Three years ago, if someone would have asked her where it was she saw herself in the future... well, the fae woman certainly wouldn't have said that she saw herself searching for a new job on a cold, partly cloudy afternoon with the hope that she could afford living in a big city she'd already left once. She never would have expected that, at this point in her life, she'd be trying to make a new start. Then again, she also never would have thought that the past two years would have been anything like what they'd been. Maybe, once, she might have seen herself in some steady relationship with a guy she'd met by nothing more than happenstance. They would have been shy at first, not really sure if one should make the first move or not. Then, after an awkward first date, there'd be some undeniable spark that led to a second date, a third date, and then just maybe, if everything went right, they'd move in together. Perhaps she might have said that she expected to have at least begun to make a name for herself by now with a small handful of artfully taken photographs of some breathtaking landscape miles and miles from where she was now. They would have possessed the perfect lighting, the exact right angle, captured something so fleeting that there was no hope of ever recapturing that moment in time. It would have been a matter of being in the right place at the right time, getting the right projects or being noticed and hired by someone who just so happened to have connections to the kind of people that could further the career of her dreams. Beylani might have even said something like how she had hoped that her future self would have the chance to go on some grand adventure to some once-in-a-lifetime place like hiking Mount Kilimanjaro or sailing the Caribbean sea and watching how the constellations shifted as the weeks and months passed, stopping now and again at some foreign harbor to see something she wouldn't be able to find anywhere else in the world. Truthfully, Lani could have said just about anything then.

At the very least, she would have hoped that by now, she would know who she was, or at least be happy.

Not even for the smallest moment would the blue-eyed blonde have that she'd experience nearly dying once. No one could have made her believe that she would die before her twenty-fifth birthday - say nothing of how she was to perish. She never would have foreseen having her heart broken - no, shattered - in such a way that even those dreams and aspirations for herself would, too, crumble and become nothing more than sand slipping between her fingers. Nothing was like she had hoped or wanted for herself. And, yes, while it was entirely normal and to be expected that one's life would take various undesirable twists and turns, experience a setback or two that would leave them trying to put themselves back on the right path to happiness and the promise of prosperity, one would not think it possible for so many wrongs to happen in a single lifetime. To say that there were some mornings, days, and nights where she felt completely lost was a terrible understatement. If not for the fierce love and support from her parents and the one true friend she held onto almost desperately after everything fell apart from beneath her, the fae woman wasn't sure she would be here now. She wouldn't be able to say with any certainty that she wouldn't have sought after a way to end it all. Perhaps for some that might sound overly dramatic, they might even go on to say one of those cliché lines like "when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade" or "it's never as bad as it seems" or claim that she was just choosing to focus on all the bad things that had happened in her life rather than all the good things she'd been given, but the fae woman would have dared to say that until they'd been abducted, held prisoner, murdered, and then brought back to life by the hands of the one that shattered every part of their heart and soul, they could hardly pass such judgement or even begin to understand all that she has endured in such a short amount of time.

How could they ever comprehend all the pain, tears, and nightmares that she'd only just survived thus far?

"It was very nice to have meet you, Ms. Rose. We'll let you know in about a week if we will be taking the next step regarding the waitress position", the well-groomed man dressed in black slacks and suit jacket says with a polite smile, extending a hand to shake the blue-eyed blonde's."I look forward to your call, Mr. Bernard", she replies brightly as she wears her best bright, enthusiastic smile - even if it was hardly genuine. If there was one thing that the fae woman had been good at since... well, everything, it was wearing a mask that said to the world "I'm okay" when that couldn't be further from the truth most days. And yet, she was at least trying to move forward. So far, it has been nothing but the smallest of steps forward, and it went without saying that there were certainly still days where Lani took a step back on her worst days, but still... she was trying. That had to count for something... right? She turns away from the owner of the French bistro then, pulling her black double-breasted mid-length overcoat onto her shoulders, covering the white knit turtleneck she'd chosen to wear with black dress pants and black flats for job hunting. When she finally manages to work her way outside, now standing at the entrance, a sigh falls from her lips, allowing that smile to fade, her gaze like that of clear summer skies losing the brightness she'd placed there. How many interviews was that so far? Three? She didn't even know if any of them would call her back... She'd thought of going back to Inner Sanctum, seeing if perhaps Alexander might consider re-hiring her.... but she couldn't forget the white-haired were that often occupied her once-favorite coffee shop. So, unfortunately, that just wasn't an option for her anymore. With hands in her coat pockets, the fae woman tilts her head back, elegantly curled golden blonde hair cascading over her shoulders and down to the middle of her back as she stares at the sunlight starting to break through the thick cover of clouds.

