My 5:30 am alarm brings me out of my morning slumber and i frown, wanting to break my alarm clock for the disturbance, when my sleep had just gotten good.

I forgot to turn off the alarm like i usually do on weekends.

The timing couldn't have been worse because I pretty much rolled around bed for the most part of the night after i got home ealier that i had anticipated and it took me along time to finally fall alseep, so now, i feel sleep deprived.

It was barely 9pm when i finally decided to call it a night at Lorrenzo's house party, after having lost all interest in the event.

After Marianne left, i had struggled to entertain Eva for the remainder of the evening, who is a colleague and friend of mine and even though we are not romantically involved, she was irritated and complained about my aloofness towards everyone else after Marianne left.

To be honest, i don't really understand it myself, i was perfectly geared for an interesting evening after a long week of stressful court appearances.

Lorrenzo is a good friend and his company is always entertaining. I don't understand why Marianne leaving bothered me so much, someone who up until last night, i had even forgotten existed.

Meeting her at Lorrenzo's house party of all places was definitely a surprise, but i must admit it brought a jolt of excitement to an otherwise predictable evening and her leaving so abruptly was like a bucket of cold water was poured over me and i couldn't shake off the thought of her for the rest of the evening.

As usual, she was inappropriately dressed, but even her dull outfits does little to hide the fact that she is a beautiful woman, those blue eyes are gorgeous, that even i must admit.

Her attitude however always rubs me off the wrong way, the first time i met her was at Nick's penthouse when she was tutoring Ally, she came of as self righteous and a know it all. We had a difference of opinion on a political matter, but instead of agreeing to disagree, she became very standoffish and judgy, and i couldn't stand for it.

Then a few weeks later, she showed up at another one of Nick's family's parties at Ally's request of course, but showed up two hours late, how disrespectful is that? And on top of that, in her usual boring outfits and it just pissed me off even more.

But last night however, she looked very vulnerable and it wasn't something i expected from her, it surprised me so much that i couldn't get her troubled look off my mind the rest of the evening.

I wonder what was really going on with her yesterday, and if she got home ok.

Why i am still giving her space in my head i don't understand.

Running my fingers through my tousled bed hair, i grab my phone off the night stand and check for missed calls or messages that i might find interesting, finding none i want to return urgently, i put my phone back.

Deciding to shake off all thoughts of last night, i get out of bed. Like most Saturday mornings, i change into my workout clothes consisting of a black sleeveless tshirt and same colored workout shorts that go upto the middle of my thighs, and head to my workout room, that should clear my head and put me back on track for the day.

*

Holding the comforter up to her chin, in the comfort of her double bed, Mary watches the daylight slip into her bedroom through the connecting points of her emerald green curtains, signaling the start of a new day.

It's almost winter now and the weather is starting to get very cold during early morning, evening and especially after midnight, which she would know, considering she is usually up most nights due to her insomnia.

The air conditioning doesn't work well on her apartment floor and despite having many discussions with her landlord to fix the situation, nothing has been done about it yet.

Her eyes feel sandy for being up most of the night and her body tired and restless, after all, she did walk a considerable distance from the party last night, to where she could find public transportation readily available. The area Rachel took her to was a rich neighbourhood and pretty much everyone who lives or goes there drives, probaly.

For the millionth time, her mind plays back the events of last night. She should have never have agreed to go out with Rachel, it was such a disaster.... but thinking about it now in the comfort of her warm cozy bed, she can't help but feel like it was an adventure, an embarrassing one, but definitely an adventure.

It has been a while since she felt so much adreneline flow through her veins and she can't help but laugh now at the silliness of the whole situation.

And meeting Angelo was such a surprise, he was definitely not as unpleasant to her last night as he was the first two times they met, but for sure she hopes she never has to see him again.

but then again, she still has on-going school lessons with Ally, and he is best friends with her husband, so there may be a possibility that they might meet again, hopefully not.

Shaking her head, she decide it's time to get started on her usual Saturday morning routine.

Turning to pick her phone out from under her pillow, she finds four missed calls from last night, three from Rachel and one from an unknown number and it makes her frown. She has no desire to talk to Rachel right now, or anybody for that matter, so she decides to ignore the calls.

*

"Goodmorning" Luke opens the door and grins at her as he steps aside for her to enter his apartment.

"Morning" Mary pouts, reaching up to give him a kiss on the cheek and pulling the fleece tighter around herself as she walks in.

She walks straight to the sofa and dives on it, her face down and gives out a loud groan of fustration.

Eric watches her from his position at the door that connects the small living room to the kitchen.

"Code three?" he frowns.

"No, two" Mary replies sitting up to look at him.

"You won't believe what happened to me last night" she adds, her lips twitching at the corners, already picturing her friends laughter once she tells him the story.

"Hold on, let me get the food first" He beams with excitement, rushing into the kitchen to get their breakfast.

Ever since his bestfriend, and next door neighbour of two years met Alaia Crowe Bishop, a month or two ago, her life has gotten more and more eventful every day, hopefully this story has something to do with the Bishops, but whatever the case, he is here for the 'tea'.

*

Mary waits until the very last minute on Monday morning to walk into the school hall in order to avoid Rachel, despite the time passed, she still feels annoyed with her and is hoping to avoid her up until lunch time atleast.

Avoiding the staff room altogether, she heads straight to her class and unfortunately, finds Rachel already waiting for her.

""Goodmorning" Rachel pouts.

"I figured you would come straight here" she adds, giving her an innocent smile.

"Hai.....look, can we do this another time" Rachel motions to her class, which is now filling up with her students.

"Listen, am really really sorry, i promise it will never happened again"

"Thats for sure"

"But, why didn't you ever tell me you know Angelo Morreli?" Rachel asks, her face beaming with excitement, her remorse seemingly already water under the bridge.

"I don't"

"Ohh c'mon, don't be modest.

"I really don't."she replies, which is not really a lie, or complete truth either.

"Ain't you full of surprises. You know his father is a judge in the supreme court right? They are all kinds of distinguished, plus he is friends with the Bishops, and you know that family is one of the most elite of our society. So imagine my shock when i see you walk in with him."

"I told you, i don't really know him" Mary insists. She didn'teven know his last name until she offered it to her just now.

"Well, he seemed to know you, and he followed after you when you walked out, leaving us all standing there just like that. What was that about?" Rachel folds her hands over her chest with insistance.

"He did?" Mary asks, actually surprised this time.

Rachel frowns in frustration at her friends 'fake' acts of innocence.

"Stop pretending"

"Am not doing anything, i have work to do, do you mind?" Mary finally snaps, wondering what kind of appology this is, because it feels more like an interrogation.

"See you at lunch" Rachel leans in, and kisses her on the cheek before walking out, an act that leaves Mary stunned.

She has never done that before, ever.

Turning her attention to her class Mary decides once again, to put events of last friday behind her.

but she can not help the nagging question at the back of her mind, why Angelo followed her outside last friday night and all the other information that Rachel so graciously shared with her about him and his family that she was not aware of untill now.