Sunday, 8th of July

Sometimes life brought random meetings in your life for a good reason. Most of the times we don't get the reason right at the meeting, we need some time to figure out, why we end up there in that position with this person.

It wasn't that Sara felt bad or annoyed when she entered the reception of the motel in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, she was simply surprised. Nobody else than Sofia Curtis was there, standing only a few feet away from her. She hasn't seen the detective in ages. After Sara had this awful night under the car in the desert, Sofia vanished almost immediately after she helped to rescue Sara. No good-bye, no telephone number. Not that two women were very close but it would have been nice if Sofia had say good-bye. On the other hand side, Sara left Vegas a couple of weeks later in almost the same way. So she couldn't be mad with the blond detective.

"Sofia?" Maybe Sara was wrong and it was somebody who looked like Sofia.

The blond woman turned around, distract by the call of her name. Surprise came to her face, followed by a soft smile.

"Sara! How are you?" Sofia didn't move. She only looked at Sara, unsure what to do, how to react. Should she hug Sara? Should she shake her hand?

"I'm fine, thanks. How are you?"

"I'm good."

"I'm sorry, but you have to sign here", said the woman at the reception and saved the two other women in this way from the first period of silence. Both thinking what to say next. Sara knew she has never been a friend of Sofia, not that they had any problems working together. At least not after the first months. But they never were friends. And Sofia had never managed to come close to the investigator, no matter what she'd tried. Sara had this invisible wall around herself and she never offered Sofia a help to climb over this wall.

"Sure." Sofia signed her form and got her key. Room seventeen.

"How long are you here for?" Sara asked when she moved closer to the reception to check in.

"The whole week. You?"

"Same."

"I can give you a room next to each other" the receptionist offered.

Both women looked at each other. Was is impolite so say, that's not necessary? That they were old colleagues but not friends. Or should they take the offer, it didn't really matter if their rooms were next to each other, they were in the same motel anyway. There wasn't a rule that said you have to spend time together when you lived next to each other.

"Sure" Sara said and started to fill in the form and got room key eighteen.

Caught in a new little pause Sofia looked at the receptionist and asked for a delivery service. The woman handed her a few flyer.

"If you're hungry too we can have a bite."

"Sounds good, I'm starving." It was late in the afternoon and Sara didn't have any lunch. She left home in the late morning and drove the whole way without a break, desperate to arrive in Los Angeles as early as possible.

They took their bags and went to their rooms.

"Um, why don't you come over in five minutes after we both got settled down?" Sofia tried not to end up in a silence again.

"Okay." A little smile came to Saras face and eased Sofia. She opened her door and went into her room. Relieved to have the chance to sort her thoughts Sara dropped her bag on a little sofa and fell backwards on her bed. Hard and soft at the same time, if she would sleep bad it wasn't because of the bed.

What the hell did Sofia do here? It wasn't anything personal, it wasn't that she especially disliked the fact that the detective was here, she just wasn't prepared to see anybody from her old work place. She wasn't prepared to have her past throwing in her face. She didn't feel like talking about the 'good old times' in Vegas and the thought of hundreds questions about her new life didn't make her happy either. Telling Sofia all she wanted was time for herself would have been rude, there was no real reason to avoid the other woman. For christ's sake, she had helped to find Sara in the desert, was one of the first people who were there, Sara should feel something like a huge desire to thank Sofia. It's not like they had a fight. It was only…Sara didn't know why she felt like she did.

She got herself up, walked in the bathroom, spilled some cold water in her face, changed into something casual, placed the fruits she'd bought before she left home in the little fridge and took a look out of her kitchen window. A few trees, a house and two kids playing with a ball on the street. It seems like she was in a quiet place, thanks God for that.

Sighing she took her room key and closed the door behind herself. A little chat, some good food, that was all. She could excuse herself after an hour or so. She had a long drive, had to get up early tomorrow, she could stay with Sofia the whole night.