying, how much they’ll pay, and how they’ll get paid if they choose to buy. You need to clearly communicate those to them and your website is the most unsurpassed way to do this. 

It should provide a seamless user experience where information is easily accessible and helpful. If a customer wants to purchase something, make sure they don’t leave your site empty-handed. Make sure to offer an array of options that fit their needs. Also, you should consider using live chat, phone calls, and e-mail campaigns to answer questions to build rapport with potential clients.

Consistent Branding With Targeted Content Strategy

The first thing any brand should do is develop a consistent branding strategy. A Web Design Company In Bhubaneswar must have its logo, color palette, and fonts. They should use these throughout their site, social media pages, email signatures, etc. Having a consistent look and feel will allow customers to recognize and trust your business.

Branding also includes content strategists. It means creating content for websites and blogs. Content includes articles, infographics, videos, and images. It should be informative and engaging. When done well, it increases traffic, boosts SEO rankings, and builds credibility. Use relevant keywords in the title and meta description tags, and ensure that the content is unique and original.

Social Media Integration

Social Media Integration refers to integrating social media platforms on your website. Users should be able to share content through their profiles and pages across several platforms. Integrating social media pages into your website will enable better user engagement and drive more targeted sales through your website. 

Website Security

Apart from social media integration, you must focus on the site’s security too. Using HTTPS ensures better encryption & higher security for users. HTTPS stands for hypertext transfer protocol secure. When users visit a website over HTTPS, the information sent between the browser and computer is encrypted and cannot be viewed by anyone else.

https://moovon.in/web-design-service/

Banrion Clea Eisenhardt [Sorceress Queen]. Layout Graphics.

there are no good choices in life. u ask for ur desk to be on the window side to have light when u work and u get screen glare for life. well im closing the blinds.

the one with all the ajax.

na jaemin x reader // 4.5k words // masterlist // send requests here

summary; in which y/n needs to clean her apartment and she finds a lot more than cleaning products in the apartment above her own

warnings: none its just fluff, they swear like twice

requested; no but u all requested jaemin so here's some jaemin !!

notes; this is a recreation of a Jimin fic I wrote,, so dont freak out if u recognise it,, I didn't steal it

“Yes, Mom, I know,” you spun in your chair mindlessly as you listened to your mother over the phone, the face of Ryan Reynolds frozen rather unattractively on your TV screen and your current course assignment staring blankly at you from your laptop. “Yes, of course I remembered! You wrote it on my calendar the last time you visited! Okay, Mom, I’ll see you tomorrow… tell Dad I said hi, okay? Okay, okay, yes, okay, uhuh, I know, okay, bye! I love you!”

Hanging up, you groaned, tossing your phone to the empty couch and glancing at your apartment. The sink was overflowing with dirty dishes, the oven and stove looked as if they had been set on fire at least twice, the couch was littered in crumbs of food you’d ordered from takeout stores, and their wrappers, boxes and containers lay empty on the coffee table. Movies and video games were sprawled across the floor, your desk was buried in paper, and your bedroom floor was barely visible beneath the catastrophe that was your current wardrobe and the boxes you hadn’t bothered to unpack since your parents had last visited you. Generally, you considered yourself a rather clean and tidy person, but in the past few weeks leading up to exams and your assignments, you may have prioritized other things over your apartment’s cleanliness.

You glanced at the clock, calculating how much time you had to get your place in order before your parents visited. You had just under 22 hours, but subtracting time to sleep, eat, your afternoon class and your evening work shift… you had about two hours. You clapped your hands together, walking to your kitchen sink and opening the cupboard doors underneath it, planning on using all your cleaning supplies to make the job as easy as possible.

As you bent down and peered under the sink, you groaned in annoyance at the meagre remains of your cleaning supplies; a few tile wipes and a mostly empty bottle of dish soap, which, when you tipped it up, seemed solidly attached to the base of the bottle.

You grabbed your phone from the couch, praying your best friend loved you enough to help you in this time of distress, and dialled his number. After three rings and Yangyang’s voice letting out a cheery “leave me a message!”, you sighed and put your phone back down. It was at times like these that you wished you lived in one of the college’s normal dormitories, rather than a random apartment block two streets away; your neighbours were mostly disapproving elderly women or drunk, potbellied men in their 30s who would flirt with you in the elevator.

You grabbed your keys in preparation to make a quick dash to the store, before realising that there was one other option. The two boys who lived above you, from whom you had the honour of receiving brief smiles and polite ‘hello’s on the way to and from your apartment, sounded like they were home. Taking the stairs two at a time, you knocked eagerly on the door of the apartment above your own, smiling at the little fish-eyed hole in the door. You prayed your innocent, smiling figure would be taken pity on.

“It’s probably the pizza!” A muffled voice could be heard through the door, and you weren’t sure if it was from the thick door or from food being stuffed into the boy’s mouth that made it so difficult to understand.

The door opened abruptly, and a boy around your age blinked at you in surprise, before a lazy smile stretched across his face at the sight of you.

“Um, hi, I’m Y/n,” you hastily stated, waving awkwardly, “We haven’t officially met. I live in the apartment below you and I was wondering if I could borrow some cleaning supplies? It’s kind of an emergency.”

“Jaems! Who is it?” A deep voice called from within the apartment, and you recognised it as the boy who had yelled about the pizza delivery beforehand.

The boy in front of you – Jaems – raised his eyebrows in surprise, but nodded as he stepped aside slightly. “Yeah, um, okay,” he quickly turned to face his apartment, gesturing to the inside, where two other boys were situated on the couch in front of the TV. “I’m, uh, Jaemin. Come in, come in. This is Jeno and Donghyuck; Jeno’s my roommate and Donghyuck doesn’t actually live here, but he’s the one that makes the most noise.”

“Hey!” One of the boys on the couch, presumably Donghyuck, threw a potato chip at Jaemin, and you could hear Jeno scolding him as you shifted your attention back to the boy in front of you.

Jaemin walked towards the kitchen and you followed, noticing, rather abruptly, that the apartment you were standing in was pretty much exactly like your own. The layout was the same, and though the decorations and the furniture were different to yours, they were arranged very similarly. The boys on the couch, Jeno and Donghyuck, were so focussed on their game that they didn’t even look at you, shouting to Jaemin to bring them more snacks.

“So… if you don’t mind me asking, what’s the emergency that requires all these cleaning supplies?” Jaemin opens a cupboard in the kitchen, revealing a much more sensible-looking collection of spray bottles, wipes, paper towels and bottles. Jaemin gestures to them dismissively, in a take-whatever-you-need way.

You smile gratefully at him as you squat down and begin to rummage through the collection. “Well,” you speak into the cupboard as he leans against the kitchen counter casually, “my parents are coming to visit me tomorrow morning, and, um, I guess you could say my apartment doesn’t exactly entice guests at the moment.” You look over your shoulder at him, and you can see that he has a very amused smirk on his face, and the way he looks at you suddenly makes you feel as though you’ve been friends for a while, or at least properly met before.

“I’ve seen you around,” he states, as if he’s just been able to place you. “Mail room and stuff.”

“You were at the New Year’s Eve Party next door, right?” You ask, remembering seeing him on the roof of the building next door, where the residents threw parties on the roof at every opportunity. You were almost certain he was there.

He laughed, “Oh yeah! Didn’t someone try to jump into the pool?”

“Nah, they got him down in the end. He was way too drunk to think straight.” You look back at him briefly, and you notice the way his eyebrows are furrowed slightly in thought.

Satisfied, you stand up, your arms filled with the equipment you’re positive you’ll need and smile at him thankfully, “Again, thank you so much for this, I feel like our first proper meeting should have been a little bit more traditional and I promise I don’t normally ask strangers for favours.” You laugh and you’re glad he does, too, before he raises an eyebrow at the number of things you’re holding.

“Okay, I have to see how messy your apartment is for you to need two – wait, no, three bottles of Ajax,” he snorts, counting out loud the number of other things you have in your arms.

Without realising he’s teasing you, you reassure him, “I promise I’ll replace everything in a few days, I just really needed these before tomorrow and I didn’t want to waste time running - literally running, I don’t have a car - to the store.”

He waves his hand at you, smiling good-naturedly. His smile felt reassuring and you felt yourself smiling back, “No, no, don’t worry about it. The only payment I require is seeing this apartment.” He pushes past you into the hallway, outstretching his arm to hold the door open for you.

As you both trot down the stairs, you nudge him with your elbow, “So, why do you have so many cleaning supplies, anyway? Who’s the neat freak?”

Instantly, his smile drops slightly and you realise your mistake. Hurriedly, you try to cover yourself, “I just mean, who’s the one that clea-”

His laugh cuts you off and you realise he was only teasing you, “You should’ve seen your face, oh, God,” he continues to laugh. “No, one of the counsellors, like those ‘big-brother’ students at our college - do you have one? - his name is Taeyong, he’s a real… neat freak, as you put it.” He glances at you from the corner of his eye to watch as you make yourself smaller, blushing, ashamed. The tiniest of smiles crosses his face as he shoves his hands into his pockets and continues, “Anyway, after our first year was over, and the program ended, he made us buy like ten bottles of everything so we wouldn’t run out and just never buy them again.”

You laughed, “Aw, that’s sweet.” As you arrived at your doorstep, you turned on him, lowering your voice in what you hoped to be a morbidly warning voice, “Okay, I’m warning you, what you’re about to see will most likely disturb you. Enter at your own risk.” You unlocked the door and walked into your apartment, dumping your weapons on the table and turning around slowly, attempting to figure out the most strategic attack.

