Walking two blocks from the bar back to the Sheffield house had indeed cleared my thoughts. As I waved goodbye to Jared, it dawned on me how nice and kind he had been from the time he had worked with me and Maxwell. How accommodating he was that he would take the extra mile to help me secure more patrons to produce our shows. He occasionally flirted but I never thought about it and dismissed it as something men to when talking to attractive women. Was it something more but I had my eyes set on Maxwell I was blind to other men's affection?

Niles was right I couldn't get a date…well not with a man who seriously liked me. Most of the time they were business dates and the one time I dated after my cheating fiancée I discovered he was only interested in sex and flaunting me like a trophy. I resolved never again would I fall into the hands of those kind of men that I forgot to sift the other men surrounding me. Two or three might have been a serious prospect but I exuded the aura of disinterest. Who would want a cold woman in his life? (Niles seemed to have a penchant for it. How foolish of him to ask me to marry him several times.)

A couple of men in the past had asked me if I was romantically involved with Maxwell and backed off once I answer them "soon". Perhaps they saw how interested I was in him. Why wouldn't I be? He treated me like an equal, he respected and appreciated the smart, capable woman that I am. He never tried to bed me like I was a strumpet. He was faithful to his wife and devoted to his children.

That should have been my life. Well, it might as well have been if I had given a chance to men like Jared.

I was more flabbergasted than repulsed by Niles' unexpected proposal. All these years he had nothing but nasty things to say to me, tormenting me mercilessly with his sharp tongue until even I began to wonder if I indeed looked like a cow. He spoke of me as though I was the most repulsive human being he had ever laid eyes on, but every time I check the mirror I could not see the detestable woman his eyes saw. I even went to an optometrist to have my eyes checked but I had twenty-twenty vision. I could just kill Niles for making me doubt myself.

Modesty aside I honestly look far more beautiful than Nanny Fine. I think I'm even lovelier than the first missus Sheffield if I do say so myself. I wouldn't have been asked to pose for the cover of Harper's Bazaar when I was twenty-one if I looked as horrible as Niles says. So why would he ask me to marry him? I thought he did it just for laughs, that he would tease me and mock me relentlessly for saying yes or just for even believing his words.

Looking back, he indeed looked so sincere, and the hurt in his puppy dog eyes when I turned him down was genuine, but I chose not to believe it. He was good at making me doubt my judgement.

It was ten minutes past eight thirty in the evening according to the Omega fastened on my left wrist. I was so worried the doors would be locked that I stepped on a pile of leaves and almost fell on my rear, but I was lucky enough to steady my footing by holding on to the banister. Damn that Cosmopolitan, I should have known better than to drink it with a martini.

Thanking my stars the front door was still unlocked when I tried it. I uttered a little prayer that I would not run into Niles. I honestly have no idea how I could soothe his ego nor do I have the audacity to face my true feelings for him. Other men had given up in wooing me when they see how interested in Maxwell I was. Other men lose interest once they realized what a cold bitch I was. Other men only try to bed me and lose interest when they know they can't. Other men are intimidated by my money, power, and prestige. Other men hated my success, my intelligence, and accomplishments.

But not Niles. He faced the cold bitch that I am, matched my wit and cleverness. Never felt intimidated by success and money. He accepted me for who I am. And if I were to believe his proposal, he loved me despite all my imperfections as a person-my haughtiness and snobbish disposition. He accepted my good qualities along with the bad.

I cautiously crept inside when I saw the living room was empty. Half of the lights had been switched off and the chandelier was the sole source of light. I scanned every nook and corner of the living room, looking for my keys and when I saw it was nowhere in the living room I quietly headed for the office.

My heart pounded incessantly against my chest, afraid to run into Niles whom I know would be down any minute to lock the doors. I switched the tiny lamp on Maxwell's desk, afraid to switch on the enormous fluorescent light on the ceiling lest it alert someone of my presence.

I sighed in exasperation not finding it on the desk, the lounge chair or any of the bookshelves. I knelt down on the floor checking if it had fallen on the floor or pushed under the table but my keys were nowhere to be seen.

A chill ran down my spine when I heard Niles' voice.

"Brighton is that you?"

It was coming from the den, the hall on the opposite side of the living room.

I grabbed my beret nestled on the sofa and headed for the front door in a flash and to my horror, no matter how desperately I tried the knob, it remained latched. The door had been locked for the night.

Do they always use the double lock at night? Wasn't the double lock only for locking the house when you are going away and no one will be left behind? My mind silently shrieked. How am I supposed to get out of here?

Heavy, purposeful steps began to approach coming from the office. In my panic I dashed to the kitchen. There was a way out through the back door.

"Brighton? Gracie?"

I could hear Niles in the living room.

I scrambled for the back door but to my surprise, the knob wouldn't budge. I cursed under my breath. This was not the same kind as the one on the main door so why the hell would it not open?!

Niles' footsteps were approaching. I looked around the kitchen like a trapped animal, thinking hard where to run. I could not possibly fit under the kitchen table. The pantry crossed my mind, but I was afraid to be locked in and die of suffocation. The only way out was the backstairs going up the second floor.

I hurriedly but noiselessly went up the stairs. Running back, going down the main staircase and just hiding out in the office was my plan. There was a guest bathroom right across from it when I need to relieve myself, and the chaise lounge in the office was quite comfortable enough for me to lay on, and I could always sneak out early in the morning when the doors had been unlocked.

My heart was still pounding loudly as I heard Niles walking around the kitchen. I walked further into the hallway towards the bedrooms, but I hastily retreated when I heard one of Maxwell's daughters talking on the cordless phone leaning on the banister. I stumbled back to the opposite side of the hall where I came up from and tried the door nearest the landing.

I thought it might have been a storage room or an empty guest room but to my dismay I ended up in someone's bedroom. The owner of the room was nowhere in sight.

The room was not entirely big, but it was decorated tastefully with earth toned colors of wallpaper and a painting of what looked like an English countryside. I found myself drawn to the cool water scent pervading my senses. I have not been to a man's bedroom before. I didn't think it could be so neat and clean. There were books arranged on a four-layer shelf on the far side of the room, and a small television and a vcr were on a bureau right beside the shelf.

The masculine bed covers of the queen bed in the middle of the room caught my eye. The bed cover was turned and an open suitcase lay on top of the bed.

I gasped after realizing I was in Niles' room!