Sydney sat on the couch in her living room trying to study. The Chai tea
she had made herself earlier sat on the table next to her, forgotten. After
reading the same sentence over twenty times, she finally threw down the
book in exasperation and watched dispassionately as it slid off the couch
and fell to the floor with a thud, cracking its spine in the fall.
It was over a week since their return from Taipei, and she was feeling stonewalled. No one was talking to her. Her father called frequently to check up on her as he had promised, but he was evasive and refused to answer any of her questions about Will. Weiss met with her at least once a day to update her on Vaughn's status, but he too seemed unusually secretive, and she hadn't seen Dixon since before Emily's funeral.
The funeral had been small. Sloane had asked her to say a few words at Emily's grave, and she had done so, talking about Emily's bravery in the face of her illness, her natural kindness, and her philanthropy. After placing an orchid on Emily's coffin, she watched it slowly being lowered into the ground. It was only when Sloane put a hand on her elbow that Sydney had realized that one by one, the other guests had already filed away, and she and Sloane were the only ones who remained at the graveside.
"You and I have both lost someone now, but we have to remain strong. We have to continue on," he had said, his lips trembling slightly.
It was everything she could do not to wrench her elbow from his grasp, revolted by the fact that he would dare to connect Emily's death with Danny's, knowing that she was aware of the role he had played in both.
She had turned to look at him then, and was shocked by what she saw. She had never seen, nor ever thought to see, Arvin Sloane look so old, bereft and friendless. There were circles beneath his eyes, and he looked as if he were wearing another man's suit, so awkwardly did he fill it. Despite everything, she pitied him.
He had seemed discomfited by her gaze. "I will be taking some time off," he had told her, clearing his throat nervously. "There are some things I need to attend to. Your father will be in charge during my absence. I suggest you take some time off yourself. I know how hard this is for you. You were the daughter Emily never had, and from what you've said, she became a mother to you."
A mother, Sydney thought bitterly, her mind no longer on the funeral. She wasn't sure she grasped what that meant any more after coming face to face with Irina.
Sydney's reverie was interrupted by the sound of keys in the front door. After a moment Francie backed into the apartment, her hands full of fabric swatches, paint samples and floor plans for her new restaurant.
"Hey, how are the plans shaping up?" Sydney said forgetting her own thoughts for the moment and rushing over to help. "It looks like things are really coming along!"
Francie rolled her eyes. "There are so many things to consider! I'm ready to pull my hair out! The previous owner is giving me a deal on the old light fixtures and table tops and chairs, but the whole place is screaming to be updated. That means new paint, new window treatments, maybe even new flooring. I won't even talk about what kind of renovations we need to make in the kitchen! Speaking of which, I'm famished. I've been working on this stuff so long, I totally forgot about lunch today."
"Let me fix something to eat, and you can tell me all about it!" Sydney said, as they dumped everything onto the coffee table in the living room.
"Hey, I know!" Francie exclaimed. "Let's call Will and order Chinese, instead. He loves it when we order from YY Noodles, and we haven't seen him in ages. It's like he's giving us the cold shoulder or something."
"I'm sure he's just busy. You know, after being nominated for that prize, his editor probably switched him to a new beat or something," Sydney replied as casually as she could.
"Oh, my God, Syd! We're like the worst friends ever!" Francie gasped. "We forgot all about the awards ceremony. No wonder he hasn't come around! How can we make it up to him?"
Sydney wasn't as concerned about their absence at the awards ceremony as she was about Will's. Surely Weiss or one of the other case officers had come up with a cover to explain his absence. She couldn't help but worry, though. Should she call Weiss or try to make contact with her father? Sydney bit her lip, and gazed at Francie who was now perusing the Chinese takeout menu they had tacked to the bulletin board near the phone.
Poor Francie. No matter what it was, she always seemed to be the one who got short-changed. Sydney couldn't remember the last time she forgot everything else and put Francie first.
"It's been so long since we had time together just the two of us. Let's make this a girls' night. We can call Will and make it up to him tomorrow," Sydney suggested, hoping she could find out something about Will's status in the meantime. "What should we order?"
"How about the Thursday night special: Kung-bao chicken, Shrimp Lo-mein, an order of dumplings, and wonton soup?"
"That sounds great!" Sydney said, giving her roommate her widest smile in days. "How about an extra order of dumplings?"