You heard Jaemin gasp in shock and then begin to laugh so hard that he fell to the floor, “Y-you said that it was r-really bad but I,” he laughed between most of his words and what he said came out in gasps, “I didn’t think it would be this bad! Y/n, you’re really screwed.” He walked to the kitchen and picked up a half-eaten apple and what looked to be a hairy potato on a paper plate, “Forget cleaning supplies, you need a dump truck, holy shit.”

You pouted at him, “Hey, I have over an hour to make this place spotless! I’ll be fine!” You began to put on a pair of rubber gloves you had taken from Jaemin’s apartment and remove all the filthy dishes from the sink to fill it with hot water. “I really do appreciate you letting me borrow all this, and I promise to return and replace everything.”

You heard rubber gloves snapping behind you and you turned around to see Jaemin pulling another pair on, grabbing the dishwasher fluid and tossing it to you. “There is no way that you are going to be able to clean this mess in an hour, so I’m going to help you. But, I need to arm myself first.” You let out a laugh as he grabbed an apron from beside your fridge that read ‘kiss the cook’ in pink stitching, tugging the rubber gloves further down his hands and placing a mask over his nose and mouth, before quickly ditching the latter.

“Do you want a shower cap, too?” You teased, pointing a clean knife at him from your spot by the sink.

“Do you have one?” He answered, his eyes wide in mock hope, pausing what he was doing: trying to get the apron’s straps to loosen around his neck, before tying it behind his slim waist. With his waist accentuated, you couldn’t help but notice the perfect shape of his body, that you had gone unnoticed as it was hidden by the white t-shirt he was wearing.

In response, you stuck your tongue out at him in an all-too-mature way, before straightening, “Seriously, you don’t have to do this. I mean, we did just meet like… ten minutes ago.”

He shrugged as he pulled out a bin bag from your haul on the counter, “What better way to get to know the cute next door neighbour?” You stopped washing for a moment and you were glad that you weren’t facing him, for you were fairly sure the blush on your cheeks was rather obvious. Besides, he could be talking about you getting to know him, not the other way round.

He began to walk around your apartment, firstly binning your apple, furry potato and plate, then the takeout boxes, and the leftover banana peel on your desk. He hung the bag off a chair for future use and then appeared beside you again, mindlessly tapping on the counter as he spoke, “So what’re your parents like?”

As you continued to clean, he grabbed a rag from somewhere in the kitchen and began drying your dishes. “Well, you know, they’re parents,” you shrugged, “I guess we’ve always been kind of close, I miss them like crazy now that I’ve moved out, even if I hated living with them. They’re kind of strict, real neat freaks,” you glanced sideways at him and caught the left side of his mouth hitching up in a smile, “but, I mean, they’re my parents and I love them. They worry about me sometimes,” you gestured around the room, “but I guess it’s warranted.”

You laughed with him, and he looked at you quickly before focusing back down on the plate, asking about what you were studying and the conversation quickly drifting to your hobbies, places you’d visited, things you still wanted to do… Conversation with Jaemin was easy and simple, and you hoped this wasn’t going to be the last time you saw him.

You passed him a bowl and turned to him, grinning, as you allowed the dirty water to run from the sink down the drain, having finally finished the dishes, “We should put on music. Make this a little more fun, you know?”

He pouted jokingly as he dried the bowl, “You’re not having fun?”

You laughed as you hit his chest lightly and walked over to the small speaker buried under piles of paper and bills on the small side table by your front door, and then dancing over to Jaemin in the kitchen. He laughed at your dorky dance moves, throwing his head back as he put the bowl down and joined you, swivelling his hips and squatting awkwardly as he danced.

You continued dancing as you finished the job; he danced as he wiped down your counter, you danced as you put the freshly dried dishes away, he danced as he vacuumed your couch of all the crumbs, and you danced as you put all the movies away underneath the TV. You learned he was actually a really good dancer, and it made you feel a little bit more nervous and self-conscious, until he started to bust out his own choreography, making you laugh until your insides hurt.

You made him take a break and offered him a drink, telling him to help himself to anything in the fridge as you quickly tidied your bathroom.

“Oh my God, Y/n!”

You quickly rushed into the main room and found Jaemin staring into your fridge, “What? What is it?”

He turned to face you, a look of amused bewilderment on his face, “You have nothing in your fridge but mustard, pickles and coconut water! How are you even alive right now?” His eyes were wide as he looked at you teasingly.

You rolled your eyes and retreated back into the bathroom to wipe down the now almost empty counter, making a comment about how you were doing perfectly fine surviving off of ramen and takeout, before Jaemin appeared in the doorway, “Seriously, though, if your parents see that, they’re really going to worry about you. Come on, we’ve got half an hour left, we’ll go to the supermarket, get a bunch of food to stock your fridge and then you can go to class.”

You sighed as you looked around at your bathroom, “I still have to wipe down all the windows and the shower, and my room is still a bit of a mess…”

He looked around, “If we’re quick, we’ll have enough time to wipe everything down. Your room… you can probably get away with that if everything else is tidy. I mean, your parents wont be going in there anyway, right? Come on.” He held out his hand and smiled as you pulled off your gloves to grab it.

He tugged your arm, attempting to pull you out of the bathroom, but he miscalculated where exactly the wall was and ended up slamming his back into the wall and pulling you into him, causing you to stumble and crash against him. You felt blood rush to your cheeks as you looked at his shocked face; his eyes were wide in surprise but you didn’t miss the small smile he had tugging at the left side of his mouth.

You couldn’t move as he held your gaze, and you watched as his eyes briefly glanced down to your lips before he turned his head to the sink mirror, “Um, should we get going?”

You felt your free hand clench into a fist in an invisible cringe and you looked down, noticing how close your bodies were, “Y-yeah, we probably should.”

You stepped back and went to grab your keys and purse, purposely keeping your back to him. You scolded yourself for even thinking about kissing him. Despite his attractiveness, intelligence, kindness and humour, you couldn’t let yourself get involved with someone you had just met, though it felt like you’d grown quite fond of each other in the past two hours.

He walked by your side to the store a few streets away and grabbed a trolley, guiding you to the fruits and vegetables section. You groaned and followed him. As he was picking from the apples, he glanced upwards to look at you, standing on the other side of the fruit boxes, puffing your cheeks out in boredom. He quickly returned his gaze to the fruit, his face a darker shade of pink, his ears burning a bright red.

You began walking around the vegetables section, before noticing the cookies in the aisle beside them. I mean, who was going to pass up the opportunity to buy cookies? Certainly not you.

From between the shelves, you had a perfect view of Jaemin, and for the first time since you’d been introduced, you allowed yourself to stare. Am I being really creepy right now?you thought, holding a box of Oreos. It’s warranted, you assured yourself. I mean, look at him.You watched him look up from the next box of fruit, pears, and a look of surprise crossed his face as he realised you weren’t standing across from him.

He turned around, scanning the area for you, before placing the pears into the trolley, and then pushing it towards your aisle. You quickly ducked and walked speedily to the other end of the aisle, laughing to yourself as you childishly ran from him.

Jaemin immediately recognised your coat disappearing behind the corner of the shelves, and a grin instantly broke out on his face as he ran down the aisle, pushing himself up and over the trolley in pursuit, gliding easily down the aisle. You thought he hadn’t seen you, and you stood at the end of the aisle, carefully leaning forward to peer into the fresh produce section, assuming he’d come from that direction. You jumped in surprise as a trolley rolled up to you, “Hey, stranger, you need help looking for something?”

You turned around, a smile covering your face shyly and you briefly recognised how attractive he looked at that moment, an eyebrow lifted in playful challenge and a beautiful smirk, his eyes slightly creasing at the corners and the black jacket he’d grabbed from his apartment before you’d left. You weren’t going to lie, that jacket was a very nice jacket; it made his shoulders look broad and accentuated his slightly thinner-than-expected waist.

You shrugged playfully, “I don’t know, where do they keep all the… what’re they called? Oh, that’s right, notfruitandvegetables?”

He laughed, his head dropping down in mock disappointment as he walked down the aisle with you, dismissing all the things your parents were more likely to disapprove of, or just any parents really. “Really, Y/n, I don’t think they’d be ecstatic over seven boxes of Oreos.”

“BUT THEY’RE ALL DIFFERENT FLAVOURS,” you protested, before mumbling, “and besides, shouldn’t I at least be buying food I can actually eat?”

He cracked a grin at that, throwing an arm around your shoulders as you took over the trolley, “Aw, poor Y/n, can’t buy all the flavours.” He pouted at you and he poked your cheek with a grin. “But…” he began, “I’m sure one box couldnt hurt, right?”

The next day you were bombarded with your parents an hour earlier than expected, but luckily you were only making a few final adjustments to the cleanliness of your bedroom when they arrived.

You spent the day with your parents, showcasing your apartment, assuring them you were eating and washing When you left for lunch, you realised you forgot to bring your father’s birthday gift with you, and quickly ducked back upstairs to retrieve it. On your way down the stairs, rushing to catch up with your parents, you passed Jaemin and Jeno on their way up, bags of groceries in their arms, determination on their faces as they tried to carry all their groceries at once in order to not waste another trip up and down the multiple flights of stairs.

Jaemin winked at you as you passed, and you managed to catch up to your parents quickly. “I didn’t know there were other students living in your building, Y/n,” you mother commented, sliding her sunglasses up her nose as you stepped onto the sidewalk.

