UP IN SMOKE

MASSIE'S APARTMENT

6:32 AM

MARCH 7

Massie now stood with her hands on her hips, scrutinizing the image in her full-length mirror. Piles of dresses, skirts, jeans, and shirts were tossed hazardously about the room. Approximately 23 pairs of shoes were strewn over chairs or scattered all over the floor. The jewelry box had been ripped apart, and different color eye shadows smeared the vanity in the fair corner of the room.

Of course, Massie would never admit that she had re-done her make-up 26 times and tried on a grand total of 64 outfits before finally selecting this one. She wanted to appear perfect after all these years. Yet, she didn't want to look like she was trying too hard.

Finally, she had settled on a dark purple Dolce and Gabbana mini-dress over black leggings and silver flats. She'd put a black headband in her short hair, wondering if Derrick would approve of it. Her make-up was light. It was just enough to look well-rested, but not obvious. She looked like the kind of girl who woke up with a natural glow on her skin. She smiled at her reflection.

She was ready.

Then she heard the light tap on the door, and instantly her heart beat ten times faster. Her palms began to sweat. She quickly swiped on some clear gloss and slowly pivoted towards the main hallway. Luckily, Claire opened the door for her.

"Hey Lyons," Derrick greeted her.

"Hey," Claire said. She twisted around to call for Massie, but stopped when she saw her walking down the hallway. Massie mouthed "Thanks" and, taking a deep breath, faced Derrick.

"Hi," Massie said, silently screaming at herself to stay cool and not faint or throw up.

"Hi," Derrick said. He shifted his gaze towards Massie's bedroom, and took in the disasterous mess. "Did something just explode in here…?"

"Let's go," Massie pulled his arm and walked out of the apartment, slamming the door behind them.

STARBUCKS

MARCH 7

6:58 AM

The ride in the elevator had been silent.

The walk to the Starbucks on the corner had been silent.

Waiting in line for coffee had been silent.

And for the past five minutes of sitting in the booth, no one had spoken. Massie was waiting for Derrick to say something, since he had instigated the meeting, and Derrick was either waiting for Massie to speak or was organizing his thoughts. The wait was agonizing.

Finally, Derrick opened his mouth. Massie sipped her coffee in anticipation.

"So," Derrick said. "I guess I asked you here because I wanted to know how you were doing and…"

"I'm fine. Have my own magazine," Massie said.

Derrick nodded. "Yeah, it's called Smoke, right?"

"Yeah," Massie nodded, running a finger along the rim of the styrofoam cup.

"Why?" He seemed genuinely interested.

Massie shrugged. "It could mean many things. Smoke, as in things aren't clear, like a mystery, I guess. Or it could just mean that all the models in it are smokin' hot." Massie cracked a grin and Derrick laughed at that. It helped ease some of the tension.

"So how have you been?" Massie asked, desperately trying to ignore the churning of her stomach. She pushed her barely touched coffee to the side, unable to stomach much more.

"I teach advanced soccer," Derrick said.

Massie nodded, trying to seem interested, but her nausea had her panicking. "That's cool," She said, beating herself up for not having anything cleverer to say.

"Yeah," Derrick said. There was another silence. Massie wondered if he was going to bring up their breakup. She wondered if it still mattered to him. It had, after all, been a long time. After a beat, Derrick brought up a different topic.

"So, Cam and Claire," Derrick sighed. "I can't say I'm that surprised."

Massie shook her head in agreement. "You're the best man, right?" Massie said.

"Yup. And are you the maid of honor?"

"Actually, it was going to be Layne but she is in Europe with some painter guy." Massie paused, and then her eyes widened. She couldn't believe she had confessed that. No one was allowed to know that she had not been picked first. Derrick, however, just nodded.

There was yet another five minutes of silence. Massie counted the seconds in her head before Derrick cleared his throat. "Ok, as I'm sure you may have guessed, I didn't come here just to gossip about our lovebird friends." His mouth curled in a smile at that, but quickly vanished. "I came here to talk about….us."

Massie swallowed, and nodded.

"So…I guess my first question is….why'd you run from my apartment?"

Massie's brain went dead. She couldn't think of a single lie that would make the situation sound alright. What was she supposed to say? It was no fair; he had chosen one of the hardest questions first. But it wasn't like she could just get up and run out of Starbucks. She was, after all, Massie Block. So she had no choice but to answer this truthfully.

"Well," She said stalling. "I guess it was just that I was shocked, I mean I thought I was going there to…" She trailed off, and then decided she just gave the truth and got it over with. "I actually went to Josh's apartment to bribe him not to tell anyone of…" She trailed off again. "Well, you know the whole…party incident."

She watched Derrick's face carefully, but he didn't look like he was hurt from that memory, so she continued. "And then I guess I just didn't expect for you to open the door, I mean I went there to cover up the whole thing, and then it was just like all of a sudden…" Massie hated that she was struggling for words. "I was just surprised and I didn't want to deal with you." She finally got the words out, and cringed, waiting for his response.

Derrick pondered that for a minute, finishing the last of his coffee. "I guess I can understand that."

Massie felt relieved, and sighed as a small part of stress lifted off her shoulders.

"So," Derrick said, looking serious still. "I wonder where that leaves us."

MASSIE'S APARMENT

LIVING ROOM

MARCH 7

7:01 AM

Claire was unsure of whether or not to go home or stay in Massie's apartment, but in the end she just sat on the couch and watched TV. She didn't know how the meeting with Derrick would go, and she figured that if it went badly Massie might need a friend again.

She flipped through channels, and settled on a news station, but didn't really watch it. She looked outside the window, taking in the tall skyscrapers that obstructed her view of the sky. She could hear the loud traffic of cars, but was used to it.

Claire jerked up when Massie's phone rang. After a short internal debate, Claire decided to answer it. She stumbled into the kitchen and grabbed the phone off the receiver. "Hello?" She said breathlessly.

"Hey this is Melissa with the pics from the Shauna shoot, is Massie there?" Melissa's voice from the other end said.

"Melissa? Hi, this is Claire. Massie isn't here."

There was a pause on the other end. "Oh, um, hey Claire. Do you know where Massie is?"

Claire answered this slowly, trying to figure out how to word this. Sure, Melissa. Massie is just meeting a boy she happens to love who broke up with her when he caught her attempting drunken sex with his best friend, and she just happens to be a nervous wreck right now, but I'll connect your call to her cell.

Claire was positive a comment like that would earn Massie's full wrath. So instead, she said, "Yeah, she has a meeting with an old friend."

"Is it important?" Melissa asked.

"Umm…." Claire debated between both answers of yes and no. "I'm not sure," She said, staying neutral.

There was another pause. "Oh well, I guess I'll try her cell then," And then she hung up.

Claire stared at the phone for a second, and then placed the phone back. "Sure, Melissa, You do that," She said, and hoped that Massie would not be angry. Then she returned to the couch to wait for Massie to return. Just in case.