The next morning, Theresa got up before Sheridan and Luis. She wanted to get to her apartment and get ready for work, and she knew if she saw Luis, he would make her take a day off. But that's not what she needed now, now she needed to concentrate on work, to get her mind off of Ethan.

She left them a note, telling them thank you for all they had done, and saying she would call them later. She grabbed her keys, and left.

As she got to the doorway of her apartment, she looked up, and saw a brown package leaning against the door. Picking it up, she looked at the return address on the label.

Victoria's Secret. "Oh God," she said, as she unlocked the door.

Making her way to the bedroom, she grabbed a knife to open the box. As she sat on her bed, she opened the box, and took out a floor length burgundy silk nightgown, with a matching robe. Her mind flashed back to Sunday afternoon. After she had left Ethan's apartment, she immediately came home, and hopped on the internet. She wanted to have something beautiful to wear for Ethan, on their first night together. She saw the nightgown and new it would be perfect, so she ordered it and the matching robe, and asked for overnight delivery, that way she knew she would have it in time.

Theresa took the matching garments, and held them up to get a better view. As her eyes began to well up with tears, she heard herself say, "I would have looked beautiful". She then fell back on to the bed, and began to cry.

Although Ethan had not gotten a lot of sleep the night before, he knew he had to be in to work today, the partners had scheduled an important meeting with him for 9am sharp.

As he walked in to his office, his secretary looked up at him. "Good morning Mr.......

Mr. Bennett? Are you all right? You look just awful!"

"Well, good morning to you, too, Julie", Ethan said as he walked in to his office.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Bennett, but I've never seen you like this before. Are you all right?"

"Well, it wasn't the best night of my life, but I will get through it."

"If you're sure, Mr. Bennett. Then the partners are waiting for you in the conference room."

"Thank you." he said, as he made his way through the halls.

"Ah, Ethan, my boy, Good morning. How are you this fine...." As Mr. Smith stood up to shake Ethan's hand, he looked at him square in the face. "Good Lord, man! What happened to you last night, to leave you looking like this today?"

"Ethan, is everything all right with your family?" Mr. Wesson asked him.

"Yes, of course. My girlfriend and I had a bit of a misunderstanding, that's all. Nothing to worry about."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, Ethan. But I have some news for you that will not only make you happy, I'm sure once you tell your girlfriend, she'll forget all about your little spat." Mr. Wesson said.

"Yes sir?"

"Ethan, you've been with this firm now for almost 3 years. Now, I know that's not a long time for some lawyers, but for us, it's plenty long enough. Mr. Smith and I have watched your case load build higher and higher as news of your talent spread throughout not only Harmony, but all of the state of Maine. We have the utmost confidence in you, and that's why we'd like to offer you a partnership in our firm."

The three gentleman stood up as Ethan thanked them. "Thank you, thank you so much. I promise, I won't let you down. I'll make you so proud."

"We know you will, son." Mr. Smith replied. "Now, Mr. Wesson and I discussed how we were going to tell the press about your partnership status. We decided to only make it just an announcement, but to make a celebration also. So, in three weeks, we're having a party. We've booked the Seascape for the entire night, and we're inviting not only all of our clients, past and present, but all of Harmony's society and business class. We're going to have a dinner and dancing. Before the dinner begins, Mr. Wesson and I will make the announcement. How does that sound to you?"

"That sounds great, sir. I'm really very excited."

"Now, now Ethan. You're a partner now, you can call us Bart and James. Now, there's one more thing, you have the rest of the day off to tell your family and friends the good news!"

"Oh no, sir, that's not necessary. I have so much work to get done before the..."

"The case against Mr. Peterson has been moved back, so there's no reason you can't take a day for yourself. Go and find your girlfriend and tell her the good news. Go tell your family and celebrate, you deserve it!" Mr. Wesson replied to Ethan's objection.

"Well, if you gentleman insist, then I guess I have no choice. Thank you again", he said, as he shook their hands one more time, and made his way back to his office to get his things.

"Mr. Bennett, you look 100 better. Was that meeting....?"

"Yup! I'm a partner, Julie!"

"Oh, Mr. Bennett!" she cried, and ran from her desk to hug him.

"Thank you, Julie. Now, you know what this means?"

"Oh, I know sir, a lot more work and longer hours to go with it."

"Well, your probably right, there. But what I was going to say was that you need a raise now!"

"Thank you, sir! Thank you, Mr. Bennett." And she hugged Ethan again.

"Now, the misters Smith and Wesson have given me the day off. So that means, you get the day off, too! Go home and tell your husband and kids the good news! I'm going to find my family and friends and do the same."

When Theresa got to work, she made sure to tell the girl up front answering the phones, that if Ethan called, to put it to her voice mail, and then let her know. She made her way back to her office, and did exactly what she told herself she was going to do, throw herself in to work. She had 4 women come in that morning, all asking for a full wardrobe for their winter in Florida. That was enough to keep her busy for a long time.

At about 11 o'clock, the clerk stuck her head in Theresa's office to tell her Ethan had called, and that it was in her voicemail, like she had asked. Theresa thanked her and she left.

Suddenly Theresa was torn. She wanted to hear what Ethan had to say, but was afraid of what it was. There's only one way to find out, so she picked up her phone and dialed in to her voicemail.

