Chapter 3

Michael gazed at himself in the mirror as he straightened his tie. He wanted to look perfect for the cocktail party tonight, as there were likely to be a reporters and media there. His hair was perfectly messed up with a sexy bedhead look. He had put on a pale green dress shirt and matching tie. He wore a pair of beautifully faded jeans with his favourite pair of funky Cole Hann shoes. Perfect. Nobody would be able to resist him.

"What was Hayley's dress code for this party again?" Emily asked while standing in her towel in the walk in closet.

"Casual chic….but you know Hayley…her parties tend to drift to more chic than casual." Michael lay on the bed as he gazed at his fiancé. The water from her shower still glistened on her skin, and her towel was pulled tight around her body. Her damp auburn hair looked almost brown, tied to the top of her head in a messy ponytail.

"Mmm…I guess I'll just wear something without hose. That will make it casual enough." She flipped through a number of dresses before finally pulling out a stylish royal blue one-shouldered silk Gucci romper. "What do you think?" she asked.

"I prefer the towel. Actually, switch that…I prefer no towel" Michael said mischievously.

"Oh really?" Emily smiled. She dropped the towel and walked back into their walk-in closet holding her outfit.

Michael's eyes went wide, and he began to loosen his tie. "Hey come back here. I think we really ought to be fashionably late to this party" he called out. Silence returned from the closet. Emily returned after a few minutes wearing her Gucci romper. She went and sat down at her make-up table. Michael sighed as he looked at his fully clothed fiancé.

Emily smiled coyly at him. "So how did your brunch go with Leonard yesterday? Did the reunion of the Hofstadter siblings go well?" She began to brush out her damp hair.

"Aah…Leonard is the same as ever. The same mediocre average guy he's always been. Mom was driving him nuts, as per usual. It was pretty funny." Michael paused. "You know, I talked with Hayley earlier about the Penny problem. I thought she was on board with my plan, but now I'm not so sure…" Michael trailed off.

Emily narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean? We can't have Penny's Hee-Haw family screw up our plans for you running for office. What has Hayley done?"

"Oh she hasn't done anything. She's even inviting Ainsley tonight. It's just that…I don't trust her. She has this soft spot for Leonard that is just completely nonsensical. Bonding over mom being disappointed in them? Who knows? It's just…I think if Hayley thinks Penny is good for Leonard, she won't go along with the plan. She's quite kind hearted when it comes to Leonard."

Emily laughed as she carefully applied cream to her face. "Kind hearted? Hayley? Excuse me while I drop my jaw in disbelief. I've never met a more frigid bitch. I don't see her hopping on the plane to visit him in California, and he never seems to come out here. I don't think they are as close as you might assume." Emily paused as she closed the cap on her moisturizer. "But, if you think Hayley is a problem, then I'd rather be proactive and make sure she doesn't cause trouble."

"That was exactly my thinking. No one is going to get in my way of getting into office. Family or not. I need Hayley for the purpose of getting Ainsley there tonight, but after they meet tonight, there is not much use for her. She could cause numerous problems though in influencing Ainsley and Leonard. What I need to do is to get Hayley completely off her game. Get her so horribly distracted, that the wedding, Ainsley, Leonard, Penny will be the last thing on her mind. I just need to figure out how to do this. I swear she's only two degree's away from the looney bin half the time she's so freaking neurotic. I just need to find her trigger." Michael stretched out on the bed and put his arms behind his head.

Emily chose her lip liner, and slowly started to outline her lips. "Trigger? How about that her husband Nathan is constantly cheating on her. Hayley's not stupid, I don't know why she just doesn't divorce him." She filled in her lips with a ruby red lipstick.

"Well, obviously due to her enormous fear of failure." Michael laughed. "You can thank my mother for that one. Aaah Nate…love that guy..he's such a good time."

"Even though he cheats on your sister?" Emily smirked.

"That's their business. I don't really care what they do. But you did give me a good idea. Hayley's petrified of failing. She's full of secrets. I know she's hiding something about her work, she gets super tense whenever someone talks to her about her work in detail. Nobody goes to her lab, her office…but she's there all the time. I think the key to controlling Hayley lies somewhere in that lab. I just need to figure out what it is."

"And I have no doubt that my devious future husband will figure it out." Emily stood up and did a little twirl. "What do you think? How do I look?" She went over to Michael and sat on his lap, straightening the tie he had loosened earlier.