Something is better than nothing... At least that one seemed to go a little better than the other two...

She finds herself repeating those five words to herself for the umpteenth time, attempting to offer her thoughts any sliver of reassurance that can be mustered as she lingers there outside that bistro. And yet, all she can do is usher another soft and almost... defeated sigh, her efforts doing little to help anything in any sense. The fae woman is about to take a step forward, preparing to wander aimlessly among the flow of a faceless crowd that busies themselves with the little stands and stores that make up City Creek Center when she hears a voice. It is nearly drowned by the sea of strangers laughing or talking amongst one another, but it was unmistakable. Suddenly, that heart beating there within her breast begins to beat in that achingly familiar, rapid rhythm as Lani turns her head to see the tall, dark-haired fae man sitting there so distracted with the same sea of strangers she was very nearly enveloped in. Andras..... For all the desperate want to move on and forget him, there had been no erasing those hazel eyes from her memory. Before, she would have allowed for the churning swarm of people to swallow her up, sweep her as far away from the fae man as she could manage. How cruel the fates had been, to bring them so close to one another after all this time, after he had offers his apology and help when the fae woman had wanted nothing to do with him. Now, all that heartache she thought had been numbed at the very least in these last two years... it all begins to flood her with feelings. Wariness... hurt... hesitance... sorrow... It was all a conflicting torrent, and yet, there is no anger there anymore. She had hated him before, resented him, convinced herself that he'd used her, toyed with the feelings he'd awoken in a younger, more naïve part of herself that died on that stone table what felt like an eternity ago.

Now.... well, she wasn't sure what she felt. But, then again, Lani wasn't very certain of anything anymore.

Just leave him to his day. Maybe he doesn't even know you're here, she tells herself then. Of course, she knows that's a lie. He had always been frightfully... talented at knowing where she was. It would be easy to walk away now without so much as a word. After all... didn't she mean so very little to the man whose name still whispered somewhere within the depths of her that he would have rejected her? Would it do more harm than good, facing the very past she had been trying to run and heal from all this time? Or... would there be some sort of closure? Was that what she needed to really move forward with the rest of her life? She's very nearly frozen in place, time seeming to stand still around them in this moment. And, before she can really tell herself to run as fast and far as she could.... the blue-eyed blonde woman takes one hesitant step towards where he sits... and then another... and another.... before she's standing a small distance from him. For a moment, she can't find her voice. How familiar this had once been, and now, she is unsure why words do not find her then. Perhaps because it has been so long? What should she even say to him? Was there even anything left to be said between them? She knows that this last flickering thought was a lie. There was so much that had been left unsaid between them.Don't overthink it, she chides herself inwardly."Hello", she says at last, her voice hardly more than a whisper, thick lashes blinking slowly over her baby blue gaze as she looks upon the one she had loved so much that it had shattered her in the end. Still those slender hands remain tucked away within the warm confines of her overcoat pockets. She is afraid to say his name, wary of what feelings it would bring rushing back."It's... uh, been a while. How's Ida?", she inquires quieting, her soft tones wary yet neutral. Had he ever been this hard to talk to once? Or has it truly been that long since she'd dared to even think of seeing him again that she couldn't think of what to say?

Better still, what was she even thinking? Not even the fae woman knew, truthfully. But it was too late to run now.