Byron must have been born under a lucky star because all his efforts to sabotage his own movie studio seemed to have failed. Chipfairies 2 was getting rave advance reviews. Nearly all the critics agreed that it was an entertaining film for children and adults. Meanwhile, The Vampire from Outer Space, which was going to be Byron's terrible tour de force intended to embarrass Nova Summers, was stalled in development hell. Apparently, the director requested a rewrite, then the writer wasn't happy with the new contract, and many of the actors decided to bail. Emily suspected Nova Summers had something to do with it; perhaps, unlike Chipfairies, The Vampire had no hope of being salvaged.The premiere was only a couple of weeks away, and Emily was slowly emerging from behind the curtain of fear that the incident with Josh had cast over her. No matter how shaky she felt, she resolved to be ready to travel to L.A. for the screening of the film.Dr. Williams looked somewhat like she had exp

Emily was fine for the rest of her stay in Los Angeles. She wondered if the panic attack had been just a one-time thing. She couldn't possibly react like that every time she saw someone who looked like Josh.She tried to focus her mind on other things until her next counselling appointment. One distraction was looking at what the media had to say about the premiere of Chipfairies 2. Reviewers still raved about the film, and its opening weekend proved that the film was a hit with audiences too.Emily was conflicted in how she felt about it. Meeting up with Pam for lunch, she couldn't hide her disappointment about how everything turned out."I don't understand what you're upset about," Pam said. "It says here, 'Byron Pomeroy, who has already made a successful comeback from near-bankrupcy this year, had another hidden ace up his sleeve. The Chipfairies movie proves this billionaire hasn't lost his touch after all'. It's all very complimentary.""Sure, even though Byron doesn't deserve

The next day, Carter dropped by the house, and they took on a moderately steep mountain trail not far from where she usually practiced.Emily was a little concerned about Carter going too fast for her, but he kept a steady pace, not trying to show off or get too far ahead. This was her first ride since getting her license, and as usual it took her mind off other, less pleasant matters.They stopped in front of a picnic bench to have some water and take in the view."This is awesome," Carter said, looking over the mountainous landscape, "You're right, I never want to leave here. I might have a job lined up teaching Tae Kwon Do. Maybe I'll teach some skiing in the winter, and I'll be set.""Sounds like a plan," Emily said, "I can see you fitting right in here."She had always thought it was so cool that Carter did martial arts, even though it wasn't the most lucrative source of income. He was an all around sporty guy who valued his freedom, maybe a little too highly since he never s

Byron hoped their outing wouldn't be too weird for Emily. He knew it was going to be weird for him.But he tried not to be intimidated by the idea of his current fiancee and his ex girlfriend together on an outing. He wanted to see Nova again, and she seemed cool with the three of them hanging out.Fortunately, Nova took over the conversation and handled everything with grace. Byron felt fairly dashing, walking around with a beautiful lady on each arm. Nova was showing off her figure in a flower patterned summer dress, while Emily looked cool in a white blouse and a pink skirt.They walked along the pier, and Nova chatted about funny incidents on the set of Deadly Drollery."... and here I am, covered in clown makeup, trying to order a taco!" she concluded yet another story."Let's go to the Science Museum!" Emily said on sighting the giant metallic globe perched on the famous futuristic-looking building. "Okay," Byron said, "Have you been there, Nova?"Byron could see that Emi

Emily got on the phone at once, rushing into the house along with the two dogs, who thought maybe this was a fun game of tag. "Yo," Carter answered in his charming way."Carter? Would you like to come over for dinner tomorrow?" she asked while the dogs panted by her side, waiting for more playtime."Um... I might have a thing tomorrow..." Carter said vaguely."Are you sure?" she asked in a sing-song voice, "Because you might miss an opportunity to meet Nova Summers.""Get out of here!" Carter cried. "Nova Summers, the hottest actress in the world, is going to be at your house tomorrow?""That's right, and she's every bit as fabulous in real life," Emily said, rolling her eyes, "So are you in?""You bet I'm in, baby."Emily was very pleased with her plan. She really did want to annoy Byron. It was one thing to have friends that one's partner might not approve of, but he insisted on seeing Nova so much, and hadn't even asked her before inviting Nova to the house. She was hardl