“They’re new,” you stated. “They’ve only been here for a couple of months, I think.”

“The tall one is pretty cute,” she nudged you with her elbow, teasing you.

“Sure, Mom. Jeno is ‘pretty cute’,” you rolled your eyes at her, sliding into the Uber you’d ordered.

She looked surprised at your tone, “What? You don’t agree.” She hesitated, before a wry smile made its way onto her face, “Ah, I see. You like the other one. What’s his name?”

“Jaemin,” you mumbled, suddenly feeling like you were twelve years old and not an adult, currently living away from home.

You waved to your parents from the door to your apartment block as they got in the taxi. You crossed your arms in front of yourself and watched as the car disappeared behind a corner.

After checking you had your wallet in your pocket, you made your way to the supermarket, a small smile on your face as you remembered walking the same way just the day before, but with Jaemin. Quickly grabbing a few products you remember having stolen and used from the boys’ apartment, you paid and made your way back home.

You ran up the stairs to your apartment, stopping briefly at your apartment to return your purse and wallet, before turning back to the staircase and moving to the floor above, grocery bag filled with cleaning supplies. You knocked on the door quietly, wondering if he even expected you to repay him for his things.

You prepared yourself, feeling your heart beating heavily against your chest, and heard the identifiable click of the lock on the door sliding out from its cradle on the doorframe. The door opened about halfway and you tried not to let your breath escape defeatedly. Jeno stood in the doorway, smiling in welcome.

“Hey, Y/n,” he greeted happily, controller in hand. “Jaemin’s in his room.” He nodded his head in the direction of the younger boy’s bedroom and opened the door a little wider to allow you in. He went back to the couch in the living room, where Donghyuck and another boy sat, patiently waiting for Jeno’s return with their controllers, whatever game they had been playing was paused. Donghyuck raised his hand in greeting and the other boy shot you a smile as you passed. “Thanks for those, by the way,” Jeno jutted his chin out at the bag of cleaning supplies that you haphazardly placed on the kitchen counter as he sat down on the couch again, reaching for the remote on the table in front of him.

You nodded at them and walked to Jaemin’s room, the only door that was closed in the tiny hallway. You knocked, sucking in a breath.

“Yeah, I know, I’ll be out in a sec! Just start without me,” Jaemin called from behind the door.

You coughed awkwardly, “Um, no, it’s, uh, me. Y/n.” In your mind, you were facepalming yourself, but part of you began to panic because what the fuck were you going to say to him? Why didn’t you just dump the products and leave? Or send a note? Why were you showing up at his bedroom door?

The door opened abruptly and you stood face-to-chest with Jaemin. Your eyes widened as you were met with his bare chest and you quickly shifted your gaze up to look at his face, which proved to be a feat a lot more difficult than it sounds.

“Hey,” he breathed, his arm still holding the door open. He stared at you and it was if he could see inside you, scrutinising every little part of your face, reading your mind.

You rocked back and forth on your heels, your smile rather awkward, “Hi.” You watched in slight awe as the corners of his mouth lifted up. A mere reaction that had your heart thrumming loudly against your ribcage.

“Um-,” you were immediately cut off as his head ducked down to kiss you, his lips pressing against yours suddenly. His hands found their to your sides as your arms lifted up to rest on his shoulders. You prayed he couldn’t hear your heart hammering in your chest as you smiled into the kiss.

When he pulled back, you didn’t take your arms away from around his neck, but he didn’t seem to mind, grinning back at you and then dropping his head to laugh to himself. For a moment, you were worried that this had all been some kind of joke and you felt your stomach drop in shame and embarrassment. You began to retract your arms, but his hands caught yours and placed them back on his shoulders, smiling at you widely, “I’ve wanted to do that since New Year’s.”

You cocked your head in confusion, so he cleared his throat, clarifying, “We bumped into each other on the roof, right when the countdown had just begun, and we’d been talking for a bit, so I kind of wanted to kiss you.”

“Really?”

“Well, yeah. But you were a little drunk, so obviously I-“

“No,” you grabbed his hand in yours, trying to get his attention and make him look at you. “Were you really going to kiss me? I think you should prove it.” You cocked an eyebrow at him challengingly.

“Oh, really?” He teased, pulling his head back a bit to look at you fully. You noticed him look over your head at something behind you, before rolling his eyes, grabbing your hand and tugging you into his room, shutting the door behind you.

hey lovely! could make clea and stephen strange layouts please? for each other (death of doctor strange issue)

you can find them here !! thanks for the suggestion!! i loved reading the comics in order to find the panels lol <333

How to Start a Rice Milling Business?

As the highest source of nourishment for over half the world's population, rice is by far one of the most essential commercial food crops. Its yearly yield worldwide is approximately 535 million tons. Fifty countries yield rice, with China and India they are supportive 50% of total production. Southeast Asian countries independently support an annual production rate of 9-23 million metric tons of which they export very little. Collectively, they are categorizing the Rice Bowl. Over 300 million acres of Asian land is cast-off for growing rice. Rice production is so main essential to Asian cultures that oftentimes the word for rice in a specific Asian language also means food itself.

Do you live in one of the countries where rice is widely consumed? Are you looking for profitable business to do? Are you interested in starting a rice milling business? Do you need a rice milling business plan? If you answered YES to any of the questions above, please read this article and the steps discuss will help you put your rice milling business plan into reality.

What is rice milling?

Rice milling is a step in the post production of rice that involves the removal of husk and bran layers, which produce white rice that can be edible free of impurities.

The rice paddy comprises of about 20% of husk and 11% bran layers, which leaves you with about 69% edible white rice free from impurities.

It Include:

Paddy Cleaing

Paddy Drying (if needed)

Rice Hulling

Paddy Separating

Rice Milling

Rice Grading

Rice Polishing

Rice Color Sorting

Rice Packing

What is The Process of Starting a Rice Milling Business

1. Acquire the required knowledge

Before you start a rice milling business, it is important that you need to have a good knowledge of the rice milling business and you should find any rice mill around you and have a feel of the processes involved in rice milling. Apart from the general entrepreneurial skills that you will need to operate the business, you need to acquire other skills that may be specifically related to rice mill business. You may not get this kind of skills from schools. The best way to acquire the skills is to work directly with somebody who is successful in rice mill business. You should also find out the costs of starting the business as well the costs of running the business after launch. Find out the equipment and manpower required. Find out about the pitfalls and challenges that new entrants into the business will most likely face. And find out how to avoid the pitfalls and overcome the challenges.

2.Write a rice milling business plan

By now, you should have known a lot about rice mill and the things you need to run the business. It’s now the stage where you need to put everything into a business plan.

Developing a business plan for your rice milling business is very important, as it will guide you through the process of starting the business successfully and running it effectively afterwards. Your business plan will also come in handy when you approach investors or lenders to fund your business.

Your business plan will detail your business’s goals and objectives, required startup and running costs, projected earnings over the first few years, required staff, your target market and a thorough analysis of that market, the competition, your marketing strategy and unique selling point, and your exit strategy. The rice milling business plan is what will keep you on track when you want to deviate from the business goals. It also is another document that you can use to attract investors.

3. Obtain the necessary licenses and permits

In virtually all parts of the world, obtaining licenses and business permits is a requirement for starting any business. However, the required licenses and permits vary between states and countries.

So I advice that you visit the appropriate agency in your state or country to inquire about the licenses and permits you will need to obtain before you can start your rice milling business. Better yet, visit the agency’s website or contact a seasoned attorney to find out.

4.Find a good location

Choice of location has a big role to plan in the success of a rice mill business. Essentially, a rice mill business should be located very close to where rice is grown. You need a place that is easily accessible to farmers. They should be able to transport the rice produce to your place without much trouble. You need a large space where the farmers can drop their harvests. Also, you need storage place where the milled rice can be kept. The layout of the rice mill should allow free movement of people and should be very ventilated.

5. Buy the equipment

According to the size of the rice mill processing plant, there is the different type of machinery available in the market; you need to choose the right machinery for your rice mill plant

.The important factor is cone slider while selecting the machinery are production rate, efficiency, capacity, and power equipment; also consider the execution, whether the machine is a single stage or multi-stage.

·Grain Storage Silos

·Grain Dryer

· Rice Cleaner Machine

·Rice Destoner Machine

· Rice Color Sorter

·Rice Huller Machine

· Rice Milling Machine

· Rice Separating Machine

· Rice Polishing Machine

· Rice Grading Machine

· Rice Packing Machine

Most of the equipment are durable and stands the test of time.

Some of the equipment can be fabricated. The fabricated one will be less expensive compared to the real one.

Note that you’ll need to be sure that the fabricated machine will do the work it was meant to be else, you’ll only waste your money.

7.Install the equipment

By now your rice milling machines have arrived. It’s time to start installing them. The services of an expert will be required in other for the installation to be successful.

Most often the company that sells the machines will always have an expert that will do the work for you. You’ll only need to ask them.

8.Hire employees and start operations

It’s time to hire people who will help in running the business. In rice milling business one important factor to consider when hiring people is their experience. Each person you hired can be given a defined role that will ensure the process of rice mill works in an effective way.

This will ease the stress going through the process of training before kicking the work.

It’s important to hire both technicians and administrators. The technicians are responsible for operating and maintenance of the machines. While the administrators do the paperwork on a daily basis.

