"You mean to tell me that you actually mounted the guy? - Right there in the open?" Lois Cerullo chortled, nearly choking on the breadstick she'd been eating. She and Brenda were enjoying a girls' day out together and were now lunching at Il Fornaio in Beverly Hills.

"I wouldn't say I mounted him, but I did jump into his arms," Brenda laughed, her face aflame with embarrassment as she remembered the startled look on Tom's face that had quickly given way to a look of intense pleasure. "I have no idea what possessed me to do something like that! I mean, I barely know the man, yet, there I was, plastered on the front of him!"

"What I would have given to be a fly on the wall there - or a fly in the air, since you were outside on the beach!" Lois laughed, sipping water in between coughs and giggles.

"Well, thankfully, no one else was around to see it, and Tom is a forgiving man, so he just laughed it off," Brenda shrugged, deciding not to share with Lois the fact that he had actually enjoyed holding her like that.

"I just bet he did," Lois grinned, rolling her eyes to let her best friend know that she had guessed the truth as to how he'd really reacted.

"Yeah… well… umm…" Brenda stuttered, trying hard to hide her grin of delight about Tom's real reaction from Lois. "Anyway, I invited him to dinner tonight to thank him for finding the cap," she said, as she jabbed at the lettuce in her Cobb salad.

"Sounds reasonable," Lois replied, picking the last of the shrimp from her salad, then shoving the plate aside. "So, where ya takin' him?" she asked, as she fished the last breadstick from the basket and broke it in two, offering Brenda half, which she declined.

"Ummm… he's coming to the beach house for dinner," she replied quietly, taking a drink of her ice water and peering warily over the glass for her friend's reaction to that bit of news.

"The beach house? … Whoa, Bren, honey! Don't you think you're movin' kinda fast here?" Lois cautioned. "I mean, takin' the man to dinner at a public restaurant to thank him is one thing, but invitin' him to your place for an intimate dinner is a whole 'nother thing altogether!"

"Lois, it's a simple thank-you dinner - that's all," Brenda argued. "I don't plan on inviting the man into my bed, if that's what you're thinking!"

"Hey, I never, for a minute, thought you planned to seduce him," Lois defended. "That's not you."

That hit a sore spot for Brenda. "So, you think I'm not sexy enough to seduce a man?" Brenda asked defensively, somewhat hurt by her friend's remark.

"Hon, you are as sexy as they come, and you'd know that if you were the least bit tuned into the effect you have on men," Lois replied quickly, as she realized that she'd inadvertently touched onto her best friend's Achilles heel: her skewed perception of her own sexual desirability. "What I meant is that it's not in your nature to deliberately set out to try to seduce someone simply for the fun of the seduction. You don't play games like that. That was Jagger's game-" She stopped herself, realizing suddenly that in her zeal to reassure Brenda that she'd said more than she should have.

"What do you mean by that?" Brenda asked sharply. When Lois remained uncharacteristically quiet, Brenda pressed: "Do you know something about Jagger cheating on me?"

Lois gave a deep sigh. "I don't know anything for sure, Bren - just rumors - lots of rumors. If I had known for sure that the man was cheatin' on you, I woulda told you immediately. But to my way of thinkin', rumors - even lots of 'em - are not enough to possibly ruin a marriage… Anyway, you already knew that Jagger loved to flirt…"

"Harmless flirting is one thing; outright cheating is something altogether different," Brenda replied coolly. "Did you know that Jagger was sleeping around?"

"Honey, of course not!" Lois assured her. "Had I known that Jagger was two-timin' you - even one time - I woulda been the first to tell you to drop him like a rock!" Her voice dropped then as she asked: "Was he cheatin' on you, Brenda?"

Now it was Brenda's turn to sigh deeply, as she pushed her half-eaten salad away. "I don't know… Not for sure, anyway… But I've had my suspicions… Especially over the past year…" she added quietly, as she leaned back in her chair and glanced across the crowded restaurant, eyeing the other customers, many of whom were couples hunched together and smiling intimately at one another. "You know, I never used to wonder what Jagger was doing during all those extra long lunch hours and those very late nights out with clients. I always trusted that he was doing exactly what he said he was doing: going that extra mile to satisfy the client and keep our little company afloat. I thought that we were sacrificing time together in order to build our future… But when he was nowhere to be found the night…" Her voice broke as she choked back her tears. "… the night I lost our baby… I began to have serious doubts about his fidelity. Now I wonder if all those hours away from me weren't more about satisfying Jagger's needs than they were about keeping our company healthy… And I wonder how I could have been so blind to it all for so long…?"

