A/N: see disclaimer in the first chapter. Enjoy and have a great holiday!

Everyone seemed to be vying for his attention, but he was less than interested, to say the least. Edie had all but dragged him from the suite 20 minutes ago, with the threat of bodily harm if, as she put it, 'didn't get his ass to the ballroom immediately!'

The scalding hot shower and four shots of scotch had done nothing to erase the image of her from his head. He was currently pretending to be interested in what one of the board of directors of Chandler Enterprises was prattling on about, but he had quite listening to him some time ago. He only broke out of his reverie when he felt a tap on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, gentlemen, I hate to interrupt, but Mr. Slater is needed…"

"Excuse me. Have a good time."

He gave the men a fake smile and moved across the room with Edie. She stopped at a table in the back of the room.

"What's up?"

"Nothing. Sit."

That's when he looked down at the table and saw the huge plate of food sitting there.

He smiled sadly at his assistant. "Edie, thanks, I appreciate…"

"Sir."

".. But I'm not really…"

"Sir."

"… I'm just going to go get a…"

"ZACH!" she said loudly. Rarely did she call him by his first name, only when she really needed to get his attention. This made him stop and stare at her.

"You are going to sit down and eat something. I've picked up everything you like. Eat till you can't eat anymore and then take a few more bites, alright. I'll go get you a drink."

With that, Edie was off to the bar. He sat down and looked at the food and realized how hungry he was. She really had gotten everything he liked, so he dug in.

"That's quite a meal you've got there, Zach."

He looked up and saw Bianca standing across from him, looking stunning in a dark red chiffon ball gown, a glass of wine in one hand and a plate of food in another.

"Mind if I join you?"

He stood up, gave her a kiss on the cheek and pulled a chair out for her.

"This is quite a party you've got going on here, Zach."

He smiled at her. "Yeah, it would seem you and Edie did a great job in the planning."

She smiled and returned to her food. He stared at her, dying to know, but not sure how to ask. It was like she was able to read her mind.

"Yeah, we just got here a few minutes ago. I just had to head on in to get some food since I was starving, but you know my sister, always needing to make an entrance…"

Bianca looked up at him, but he was no longer listening to what she was saying. He was solely focused on the incoming crowd, on one person in particular.

She took his breath away. He literally could not breathe when she entered the room. He had never seen that dress before, the beautiful navy blue silk halter dress she was wearing, but it was the most perfect thing had ever seen. He watched her as she stood there, surveying the room like it was her own personal domain, like she owned the place – which she did, but that was beside the point, in his mind. He watched as Simone came in and said something, trying to make her laugh, but he could see that the smile didn't reach her eyes and that broke his heart. He could only stare as Ethan guided the two of them to a nearby table and went to get them drinks. His food got cold as he watched her pick at the food Simone brought her from the buffet and he started to worry about her. All he wanted to do was reach out and touch her – just a brief contact with her so that she knew that she still had him, no matter what, but he couldn't make himself move from his seat.

He felt Bianca move across the table and sit down next to him.

"You should have seen her getting ready for this party. We must have spent all day at Lacy's, looking for that dress. She must have tried on everything! And then, I had to all but drag her out of the bathroom so I could get myself put together. I tried all day to figure out why. You got any ideas?"

Zach looked over at Bianca, who was smiling deviously at him with a sparkle in her eye.

"Now, why would I know anything about your sister's actions today?"

Bianca just shrugged and smiled into her glass of wine as she took a sip. She slid her eyes over to Zach as he returned to watching her sister, who had pulled her jacket off the back of her chair and was heading toward the French doors.

He wanted to move, to run to her, but something was stopping him. Maybe it was the dreams, maybe it was the thought of her telling him that she didn't need him anymore, that she didn't love him or even care for him at all.

Bianca could see him hesitating. She leaned over and whispered in his ear "You know, Zach, one of us should probably go check on her and…"

That's all it took. He shot out of his chair and was around the table before he realized he was leaving Bianca alone. He turned and looked back at her and was about to speak when she waved him on.

"Go! I'm a big girl. I'll be fine."

He smiled at her and shot across the room. Bianca toasted herself for a manipulation well done and headed back to join Simone and Ethan at their table.

Zach stopped in front of the French doors and stared her, sitting on a bench, lost in thought. He took a deep breath, opened the doors and headed toward her.