March 26th

"I asked you a question Bianca!" Maggie barked as she made her way back through the library to the entrance hall. Once she was face-to-face with her friend, she asked again. "Spit it out B! What is she doing here?"

Bianca wrung her hands "I…I know you don't like her…"

"Ya think?" Maggie asked, her eyebrows shooting upwards.

"But the first day we were here, you said the small apartment reminded you of our studio, and it made me think of her….."

"Oh yeah, that's it! Make me feel responsible for bringing over freaky eyes!"

"But I like her, and she makes me happy, and I wanted to see her again, so I sent for her." finished Bianca solemnly.

"So let me get this straight now. Starving children in China on the one hand….paying to bring Portia, "The Destroyer of Worlds", over to France on the other." Maggie said as she made the gesture of weighing two options.

"It didn't cost that much to bring her over." Bianca mumbled

"Not the point B!" Maggie said as she stomped back to Miranda's stroller

"In fact, it cost more to have her cleaned after the fire!" Bianca knew that was the wrong thing to say the second she blurted it out. Maggie froze in place, stood for a moment without turning around, just to finish with a head shake as she continued on to Miranda.

Bianca finally walked through the library to join her friend in the den. "What if I move her to another room?" Bianca asked sheepishly.

"It's your apartment, as long as She doesn't come in to my room, you can do what you want." Maggie stated as she placed the toddler in her crib.

"Maggie, don't be like that. This place is as much yours as it is mine." Bianca pleaded as Maggie turned to face her, arms folded across her chest, jaw locked in a look of defiance "If it bugs you that much, I'll move her."

"She just creeps me out B." Maggie said, her voice calming down and her hands dropping to her sides. "I mean, she has 3 eyes for crying out loud!" She looked up at the painting again, closed her eyes, and shuddered. "And poor Miranda….think what looking at that every day will do to her self body image!" Maggie paused, and then continued in a high squeaky voice "Why don't I have 3 eyes and 4 breasts Mommy?"

Bianca laughed. "Fine…who knew a painting could cause so much disharmony…you win…I will move her somewhere else." Bianca turned to face the painting, "Portia, my love, it appears no one understands you except me."

Maggie stepped up beside Bianca and placed an arm around her shoulders. "Not true Binks….I think there is a religious cult out there somewhere that worships her as their Goddess of Death and Destruction."

The taller girl closed her eyes and shook her head, "Come on, lets finish getting dinner ready….just for this, you're clearing the table on your own tonight."

February 26th

Maggie wasn't sure which event woke her first. She suspected it was the tiny hand that had grabbed a clump of her hair and was yanking on it. Although, it might have been the high squeaky voice coming from the side the bed that kept saying, "Auntie Maggie…Auntie Maggie…it's time to wake up Auntie Maggie!"

"You know Munchkin…you may be without a Mother in a minute." Maggie mumbled

"Oh Auntie Maggie, you don't mean that," continued the squeaky voice, "you love me tooooooooo much to make me an orphan!"

"True….but I could sell you on the black market and make a tidy profit with her out of the way."

"HEY!" came Bianca's voice as she sat up from her hidden, laying position at the side of the bed "There will be no selling of my daughter….unless we split the profit!", she said with a giggle.

Maggie grinned, eyes still closed in her vein attempt at remaining asleep. "Ok…60/40….you can have the 60, but only because you did all the original work."

"How about we just keep her instead?" Bianca said in a way that implied no further discussion was needed "Anyway, you need to get up, its almost 8:00."

"And why exactly do I need to get up?" Maggie mumbled as she turned her head from the side to face-first into her pillow.

"Because, luggage-less wonder, the shops start opening at 9:30 and we have a lot to do today! So get up!" as she shoved her hand into Maggie's hip, rocking her.

"Fine, fine." Maggie said putting her hands underneath her body to push herself up, as she did so, she paused "Um….B? I hate to ask you this, but…well…could you turn around for a minute?"

