There was nothing like a fresh start, something completely new and different from the everyday routine which so often became mundane and uninteresting for her. Perhaps, to some degree, consistency was a good thing. It gave a feeling of security and comfort in a way, allowing for her to know that there would always be something to fall back on. After all, she would be among the first to admit that she was hardly the one who hasn't had a habit of repeating bad decisions a time or two. When they say that it took making mistakes to learn and be a little bit smarter about things, well... they never really said exactly how many times the same poor choice needed to be made so that she might finally get it. Goodness knows that her parents and older sister have only tried to tell her an innumerable amount of times that she had a way of taking this whole "being spontaneous" thing to a whole new level, a magnitude that was probably only going to end badly for her. She couldn't even count on her hands how many times Renee told her that sneaking out the window when she was supposed to be grounded for skipping class to run around their hometown was only going to end up lengthening the number of days her privileges would be limited. But, out of every... ten times that she popped out the screen of their shared bedroom and climbed down the tree whose boughs reached right up to the window sill, she'd only ever get caught maybe once or twice. How could she not!? The tree was right outside her window! And there was just something about that sense of restriction, the way that being grounded only made her all the bolder and more daring to break the rules her mother and father had set for her and Renee that it was like the gods were practically tempting Lenore to test those parental boundaries. It wasn't like her grades were poor. Like her older sister, she really was smart. She knew what was right and what was wrong, what was expected of her and why. But, that didn't mean she always listened. She loved her parents and her sister with all her heart, there was no questioning that. However, she was the same wild spirit her mother had been, only with the same fierce defiance â€" and temper â€" that her father was infamous for. So, really, they should have expected that their luck wouldn't hold up when they tried for another child and succeeded. She was almost entirely certain they were hoping that she would be more like Renee; cautious and methodical, always favoring on the side of order and logic. Yeah... that definitely backfired.

An exasperated sigh is forced from the woman in such a way, her agitation clear as she shuffles through yet another box of stuff. This was why she hated moving. Really, she'd only moved two other times before Kerim decided that he wanted to expand his entrepreneurial horizons, having anticipated an opportunity to only further his own wealth and success. There had been her first ever time moving out from under her mother and father, deciding to follow her sister and move in with the blonde woman when she'd turned eighteen. That had perhaps been the simplest move she'd ever had to go through, though she also didn't have nearly as much crap as she did now. But, that was also before she discovered her strange addiction to purchasing shoes that she likely wouldn't wear for months, maybe longer. She also hadn't had Meeko at the time, either. Renee had welcomed her sister with open arms, of course under the pretense that her dark-haired sister find a job of her own so that she could start paying her fair share of the rent, utilities, and groceries. Which was perfectly reasonable. Literally anything sounded better to Lenore than continuing to live in that same small town in their childhood bedroom with their mother and father driving her up the wall to try and find something to do with her own life. It was the perfect out for her, and so she'd taken it. How amazing it had felt, being out from under those loving yet watchful eyes! And, as luck would have it, only days after settling herself into that two-bedroom apartment within that very first real city, she'd managed to find a job. Granted, it wasn't anything fancy, but since when did anyone ever get so lucky as to have bragging rights about their first job? Working at a movie theater selling overpriced tickets and snacks wasn't exactly a high-end job, nor was it high-paying, but it served its purpose. The perks were nice, though. All the free movies, popcorn, and soda she could ever want in her life? Yeah, it wasn't a bad deal at all. It was almost a shame that she and her sister ended up moving a couple years later, Renee having finally finished her schooling and equipped to reach for the career of her dreams."You should go to school, Lucy. It would be good for you". If the dark-haired woman had a dime for every time she would he getting into her uniform as she prepared for the new job of working at some little coffee stand in their new home within Crestview, Lenore would be rich. And even more so if she got a dime more for every single roll of her eyes she had given her sister, her own sarcastic or stubborn retort shortly following. She knew that college was a wise choice, anyone with common sense enough to know where the real money was earned could see that. And, just to appease her older sister, she'd decided to work towards a diploma in massage therapy.

