"This is nice" Rick commented, slowly walking around the dingy little apartment.

Eli walked out of the miniature kitchen; with cracked tiles, the oven door hanging off by a thread and the squeaky cupboards.

"Err, yeah" Eli said, walking into the lounge room where his father was.

Eli really didn't see anything 'nice' about this place at all. Screw the whole 'renovators dream' and 'full of potential' crap! This place was a total hole!

"You could do a lot with this place" Rick commented, looking up at the roof, noticing a few cracks here and there.

Eli scratched his head- was his father standing in the same apartment as he was?

"Like what?" he asked, a little bitterly- and Rick shot him a sympathetic glance.

"Well, err-" Rick began slowly walking around the apartment again, Eli following him.

"A lick of paint- plaster over a few of the holes-" Rick tried to sound up beat "- this could be a real cool pad!" He said, turning to face Eli.

ELI so he kicks me out. The least he could do is buy me a DECENT place for god sake! –And who the hell uses the word 'pad' to describe a place of residence? That's so 70's!

"Yeah, get a pest exterminator in here to get rid of the rats and cockroaches-" Eli said under his breath, and Rick turned around to look at his 'less than upbeat' son.

"Eli, we can't exactly buy you a mansion!" Rick said.

RICK I'm not made of money!

"I know dad" Eli said "- this is fine-" Eli lifted his head, and noticed that the kitchen, lounge room, toilet and bedroom were all joined- which made this place about the same size as his garage!

"-This will be great," he said flatly, but Rick didn't seem to notice. He slapped Eli on the back happily "Great! You'll see-" Rick said enthusiastically, as he went to take another look at the bedroom "-You have an architect for a father! I'll turn this place into-"

Eli winced, 'please don't say pad' he though to himself.

"- A really cool pad!" Rick shouted from the bedroom, and Eli sighed heavily, as he went to take another look at the bathroom.


"This way" Grace said politely; leading a stocky, white haired man in his fifties and a preppy twenty-something blonde bimbo, to a table by the window.

The man pulled out a chair for his date, and then sat down himself, as Grace placed the menus in front of them.

"Somebody will be over to take you're order in a moment" Grace smiled, and turned on her heel, walking over to the bar.

She sighed, pulling the hair elastic from her ponytail, causing her hair to cascade down her shoulders and bounce around as she walked briskly towards the bar.

"How you going babes?" Andrea, the bartender, asked happily as Grace took up a stool.

Grace sighed, and Andrea laughed, "Yeah it's a bit like that," she said, smiling.

Grace could only manage a small nod in Andrea's direction, and then looked up to ask for a coke.

But Andrea's blonde bobby hair was walking down the bar, about to serve a young businessman.

Grace sighed, and glanced down at her watch, it was only 7:00- by 8 this place would be in full swing, just as it always was on a Friday night.

Her dad wasn't even paying her for working tonight! But he needed an excuse to have Grace close by, so he could keep an eye on her- so he'd told her a fabricated story about one of the waitresses ringing in, saying she had the flu.

Grace ran a hand through her loose hair; and climbed down from the barstool.

"Where you going?" Andrea asked, as Grace breezed by her.

"Out the back-" Grace replied, and turned to look at her "- it's my break time" she lied, and continued to head towards the EXIT doors out the back.

Just as Grace pushed the doors open and stepped outside, a perky waitress with long jet-black hair walked towards the bar, leaning against one of the stools as she talked to Andrea.

"I heard she got an abortion!" the raven-haired waitress said slyly.

Andrea turned and looked at her "What? Grace? No way!" Andrea said, brushing the alligation aside.

The waitress widened her smile "Totally true! -" She leaned in closer "-and I hear it was her STEP BROHER'S!" she said, with a cold laugh.

Andrea widened her eyes "WHAT? Jesus Christ! That is sick!" she gasped, and the waitress nodded.

"I've seen her step brother before-" Andrea said, resting her elbows on the bar "-he is really hot! A muso, I think!" she commented, and the waitress- who's name tag read 'Elle' winked at her.

"Yeah, I heard Mr. Manning on the phone to his ex yesterday- he's got the kid for a week-" Elle said, enjoying the conversation.

"-Really? They're probably separating them or something" Andrea said, not noticing the middle aged woman who had just approached the bar.

"Yeah, so she and her step bro cant GET IT ON!" Elle laughed.

"Jesus! That is something out of 'the bold and the beautiful'" Andrea commented.

Elle nodded "come to think of it- is her step brother kinda tall, with brown scruffy hair, gorgeous green eyes and has a constant smirk on his face?" Elle asked, and Andrea nodded enthusiastically.

"Can't blame her then! He's GORGEOUS!" Elle laughed.

Jake looked over and saw Andrea and Elle talking- unluckily for them, he also saw the middle aged woman tap her nails impatiently on the bar, waiting to be served.

Jake strolled over to them, hearing as they both laughed uncontrollably "Wanna get some work down ladies?" He said coldly, and both women stopped laughing abruptly, straightened and turned to look at their boss.

"Sorry sir" Elle said, and walked past him.

Jake nodded towards the lady waiting to be served, and Andrea nodded meekly, walking towards the lady.


Grace hugged herself, she was only wearing a white shirt, black skirt and tights- the wind had picked up a bit, making a crisp, cold night.

Grace enjoyed the quiet- it was a comfort after working for 4 hours in the busy restaurant.

But when there was nothing to do, and Grace found herself alone- she could only think of Eli.

And sure enough, as the wind whipped up and made a quiet whistle, Grace hugged herself tighter as she sang Eli's song to herself.

Murmuring the tune under her breath.

She remembered the night Eli first sang it to her. It was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her!