Lois stared at her best friend, feeling Brenda's anger and pain at her realization that there had probably been something to all those rumors and that Jagger had likely strayed many times over the course of their marriage. But then an unsettling thought occurred to her. "Is that what this intimate dinner with this Tom Quinlan is all about, Bren? A chance for you to get back at Jagger in some way, by having your own little fling?" she asked, her electric blue eyes narrowed as she studied Brenda's face for any sign that this was in the back of her mind, even subconsciously.

Brenda's reaction proved that it wasn't.

"What?!" Brenda was both shocked and hurt by Lois's question. "Of course not! I may have my suspicions about Jagger, but no proof that he was ever unfaithful during our marriage, but even if I did have undeniable proof that he'd been unfaithful I would never ever have a fling, as you put it, simply to get back at him! I thought you knew me better than that, Lo!"

Lois reached across the table and took Brenda's hand in hers. "I do know you better than that, Bren, but sometimes when we're hurtin' we all do things we would never dream of doin' any other time."

"I'm fine, Lois. You don't have to worry that I'm going to suddenly lose my head tonight and end up in bed with Tom as some sort of twisted revenge on Jagger," Brenda assured her. "Sure, it hurts to know that my marriage is over and he's the one ending it… Even though I know Jagger and I probably should never have married in the first place and this divorce is what's best for both of us in the long run, it's still a failure, and it's never easy to admit you've failed."

"My point exactly," Lois said softly. "And sometimes when we fail we careen immediately in another direction in order to make ourselves feel better…"

"And you think I'm careening into Tom Quinlan's arms to soothe my battered ego, is that it?" Brenda asked, her perfectly arched eyebrows raised.

"Well, it would be understandable," Lois shrugged, leaning back. "After all, he saved your life and all. And you said yourself that he's gorgeous. It's only natural to feel attracted to him and flattered by his attention… I'm just worried because you're so vulnerable right now… And I'm afraid he'll take advantage of that vulnerability."

"Tom's not like that!" Brenda shot back hotly. "I was completely helpless the other night, but he was the perfect gentleman - and that's because he's a good and gentle man. He took care of me, but he never took advantage of me. I felt completely safe with him, and, more importantly, I felt comfortable with him. It was like we shared this connection; I feel more like we're old friends, rather than strangers thrown together by some bizarre circumstance."

"But that's what you are, Brenda," Lois pointed out, " - not much more than strangers. And if you hadn't been so lost in your thoughts that the storm snuck up on you and he hadn't been crazy enough to be out there surfing at the onset of that storm, you two would never have even been thrown together in the first place."

"True," Brenda conceded, "but then fate stepped in, didn't it?"

Lois sighed loudly. "Fate? Is that what you think brought you and this Quinlan guy together? … Bren, it was just dumb luck - nothing more," Lois pointed out. "I don't want you seeing more here than it is… This isn't some romance novel where ya just know that when two strangers are thrown together in some crazy circumstance, like you and Tom were, then they're gonna end up happily ever after in the end. This is real life, Bren."

"Listen, Lois, I understand what you're saying - I really do - and I promise that I'll be careful. Trust me: I know that it was just luck that brought us together, and I don't have any illusions whatsoever about Tom being 'the one' for me, as far as love is concerned… I'm just getting myself out of one relationship; in fact, the ink is barely dry on our separation agreement and I just got my lawyer started on the divorce, so I have no intentions of jumping headfirst into another relationship so soon - if ever. Besides, I'm not looking for forever right now… I'm not sure that I will ever want that again. I've been there, done that, and it didn't work out. My forever with Jagger barely lasted five years… When I do decide to commit to a relationship again - if I decide to commit again - I'll do it for love and love alone; no other reason…"

Brenda took a deep breath then, before continuing: "Having said that, I do like this guy, Lo, and if our dinner tonight leads to something more, then I wouldn't be upset in the least. I've never had a casual affair, but I have needs, too, and it's been a very long time since Jagger met those needs… Besides, Tom's genuinely nice, and I'd really like to spend time with him in the future, even if it's as nothing more than friends."

"And he's nice lookin', too," Lois quipped, arching her dark eyebrows sharply above her twinkling blue eyes, "which is another reason you wouldn't mind spendin' time with the man - right?"

"Yeah, he's handsome, but that's just a small part of what I find attractive about the man," Brenda shrugged. "Like I said before, physically he's gorgeous - thick, sandy blonde hair… eyes the color of the Caribbean… a smile that could stop your heart… and his body… Well, he's a lifeguard, so you know he's extremely fit…" She paused, then smiled as she added: "But he's so much more than just a beautiful package; he's beautiful inside, too… He's kind and gentle and funny and thoughtful and self-effacing and completely open about himself. He's everything…" She suddenly stopped mid-sentence, lifting her water glass up and taking a long sip and staring at the couple at a nearby dark corner table as they shared a long kiss, their faces deliberately hidden in the shadows.

