Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters contained within this story.

As she quietly stood looking out of the window of her hotel room, mixed feelings of both pleasure and sadness interlaced themselves through her psyche.

Ever since day one, ever since she first laid eyes on him, he was all that she could think about. She gently bit her upper lip as she looked out the window and saw the city night skyline. She let out a sigh and muttered softly, "Billy…if you only knew what you do to me."

She sat down on the couch and picked up a magazine. She tried reading an article to take her mind off of this situation, but it didn't do any good. She knew that he was married to one of her best friends, but he was still all she thought about. She often wondered if deep down, maybe, just maybe he felt the same way about her somehow, even though from his perspective, they were supposed to be "just friends".

Those were the facts that bought her the most sadness—one, that they were "just friends", and two--that he was married, not just married, but married to one of her best friends. There were times that she felt as though she wanted him more than she wanted her next breath. She knew that the next time she went out with Torrie and Billy, she wanted to finally face this situation head-on. She was weary of being a prisoner of her own emotions and she wanted to finally get these feelings out in the open, despite being in two minds about the whole ordeal.

Time and time and time again, she observed him giving all of his love, giving all of his time, and giving all of his affection to his wife. She thought about this and gently closed her eyes. The fact that his wife is one of her best friends escaped her mind as the desire to feel his arms gently caressing her up and down her waist and chest, his warm breath gently on the back of her neck, and the distinctive scent of his cologne filling her nostrils and making her think romantic thoughts—just those mere thoughts flooded out just about any other thought in her mind. She smiled to herself and slowly opened her eyes when she came out of her reverie.

She saw the way he looks at her and the way he treats her--and she wanted that, too, despite Billy being married to Torrie.

At that thought the phone rang, and she, being so absorbed in her own thoughts, jumped a little. She reached over and picked the receiver up.

"Hello?"

The cheerful voice on the other end of the phone was an all-too-familiar one. "Hi Maria! It's me."

Maria answered in a slightly somber tone, "Oh, he-hey Torrie."

Torrie answered, "Hey, is everything ok? You sound…a little down, or something."

Maria, trying to disguise the disappointment in her voice quickly said, "Uh, no nothing's wrong. So, what's up?"

"Well, I just called because I wanted to know if you were interested in maybe doing a double-date with me and my husband."

Maria's eyes lit up slightly and she thought to herself "speak of the devil". She stammered out, "Um…yeah, sure…ok. Uh, what time and where?"

Torrie cheerfully responded, "Well, maybe we could try this new jazz club they have downtown? I think it's called 'The Azure Lounge'. I was thinking we could pick you up around 7-ish? You'll meet your date at the lounge."

Maria went silent for a moment and said, "My…date?"

Torrie hesitated and said, "Yes, you remember I just told you—"

Maria interrupted her and replied with feigned interest, "Oh yeah, I'm sorry I forgot already. Well, who is he?"

Torrie eagerly answered, "Oh girl, you'll love him! He's one of Billy's good friends—and, just between me and you—he is cuuuute!"

Maria smiles a little and says, "Hm…okay then, I'll get dressed. See you."

"Ok Maria, we'll see you at 7! Bye, hon!"

Maria stared at the floor blankly as she pondered the fact that she was going to be near…him. She smiled and hung up the phone, still rather deep in thought and anticipation.

Amidst all of her heavy emotional pondering, she started to think about what to wear. She knew what Billy's favorite color was and she remembered that she had packed a dress just that color. She ran into her bedroom and frantically started routing through her closet. When she found the dress, she smiled gently. "Hmmm…I think he'll love me in this."

She put the dress up to her body and looked at herself in the mirror. She smiled and said to herself, "Yesss..."

Maria looked at the alarm clock and saw that it was a half-hour yet until 7. She sighed and said to herself, "Well, I already took a shower, so…"

She walked into the other room, went to her wet bar, and poured herself a glass of vodka. She sat back down on her couch and took a sip of the drink, all the while pondering about how she could get him away from Torrie—even for a couple moments. She thought about how Torrie's always hanging off of his arm and always kissing him on his neck. As she thought about that, a frown began to develop on her face.

This whole situation just confused her and consumed her. She wanted all of this to end. She didn't want these…feelings, she didn't want to cause any undue tension between herself, Torrie, and Billy.

However, all she knew was how she felt and, like always, when it came to Billy, her feelings would drown out her better judgment. This time was certainly no different. She wanted Billy more and more with each passing moment. She'd been told by the other girls about how beautiful she was and she's heard all of her adult life about how she can get any man she wanted. True, she probably could get any man she wanted, but she didn't want "any man", she wanted…him.

Dejectedly, she looks downward at her slightly weakened drink on the table. She softly mutters, "Well why can't I be the one? Why couldn't he have met me first?"

At that thought, mixed feelings came rushing through her body much like an emotional tsunami, bringing about a slight surge of pain through her chest. She started gently rubbing her chest in an attempt to rub the pain out. For all the while she was rubbing, she imagined it to be Billy's hands rubbing her like that, rubbing away all the hurt, all the confusion, and all of the anxiety. And once again, a gentle smile formed on her face. She eyed the clock on the far wall and saw that it was a quarter until 7.

She ran back to her bedroom and put on the dress. Fortunately, she was already good with makeup due to a photo shoot she had earlier. So all she had to do was brush her hair—a few good brushes and she was finished. She put on her earrings and her high-heels, sprayed a few quick squirts of perfume—the perfume that Torrie always wears. She put the bottle back in her pocketbook and looked at herself in the mirror.

She thought to herself, "Why…why him? Why this situation? Why Torrie? I know there's no guarantee that I'll end up with him, but…I don't know. Why do I do this to myself?"

She was still looking in the mirror when she sighed and softly said to herself, "I know I'm only bringing this on myself. Torrie set me up on this double-date or whatever. She trusts me around her husband and if she knew, even for an instant, that she really shouldn't trust me, it'd devastate her."

She stood there in front of that mirror for what seemed an eternity, although it was only ten minutes. When she usually lost herself in thought about Billy, time would fly. This time, however, everything seemed so…different. Every minute felt like an hour. She just wanted to be near him again so that all these emotions, all these feelings would come into full circle and finally form a complete image in her mind.

Just then, she heard Torrie's rather distinctive car horn beckoning her to come outside.

She took a deep, measured breath and tried her best to glue a smile on her face before she left the room. She nodded slightly and muttered to herself, "Hm…ok then, it's time to at least see what can be done about this—well, if anything can, anyway."

After that, she gulped down the last bit of her drink, turned off the lights, and headed out the door.

To be continued…