A/N: First off, I'd like to take this opportunity to give a major dose of thanks to the people who have been leaving feedback about my stories. It gives me so much encouragement to see all your comments. I'm relatively new to fanfiction, and now I'm hooked--so THANK YOU. Special thanks go out to Katie and Rachel--they've been there since the beginning and I love you guys! Watch out after this chapter for a preview of my next story, "Convince Her to Stay" (I thought of the concept today at work and I just couldn't wait to get started!)

Adam found himself in one of the worst positions a male could ever be in on a Saturday afternoon; stuck in between two teenage girls in the midst of a major shopping spree. He wasn't quite sure how it happened; Adam just remembered popping his head into Connie and Julie's dorm, asking if they'd like to help him buy a birthday gift for his mother. The details were quite hazy after that. Adam vaguely remembered a bit of a fight over who would ride in the front seat of his black Porsche 911 on the way to the Mall of America in Bloomington.

The huge scope of the mall gave Adam an immediate headache, but within minutes Julie and Connie had chosen out a gift and it was wrapped neatly in the bag Adam now carried, amongst it seemed like hundreds of other bags. Adam wasn't even sure that he knew what the gift was.

Like a poor sap, Adam stood in the middle of Victoria's Secret while Julie and Connie 'oohed' and 'aahed' over what Adam supposed were bras and panties.

Julie held up a black lacy teddy. "What do you think of this?"

Adam shifted uncomfortably in his sneakers. "Erm...Well, it's nice...I think. Why do you ask?"

"Well, our anniversary is coming up and...do you think that Scooter would like it?" Julie looked at him in earnest.

Adam started coughing uncontrollably. "Whoa, hold on a minute. That is WAY too much information."

Julie seemed to like the reaction she got out of Adam, so she left to try it on. While Julie was in the dressing room, Adam took the opportunity to ask Connie "So, umm...how is the team doing?"

Connie closely studied the seam of a beige-colored bra. "Oh, its so awesome. You should see the soft hands on Jerry—his assist to Guy in our game against Blake was the coolest I've seen in years."

Adam interrupted Connie. "Wait—who's Jerry?"

Connie answered without hesitating. "Oh, Jerry? He's part of the Brat Pack."

Adam was confused and a little agitated. "What the hell is the Brat Pack? Are we talking 80's-style Emilio Estevez and Molly Ringwald?"

As Connie replaced the bra on the rack, she crinkled her nose in disgust over some miniscule detail in what, to Adam, seemed like a perfectly nice bra. "Oh, don't be silly, Adam. I forgot that you don't know about all this stuff. The Brat Pack is the name we gave to the freshmen that joined the team this season."

Adam was really craving a piece of gum at the moment, but was too bogged down by shopping bags to dig it out of his pocket. Adam was really irritated and wished desperately that he could attribute it to his gum craving. "And so the BRAT PACK," Adam emphasized this with very sarcastic finger quotation marks (impressive considering all of the shopping bags he was carrying), "consists of this Jerry guy and who else?"

Connie meandered toward the register with a handful of panties. As she dug some money out of her purse, Connie responded absentmindedly, "Um, let's see...There's Jerry, of course, George, Wayne, Michael and Ivan. You know, I think that you would like them."

"Yeah, sure." Adam was stunned at how sharp his voice was.

Connie's jaw dropped—then her mouth formed a straight line in indignation. "You don't have to rude to me, Adam."

Adam immediately felt regretful for the tone he used with one of his oldest friends. "I'm sorry, Connie. I'm just not used to being so out of the loop."

"Oh, it's alright. I understand." Connie gave Adam one of her trademark 'sweetheart' smiles.

Again with astoundingly impressive agility considering the massive amount of shopping bags, Adam put an arm around Connie. "You're the best. Anything I can do to make it up to you?"

Connie looked around quickly as she whispered to Adam, "I have dibs on the front seat on the way back."

Adam chuckled. "Okay—you've got it."

Connie pumped a fist in triumph just as Julie was exiting the fitting room. "What's going on?"

"I've got the front seat, bitch!" Adam laughed at Connie's random shot of vulgarity.