It hadn't cost her a fortune - though admittedly their parents had happily paid Lenore's way, hoping that she might turn out more like Renee after all - and hadn't taken her long to obtain it, but when she had, the very thing she knew would happen did in fact happen. She couldn't find a single damn place to work. Everyone was looking for CNAs or people with medical or law degrees it seemed like."Well, maybe you should have picked a different field". A wicked smirk dances across the dark-haired woman's lips then as she begins to shuffle through another box and find a place the items in their new respective places, thinking about how she'd be eating her own words now. While it had seemed like a waste of nearly a year at the time, Lenore absolutely annoyed by how long it had taken her to get that stupid diploma that was essentially worthless to her, she hardly knew just how fortunate she would be to have endured those hours, weeks, and months of classwork and exams until Kerim walked into her life. It had been a chance meeting really, and even to this day surprised that she'd been approached by the devilishly handsome man with near-black hair and amber eyed that seemed to flicker like fire light. It had been during one of her less than clean breakups, and still she hated that she'd found Caleb with another woman that afternoon when she'd stopped by his place after her shift at the coffee stand entirely on a whim. Lenore had been walking through the illuminated streets of Crestview that night when the sun went down, walking anywhere and nowhere in particular, doing everything she could to tell herself that jail time for a double homicide was not exactly worth wasting away most of her life for. The guy and his little wench weren't even deserving of the fury that so fueled the wildfire that burned fiercely in the woman's molten chocolate eyes as she wandered with hands shoved firmly in the pockets of her jacket. Why she'd ended up at the park that night, she wasn't entirely sure, but she'd found herself swinging idly on the rust set that was there on the playground. It was the one place she could listen to the trickling sound of a small river, taking her back to those simpler days as a little girl and the trips to the beach that her family would go on. Out of nowhere, the man had appeared. Approaching her almost cautiously at first, he'd asked why it was she was there. Naturally, her reply hadn't been the warmest, and yet for some forsaken reason, someone showing concern for her had been enough to coerce tears from the woman. The woman hardly ever cried, and still Lenore defiantly insisted they'd been tears of absolute anger gone too far rather than hurt or heartbreak. It's not like her and Caleb had been super serious or anything anyway, so why it had even bothered her like it had was in and of itself ridiculously infuriating.

He'd taken her to a bar that night, and the next thing Lenore knew, they were talking about relationships and how difficult they could be. At first, when Kerim had made the offer to... take care of him, the woman had laughed. She'd played along, saying that she would have loved nothing more than for Caleb to fall off the face of the planet. The subject then changed as Lenore asked the man to tell him a little about who he was and why he was being so now, warning him that she was far from interested in intimate affiliations, but his answer had surprised the woman. He'd found her interesting, going on to say that she seemed like a strong and intelligent woman... only to end up offering a job working for him in one of the highest rated hotels in the city. It had taken her a moment to realize that he hadn't been joking, the seriousness in his features. The wages he'd offered were really too good to be true, and in all honesty, she had doubted the legitimacy of his offer, making that very suspicion of hers more than clear. But, still he insisted that it was the salary she would be making as it was what he paid his other receptionists. She would have been stupid not to take it, and so, she'd turned in her barista apron the next morning and started her new job as a hotel hostess. It had been the first step to not only an entirely unexpected and unlikely friendship not even an earthquake with a magnitude of nine and a half could ever shake but also an entirely new life and world. She still remembers with perfect clarity the front page article she'd read a two day after about the mysterious disappearance of Caleb Collins, and when she'd shown Kerim most in good humor when the two had been alone in the hotel lobby that night, the man had simply given her a knowing and rather devious grin."You did say that you would have loved for him to fall off the earth". How casually relaxed he'd been, leaning over the front counter in one of those wildly expensive suites that fit him perfectly in every way. And, how curious she had been about his reaction, asking if he knew anything about it only to shrug and walk off to his office. It was later that she found out what really happened to her despicable ex, but not even for a second did the dark-haired woman feel afraid for her own life. Kerim had assured her that his interest in her was solely for the friendship they had, the respect and admiration he had for her fiery spirit so many seemed intimidated or put off by. It was then that she's also found out about the supernatural world, the vampire having introduced her at that point to Reiko, whom Lenore has since come to love like a little sister despite the girl's shyness. Finishing off the box of things she's been unpacking all while thinking back to the beginning of this new chapter in her life, she still found it hard to believe that she'd ended up here in Sacrosanct - and her own place - three whole years later. Hell, Kerim was her one and only true friend aside from Reiko, and he had even compensated her for the move by purchasing this one-bedroom townhouse for her. Though she was pretty sure she hadn't done a single thing to deserve a boss and friend like him, she was thankful for the man all the same. Even if she had some of the most peculiar ways of showing it.

