Dinner with Skywalker. I mulled over the thought as I flipped through the myriad of gowns in my apartment's enormous closet. The more I thought about it, the more annoyed I became at myself for agreeing to go. Standing in my bathrobe flipping through my closet is not how I like to begin an evening.

The corners of my mouth turned down when I pulled out a sexy little black number that I hadn't yet worn and held it up in front of a full-length mirror. I clicked my tongue once before replacing it and moving on. It never takes me this long to decide what to wear. With an aggravated sigh, I flipped right on past the reds and blues.

I really did have a meeting with Karrde I'd have to cancel, and I was dreading placing that call. That face he makes when he thinks he knows more than he does jumps to mind so easily. I'm going to get so much heat for this. Why, exactly, did I agree to go? My frown deepened as I continued to flip.

Pausing towards the end of the greens, I ran my fingers down the sateen fabric of the emerald backless dress I'd worn to one of Karrde's functions on Coruscant just last year. The old smooth talker had been trying to impress some prospective new client. The whole thing had been a total bore and I'd ended up excusing myself early. On my way back to my apartment, I'd run into Skywalker and Organa-Solo. Leia had told me that Han was interested in working part-time for Karrde's Organization, which caught me so completely off guard. At the time, I wasn't sure if it was because of her announcement or because of the young woman clinging to her brother's arm. Either way, I didn't stick around to chat. I later found out that after I left, Luke had made an appreciative comment to Leia about my dress.

My frown was instantly replaced with a smirk as I removed the dress from its hanger and draped it across the back of a leather chair outside the closet.

What were the words he'd used? Oh yes, he'd said, "I've never seen a dress wear a woman so well." I don't think his lady friend had appreciated that too much. Han told me she refused to see him again after that. I grinned.

I tried to picture how the Farm Boy would react to me wearing the same dress tonight, but all I could conjure was the way his eyes had lit up when he saw me in it the last time.

TIME OUT! Am I getting sentimental?! Well, mental, that was for sure. With a scowl, I tightened the sash on my robe and sat down at my desk. Might as well get this over with.

I sighed and hit the call button for Karrde's personal line. After the precisely timed two-and-a-half rings, he picked up. He was already wearing 'the face'.

"Mara. How pleasant to hear from you. I trust you are calling to reschedule tonight's meeting?"

I scowled and almost told him that I was still coming, just to prove him wrong. But I knew better. He already knew I was meeting Skywalker and would just read more into it than he already was. No, I checked my temper and sucked it up. He wasn't going to provoke me into giving any details.

"Yes, actually. I won't be able to make it tonight, could we reschedule for tomorrow afternoon instead?"

Karrde raised an eyebrow but didn't probe, "Unfortunately, the Wild Karrde won't be available tomorrow, where would you like to meet?"

I didn't feel comfortable meeting anywhere public to discuss business matters, so I offered the first thing that came to mind, "Why don't we just meet at my apartment here tomorrow. Say noon-ish?"

He nodded in agreement, "That's acceptable. See you tomorrow then, Jade. Karrde out." And with that the screen went blank.

Well, that didn't go too badly. Guess it was time to get ready. Skywalker would be here soon.