Peyton took a deep breath as she stood in front of the door. For a second she debated with herself whether or not she should even go in but the better part of her conscious quickly won over. It wasn't like she had a choice. She was Brooke's hired personal assistant so technically it was her job. More than that, she was Brooke's best friend so that made it her duty. Sighing again, she knocked twice.

"Nobody's home", came the desperate moan from inside.

Peyton stifled her laughter. Oh boy. The drama was about to start.

"Brooke, of course you're there. Come on. Open up the door. It's me."

"Who's me?"

"Me. Peyton Sawyer. Your best friend of ten years. Your personal errand girl paid to make sure your dry cleaning gets picked up, you get to all your appointments on time and of course the fun stuff like shopping for your tampons and birth control."

"Oh…you", Brooke huffed as she opened the door.

Brooke Davis, the glamour queen, wore no make up to conceal her red and puffy eyes, had her hair piled up in the messiest bun ever, and wore pajamas three sizes too big. Peyton had to let out a little chuckle when she saw the Cookie Monster bedroom shoes on Brooke's feet. No wonder the girl worked on a soap opera, she was the most dramatic person Peyton had ever met.

"Brooke, you look like hell."

"Well, considering my life is over…"

"Oh Brooke, your life is not over. You're just in a coma. Actually Savannah is in a coma. Anyway, it's not the end of the world."

"Yes it is. Pey, don't you know anything? Soap opera comas are the kiss of death, I tell you."

"Come on. It's a soap. Characters lapse into comas all the time. They have long lost evil twins. They go over cliffs and waterfalls only to return unscathed months later. Brooke, I think you'll be alright. Besides, if, and that's a very big if, you get permanently killed off the soap, who cares? You still have that Tarrantino movie, don't you?"

Brooke shot Peyton a pouty but mean look.

"No."

"No? Dude, what happened? I thought you were gonna be starring in Kill Bill, Volume 20 or something."

"Unfortunately P. Sawyer, you won't be seeing me in Kill Bill anything anytime soon but if you want to catch Kill Felix, Volume 1, I strongly suggest you stick around until the jerk gets home."

Peyton rolled her eyes. They had all tried to warn her about the fast talking, quick charming, slick as grease manager.

"What did Felix do now?"

"This is all his fault. He was the one who demanded a fifty grand an episode pay hike. In fact, it was his idea to demand everything. God, he's such a little diva. Now thanks to him, poor Savannah is connected to a feeding tube not to mention the vultures are literally lining up outside the studios just waiting for them to recast my role."

"Brooke, I…look, you know we're best friends and I love you, right?"

"Yeah."

"So we can be honest with each other, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay", Peyton breathed. "And I'm not defending Felix because I think he's a sleazy, mooching, world class jerk and it was me who first told you never to trust a guy with a name like Felix Domingo. I mean, who the hell names their kid that? How gross! It sounds so…so porn star…"

"Pey!"

"Oh yeah. What was I saying again? Oh yeah. Look, I don't want to hurt your feelings but have you sat back and thought that all this might not be entirely Felix's fault?"

"Oh Peyton, don't blame yourself", Brooke said with a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

Peyton laughed out loud.

"Brooke, are you kidding me? Of course I don't blame myself. I blame you!"

"Me?"

"Yeah. Felix isn't the best influence but you're a big girl and you know better. Guiding Light has been on for like 312 years and has some of the biggest daytime stars ever on it, yet you've been apart of the cast for only a year but you walk around the set like you own it. Kim Zimmer plays Reva Shayne, the biggest and greatest soap diva ever doesn't even have her own spot and you do? Come on, now. And growing up with you, you've always been sweet and slightly humble and when you first started out, I remember you were so nice to the fans and the crew and even the janitors but the more Felix became a part of your life, well, the meaner you got."

"I resent that, P. Sawyer", Brooke sulked. "I…I am not mean."

"What about the time you made the director cry? Or that night at the seafood restaurant when that little kid came up and asked for your autograph and you asked her if she'd like a crab leg up her ass?"

"I was eating", Brooke whined defensively.

"You were being bitchy. Hell, you're not even that nice to me anymore. You're always barking orders, nothing is ever right or good enough and the only time you're ever pleasant to your co workers is when Entertainment Tonight is around."

"But Felix…"

"Brooke, you're a beautiful girl and a talented actress but Felix has put you up on this unattainable, non existent pedestal and he made you think you're better than you are. Girl, you have to do something or this guy is going to ruin your career before it even starts."

Peyton was expecting an argument or even to be kicked out but instead Brooke just played with the eyes of her Cookie Monster slippers.

"That's not all he did", she said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I can't lose my job at Guiding Light because I'm going broke."

"That's impossible. Brooke, you're overreacting. You're not broke."

"Well, I certainly don't have the money I thought I did. Know why? It seems the human stain disguised as my manager and boyfriend has been helping himself to 40 percent of my earnings. Not too mention all of his 'investments' on my behalf, his gambling debts I had no idea existed, and a staff of shady accountants."

"What a cad!"

"Pey, no one says 'cad' anymore."

"Okay. Jerk? Gigolo? Moocher? Liar? Is asshole good enough?"

"I'll take all of the above" Brooke rolled her eyes.

"So what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know. Yelling at him seems like a good start. He just keeps saying it's not a big deal and that everything is going to be fine. I'm not so sure. Instead, Felix has me going to the Jive records party, he wants me to go to 54 every night this week and he keeps scheduling all these dumb publicity events with the fans. Says I have to stay in the public eye when all I really want to do is curl up on this couch and eat Hagen Daaz until my brain explodes."

"I'm sorry, Brooke. Gosh, I don't know what to tell you. Let's just wait it out a few days and see what happens and stuff."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. What else can we do?"

"But he's got to chill with the publicity stunts. I mean, 'Win A Date With Brooke Davis'? Who the hell are you, Tad Hamilton? Can we say overkill?"

"'Win A Date With Brooke Davis?' Pey, what are you talking about?"

"You don't know? It's on your official site. Write a poem and the best one wins a date with your favorite soap star. I thought you knew. I thought you saw it by now."

Brooke hadn't seen it. She fell back on the couch and buried her face into a pillow. It was official. When she saw Felix, she was going to kill him.