"When a woman like that whom I've seen so much, All of a sudden drops out of touch; Is always busy and never can, Spare you a moment, it means a man."
----Alice Duer Miller

CHAPTER ONE

SISTERS AND GODDESSES

I should probably explain more about myself, although by being a Yates, it is likely you already know about me. Yes, the Yateses. The ones that are frequently in the papers, who are considered the epitome of Boston society. I sounded like a terrible snob again. Exactly what Sophie hated. That was the reason she'd turned me down. Well, that and a terrible misunderstanding and a huge mistake on my part. The phone rang.

"Yates here." I deadpanned.

"Is this a bad time?" I heard a shy voice say.

"Emily?" I asked.

"Yes, it's me." Emily replied softly. I smiled.

"Of course it's not a bad time. To be honest, all I'm doing is going over information. How is school?" In the strictest, most technical sense, this was true. Information about Sophie Brown. This brooding over her must be unhealthy.

"Great, actually. I'm doing really well." Emily, my younger sister, was at university. She was planning to be a teacher, possibly for Special Needs children. Teaching in general wasn't the career I would have picked for her, but I had to admit Emily would do it very well. And I'd at least learned enough not to persuade people out of what they wanted, even if I hadn't learned much else. I knew that if I tried, I could probably get Emily into law school and out of teaching, but I had to accept she would be miserable if I did.

"I hate to ask you this, but are you doing all your homework?" It's an obligatory question. If you're wondering why I assume this role with my younger sister, it is complicated.

"Haven't missed a single assignment." Emily said this quietly but proudly.

"Well done." I congratulated.

"Thank you. How are you? How's Jack?"

"So, the first thing you think of when you ask how I am is Jack." I snorted.

"No." Emily ventured.

"He's pretty much disappeared. I think he found a new 'goddess'." I explained.

"I hope she's all right. I really didn't like the last one." Emily admitted.

"Neither did I, Emily. Neither did I. Not a goddess in personality by anyone's standards. Not the brightest either."

"Yes." Emily sounded a little hesitant, like I'd gone too far. Which I probably had.

"Listen, I've got to go now. Do your homework." I commanded.

"I will." She promised. After all, just because I happen to be mulling over Sophie doesn't mean I'm slacking off work. Connections or not, I wouldn't be here if I didn't work for it. The phone rang again.

"Yates here. And I'm busy." I warned.

"Oh. Sorry. It's Jack." Jack. He should have been voted Most Likely to Put People Out of Jobs because of Total Disregard for Rules instead of Best Natured. I'd been voted Most Mysterious and Most Likely to be on Forbes 400.

"Jack. I'm swamped with work. I don't have time." I growled.

"Oh. Sorry. I just wanted to tell you something."

"Out with it. Quickly as you can, so I can get back to work."

"Maybe it's not such a good time." Jack hesitated.

"Just tell me." I groaned.

"I've met someone." What else is new?

"And?" I asked.

"I really think this is it. She's the One." The sheer amount of Ones Jack has is ridiculous and indecent. In some strange land, there is only one One. Apparently I'm the only person who believes this is how it should be.

"That's great, Jack. It really is. I have work."

"No, there's more." Jack sounded hesitant. I wasn't really used to a hesitant Jack.

"Yes?" I waited.

"I don't really know how to say it." Jack admitted.

"Is she pregnant?" I asked.

"No!" Jack protested.

"Well, I assume you're not yet engaged to her, because you'd have been bragging about it from the minute after it happened."

"No, it's who she is." Jack explained.

"Who she is?"

"I don't know what you'll think."

"If you're dating Emily, you will not live." I threatened.

"Dear God! No! She's 21! I'm 30! She's your younger sister!" Jack sounded alarmed.

"Didn't stop some people I might mention." I noted ruefully.

"I'm not him." Jack reminded.

"I know. I also don't have time for this ridiculous guessing game. Either tell me or get off the phone. I'm not particular."

"Fiona Brown." Jack admitted.

"Wait. What?" I asked. Fiona Brown?

"Fiona Brown. I met up with her again. She was taking her class to an art museum, and I was studying the paintings for inspiration." In other words, he was avoiding work.

"So, she's a teacher now?"

"Yeah. Like Emily. I asked her for coffee."

"That's it?"

"Well, yes." Jack finished.

"That's not exactly seeing someone."

"I guess not." Jack sounded like I'd just deflated him.

"How is she?"

"She looked pretty happy. Well, she was with her class. She's still the most beautiful woman in the world. A goddess." Aha! Goddess. There was the world. If it were up to Jack's opinion, every woman in the world would be a goddess. Well, not my scary aunt, but everyone else. And Sophie had only been "very pretty, too" in his eyes. Close enough.

"Oh?" I asked.

"Yes. You should see her. Those dark blue eyes!" Jack raved. Actually, I had been thinking about a pair of eyes---but they were hazel, and definitely didn't belong to Fiona.

"Great. I have to work, Jack. Some of us do that."

"No need to snap at me, Andrew. Sometimes it's like you regressed ten years."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, for a while there you stopped being all moody and now you're back. That was ages ago, though."

"When was that?" I had a pretty good idea.

"God, it was… Long time. God, I think it was five years ago." You win, Jack. Here's the million dollars, not that you need it or I'd miss it. Jesus Christ, Fiona Brown?

FIVE YEARS AGO

It was a charity dance. The kind where people pay five dollars to come in and dance to bad music and eat stale cookies. It was to raise money for a local school. I'd been practically forced to come by Jack, who had fallen in love with Riverbrook (how can something be a river and a brook simultaneously?), Vermont already.

"Andrew," Jack had been sweating and smiling so excessively it was hard to tell which was worse, "you have to dance."

"I won't. I don't see anyone here who it wouldn't be torture to dance with." I said in French.

"I'm sure other people speak French, Andrew. Someone might hear." Jack replied, also in French.

"Are you joking? Everyone here is painfully uneducated." I snorted.

"If you insist, Andrew. There's a girl sitting right next to you. I think her name is Sophie. She's the sister of the beautiful Fiona."

"Even if she could understand me, which I doubt, why would I care? She's average looking, and doesn't seem to have anything else about her which commands any kind of attention. I wouldn't give her opinion even a second thought." I sneered.

"You're disgusting, Andrew." At this point, Sophie whipped around.

"Oh, hello, Mr. Yates. How are you tonight? I'm enjoying the dance immensely, though I think the food has mold growing on it. That could be a Health Department violation, and we can't have that. Although if you feed moldy food to the people you don't like, it could be pretty damn amusing. What's your opinion? Well, must go circulate. Hope your night improves! Avoid the chocolate chip cookies." Sophie raised an eyebrow while the words rolled off her tongue in the most perfect, fluent French I'd ever heard, with an accent like she'd grown up in France. But she didn't sound bitter or angry. Oddly enough, she seemed amused. She flashed me a mocking smile, gave a warm, sincere laugh and walked off. I wanted to bury myself alive.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, should I include a Lizzy/Sophie POV? Let me know your opinions. I hope people like this.