"Sasha, I'm really glad you could come. It'll be interesting to finally have someone on tour that actually understands me," Nick commented as he led her around the bustling backstage area.

"Well, it should make for a good photo op," she said smiling.

In the two weeks that passed since he first met Sasha, he had never felt like he's known anyone better. Except Lilia. But that was in the past, and now Sasha was in his future. They had spoken nearly every night and on the last week of the tour, it felt so right to have Sasha with him while they ended the hardest tour of his life.

He knew that questions would arise from his friends concerning Sasha's presence and he honestly didn't know what to tell them. Physically, their relationship was purely platonic, but emotionally, they both knew that there was something there, but neither had the courage to act on it.

So, he figured a week together would settle any questions about what was going on between them. But so far, Sasha had been avoiding eye contact, touching him and all attempts at conversation. When he met her at the airport, she had rejected his greeting, a hug, shying away from him. And now, she was rejecting most of his attempts at forming conversations.

"So, Sasha, what's new in your world? Any new photo shoots?" he asked.

"Not really." Nick sighed. This wasn't working out at all like he had expected.

"Sash, everything okay with you?" he asked.

"Fine, Nick. Just fine." He grew annoyed. They were wandering around because they were a little early for the show. He pulled her aside, into a secluded corner.

"For the last time, Sasha, what is wrong with you?" he whispered, cupping his hands to her face, so that she would meet his eyes.

"Nothing is wrong Nick," she said again.

"Then why are you acting like there is?"

"Because…I don't know. I don't know how to act around you, okay?" she gave into his wounded puppy eye look.

"What do you mean?"

"How do I know that you're not on the, forgive the cliché, rebound? I mean, maybe what I'm feeling is just one sided and I'm currently making a fool of myself, but all I know is that when I saw you at the airport, I just wanted to grab you and never let you go and I just don't know how to act," she blurted out.

"That makes two of us," he whispered, and was amused by her shy happiness at his words. He met her eyes, and she looked away.

"I still don't know how to act around you," she whispered. He bent forward and kissed her gently.

"Act the way you feel," he said.

* * * *

Two weeks had passed before Lilia had gained up enough courage and strength to call Daniel. Her aunt had given her the number that he had left with her, telling her to call when she felt ready and everyday, she would pick up the phone and could not dial the phone.

But finally she had been able. She had called him and left a message on his answering machine to meet her in Genuine at one o' clock the next day. Betty had said that he was living in a suburb of Toronto, explaining the different area code.

He was on time, to the minutes. She let him in, and sat down wordlessly. He followed, and an awkward moment followed. Looking down at her hands, Lilia let the tension mount until she couldn't take it any more.

"You wanted to talk. So talk," she said coldly.

"I don't know where to start. I've rehearsed this so many times in my head and now that I get to see you, it's a jumble," he breathed.

"That is so cliché," Lilia interrupted. Another awkward silence descended over the table. Lilia studied the face in front of her. Graying black hair, gray eyes, hard features; nose, mouth, jawbone, all hard lines.

"I don't look like you," she stated.

"No, you don't. You're the replica of your mother. You look exactly like Rose," he breathed.

"I don't really know how she looked. I've seen pictures and Betty's video tapes a thousand times, but it's not the same as meeting someone," she explained, looking down at her hands.

"I heard from Betty that she had died. I'm really sorry. You never met her?" he asked.

"No. She died the day I was born."

"I can't believe she is dead. I always thought that she'd live forever," he stated.

"Don't pretend like you care. That's why you left her. Left us. Because she was dying!" Lilia exploded, jumping up from the table and pacing around.

"Didn't know what?" he demanded.

"Why are you lying like that? She told Betty that you left her, dropped her flat, when you found out that she was pregnant and dying! Why do you keep lying to me?" she yelled.

"She knew she was dying? That must be why she left me," he said.

"Stop that! You can play ignorant as long as you like, but you cannot possibly blame her. Stop trying to be the better person, the one who was searching for her all these years, because I'm not buying it!" she roared.

"No, Lilia. You are wrong. I never knew why she left, but she did. Without a word, a reason. I had no idea where she had gone. Her parents wouldn't tell me anything, just that they no longer considered her a daughter. One day, I went to work, when I got home that night, I couldn't find her. She had disappeared," he said.

"What?" she asked, stunned.

"Lilia, the second I met your mother, I fell in love with her. She was everything I was looking for, and everything I never knew I wanted. I adored her. We were together for three years, and my career was sky rocketing. At the rate I was going, we'd be able to be married in about a year or so. We were so happy, I can't even describe it fully. Then one day, I came home and called her at her parents. They said they had no daughter. I tried everyone I knew, trying to find her. Rose had disappeared. No one knew where she had went, or why."

"Oh my god," she whispered, the story sounding strikingly familiar to her own situation.

"It almost killed me. I was desperate. Finally, Rose's best friend told me that Rose had told her one day before she left that Rose was afraid that she might be pregnant. And if it was true, which I later found out it was, and her parents found out, she was literally disowned by them. They kicked her out, and she said that Rose had probably gone to live with Betty. But the problem was that I didn't know where to find Betty. I searched everywhere, but eventually I had to give up. I couldn't find her anywhere. It was impossible to find her. Every now and then, I'd pick up where I left off, trying new places, calling anyone with the same last name. But I never had any luck. Until I found this in the paper," he said, handing her a newspaper clipping.

It was a story about the shooting in the Genuine, about that night…She closed her eyes at the memory of it, and shook her head to rid herself of it.

"Genuine. Her dream was to own a place called Genuine. And the name. Lilia, she always said that she would have a girl and name it after a flower," he said.

"Why did she leave? Why would she do that? How do I know that you are telling the truth?" she demanded.

"You don't, Lilia. Please, believe me. I wouldn't be here today if I wasn't. I never knew why she left. I figure it was because of my career. She didn't want to hold me back, which would have happened if she had stayed. She must have left for that. But you said she died of cancer…"

"She wouldn't take the treatments because she was afraid they'd kill me. She is the reason I'm alive today," Lilia breathed.

"Then that must be the real reason. She was my soul mate, Lilia. You have to understand that. I told her time and again that I couldn't live with out her. She knew that I wouldn't let her do that, I would force her to take the treatments to save her life."

"You wouldn't allow her to make her choice, so she left and made it herself. She just made the decision for you…" Lilia trailed off. Like mother like daughter.

"Yes. But I found you."

"Look, I need time. A lot of time to figure this all out, to get this straight in my head. I'll talk to you in a few days," Lilia said, dismissing him.