2 Chapter 1

"Liam, it's time to go!" Estefani yelled as she got ready to leave her apartment.

Before she left, she strapped on her white wristwatch. Shifting its face to underneath her wrist, before grabbing Liam's leash and her red peacoat.

"Come on, Liam, or we'll be late to work."

A black and white husky with two different-colored eyes came running to her call, his tail wagging vigorously, excited to spend the day with her. Estefani crouched down to put on his vest, which read "SERVICE ANIMAL". Petting him helped ease the anxiety that always seemed to follow her.

"Come on, Liam. Hold still," she said, annoyed as she struggled to put on his vest. He was getting very excited; normally, Liam was a calm dog.

It took some time and much-needed patience, but she was finally able to get his hind legs through the vest and put on his leash. They then headed out of the apartment and into the misty morning.

The mornings were always foggy. At times, it was so thick that people could barely make out what was only a block away.

Estefani lived in an apartment in the middle of the town that made it easier for her to walk to the university which was two blocks away. She took art classes there in her spare time when work stressed her out.

Estefani passed dozens of apartments until she was at the corner she needed to cross to get to the bus stop. Thankfully, there were only a few people on the bus, since it was still early in the morning. She smiled to herself. This was the way she liked it. She thought it was best to sit near the exit, so by the time more people got on; she would be able to get out with no problem. As she sat there she gripped Liam's leash and kept gripping it tighter as more people trickled in. Taking deep breaths as each person came in. She shifted to the edge of her seat trying not to make contact with others as it started getting crowded. The noise of people talking started to get unbearable and Estefanie couldn't help but hold her breath. The bus dropped its passengers off at the Business Park where Estefani's work was located.

The Business Park was located at the corner of town where all the other small corporations were. There was a large parking lot shared by multiple buildings, wide driveways, and only a few trees.

Estefani worked at Jupiter Computer Hardware, a newly established business in the area. Even though she became the company's graphic designer five years ago, she still arrived everyday nervous as she had been on the first day.

As she took the elevator to the third floor, her heart pounded furiously, and her palms became wet with sweat. She cleaned her sweaty hands on her fitted dark grey trousers. She took a step back and gripped the railing, taking silent, deep breaths to calm herself.

"Calm down, Estefani. You've done this a million times. No need to worry," she told herself. Liam nuzzled Estefani's leg and whined; this meant he wanted to be petted, which he knew relaxed her.

"Thank you, Liam," she said to him as she petted his head gently. The soft thumping of his tail on the carpet floor echoed throughout the tiny space. Her breathing slowed as she heard the first then second 'ding!', of the elevator. As she neared the third floor, she began to quiver again.

Once the elevator doors slid open, she quickly walked out. The doors opened to desks buzzing with phone calls, employees picking them up one after another. Everyone was too busy to really notice Estefani passing through. If eye contact was made, it was a simple exchange of nods and smiles.

Estefani got to her office where her drawing table was located. Took off her peacoat and purse setting them on a chair in the corner of her office. She took off Liam's leash, knowing that he would stay in her office and not wander off. She sat on the stool in front of her desk, put on her headphones, and started sketching out her latest assignment. Liam laid himself under the desk as Estefani worked.

Estefani didn't stop sketching until she heard a knock on her door. She paused her music and took off her headphones.

"Hope I'm not interrupting your creativity," said William, Estefani's boss. He was tall, with green eyes. His chestnut-brown hair was always parted on the right side.

"Of course not. Please come in," she said, avoiding eye contact as her cheeks started to feel warm.

William set down a white, steaming coffee cup. "For you." Estefani glanced at it then back at William.

"What do you want?" She had not meant for the words to come out so harshly, but they did before she could apologize for her harsh tone.

William responded, "I don't want anything. What, a friend can't bring coffee without it meaning he wants something?"

She scoffed at herself, feeling a little warm inside as she looked down. "Sorry." It was the first time that her boss had called her his friend.

"Then again, I guess you're right. We are friends," she realized, giving him a strained laugh, "because me giving you a birthday gift last year would just be weird then."