Lois followed Brenda's gaze and immediately knew what Brenda was thinking and had been about to say. "… He's everything Jagger isn't…" she finished quietly for Brenda.

Brenda nodded and sighed softly, "That really sounds bitter of me, doesn't it? And I suppose it really is unfair of me to compare Jagger and Tom when I've just met Tom, so he's still new and perfect to me, while I've seen all of Jagger's faults magnified for me recently, especially this past week."

Lois reached across the table, once again taking her friend's hand in hers; her face and tone sober as she spoke: "It's only natural to do that, Bren - It doesn't make you bitter; it only makes you human… Just don't make a habit of dwellin' on Jagger's faults." Then she straightened up in her seat, broke into a bright smile, her eyes twinkling as she added: "Just accept the fact that the guy's a jerk, and be thankful to be rid of him!"

That made both of them laugh, but Lois sobered again as she added: "But don't go puttin' this Quinlan up on a pedestal either. He's a man, so he's bound to have faults - It's the nature of the beast, and we both know it… Like ya said, ya just met the man - barely know him - so he hasn't had time to let his guard down and let his warts show. But trust me, they're there - All men are frogs underneath when it comes to love; even the ones that look and act like princes in the beginning."

"Umm… I think it's toads that have the warts, not frogs," Brenda laughed.

"Hey, frogs - toads - what's the diff?" Lois shrugged, throwing her hands up in the air. "They're both pretty slippery, slimy creatures, just like most men!"

"That's pretty cynical talk coming from such a happily involved woman," Brenda pointed out laughingly. "Ned's a man, too. Do you consider him a part of this slippery, slimy amphibious crowd that you've bunched all other men?"

"My Nedly? Naw!" Lois scoffed. "He's a cut above the rest! Sure, he's got his little warts, too, but they're part of his charm - and none of those warts have to do with lyin' and cheatin', like most other men's. We may not be happily married - my choice, not his - but we are livin' together and happily committed to one another, and I know exactly where his heart is focused at all times."

"Yeah, you do," Brenda said softly, smiling; happy that her friend had found such a good and loving man as Ned Ashton and wondering why Jagger couldn't have been like that?

"And you know that Ned loves you, too," Lois pointed out. "Like a sister, of course, but he does love you, and he is as concerned about you as I am right now. In fact, he wants you to come stay with us for awhile to have a little fun - maybe even move to LA permanently, once you've gotten things squared away back home, that is."

Brenda was surprised by Lois's suggestion. "Ummm… That's very generous of both of you, but I could never impose on you two like that… I'm already imposing enough as it is, using your company's beach house now - for which I am so very grateful."

"Hey, that's no imposition!" Lois countered. "I can use that place any time I want - it's in my contract. And since Nedly and I can't seem to find enough time off together - what with his new album coming out next month and me flyin' all over kingdom come scoutin' out new talent for the label - I haven't been gettin' my contract's worth there. So, I'm the one who should be grateful to you for stayin' there. Otherwise, it's simply a wasted perk for me," she laughed.

Brenda smiled at her friend's logic. "Well, I'm still grateful to be staying there. It really is a fabulous place, and this time away has helped me to sort out a lot of things, not the least of which is what I plan to do with the rest of my life. But as far as moving out of San Francisco… Well, I hadn't really thought about that when I was plotting my future these past few days. I mean, I've lived there since I was just a little girl. My whole life has been centered there. It's always been my home; I guess I just figured it would always be my home."

"So, you'll make a new life and a new home here in LA," Lois urged. "It'll be a fresh start all the way around - you'll be a lot closer to me and Ned that way, and you'll be away from all the bad memories of the past few years."

"You mean away from Jagger, right?" Brenda surmised.

"Well, ya gotta admit that would be a real plus for you at this point, wouldn't it?" Lois offered logically. "I mean, you two were married in both your personal and professional lives. That's not gonna be easy for the two of you to continue to run into each other at work all the time."

"I'm not planning to go back to work there," Brenda revealed. "In fact, I plan to let Jagger buy me out. The business was his dream, not mine anyway."

"That's great!" Lois squealed loudly, causing several nearby patrons to turn toward them and stare. "Then there's no reason why you can't relocate to LA as soon as possible! You never, ever have to go back to San Francisco if you don't want to!" she added in a hoarse whisper.

"But Michael's there…" Brenda replied softly, blinking back the tears that still came at the mere mention of his name.

