s e d u c t i o n : r o a d b l o c k s

Beth chewed her lip again. It seemed the nervous habit had grown into a part of her everyday countenance. Ever since last week's lunch with Sheridan, she had been nervous about her plans. It was one thing to say you were going to seduce your best friend, but a totally different thing to actually voice those plans out loud. And she had crossed that line with no way to turn back.

Sighing, she turned away from her mirror back towards her bed. It didn't actually look like a bed though, she thought to herself. It seemed that every single outfit she owned had made it's way out of the closet, onto her body, and then trashed on the bed. Or the floor. Or any available surface for that matter. Her once clean and neat room looked as if a tornado had just swept through it. And she still didn't have anything to wear.

She should just forego the whole sleigh ride event, Beth thought gloomily to herself. And she really would if it weren't for the fact that she needed to be there. Sheridan, who had arranged the whole outing, had promised Hank's presence. And that would be a good thing considering she had missed him at every other opportunity. If she didn't know better, she'd think he was purposefully avoiding her. But Hank had no reason to be angry with her, much less avoid her.

So, she was left with this evenings get together as a means to get toghether with Hank. Sheridan had promised the most romantic of settings. With Harmony's beautiful winterscape, a sleigh ride through the park would not only be easy to set up but also very idealistic. Beth had readily agreed, not even thinking of what she would wear for such an event. She had been shopping numerous times during the past few days, but had not known of this event until yesterday afternoon. What did one wear on a sleigh ride through the park?

Fuming, Beth walked back into her nearly bare closet to see if she had overlooked any outfit that would fit tonight's plans. It was while she was still ruminating over leggings vs. jeans that she heard a soft knock on her bedroom door followed by the low creak of it opening. "Ma, is that you," she asked, letting go of a pair of black jeans to walk out of the closet. Beth was startled to see that her guest wasn't her mother, but rather Sheridan.

"Hi," she greeted. Instantly, a bad feeling came to her. "Is something wrong?"

"Two things actually, but I've already got you covered." Bringing the black bag she held over to Beth's bed, Sheridan moved over some of the clothes to make a seat for herself. "Number one, Hank's bringing a date."

At those words, many emotions flittered through Beth. She wouldn't focus on the anger nor the jealousy, but instead grabbed onto confusion. "Why is he bringing a date," she heard herself mutter. Walking over to take a seat beside Sheridan, she grabbed for the black bag.

"Nah uh," Sheridan said, holding the bag away. "This is number two. We're still on number one. And, I don't know why he's bringing a date. I only just found out from Luis. Apparently, it was a secret that no one was supposed to know, but I luckily was able to stuble upon the information when discussing our plans with Luis."

Beth could feel her shoulder sagging. "Well... I guess tonight's not the night then." She couldn't help the wave of disappointment that rushed over her. Though she had been complaining all afternoon about her lack of clothing, Hank's behavior toward's her, and the whole general idea of this seduction, she was actually looking forward to being able to spend some time with him. But now... She looked up to see Sheridan's eyes practically falling out of their sockets. "What?"

"A woman does not abandon her plans just because of a minor glitch."

"Well, I wouldn't call him bringing a date a minor glitch."

"So what? He has a date. Now you have a date."

"Um, Sheridan, Hank was my date."

Sheridan nodded her head. "I know. But that's changed, so now we have to also change our plan of attack. I called up Gwen Hotchkiss, who gave me the numbers of some very eligble men in Harmony."

"I thought we knew all the eligibles in Harmony. Luis, Ethan, Hank. You could add Miguel and Reese to the list, but personally I don't date teenagers."

Sheridan rolled her eyes. "You're really funny, Beth. No. These are men who work for either Crane Industries or Hotchkiss Enterprises. Harmony is only their home during the work week. They have weekend houses they travel back and forth from."

Beth didn't know where this was going, but she hoped it would get there fast. "It's Friday, Sheridan. I'm sure they all will have left by now."

"Yeah, most of them. But I did happen to get in contact with one. His name is Trent Kelly. He's Vice President of Marketing for Hotchkiss Enterprises. He heads their sales campaigns and that's the reason he's still in town. He'll actually be staying through the weekend to work on some new product or the other. Anyway, when I got in contact with him and told him about tonight's activities, he said he'd love to join us."

Her head could have rolled off her neck with how hard she was shaking it. "No way, Sheridan. No blind dates. No strange men. No uncomfortable silences. That was not a part of my plan. Uh uh. Nope. No," she nearly shouted at seeing Sheridan's head bob in the yes. "I quit. I simply quit. No more seducing Hank. We're better as friends anyway."

Sheridan could see the look of defeat upon Beth's face. She could relate, having gone through much a similar situation before finally snagging Luis as hers. "There are always doubts about relationships, Beth. But you can't just give up because of those doubts. You have to find out if Hank and you could be more than just friends. Maybe it won't work, but what if... What if it does," she ended, a dreamy smile on her face. "To have that type of bond with someone, to share all that two partners share... It's the greatest feeling in the world, Beth. You'd be a complete fool to give that possibility up without even trying. A fool," she stressed the last word.

Ugh. Beth hated Sheridan right now. The woman was a lovesick puppy. She followed Luis around everywhere and vice versa. It was like watching two puppies following each other's tails. But this one puppy was right. She and Hank had been friend's for years now. After her relationship with Luis had failed, Hank had offered his shoulder and ear as support.

The two had cemented their friendship during that period, but Beth had always wondered if maybe there could be more between them than that. She hadn't had the courage then, but she did now and no one, not even one of Hank's harem as the two called his string of girls, would stop her from seeing if they could be more.

Dragging her lip through her teeth one last time, Beth nodded. "Fine. I won't give up on Hank or my plan. I'll go, but if this guy is a worm I'm out of there."

Sheridan squealed, giving Beth a tight hug. "I promise, he'll be a perfect gentleman. Don't worry about Trent. You worry about getting a certain someone to notice that you're having a fabulous time without him."

"Yeah, well, I'll be able to do that once I figure out what I'm going to wear tonight." Beth stood, looking around her messy room. "I think I've tried on every outfit I own."

"Well, you're in luck. Number two just happens to be what you'll be wearing tonight," Sheridan said. She held up the black bag, a sly grin spread on her face.

Beth quickly sat down, looking from the bag to Sheridan and back again. "What's in there," she asked, her curiousity peaked.

"Oh, just the outfit that going to knock every man's socks off tonight. Here," she handed the bag over. "Try it on. I want to see how it looks."

Giving Sheridan one last glance, Beth stood with the bag in hand and headed for the bathroom. Sheridan had yet to fail her in helping her out with this plan. But knowing the other woman, Beth only hoped whatever was in the bag was decent enough to wear out in public.