CHAPTER 7:

As much as she wanted to break her promise to Zach on coming to the casino tonight, Reese couldn't bring herself go back on her word. Zach was right about her being a woman that knew how to keep a promise.

The more obvious reason for her not wanting to come at all was because of Bianca. To see her tends to be overwhelming mainly due to the unpredictability. One moment it feels as though they are getting back to the people they were years ago when they first fell in love and then the next the past comes swooping in to ruin every close moment they have or could have had.

Reese entered the Gatsby room already feeling a bit overwhelmed seeing how full of people it was. As she looked around she heard a familiar voice call her name.

"Reese!"

She turned to see Homer Riley walking up to her, "Oh! Homer, hi," she greeted.

Homer grabbed a glass of wine from one of the waiters passing by and handed it to Reese.

"I didn't know that you were coming tonight."

"It was last minute invite from Zach," she explained.

"You still haven't met Ava yet, have you?"

"No, not yet," she smiled.

Homer looked around the room, "She's somewhere. I'm sure that you'll bump into her sooner or later. "I obviously know about the work that you did on this casino for Zach. So did you met through doing the casino for him?"

"Actually no. He was sort of my brother-in-law at one point."

"Oh, through Kendall. I didn't know that she had a brother."

"She did, but I wasn't married to her brother. I was married to her sister," she explained.

"Oh…so Bianca-"

"Yeah," she nodded.

"I did not know that. I hope that hiring you didn't cause a riff."

"No," she lied. "We are actually very good friends still," okay, so that was a huge lie, but in business the key is to not air out your business and never let them see you sweat.

"Well that's good to know," he sounded relief.

As Reese prayed for a way out of the conversation, Zach came just on cue. Reese guessed that he spotted her across the room and sensed her distress signal.

"About time you made it here, Reese," Zach approached Reese and Homer.

"Better late than never, right?" Reese joked.

"Do you have a minute? I wanted to see if maybe you could do some additional work to the casino."

"Sure! Excuse me, Homer," Reese slipped her arm into Zach's. Once they were further away Reese whispered, "Thanks for saving my ass."

"That bad of a conversation, huh?"

"It got personal."

Zach nodded his head with understanding, "That's always fun." Zach looked at her outfit, "A red dress. Someone's trying to impress a certain someone."

Reese pulled her arm out of Zach's, "It's not for her."

"Okay," he sounded less than convinced, "I'm going to entertain my guest. Mingle. Have another glass of wine…or two," he joked as he walked away.

Reese rolled her eyes as she headed toward the appetizer table. A woman with thick brunette, curly hair that she wore loose wearing a deep blue cocktail dress stopped Reese.

"Excuse me, are you Reese Williams?" She asked.

Reese nodded, "I am. Sorry, do I know you?"

"Kind of," she laughed, "You met my brother already. I'm Ava – Ava Riley."

"Right!" Reese held her hand out. "Pleasure meeting you! I knew that I was going to meet you sooner or later," she smiled. Reese could see that both Ava and Homer shared the same subtle yet piercing green eyes.

"I've been busy, so I totally apologize for not meeting you sooner. I have to say that I am I fan of all of the work that I've seen from you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Like that house you built that had the garage that was shaped like a computer mouse…genius! Not to mention the casino," she raised her hand as she took a quick look around the room. "You really are an artist."

"Thank you. I try," she quickly dismissed.

"I'd say," Ava slipped her arm into Reese's, "You have to give me tour of the work you did around here."

Reese was a bit confused, "I would assume Zach already gave you one. After all, it was based on what you saw that you hired me."

"Yeah, but I'd like to have the builder's tour. It may be Zach's casino, but it is your handy work. I won't take no for an answer," she already was pulling on Reese's arm forcing her to walk with her.

Reese shrugged, "Why not," she caved.

"Awesome!"

ooOOOoo

Bianca was mingling with some of the guest at Zach's party. Some of the people she spoke to had interesting conversation and others thought it the moment to brag about themself. Bianca was about to grab another glass of wine when she saw Reese and Ava talking.

Bianca slightly frowned seeing how Ava seemed to way to invested into Reese. Bianca let out a deep breath.

'Why should it matter?' She asked herself, 'Reese is not your girlfriend. She's her own woman, and Ava Riley is probably just a huge fan.'

"There she goes."

Bianca froze when she heard a female's voice say out behind her back.

"You mean Ava?" Bianca heard a second woman's voice behind her ask.

"Yep. Could she be anymore obvious about wanting to hook up with her architect?" The first woman went on.

Bianca's eyes widened, shock was over her as she listened to the conversation that was taking place literally within her earshot. It took everything in her not to look freaked out or seem visibly distressed.

"That's her architect? I thought that when she mentioned the name Reese Williams that they were a man! Wait – isn't Ava strictly into guys though?"

"She's been known to play both sides. With how insistent she is with the woman, I wouldn't be surprised if they hooked up tonight." Continued the first woman.

Unable to stomach the conversation anymore, Bianca stormed off. Why was she so upset? Just as she rushed through the hoardes of people in front of her, she ran into Zach.

"Bianca!" He had his hands on her shoulders, "What's the rush? Are you okay?"

Bianca tried to hide how upset she felt, "I'm fine," she forced a smile, "I just remembered that I had a dead line that I have to meet for Cambias, so I should take off."

Zach frowned, "You've barely gotten here."

"I know. I'm sorry, but I have to go," ignoring Zach's protest, she rushed out of the Gatsby room. Once she was out of the room and out of view of everyone, she rested her back against the nearest secluded wall.

"Shit." She cursed. It hit her all at once. Bianca's feelings for Reese were far from over.