Lois's heart caught in her throat. Of course - how could she have forgotten about Michael? Michael Anthony Cates - Brenda and Jagger's stillborn son - was buried in a small cemetery within walking distance of their condo back in San Francisco. It had taken Brenda several weeks to venture back to Michael's grave after his funeral, as she fought her way out of a major depression, but since then she faithfully visited his grave every week. Her last visit had been just before she left to come down here. Brenda said that visiting his grave weekly and holding the Yankees cap were the things that helped her remember him, kept him real for her. Brenda had once confided to her that she had this overwhelming fear that she would one day forget her lost son. But Lois knew that could never happen. Michael owned a piece of Brenda's heart, now and forever, and no matter where Brenda lived or how often she did or did not visit Michael's grave - or even how many other children Brenda might have in her lifetime - she would always remember and love Michael, her first child.

"Yeah, he is," Lois said softly, once again reaching her hand across the table to hold Brenda's hand.. "At least, his remains are there… But that's not really Michael anymore, and you know that. You don't need to visit a place or hold onto some cap to keep him real for you. Honey, you carry Michael with you in your heart, and you always will - the hopes and dreams that you had for him; the love that you will always have for him. He's there inside your heart all the time, and he'll always be there, no matter where you live and no matter what happens in your life from this point on."

Brenda let out an audible sob then, once again drawing the stares of nearby diners.

Lois was out of her chair and at her friend's side in an instant. "Oh, Bren, I'm sorry I said that… I never seem to know when to keep my mouth shut… I never meant to make you feel bad, hon - honestly! I just wanted you to know that you wouldn't be abandonin' your baby by movin' away."

Brenda let out another sob, and Lois knelt down beside her and hugged her. "This was supposed to be a fun day out for us, and I've gone and ruined it now by openin' my big mouth! I wish we could just rewind a few minutes and forget I ever said anything."

But Brenda shook her head as she looked up at Lois and smiled through her tears. "No, you said what needed to be said. I can always count on you to do that. And you didn't make me feel bad… If anything, you've made me feel better - relieved that I'm not abandoning Michael by not making him utmost on my mind these days."

"Hey, that's not abandonin' him," Lois smiled, hugging her again. "It wouldn't be healthy for you to think about him all the time. You have to get on with livin', and in order to do that, ya gotta heal." She pulled back slightly from Brenda and looked her in the eyes. "And healin's a good thing. You know that from your time in therapy - and you've come a long way in healin' from that awful day back in your apartment when I found you in a crumpled heap on the floor and we spent hours cryin' together - Pretty soon, all the pain and anger - and guilt - that you feel when you think of him will be replaced completely with all the love that you have for him. And then you'll only smile at the mention of his name." Lois stood then and reached for her purse and pulled a clean tissue out and handed it to Brenda.

Brenda wiped away her tears, then discreetly blew her nose before standing and pulling her best friend into a full bear hug. "Whatever would I do without you? You are such a good friend, and just being around you always makes me feel better. You are always so smart and level-headed about everything… You remind me so much of my Aunt Ruby in that way. In fact, sometimes - like today - you sound so much like Aunt Ruby that it's like her spirit is inhabiting your body," she added, chuckling softly as she pulled away from Lois and sat back down in her chair.

Lois slid back into her chair also. "Hmmm… your Aunt Ruby in my body, huh?" She arched her eyebrows and cocked her head as she looked down at herself, a mock serious expression on her face. "Well, how did your Aunt Ruby feel about shoppin'?"

"She felt it was a necessary evil, and she only bought what was necessary when it was necessary. She was very frugal," Brenda replied matter-of-factly, suppressing a grin at Lois's exaggerated expression.

"Then, no, I'm definitely not channelin' your Aunt Ruby 'cause you know my life philosophy: a day spent shoppin' can cure whatever ails ya, so ya gotta shop 'til ya drop! Which is exactly what we're gonna do the rest of this afternoon 'cause I'm suddenly in the mood for some serious shoppin'. And while we're at it we're gonna buy you such a sexy outfit for tonight that it'll make Mr. Tom Quinlan's eyes bug outta his head and thank the good Lord that he was born a man!" Lois announced, grinning as she motioned for their waiter to bring the check.

Brenda was astonished. "What? - Didn't you just warn me to be careful tonight with Tom? You didn't even want me entertaining him at the beach house in the first place because you were worried that I was planning to seduce him in some sort of twisted revenge on Jagger. Then you implied it was simply too intimate a setting and Tom might get a little too hot for me to handle. And now you want me to actually add fuel to that potential fire by dressing sexy?!" She shook her head as she stared at Lois in complete bewilderment. "What is going on with you?"

The waiter arrived then with their check and Lois looked it over, handing the waiter a fifty to cover the meal and the tip, then waited until he was out of earshot before she shrugged and answered Brenda, her voice soft, her demeanor gentle. "Let's just say I've had a change of heart about a few things in the last several minutes, and one of those things is Tom Quinlan. Meetin' him seems to play a big part in this healin' process you're finally goin' through. I haven't seen you this jazzed about anything since… well, in forever… Just talkin' about him has put a spark into you that has been missin' for too long… So, who am I to throw cold water on your excitement with all of my hang-ups and reservations? This is your life, Brenda, and you have the right to some happiness for a change, and if that happiness is Tom Quinlan, then I say go for it - full speed ahead. Just trust your heart, and you'll be fine."

