What a day...

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Sarah's POV

"Okay mom. I'm at my apartment now and need to put my groceries away. See you this weekend." I ended the call as I got to the top of the stairs and tucked my phone in my pocket. I guess I shouldn't really have been surprised to see Steve waiting for me; I figured we'd be having a conversation of some sort the moment I heard his voice over the coms earlier.

I had my keys in my hand, along with some groceries, my duffle bag over my shoulder. Steve had showered and changed into sweatpants and a tight Under Armor shirt already, his hair still wet, making it look more light brown than blond. He was leaning against my door, arms crossed and head down, but he straightened up when he heard me at the top of the steps.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I think we need to talk, Sarah," he said quietly, eyes meeting mine.

I nodded, "Come on in, Steve." I reached around him and unlocked my door. I moved past him and set the groceries in the kitchen, gesturing for him to come in. "Sorry about the mess, I'm still unpacking yet."

He stood in the living room, looking around while I went to hang up my suits, taking a minute to pull my hair back and change into shorts and a tank top. I guess the air conditioning wasn't programmed right yet since it was at least 85 degrees in my small apartment. I tinkered with it and got it working, but the thermostat was broken, so I made a mental note to tell Mr. Jones about it tomorrow so it would get repaired properly.

"Have you eaten?" I asked Steve as I walked back into the kitchen and pulled a couple beers from the fridge.

"No, not yet. I just got home a little bit ago."

I opened my beer and handed one to Steve, gesturing for him to sit down at the table so he wouldn't be in the way. He looked like he was lost in thought as he watched me unpacking the grocery bags and start cooking. Since it had been kind of a long day, I was making my favorite food, fajitas.

I pulled up a playlist on my phone and with a couple taps had it coming out on surround sound. Adele was my go-to on days like this. I'm a pretty positive, cheerful, person, but I have my odd down moments, too. I looked at Steve surreptitiously while I cooked, waiting for him to start talking, but he didn't. I don't think Steve realized he was watching me the whole time, like he couldn't get enough of me.  After I thought about it, I didn't really believe it was Sarah he was seeing.

I plated up the food and set it on the table, rousing Steve from his thoughts. His startled eyes met mine and I gently said, "It's fine; just eat and then we'll talk." I knew he wasn't expecting me to feed him or anything, but I was starving. I hadn't eaten much for lunch and that seemed like a long time ago.

"What is this?" Steve asked as he picked up his fork and stabbed at the spicy chicken.

"Fajitas. They're my favorite Mexican dish," I said around a mouthful of food. "It's kind of spicy, though." I warned him. Can't say I didn't warn him. Sure enough, he took a quick drink when the heat sank in. I giggled, not very nice of me, but at least they weren't as hot as I would normally make them.

"So they are. It tastes good, though. So where are you from, Sarah?" he asked before taking another bite.

I decided that he needed to know who I was so he could separate me from Peggy in his mind. I took a swig of my beer, starting to tell him about Sarah Evans.

"I was born in a small town in South Dakota. Most people out East don't even know the state exists, so the details aren't important. We moved a lot when I was younger, but when I was 12, we moved to New Jersey so I could go to a better school. It was great, I loved living in a college town; there's always something to do. My dad's a history professor and my mom's a nurse, so they were able to make it work so I could go to Princeton."

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