An hour later they were back in the living room pouring over Francie's plans and eating Chinese out of the paper containers with chopsticks.
"So, I was thinking of this color yellow for the lunch area at the front of the restaurant, since it gets the most natural light, and a combination of burgundy, henna, and deep green for the formal dining room," Francie said showing Sydney the paint chips. "My friend Kat--you remember, the one into graphic design?--has promised to do murals for the walls, so you'll feel like you're in a European street café. Oh, and she's already designed the logo that will appear on the menus. What do you think?"
Sydney picked up an dark green card with "Café 312" in a swirl of embossed gold lettering. "I think it's lovely, Francie! I really do!" she breathed, her eyes shining. "This is all so amazing! You've been dreaming about starting your own restaurant ever since we met, and now you're finally doing it!"
Francie blushed. "I know. There's still a lot to be done before the grand opening, though. It's going to be September 29 before I know it, and I still haven't finalized the menu or got all the financing in order. When I realized the restaurant would need so much renovation, I was really worried I wouldn't find someone to back me, but then this investment group just contacted me, right out of the blue. I have a meeting with them tomorrow."
"Francie, that's terrific! I'm so proud of you!" Sydney said, giving her friend a hug.
Francie deserved nothing but happiness after the way Charlie had treated her. Sydney recalled her mother's ultimatum and shivered. Irina had told her that the she would be able to protect her friends only if she agreed to work with her and not against her. Now that Will had been dragged into her world of lies and betrayal, she wanted to do everything in her power to see that Francie remained safe.
Just then the phone rang. "Don't get up," Sydney said. "I'll get it."
When she returned, Francie closed her eyes, put her hands to the sides of her head and began rubbing her temples. "Let me guess, it's Will. He's coming over and bringing a quart of mint chocolate chip ice cream."
"Nope, it was a wrong number," Sydney said, smiling, "but chocolate chip ice cream sounds really good right about now."
"It figures," Francie groaned. "We haven't had a wrong number for weeks! Don't tell me it was for Joey's Pizza!"
Sydney laughed. "Not unless Joey changed his name to Frank and went into the adult video business."
"Eww! I swear, if we start getting calls like that, I am going to call the phone company and tell them to give us an unlisted number."
Sydney grabbed her purse. "Now that you got me thinking about it, I'm going to get us some ice cream. I'll be back in a bit."
She would have to talk to Weiss about his choice of signals.
It was over a week since their return from Taipei, and she was feeling stonewalled. No one was talking to her. Her father called frequently to check up on her as he had promised, but he was evasive and refused to answer any of her questions about Will. Weiss met with her at least once a day to update her on Vaughn's status, but he too seemed unusually secretive, and she hadn't seen Dixon since before Emily's funeral.
The funeral had been small. Sloane had asked her to say a few words at Emily's grave, and she had done so, talking about Emily's bravery in the face of her illness, her natural kindness, and her philanthropy. After placing an orchid on Emily's coffin, she watched it slowly being lowered into the ground. It was only when Sloane put a hand on her elbow that Sydney had realized that one by one, the other guests had already filed away, and she and Sloane were the only ones who remained at the graveside.
"You and I have both lost someone now, but we have to remain strong. We have to continue on," he had said, his lips trembling slightly.
It was everything she could do not to wrench her elbow from his grasp, revolted by the fact that he would dare to connect Emily's death with Danny's, knowing that she was aware of the role he had played in both.
She had turned to look at him then, and was shocked by what she saw. She had never seen, nor ever thought to see, Arvin Sloane look so old, bereft and friendless. There were circles beneath his eyes, and he looked as if he were wearing another man's suit, so awkwardly did he fill it. Despite everything, she pitied him.
He had seemed discomfited by her gaze. "I will be taking some time off," he had told her, clearing his throat nervously. "There are some things I need to attend to. Your father will be in charge during my absence. I suggest you take some time off yourself. I know how hard this is for you. You were the daughter Emily never had, and from what you've said, she became a mother to you."
A mother, Sydney thought bitterly, her mind no longer on the funeral. She wasn't sure she grasped what that meant any more after coming face to face with Irina.
Sydney's reverie was interrupted by the sound of keys in the front door. After a moment Francie backed into the apartment, her hands full of fabric swatches, paint samples and floor plans for her new restaurant.
"Hey, how are the plans shaping up?" Sydney said forgetting her own thoughts for the moment and rushing over to help. "It looks like things are really coming along!"