"Trust my heart, and I'll be fine?… I think you do have a little bit of Aunt Ruby in you, after all," Brenda smiled warmly, as she and Lois stood and walked arm-in-arm out of the restaurant and into the bright Beverly Hills sunshine.

Jax was concerned. He'd been trying without success to reach his brother for the past several hours, starting at 6 that morning LA time. He glanced at his watch. It was 12:18 p.m. PST now, which made it 3:18 a.m. tomorrow morning in Sydney. Jax supposed that Jerry was likely still out partying with his latest paramour, celebrating JI's imminent takeover of GenCorp, and he knew that his brother rarely called it a night until nearly dawn, but he also knew that Jerry could never leave work at the office and was obsessed with checking his voice mail at least a couple of times each waking hour. He'd left several messages over the past several hours, yet there had been no word from Jerry since then. Why wasn't his brother calling him back?

He was just about to make yet another call to Jerry when his cell phone rang. "Jerry, where the hell have you been?" Jax practically shouted, knowing that it was his brother finally getting back to him because Jerry was the only other person who had this number.

That elicited a chuckle from Jerry. "Is that worry I hear in your voice, little brother?" Jerry teased. "Afraid that I'd stolen the company out from under you and run off somewhere with my ill-gotten gains, leaving you penniless and stranded there in America?"

"Yeah, something like that," Jax laughed, relief in his voice now that Jerry had finally checked in. "So, where have you been that you haven't had the time to return any of the several messages that I've left for you over the past few hours?"

"Where do you suppose I've been, given the fact that we've just clenched the deal of the century?" Jerry asked, his tone mocking.

Jax understood his inference immediately. "Of course, I should have known that you'd be celebrating this victory the way you celebrate all of our victories… So, is this one blonde, brunette, or a redhead?" Jax smirked.

Jerry glanced at the seat beside him. "This one's a brunette - and unbelievably beautiful," he replied, then nervously cleared his throat.

Jax heard Jerry cough, then his ears picked up another sound in the background: the low hum of jet engines. "Are you in the air now?"

"Busted!" Jerry laughed, then he quickly added: "I was in the mood for some sushi, so…"

"… So you decided to fly yourself and your lady friend to your favorite Japanese restaurant - which just happens to be in Tokyo," Jax finished for him, giving a small laugh, as this was typical Jerry behavior after a big deal - find a woman and wine, dine, and bed her; although flying them both out of the country for dinner was a new one, even for Jerry. But Jax supposed that the enormity of this particular deal brought about Jerry's grandiose notion to fly all the way to Japan for a sushi dinner. And Jax had no doubt that the woman had been suitably impressed and would likely expect an ongoing relationship after that, but Jax doubted that Jerry would ever call her again. In fact, Jax just wondered if Jerry would even remember her name once he dropped her back home again in a few hours?

"Something like that," Jerry muttered. "So, what's so urgent that you've felt the need to call me repeatedly?" he added somewhat brusquely, which Jax perceived as impatience; Jax assumed that he'd evidently interrupted Jerry's initiation of this woman into the mile-high club.

"Nothing really earth-shattering - initially, I just wanted to touch base with you on what I planned to say tomorrow when I take the podium at GenCorp's meeting," Jax explained. "But when you didn't call back within a couple of hours, I began to worry that something might be wrong."

"No, nothing's wrong on my end, little brother. In fact, I have things well in hand," Jerry replied, once again glancing at the seat beside him.

"I just bet you do," Jax muttered, suddenly wondering what Jerry's mystery brunette was doing at the moment and if she had any clue that she was no more than his brother's current toy - a very disposable one at that. "Well, I'll let you get back to your date. I'll fax a copy of my speech to the office and you can look it over when you have time, then fax it back to me with any additional comments you feel we need to make - but remember that I need it back within 24 hours. I'll make a final copy then and fax it to Addie to send out as a press release once the GenCorp meeting is under way."

"Sounds like a plan," Jerry replied, "but instead of faxing it to the office, why don't you fax it here to the jet? That way I can look it over as soon as possible. What I have planned with the lady won't take long."

"Jer, I never thought I'd hear you say you couldn't last long!" Jax laughed, knowing how his brother liked to brag about his all-night lovemaking sessions.

"Hey, I never said that I wouldn't last long: I merely said that what I have planned won't take long. How could you have missed that distinction? You used to have an ear for such minor details - all this time in LA must be turning your brain to mush," Jerry pointed out with amusement.

