Many people turned out for Emily's open house. Her downtown art studio sparkled with new paint, and several works of art were displayed throughout. People mingled, going in and out of the three different rooms and enjoying glasses of champagne.Emily was a little surprised that her brother showed up rather than staying at home as was his custom most of the time. She was even more surprised to see him talking at length to her student Katie. Katie came over to her later, saying, "Your brother is hot, like a skinny Italian Gucci model.""I'm surprised he stays skinny considering how much junk food he eats," Emily said."He actually gave me his number," Katie announced, "Would it be weird if I called him?""No," Emily said, "though I warn you, he is weird, so some weirdness is inevitable."It seemed a budding teenage romance was about to unfold. Her friend Pam arrived with Mike, who was now her fiancé. Emily took them on a tour of the displays."This is Katie's work. Isn't it amazi

Emily found lazing in bed was so much better with the man she adored than all alone. The next morning, they could take their time since it was Sunday. "Did you sleep well?" Byron asked. "Extremely well," Emily said. After making love to him, she always slept soundly, but there had not been very much time for sleep.Emily had lots of time to take in the handsome contours of his face as the conversation meandered at a leisurely pace around the latest happenings. They were both so exhausted from the previous night that there was no more "peace and love" action to be had for now.Byron sounded happy with the way his companies were doing. Since the Christine disaster and his announcement about helping people with depression, the stock had only gone steadily up. "You know, the way things are going, I could afford some time away from the office," Byron mused. "We could go on vacation."It sounded so appealing as they were heading into the coldest time of year. Emily could picture lyi

Emily quickly stopped by her apartment to pick up some chocolates she was saving for the celebration—or for comforting in case the court decided against her. Not forgetting about Rupert, she grabbed a sausage for him. Nick wasn't home, but she wasn't too worried anymore since he had both work and studies now to keep him occupied, not to mention his dates with Katie. Nick was shy and secretive about the new relationship, but Emily was fairly sure it was more than a friendship."You look dapper!" Byron said when she arrived at his place, still dressed up in her court room clothes.Rupert came towards her, wagging his tail, and she fed him a few sausage slices, saving some for later."Thanks, I think," Emily said, "Are women supposed to look dapper? I thought it was only men.""I don't see why not," he said, gesturing freely with his hand, "Women have equal rights."She could smell something delicious cooking, maybe a beef stew. "And you even cooked dinner. What did you make?" "A

Byron Pomeroy never thought he would be involved in the movie business. He tried to stay away from drama, having lived through enough of it in his own life. But somehow the screenplays he received invited him to take more and more steps across the treacherous terrain of Hollywood. Now that he was acting as executive producer for three new films, people kept asking him questions. The emails and phone calls never stopped.He was just about to have some snacks with Emily when the phone rang again, and he had to excuse himself. The name of the caller was Nova Summers. He should have foreseen this happening. He'd been fielding calls from the talent agents of various big name actors who were perplexed about the three new films, but it made sense that Nova wanted to talk to him herself. He went out on the balcony, bracing himself for the conversation."Chipfairies Central, how may I direct your call?" he answered."Ha ha, very funny," Nova said in her deep, evocative voice. "So you are r

"Here they are!" Emily said, entering Ruby's shop once again. She brought in a couple of altered dresses and some she had made from scratch to accommodate Ruby's desire for retro looks.Emily wondered if she got too carried away with the retro style. She had made the clothes look like authentic 1950s pieces.But Ruby's face lit up when she saw them. "This is what I'm talking about!" the usually dour young woman said, "I'll display these, and if you'd like to make a couple more for the fashion show, they're going to be a big hit.""Will do," Emily said. She couldn't believe someone actually liked her fashion designs. It had been a long struggle to get them taken seriously by anyone."I'm going to sell these on commission, see how they do," Ruby said, putting an end to Emily's euphoria, "Shall we say 15 percent?""I was hoping you would buy them off me," Emily said."Don't be ridiculous," Ruby replied, going back to her dour ways. "You're a newbie. You're lucky to be able to sell