He laughed. "So, as a friend, I have a huge favor to ask of you."

She hesitated as her face started to feel hot. "What is it?"

His gift of coffee made her happy, but what he was about to request, whatever it may have been, made her heart rate increase.

"It's not anything too complicated," he quickly assured her. "I just want you to go to San Jose and meet the head of Eleanor Software. They're a big-sister company of ours. They just opened a new office building down there."

"Why me?" she asked. She wasn't that important of a person; it was unusual that he would ask her to meet the head of another company, even if it was a sister company.

"The head of Eleanor requested you because she's interested in your work portfolio."

Surely she wasn't meeting the head just because the woman liked her work, right? She knew something was fishy; there had to be something else.

"Okay," she trailed off. "What do you want me to do over there beside meet the head?"

"Glad you asked." He grinned. "They want to hire you. If you're willing to accept, that is."

Estefani tensed. She could feel her body start to tremble as she tried to breathe normally. He wanted her to accept a job offer which was at least two hours away—more if there was any traffic. She already had trouble talking to people in this company, and now he wanted her to accept a job where she wouldn't know anybody at all.

Glancing back up at William, she could see that he was more excited about the job offer than she was. She didn't want to leave a place that she felt at least somewhat comfortable.

"Can I take Liam with me?"

"Of course. I already told her, and she's excited to meet him, too."

"Before I can accept whatever job they're offering, you know that I'll need a ride to get there?" she asked, hoping that no transportation would be available.

"I'll get the limo ready."

"You don't have to get a limo. A company car would be just fine," she said. A limo wasn't necessary. At least she didn't think it was. She didn't feel she was that important for him to get a limo to take her there.

He smiled at her. "I'm joking unless you really do want to go in a limo..."

Estefani could feel her cheeks heat up. Liam growled in disapproval.

"I guess someone isn't too fond of my jokes," said William, laughing.

"Guess not. Liam is always overprotective of me. For a service dog, you'd think he'd behave, but sometimes, I don't know what gets to him," she said, bent down and stroked Liam's head to calm him down.

She took a deep breath, "So when do I meet the head of Eleanor Software?"

"In two weeks."

"Okay, sounds good," she said, trying not to make her voice climb up two octaves.

Meeting new people made her pulse quicken and hands shake. At the end of the day, she thought about the job offer on the bus ride home. Liam kept his head on her lap the whole way back on the bus, his chin bobbing with each bump of the bus. As she petted him, she wondered what kind of person the head of Eleanor Software was.

Eleanor Software was starting out, like the person in charge of it. Estefani heard from her colleagues that the head of Eleanor Software was handed to her by her father because she wanted it.

They got off at the usual stop across the street from her apartment building. She was halfway across the crosswalk when the walk sign started counting down the seconds she had left to get over. In the left turn lane across the street, a car zoomed through a red light, just barely missing cars but charging directly towards Estefani and Liam.

Paralyzed with fear, thinking the car would run her over, she was astonished when the car passed right in front of her. She felt the wind whip her hair back as it narrowly missed her. Cars honked around her, and people yelled out their windows at the reckless driver. Even Liam felt inclined to contribute to the commotion and began to bark. The crosswalk kept counting down the seconds, and someone yelled at her to move out of the way. She hesitated for a second longer before hurrying across to safety.

When she reached her apartment, she no longer thought of the job offer, instead, her mind was preoccupied with the fact that she had survived that. How did she? Thinking back, she was absolutely sure the car was coming directly at her, but it magically missed her by just a few inches. She took off Liam's leash and vest before heading to her room, still shaken up.

She changed into her white nightgown with a Peter Pan collar that had lace on the bottom and the sleeves, put on her bunny slippers. Then headed toward her bed, where Liam was already lying down. She flopped onto her mattress and buried her face into Liam's fur, which he didn't mind. The warmth emitting from his fur made Estefani feel at ease and safe. She couldn't believe what an intense day it had been. She crawled under the covers and fell asleep, with Liam laying soundly next to her.