"Whatever!" Jax laughed. "I'll send the speech your way within the hour. Read it when you have time and get back to me, but don't use me as your excuse for a sub par performance with your lady friend… Have a good night, Jer -" Jax added, closing his cell phone and slipping it back into his pocket, " - because I certainly plan to!" He smiled to himself as he headed toward the kitchen to make himself some lunch, all the while thinking about that night and eagerly anticipating all the exciting possibilities of dinner and the evening with Brenda Cates that was just hours away.

The pilot's voice came over the intercom just as Jerry was sliding his cell phone back into his jacket pocket: "Mr. Jacks, we are approximately 30 minutes out of San Francisco International Airport now, with touchdown likely by 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time."

"Thank you, Geoffrey," Jerry replied, then smiled as he turned his full attention back to the woman that had been on his mind for the past few days. "Oh, little brother, I plan to give this beautiful lady my best shot," Jerry proclaimed, as he picked up the picture off the top of the packet in the seat beside him and studied it. "And, Ms. Brenda Barrett Cates, I promise you'll never know what hit you."

Lois had been right about the amazing healing powers of shopping; Brenda felt surprisingly renewed after their whirlwind afternoon of shopping. She was now back in her bedroom at the beach house, surrounded by the incredible spoils of the day and wondering why she had let Lois talk her into buying all of this? She was at the beginning of a potentially costly divorce and should be consolidating her funds and limiting her spending, yet she had just spent a small fortune on several new outfits and new lingerie, too - the latter at Lois's insistence, since it was her philosophy that Brenda's new life as a single woman meant that she needed all new lingerie.

Lois had even suggested that Brenda toss all of the lingerie that she'd brought with her on this trip, despite how expensive and new all of it was, because she said it was lingerie that Brenda had purchased with Jagger in mind. But Brenda had drawn the line there. Perhaps it was her Aunt Ruby's frugal influence ebbing in there, but it went against Brenda's grain to simply discard something that had never even been worn. So she had kept all the lingerie she'd brought with her on this trip, but she agreed to get new lingerie for this evening - although she had no intention of letting Tom or anyone else see it.

Despite her bravado earlier with Lois about being open to whatever might happen with Tom tonight, as the time neared she found herself feeling more and more nervous about even the dinner part of the evening, let alone the possibility of anything more. It had been so long since she had entertained, let alone been on "a date", that she suddenly felt insecure about everything: her hostessing skills, her social skills, her looks, her sexuality - especially her sexuality.

The only thing she wasn't insecure about tonight was her cooking skills, as she and Lois had spent so much time shopping for clothes, lingerie, and beauty items, that she hadn't left time to shop for everything for dinner or time to cook. So she had picked up a chocolate cheesecake for dessert on her way home, then simply called a local restaurant and ordered a complete dinner for two: poached salmon with lemon-chive sauce and a simple spinach salad on the side. They promised to have it here by 7:45 p.m. It was 6:00 p.m. now, so that gave her plenty of time to shower, dress, and set the table before the food arrived, then 15 minutes after that Tom was scheduled to arrive.

Unless he came early…

That thought brought her near panic. Her heart was racing fast enough as it was without the possibility that he might arrive before she was ready for him. She had promised him a home-cooked meal, yet here she was ordering take-out. It didn't matter that she'd had every intention of delivering on that promise until Lois, the manic shopper, had taken charge of her afternoon; he'd been living on take-out for nearly a week now, and he deserved a home cooked meal tonight. Of course, this was a meal from a little gourmet shop so it was several steps above a take-out pizza. Heck, who was she kidding here? It was several steps above her own cooking, too!

"Hey, Tom should be grateful that I didn't have time to cook!" she laughed aloud, stripping off her clothes as she headed to the bathroom to shower and make herself ready for the evening ahead; suddenly grateful to Lois that at least the food would be good, even if the rest of the evening was a disaster.

Jax checked his watch once again: 6:45 p.m. Still far too early to leave for Brenda's. He'd been checking his watch constantly all day long; and it seemed the more that he checked it, the slower time seemed to move. In fact, he couldn't remember a day that time had dragged on as this one had.

It probably didn't help that he had been up before dawn or that he'd barely slept last night in anticipation of tonight. Well, to be fair, tomorrow's big day at GenCorp also played a part in his restlessness, but tonight's dinner with Brenda Cates was responsible for most of his butterflies. After all, he made his living swallowing up corporations. And, despite its size and the billions of dollars that GenCorp would bring to JI's coffers, it was still just another company as far as he was concerned. But Brenda Cates… Well, she was another story altogether.

There was something about her that excited him to his very core, and it wasn't just the fact that she was drop-dead gorgeous. He was surrounded by beautiful women all the time - though, none nearly as beautiful as Brenda. She was definitely in a league of her own as far as physical beauty was concerned.