Moving across the furnished living room that had taken her what felt like forever and a day to arrange just how she wanted it, the dark-haired woman with thick and curled locks pulled into a high ponytail and dressed in a pair of faded jeans and black tank top flops into the white couch against the wall, looking around the boxes she still had to unpack. This was taking forever! The sudden sound of wings catch Lenore's attention then, a flash of vibrant yellow feathered touched by emerald green having her turn molten milk chocolate eyes towards the kitchen where Meeko had decided he'd grown bored of the shredded remains which had minutes ago been an empty roll of paper towels and flown onto the bar, peering over at the woman with those same dark eyes she'd fallen in love with only six months ago. An ever-rare, soft smile flickers across Lenore's lips as she regards the young golden conure who'd surprised the woman by bonding so closely to her that he always insisted on keeping her in view lest he subject her to a migraine-inducing fit of screaming and squawking."Are you sick of this, too?", she asks the avian then, his only reaction a tilt of his head, feathers fluffing before he gave a small shake of his feathers. She would take that as a yes. Besides, the sun had long since set and she was sure that the vampire would be up and moving around, awakened from that eerie daytime slumber."Let's go and see how Rimsy is settling in, shall we Meeko?", she queries then before rising up from the couch and making her towards the granite countertop of the bar area, grabbing her keys and offering her hand to the bird who wastes no time in stepping up only to climb the length of her arm and perch readily on her shoulder, pale beak beginning to preen a strand of her thick hair. Other than Kerim, Meeko was the only male she had in her life - excluding her father who was still very much in touch with her despite the miles and cities that divided them - and she was perfectly content to have it that way. Making sure she had her smartphone in the front pocket of her pants and small wallet in the the other, she walks past the four-chair table in the dining room filled with unpacked boxes and down the flight of stairs. Once at the bottom, she turns left and opens the door to that one-car garage where her sapphire blue 2009 Honda Fit sits, just calling to the woman. She had to get out, just for a little while. How she hated unpacking! Once it was all done and she was finally fully settled, she was sure she would feel better. But, for now, she needed an effing break. And going to see how Kerim was settling couldn't be a more perfect excuse for her. Unlocking the driver side door, she coaxes Meeko onto her hand and places him on the headrest of the passenger seat covered with a white towel for the purpose of keeping her seats free of the inevitable droppings that came with parrots. Besides, it wasn't like anyone else has occupied that seat in... months? However long it had been since she broke things off with Gabriel, another failure of a boyfriend who had been just about as delightful as Caleb, though raven-haired man had only been an absolute arsehole instead of sleeping around on her. What she's seen in him - other than a pretty face and delicious body - she didn't even know, but it also didn't matter now. For a couple reasons.

Throwing away thoughts of her love life which was obviously in shambles she hardly cares to try and repair, she climbs into the driver's seat and starts the car after clicking the remote for the garage door hanging on him the visor over her head. Buckled up and backing out, she clicks the once again to close it, pulling out of her small driveway and begins the commute to the north side of the city and Acosta Heights. Of course the vampire would live on the hoity-toity side of Sacrosanct, being the supernaturally savvy businessman that the woman knew him to be. What would his house look like? It was probably something extravagant. He did have expensive taste... and unique needs. With Meeko's softer clicks and squawking the only noise to fill the silence, the pair makes their way through crowded city streets until finally they reach those large and immaculate yards with towering iron fences and gates or concrete walls, the buildings changing from apartment complexes and department stores to huge estates. Remembering that the vampire had texted her his address and instructions to get there, she turns onto the right street and soon happens upon the modernized mansion that has her gawking for a moment."Damn. He certainly didn't spare any expense, huh?", she says to the bird far too occupied with the street lights acting as beacons in the dark of nightfall. Parking in front of the mansion, she reaches for Meeko who is happy to step onto her hand and resume his place on her shoulder, the dark-haired woman walking up to the front door double her height. She only has to knock three times when finally the door opens and she is met by familiar wrinkled and yet refined face."Hey there, Alfred. I'm here for Mr. Good-looking", she says then, an impish smile dancing across her lips then, stepping through the door when the butler allows her inside despite his likely detestment to the nickname she'd given him from the very first time Kerim invited her to his previous place. Just when she thought the outside had been stunning, she can hardly help the surprise from her chocolate eyes as they take in the lavish innards of the mansion. She was almost jealous, really. Everything was so modern and contemporary, right down to the rugs and flooring! Kerim certainly didn't waste any time making himself at home, even though they'd literally just moved here a few days ago. Then again, he did have help, the cheater. He should let her borrow one of the housekeepers to help unpack her boxes she was putting off for the rest of the night. But she definitely couldn't afford all this unless she had an eternity to work for it, which she didn't. She moves into the dining area, the golden conure flying from her shoulder to perch on one of the cloth chairs at the table, twisting and turning his own head to look everything, though he attention was dangerously snagged by the chandelier over the table."Don't even think about it", she warns her feathered companion, snapping her fingers and startling the bird only slightly to detach Meeko's attention. She didn't even need to have the ability to read the mind of animals to know what the bird had been musing, though perhaps that was why she and Meeko got along so well. However, had she been a parrot, Lenore would have likely already flown up there and starting picking at the fine crystal to test its durability.

Lucky for Kerim that Meeko was much more well-behaved that she would have been as a bird. Walking over to the window and eyeing the large pool outside, she waits with surprising patience for her favorite undead to come and welcome her into his new, fancy shmancy home.