9. Find Buyers

It is supreme important part in any export business that how to find potential buyers in the international market? Some guidelines for discovery potential buyers are through communicating your relatives in that country, export trade fairs and expos, through online portal, etc.

Zhengzhou VOS Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd.  Was established in the year 2000, it is a professional manufacturer and exporter of rice mill machine, rice processing machines, rice mill plant, rice mill production line, and parboiled rice mill plant. We can provide unique overall layout design of rice milling machine production line, customized rice milling machine products and installation services according to different needs of customers and site conditions. It integrates technology, manufacturing and sales together.

If You Are Ready to Start a Rice Milling Business, please contact us for the Rice Milling Machine. We Can Provide Professional Design and Comprehensive Guidance According to Your Needs. Get in touch with us now!

Welcome Contact Us!

Zhengzhou VOS Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd.

Email:[email protected]

Phone/Whatsapp: 008615736756203

Banrion Clea Eisenhardt [Sorceress Queen]. Layout Graphics.

Why Did Jennifer Lawrence Take a Huge Loss on Her NYC Penthouse?

Compass, Stephane Cardinale - Corbis

Jennifer Lawrence has finally sold her palatial penthouse in Manhattan for $9.9 million. The transaction was reported by Variety. Originally listed for $15.45 million, Lawrence’s lair was most recently on the market for $12 million.

The “Hunger Games” star, now 29, was clearly hungry for a sale—her deluxe digs had been on the market for about a year. And she gave up on breaking even on the sale of her Upper East Side abode, putting it on the market for less than the $15.6 million she paid for it back in 2016. 

That year, she was named by Forbes as the “highest-paid actress in the world,” for the second year in a row, and raked in a reported $46 million in 12 months. 

So while the A-lister is bankable at the box office, her real estate acumen is up for debate.

If the final sale price is correct, J-Law is out millions, especially when you factor in transaction fees and decorating costs. 

We asked some luxury real estate experts to give us their views on the transaction. Here are a few factors to consider with this deeply discounted luxury sale. 

Let’s take a tour

First, let’s peek inside. No question, the upscale residence is undeniably gorgeous.

Entered via a key-locked elevator into a vestibule, the 4,000-square-foot penthouse, atop a 30-story high-rise, features loads of light, high ceilings, and 3,000 square feet of outdoor space spread over two floors.

Jennifer Lawrence’s penthouse includes a two-floor terrace.

Compass

Great room with walls of windows

Compass

Kitchen

Compass

Casual dining nook

Compass

Living room

Compass

Bedroom suite with terrace access

Compass

Indoors, the layout includes three bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, and a great room with a two-sided fireplace. Walls of windows offer East River and downtown Manhattan views. The chef’s kitchen includes a casual dining nook.

Separated by a long hallway, the bedroom wing features two en suite bedrooms, a powder room, and a main suite with a dressing room, terrace access, and a bath. The condo also includes a family room and an in-unit washer/dryer.

Outdoors, the endless al fresco space includes a built-in table tennis table, full kitchen, and multiple seating areas, including an outdoor living area with gas fireplace.

Building amenities include full-time door attendants, concierge, and a drive-in garage that accesses the elevators, a definite must for a star craving privacy from paparazzi.

Other features for residents include a massive fitness center with a pool, as well as bike storage.

Location

Given the apartment’s obvious appeal, why the need for a price cut? It’s a tired real estate cliché, but the location of Lawrence’s place is less than ideal—with one exception.

The very far East Side isn’t exactly a lively locale. The upscale but nontrendy area isn’t where you’d imagine a young movie star winding up.

“It’s not near anything,” says New York City luxury real estate agent Dolly Lenz.

She notes that the desolate destination is situated between the United Nations and a number of health care centers, and not much else.

“It’s not a location that New Yorkers ever were attracted to.” 

And for a buyer willing to shell out north of $10 million, there are choices in the city.

“At that price point, you really have your pick of where to live. We would not recommend to someone to spend $15 million there,” says Jennifer Lenz, managing director of Dolly Lenz Real Estate.

However, the area is close to a number of world-class hospitals, such as New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, the Hospital for Special Surgery, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

So if you’re a doctor, or in quick need of one, this location is an absolute dream. And at this price point, perhaps you have a car and driver at the ready, which means the inconvenient location isn’t a big whoop.

Was the price right?

Lenz added that the movie star “paid a little too much when she bought it.”

Which leads to a buyer’s ultimate dilemma—the decision to take a hefty loss. Clearly, the actress knew she wouldn’t get all her money back, given that she placed the apartment on the market for under what she paid. But don’t blame the lovely digs.

“It didn’t depreciate. She paid too much,” Dolly Lenz says.

The pandemic surely added to the stress of finding a buyer, with the Manhattan market grinding to a halt in the early spring. The slowdown may have contributed to the additional price drop.

“Given the price reduction history of this unit, she was likely wanting to unload the property, even if she had to take a loss, which isn’t always a bad thing for tax purposes,” says Cara Ameer, a bicoastal agent with Coldwell Banker licensed in California and Florida. “The New York City market had been slowing down prior to the pandemic, and inventory had been building.”

Ameer adds that the confluence of events “created the perfect storm for someone to find a deal.”

Time to move on

At the same time, the star has been juggling other New York real estate, and certainly didn’t need to pay extra costs for a place she isn’t using. She may not have wanted to bide her time to find the right buyer willing to pay top dollar.

“The market is particularly challenging at the high end. There are limitations to finding a buyer who would want to and could afford to invest in this home,” broker Becki Danchik of Warburg Realty says.

“If she absolutely wanted to sell without waiting out a slow process, it was a smart business decision to accept such a deep discount.”

Lawrence may not have wanted the added burden of managing a home sale on top of her other life plans.

Says Noemi Bitterman, an agent with Warburg Realty, “People sell fast and at any expense in a divorce settlement, an estate sale where heirs are eager to collect, a move, or getting married to a partner who lives somewhere else. Whatever the case may be, sellers are willing to take a loss and move on.”

Actually, Lawrence did get married last year, to the art dealer Cooke Maroney. And yes, the couple were reportedly hunting for a new nest in the city.

The Oscar winner also owns a condo in Tribeca that she’s previously offered for rent. And on the West Coast, she has a place in Beverly Hills, which she purchased in 2014 for $8.2 million.

The listing agent, Pamela D’Arc with Compass, declined to comment.

The post Why Did Jennifer Lawrence Take a Huge Loss on Her NYC Penthouse? appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

from https://www.realtor.com/news/celebrity-real-estate/why-did-jennifer-lawrence-take-a-huge-loss-on-her-nyc-penthouse/

Finding Her Father (Part 1)~ ‪@MacyEdwards_ @Patrick_Jaymes @MikeAlexander1 ‬

Clea agreed to take care of George if we decided to stay in Baton Rouge overnight. With no real idea how this might go, I told Macy to pack a small bag just in case. I finished packing my backpack and then sent Macy a text to see if she was ready to go. I had planned on going early and grabbing breakfast on the way or once we got there. We had an 11:15 meeting with Patrick Jaymes in his office. While I waited to hear from her, I made sure I had all the photocopies of the photos in order. We thought they might help trigger memories and make a conversation about the past a little easier. At least that was the plan. ————————- I had just finished packing my bag when Darius’ text came through. I quickly texted him back and let him know I was ready. Well, as ready as I could be, I thought. I was so nervous, I had barely slept the night before. Each time I started to drift off, I thought about Patrick Jaymes and what his reaction might be. If it was him. I sighed and went back through the loft to make sure everything was off and locked up tight. We wouldn’t be gone more than a day, maybe. So I wasn’t really worried about things too much, but I still wanted to make sure everything was situated. I sat down to wait for him to get here, only to get up and start pacing. My nerves getting the better of me. ------------------ Once I got Macy’s text, I told her I was on my way. I tossed some treats in George’s bowl and told him to be good for Clea. Then I grabbed my backpack and the envelope full of photocopies and headed to the car. Once I put my things in the back seat, it was only a short drive to Macy’s place. I got out and jogged up her steps, knocking on the door. I swear she flung the door open so fast I thought it was on a giant spring. “Hey!” I chuckled. “Are you that wound up or have you already had that much caffeine?” I couldn’t resist teasing her, but her expression told me that might not have been such a good idea. -----------------------

