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Here's the next one. Keep in mind what I said about Paulie being like Jeremy Piven to Dimitri's John Cusack---in fact, just picture Paulie being voiced by Jeremy Piven. That works. (If you've seen Serendipity you'll get what kind of on/off-screen friendship I'm talking about.) Everyone's reactions to the new "arrangement"...;D...
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"So let me get this straight." Paulie was pacing back and forth in his hotel suite. "You ran into the Grand Duchess."
"Yep." Dimitri ran an exasperated hand through his hair.
"The same girl whose life you saved. Twice."
"Yeah."
"Who you got the reward for."
"That's right."
"Who you practically loved more than oxygen."
"Remind me to kill you for saying that, but yeah, pretty much."
"And she's getting married?" Paulie spat in disbelief.
Dimitri sat on the desk, head in his hands. "You got it," he sighed.
"And you agreed to be a groomsman?" Paulie looked at him with one of his 'boy-are-you-stupid' faces. "How? Why? How? Why How?"
"I had to. It was offered, I couldn't say no. It would've been rude not to. How would that've looked?"
"Like you're a man with better things to do and no unhealthy issues whatsoever."
"Oh, thanks, Paulie, you're a huge help. Seriously. Look out the window, I think that statue of you is going up as we speak." Dimitri let out a troubled sigh. "What am I gonna do?"
Paulie sat next to him on the desk and put an arm across his shoulders. "You, my friend," he told him, "are going to a wedding."
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"He's going to the wedding?" she shreiked, turning on Sophie the minute he was out of sight.
"What?" Sophie looked truly clueless. "It was the polite thing to do---he already knew about it. I thought you were friends!"
"He broke my heart, Soph! I haven't seen him in five years! And now he's going to be a groomsman in my wedding?"
"Anastasia. Anastasia. Calm down," Rosaline soothed. "We could always uninvite him if you feel that strongly about it."
She thought about it, but that was no option either. "No," she relented, "no. It's done. He has to come. It would be rude to cancel now. He'd just get suspicious."
"Good," Sophie declared, pulling a small planner from her purse. She jotted down a few notes. "I'll look up his hotel and tell him to meet the rest of the boys at the plaza tomorrow. It won't be so bad---you'll see."
The young duchess turned her gaze skyward, certainly hoping she was right.
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Here we go...;D You know what I'm about to say...it starts with an "r" and rhymes with "shmeview"....:D
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