But she also seemed to be in her own league as far as inner beauty as well. Admittedly, he hadn't known her that long, but they'd had some intense moments in the brief time that they had known one another. And he was sure that he'd glimpsed the real woman in those moments, and he definitely liked what he'd seen and wanted to know more about her.

She was somewhat shy, but she also had a self-confidence about her, especially when she was discussing business. He couldn't help but smile as he remembered how enthused she'd become when she was trying to convince him to let her help him out financially by putting in a good word for him with the owners of several modeling agencies she knew. That also indicated to him how caring she was. She'd nearly died, but his future financial well-being had been a major concern to her that night. He wondered how she would react when he finally told her his real name and that his financial future was quite secure, even without her generous offer of help? He hoped that she'd simply laugh it off and understand why he'd needed to mislead her as he had. He felt pretty confident that she would. She impressed him as that kind of woman.

She'd impressed him… Yes, that's exactly what she had done - impressed him with her beauty, her charm, her kindness. He couldn't remember ever being so impressed before by a woman as he'd been with her, and he had no doubt that tonight she would continue to impress him - and in all the nights that he hoped would follow.

It was such a nice evening that Brenda decided to serve dinner on the deck, rather than eat inside, and she'd just finished setting the table when the doorbell rang. She glanced at the clock on the fireplace mantle as she walked past it to answer the door: 7:25. If that was dinner, then it was early, and if that was Tom… Well, she hoped it wasn't Tom yet because she still needed some time to pull herself together before he arrived.

She opened the door to find a courier there, holding a thick manila, legal-sized envelope. "Mrs. Brenda Cates?" the woman asked. When Brenda nodded, the courier continued: "I have a package for you. I'll need your signature to release it," she added, thrusting an electronic notepad into Brenda's hands. Brenda signed, and the courier immediately handed her the package, then turned and hurried back to her waiting van.

Brenda glanced down at the return address on the thick packet: Mason, Mason & Davis, Esq. It was from her divorce attorney, Alexis Davis. She closed the door, sighing as she leaned against it, staring down at the unopened packet. Here it was - her petition for divorce. Alexis had left a message on the machine earlier in the day advising her that she could expect it by special courier that evening, but in all the excitement she had completely forgotten about it.

She let out a small laugh at that realization. Just a few days ago the end of her marriage had been the only thing on her mind. She'd agonized and cried for hours about it, blaming herself and hating herself for that failure. Yet tonight she had managed to momentarily forget all that messiness - and she owed that small blessing to Tom Quinlan.

She walked over to the nearby desk and set the packet down. She supposed she should open it. After all, Alexis's message had said she wanted Brenda to read the contents as soon as it arrived, then Alexis would call later this evening and they would discuss the contents; in fact, Alexis had stressed that Brenda needed to read it immediately.

Brenda reached for the letter opener on the desk, then stopped. She was in a good mood now, but she knew that reading the contents of this packet would inevitably damper that good mood - and that was the last thing she wanted.

She stood for a moment, briefly debating what to do, then finally she shoved the packet aside and reached for the phone. She turned the ringer off on it, then set the answering machine to mute as well, so that only the light would indicate any new messages. She'd already shut off the ringers on the other six phones in the house soon after she'd arrived last week, including the one in the bedroom she'd been using, because she had wanted to minimize being disturbed while she was here. She had relied on this phone and the answering machine to alert her of any incoming calls. Of course, there was still her cell phone, but she had muted it when she'd plugged it in to recharge in the bedroom. If Alexis Davis or anyone else needed to talk with her this evening, they'd just have to leave a message and wait for her to call back because she wasn't going to let anything extraneous interfere with this evening.

Real life could rear its ugly head in the morning, but tonight she wanted to indulge in a little fun and fantasy - at least for a few hours.

At exactly 7:45 p.m. the caterer arrived with dinner. Brenda quickly transferred the food to the serving dishes, set the salads in the refrigerator to cool, and the salmon in the oven to warm, then lit the candles she'd arranged on the table and around the deck outside. As she lit the last of the candles, she caught a glimpse of everything reflected in the partially open sliding glass doors that led back inside and was immediately shocked by what she saw. It looked like a seduction scene out of some tacky adult movie: the setting under the moonlight, with the ocean just beyond and dozens of lit candles everywhere; and the vixen dressed to kill - especially the vixen part!

Oh, god - what was she thinking when she put this on? … Worse yet, what would Tom think when he saw her? … The obvious, judging from this outfit - that she was on the prowl, which was so not the truth.