I tried to laugh it off, but my nerves wouldn’t let me. “Hi, I think it’s a combination of barely any sleep and nerves. Sorry.” I did my best to take a few deep breaths and calm myself down. “I just have to grab my bag and I’m ready.” I turned and grabbed my bag off the couch and followed him to the car. Once we were both in and buckled up, he pulled out onto the road. “And so our journey begins.” I tried to laugh a little, but I think it came out more strained than anything. “No worries, I’ll be okay once we start going and all. I think I was just a little anxious that something would come up and we’d have to cancel. Now that we are actually on the road, I’ll settle down.” I silently added I hope to the end of that sentence. ---------------- I reached over and took Macy’s hand as I drove. “No matter what, you’re still you. And you’re stuck with me, true?” She laughed a little and nodded. “I thought you might be a little too nervous to eat yet, so I thought we could stop when you get hungry or grab a bite once we get to Baton Rouge. Up to you. If you decide you need coffee or something else to drink, just say the word and we’ll find a drive thru.” She had so little control over what was going to happen during the meeting later that I figured giving her something she could feel in control of for now might help. -------------- I couldn’t help but smile, “I was too nervous to eat. I was going to attempt it, but figured the last thing we needed was to pull over on the side of the road. So I went with some tea to help my nerves. So far, I think it’s working. That and the fact that we are on our way, and I know I don’t have to do this alone helps a lot, too. Thank you for doing all of this. It really does mean a lot to me. I would probably still be trying to figure out where to start if I didn’t have your help.” --------------- It was good to see her smile. “Tea was probably a good call. Just let me know when you get hungry. I have an envelope with all the photocopies in the back seat. Thought maybe pictures might trigger his memories if her name doesn’t ring a bell.” I let Macy be in charge of the music and whether she wanted any on at all. I was fine either way. “Have you talked to your Mom about any of this?” I couldn’t remember if Macy’s mom knew she was looking for her father or not. Some parents would freak if they knew. -------------- I stayed quiet for a moment, then sighed, “I haven’t talked to her much since I left. Just a weekly phone call so she knows I’m alive and all. It’s basically a scripted call. We exchange hellos, ask each other how things are, ask if we are doing okay, and say goodbye. Nothing special. And if she did know, she’d be against it. When it finally came out and I asked her about him, she told me he didn’t want me or want anything to do with her after she told him about being pregnant. I’m not sure how much of it I believe though. A part of me thinks she may not have told him. Benefit of the doubt and all. But a part of me thinks she did tell him, and he didn’t and still won’t want to acknowledge me.” ---------------- There wasn’t anything I could do about fixing Macy’s relationship with her mother. I was glad that they were at least still in touch. Hopefully, once we found her dad, he’d embrace having a daughter, and this would all be worthwhile. “You know once we figure out who your dad is, it might be a good idea to get a DNA test to confirm it. You know...in case your Mom doesn’t react well to the news and to make sure everyone’s on the same page about stuff?”  I’d hate to have someone say yes to being her dad and then it turn out he wasn’t. No idea why someone would do that but worst case scenarios I did really well in my head. ----------------- I nodded, “I think that’s probably a good idea. If I know my mom, once she finds out I did this, she’s going to lose it. And unless I have proof she isn’t going to listen or believe me. And if she didn't believe me that I went looking for him, she would deny whoever I asked her about. I don’t think she wants me to know. I just can’t figure out why. I can’t figure out if she doesn’t want him to know because of what we are or if maybe he was the one that got away because she was young and freaked out at the thought of being pregnant. I wish it could be the last part of that, but I have a feeling it’s going to be neither. Deep down, I think she took off because she was only thinking about herself. She wasn’t worried about him, how he would feel, or even me. Which is sad to say since she is my mother. But in all honesty, she’s proven time and again that she’s out for herself above anyone.” ------------------ I now knew one thing. Macy was no longer as nervous as she was when we left. The more I got her talking, the more animated she became. Knowing what we were going to do in a few hours, animated gave us a better chance at finding out the truth. “I can’t begin to guess what her motives were, Catwoman. But I think you deserve to know the truth. Whatever I can do to help you find it, I’ll do it.” We were getting close to Baton Rouge...and the answers she wanted. —————— I smiled at his nickname for me. I couldn’t help it. Maybe finding my dad would be a lot like us becoming friends? Things started off rocky and very bad, but look at us now. Darius was the closest thing I had to family here. And the only person I had really let in for a very long time. I was use to shutting everyone out because I didn’t want the drama in my life to have any effect on my friendships or relationships. “I don’t think anyone can really guess what they are, not even me. I can only guess from how she’s been and the way she reacts to things.” ----------------------- “How about we focus on the present for now? We’ll be in Baton Rouge in a few minutes. Are you hungry? We could stop for breakfast or we could just head to the campus and get a feel for the area. Whichever feels right to you, we’ll do.” I was leaning towards food myself. I didn’t think her facing whatever we might find on an empty stomach was such a great idea. ——————- I thought for a moment. Food or campus? About the time I almost said campus my stomach growled, I looked at Darius and laughed, “I guess food wins out!” We both laughed, “I’m not sure what I’m hungry for though, so if you see anything that you want that sounds good, I’m game.” I was determined not to let my nerves get the best of me. Either this guy was my dad, knew who my dad was, or none of the above. Stressing about it and freaking out would do me know good. Was I nervous? Of course. This was big deal. But I couldn’t control how this guy would react or what he would say, so nothing I could say or do would help the situation. ----------------- “Food it is,” I laughed. “There’s a diner I saw only that’s open 24 hours I think you’ll like. Omelets, waffles, po-boys and burgers. All the classics.” I drove us over to the diner and parked. It was just on the far edge of campus and inexpensive, but had great reviews. Soon we were heading inside the cute old-fashioned restaurant and trying to decide between a booth, a table or the counter. “Ladies’ choice,” I grinned as the waitress looked to Macy for her decision. —————— I answered without giving it much thought, “A booth by the windows would be great. We can people watch while we wait for our food. Or get a layout of what’s around us.” Darius nodded and the waitress lead us to our seats. She handed us our menus and asked what she could get us to drink. I asked for a Coke and Darius ordered his drink. Then we set about picking out something to eat. “I’m trying to decide between waffles and hashbrowns or a po-boy and fries. You?” ---------------------- “I think the chocolate chip banana pancakes might have my name on them actually with a side of bacon.” It was an over the top breakfast, but then again this was no ordinary day. We gave the waitress our order after she set down our drinks. “Coming right up, love birds,” she said with a grin. I looked at Macy and she looked at me before we started to laugh. “Um...sorry about that...I think.” ——————— I couldn’t help but shrug as I laughed, “I’m not sure if I should be offended by the I think at the end of your sentence or not. Should I?” I took a sip of my Coke, I almost joked back with something else, but I wasn’t sure if he would take it the wrong way or not. I set my drink down and smiled, “Penny for your thoughts?” --------------- Luckily the waitress came by with our food. I waited until she refilled our drinks before leaning in, “Saved by the pancakes?” Such a look I got. “I didn’t mean anything by the ‘I think’. Just didn’t want you to be offended by us being mistaken for being a couple. You can do much better than me.” We focused on our food for the next few minutes. I was hungrier than I thought. ————- I wanted to argue that he was pretty great, I mean heck look at everything he was doing for me and had done for me when he barely knew me. But I wasn’t sure he would want to hear that. We’d never really talked about relationships. I didn’t want to overstep or say something that would upset him. I didn’t want to push away the one friend I had. I was halfway through with my food before I looked up, “Guess I wanted this more then I thought I did.” I laughed. --------------- I pushed my plates aside, nearly licked clean. “Me too. Go figure,” I winked as I finished off my Coke. “I’m gonna go use the men’s room real quick, ok? I’ll be right back.” It had been a long drive and I had two large Cokes. I wasn’t making excuses when I left the table. I used the bathroom, washed my hands and sent Clea a quick text letting her know we were in Baton Rouge and thanking her for taking care of George. With a quick look in the mirror to make sure I didn’t have chocolate smeared on my face, I returned to the table. ————— While Darius was gone, I flagged the waitress over and paid the bill, making sure to leave a good tip for her. When he returned, I smiled and excused myself. This was the last stop before we met with Patrick Jaymes. I figured I better look at least half way presentable since the man might be my father or at the very least, knew who he was. After washing my hands and fixing my hair, I returned to the table and smiled a little, “I guess now all we have to do is drive to his office?” ---------------------- “Sounds like a plan. Thanks for breakfast by the way.” We waved goodbye to our waitress and headed out to the car. After I made sure Macy was buckled in, I walked around to my side and got the envelope out of the backseat before getting in. “Here are those photocopies.” I handed them to her and then double checked my phone for directions to Mr. Jaymes’ office. “Looks like we’ll be there in about 5 minutes. Plenty of time to walk around a little before our appointment.” I flashed her a smile and pulled out of the parking lot. ——————— I smiled as we got into the car, “You’re welcome. I thought it was the least I could do for everything you’ve done for me and helped me with.” I took the envelope from him and settled back in the seat for the short ride. My mind starting to run a thousand different places. Would he be the guy? Would he know the guy? Would whoever it was be happy when they found out they had a daughter? Would he have known about me all this time and not wanted anything to do with me? A million questions were running through my head. But they were all questions only one person could answer. And this man wasn’t even 5 minutes from where I sat now. -------------------- She stayed quiet on the ride over, but I was okay with that. I don’t think she even noticed when I parked the car. “Hey,” I said as I rested my hand on her arm only startling her a little. “How about we stretch our legs a little before the meeting?” I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out to open her door. “Come on. A little fresh air will be good for us.” I grinned and offered my hand. ——————- I couldn’t help but smile as I took his hand. He was trying his best to keep me from freaking out and changing my mind. “I think stretching our legs sounds like a great idea. It’d be kind of cool to walk around and see some of the places my mom, and maybe my dad, used to hang out when they were here.” We headed to a common area outside that had a lot of students sitting around. We figured it was a good as place as any to start. ------------------- I kept hold of her hand, sometimes rubbing the back of it with my thumb as we walked around. We occasionally sat on benches to people watch and admittedly eavesdrop a little. We slowly made our way over to the English Department’s building where Patrick Jaymes’ office was. “Do you want to head inside and freshen up in the ladies’ room before the meeting?” I thought she looked great, but what I thought and how she felt might be two different things. ----------------- I smiled, or attempted to. I had done my best not to worry about what was about to happen. I kept telling myself whatever was about to happen was out of my control, but that only got me so far. I think the only thing that kept me from bailing was Darius. I took a deep breath, “Yeah, I think I will. I’ll be right back.” I let go of his hand and headed into the bathroom.  The minute I was alone, I started shaking a little. I was so nervous and even though I knew this needed to be done and was a good thing, I still couldn’t help but be scared. I splashed a little water on my face and ran my fingers through my hair. Would he be disappointed? I sighed and walked back out to join Darius. ----------------- Her face broke my heart when she stepped out of the bathroom. She was trying to hide it, but her smile never  reached her eyes. I took her hand and pulled her close. Leaning down, I whispered in her ear, “Come on, Catwoman, let’s go play detective.” I stood back up and winked before leading her over to the stairs. Two flights later, we were outside his office. I stopped and took a long look at her. I gently brush a stray hair from her eyes and pushed a few curls over her shoulder. “Perfect,” I grinned. “Ready?” ——————- I shook my head, “What if he doesn’t want anything to do with me? What if he never did? You know there is a strong possibility that my mom wasn’t lying. What if she did tell him and he was the one who walked away? Or worse, what if he isn’t my dad? Then I have to go through all of this again with someone else, if I can even find them. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. We should probably just go.” I had spent all day being positive and hopeful, well trying to, but as we stood outside his door, about to knock, I couldn’t do it anymore. There were so many different ways that this could go wrong. It was taking everything I could not to bolt right then and there. --------------- After guiding her away from the door, I pulled her against my chest and held her. Just held her. Slowly I rubbed her back. “Breathe. In and out. In and out.” It took a few minutes, but she finally started to match my breathing. “If you want to leave, we absolutely can. I don’t think you want to. You’re a fighter, Catwoman. No matter what happens, no one can take that from you. I promise I will be right beside you as long as you need me. It’s all up to you.” With that, I released her and took a step back. ————— The minute he let me go I started pacing. It was the only thing that my body could do. Move. “What if he’s my dad, or knows who is, and who ever he is, is disappointed? I mean, I’m not sure that I can deal with disappointing another person in my life.” I paced back and forth, and the whole time he just stood there, giving me my space and letting me getting everything out. When I finally got it all out, I slowed down and looked at him, “Thank you.” He just nodded and waited for me to give the okay. I couldn’t say it, but I nodded. I could do this. I had to do this. --------------------- When I heard the knock on my door, I set aside the papers I was grading and called out, “Come on in. It’s open!” I didn’t stand too much on formality. The students had enough hoops to jump through. I preferred putting them at ease as much as I could. I glanced at my calendar as a young man and woman entered. She wanted to interview me for something I think. I stood and gestured to the chairs across from my desk. “Please make yourself comfortable. I understand you have some questions for me?” ——————— It took every ounce of calm I could muster just to walk across the office and sit down. I looked around, his office seemed different then I had expected. I wasn’t sure what a college teacher’s office should look like, but I thought it would be more...plain? Educational? I didn’t look at him until I sat down. When he spoke, his voice was calm, gentle even. A lot different from my stepdad’s. “Yes, sir. My name is Macy Edwards, and this is my friend Darius Frasier. I, um, was wondering if you might remember a student here from several years back. Her name was Joyce Edwards. She was...I mean is...she is my mother.” ------------------------- I looked from Macy to Darius and back. “Joyce Edwards? I’m sorry. I can’t say it rings a bell. Can you tell me approximately when she was here?” This was definitely not the interview I was expecting. There were a lot of reasons Macy could be asking about her mother. I just didn’t know if I was going to have the answers she wanted or needed. ——————— I cleared my throat, “Um, the last year she was here was 1988. She actually left before she graduated.” I wasn’t sure what else to say right then. But Darius spoke up, “We have some pictures of her. Actually, you are in a few of them with her.” Darius turned to me, and I realized that I was the one with the pictures. “Oh, right. Sorry.” I got them out and handed him the ones that had him, my mom, and a few others in them. “She is the one in the maroon shirt and jeans.” ------------------ “1988. Hmmm…..I was just beginning my doctorate then.” I looked at the pictures but the woman in question didn’t look familiar. Some of the others did though. “I remember these two. These guys were in some of my classes. And this is a friend of mine. He’s a sociology professor named Michael Alexander.” I gestured to him in the background of a few of the photos. “That other woman was a student Mike became good friends with. Karen, Carla. Something like that. No. Cassandra. He called her Cass. I’m not quite sure how any of this helps or what it is you need from me.” —————— I wasn’t sure what to say. If she didn’t look familiar, then there wasn’t any way possible this man could be my father. I mean, you would think he would have remembered at least dating her or something, right? I bit my lip, “So you and Joyce didn’t...date?” I wasn’t sure I could do this. I took a deep breath and decided that the direct approach was the best. “My mother left in 1988 when she found out she was pregnant with me. For most of my life, I didn’t know that I was being raised by my stepdad rather than my actual dad.”