Bianca looked at Maggie with a puzzled expression for a moment, and then recognition passed over her face. "Oh! Sure…no problem." Bianca picked up Miranda and turned to face the wall across from the foot of the bed. As she heard Maggie pulling the sheet around herself she said, "I am so sorry, I didn't even think to bring you a nightgown last night! You should have come and asked me for one."

"I didn't want to wake you. I stayed up later than you, and I figured it wouldn't kill me to sleep in the nude for one night." she said as she finished wrapping herself. She swung her legs around so she was sitting with her feet on the floor. "All clear."

Bianca turned back around in her sitting position on the floor with a cooing Miranda in her lap and smiled, "Ok, well, why don't you go get washed up and dressed, and we can grab some breakfast at the little café I spotted down the street on our way in yesterday." She paused for a moment and added, "What do you want to do for clothes for now? Do I need to bring you something?"

"Nah…I can just wear what I had on last night." she said as she stood up, "Although…I could use some shoes. I'm going to look pretty funny with my heels from your going away party otherwise."

Bianca replied with a simple "no problem."

Maggie started towards the bathroom, sheet held tight around her front, but in the back, it was falling down to just above her hips, creating a backless dress effect. Bianca tried not to stare, but seeing Maggie like that just made her heart flutter. The mussed hair…the sheet concealing only part of her naked form…the acres of bare skin from her flawless back….

The clicking sound of the bathroom door snapped Bianca out of her Maggie Stone induced haze. She shook her head, trying to regain her bearings. She lifted Miranda up and turned her so they were face to face and she mouthed a silent "Wow!" to her daughter. Miranda smiled and let out a giggle that almost sounded as if she agreed with her mother.

An hour later, the girls had finished their breakfast and were ready to start their day of shopping. "So, I hope you know where in the world we are going, and how we can get there." Maggie said.

"Got it covered." replied Bianca. "I called for my driver to come get us while you were showering. He should be waiting for us in front of the apartment by now."

Maggie stared at Bianca agape. "You have a driver? Like…in the little suit and hat and everything?"

"Yes, I have a driver." Bianca replied with a smile. "But I have no idea if he has a hat. We shall soon see."

The girls walked back towards the apartment building front door with Bianca pushing Miranda in a stroller. Parked in front was a black limousine with a middle aged gentleman in a black suit leaning against it reading a paper.

"Bon Jour." Said Bianca

The man lowered his paper, and said, "Ah, Ms. Montgomery!"

Bianca replied with "Oui." for yes and turned to introduce Maggie when the man interrupted. "You must be Ms. Stone." he said with a smile and a nod. He then squatted down and looked at Miranda with an enormous grin. "And this must be the real crown bearer."

Maggie looked at Bianca with an expression of surprise, but something told her Bianca wasn't as shocked as she was.

Patrick caught the look Maggie had shot at Bianca. "You weren't expecting me to speak English, I am sure." He said, "It is required of all Cambias company drivers to be bilingual.", he informed the ladies.

"All of them?" asked Maggie. "How many of you are there?"

"Of me? There is just the one." He replied with a wink.

Maggie nudged Bianca. "Oh, I like him already!"

"My name is Patrick." He said with a little bow. "If you would both care to get in the car", he said as he opened the door, "I have already installed a car seat in the back, and I will secure little Ms. Montgomery."

The girls both giggled and said, "Thank you." as they got in the back of the limo. They watched as he put Miranda in facing the back of the back seat, both girls had taken seats on the long bench that ran down the side, with Maggie being the furthest forward.

As Patrick went to put the stroller in the trunk, Maggie asked, "Patrick? The name seems a little Irish sounding for a French guy, if you ask me."

Bianca smiled. "It's not that unusual."

"Well all I know is, I don't believe he's a real driver until I see the chauffeur's cap!"

Bianca rolled her eyes at Maggie as Patrick got into the drivers seat.

"Now…where would you ladies like to go first today?" asked Patrick through the opening for the privacy glass.

Bianca and Maggie looked at each other, smiled, and shrugged. Bianca piped up, "Well, one of us traveled to Paris with no luggage at all!" Maggie rolled her eyes heavenwards. "So we need to take her for all the essentials."