The three of them stopped in one of the many bookstores at the Mall of America. Connie and Julie were off browsing through the chick 'beach-read' section (like there were many habitable beaches in Minnesota during October) and Adam was roaming his favorite part of the bookstore, the war/history section.

Adam wasn't afraid to admit that he was a nerd and that in his spare time he read titles like "Empire by Default" and "Conflict After the Cold War." It was such an obscure hobby that Adam never had anyone to talk to about the stuff he read. In fact, Adam caught his roommate, Eric Harmon, using his copy of "Fifty Years War" to eat his roast beef sandwich off of one time.

Yeah, its difficult being a nerd, Adam thought as he picked up a book about World War II. An odd thought entered Adam's head. He wondered what Tamsin did in her spare time. Adam thought back to their conversation. He told her about hockey and how she and Pilar should come and watch a game sometime. Adam described the experience of coaching a Little League team, and all the other things he liked to do. But never once did Tamsin mention her own hobbies or talents.

"That's one of my favorite books," said a subdued voiced behind Adam.

Adam turned around and Tamsin stood there, hair tied back in a ponytail and a pen perched behind her ear. From behind her glasses Tamsin's eyes held an unreadable expression.

"What are you doing here?" It was a coincidence to see Tamsin, considering that Adam had just been thinking of her.

"I work here, actually." Adam looked down and finally noticed the green employee's vest, the nametag labeled 'Thomasin' and the stack of books that Tamsin carried. "My family owns a pretty big stake in this company and I've always loved books...So it was just natural that I work here."

Adam was surprised that Tamsin had just told him all that information about herself voluntarily. "You really read all this stuff?"

Tamsin stood next to Adam in front of the war/history shelf and she pointed to the first book on the top shelf. "I've been working here since the day I turned 14, and I started with that book up there. Now I'm down here." Adam followed the progression of her finger as Tamsin pointed to a spot on the third shelf.

"Wow." Adam was impressed. "That's really amazing."

Tamsin shelved a couple of the books before responding, "Yeah, well, I'm a little bit of a dork. Not at all cool like Pilar. Anyway, is there something I could help you find? Are you looking for a book for the project Frankel is giving for Honors History?"

"No, I'm just browsing for something to read. And, really, I think that it's cool that you like this stuff."

Adam was almost proud to note that it looked like Tamsin was realizing that maybe she underestimated him. "Oh, well, thanks. Let me know when you finish that book—I'd like to know what you think."

Adam smiled at her. "That would be great."

Tamsin continued. "In fact, you'll probably be through a couple of chapters by Thursday."

"Thursday?" Adam was confused.

"Yeah...I'll see you when you pick Pilar up for your date."

Adam was slow to answer. "Oh, right. Well, yeah, I'll see you then."

Just then Connie popped her head around the corner. "Hey, Banks, you ready to go?"

By the time Adam had looked at Connie and then looked back to where Tamsin was standing, she was gone—probably shelving books in some other section. "Yeah, I'm ready. Just let me pay for this book and we can get out of here."

As they walked toward the register, Connie asked, "Who was that?"

Adam peered at the bills in his wallet as he answered. "Her name is Tom Logan." He felt uncomfortable sharing with Connie his personal nickname for her.

Connie raised an eyebrow. "And what is she to you?"

Adam laughed—leave it to Connie to get her gossip radar up. "Well, apparently I'm dating her best friend." Adam had to smile at Connie's confused expression just because at that moment, he shared the feeling.

ALL-SPECIAL PREVIEW

Title: "Convince Her to Stay"

Set-up/Summary (The one that won't fit in the 225-character limit FF gives me): Adam Banks and Thomasin Logan are 23 and comfortable in their long-distance Minneapolis/LA relationship until Adam proposes. With full-on preparations going on for a wedding, Adam makes a mistake that changes their lives for the worse. As Tamsin threatens to leave, Adam realizes that he has one week (what's up with Adam and a week?) to convince the woman he loves to take him back. After one week, Tamsin walks away from their relationship and Adam and Tamsin don't speak for two years, under the public facade that they split amicably. After two years have passed, Tamsin enters Adam's life again in the form of a wedding invitation her mother sends. Will Adam be able to capitalize on the chance to redeem his mistakes? An epic love story.