I looked at Darius who just smiled and nodded. I returned my attention to the man in front of me and continued, “When I found out the truth, I tried to get information from my mother. All that I could get was that she was in school here, met my dad, they dated or...whatever. She found out she was pregnant and took off.” I looked down at my hands, “She said she told my father about me, and he turned her away. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I decided to find out for myself.” I ran out of words. I didn’t know how else to go on. Thankfully Darius did, “Since obviously you’re not her dad, since you didn’t really know who she was, is it possible that maybe you know who it might've been?” -------------------- I looked at the photos on the desk once more. The only one in them I was really in contact with any more was Mike. “Macy, I wish I had the answers you needed. I have three daughters of my own around your age.” I gestured to the photos on my wall behind her. “I’m only still in contact with one of these people. Mike. Maybe he will remember her better than I do. Let me see what his schedule is like.” I gave her a quick smile and logged back into my computer to see if Mike was teaching. “Looks like he’s in class for another 40 minutes or so. If you can come back in about an hour, I’ll see if he can see you and take you over there to see him myself.” ------------------- An hour? Could I spend another hour here walking around and having a thousand different thoughts go through my head? I looked over at Darius, “Do you think we can wait?” He nodded, I took a deep breath and turned back to Patrick. “I guess we will see you in about an hour. I appreciate your help. And I’m sorry for taking up so much of your time.” -------------------- I stood up and shook Darius’ hand and then Macy’s. “You haven’t taken up much time at all, Macy. No need to apologize. May I hang onto one of these copies to show Mike?” When she nodded, I handed the rest of them to her. “If he’s unable to meet you today, I’ll scan it in and return the copy to you. There’s a great coffee shop just across the way. Their pastries are always a good choice.” I tried to picture one of my girls trying to find me as I looked at Macy. It nearly broke my heart. She didn’t seem to want anything more than to know who her dad was. I didn’t get the feeling she was after money or anything. My curiosity was definitely peeked. “I’ll see you in about an hour.” ------------------------- I smiled and nodded, “Thanks, we’ll probably go over there and grab some coffee or something. Do you think it’s a pretty good chance that he’ll be able to meet with us? I mean, it’s not that I’m trying to rush him or pressure him.…” I trailed off. “Um, we’ll just be at the coffee shop and we’ll come back in an hour.” I smiled, I was so nervous. I couldn’t even get everything out right without sounding desperate. ---------------- I nodded to Patrick and took Macy’s hand as I lead her out of the office. I heard the soft click of the door closing behind us. We stayed quiet as we headed outside. I steered her over to a secluded bench and sat with her. “You did great up there, Mace. I’m really proud of you.” I knew an hour probably sounded like an eternity to her, but we were already here. We could hang out for an hour. “Do you want to get some coffee, or take a walk? Or we could sit here?” I just wanted to get her through the next hour. And then the meeting after that. ——————— “Coffee, or if they have tea, sounds great. If you want, we could get it to go and either go for a walk or find a quiet bench to sit on. It doesn’t matter to me.” We headed towards the coffee shop, “I started rambling and stuff. I didn’t want to take up more of his time. I feel like I wasted plenty of it already since he isn’t my dad.” I sighed. “I can’t help but wonder if it’s going to be the same with this Mike guy. Or if maybe my mom made the whole thing up, and we’ve been chasing all this down for nothing.” ----------------------- “Tea it is.” I held the door open for her and followed her inside. We both got tea. Some fancy sweetened green tea. It wasn’t half bad. I talked her into a gooey chocolate chip cookie we could share, too. After grabbing a few napkins, we wandered around. I figured we’d find a spot to sit in when we felt like it. Right now walking worked. “Back to your comments before we got our drinks. You were nervous. He’s probably heard students ramble on for much longer over much less important things. We didn’t waste his time. I know it felt like we were in there forever, but it wasn’t more than fifteen minutes. And last time I checked, you exist. So that means you have to have a dad.” I was teasing her with that last bit, but I meant everything else. —————— I laughed a little. He was right. “I know that. I’m just saying it’s not him, so I was taking up his time and it was for nothing, as far as he goes. Granted, now we may have another lead thanks to him, but still I took up his time.” I took a sip of my tea and sighed, “I think I’m just nervous. I feel like we are going in circles. Honestly, I don’t think this Mike guy is going to be my dad either. I think he’ll just point us in another direction and eventually my mom’s cruel joke will play out. My dad is going to end up being some guy that’s not even around here anymore. He’s gonna be a million miles away. She probably told him, and he took off so she could never find him.” --------------------- “Who the heck are you, and what have you done to my Catwoman?” I couldn’t remember ever hearing Macy so pessimistic before. “Are you giving up before we even really begin? This isn’t like you.” I broke off part of the cookie and handed her a big piece. “Try some chocolate. Maybe you’ll snap out of it.” I was only sort of kidding. ————— I giggled a little as I took the cookie, “I’m not giving up. Not really. I’m just...trying to look at it from every side. Everything I said is a possibility and the more time that passes and the more meetings we have, the more it could come true. Patrick was strike one. It sucks, but it is the truth. The jury is still out on this Mike guy. There’s a 50/50 shot he could be my dad.” I went quiet for a minute before turning to him. “Did you see the way Patrick’s eyes lit up when he looked at the pictures of his daughters?” Darius nodded, “I want that. I want that so bad that for a second...maybe more then a second...I was jealous of those 3 girls. I had no right to be. They are total strangers and have done nothing to me. But I was.” -------------- Macy and I never really talked about my family much. Actually no one really knew that much about my family. Not my real family. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting that. Nothing wrong with a little jealousy either. As long as you don’t let the jealousy overwhelm you. I can’t begin to understand how you feel. Not really. So I won’t pretend to. How about we just enjoy this next,” I checked my watch, “30 minutes by people watching and enjoying the weather?” ————— I grinned and nodded, “I think people watching and sunshine sound like a great idea to spend the next 30 minutes.” And that’s what we did. We drank our tea and watched the people, soaking up the sunshine. When there was about 5 minutes before we were supposed to meet Patrick again, we threw our cups away and slowly made our way back to his office. I looked over at Darius, “So this would be round 2, right?” I laughed a little. My nerves weren’t as bad as they were earlier, but they were still a little jittery. But I wasn’t so down about everything. At least, not in this moment. ---------------------- When we headed back upstairs, Macy seemed a little calmer. Still nervous, but that was normal. “Catwoman, if this doesn’t pan out. If we hit another dead end, it just means we can cross possibilities off our list. We had to start somewhere, right? And, most importantly, you’re still you. That does not change. Got it?” I smiled and reached over to playfully tug on one of her curls. —————— I couldn’t help but smile, “I’m still me and you’re still you. Don’t worry, I’m not going to lose it and go crazy.” I took a deep breath, “I know you’re right that we had to start somewhere. I do know. It’s just that I feel like...I don’t know. I can’t help but wonder if maybe I’m not meant to find him or something. This is the closest I’ve ever come to knowing him, to even just meeting him, and I keep feeling like it’s slipping through my fingers.” I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. “But either way, now is not the time to give up, right?” -------------------------- “Right on time,” I smiled as I opened the door. “Please come in, Macy. Darius.” I ushered them in and waited for them to take a seat. “I found Mike and explained your visit. He didn’t remember your mother’s name, but would like to see more of the photos. This one,” I handed the photocopy back to her, “doesn’t show her face as clearly. Mike is finished teaching for today and is waiting for you in his office. Something came up that I need to take care of, but his assistant Ava will be here to walk you over in a moment. I hope that’s ok.” ————————— I smiled and nodded, “That’s fine. I appreciate everything you’ve done to help me. Thank you so much.” I whispered so that only Darius could hear me, “He didn’t remember her name. That is not a good sign.” I sighed. Maybe this was my mother’s idea of a cruel joke. Maybe she knew that eventually I would go looking for him and wanted to keep me from finding him. Or maybe he really did want me. Oh well, guess we’d find out what our next lead would be soon. ------------------ A few minutes later a pretty brunette arrived. “Hey, I’m Ava. I’m here to bring you over to Mike Alexander’s office.” She had to be close to Macy's age. Patrick shook our hands and wished Macy good luck with her search. “If there’s anything else I can help you with, please just ask.” We thanked them and followed Ava out of the office. “The campus can be a little confusing. That’s why he sent me.” I chuckled and gave Macy’s hand a squeeze. “We appreciate it. Can you tell us what Mr. Alexander’s like?” She grinned. “He’s pretty cool. Sociology professor. Family has some sort of foundation, but he’s not really involved with it. I think his brother runs it. He has a quirky sense of humor sometimes. Don’t take it personally.” Guess it was a good thing I asked her a question. Listening to her talk distracted us and the next thing I knew, Ava was opening an office door. “Here you go. Looks like Mike stepped out for a sec. Why don’t you guys have a seat? I’m sure he’ll be right back.” With that, she closed the door and was gone. ——————— I turned and looked at Darius, “Well she was...cheerful.” I wasn’t picking on her or making fun of her. I kind of envied her. Maybe one of these days I would be able to be like that too. Once all of this was...settled? Finished? “So he has a family already? What if my mom did tell him and that’s why he didn’t want me? Maybe he was married and she was just a fling or something.” I held a hand up at his look, “I know, I know. Stop being so negative. I’m trying. I know it doesn’t sound like it, but I am. I just..can’t help thinking my mom may have been right. I really hope she wasn’t. I really hope she was lying.” Darius gave me a strange look before whispering. “Catwoman, you’re overthinking again. Family could also mean brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and so on.” -------------------- I heard voices when I got back to my office which meant that Ava had already brought my visitors over from Patrick’s office. I opened the door and gave them what I hoped was a welcoming smile. “Hi. I’m Mike Alexander. You must be Macy and Darius?” I shook their hands before taking a seat at my desk. “So Patrick said you’re looking for someone who might know your mother. Joyce Edwards, right?” The young lady across from me nodded but didn’t say anything. She seemed nervous. “Do you have any other pictures besides the one Patrick showed me? I couldn’t get a good look at her face. I might recognize her even though the name didn’t ring a bell.” ------------------------ I pulled the envelope out of my purse and nodded, “Yeah, I have a few more actually. And I have one of just her. I think it’s from a yearbook or something.” I couldn’t remember where Darius and I had found the picture. We had lucked out. I handed him the picture, “This is her. She would have been in school here during 1988, but she left before she graduated. You’re actually in a few of the pictures with her. Well, you and some of the others.” ---------------------- I took the pictures from her. Group photos. Not posed. More like candids around campus. Near the bookstore and the coffee shop we all seemed to gravitate towards. Patrick was in several of them. “I was just starting my teaching career them. Patrick was starting his doctorate. I recognize a few other faces, not all their names though.” I finally found the picture Macy mentioned. How could I forget her face? “I didn’t think I’d ever see her again,” I said as I sat back with a sad smile studying her photo. “She might have been the original ghoster,” I laughed. “You were ahead of your time, JJ.” ———————- I looked from Mike to Darius and back again, “You...you remember her?” I held my breath. He knew my mom. Even if he pointed us in another direction at least I wasn’t going crazy. Someone here knew my mom. --------------- I handed the photos back to Macy. “JJ is your Mom? Wow, small world. Actually, you do look like her. A lot. Same eyes. I should have seen it right away.” I sat back and looked out my window, reminiscing. “JJ and I met in the coffee shop. We shared a table while waiting for a storm to die down. Got to talking and hit it off. Dated a few times. Dinner out. Movies. I tried to contact her to say goodbye before the summer break but she wouldn’t return my calls. None of her friends knew where she was. She just...vanished. I hoped she’d be back in the fall, but she never returned.” I smiled a little sadly and turned to face Macy and her friend once more. “Has something happened? Is JJ okay?” ———————- “She...she’s fine. Um, last I talked to her she was anyway.” I was stumbling trying to find the words to say, “So you were dating when she left, and she didn’t tell anyone why she left?” Every nerve in my body was on edge. I wanted to move, to get up and pace. It took every ounce of willpower to stay in my chair and not leap up. I looked at Darius and back to Mike. Could he be…? ------------------ I swear Macy was going to jump out of her skin. I hadn’t seen anyone this on edge in a long time. “Are you ok? Can I get you some water or a soda?” I gestured to a small fridge built into my bookcases. It came in handy for late nights. “We dated casually. She wasn’t one of my students. There wasn’t anything hinky going on, I promise. The age difference was….” I shrugged. “I worried that it bothered her to be seen with me in public. One of those things we never got around to discussing. Sometimes I think she might have been the one. The one I might have settled down with. Started a family with.” I sighed softly. “Guess that wasn’t in the cards for us. But she has a beautiful daughter. Looks like she found someone else. Your father’s a lucky man,” I smiled. —————— “My...my father…” I cleared my throat, “My father is the reason I’m here.” I took a deep breath and told him a shorter, more pleasant story of how I found out my step dad wasn’t my actual dad. I left out all the bad things the guy said. All the drama. All the times my mom made me feel like it was my fault. I looked at him but couldn’t manage to get my voice above a whisper. My eyes never left his face as I told the next part of my story, “My mom left here because she became pregnant with me. She told me that she told the guy she was seeing about me, and he wanted nothing to do with her.” ---------------- I wasn’t sure I heard her at first. Her voice was barely a whisper. I leaned forward as she spoke. I did notice her friend had his hand on her arm. Then he was holding her hand. “That must have been frustrating for you, Macy. To find out the man you thought your father wasn’t. So you thought that I might be able to tell you who your Mom was seeing when she was here. I wish I could. I didn’t know she was seeing anyone else. She never mentioned it to me. Guess she knew I wouldn’t have gone out with her if I knew she was already involved.” ——————- I let out the breath I was holding and sighed. I guess he wasn’t my father either. And he didn’t have any idea who else she may have been seeing. We’d hit a dead end. Now what? Where were we going to go from here? I looked at Darius. I didn’t know what else to say. I guess it was time to go. ------------------ Macy started to get up when her friend Darius stopped her. I couldn’t hear what he said to her. He then cleared his throat and asked me a question. “Forgive me for...um...getting personal. But did you and...JJ...um...were you ever involved sexually?” Macy’s eyes widened and the color drained from her face.

