After we left Fortia and Fidelia's home, we headed back towards town to Patricia's and her family's home. It was one of the homes in town, but one of the larger ones. It was a tudor design with lots of lush and lovely flowers and trees in front and a large pathway and driveway made of smooth stones. It definitely looked inviting. "So do you think she'll be home?" I asked.

  "Well considering it's the weekend, she probably will at this time," she said. 

  "Speaking of it being the weekend, is it the same time here as it is where I live?" I asked.

  "Well, I did tell you we don't age as fast and time moves slower here. So it's only been a day since you last been here, even though it's been a week, so I guess you can say, we are a week apart approximately."

  We walked up the pathway and Fortia knocked on the door. An attractive woman who looked slightly older than Fortia answered the door. While she had the dark hair and coloring, she had the same green eyes as Fortia. I assumed this must be her sister, Patricia. 

  Fortia quickly confirmed my suspicion when she gave the woman a hug and said, "Hello Patricia. I hope you don't mind that I came to visit unannounced and brought a guest. If you are busy, we can stay for a short period of time and let you get back to what you are doing."

  "Hi Fortia. It's not new for you to turn up unannounced, but usually not with guests. But, it's no problem. I'm not busy now. I was just doing some cooking and planned on going out a bit later. I'm just about to bake the bread, so just have a seat and give me a few minutes and I'll be free."

  As Patricia went to cooking, we sat down in what would probably be considered the living room. It looked very traditional with the wood trimmed couches and chairs. There was also a gorgeous flowered rug that looked very expensive. And while they might not have looked very comfortable from looking at them, the couches were very much so.  Fortia was giving me some background about her family. "Remember when we first met, I told you about Patricia and her family."

  I had remembered I tuned out for parts of it. I didn't say that but said instead, "I do, but please refresh my memory." If she realized I hadn't totally paid attention when she originally told the story, she didn't show it.

  "My sister really is married and has two kids who are grown. One just finished her schooling a few months ago and the other is established in his career and has a serious girlfriend. Their names are Annie and Christopher." My niece just got a new job and is staying with a friend and currently looking for her own place."  At that time, Patricia came in.

  "I'm sorry I kept you both waiting. Do you guys want something to eat or drink? By the way, who are you? I'm Patricia, Fortia's sister. She looked at my clothes and then said, "Are you one of her cases?"

   I was a little embarrassed when she said that, but I replied, "Yes. My name is Olivia."

  Fortia replied, "I am not hungry, but I would not mind having a drink, how about you Olivia?"

  Olivia said, "That would be lovely thank you."

  "If I'm not mistaken, Fortia, aren't you not supposed to bring your cases home with you?"

  I felt awkward again when she said that, like I'm a thing not a person.

  "Yes, but since it's my last case, that rule doesn't apply."

  "Wait", said Patricia hesitantly. "Is it really your last case? Could it be true?" She smiled hopefully.

  "Yes, it really is true. Olivia here is having some reluctance in moving along with some of my directives and she said if I bring her here and saw I was truly motivated to leave my career, she could be more motivated to do the things that scare her."

  I felt a little uneasy that she was telling Patricia all of this. I didn't know her and probably will never see her again, but it still bothered me having her think of me as some of sad case who was a scaredy cat.

  "I see. So does Fidelia know you are leaving? Did you tell her?" Patricia said, wrinkling up her nose when saying Fidelia's name.

  "Yes, I just saw her before and reminded her again that I was really leaving. I really hope that when I retire, you can put your grudge against her to rest."

  "You remember what that women put us through."

  "It wasn't as bad as you made it to be." 

  "You forget who held you as you cried yourself to sleep." Patricia stated.

  "You also forget I did that myself a few times for you."

  "I know. It was a really a difficult time for both of us, you remember now." Patricia said.

  "Yes, but we were able to get through it and it made us stronger because of it." 

  "But our father was not and he was a casualty of Fidelia's thoughtless decision to leave us." 

  "Yes, what she did wasn't right but it was up to our father on how to deal with it. He did not deal with it as well as us." 

  "She left it to us to deal with the fallout and we were still kids ourselves. How were we to know how to help father, when we barely knew how to help ourselves? And do not forget just as we started to accept what happened with Fidelia, we had to deal with what happened to our father. No kid should have to deal with that. That was all Fidelia's fault."

  "Maybe Fidelia could have handled things better yes, but it was not her fault how father handled her leaving us."  Fortia retorted.

  "You just said how Fidelia handled things led to how father ultimately dealt with things about Fidelia." 

  "You are twisting what I said."

  I stared at them awkwardly. Fortia noticed that and said, "Listen, let's not air our dirty laundry in front of Olivia."

  "What does laundry have to do with it?" Fidelia asked confused.

  "It's one of those saying's from Olivia's world. It means we shouldn't discuss our family secrets in front of people who don't know us that well."

