Roxhanna was visiting the bank. It wasn't to make a withdrawal or deposit her income, she had the internet for that. 

It was one of these banks Will's father had from this company. This series of banks that a friend she had for a lifetime that lasted a minute used to work.

"Can I do something for you?" Emma once asked her.

"Yes, definitely" she had replied. "I'm sorry, I meant to start with the basics. Good morning, how are you?"

Roxhanna did a complete circle of the bank and stared at the empty desks. At this very moment, everyone was gathered at the center booth. In front of it, is an empty shallow area, perfect for robbers to parkour and office parties. 

The first time they met, Emma was really happy that someone seemed interested to hear what was going on with her. Even if in the end, it was simple kindness, they went the extra step.

"Thank you for asking. I'm Emma and I could always be a little better here I suppose, but I'm happy in my skin. Currently, that's all that matters. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks, things will be better."

She was walking solemnly in a circle looking at the walls. As a bank, it held a variety of paintings that they placed on every side of the building. It wasn't the originals and surely it mustn't have been too expensive but she commended the effort. 

"I mean, sorry if I'm over-analyzing this but my philosophy I should say involves the chain reaction or even, the butterfly effect. I am an ample believer in completing the necessary steps that would start a chain reaction and would propel my life to a better place. I believe in the God my family believes for all the generations before me, but I'm not willing to pretend that my place here is fixed or that someone or something will make it better. Even if I didn't believe, fate or destiny to me, would not incomprehensibly solve my problems" Emma concluded.

She got lost in their worlds, her eyes transparent, reflecting the places the paintings represented. An other-worldly, ethereal look was about to transform in her eyes moments before she lowered her eyes to the sign near the entrance hall.

"Did you say your big boss is your father-in-law?" she had asked her that day. "Tell me more."

"It's a huge and inexplicable romantic story. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"Why not?" Roxhanna had asked. "Other people's stories are always fascinating to hear. It gives you a broader perspective about the world."

She didn't like what the sign was saying, so instead of reading it, she moved on. The thought had once again occupied her mind but she wasn't going to stop her from contemplating. 

"So, you do this a lot?" Emma had asked her on that same day curiously. "Do you go around asking for other people's personal stories?"

"Yes," she had admitted. "To be fair, more in the past. Nowadays, my mind is constantly preoccupied with dull adult matters. But yeah, I always remember people's weird reactions to my blatant inquisitiveness. To that, I always said- Do you know of that saying? Strangers are just people you haven't met yet."

"YES" Emma was so lightened when she heard it that day. 

Her smile was as if a bridge was falling to invite another nation to the embassy. With a smile like that, you just know it would have a positive outcome.

For as long as she knew her, Roxhanna had held to that belief.

A woman from the gathering was slowly approaching her. 

At Roxhanna's expense, she was under the belief that she wouldn't be bothered. That somehow she would have been able to hold her anonymity after all of it. 

"Roxhanna?" that woman asked. 

Roxhanna turned aghast to look at the person calling her name. The papers she had submitted during that visit had her written under another. 

"How do you know my name?" she asked. 

The woman got closer to her. It seemed as though she wanted to put her right hand on Roxhanna's shoulder. Last minute, she refrained. 

"Excuse me if this feels too personal but even to us who weren't here that day, we saw the live coverage on the news. And the news has a way of revealing to the public all that want to remain secret one way or another."

Roxhanna scoffed at the remark. 

"I'm Catherine" she announced herself, her left hand ninety degrees, her right still pointing towards her. "Do you want to join the others?"

"I would go as far to as to say that with certain people, they are not only mere acquintacies, but possible future friends" she had continued. "If we don't mutually share this magic feeling I describe, that's fine" Roxhanna let on.

"No, no" Emma was quick to set the record straight on that one. "It's okay. And it is mutual. It's just. . . I don't know why but to my direction, you radiate this vibe?"

"This vibe?" 

To this day, Roxhanna was still baffled with vibes. 

"A vibe that who I have here, in front of me, is a woman with an appetite and some pretty wild imagination" Emma had concluded. 

"Yes, I think it's better if I join the others. Even though, not a lot of time has passed since it happened."