She wasn't sure why she had allowed Lois to talk her into buying these low-riding, black silk lounging pants and this gauzy, white silk off-the-shoulder peasant top that stopped just shy of her navel - or why she had put it on in the first place - but now she realized that it showed entirely too much skin for a first dinner together. At least she hadn't followed Lois's advice not to wear a bra, opting instead to wear the new lacy white strapless demi-bra that she'd purchased that afternoon. But even that extra item of clothing did nothing to diminish her seductive appearance, especially since the bra was visible through the gauzy material of the blouse.

And her hair and make-up… She'd purchased a blow dryer this afternoon, so tonight her hair was sleek and shiny and fell seductively across her shoulders. And she'd liberally applied the new make-up she'd bought - a little too liberally, she decided as she looked at the dark eye make-up and the deep wine lipstick she was wearing. It was all just too much, unless she was trying to project a sultry image - which she wasn't!

She had to change and wash off this make-up before he got here, she decided. She'd keep the pants, but put on the new black silk camisole in place of the peasant blouse, then cover that with the black crochet sweater she'd brought with her from home. Still attractive, but far less seductive. Quickly she started through the door, nearly stumbling because of the strappy stiletto heels Lois had also talked her into buying. Definitely have to lose these heels, too! she thought as she headed through the living room on her way to her bedroom.

Just then the clock on the mantle chimed eight times and simultaneously the doorbell rang, and she knew that it was too late now to do anything about the way she looked. She just hoped that Tom wouldn't think the worst of her…

The clock on the dash of his rented Lincoln Navigator hit 7:58 as Jax pulled into Brenda's driveway. He'd been parked discreetly down the block for the past 45 minutes, waiting impatiently for 8:00 to finally roll around. He'd watched as a messenger service had come and gone, followed just moments ago by a catering truck; the latter making him smile, as Brenda had promised him a home-cooked meal. He wondered if she would admit that the meal was catered or if she would try to pass it off as her own? He bet that she'd tell him, but it really didn't matter. In fact, dinner was the last thing on his mind now. He just wanted to see her again and spend the next several hours (possibly all night? ) enjoying her company.

He'd been so eager to see her, in fact, that he'd done a test drive from his place to hers earlier that day. He'd found that, despite the fact that they lived just two miles apart, it took exactly 16 minutes to drive the distance because of the layout of the streets in the area. He decided that he could probably run the distance faster than he could drive it, especially if he took the beach, which was a straight shot; none of this meandering all over the place through the crazy Malibu street system. But running would leave him all hot and sweaty - not a way he wanted to start this evening. Although, I wouldn't mind ending it that way! he thought, grinning as he opened his door and got out.

He grabbed the bottles of wine that he'd brought (both red and white, so he was covered whether tonight's entrée was meat, fish, or fowl), as well as the bouquet of flowers he'd purchased on his test drive earlier (tropical mix, since he had no idea what were her favorites, and the tropical flowers reminded him of her - bright, exotic, and beautiful), hit the lock button for the SUV on the key ring, then headed up the walk to the front door of the beach house. He waited until his Rolex read precisely 8:00, then he rang the doorbell.

The doorbell rang again, as Brenda stood, suddenly frozen with fear. Why on earth had she ever asked him here in the first place? Lois's first instincts had been right: Brenda should have invited Tom to a restaurant for this meal, where they would be surrounded by lots of other people, not here, where it would be just the two of them… She glanced down at herself again - and one of those two looked like a walking advertisement for an adult film. She sighed. Well, there was nothing she could do now but answer the door and hope for the best.

Jax was just about to ring the doorbell for a third time when it finally swung open. "I was beginning to think you'd given me the wrong address," Jax laughed, "or skipped out on me or-" But he stopped mid-sentence as he looked up to see Brenda standing there, and his mouth dropped open as he ran his eyes slowly over her, from head to toe.. She was more beautiful than he could ever have imagined, and for the first time in his adult life he found himself speechless. So he simply stood there and smiled, silently thanking the powers that be for sweeping this woman into his life in the first place and praying that she would stay in his life forever.

Jagger Cates stared blankly at the papers in front of him, panic creeping through every fiber of his body. He was in trouble - big trouble. He had known from the beginning that playing fast and loose would eventually come back to haunt him, but he had never dreamed that it would come so fast and so furious as this. Every wrong move that he'd made, every corner that he'd cut over the past few years were all there in black-and-white, and payment was expected now: he had less than 72 hours to turn things around or he would lose everything.

But Jagger wasn't about to lose everything. He was a survivor, and survivors always did whatever they had to do in order to survive. And Jagger knew exactly what he had to do now in order to stay afloat.

He rustled through the stack of messages littering his desk until he finally found what he needed, then he picked up the phone and quickly dialed.

One ring…

Two rings…

Three rings…

Four rings…

"Dammit - the machine's picking up!" he swore aloud to the empty room. This was definitely not something he could simply leave on the machine.

"Brenda, pick up… It's Jagger - we need to talk…"