Hi everybody! Happy new year!! –throws monkeys and eggs as confetti- Sorry about the delay, I've been busy with what, I just don't know. But anyway, I'm here. And I have biiiiiiiig plans for this story. So stay put and don't go anywhere!! –puts XXX superglue on your seats-

"Hello? Doc?" crackled Roger's voice on the other end.

Alistair sighed impatiently. "C'mon Mark! Hurry up with that damn call already!!" he whined, his forehead wrinkling.

Mark chewed his lip and he gripped the phone tightly. He put on a loud fake voice and said, "Oh, good morning Mr. Hagley! How are you feeling since your new treatment?"

"Ohh, uh….great, Dr," replied the rock star awkwardly.

"Excellent!" continued Mark. "But I'm afraid I'm a little busy right now. I have a meeting with the other doctors. Would it be alright if we continued this conversation later?"

"OOhhhhh. Can't talk now, huh?" said Roger with a chuckle. "Ok, sorry about that, Doc. I'll catch up with you later then, alright?"

"Yes Mr. Hagley, of course. I'll call you back once I'm finished. Thank you, Mr. Hagley. Good bye!" And with that, he hung up the phone and turned to Alistair. "Okay, I'm done. Shall we go?"

"Yes, let's go," said Alistair, his face relaxing into a grin as he looped his arm through Mark's and dragged him out of his office. Thank God, said Mark internally as he let out a huge sigh of relief. At least he didn't get caught. Not that he was doing anything wrong, of course.

After about ten minutes, the two men were seated at an outdoor table at Mindy's, a fancy, corporate restaurant, their table containing eggs Benedict, French toast, Earl Grey tea and foie gras, which Alistair was greatly enjoying – much to Mark's disgust.

"How can you even eat that?" asked the young doctor incredulously. "And so early in the morning."

Alistair grinned. "Why not? It's sophisticated food. Royal food. Plus, I happen to like it," he quipped as he ate another forkful. "Here, why don't you try some?" he asked as he dug his fork into his plate to obtain more.

"Oh no no no, I couldn't possibly. But thank you," said Mark as his boyfriend filled his fork with the weird, greyish-yellow paste and brought it closer to his face.

"Oh please, Mark. For me. Just a little bit."

Mark stared at Alistair's pleading face for a few minutes before finally giving in. "Oh well…..alright," he said as he let Alistair feed him the foie gras. As soon as the paste hit his tongue, he tried his best to stop gagging as he forced it to go down. Alistair grinned and finished his own share from his plate.

"So anyway, I brought you out to brunch today because I wanted to tell you something," said Alistair as he cut into his French toast.

Marl finished his eggs Benedict and started sipping on his tea. "What is it?" he asked quietly, fearing the worst.

The cocky stock broker stared right at him and began slowly. "There have been a few problems with the Nikkei stock index. It's hasn't been performing as well as it should be on Wall Street and it's my job to fix it. So, in order to do that, I'll need to go to Tokyo and have a chat with the stock marketers over there."

Mark suddenly put his cup down and stared right back at him. "When do you have to leave?" he asked.

"Tomorrow morning."

"What?? And you're telling me this now?!?"

This sudden outburst from Mark caused a few people in the restaurant to turn their heads and look at them. Mark blushed slightly, apologized to them, and turned back to his boyfriend, asking him "Why couldn't you tell me about this sooner?" in a whisper this time.

"I'm sorry, Mark. I was gonna tell you, until Jerry got sick and dumped all his work on me, which is why I wanted take you out to brunch today. So I could tell you properly before leaving," said Alistair, who finished his toast and started sipping his tea.

Mark sighed and gripped his boyfriend's hand. "How long will you be gone?" he asked his boyfriend.

"Three and a half weeks," was Alistair's reply.

"I'll miss you a lot."

"I'll miss you too, babe. But don't worry. I'll bring you lots of cool stuff when I return."

Mark smiled. "That's nice, baby," he mumbled as he squeezed Alistair's hand. He then looked at his watch and said, "Oh my gosh, look at the time! I have to go, Alistair. I have a surgery to prepare for."

"Okay fine, I'll let you go," said Alistair as he wiped his chin with his napkin. He then paid the bill, and walked Mark back to the hospital. He wrapped his arms around Mark's waist and pulled him close.

"I'll call you in the morning before I leave, ok?" he whispered into Mark's ear.

"Okay," said Mark, smiling. He kissed Alistair deeply. "I love you," he whispered.

"Love you too," whispered Alistair as he kissed him back. "I gotta go. Talk to you soon." He pulled away from Mark and started walking towards the door.

"Bye!" said Mark as he waved to his boyfriend, and then went up to his office to prepare for his surgery.

Six hours later……..

"C'mon Mark, you can do this!" Collins loud voice resonated off the bathroom walls. "Trust me, you'll feel much better afterwards."

"Yeah, well I still don't enjoy what I'm doing!!" Mark whimpered as he lay crouched on his knees and continually heaved vomit down the toilet, with Collins gently rubbing his back. After vomiting the last mouthful, he collapsed onto Collins' lap, breathing heavily.

"Boy, was that nasty!!" exclaimed Collins as he fanned the air in from of his face to get rid of the smell.

"I am sooooooo never eating foie gras again," whispered Mark between breaths.

"I second that," said the professor.

After getting himself all cleaned up, Mark sat on the couch, his knees all buckled up to his chest, while Collins' sat at the table reading up for his next class.

"Oh well, look on the bright side. You won't have to eat it for three and a half weeks now!!" joked Collins.

"Shut up!!" Mark yelled at him and threw a pillow at him, causing Collins to giggle out loud. He was just about to throw something back when they heard the doorbell ring.

"Now who could that be?" said Mark.

So, who's at the door? Who should be at the door?? I won't tell you unless………….you give me 1000 reviews!! And 1000, no 2000 choc chip cookies!!!