I gave him points for having the gumption to ask. It wasn’t until he did that it dawned on me what he was really asking. I looked from Darius to Macy. Her eyes were so much like her mother’s. “You think I might be your father.” It wasn’t a question. It was simply a statement. I exhaled softly and focused on my hands. It was such a long time ago. I never knew her as anything but JJ. I’m not sure I ever even knew her last name. “Yes. JJ and I were intimate on a few occasions.” ———————— I swallowed a mouth full of air and nodded as I sat back down. “Yes.” It was all I could muster up the courage to say in that moment. I was trying to judge if he was mad, sad, or what. I was also judging the distance between us and the door, wondering if we could make it to the door if he started yelling. I looked at Mike, “Don’t you think it’s weird? You were….together...and she just up and disappeared? She took off without saying anything to anyone. Not even a goodbye to her closest,” I silently added if she had any close friends, “friends. Nothing. Just...gone.” ---------------------- It was a valid question. I got up and grabbed some water bottles from the fridge and handed them each one. I took a long drink. The bottle gave me something to do with my hands. “It was weird, and I did try to find her. But this was 1988, Macy. No cell phones. Instant messaging. We weren’t nearly as connected back then. If you wanted to disappear. You could. Easily.” I looked over at her. “I don’t think I ever even knew her last name. She was just...JJ.” ——————— I nodded, “Which would explain why when you heard the name Joyce Edwards it didn’t ring a bell. You only ever knew her as JJ.” I hated to admit it, but it made sense. My mother was the queen of always trying to ‘change her image.’ I laughed a little, “She refused to let anyone around us call her JJ. Said that it was her name from another time. For awhile she would only answer to Joyce, now she goes by Joy. She still refuses to use the name JJ, even though her full name is Jasmine Joyce Edwards. She won’t even answer to her first name. Refuses to even acknowledge that she has a name other than Joyce.” ------------- I laughed a little. “That sounds about right.” I wasn’t sure what to say. Less than an hour ago I had never met Macy Edwards or her friend Darius. In that short time, I was reminded of a woman I had started to fall for...until she disappeared. Looking back, it was probably for the best. I’m not sure our relationship would have lasted. Now there was a possibility that I had a daughter I never knew about sitting across from me. “So...um….now what?” ————— I looked at him and couldn’t help but laugh. “I was hoping you could tell me? I mean...I guess if you think it’s possible, we would need to get a DNA test done. Unless…,” I sighed, “Unless you would rather not know. Look, just to let you know, I’m not after anything. I don’t want anything from you….if it is you. I just wanted a chance to meet my father, possibly you, and see if he knew about me. If he didn’t, I wanted to give him the chance to. That’s all I want. I don’t want money or anything. I have my own place and a job.” I was rambling and I couldn’t stop I just kept going and going. All the while thinking, he’s going to think I’m crazy before he even knows if I’m his daughter and run. ----------------- The more she talked, the more she reminded me of JJ. She must do this when she gets nervous because Darius seemed to expect it. He was rubbing her back and trying to get her to drink some water. “Macy, I never thought you were. After anything that is. A DNA test is probably a good idea. That way we’ll both know for sure, right?” I got up and moved around the desk to crouch down in front of her. “Hey,” I smiled as I brushed the hair from her eyes. “If I’m not your father, I’ll do whatever I can to help you find him, okay?” I felt eerily calm about this whole development. Almost like I expected it one day. Or maybe I hoped for it. —————— I took a deep breath and nodded, “So you think it’s possible? That you could be my father?” He didn’t say anything, “If it’s not you, I have no clue where to go from here. You and Mr. Jaymes were the only guys that I have a record of her even knowing. And I only have that because of those pictures that I showed you. And those I only have thanks to Darius and his friends.”

