Morningstar Manor

Vincenzo was having a break in the conservatory, which was just as well as he was trying to deal with a call from his mother. "I know," he said. "Well, we have been telling her to look for a better job. It's not her fault it's in Chicago. No ... no, I won't tell her she can't go. Good luck to her. And it's not as though she'll be leaving before the wedding. She has insisted on being free for that. Yes, if necessary I'll take her there myself. AND check out her accommodation. Sure Mom, yes I will. Yes, bye, Mom."

He put down the phone and gave a deep sigh. Between his sister exulting because she had landed a good job in Chicago and his mother complaining because ditto life was getting overly complicated.

###

Guy had been summoned to pick up one of the tenants - Mrs Phillips, a real looker who tipped well, so he could put up with her leading comments about the length of his shifts and what he did in his spare time - but today he was a little early so he leaned against the hood of his cab and texted Sean, grinning as he got a reply.

###

Kris had laundry. Rosa had offered to do it for him but today he was in the mood for some tedious drudgery - while Gabe accepted and stowed a load of Spa supplies. Naughty, yes, but oh so satisfying.

He grinned as he ambled across the lobby on his way to wash his Egyptian cotton sheets, as yet unshared, but surely only a matter of time.

###

Nick yawned as the elevator opened into the lobby. Mrs Eddings chuckled and waved him out.

"I hope that means you've been having a good time," she said in her cracked and wheezy old lady voice.

"Oh you betcha," he lied and she went on her way happy.

Nick yawned again and headed for the basement to fetch another lock and set of keys. Second time this month Mr Paris had got locked out but why did he always have to break the door down?

Show off.

###

Charlie had dropped Nia off at day care and was now drawing in the Mocha. Vincenzo looked troubled, Guy looked cheerful, Kris looked like he was planning something and Nick - Nick looked exhausted.

Angling his pencil Charlie sketched them all into the drawing he was constructing, but tilted the page coyly whenever someone walked behind him. Gay vampire pirate cartoons weren't to everyone's taste.

Emily appeared in the Mocha on Wednesday evening and joined the queue, wearing a summery dress underneath a beige cardigan. She had wanted to grab this rare chance to hang out and meet people in the Mocha, in the evening when all the normal people were around, now that she had an evening off.

Only when she was in the queue she noticed the dried chocolate stains on her wrist and her arm, and started absent-mindledly scraping them off. What she didn't notice was the chocolate stain on her chin.