"Shit!"

CJ cursed herself as she drove out of the hotel parking lot at 9:45 the next morning. She could still make Houston in time for her meeting, but she would be pushing it. "You should have never said 'yes,' Ceej," she scolded herself. "You should have told him you were in a hurry and you couldn't stop."

She knew she shouldn't always take drinks from strangers, spending time with men that were obviously out of her reach. But they were so appealing. The money. The power. The aura that they carried was like a magnet. And CJ didn't know how to say "no."

Her phone rang as she merged onto the freeway. "CJ Spencer," she said in her most professional tone, her head throbbing from the hangover settling in.

"Where the hell are you?" Cara demanded.

She cringed and tried to swallow the fuzzy feeling on her tongue. "On my way to Houston," she said honestly.

"Why are you not in Houston already, Catherine Jean? You had better not blow this Houston deal," she threatened, all strains of the caring Godmother replaced by the wicked boss lady.

CJ tried to subdue the pounding in her head. She didn't feel like being yelled at again. "Relax, Cara. I've still got time. I'll make it," she assured.

"Damn right, you'll make it. You have no choice but to make it. What the hell were you doing that kept you in Dallas until this morning?" she asked angrily.

"That's not really any of your business," CJ shot back.

"It wasn't my business when it was on your own time. But when you fuck with this company, it becomes my business," she reminded.

CJ didn't respond well to being treated like a child. "Look," she said firmly. "I know I fucked this one up, okay? But I'll make it to Houston in plenty of time, and I'll get your damn deal. And then I'll go to Vegas, and I'll get that fuckin' deal, too," she was almost shouting. "And then we can all live happily-ever-after."

Cara was matching her tone now. "You better hope that you get your ass to both of those meetings on time, young lady. Because if you don't? Don't bother bringing it back to this office." She slammed the phone down with a clang.

CJ sat stunned for a moment. They had never fought, and Cara had definitely never sworn at her. Maybe she had pushed too far. Maybe she should just move out to LA and go somewhere else, where she could start over, without the guilt of Cara's charity hanging over her head. "Maybe," she breathed before putting the thought out of her head.

-----

"This is boring, man," Randy said, throwing the PSP controller on the ground as the game he and John were playing ended.

"Boring?" John raised an eyebrow. "You feelin' alright?"

Randy rolled his eyes and leaned back on the couch. "I'm fine," he mumbled.

"Oh yeah, you been actin' real fine lately," John said sarcastically.

Straightening back up, Randy looked at the man he considered his best friend, the one person who would honestly tell him if he was losing his mind or not. "Okay, look, I know this is gonna sound fucked up," he started, taking a deep breath before he explained his thoughts surrounding the strange woman in Dallas.

When he had finished, John let out a long breath. "Dude," he sighed.

Randy shook his head and stared at the floor. "I wanna think it was some big coincidence, but I just don't know. She was in every single place I went, man."

Dropping his own controller onto the couch between them, John ran a hand over his face. If there was anything he could say for Randy, it was that there definitely was no shortage of drama. "When's the last time you saw Joey?"

At the mention of his fiancee, Randy shrugged. "I don't know. Three weeks? Maybe four?"

"You wanna know what I think? I think you need to fly your girl in, spend some quality time focusing on something other than this figment of your imagination."

Nodding, Randy stood. "Maybe that's it," he conceded. "Every time I close my eyes or even let my thoughts start to drift for a minute, they just go to this chick I don't even know."

Grabbing his controller, John restarted the game and motioned for Randy to join him in forgetting their troubles the best way they knew how, but letting their ninjas kick the crap out of each other. "Come on, Dude. Let's just play."

Randy nodded and sat, formulating a plan. He would fly Joey out to Vegas. That would surely that would help keep his mind off his mystery woman. Just let it go, Orton. She's not even fucking real.