1. Chapter 1 (1/1)

Searching for a New Beginning part 2*Author's Note*I'd like to make a correction to the first part of this story. I accidently said that that year for this story is 2001, but the correct year is 2011. I think most of you figured that out, but I just wanted to make it clear. :) ~ElysianThe segment is over and one of the producers leads Daisy and Ezra backstage. They're sent to one of the green rooms so they can talk in private or leave, whichever they choose.Ezra is in shock about the whole thing. The whole Sally thing was nerve racking to him in the first place. Then he finds out that Daisy's been in love with him for the last ten years! He feels he needs to sit down.There is a round table with a few chairs strewn around it. Ezra pulls out a chair and collapses into it. Daisy follows suit.She looks expectantly at him. She just poured her whole heart and soul out to him and he hasn't said anything back to her yet. She's never done anything like this before."I-I don't know what to say," Ezra finally stammers."I'm sorry I had to drag you on the show like this. I've been looking for you forever. No one seemed to know where you were. This seemed to be the only way to find you."He gives a sheepish grin. "Guess it seems like I disappeared off the face of the earth, huh? I actually moved up to Maine.""Maine?" This is the last place Daisy expected him to be. He had always loved the mountains."It's no Horizon, but the ocean is beautiful. You should come see it sometime.""Maybe I will," Daisy smiles.There is a brief moment of silence. They're both still trying to take everything in."So how have you been?" Ezra finally breaks the silence."Good. Really good. I'm living in Nevada now. Couldn't get away from those mountains." She smiles. "I work in accounting now."Ezra is a little surprised. That didn't seem like a Daisy type job to him. He looks at his watch. "How about we catch some lunch? All the green in this room is starting to get to me.""Sure," she laughs.They inform the Sally crew that they are leaving and walk out of the studio to face the streets of New York. There's a pizza place down the street and they decide to stop there in fear of getting mugged if they go any further.Settling into a booth, they order cokes and a pepperoni pizza. Daisy notices that Ezra is wearing a wedding band. She hadn't heard the segment when Sally had asked him about his marital status."So, you're married?" she asks with a hint of sadness in her voice. "I feel so embarrassed now.....""I was married," Ezra corrects her. "My wife died two years ago.""I'm sorry. How are you dealing with it?""I take it day by day. It's hard though sometimes. Samantha looks so much like her.""Samantha?""My daughter." Ezra takes his wallet out of his back pocket and shows Daisy one of the pictures. The cutest five year old smiles at her from the picture. Her deep, blue eyes seem to glow."She's beautiful," Daisy smiles. "She has your curly hair."Ezra takes back his wallet as their pizza arrives. He takes a large slice and gooey, stringy cheese gets all over his face."I take it your not married?" he grins."I've dated a lot. But they were all a bunch of losers."Ezra knows he's avoided the topic of his feelings for Daisy. Seeing her brings floods of memories back to him. For two years he had loved Daisy and got nothing in return. Then he had left Horizon and met Kaylee. He had really and truly loved her. Maybe not in the same way he had loved Daisy, but it was love nonetheless. They even had a beautiful daughter together. Kaylee hadn't really replaced Daisy, but in a way had filled a gap in his life. He had almost forgotten Daisy. Then Kaylee was gone. Swept out of his life forever. And now Daisy was back and all his old feelings for her are starting to resurface.He knows that he'll have to talk about this sometime. "So I'm not a loser?""You are definitely not a loser."He pauses. "You probably want to know how I feel about the whole Sally show, don't you?""The thought had crossed my mind." She picks at a piece of pepperoni on her pizza.He takes a deep breath. "You would not believe all the emotions that are surging through my body right now, Daisy. All my old feelings for you are coming back. And that scares me.""It scares you?""Yeah, it scares me. After all the pain I went through, my life is finally starting to feel stable again. I have a good job with a computer company and I have my daughter to worry about. She's my top priority right now. Having you in my life would be a big change. Not to mention you live across the country.""I could move," Daisy states matter of factly. She's really trying to push this. "I own my own accounting company. I can move it wherever I want."Ezra sighs. This is all really too much for him. "Daisy, I would love to have you in my life again. But we have to take it slow. I don't want to rush into anything. Can you visit for the weekend?""Sure," Daisy smiles, relieved he still might want her. "I gave myself the whole week off.""Good. Then you can come and meet Samantha. Then we'll see where it goes from there."