Mark was at the outdoor location before she arrived. He had two large cups in his hands. One was filled with a mocha latte. That was for him. The other was filled with hot chocolate topped with whipped cream. He brought it especially for Mira. Hot chocolate seemed to be one of the few things that calmed her down.

The driver opened her door and Mira stepped out into the blistering sunlight. She shielded her eyes immediately, not seeing Mark standing in front of her.

Seeing her distress, Mark pulled out a pair of designer shades and handed them to the woman. She took them gleefully and could finally see. "Oh, Mark. It's you."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"What's that?"

"Hot chocolate for you." He held it to her until she took it from him.

"You didn't have to do this." She sipped the cup and tasted the fresh whipped cream then the drink. It warmed her body and her heart.

"Yes, I did. You were having a rough day. I wanted to make it better."

"Well, you certainly did. How's Jenny?"

"She's doing well. She was in the middle of making the wedding invitations the last time I talked to her. She was worried about you."

Mira smiled, happy that he was going to spend the rest of his life with that woman. "You got yourself a real catch there, man."

"I couldn't agree more. She also told me that I'm not allowed to mail you the invite. I have to deliver it to you personally when they're finished."

"You don't have to do that, Mark."

"Yes, I do. You donated a lot of money to us for this wedding. Because of you, her parents are able to fly down here from Wisconsin."

"It's nothing. You've done so much for me these last few months. You deserved it. Now, let's get this over with."

"Did you want to talk about what happened?"

"Not really. I just want to get over it. Just make sure she doesn't show up here. It would really ruin my day to get arrested for assaulting this woman."

"Got it. What does she look like?"

"She likely didn't change even though she should have, but she was wearing a red dress and high heels. She had beach blonde hair."

"You do realize you're describing half the women in Malibu, right?"

She giggled. "Yeah, that's the problem. She'll probably have some sort of recording device in her hands."

"Okay, I'll keep an eye out. In the meantime, they have a whole wardrobe for you to pick from. Then you'll go for hair and makeup. After that, they'll start you by the beach and work their way to the boardwalk."

"The bright side is I won't have to do my hair and makeup for the dinner tonight. Thanks, Mark. I really appreciate everything you do for me."

"I know." He tapped her on the shoulder. "Go get em, Tiger."

"You got it."

The hairstylists and makeup artists worked hard on Mira. She tried to ignore them as best as she could by putting in her iPod and listening to her country playlist. This playlist consisted of the works of Brad Paisley, Garth Brooks, George Strait, and many others. This list helped her forget all of her problems for awhile. Not many people she knew was into her music and that made her appreciate it more. It felt like something that was truly hers. She was in the middle of All My Friends Say by a new artist named Luke Bryan that she was starting to get into when the photographer started waving his hands at her to get her attention.

She pulled out her headphones to listen to his instructions. "Hello, Ms. Stark. How are you today? That's wonderful, you look great. Now, I want to get a couple shots of you by the ocean, maybe playing with the water. Then I want to get a few of you on the boardwalk over there. A few of you walking away and a few of you walking toward me. I want you to be comfortable in front of the camera. If there are ever any problems with anything that's going on, please let me know. Okay, let's get this show on the road."

Mira ended up choosing a floor length baby blue gown. It flowed with the wind, exactly what the photographer was looking for.

After about two hours of her doing all the poses known to man, the photographer finally called it quits. He told her she did a wonderful job and he'll send her the best ones to make sure she approves of them within a week.

After she finally changed back into her cute sundress, her and Mark were back in the car on their way to the airport.

"So how'd it go?" Mark asked.

"Well... I guess it was alright."

"Oh bull. you were having the time of your life. I saw the smile on your face. You loved it."

Mira's cheeks turned bright red as she blushed about his observation. "Yeah, you're right. That was a lot of fun. It made me forget about everything for awhile. You were right, as usual."

"As usual," he repeated. "Now, are you ready to fly to New York? It's only a couple hour flight."

"Yeah. I'll probably sleep on the plane. I'm pretty tired. I got a little worked up today."

"Really? I didn't notice," Mark joked.

"Hahaha," she mocked. "Very funny."

"I know I am."

Mira shifted in her seat. "Did she show up?"

Mark mentally debated on how he should answer. Lying could make him lose his job, but telling the truth could hurt her. He sighed. Telling the truth hasn't hurt him so far. "She was, but I was able to have her escorted off the premises. She did make a rude comment about you, so I called her boss and expressed disappointment in his company and so on. He told me he would have a talk with Ms. Fisher and he'll over see the rest of the article's process. He apologized immensely about the situation and asked for your forgiveness."

"I wonder how many times he had to say that because of her."

"Probably more than he would like to admit."

"Thank you for taking care of it, Mark. I just wish it didn't have to come to that."

"I know, but sometimes it does. I know it sucks, but that's the way it is."

"Yeah, I know. But let's put this behind us and let's talk wedding. Has she got a dress yet?"

The rest of the drive to the airport and the plane ride to New York City the pair talked about the wedding plans. Mark didn't know that much about weddings, but he tried to humor Mira as much as he possibly could. He knew she was excited about talking about the wedding and his fiancé Jenny. She was having a rough day and Mark just wanted to make it better for her the best that he could. Mira wasn't just a boss. She was a close friend. He wanted to see her happy once again.