"Delicious. Like a chocolate that needs to be unwrapped" Michael said softly as he ran his hand up her thigh.

"You can unwrap me later. We have a party to attend" Emily whispered in his ear as she gave him a light kiss.

Leonard knocked on the door of his sister's beautiful brownstone style home. He glanced at his watch, he was a little early. Hopefully she wouldn't mind, and they could hang out and catch up.

Hayley opened the door to reveal a storm of activity behind her. Leonard could see their open floor plan, and the door at the back of the house was open revealing the beautiful garden. The party was mainly being set up in the backyard. The florist was carting flowers from the foyer to the backyard. The kitchen was filled with caterer's who were yelling at each other. A party rental company were setting up chairs and tables. Every direction that he looked, the house was filled with people.

"Leonard you're early!" Hayley exclaimed. "Come in, let's get away from the craziness here." She led Leonard to the library. He smiled at his sister, he hadn't realized how much he had missed seeing her these past few years. It was also nice to see her without having Michael or their mother there to annoy them. They entered a small room on the main floor that was used as a library.

"Wow, that is quite the flurry of activity there. Just a small backyard party?" Leonard joked.

"Oh you know, when is anything ever simple when it comes to the Hofstadters?" Hayley replied. Leonard looked at his sister, she looked beautiful wearing a lilac silk dress, her hair pulled up into an elegant up do.

"You look really great Hayley. I hope I'm not underdressed."

Hayley looked her brother up and down. "Blazer, untucked button down shirt, black pants, Converse sneakers….I love it. You look great Leonard. Kind of geek-chic." She smiled and then ruffled his hair. "You've really tamed your hair…it's a little less –"

"-Don't even say it. That song still give me nightmares" Leonard laughed.

"Ch-Ch-Ch- Chia Head!" Hayley laughed.

"Oh God….I'm never going to live that hair down am I?" he said while smiling.

"Excuse me Miss? Where is the breaker panel? I think we blew a circuit outside with the equipment" one of the caterers interrupted.

Hayley sighed. "It never ends. Leonard could you excuse me for a few minutes, I need to deal with this. Just make yourself at home. I'll be right back." Hayley left with the caterer.

Leonard walked over to the bookshelf and started looking at the titles on the shelf when he felt two eyes watching him from the corner of his eye. He turned around and saw a little girl, in a pale green dress and tights. She had striking hazel eyes, and a mop of curly brown hair. She was holding a violin.

"Hi Uncle Leonard. How are you?" a cheerful little voice chirped. Leonard smiled as the girl gently laid the violin on the coffee table and then jumped up on the couch and gave him a big smile.

"Hi Phoebe. How are you?" Leonard looked at his little niece. He sat down beside her and gave her a quick hug. She had inherited Hayley's eyes, but she appeared to have the exact same curly hair as him.

"I'm good. Thank-you so much for my birthday presents you sent. You always send the best presents…you know the ones that are fun. I loved the charm bracelet, and the costume was super cool! How did you know I love Kamala Khan? Also I LOVED the chemistry set. I've managed to melt my dad's metal pen! It was so cool! He got sooooo mad!" she giggled.

Leonard laughed at her exuberance. "The charm bracelet was Penny's idea. I love reading comic books, and I talked to my friend Stuart and he said that Ms. Marvel was all the rage right now. I thought you might like that one. As for the chemistry set…well your mom was crazy about hers at your age."

She looked at him thoughtfully and smiled. "Thank-you Uncle Leonard, you didn't have to send me anything." She smiled and then whispered "But I'm not complaining." Leonard laughed as he looked at his little niece. She was a little spitfire. She looked around the room. "Where is Penny?"

"Oh Penny couldn't make right now, but she's coming next week. She'll be here for the wedding."

"Is she nice?" Phoebe asked.

"Well, I think she's very nice. That's why I'm marrying her" Leonard said with a smile.

"I don't like Emily. I don't think she's very nice."

Leonard looked at her concerned. "Why do you say that?"

Phoebe frowned and didn't say anything. After a moment she muttered "You'll see…"

"You know Phoebe, you probably shouldn't go around saying that you don't like Emily. People will think you're being impolite, and she's the bride."

"I guess…but mom say's I am a good judge of character."

