When Steve and Claire moved to Fairview Palms, they really never expected things to go the way they did. Their lives are pretty much amazing now and it all started the evening when they met with the realtor to sign the papers of their new 3500 sq ft house.

Fairview Palms was a relatively new housing development in a retired space of Phoenix, Arizona. Built by the S-Group, the 10 houses of this gated community were just a thing of a beauty. Getting one however was extremely difficult, if not impossible. They actually rejected all the applications that came in and all the people that asked for the prices. When they were planning to built there, they had already studied the market and had created a list of potential families that were more than able to afford living there. One of those families was the Birchs.

The Birchs were a nice family of four; Steve, smart business man with a blue-collar background and owner of Cross, one the largest hardware stores in the midwest of the country, his wife Claire, head of the biggest marketing agency in Arizona and their children, Angelique and Richard, high school students close to entering college.

The place they were living was a nice neighborhood, and it hadn't crossed the minds of neither Steve nor Claire the though about moving out. The house was great, their kids' high school was close enough and most of their neighbors were wonderful and very welcoming people, with only a few of the other families in the community that were kind of a mix between rude and fake people, although Steve and Claire were very friendly and smart people who knew how to handle them. It was quite the life they had, until two robberies happened in the same month that sent Claire into a frenzy.

"What if it happens to us, Steve? Oh my..." said Claire clearly nearly sobbing, clearly worried about the recent events in their neighborhood. "Imagine if something like that had happened with the kids here."

Those thoughts were also going through Steve's mind, but he was doing his best to just shut them off and be supportive to his wife. "I know, honey, I know. But you can't think that way now, let's just be thankful that nothing major happened and hope the authorities do their work."

"I also hear that a neighborhood watch is going to be created. Maybe that's something" said Steve, knowing inside that it probably wasn't going to do nothing.

"I guess..." Claire also didn't think much of the neighborhood watch, after hearing from friends in other places that something like that were pretty much an excuse for guys to get together and hang out without their wives.

As the night went on, Claire tried keeping herself busy with other activities, none of them actually helping her to ease her mind about the situation. "What if we move?" said Claire without really giving it much thought to the idea, just throwing it out there to her husband to see what he'd say. One of the reasons she had married and decided to have kids with him was the fact that while he had some faults, being objective and analytical was not one of them.

"Are you really considering or is this something that just popped in your head?" said Steve. Claire sometimes hated how well he knew her and how he always seemed to know when she was just kinda blurting stuff out.

"I'm really considering it!!" Claire lied straight through her teeth. And while her husband also caught the lie, he was willing to go along with her. "Ok, where would we go? The kids like it here, and while yes, what happened was really unfortunate, you can't guarantee it won't happen in any other place we move. You may not see it, but I'm also terrified about the kids if something like were to happen without me being here to protect you guys." Steve continued the discussion.

"Oh, I see it alright. I know you, honey" - said Claire still a little bothered that he knew she wasn't giving this much thought.

Seeing her expression and how she said that, Steve understood she wasn't happy with his reaction. "Let's keep this as a plan B, and in the meantime let's think of something smaller."

"What? Like a gun?!" Claire quickly answered.

"Perhaps, or maybe one of those state of the art security systems. Didn't your agency advertise one of those?" He was taken aback by the tone of her question, but decided to keep his cool.

"Yeah, I think so, can't exactly remember if we did. But that would be good, because even though I know you used to shoot with your father and you're a maniac for gun safety, I don't feel comfortable having a gun in the house." - Claire said not really convinced about upgrading the security system they already had.

That night, Steve went to bed earlier than Claire, who couldn't keep the idea of moving out of her mind. "I'm just going to review some campaigns for the presentation we are doing later this week. Good night, honey."

"Good night. Don't stay up too late. Love you."

"Love you too" - They both looked at each other for a second, Claire's expression trying to hide the fact that there was no campaign nor anything to be reviewed as they had already closed that deal and Steve's knowing there was a high chance that she was going to do anything else besides work.

Hours after she searched for houses near the area - and some very far - she looked at the time and realized it was probably going to be a waste to just keep looking. Sleeping hadn't come easy for Claire that night, but she thought that probably tomorrow with all the things she had to do was probably going to be better.

A week had passed and nothing was getting better for Claire, who still had trouble sleeping though was able to mask it well given how Steve was able to just close his eyes and sleep like a baby. On that Wednesday, she was able to leave work early in the afternoon, with the agency pretty much running by itself, so she decided to go home and pamper herself with a nice bath, a few cups of wine and just being by herself. She had already gotten a text from his husband that he was going to work late that day, so she knew he wasn't going to be there. But it surprised her that the kids weren't also there.