And as his fingers strummed the strings, and his soft husky voice sang the lyrics- his eyes never once veered away from hers; they danced as the words escaped his mouth. And Grace remembered studying his face while he sung.

His chiselled chin, autumn leaf eyes, supple lips, his ruffled sexy hair- and his smirk.

Grace hugged herself tighter, but just as she sung the last chorus to the song, the EXIT door swung open- and she silenced herself abruptly, thinking it might be her father, coming out to look her for.

But it wasn't her father, it was a bus boy. With a mass of blonde curls on his head, and a pale face.

He turned and looked at Grace, he had dull blue eyes, and they stared at her- he obviously hadn't expected anyone else to be out here.

"Hey" he mumbled, and Grace only nodded at him and smiled.

He dug around in his pocket, and in the fading light Grace couldn't quite make out what he'd pulled out- but as he took a few steps closer to her, and leaned against the same wall the she was slouched against, she saw it was a cigarette.

He brought it to his mouth, and held it there between his lips while he fumbled around deeper in his pocket for a light.

He found one and clicked it once, an orange flame appearing, he brought it to the top of the cigarette and lit it.

"Want one?" the boy had turned to Grace, and held another cigarette out for her, but she shook her head "no thanks" she said politely.

The boy shrugged, stuffing it back into his pocket, he took a long drag of his cigarette, and puffed out a cloud of smoke.

"Damien" the boy outstretched his hand to Grace, while the cigarette was propped between his lips "Damien Bowing" he added, as Grace shook his hand.

"Grace Manning" she said sweetly, and saw as the boy's face dropped and his expression became flat and lifeless.

"Don't worry about it" Grace said, as she saw Damien suddenly become aware that he was standing out the back, cigarette in hand, talking with his Boss's daughter.

"Ok" he said, trying to wipe the worried expression from his face.

"I thought you were a new waitress here," he said, turning to look at Grace.

"No, I come in every once and a while- to fill in if anybody's away" she said, turning to look at him.

His eyes were very dull. A shame really, beautiful blue eyes are few and far between- they need to have a certain sparkle in them, to make them truly dazzle who ever happens to be gazing upon them.

If they're dull- then there's nothing at all interesting or special about them- and Damien's eyes were very dull. Perhaps its because they were almost a navy blue, most people, Grace thought, might even mistake him for having brown eyes because they were so dark.

"Oh, cool" Damien murmured, taking another drag from his cigarette.

His face was as pale as Grace's, and because he had such light blonde curls, it made his complexion even lighter.

Damien glanced over at Grace; she wasn't anything special, kinda ordinary, he thought.

Her face was supple and creamy, and her hair was flat, draped over her shoulders.

Though her lips were especially sexy; full and robust, a tinge of red in them.

And her big eyes, a dark brown- he felt sort of nervous as her eyes examined him.

"So, you're folks own this restaurant?" Damien asked, trying to act cool.

"Yeah, but they're divorced" she said, turning to look up at the night's sky; there were a few stars hanging above, enough to count on one hand.

Damien nodded, and looked over at her again. She wasn't super skinny, but had nice curves; he liked curvy women; his eyes wondered down to her chest, and a smile crept onto his face as he examined the two swellings, visible underneath the thin white shirt she was wearing.

"Oh" he replied, not really the talkative type.

Grace continued to look up at the sky. Maybe if I look long enough, and hard enough, a few more stars will appear; she thought to herself.

"So, how old are you?" Damien asked, concentrating on her face again, though it was very hard!

"16" Grace said, turning to look at him "and you?" she asked.

"16" he replied, and they both nodded.

He's nothing like Eli, Grace thought. He's good looking, even though he has dull eyes. But Eli is- sexy! He has that whole 'deep and mysterious' thing going on, where as Damien is fairly straight forward; typical immature, hormone driven 16 year old- Grace already guessed this about him.

She couldn't imagine Damien stopping her if she offered herself to him- even if he suspected she was giving herself to him for the wrong reasons.

And Grace remembered the night when she had wanted Eli so badly. But he knew her too well, knowing it wasn't right.

Grace's thoughts were interrupted as Damien spoke again.

"Got a boyfriend?" he asked, trying to act uninterested; he debated in his mind whether or not he should lie and say he had a girlfriend.

Grace noticed his voice was fairly dreary and flat; not quite broken yet, she thought- it wasn't as deep and sexy as Eli's.

GRACE you know you're obsessed- or still in love- with someone when you compare them to every other person you meet, and the person never quite matches up to them.

Grace let out a short laugh 'oh yeah, I'm dating my stepbrother'; she said it in her mind, and it did sound stupid- and particularly strange and wrong!

"Nope, I'm single" she said; the words left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Damien smiled, "yeah?" he said, trying to cover up the singsong tone in his voice "same with me" he added, winking.

But it was too dark now, and Grace didn't see his pathetic attempt at charm in the form of a 'wink'; she only thought to herself 'why would I care if you were single?'.

"So, will you be working here over the weekend?" he asked, wondering if he should turn up the charm.

Grace looked over at him, and saw a dopey smile on his face that wasn't there before.

"Yeah, I will be" she said, suddenly realizing he was, perhaps, interested in her "are you?" she asked, trying to sweeten her voice.

"Yeah, so I guess I will see you tomorrow then" Damien said "I better get back to work" he added, and threw his small cigarette to the ground, placing a foot over it.

"See ya" Grace said, as he opened the door and walked back inside.

GRACE is it rude to date- or even flirt with somebody- when you're heart still belongs to someone else?

Even if the person you happen to be dating, or flirting with- doesn't know about the whole complicated relationship you're trying to forget about?

Grace sighed, trying to push all thoughts of Eli out of her head. She turned towards the door, pushing it open and stepping into the warm restaurant.

GRACE It cant hurt. Can it?