On her way back to the hotel that evening, Annie picked up a bottle of wine. Then she considered Auggie's state of mind recently and decided to grab an additional six pack of beer. Hopefully they wouldn't come out of this transitional period as alcoholics.

Annie had just poured the first glass and was sitting at the laptop looking at job options when Auggie got in. He was sitting his bag and cane on the table by the door while Annie watched and tried to gauge his mood, but he was too closed off.

"Hey, how was your day?" She asked.

"It went as well as could be expected." He responded. "How about yours?"

"I think I've picked the neighborhood I like best. There are a couple more apartments that we could look at. Do you want to go with me tomorrow evening?"

"How about I leave all of that up to you. As long as there is room for a bed and my turntable, I'm happy."

"Hm. The turntable would be nice right now. There's an iPod dock in here, though, if you want some music."

"Yeah. Mind if we stay in tonight? We could order room service."

"No problem. I picked up some provisions while I was out today. I have a bottle of red open, but also picked up some beer." She explained as she led him to the docking station so he could be in charge of music.

"Wine please." He said as he explored the device.

Annie brought him a glass. He kissed her on the top of her head as he took it, still getting the music set up.

"I'll take over from here," Annie said, noticing that the controls weren't intuitive.

Auggie didn't protest, simply walking to a chair and sitting. He put his free hand on the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes as he sat back.

"Dinner preference?" Annie asked softly.

"Not really. Just a burger is fine."

Annie went to order some food as Auggie sat with his wine, obviously thinking about something. When she was done, she walked back over.

"Anything you can talk about?"

Auggie laughed a breath and smiled. "Oh, sure. I'm not certain how to get the voice-over software to interact with the security system they use on their log-in. Shouldn't be a big problem, once I get my most tech savvy underling to stop being so nervous when he's helping with any of the accessibility details. Anything else, he's totally cool. They actually threw a programming detail at me today that I haven't worked with before, and I'm wondering if Eric has ever heard about it, if I should talk to Eric, and why I never knew about it. Also, there's a light in my office that buzzes, and I'm sure it would be frowned upon to just unscrew the bulb."

Annie smiled. "Just another day at the office." She said, mockingly.

"It's going to be more interesting than I expected. They are applying for me to have Top Secret Clearance in order to handle some of our contracts with the big weapons makers."

"Top Secret clearance huh? That's cool."

Auggie nodded and took a sip of his wine. "Hope I do well on the interview. My new coworkers say they send a federal investigator and everything." He winked.

Annie smiled. "I hope they don't talk to your old neighbors."

Auggie shrugged. "That place had thick walls."

"I know," Annie laughed. "You reminded me of that a few times the first time I stayed over."

Auggie blushed and sipped his wine. Annie topped off both of their glasses.

"Any luck on the job search?" Auggie asked.

"Lots. There's a social event Thursday in the arts community that we should probably go to so I can network. Feeling social?"

"Do I have to stare at paintings all night?"

"Nope. Hands-on sculpture exhibit."

Auggie raised his eyebrows. "Sounds good to me."

A knock on the door signaled that their dinner had arrived.

...

After dinner, Annie ran a bath in the garden tub and invited Auggie to join her. He sat between her legs and leaned back into her chest. She wrapped her legs around his waist and gently massaged his shoulders. They hardly said anything to each other.

Annie worked her hands into Auggie's scalp. As she gently worked her fingers around his temple he moaned with pleasure.

"Headache?" She asked.

Auggie sighed. "Yeah."

She didn't ask any more, only gently moving her fingers where he indicated felt best. After a few minutes he reached for her hand and pulled it around to his mouth. He placed a kiss on her fingers. "Thank you." He said.

"Not a problem." Annie responded.

He got out of the tub and she admired his naked body while he reached for a towel. He brushed his teeth while she toweled off. They met together in bed.

He pushed her hair out of her face, comforting her with his touch. Just when he thought she was falling asleep, she spoke again.

"I saw Danielle."