Disclaimer: Real people, places and things are mentioned in this story for the purpose of authenticity. I don't own them--if I did, I probably would not be sitting here writing stories...I'd be shopping because I'd be freakin' rich.

Adam fidgeted in his chair while glancing around the dining room of Forepaugh's, one of the finest restaurants in Minneapolis. It was a very special occasion and Adam had the right to be nervous, but nonetheless the sheer formality of the huge Victorian mansion made him practically catatonic. The small, black, velvet box he fingered was burning a hole through his pocket.

Adam thought back to the conversation he had with his father, Philip Banks, about a week ago. Adam told his dad what he was planning on doing and Mr. Banks didn't give Adam the most enthusiastic approval that he would have hoped for. 'You're too young' and 'How do you know that she's the right girl?' were among his half-hearted reasons for objection. The father and son stared each other down, both knowing all too well that Adam would go ahead with his plan anyway.

Adam was 23, graduated out of the University of Minnesota with a degree in Finance and holding down a steady job in a Financial Advisory and Law firm in the city. Adam planned on going back to school to eventually get a graduate degree. Personally, he felt like he was ready to make this commitment.

Adam suddenly felt a kick at his leg from under the table.

"Adam!" Thomasin Logan hissed his name, indicating the waiter who looked like he had been standing there for quite awhile.

Adam blushed as he quickly ordered his meal and handed the menu over to the expressionless waiter.

Thomasin, or Tamsin as Adam called her, gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry I had to do that. I couldn't think of any other way to get your attention."

Adam smiled back, gazing at the girl that he had chosen. When they first met, back in their sophomore year of high school, Tamsin was a serious- looking girl with a subdued voice and square, black-rimmed glasses. Now, seven years later, Tamsin was still the same girl, but she was also an elegant beauty who had grown into her once vaguely awkward aquiline nose and tall frame. Dressed in a lovely black cocktail dress with her brown hair pulled back into a classic French twist, Tamsin was heartbreakingly beautiful. Adam nodded his head. He was confident that she was the right one.

He reached across the table and grabbed Tamsin's hands. Now was the time to do it and Adam could not turn back. "I love you—but you know that, right?"

Tamsin sighed with contentment. "Well, here we are, seven years to the day we've been together."

"So, would you say that you're comfortable with how things have been working out—me living in Minneapolis and you in Los Angeles?"

Tamsin attended college at the University of California in Los Angeles, and was currently a student at their famed law school. They visited each other at least one weekend a month and consequently had both logged plenty of Frequent Flyer miles.

Tamsin took a sip of her fine vintage merlot. "It's not the most ideal arrangement, but we can deal with it together."

Adam detached one of his hands and reached into the pocket of his trousers, grabbing hold of the black, velvet box. "What would you say if I said that I could change our arrangement?"

Tamsin ran a soft finger down Adam's arm. "I would say that I'm all ears. What kind of changes would have to be made?"

Adam's grin grew wider and wider as he said, "Well, I worked it out with Luke Kensington and we agreed that next year that I could be transferred to their offices in Los Angeles. I told him that the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with lived there."

Tamsin's expression was stunned. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

As he pulled the box out of his pocket to expose the $30, 000 ring (a gorgeous, Princess-cut diamond set on a platinum band with side stones, for all the ladies), Tamsin gasped. "I'm saying that I want you to marry me."

Tamsin's eyes were wide as she shook her head from side to side. "You're joking with me, aren't you? This has to be a hoax."

Adam was getting slightly alarmed, like he was worried that she was seriously going to say no. "No, it's not a joke. I love you, Thomasin Logan, and I want you to be my wife."

With a hand covering her gaping mouth, tears started running down Tamsin's face. "Oh, my God...YES!" They embraced and Adam placed the ring on Tamsin's finger.

"Really, this ring is too much," Tamsin paused to gaze at the celestial object taking up a huge amount of space on her left ring finger. "Oh, whatever, I love it! And I love you!"

Feeling strangely bold like a drunk man, Adam raised his wine glass with his arm around the woman he loved and announced to the inhabitants in the beautiful dining room. "Ladies and gentlemen, I would just like to say that this young lady and I are getting married!"

An outburst of impromptu applause followed while Adam and Tamsin kissed. It was undoubtedly one of the happiest moments of Adam's life. However, it would all go downhill from there.