"Oh really? Is that so?" Leonard snickered.

"I like you!" she giggled.

"Well, then your mom must be right. You are a good judge of character." Leonard said warmly.

Phoebe got a serious look on her face. "I wished you lived here. Then maybe mom wouldn't be so sad all the time."

Leonard looked at her with a worried look. "Why do you say your mom is sad all the time?" He knew that his mother drove Hayley nuts, but she was used to that. The rest of her life appeared to be going smoothly. Married. Two beautiful kids. Successful career…

"I can tell. She tries to hide it, but I'm not dumb. She works a lot and comes home late. She comes to my room and watches me sleep sometimes. But she crys sometimes when she watches me. She doesn't know I saw her, I just pretend to be asleep. I phone her when she's not home sometimes. I think it cheers her up. Although one afternoon, I phoned her forty-two times, and she got really really mad at me. Now I'm not supposed to call her unless it's important."

"Forty-two times! That's a lot Phoebe. No wonder your mom got mad. You know if you call less times, it makes each call more special. I'm sure that your calls do make her happy though" Leonard said softly.

"I guess. I love mom a lot, please can you make her happy again Uncle Leonard?" she pleaded.

Leonard's heart ached at hearing his niece so sad, and worrying about Hayley. What was going on? He needed to sit down with Hayley and have a heart to heart one of these nights. It appeared that a lot more was going on than he had assumed. He didn't want his little niece to worry.

"I'll talk to your mom, and make sure she's ok? Deal?" Leonard asked.

"Deal" Phoebe confirmed. She glanced at her violin and her eyes lit up. "Mom told me you play the cello. Did you bring it with you from California?"

Leonard chuckled. "Sorry Phoebe, it's a little big to bring on the plane with me."

"Oh….well maybe you could borrow one. And we could jam!" she said excited. She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Oh I have my lesson now, so I got to go. Bye Uncle Leonard." Phoebe hopped off the couch and gave Leonard a quick hug.

"Bye Phoebe. Listen…your mom will be fine. I'll make sure ok?"

Phoebe smiled and then ran out of the room. Leonard shook his head. There appeared to be a lot more going on than he had first thought.

Hayley left the utility room after sorting out the problem with the breaker. She spied her husband Nate leaning against the kitchen island reading his phone.

"Nate, I'm so glad you're home. I could really use a hand with all these little things that keep popping up with this party."

"This party looks like a real gong show. I thought you had everything much better organized." He shook his head and continued reading his phone.

"It is organized Nate! Everything is going exactly according to plan, things look crazy when they are getting set up."

"All I know is that my buddy's wife Christine is a much better party planner. Her parties run like clockwork. It must be nice to have a wife who is so organized and on top of things."

"It's not like this is my full time job. Christine only works part time. I work full time, and planned this whole party, which is going according to plan, I might add."

"Mmmm…." Nate continued scrolling through his phone. "Well it's not like you spend a lot of time with the kids. You have time. I feel sorry for them, it's just pure laziness on your part. I was raised a lot better than you, I have values. I guess I should save up for counselling for the kids in the future."

Hayley clenched her fist. "Nate that's not fair –"

"-Sorry phone call." Nate interrupted. He walked off into the other room. Hayley could hear him talking into the phone.

"Oh you're not interrupting. Just listening to the wife nag about helping with her disorganized party. She thinks she can plan these things, and then gets stressed and bitches me out….ha ha..I know ..women."

Hayley turned around in the kitchen and took a few breaths, she could feel herself losing control. Everything had to be perfect, and then it would be ok. She would be back in control. The tables had to be perfectly arranged in the garden, flowers at the exact center, food served at the exact correct time, bar stocked with a wide arrangement of liquor and wine, correct lighting, fun music. She had thought of everything, she just had to make sure it was perfect. No mistakes. Never never any mistakes. Then she would feel ok.

Leonard walked into the kitchen to see his sister with her eyes closed leaned up against the kitchen counter, quietly reciting details of her party under her breath as if in a trance.

"Hayley?" he said quietly. She gasped startled out of her daze. She looked at Leonard with wide eyes.

"Leonard. I'm glad you're here. The party is starting now." she said shakily.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, it means a lot to me. The party will definitely be on next chapter…just wanted to get a bunch of background in here. Thanks again for reading.