"Six months" Catherine revealed. "Half a year. To some, half a year feels like a year, to others, half a year feels no longer than a month."

"For me, I would say, in this particular experience, it's a little bit of both. So much has happened in my life in the past six months. Or should I say for the better, along with receiving the repercussions of my past life, it is a mixed feeling. To separate my life from the one I was before and at the same time, try to connect with the good parts of me that can be traced back to who I was all these years ago."

"I think I can safely come out and claim for myself that, I do have a fiery personality and an avant-garde reaction technique to life" she had agreed with a smile that portrayed an array full of white clouds. "When I'm not talking with someone like you, live, about real life and I happen to walk in the street amongst neighborhoods and buildings, I get excited about fantasy and the non-existent. To further elaborate for the better, I may sit near a balcony for a while, or preferably look at a building's balcony and look around at the surrounding buildings. Look around at the neighborhood, the imaginative day-to-day life I have constructed for them in seconds, all kinds of things like that. I would simply look at all the other residents who go about their days and live their mysterious lives while I may sit around or in a cafe and fill in the blanks. Hearing the neighbors talk, argue, laugh, and play with their kids or the family dog. I would make their backstory, where am I with a friend, I would discuss their character and their flaws." She abruptly cut herself. "Who am I kidding? Why am I lying, I don't want to lie. I never did that with another friend. I remember when I would sit on my balcony in New York City and silently share that experience with my one and only dog we picked up from the streets with my ex-husband."

"Oh, that's wonderful" Emma had cut in. "The fact that you get to share silent introspections like that with your dog is amazing. What's his name?" 

"His name was Solo. It was such a devastating feeling when I lost him. I hadn't felt like that in a long time. It reminded me of a long-passed traumatic memory I thought I had forgotten. I didn't know I could feel like this again."

"I'm sorry. Loss can take its toll on mental health. I lost my mother. I can never forget her."

The ensuing silence she remembered, was the most meaningful she had with a person for years. 

Roxhanna approached the gathering full of family and friends. A duplicate sign similar to the one on the entrance was placed before her. Even if she could ignore it, the letters were brought to life in the faces of the attendants and the pictures that were hung in a circle. The cake at the center straight ahead at the other side wasn't making things better.

WE ARE GATHERED HERE

IN LOVING MEMORIAM 

OF EMMA ELLIS

And all the surrounding victims and their families who survived that horrific robbery six months ago. 

Roxhanna closed her eyes and forced herself to inhale a deep breath. 

"I'm sorry" Emma had continued. "I interrupted you. Please, if it's not too difficult, carry on."

The deep breaths were never getting easier. Same with life but the technique remained the same. 

"I would sit there and I would unintentionally map out their whole life. I used to always try to end it on a happy note but life- doesn't always go that way. It has its crappy moments you know? What we ought to do, is not let them overshadow the mesmerizing memories that take over our mind months, or years after they happened."

"So, you're essentially looking for a white canvas to put yourself in. A place, an environment where you belong. I admire that journey. I can't say that I relate with you, I'm hyper-focused on the comings and goings of my own life, but I understand it. In that regard" she continued and Roxhanna remembered the last tear before the imminent rain unleashing down upon them from her eyes. "You remind me of my mother."

When it came down to people talking about their experiences and their memories of that fateful day, she was asked by Catherine if she wanted to offer a few words from her perspective. 

"Yes, of course. In a moment."

She held the belief that she ought to share the side of Emma she felt as if she knew forever. Although, she had a pretty good idea that her kindness and her originality would not be a revelation to many. 

A silent beeping noise and Roxhanna opened up her phone to review the text:

"Once again, this is me, Olivia. Warning you, as requested, of your meet-up with your daughter and the hot, Viking-looking (minus the long beard) dad. Be there this time."

She closed the screen of her phone and looked at the ceremony. "Where are you going?" Catherine silently yelled. She was already living. 

Roxhanna winced at her desicion. From her lonely past, she chose to venture to a hopeful future. 

A choice that would haunt her already restless nights for the rest of eternity, of that, she was sure. 

END OF CHAPTER 2