Chapter 1.2 ~ New Day

Henley woke with the realization that she had slept well in to the morning. Instead of carefully dressing, she threw on her clothes from the day before and went about packing up all her things. As she made up the bed, she noticed with amusement that it was the only thing not made of wood.

After hurriedly applying some make up, Henley made sure to place the key back beneath the mossy rock. She grabbed her purse and called Miranda, the realtor who had done most of the grunt work in finding Henley a place to live on short notice. After making the decision to move to Hidden Springs, she'd wasted no time making arrangements to find a temporary place to live that would be big enough for the furniture she had in storage, but small enough to afford. 

Hidden Springs was a small town, but it was a place where the wealthy flocked for its stunning views and where celebrities often kept second (or third) homes. Henley had not been sure what she could afford but Miranda had assured her that there were several renovated town homes in the city centre that would probably suit her needs and her budget. All Henley had to do was pack her things in to a truck and send them to Hidden Springs and Miranda would do the rest.

Of course it had cost a small ransom to have everything done for her, but in her vulnerable state, she had instantly agreed to it. She wasn't sure she could do it on her own.

As Henley entered in to the town proper, she felt a mixture of nervous anticipation and excitement. She tapped her fingers restlessly against the steering wheel while waiting for the light to change. Her town house would not be ready until later in the evening so Henley decided that she would have a look around the shopping district. 

A brief glance in the rearview mirror made her pause as she realized that she looked a mess and probably could have used a shower back at the cabin. Henley silently cursed herself for rushing through her first day. Wasn't part of the point of this adventure to slow down and learn to relax a bit? she chided herself. She pulled in behind a bookstore, parked behind a garbage bin and surreptitiously changed in the roadster.  

She threw on a grey cashmere sweater over a pair of leggings and tugged on her best brown leather Madlen boots. After raking a brush through her hair, she felt a bit more like herself.

Henley cruised around until she found parking on the street, something that was almost always impossible in Bridgeport, she mused. As she was feeding the parking meter some coins, her stomach growled ferociously and she suddenly remembered that she hadn't eaten in almost 24 hours. Glancing up the lane way  she saw what looked to be an adorable pink and blue café, and with her stomach urging her on, she trotted up the cobblestone path to the door.

"Hi!" she said enthusiastically to the woman at the counter. The woman didn't respond in kind. 

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Henley and said "And who are you?" 

She wasn't sure quite what to say at first. Was the woman's rudeness because Henley was new? Her innate friendly nature took over and she marched up to the counter and gamely offered her hand to the woman. "I'm Henley Grey. And you are?"

The woman had narrow, brown eyes that seemed too small for her face and her lips curled up in a bit of a sneer.

"I'm Heather." It seemed like that was all Henley was going to get.

"Well Heather, I'm starving." She picked up a menu and scanned it quickly. "Could I get a grilled cheese sandwich please?"

Heather's eyes narrowed even more, until Henley was unsure if Heather could even see her at all.

"Upstairs," Heather said, gesturing vaguely toward the staircase at the rear of the shop.

She didn't know what Heather meant by that, but the squinty brown eyes were beginning to make Henley distinctly uncomfortable and so she made her way up the steps as quickly as she could.

Upstairs there was a bar with a few tables scattered about and there was even a little balcony  too. Henley loved everything about the place...except, perhaps, for the staff. After about five minutes, a young man in a crisp, white chef's uniform brought her a grilled cheese sandwich. He was polite but said nothing. Henley was so intent on eating that she only caught the strange look he gave her out of her peripheral vision as he made his way back down the stairs. Was she being paranoid or were the people in this café a little left of centre?

The smell of the grilled cheese distracted her though and she wolfed it down, all the while trying to decide what to do with her day. She wanted to look around, of course, but she also needed to start searching for a job. Henley pushed away her empty plate and dug her nails in to the wood of the bar at the thought of employment.  If she couldn't find a good job, then all her efforts to create a new life would be in vain.

Henley decided to look through one of the pamphlets that Miranda had sent her. She settled on the balcony to enjoy the crisp air and sunshine as she dug the pamphlet - well, really it was more of a book, it was so big - out of her purse.

She flipped casually through 'A History of Hidden Springs', which noted that the temperature here was considered one of the more temperate climates in the country. The weather never changed overly much. Summers were warm but not broiling and winters were simply cool, without frost or snow. Henley knew all this already. She skipped to the back to see if there were any departments stores or shops that might be looking for a new employee.

Henley loved fashion. She loved hair, and make up and dresses and boots and bags. She knew that fashion often seemed a bit superficial to others outside the industry, but she loved helping people look their best. The look of surprise or newly-felt confidence on a person's face when she gave them a make over was one of life's delights!

With thoughts of Prada dancing in her head, Henley headed over to the nearest shopping district to suss out the possibilities. 

After working as a fashion consultant in Bridgeport for several years, she had started to make a name for herself. She saved half her earnings while the other half went towards, well, clothing. And shoes. And make-up. Henley wasn't a superficial person but she understood the industry well and shrewdly invested in her appearance. It paid off.

By the time Henley left Bridgeport, she had saved enough to pay a year's worth of rent. But of course, Henley had no intention of lounging around with the rest of the population of Hidden Springs. No ma'am. She would simply re-create her Bridgeport success here.