The cold wind did little to deter Bobbi's resolve or hinder the speed of her footsteps as it came rushing up at her from the sidewalk, hit her square in the face and even managed to slip through the front door before Bobbi quietly closed it shut. Its breeze only joined the rest of the cool morning air that occupied the silent bottom floor and did little to disturb the quiet the hung over the house.

With a vague satisfaction that the occupants behind her remained ignorant to her escape and sound asleep where they should be at such an hour, Bobbi's feet hit the sidewalk with no intention of stopping. The early morning sun, shining down bright and reflecting off the meager piles of snow left along the streets, offered the perfect excuse for Bobbi's sunglasses as she slipped them over her eyes. Her feet fell in step with the rest of the city as pedestrians from every corner filled the streets on their way to the rest of the day. Her uniform of down jacket and beanie matched those around her and, with her signature hair tucked neatly underneath her hat and out of sight, she faded into the faceless mass of moving bodies and dove into the flow of the city.

Her feet took her where they wanted. Her current state of mind left little room for such trivial thoughts. Only the numb in the tips of her fingers drove her to stand in a line and wait for coffee. Her quick smile was barely noticed as the barista already had his sights set on the hurried businessman behind Bobbi in line. She flowed into the coffee shop and right back out with near complete anonymity as the city did not care too much just who she was. She simply was among the streets of her hometown.

Her eyes eventually migrated from their focus on the sidewalk beneath her to the bustling city around her. No trace of life shone upon any of the trees as Bobbi's feet led her along the winding paths through the Public Garden. But the city around her offered enough life as it filled the cold spring air with sounds of hustling traffic and city life.

The thoughts hoarding the majority of her mind still roamed free. Her early morning trek still had left no trace of order in the chaos of her thoughts. The cold air only brought on a calm and resigned attitude that allowed her shoulders to release themselves and her breathing to grow a bit deeper than before. With each breathe that huffed out steam into the morning, and with each step that took her deeper into the city she loved, Bobbi found no answers but more peace. The sight of the tall buildings surrounding her, their evident history and continual existence forced reality onto her situation. Their longevity brought a deadline to her own existence and the existence all her trivial conflicts, as the buildings were sure to outlast them both.

Her head tilted all the way back once her steps deposited her at the base of the old North Church. High above a bell rang out the hour, sounding off high above the noise below and falling on the ears of all those around.

Her head came back down from the clouds as her breathe exhale a long sigh of steam into the cold air and her jaw set as her eyes narrowed. This time her head led her back in the direction she had just come and her steps steadied themselves into a rhythm that would get her to her intended destination in time, but in no hurry.

She now flowed against traffic, heading back the way she had come and against the grain. Her eyes allowed her sights to take in her surroundings once again, allowing the view of the city to steady her mind and her resolve, as it had always done. The sound of her boots clacking against the ancient cobblestones drummed a beat and played as her soundtrack for her journey back.

Her eyes landed straight ahead as she neared the end of the Public Garden, pausing only once coming to face a crosswalk currently filled with swiftly moving traffic. Just beyond, an aisle of trees awaited her. Bobbi's eyes stayed off their bare branches and the idyllic setting they offered. Her eyes stayed off the neat row of brownstone houses, off their numbers that eventually grew to where her own stood. The occupants of such a residence were never far from the forefront her mind, especially as his antithesis stood waiting for her on the other side of the street. In the thirty seconds Bobbi stood waiting for the light to change, he ran his hand through his hair no less than ten times and his eyes shifted about his immediate vicinity then back to Bobbi, his smirk only growing larger with each passing second.

Bobbi gave him one look and a brief nod of recognition. His ego needed no more encouragement than that. She instead focused on where Alex stood waiting, her face set as hard as Bobbi was hoping hers was.The light turned and she was the first across the striped walkway.

She released her hair from the hold of her beanie and passed it to Alex once she approached where the two of them stood. It took a cough of insistence and an even more insistent glare for Bobbi to finally tear her sunglasses from her face.

She felt eyes fall upon her once she let her long hair fall down her back, her dark makeup only accentuating the look and inspiring a wave of recognition once her bright blue eyes were exposed to the world. Alex gave a nod of approval then a nod to a white van that came to stop along the side of the road and deposit a group of older men, all with cameras slung around their necks.

Bobbi swallowed hard and forced a smile up to her lips. She looked up and grabbed hold of the arm offered to her. Aaron shone his own bright white smile down at her, his eyes flicking past her head and widening at the sight of oncoming publicity.

Bobbi's words came out bright in her smile while their meaning held only dread and resignation.
"Alright. Let's get this over with."

Aaron led the way and turned them back to head in the direction from which Bobbi had just come. Immediately a flood of sound filled the air and their names came right along with it as camera flashes started to fire off in rapid succession.

*********

The mob of cameras followed them around as their unofficial entourage for the next lapse of time and Bobbi's thin grasp on anonymity among her fellow pedestrians was successfully ripped from her hands. The eyes that did happen to fall upon her face by natural and organic causes did a double take, as they usually did. The hoard of grown men surrounding her and her companion within a twenty foot radius only heightened people's curiosity and awareness of her existence and successfully turned every head her way as she wound her away through the city.

