Morningstar Manor

Anastasia stood in the lobby anxiously awaiting the arrival of her friend. Emily was taking her to the spa today for a belated birthday gift, and she felt like some quality girl time and some relaxation would surely help her through this funk. They would be taking a taxi over so they could drink some wine while they relaxed, and she was looking forward to that too.
No men, no problems, just relaxing.

A few minutes fashionably late Emily appeared from the elevator to the lobby with her bag over her shoulder and sun glasses on her forehead.

"Hey girl! Have you been waiting for long?" she asked as she reached Anastasia and gave her a hug.

Anastasia turned at the sound of her friend's voice and gave her a huge smile.

"Nope, just got here," she said, hugging Emily back. "Can I tell you how freaking excited I am for this? God, this is going to be a good day."

( The girls go out for pampering! )

Two weeks, or almost. He could go out again if he wanted, and if he picked anyone up he'd just have to go back to their place.
He still glared a little at the thought of having to act like a monk in his own home but everything had a price. He liked this place. He wanted to stay. He'd do what he could to make his time here tolerable, including practicing the discretion he should have shown from the beginning. He'd been too alone, too transient for far too long to remember what it was like to have that many pile ups in one place.  He was on everyone's radar now, and he had to be careful.
He glanced at Lola who was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching him get ready with a curious expression on her face and grinned. "What do you think, pretty girl? Think you can live without me for a few hours if I promise to come back?"

Lola meowed sweetly and he petted her head as he stepped into his closet to select a shirt for the evening. He selected a solid black Diesel button-down and a standard pair of well-fitting wrecked jeans, feeling confident. He dressed right there in his walk-in closet and emerged to find Lola's tail hanging out from beneath one of his pillows.
"What is it, baby?" he asked, feeling the temperature in the room starting to drop. Then, he heard it.

Niles?

It hadn't taken them long to get the measure of the maintenance staff. Philip meant well and was useful for supervising the contractors, but seemed a little restricted in his knowledge. The other two were more generally useful but plainly, if understandably on the make.

That had been obvious from the care with which they had harvested the copper, lead and bronze from the old plumbing. It was going to go to a good home, Kris just knew.

Otherwise they worked well and over the weekend the dank hole that they had been allocated had taken on a new appearance. It was astonishing what an experienced group of men could achieve if the word 'bonus' was mentioned.

The treatment rooms had been partitioned off, shower stalls enclosed, new sinks, toilets and hand wash basins installed and the ugly blackened brick walls had either been covered up completely, had been plastered or had been sandblasted clean to a pleasant shade of terracotta in what would be the reception area.

Also Gabe's special lights had been delivered and fitted and threw pools of brilliant light where they would be most needed.

Kris looked at the plans on his laptop and nodded. "Flooring today and they might be able to get the projection screens in tomorrow. Are you still sure about those?"

Laura laid back on a lounger in her white bikini, large sun glasses over her eyes and every inch of her porcelain skin smothered with sun lotion. She knew she didn't have the skin for tanning but she wasn't going to let that stop her from enjoying the summer's warmth. She was reading a science magazine after having a swim in her pool - the tips of her platinum hair were still damp.

**

Robert stopped by in the mail room with his leather briefcase after work. He had smoked four cigarettes today. He was seriously itching for another one but he was trying hard to resist the urge, at least for a little while longer. Maybe he could reduce the amount down a bit again, but man, it was hard.

**

Lucas was sitting in the Mocha with his laptop. He was surfing all sorts of websites looking for jobs in the City and idly updating his CV. Job applications were horribly boring to make, but he didn't even know where to apply to yet. At least he was bound to get good recommendations from Emily Brandon, he trusted.