Francie rolled her eyes. "There are so many things to consider! I'm ready to pull my hair out! The previous owner is giving me a deal on the old light fixtures and table tops and chairs, but the whole place is screaming to be updated. That means new paint, new window treatments, maybe even new flooring. I won't even talk about what kind of renovations we need to make in the kitchen! Speaking of which, I'm famished. I've been working on this stuff so long, I totally forgot about lunch today."
"Let me fix something to eat, and you can tell me all about it!" Sydney said, as they dumped everything onto the coffee table in the living room.
"Hey, I know!" Francie exclaimed. "Let's call Will and order Chinese, instead. He loves it when we order from YY Noodles, and we haven't seen him in ages. It's like he's giving us the cold shoulder or something."
"I'm sure he's just busy. You know, after being nominated for that prize, his editor probably switched him to a new beat or something," Sydney replied as casually as she could.
"Oh, my God, Syd! We're like the worst friends ever!" Francie gasped. "We forgot all about the awards ceremony. No wonder he hasn't come around! How can we make it up to him?"
Sydney wasn't as concerned about their absence at the awards ceremony as she was about Will's. Surely Weiss or one of the other case officers had come up with a cover to explain his absence. She couldn't help but worry, though. Should she call Weiss or try to make contact with her father? Sydney bit her lip, and gazed at Francie who was now perusing the Chinese takeout menu they had tacked to the bulletin board near the phone.
Poor Francie. No matter what it was, she always seemed to be the one who got short-changed. Sydney couldn't remember the last time she forgot everything else and put Francie first.
"It's been so long since we had time together just the two of us. Let's make this a girls' night. We can call Will and make it up to him tomorrow," Sydney suggested, hoping she could find out something about Will's status in the meantime. "What should we order?"
"How about the Thursday night special: Kung-bao chicken, Shrimp Lo-mein, an order of dumplings, and wonton soup?"
"That sounds great!" Sydney said, giving her roommate her widest smile in days. "How about an extra order of dumplings?"
An hour later they were back in the living room pouring over Francie's plans and eating Chinese out of the paper containers with chopsticks.
"So, I was thinking of this color yellow for the lunch area at the front of the restaurant, since it gets the most natural light, and a combination of burgundy, henna, and deep green for the formal dining room," Francie said showing Sydney the paint chips. "My friend Kat--you remember, the one into graphic design?--has promised to do murals for the walls, so you'll feel like you're in a European street café. Oh, and she's already designed the logo that will appear on the menus. What do you think?"
Sydney picked up an dark green card with "Café 312" in a swirl of embossed gold lettering. "I think it's lovely, Francie! I really do!" she breathed, her eyes shining. "This is all so amazing! You've been dreaming about starting your own restaurant ever since we met, and now you're finally doing it!"
Francie blushed. "I know. There's still a lot to be done before the grand opening, though. It's going to be September 29 before I know it, and I still haven't finalized the menu or got all the financing in order. When I realized the restaurant would need so much renovation, I was really worried I wouldn't find someone to back me, but then this investment group just contacted me, right out of the blue. I have a meeting with them tomorrow."
"Francie, that's terrific! I'm so proud of you!" Sydney said, giving her friend a hug.
Francie deserved nothing but happiness after the way Charlie had treated her. Sydney recalled her mother's ultimatum and shivered. Irina had told her that the she would be able to protect her friends only if she agreed to work with her and not against her. Now that Will had been dragged into her world of lies and betrayal, she wanted to do everything in her power to see that Francie remained safe.
Just then the phone rang. "Don't get up," Sydney said. "I'll get it."
When she returned, Francie closed her eyes, put her hands to the sides of her head and began rubbing her temples. "Let me guess, it's Will. He's coming over and bringing a quart of mint chocolate chip ice cream."
"Nope, it was a wrong number," Sydney said, smiling, "but chocolate chip ice cream sounds really good right about now."
"It figures," Francie groaned. "We haven't had a wrong number for weeks! Don't tell me it was for Joey's Pizza!"
Sydney laughed. "Not unless Joey changed his name to Frank and went into the adult video business."
"Eww! I swear, if we start getting calls like that, I am going to call the phone company and tell them to give us an unlisted number."
Sydney grabbed her purse. "Now that you got me thinking about it, I'm going to get us some ice cream. I'll be back in a bit."
She would have to talk to Weiss about his choice of signals.