“If I had done this all by myself, I wouldn’t even be this far. I didn’t even know that she went by JJ. For all I know, she could go by a name that I don’t even know about with someone else.” I sighed and dropped my head into my hands. “I just don’t know what I’m doing any more.” ------------------- I glanced at Darius who considered me for a moment, then nodded. I tentatively reached out and stroked her hair. “Macy, look at me.” She sighed and slowly picked her head up. “This is what we’re gonna do. We’re going to get a blood test and see if we’re a match. Then, after we get the results, if I’m not your father, I’ll pull up your Mom’s old records and see if I can find any names of people who might know her, ok?” I tilted her chin up. “What we’re not gonna do is quit.” ———————— “You can do that? Pull her records and see all of that?” He nodded. I didn’t say anything. It was kind of hard to when he seemed to be so sure about this. Just like Darius. It was hard to want to give up when they were both looking at me like they weren’t going anywhere and weren’t giving up. I couldn’t help but laugh a little, “Are you sure it’s not you two that are related? You’ve both said close to the same thing today.” They exchanged looks, and I laughed a little more. “Okay, so, blood test for starters. Right?” Is it wrong that I was already praying the blood tests came back as a match? ------------------ I smiled as I stood back up. “Blood test for starters. Give me a minute and I’ll see if there is a lab or clinic nearby. I have a feeling the sooner we can take this test, the better you’ll feel.” Darius coughed, and I swear he mumbled. “The better we’ll all feel.” I tried not to laugh...too hard as I returned to my desk. After scrolling past the talk show style ads for shady DNA services, I finally found a legitimate clinic that was nearby. “I found a clinic not far from here. I’m happy to pay for the test. Would tomorrow morning work? I can get a 9:30 or 10 appointment according to this form.” --------------------------- I looked at Darius before I answered, “Will it be okay to stick around that long? I know that if we stayed you planned on leaving first thing in the morning, would that be too late?” I did want to get the test done as soon as possible so we knew what was going on, but I also didn’t want to step on Darius’ toes if he had things that he needed to take care of. I should have known he’d just smile and tell me we could stay as late as we needed to. ----------------------- “I’ll register us for the 9:30 appointment then.” I filled out the rest of the form and then submitted it. I then printed out the confirmation and directions to the clinic. It wasn’t too far from campus. “Here you go,” I said as I handed the printouts to Macy. “I will meet you there, and we’ll do the paperwork together if that’s ok. The site says we should have results in 3-5 days.” ——————— I took the paper Mike handed me and nodded, “Sure, that’s fine.” I folded it up and put it in my purse. I was proud of myself for not shaking when I took the paper. At least I had that under control for now. “Does it say if we need to bring anything with us?” I had my id, but that was about it. I didn’t think to grab anything else. -------------------- I looked over the site and scrolled through a few pages. “I don’t see anything specific we need to do. I would imagine like any other blood test that drinking water ahead of time is helpful.” I turned away from the monitor and looked over at Macy. I couldn’t help but smile. “I can’t believe how...calm I feel about this. Is it weird that I didn’t exclaim and fuss?” I laughed. “Are you sure you want to know if we’re related?” ——————— I laughed a little, “I would like to know very much. I just hope you’re more normal then my mom. I don’t know how she was when you knew her, but she’s gotten...crazy.” That was a nice way of putting it, right? “The rest of our family is...umm...a handful to say the least.” I didn’t know how much he remembered or how much my mom told him, so I didn’t want to say too much. I was about to ask him something else and a thought occurred to me. I wondered if he knew about me, what I was. ----------------- Chuckling, I watched Darius put his hand on her arm as if to stop her from saying any more. I couldn’t blame him. Until we knew for sure that we were related, I wouldn’t want to say too much either. Did she know about the foundation? My instincts said no since she had started by approaching Patrick. “Once we get the results, maybe then we can compare notes on crazy families,” I winked. “Your mom was fun-loving, adventurous and somewhat mysterious. That’s what I remember most. Wanting to know what secrets she hid behind her smiling eyes.” ------------------ I wasn’t sure what to say. Fun-loving? Adventurous? My mom? No way. Smiling eyes? I wanted to ask him if we were talking about the same person, but he’d seen her pictures. “She sounds like a totally different woman. None of that even sounds like her. But I’m betting when she was younger she was a completely different person. I wish I could have known that version of her.” And it was true, I really wish I had met that woman. -------------- I smiled as we stood and moved towards the door. “Maybe at the end of this journey you’ll get to meet her.” I did hope that for her. Whether she was my daughter or not. She deserved to have a good relationship with her mother. No matter what kind of relationship her mother and I had….or didn’t have. “I guess this is goodbye for now. I’ll see you in the morning, right?” I smiled as I shook Darius’ hand. I wasn’t sur whether to shake Macy’s hand or give her a hug. I guess I’d leave it up to her. —————— I wasn’t sure what my next move was. I hesitated a little, “Um, I’m not sure if I should hug you or shake your hand. So, if it’s okay with you, I think in this moment I’m going to shake your hand. And after we get the results back, maybe we can work up to a hug? Or not?” I was getting nervous and rambling again. “I’m sorry, I’m not good with parents and how to respond to them. Um, so if you do turn out to be my dad, there’s a fair warning?” I laughed a little. ------------------ I couldn’t help but laugh as I shook Macy’s hand. “Nothing wrong with that. I’ll see you two in the morning. Oh, hang on.” I grabbed a couple of my business cards from my desk and wrote my cell number on the back. “Here you go. I’ll let you be the one to contact me if you want to, ok?” Macy took the card and studied it for a minute before putting it in her bag. “See you tomorrow.” I watched them until they got in the elevator, then slowly closed my office door.