Patrick thought for a moment. "Marks & Spencer should do. If that is ok Ma'am?"

"Perfect! Head there." Bianca replied as she turned to Maggie. "It's an English department store, and happens to be one of the places Mom has an account with, so we're set!"

Maggie shifted in her seat until she faced Bianca. "B, we need to discuss this before we get in there and make some big scene."

Bianca furrowed her brow. "What do you mean? What scene?"

"You are not putting my stuff on yours or your Mom's accounts. I don't have a job right now, but I do have some money saved, and I did not come to France with you so you could pay my way on things." Maggie stated firmly.

"Ah", replied Bianca. "Well, considering the amount of items you need, would you be willing to consider it a loan?"

Maggie pondered it for a moment. "We'll see how it goes today, but if I get stuck, yeah, I supposed I could borrow it, but I will pay you back!" she stressed with a wagging finger.

Bianca smiled and said, "Fine…a loan it is then."

After a moment or two of silent staring out at the scenery, Patrick finally piped up "Ms. Montgomery…the office sent your new cell phone with me. Would you like to have it now?" he asked as he held it up.

"Oh yes, please." She took the phone from the driver and pushed the ON button. The phone sprang to life and located a signal. Bianca's jaw immediately sagged. "What the…." She looked at Maggie who wore a quizzical expression. "I already have 13 messages waiting."

"Welcome to being the person in charge!" Maggie said, patting her friend on the shoulder.

The next few minutes of the drive were spent in silence as Bianca made her way through the voice mails. Maggie noticed a couple of eye rolls, and a few mumbled curses from Bianca. The one that caught her attention was a rather loud, "Oh wonderful!" As soon as Bianca went to push the button for the next message, Maggie put her hand over Bianca's to stop her. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Bianca took a deep breath. "Not so much wrong as a pain. It seems the board of directors would like me to bring Miranda on Monday so they can all meet the true heir to the Cambias fortune. I wouldn't mind normally, but it's my first day at work and I will be swamped with things to do and then to have Miranda in tow? Yikes."

Maggie smiled and waved her hands around in an attention getting manner. "Hello! Earth to Bianca! Remember me? Temporary nanny type person? I'll just go with you and watch over her, and when the board has all gotten their 'Hellos' out, I'll just grab her and take her home."

"Are you sure it's not too much trouble?" Bianca asked.

Maggie grabbed her by both shoulders and shook her. "Stop asking silly questions!"

Bianca noticed Patrick laughing at that one. "Don't laugh! It just encourages her!" Which just made all three of them laugh harder. Maggie finally finished throttling her friend and sat back for a moment as Bianca finished listening to her voicemails.

Out of the corner of her eye, Bianca saw the tell-tale smirk crossing Maggie's face telegraphing that she was about to pipe up with something that would make at least one person cringe. Her gut told her what it was before the words. "So, Patrick…where's your hat?" had even left Maggie's lips.

Bianca hid her face in her hands and groaned in disbelief as Patrick put on his cap.

Bianca had found a secluded corner near a window in Marks & Spencer where she could return her phone calls. Patrick had come in with them to help with the bags, and was sitting on a bench holding onto to Miranda's stroller. Maggie was trying, but not succeeding, to shop on a conservative budget.

"Cute…nice…adorable…want it so bad", she mumbled to herself as she flipped through the tops on the rack.

Bianca finally walked over and joined her in her browsing. Maggie looked her up and down. "Where's the Munchkin?" she asked.

"Sitting in her stroller. Patrick is watching her." she said as she continued to flip through the blouses, occasionally pausing to study one.

"Bianca!" Maggie hissed. "We just met the man, and you're leaving Miranda alone with him?" Maggie turned to start towards the toddler.

Bianca caught her by the arm and turned her so they were looking into each others eyes. "Don't worry about it. Do you really think I would even have gotten into the limo with him if I hadn't already had him checked out from head-to-toe?" Bianca looked deeper into Maggie's eyes to see if what she was saying was registering, Maggie still looked worried. "Seriously Maggie…I had him completely checked out. Would you like to know the name of his first grade teacher?"