"Angie? Richie?" She called out to no response. "Huh, that's weird. Thought they would be here already." At that instant, her phone vibrated with a call from her son. "Mom, homework is pretty light for tomorrow, so some of us decided to go to the mall today. Angie came with me and a few of her friends and don't worry, I'll keep an eye on her. Love you!"

"Ok, sweetie, see you tonight. If any of you need anything, just let me or your father know. Love you too!" Claire said, proud of her son. He was only a year older than Angie, but he had that big brother protective instinct. And Angie wasn't really a trouble-maker, she was a very well behaved young lady, but Claire knew how other boys at that age could be.

After ending the call, Claire's mind went again to the robberies. It was almost as if she had a vision where she would come up to her house to find the kids tied up in the living room, crying. Her motherly nature was getting the better of her, and for an instant she felt like she couldn't move. What got her out of it was the ringing sound of the door bell.

"It's 4:30 in the afternoon. Who on Earth could that be?"

The door bell sounded again.

"I'm coming! Just give me a sec." Claire left everything she had on the kitchen table and took off her heels to be a bit more comfortable. She was a bit annoyed that someone had the nerves of bothering her in what was supposed to be her time alone. Quickly getting to the door, she opened it to find a beautiful tall woman - probably an inch or two taller than her - in a business suit. Claire knew she was there to sell her something. "Yes, may I help you?"

"Hi, my name is Laura Kenny and I'm from the S-Group." The woman said.

"Yes, and?" Claire answered not being very inviting.

"I'm here because we heard there were some robberies." Laura continued.

"There were. Two actually in the last 10 days. Uhm, sorry Ms. Kenny, but I've actually never heard about an S-Group. Are you guys with some security company?"

"Yes and no. We're in the business of offering security, but we don't sell systems or alarms, or anything of the sort. And please call me Laura" Laura replied, this being one of the longest conversations with a lead she had had that week.

"Then what is it you guys do?" Claire asked confused, with her expression starting to change to interested.

"We are a very private and secret company that builds gated communities for a very specific demo." Laura started with her pitch, noticing the change in Claire's face. "People think they can be safe with a gun, or the best locks or the newest system in the market. But don't you think you'd be safer if perpetrators never even got the chance to get to your house?"

That's what Claire had been wanting to hear for the past week. In her searches, she had found some pretty nice properties, but nothing really stood out to her and when she looked at some pictures of the neighborhoods online, they really didn't seem to change much from where they were living. She had also heard about those types of communities before, but couldn't remember if there was one in the area they lived or close to it. Now, with her mood totally changed from annoyed to extremely interested, the only thing she could say was: "Laura, would you come in?"

"Yes, thank you!" Exclaimed Laura knowing full well by how that exchange at the door had gone that she had Claire sold. "Is your husband or partner around?" She asked.

"How do you know I have a husband?" Asked Claire.

"Like I said, we target a very specific demographic of families with a certain income level. Plus, you have your wedding ring on."

"Oh, yea that. Heh" Nervously laughed Claire. "Let's go talk in the living room. Would you like something to drink?"

"Not really, thanks" Responded Laura laser-focused on making the sale.

The conversation went on and on for about a few hours. More often than not, due to the stress of her work and what not, Claire used to drift in and out of conversations, something that Steve loved to call her out on because it always made him laugh. However, this had been one of the first times in months that she had been listening intently. Practically every word that was coming out of Laura's mouth resonated with Claire up until the point she was almost ready to just impulsively buy a house in the community Laura had presented as Fairview Palms.

"So, what do you think?" Asked Laura.

Claire was smiling, she had loved everything about Laura's presentation and pitch. However her more logical instinct prevailed. "I mean, if it were just up to me, I'll be buying a house right now. But I'll have to talk to Steve and we'll obviously have to run the numbers and all that. I had talked to him about moving out, but he's not convinced to say the least." Claire said then started to feel a bit down after remembering the conversation with Steve. "Can we schedule a visit?"

"Of course! I wouldn't have let you do anything without getting to visit. Let's schedule for Friday, does that sound good?"

"Yes! That's perfect! And don't worry, my partner John will also be coming. He'll know how to get your husband." Laura said getting close to Claire knowing she was set on moving, but that her husband was a bit reluctant.

"Thanks for this, Laura. I've been kind of in a funk this past week, but all of this is great. I can't wait for Friday" Claire was saying while walking Laura to the door.

"Don't you worry Claire. Things WILL certainly get better." Said Laura with a smile on her basically putting a close to the conversation keeping the final and most important part of her pitch a secret.

"Bye, Laura. Thanks for the visit!"

"Bye, Claire."