That night Bianca began packing her few belongings. With Louie perched quietly on her fold out bed, she listened to the sounds of the rainstorm that was raging outside of Watershed Heights. She pulled out her cell phone once again scrolling down her list of contacts. She stared at the words on the screen. "Home" the contact read. She continued on. "Hugh", "Mansion", "Mom". She stopped as tears began to blur her vision. She had been trying to muster the courage to make the call for hours. Louie looked up as the sound of Bianca's dull sobs echoed off the walls of the empty room. How could she call her mother? Admit to the sad defeat that her life had has been? Explain why she hadn't called in months, explain the excuse for a life she had been living? Bianca looked up to catch glimpse of herself in the cracked mirror above the sink. There she was. A beautiful young Italian woman. Two bloodshot dark brown eyes, perfectly centered on her plump face.

The sounds of the storm began to subside. She looked at the clock on her phone. It was 6:15 in the morning. Her bus would be arriving soon. Antonio had offered to make the trip with her back to the Jersey Shore but she insisted upon making this venture alone. If Bianca was going to get her life back in order she was going to have to make the journey independently. "Its time", she thought to herself.

She scooped Louie as carefully as she could into his Ed Hardy carrier and took one last look around the sorry apartment. She examined the large cracks in the wall, the stains on the floor, the mold growing in the corner of the ceiling. She turned on her heel slamming the door without looking back.

As Bianca stepped out into the morning sunshine she was stopped dead in her tracks. A large crowd was circled around an area that was sectioned off with yellow caution tape. Police men circled the premises. She tapped a woman on the shoulder, "What's going on?", she asked stunned. "A woman jumped", the woman responded with tears in her eyes. Bianca instantly felt a wave of nausea as she backed away from the scene.

Bianca let tears slide down her face as she approached the bus stop. The sounds of running water suddenly brought her back to reality. She looked up. The fountain that sat in the middle of the roundabout seemed to be sputtering. She stared blankly with a number of others gathered around the ancient structure. Her tears seemed to flow at the same simultaneously with the trickling of the fountain.

The slow screeching of breaks interrupted her gaze. The bus had arrived. Bianca made her way up the rusted steps and took one final look at the scene outside. She glanced between the shocking police scene gathered outside her once apartment and the ambling people surrounding the newly functioning fountain.

Bianca took a seat at the back of the bus, holding Louie tightly in her arms. As the bus pulled away from Watershed Heights she stared confidently ahead knowing that the only place to go from here was forward. Bianca was going home.

Bianca looked up, startled by the presence of a man at her table. He introduced himself as Kalvin. At first, Bianca was quite hesitant to make conversation with the stranger. But remembering her manners the two began to fall into a delightful conversation. Her people skills were rushing back to her. She kept up the small talk letting flashes of her pearly white teeth dazzle him. Her mind raced back to the many parties she used to attend where entertaining guests, usually strangers, was a daily occurrence. As Bianca giggled lightheartedly at the mans jokes, they were both started by the smell of fresh pie. The two looked around confused as the waiter approached the table once again. "It seems that the power has gone out in the city." The waiter began "I'm afraid of refrigerator has cut off so I can't offer you the salad you ordered. Our only working equipment seems to be our oven." Bianca smiled and told the man not to worry and to simply cancel her order knowing well that pie would not help her in her quest to return to her former physique. She bid both the waiter and the kind man farewell as she rose from the booth. It was difficult to leave seeing as there was such a massive number of people that had gathered at the entrance of the diner. She accidentally bumped into a man carrying a decadent looking cream pie as she tried to make her escape. Just as she reached the door a familiar smell began to fill her nose. It was the smell of Ricotta Pie. An old Italian recipe that her mother used to cook before she left for The Mansion. Tears welled in her eyes as she finally squeezed through the glass doors. A strong jolt of determination resonated through her body knowing now, more than ever, that it was time to find her way home. She was started by the buzzing of her phone. Antonio was returning her call.