Maggie let out one little laugh at that. "Ok, ok. No wonder you didn't look surprised when he spoke English."

"Nope, not surprised at all. I chose him from the driver pool and had a full background check done on him, we can trust him." Bianca said as she returned to her browsing. She pulled out a blouse and held up in front of Maggie. "Yeah…go try that one on." she said, thrusting the garment at Maggie.

"B….about that loan you mentioned, I…"

"I already added you to Mom's and my account and we'll figure it out later", Bianca interrupted her.

Maggie's jaw dropped, but a smile was still evident. "How is it you always get things done before I even ask? Have you been holding out on me and you have some sort of telepathic powers?"

Bianca smiled and whistled innocently as she continued browsing through the blouses. Maggie just laughed and walked off to the dressing room with some selections to try on.

After a few hours of shopping the girls had purchased about two weeks worth of casual clothes for Maggie, two purses and a couple of assorted accessories. Now came the part Bianca hadn't been sure how to bring up, but knew she had to. She sat down with Maggie, while Patrick was running some of the packages to the car.

"I need to talk to you about Monday for a minute." Bianca started. "I know you don't want me buying you anything, but you really need some form of office attire for going to the Cambias' offices, and since it's probably going to be a tad pricey, and not something you would normally buy, I was hoping you would let me buy that for you."

Maggie looked at the floor for a minute and finally looked up at Bianca. "I don't want you to take this wrong ok?" she waited for Bianca to nod in acknowledgement. Once she had, Maggie continued, "I just don't…jeez, how to say this.….I just don't want to feel like you're "keeping me"…do you get what I'm saying?"

Bianca smiled a consoling smile and took one of Maggie's hands in her own. "I understand, I really do. We don't have any clue where this is going yet, and you still need to have your freedom."

Maggie blushed slightly. "You really can read my mind can't you?" she said with a smile.

"If only I could…" Bianca said wistfully. "But, it's called being best friends that have been through Hell together a couple of times."

"I think I could draw the map for Hell from memory by now." said Maggie in a grumble.

At that moment, Patrick returned and resumed his post watching over Miranda as the girls got up and continued their shopping. They went directly for the women's suits department. Just as they arrived, Bianca's phone began vibrating in her hand to let her know she had a call. She excused herself to answer it, leaving Maggie to choose her own outfit.

Bianca's phone call had dragged out for nearly 45 minutes due to yet another board member wanting to be "the first to welcome her to Paris". By the time she found Maggie she had already picked out her clothes and had them wrapped up.

"Wow, that was fast." said Bianca. "Do I get to see what you picked out?"

"On Monday you can." Maggie said with a smile. "I think you will be very pleased though, it is very professional looking."

Bianca gave a halting "O-k" not being quite sure what Maggie's interpretation of professional would be. "So what's left on your list?"

"Just some sneakers, shoes for Monday and underwear I think."

"Ok, well underwear is right over and shoes are one floor up, so let's just get the underwear done."

The girls dropped Maggie's latest purchases with Patrick and walked over to the lingerie department. Bianca browsed for a moment as Maggie did some serious shopping.

Bianca walked over and joined her friend at the rack she was going through, and it didn't take her long to realize she needed to find an excuse to walk away. Maggie was pulling out a wide array of undergarments…fullbacks…low bikini cut….high bikini cut…thongs, and as she pulled each one out she would hold it up in front of her and study it. Tilting her head to the left and then to the right. Some pairs she flipped around to look at the back also.

It was a pair of dark blue thong underwear that made Bianca finally sputter out, "Oh…I…uh…my…my phone…I better go answer this."

Maggie looked at her. "It's on silent mode…and in your purse…."

"I can still feel it." Bianca said over her shoulder as she walked back to where Patrick was

Maggie watched Bianca walking away and after about 20 steps she saw her begin to fan herself with her hand. It was then that Maggie looked back down at the underwear she was holding…and back to Bianca who was still fanning herself…and back down to the underwear and she realized what had just happened. She felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment and a sense of ego-boost all at the same time. She cracked a shy, little smile and put the blue thong underwear on the "to buy" pile.