  "Oh. Yeah, I guess I get your point. Sorry about that Olivia. Anyhow, how are you enjoying your stay here?" asked Patricia.

  I purposely didn't mention Fidelia's name even though seemed to move away from talking about her. "I got to see your neighborhood and some other houses and the forest and the lake. It's all so beautiful."

  "I am glad you like it. I take it your home does not look like that?" asked Patricia.

  "Well not exactly where I live, because it's a big city, but there are places in the world where I live that do kind of look like this." I said.

  "That's great. Anyhow I am glad you are enjoying your visit here." Patricia said.

  I got the sense that Patricia was a bit of a snob, but maybe that was just the way I was reading her and I could have been wrong. 

"All this food smells so good. Is there something special going on tonight?" Fortia inquired.

"Well actually, I think Christopher had proposed to Erica and is going to tell us tonight," said Patricia beaming.

 "Are you sure?" Fortia wondered.

  "He said that he had big news to tell us and Christopher and Erica have been together for almost 2 years now, it's about time." Patricia said excitedly.

  "It could be something else, like he got a new place or a promotion." Fortia said.

  "I definitely got a sense it is that they are engaged," Patricia said matter of factly. 

  "Well, then I hope then it is true. And if it is true, wish them congratulations for me." 

  "Hope it's a great evening for you and your family," I said.

  "Thank you both. It is really so exciting. To have a wedding in the family soon, would be wonderful!!" Patricia said smilingly.

  "That would be great." Fortia said and I nodded. Patricia spoke a bit about her son and his possible fiancee, Erica and told us how much she liked her and how she was a perfect match for her son. She said something about good breeding and some other things I drowned out, but I got the gist that she was really happy that this woman could be part of their family. A little while later, Patricia rose and said, "I am sorry to rush you guys out but I need to finish getting ready. It was nice to meet you Olivia and I am so happy that you are really finally retiring. Good for you, Fortia." 

  Fortia smiled at her sister and said, "Thanks and I hope tonight is everything you wished for."

  "That is so sweet of you to say. Thanks again. Take care both of you. Goodbye. I will walk you to the door." She walked us out and started talking about what dress she would wear to the wedding. Fortia's sister seemed nice enough I guess, but a bit much at times too. 

  When we walked down the driveway, Fortia said, "Well, that's my sister for you. But she is really a good person. It is just she gets caught up in things sometimes. She does have a good heart."

  "I'm sure she is. I just realized that Patricia never asked us what we want to drink and never brought us any drinks." I said laughing.

  "You know, you're right. I forgot all about that after our little disagreement. I am so sorry you had to hear that."

  "All families have their squabbles." I said.

  "Yes, but usually in private."

  "Just forget about it. It's ok. I already forgot about it. And as for the drinks, oh well."

  "I can conjure us up a drink. What do you want?"

  "I'm easy. How about some water?"

  "Sparkling or still?" 

  "Are you a waitress or something?" I said jokingly.

  Fortia laughed. "By the way, still water is fine", I said. She got us our water. As we were walking, I asked her about how they cook over in Spectra. 

  "Depends on who you ask. Some people just like to totally conjure up their meals, some like to prepare them and use magic to cook them and non-magic people cook like you guys do."

  "I have to ask. How does your sister cook?" 

  "She does not trust food that is conjured up. She thinks it does not have the same quality as if she prepared it herself. But she does not have the patience to let it cook in an oven, so she uses magic to cook it." 

  "How about you?"

  "Well Fidelia did most of the cooking and she liked to do it the non-magic way. I guess I have to learn to prepare food or conjure up my own food."

  "What do you see yourself doing?"

  "I am not sure yet. We will see." As we were walking further, she told me about how Spectran natives get their clothes. "The magic that is used to conjure clothes is available to anyone who can afford it. You can go to a clothing store and pay a conjuring consultant to create a wardrobe for you. Not everyone conjures up their own clothes. Not everyone has that talent to do it well. So magic and non-magic people who can afford it, use that service."

  "What about people who can't afford the service?"

  "We have stores that have clothing like you have they can go to."

  "All this is very interesting." Finally, we made it to the same point that we arrived in the two times I visited Spectra." 

  "This is where I leave you. This was actually kind of fun. Let us be in touch soon to see about your progress. I cannot wait to hear from you. Oh, one more thing, did you use all your chocolates to go into the soap opera?"

  "Well, all but one. Should I give the last one back to you?" 

  "You sure you do not want to use it?"

  "I decided what direction I want to take and just going into the soap opera one last time would be a distraction. Anyhow, I know it's not real."

  "Who says it is not real?"

  "What?"

  "You must return now and we will be in touch soon. Take care and I had a good time with you. Goodbye for now."

  "Bye. Thanks again." She used her magic to get me back to the park. I was kind of sad to leave, as when you return from a vacation and have to readjust to your regular routine. I did know I was ready to tell Kyle more about my dream of becoming an actress. As soon as I bought a snack and ate it, I would return home to do so.