She kept her hand laid lightly on top of Aaron's arm and he kept it pressed close against his chest as he led them through the Public Garden and into the Common. His foot steps kept their pace slow and allowed for optimum sightings from every side. He kept his expression light and excited the whole time, a feat Bobbi would have marveled at if she found it at all impressive. Her smile faded and her lips fell into an amiable line within the first hour.

She revved herself up to play the perfect tour guide, her eyes falling to all her favorite spots along their trek as they moved through the city and her mind filled with facts and anecdotes. Aaron endless chatter kept all of that at bay and Bobbi's lips stayed warmer as they remained shut for the majority of the time they had to spend together.

They made a nice loop around the center of the city, their trek spanning at most a five block trajectory before Aaron turned them back around at the glance at the time. Alex always stayed a shouting distance away, her eyes continuously watching and always on Bobbi when she glanced in her direction. She only disappeared as they reentered the Pubic Garden, their steps taking them along a bridge that hung over a frozen pond beneath. She reappeared just as Aaron finally brought them to a stop at the other end of the park, the same crosswalk blocking their path from crossing over onto Bobbi's own street.

Her handed a coffee cup over to Bobbi and the warmth was greatly appreciated as it helped to thaw the chill that reigned supreme at the tip of Bobbi's fingers and the end of her nose. The caffeine helped widened her eyes once again as her day was far from over. The sun now hung straight above them, shining down its weak rays of light that proved no competition with the strict chill that ran ramped through the streets.

Bobbi extricated herself from Aaron for the first time as she wrapped both hands around her cup. Several clicks sounded in her ear, pulling her attention to her left. Her eyes shifted at the sound and finally acknowledged the presence of an intruder on her seemingly natural day out and about with Aaron. They had remained in the corner of her eye the entire time and she made sure to keep her smile amiable but she lacked the energy now and was sure her resting expression was one of a sour nature.

"It's so freaking cold! How the hell do you stand it up here?"

Aaron had yet to stop talking and was now almost visibly quivering in the cool air as the three of them stood in a small huddle.

"It's not that cold if you're born here."

"I could never stand this kind of weather each year. I'm seriously glad I'm not from here."

"Me too." Bobbi muttered before drowning her words with another swig of coffee.

"I mean, it was nice to come and see you and whatever. But hell! It's cold! I miss LA!"

Aaron tried pulling his jacket closer around him. Bobbi did little to keep the natural smirk from her expression when she once again noticed that he only wore a wool coat and a light scarf. It lay a fraction of the density of the jacket Bobbi kept wrapped around her.

"Well, you'll be home soon. You leave tonight, right?"

Aaron nodded and Bobbi mentally patted herself on the back for retaining some of the information he had spent the last hour and a half dumping on top of her head. She hadn't bothered to remember anything of his trip to New York to work with some fashion designer for an upcoming campaign. Even the name of the designer alluded her and she didn't bother to try and retrieve it as it was not someone she was familiar with and certainly none of the ones she knew personally.

"Yeah. I'm headed to the airport after we're done here." His eyes flicked past Bobbi's shoulder, once more, as they had a tendency to do so at least once every five minutes while he had remained in her company that morning. "At least we got to meet up before I head back to the West coast. Management was great for setting this up last minute. I guess it's cool to see where your from. Boston's not the worst city I've ever been in."

Bobbi swallowed hard her New England pride and threw aside her rant against his causal attitude towards the greatest city in the world as she took another sip of coffee. She had the speech memorized and in the back of her mind for such occasions as this, as every single other Bostonian did, since she was a kid. She cleared her throat to clear away the disappointment she felt raising in her chest as she let her chance to rehearse slip by. Her years of media training had left little room for such an outburst and her deep rooted love and appreciation for her hometown ached from disuse.

"Yeah. Management definitely did something making this happen last minute. Well. I'll see you-"

"Walk."

Alex was already headed across the crosswalk when Bobbi saw the light had turned. She followed after her and took a step away from Aaron to avoid any further opportunity to touch. He hurried his steps to catch up as it took him an extra half seconds to recognize what Alex's word meant.

Bobbi's eyebrows lifted when Alex looked up from her watch and she nodded in reply to Bobbi's unspoken question. The hoard of camera's had successfully thinned in the past twenty minutes and now only the last few still hung around. And even most of them were already headed towards their van where they had left it a few hours before.

"Okay. Well. Thanks for coming. I'll see you back-"

Two figures moving in her direction out of the corner of her eye broke her farewell to Aaron short once again as she turned her head at the sight. Alfie was the first to reach the group, his companion only a few steps behind. He greeted Bobbi first with a quick half hug. It helped break through her flash of confusion and shook her eyes from their frozen and wide state. He extended his arm then to Aaron in greeting, who enthusiastically accepted.

Alfie's companion was then the next to step up and join the group. He held Alfie's exact facial features and brown curly hair. He only lacked Alfie's unending aura of confidence and the continuous laugh Alfie held in his own pair of dark blue eyes. Even his hair lacked the undefinable quality Alfie always carried with him as his hair was cut short but remained determined to grow each direction. The resemblance stopped at the dark frame glasses he wore at the end of his nose and the first tints of gray the grew along his ears.

