Ronstad & Bradshaw, LLP - Downtown Las Vistas
Little children were playing in the park across the street, running around after each other, taking turns on the swings, teetering up and down on the seesaw. For the second day in a row the same older couple came and sat on down on one of the benches, sharing a bag of what she could only assume were peanuts from the street vendor they had stopped at before. She watched a flock of birds move from tree to tree, taking off and landing in sync together. Simple events that weren’t very interesting and probably happened day after day, but for some reason she couldn’t help but be sucked in as if her life depended on cataloging each one.
Phoenix Heights, Downtown Las Vistas
“Foul!” Wes shouted as Rider’s shoulder plowed into him sending him to the ground. “Bullshit,” Rider shouted back as the ball left his hands and flew towards the basket, hitting the rim rather than going through the net. “You bumped into me and I’m the one with the ball. If anyone has a foul it’s you.” Wes sat up but remained on the ground, winded from the fall. “Fine, then I call a time out. Take your damn shots.”
DeSantos Bros. Auto Body - Downtown Las Vistas
Nico shot straight up as the loud blast of a car horn echoed in the garage beyond his office and the sharp pain in his neck that resulted sent his hand up to soothe it with a tight massaging grip. The buzz of an air drill and lug nuts clinking on the ground a few seconds later confirmed his assumption that Carlos, his service manager, had arrived at work, it also explained the horn. Groggy and irritated, he slowly turned to look up at the clock on the wall. It was 8:25am. Somewhere between berating himself about his fight with Bianca and going over the week’s profit sheet, now a crumpled heap of papers on the floor, he had managed to doze off.
10:00pm – DeSantos Residence – Sagebrush
Nico slammed the door to his car and stood outside looking up at the window of his daughter’s room. The light was on; she was still awake. He had left the house at the crack of dawn and stayed at the garage until well after dark. He had even taken the long, long way home: the scenic bypass around the city, back up through the foothills and down the coastline. No radio, no CDs, just dead silence and his thoughts. He was strategizing, trying to come up with the right way to handle this, but most of all he was stalling. The few days he had taken to let himself and Bianca calm down hadn’t given way to a solution to his dilemma. No matter how many ways he tried to get around it, he had no other choice but to tell his daughter the truth.
Monacco Desert Cottage - Vista Hills
Nico stood on the familiar stone steps in front of Isabella’s house, sullen and paralyzed with apprehension. He had stood in that same spot not so long ago – his heart in his throat – wondering if she would let him in, hear him out, let him tell her how much he still felt for her. Miraculously, she did let him in and everything in his life after that moment had changed for what he wanted to believe was the better.
South Coast Hwy. - Black Rock Badlands
“It’s about fucking time you showed up!” Rook was already hot and tired and the extra hour he had stood outside waiting hadn’t made things any better. “I told you I would be late. If you were stupid enough to wait out here that’s on you.” Nico shot back as he got out of the car and walked around to the trunk.
6:00 AM Bolthouse Beach House - Azura Beach
The morning sun had refused to let him sleep; the one drawback of having picture windows—no sleeping in. And he had wanted to so badly; if for no other reason than to continue the dream he had been having about Isabella. He had replayed his encounter with her in his head a million times and couldn’t shake the urge to kick himself in the ass for being so stupid. The very fact that he had forgotten he was with someone else at the time made him uneasy as it signaled just how preoccupied he was where she was concerned. After he had picked his face up off the floor and managed to convince Rachel to come back to his place, he had spent the better part of the evening making it up to her and now she lay half dressed on his brand new Italian leather sofa; an annoyance he figured he could excuse considering his faux pas at the restaurant.
Le Madeline Bistro - Vista Glenn
"Okay, we've talked about the weather, you've asked me a million questions about work and Cyrus and Zoe, so let's cut the small talk and get to the dirt.” While Eden loved that she and Isabella were back in contact, she knew her friend well enough to know that she hadn't been invited to lunch just to shoot the breeze. Isabella had a certain look in her eye that alluded to more than the pleasantries that they had been exchanging. This cat had definitely swallowed a canary and Eden wouldn't be satisfied until she coughed it up.
Monacco Desert Cottage - Vista Hills
The light from the windows slowly drew Nico out of his sleep. The fire that had roared in the fireplace the night before had quieted into low burning embers; but it wasn’t out. That same fire had burned inside of him and culminated into an unforgettable night with the woman he who had ignited.
