Boundless

The fluffy pancakes smiled up at Charlotte, their blissful fragrance filled the apartment expertly, nearly making her mouth water. She lay the spatula down beside the griddle and checked the bacon she decided to bake instead of fry, after all she was feeding two of Chicago's finest heroes.

"Oh my God," Shay called from the top of the stairs, "I could wake up to the smell of your cooking for the rest of my life, Charlotte."

Charlotte snickered and poured the last of the batter onto the iron before turning to greet her with a smile. "The bacon'll be done in a bit."

Shay had already taken to piling two of the chocolate chip pancakes onto her plate and swirled a design onto them with a squeeze from the bottle of syrup. Charlotte watched as she took a large bite, closing her eyes in content, letting a smile overtake her full lips.

All the while, Kelly emerged from behind the back wall, his t-shirt draped over his muscular chest. "Smells good," he complimented, taking the stool beside his friend.

"Mmhm," Shay agreed, then swallowed the bite in her mouth. "Kelly, I swear if you don't marry this girl then I will." She sat quietly in thought for a moment, "Well, when it becomes legal and all."

Charlotte shook her head and turned to retrieve the bacon, setting it on top of the stove for them to eat.

"Alright, while you eat I'm going to go take a shower," Charlotte told them, rubbing her palms together.

Kelly's eyebrows pulled down in confusion. "Aren't you going to eat?"

"Breakfast doesn't agree with me," she lied simply, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek. "I'll be out before you leave."

Part of her felt bad for lying to them, but had she another choice she would've come clean. Since everything happened with Arden's uncle she just didn't feel hungry anymore; like anything that was placed before her for her own consumption made her stomach turn. Sure she ate a little something every now and then, she didn't want to die, but as far as eating a full meal goes she hadn't eaten one in weeks.

The water that washed over her body did little to ease her mind, so instead of savoring the moment she hurriedly washed herself and stepped out, making sure to press her foot onto the mat outside the tub. She stepped closer to the mirror, holding the towel tightly around her body, examining the tint of darkness beneath her eyes with a sigh.

Mom would kill me, she mused, a small smile on her lips. She always said a woman needs to take care of herself, no matter the costs.

She dragged the brush through her growing hair, which was now nearly to the middle of her back on a day without humidity, and decided to leave it to it's natural curly state. She brushed her teeth quickly and threw on a pair of dark jeans, a cream colored camisole and a thin cotton cardigan and exited the bathroom.

Back in the kitchen Kelly and Shay were conversing about something one of their co-workers had said, Shay hanging onto the back of the chair in hopes of staying upright. Kelly wiped beneath his eye before turning to Charlotte with an award winning smile and opening his arms for her.

"We gotta get goin," he said into her hair. "Call if you need anything," he told her seriously. "I'll see you Wednesday, beautiful."



Sometime in the afternoon the same day Charlotte felt the need to go to her house, just to make sure it was still in one piece. She'd been living with Shay and Kelly for little more than a month, and in all honesty couldn't be happier. She found that their presence helped with her low spirit while they were around, but as soon as they left for work her mind trailed to everything she could have done to have kept her job.

She missed her kids desperately, she yearned to see them, but in the contract she signed a little over two weeks ago when she went to retrieve her things, she stated that she wouldn't come within fifty feet of the school during operating hours.

And so she was stuck at the apartment with her thoughts for nearly two days at a time, reliving every moment of the attack.

Her mind drifted from one subject to another, and before she knew it she was in her car, driving toward her house for the first time in a month. Her own abode wasn't very far from the apartment, it was only a ten minute drive to the outskirts of the city. She pulled into the driveway and opened the door to her car, feeling for the key around her neck she needed to enter the house.

Once she was inside her legs carried her to her bedroom, straight to the box she asked Kelly to take back to her house for her, so she wouldn't have to see the reminder of what her job had been. She sat on the bed with the small box, her hands shaking slightly as she removed the lid to search the contents.

She sifted through the useless documents she'd saved over the two years she taught, stopping only when she found what she didn't know she'd been searching for. In her hand was a small, handmade card that her students had provided her with the week she had her appendix out. Gently she opened the card, her eyes prematurely filled with tears, reading over each and every signature.



And the one that made her heart twist uncontrollably.



Charlotte dashed through the house running toward the phone she kept on the kitchen counter, her fingers dialing the number she kept pinned on the wall faster than she thought possible. In three rings the secretary picked the phone up, but Charlotte had already cut her off.

"I need some information, please."