Bobbi felt her sense of obligation carry her feet forward and meet the man half way, greeting her father with a hug that barely lasted longer than a pat on the back.

"Hi, dad."

"Bobbi. It's so good to see you!" His words tried to convey the emotion that was lacking from his gaze and body language. His words tried to flow where his body had remained stiff in Bobbi's quick embrace.

"Uh, dad. This is Aaron." Bobbi stepped back once released from her father's hug and gestured to where Aaron stood bouncing slightly on his feet as a futile and ignorant attempt to combat the cold. He nearly sprung into action and was the first to step forward, leaning and extending her hand forward.

"How are you, sir? I'm Aaron, Bobbi's boyfriend."

Bobbi's wide eyes were reflected back at her in the expression of both Alfie and Alex as their eyes ran towards Aaron. She clenched her jaw to keep from correcting him and to keep it from lagging open in astonishment. Her father responded with a familiar tight lipped smile and nodded, accepting Aaron's hand shake.

"Robert. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet one of Bobbi's companions for once."

Alfie coughed to keep the conversation from progressing further. Bobbi only clamped her teeth tighter and pressed her lips tight together.

"Sorry to interrupt you guys," Alfie said, his eyes begging for forgiveness as they glanced down at Bobbi. "I thought you guys would have been done by now."

Aaron slapped Alfie on the shoulder and smiled.
"No sweat, dude. We were just finishing up anyways. I've got a flight to catch."

"Oh. Do you?"

Aaron met Robert's mild spark of interest and replied with his own boundless self-absorption.

"Yeah. I'm headed back to LA. I just finished a week shooting in New York and made a pit stop up here to come see Bobbi."

"Really? How sweet!" Robert nodded along and his eyes shone a hint of genuine interest. Bobbi found the look familiar but only as a vague memory.

"Aaron's a model. And horribly late for his flight. Isn't that right?"

Bobbi's eyes sought immediate assistance from either Alex or Alfie. Both started forward to intervene. Alex got there first.

"Yes. Aaron, your car is arriving now."

At that very moment, a black town car pulled up along the side of the road and a driver stepped out to open the passenger door. Aaron turned every which way, glancing from Alex to the new arrival and then landing on Bobbi.

"Oh. Okay, then. Great to meet you, Robert."

Robert accepted his hand shake with a warm half smile in return.
"You too, Aaron. Very nice to meet you. Have a safe flight."

"I'll see you back home, babe."

Aaron had wrapped his arm around Bobbi's waist and pulled her close, quick enough she only caught the chance to hold up her arms and press her hands against his chest.

She turned her face just as he leaned his towards her and his lips landed on her cheek. Her eyes fell on her father and then past his shoulder at the few remaining camera men still hovering.

Aaron was then gone and disposed of within another half minute, his car merging and disappearing among the rest of the traffic that still pulsed through the streets.

"Nice kid."

Bobbi found her father nodding with an amiable expression on his face.

"I like him. Better than that Theo kid you guys are always hanging out with."

"He's our, uh, bandmate. And my best friend, so, uh, yeah."

Alfie's hand landed heavy on his father's shoulder. Robert tried to shrug it off but it remained tight, almost clamped down.

"Yeah. I know that. But he just seems like a trouble maker. Even when you guys were kids. And the tattoos? Do there have to be so many? At least put on a shirt when you answer the door."

Bobbi turned her head to clear her throat, pressing her lips together in a tight flat smile as she turned back. Her hands grabbed the end of her jacket sleeves and pulled them longer over the ends fo her arms.

"You saw Theo this morning then?" She managed to asked.

Alfie's eyes once again flashed a wave of apologies her way.

"Yeah. He answered the door. Is he always with you guys?"

Robert switched his gaze from Bobbi and Alfie, always landing on Alfie in the end. It helped that Alfie looked so much like himself and so much not like his mother, as Bobbi remained the spitting image.

"Yeah. Actually, he lives with us." Bobbi finally said. She tried to keep a calm tone in her voice but felt a wall of defense threatening to edge in. "He owns the house with us here in the city. And we're sharing a place in LA for the next few months. He's a member of our band and we all travel together. All the time. So yeah. He's always with us."

Her long morning had worn thin her reserves for such a situation.

"I get that. I just don't like him."

"That's okay, dad." Alfie said.

He used his hold on Robert's shoulder to start moving him into the flow of pedestrian traffic. The rumble in Bobbi's stomach helped move her along with them. Alex gave both her and Alfie a quick nod before finally stepping away and heading down the street. Bobbi's eyes followed her as did her heart and mind, her thoughts falling in step with Alex's hurried hustle as she headed back towards the house.

Robert's words forced her to instead focus herself there with her dad and Alfie. It helped that the next words out of his mouth made her swallow a loud laugh in the base of her throat.

"I really like that Aaron kid, though. I've got a good feeling about him, Bob-o. He seems real genuine!"