Thank you so much to my reviewers, and to all those people who have added me on alerts and favourites! Makes my day truly!

This is the next chapter. Let me know what you think :)

I do tend to write cryptically, so for those of you who get confused, it all gets explained as I continue.

Disclaimer: Ms Clare's characters. My own twist (Clary as the cold 'I can't love' character, and Jace as the well… I guess you'll have to find out).

"Clary, are you alright darling?"Maryse had watched Jace enter the kitchens and then had shifted her eyes to the girl in front of her to watch her progressively grow paler.

"Huh? Oh yea, no I'm fine. Just a little hungry." Clary said plastering a smile on her face.

Maryse gave her a weird look before turning back to Maia to continue their conversation.

This time Clary decided to tune in.

Sadly though, it seemed that the topic of Isabelle and her fiancé had finished, and they were now talking about Isabelle's brother.

"Yes, my eldest son is very different to Isabelle. For some reason he still lives at home. I do worry about him sometimes."

Wait, her eldest still lives at home? Then why did she call Jace 'son'?

Clary decided to straighten things out.

"So, tell me Maryse. You have one daughter and one son right?"

"Oh gosh no! How boring my life would be! I have two sons plus Isabelle. Jace isn't actually mine. He has lived with us since he was about ten years old. One of Robert's clients was going to put him into the foster care system, but Robert wouldn't hear of it. So after a lot of strings being pulled, we became his guardian's."

Clary was shocked. She had always thought Robert a cold man. That's why she liked him. He didn't let emotions- either his or a clients- distract him from the ultimate goal. That's why he was such a revered lawyer. 'Seems Robert may have a soft heart after all' Clary thought to herself.

"Oh, that's interesting." Was all she put forward to Maryse.

Maia of course piped up, "Oh wow, so that's why Jace called you mum. I was trying to find a resemblance between the two of you, but it didn't happen. So then your other two sons, who are they?"

"Oh Alec and Max are the other two boys. They both live at home, but Max is only ten…."

Maryse's voice droned out as Clary pieced together the information she had unwillingly learnt today.

She was sure now. She had met Isabelle's brother Alec, and her fiancé Simon.

Clary had never experienced this uncomfortable sensation of realisation. Such a situation like with Simon rarely happened. That's why she did this more as a hobby than a job because it was so poor paying.

She only ever requested payment when the man wouldn't give into her seductions. If he did, she was proven right and so didn't expect the poor broken girlfriend to pay. That was cruel.

Clary didn't think of herself as cruel. Yes she knew she was cold. She knew she had no morals. But in her eyes she was helping other women out like she wished she had been helped out at one stage in her life. Of course she never slept with the men. That would make her something terrible, and despite her lack of morals, Clary did believe that sleeping with a taken man was wrong.

"Clary…. Clary…. CLARY!"

"Huh?" Clary shot up straight and looked ahead at the two women. Maia had a small smirk on her face and one eyebrow raised. Maryse merely looked exasperated.

"I was saying to Maia that I want to throw a party for Isabelle. I feel guilty that I have been so unsupportive of her. I was wondering if you girls would mind giving me a hand to set it all up. Isabelle doesn't have many female friends I could ask, and I would love it for you two to meet her!"

Maia clapped her hands together and looked ecstatic. "Oh wow! Yes, definitely. You have never seen a party Clary can throw. Her twenty-first birthday was amazing. She has such an eye for these things!"

Oh crap. Clary mentally face palmed herself.

Clary smiled weakly as Maryse and Maia started to plan things out.

This never happened. Well if it did, she didn't know about it. Usually the girl would be so pissed off at her boyfriend for actually cheating on her with someone that she had actually asked to see if he would cheat, that the girl called it off.

Clearly Simon and Isabelle were as strong as ever.

Clary wondered how she could get out of it. But by the sounds of Maryse and Maia's conversation it she was going to be playing a key part in this party.

Sigh.

She knew Simon would talk to her at the party. They had hit it off at the bar, and had spent most of the night talking about his sister. Rebecca used to tutor Clary in college and so they were comparing stories of her. It also turned out that they had gone to the same school when they were eight, before Clary's mother had moved her.

Simon didn't worry her, although it was a bit embarrassing to think that he had turned down her flirting. It was Isabelle that worried her. If Simon told her about that night at the pub where he met Clary, then there was a chance she would piece things together. The risk was slight however. Isabelle probably would be fooled by her apparent meekness and good girl attitude she displayed around people.

Clary decided to take a risk. She knew Maryse would be forever grateful if the girls helped out, and this could be a favour Clary could ask for in return in the future.

"You know what Maryse, I think that is a great idea. What kind of theme were you thinking? Because I have a brilliant idea!" Clary hoped she knew what she was getting herself into.

Their food arrived at that moment. Jace was serving them again. Clary wondered why. It wasn't as though he was a waiter and actually had to serve people. Usually the owner was in the back office somewhere or bossing people around. Clearly this guy was different. Or maybe it was because of Maryse.

"Jace, darling. You didn't have to bring our food around. I'm sure one of your other girls would have been able to do it." Maryse looked at Jace with a small frown.

Jace looked uncomfortable. "It's ok mum. Why wouldn't I bring my mother's food over? I do like to get to know my customers after all." He winked at Clary when he said this. Clary just rolled her eyes and picked up her fork.

"Wow, this looks great. You did a brilliant job of preventing your cooks from turning into idiots. I really appreciate it." Clary said with all the warmth she knew would piss Jace off.

Jace however surprised her. Instead of retorting, he gave her a genuine smile. "I do try. We're down a cook today, so I actually made your salmon."

Oh.

Awkward.

Clary just plastered a smile on her face, pulled off a piece of salmon and replied, "Well seeing as Maryse has confirmed you're not an idiot I guess this should taste brilliant." She proceeded to put the salmon in her mouth, preparing to gag.

But stopped. Oh man. This was fantastic.

She melted on the spot.

So good.

Jace laughed at her expression and said "Thanks, glad you like it."

Clary made a non-committal gesture and pulled off a bigger piece of salmon, watching out of the corner of her eye as Jace left.

Clary looked at Maryse, "Oh wow, this food is fantastic!"

Maryse smiled and replied, "Yes it is isn't it. It took me forever to convince him this was a good idea."

Clary thought it was the most brilliant idea ever as she proceeded to demolish her salmon.

"So anyway about this party. I think we should make it for this weekend. Isabelle really doesn't have many friends, so it would mainly be a family thing, and whatever friend Simon wants to invite."

Clary was surprised. Usually people planned parties in a couple of weeks advance. "Won't it be short notice though Maryse? I mean it's not giving people much time."

"Oh believe me, they won't need to worry about short notice. I organised this a while ago for this weekend. I've only just admitted to myself that I really wouldn't be able to pull this off alone."

Maia grinned. "Well, count us in. We should start to organise things today!"

"Oh I'll leave the organising things to you two. Just ask me for the money and you're free to do what you want!"

Clary and Maia grinned. This was going to be awesome.

So, forgive me if it was a bit slow. Character development is essential to this story.

The party is the next chapter! I'm thinking drama :)

I'm in the middle of university exams, so forgive me if I don't update for a couple of days.

Your reviews and alerts are awesome. Thank you all so much!

:)