"Hi, Theresa. It's Ethan. I know you told me not to call you, but I just found out some great news, and I had to share it with you. The partners called me in to a meeting today, and offered me a partnership! Can you believe it? All of my hard work has paid off. I also wanted to say thank you. I know that going in to a new relationship with me was hard, but you always made me stick to my work ethic. If you had been any other woman, I wouldn't have the partnership. Anyway, I'm hoping you'll call me back after you get this message. I need to tell you the rest of the good news. I love you, Theresa. Please don't forget that."

As Theresa deleted the message, she began to cry. She was so happy for Ethan. This was all he had ever dreamed about. But she couldn't talk to him. Not yet, she still needed a little more time. She knew the next few days would be busy at the boutique, so she decided to wait and call Ethan on Thursday. Thursday, she thought to herself. Thursday was supposed to be the most special day of my life. "Maybe it still can be", she said out loud. "If you give him another chance, it could still be the most special day of your life."

Ethan hung up his cell phone and took his headset off. He was on his way to his mother's house to tell her the good news, and after already stopping by his father's house to tell he and Grace the good news, he decided to call Theresa from his car on the way. As he suspected, she didn't take his call, but he did leave her a voicemail. All he could do was pray that she listened. Maybe it would get her to call him, and then they could finally get over the whole Gwen fiasco.

"Speak of the devil", he said, as he pulled up in front of the mansion. He looked to see Gwen and her mother, Rebecca getting out of their limousine.

As he pulled his car up, the two turned to look and see who was coming. Gwen recognized Ethan's car, and told her mother who it was. They waited until Ethan came to the door before they rang the bell.

"Ethan, hello! How nice to see you again!"

"Hello Gwen, Mrs. Hotchkiss."

"Hello, Ethan."

"What brings you by today, Ethan?" Gwen asked.

"Actually, I came to see my mother."

"Well, what a coincidence. We have a meeting with your mother. But it can wait until you're done."

As Phyllis opened the door for them, Ethan asked to see Ivy. Phyllis showed them all to the sitting room, as she went to get Ivy.

"Well, Ethan. I was sorry to hear about the misunderstanding between you and Theresa the other night at the Country Club. Gwen told me all about it and she feels just awful", Rebecca said with snide tone to her voice.

"Thank you, Rebecca. But I think you misunderstood Gwen", he replied.

Gwen's head whipped around to look at Ethan, as Rebecca asked what he meant.

"Well, Gwen may have told you she felt awful, but on the night it happened, all she could was insult Theresa and tell me I was crazy to be in love with the housekeepers daughter."

"Oh, Ethan", Gwen replied uneasily, knowing she had to defend her self. "All I meant was...."

"I know exactly what you meant, Gwen", he said sternly, as he threw her daggers with his eyes.

Just then, Ivy came in, followed by Pilar.

"Ethan! How lovely to see you! I didn't expect to see you until Sunday. Hello, Gwen, Rebecca. I hope our meeting can wait until I'm done with Ethan."

"Mother, Pilar. Rebecca and Gwen have already agreed to wait until we're done. Could I talk to you privately? You too, Pilar."

"Of course, Ethan. Let's go in to the solarium. Excuse us, ladies."

As the three of them left the room, Rebecca turned to Gwen. "Why would let Pilar tag along, and not us?"

"Well, there's only one way to find out!" Gwen said, as she stood up and made her way to the Solarium, Rebecca not far behind.

As they stood outside the door, they could hear Ethan begin.

"I had a meeting with the partners in my firm today, and they asked me to join them in being a partner!"

"Oh Ethan, that's wonderful!" Ivy said, as she jumped to her feet and hugged Ethan.

"Yes, Ethan. You deserve it, you've worked very hard for it", Pilar replied, as she hugged Ethan, also. "Have you had a chance to tell Theresa yet? Luis called me this morning and told me what happened last night."

"Yes, and then she told me, too. I hope you don't mind."

"No Mother, that's fine. And yes, I did try to tell Theresa, but the girl at the boutique told me Theresa couldn't be bothered and gave me her voice mail. I'm hoping that she'll call me later today. I need to tell her the rest of the good news."

"The rest?" Ivy questioned Ethan.

"Yes. The partners have decided the best way to make the announcement about my partnership, is to throw a ball. It's going to be at the Seascape in three weeks. I want to tell Theresa so that I can take her. And of course, I want you and Julian, and you Pilar, to come."

"Dios mio, Ethan. I've never been to the Seascape before!"

"Oh Pilar, you can ride with Julian and I!"

"Actually mother, I already asked Dad and Grace to go, too, and they'd like Pilar to join them."

"Well, it doesn't matter as long as she's there. Well, now Ethan. I have a meeting with Rebecca and Gwen, as you know. But afterwards I'd like to take you to lunch to celebrate. You too, Pilar."

"Actually, I would like to find Julian and tell him the news myself. Is he here?"

"Yes, darling. He's in his office. You two go and chat, and as soon as I'm done, I'll come find you and we'll all go."

"Come with me, Ethan. I'll walk with you to Mr. Crane's office."

"Mother! This is perfect!! Theresa isn't talking to Ethan, so she won't be going with Ethan to the ball! I still have a chance to get Ethan Bennett for my own yet!"

"But Gwen, what are you going to do?"

"Oh, I think I need to do some shopping!" Gwen replied, with a grin on her face.