“I certainly hope not,” I said, kissing her again. We held each other and kissed between sips of coffee until it was time for me to go. “See you...at noon,” Riley called from the door as I walked to my truck. I drove the few hundred yards down the street and parked in front of the project house. It was at the opposite end of the street facing Riley’s house. My boss pulled up shortly after and gave me the keys to the house. “I’ve got too much to do this week so you’re gonna hafta run this one,” he. He brought all the band together the next weekend by way of a BBQ at his new place. Mick invited a few record company execs, Flyblown's partners and the studio folks from Phoenix. Mick figured a shmoozing session with as many people he could think of that had a hand in The Curse's success. Even Freddie turned up with Terry, although his old friend was drinking water.The Dodger and his wife were cordial. Despite telling Mick what he would do if he upset Michelle, The Dodger implied he was. In addition to the lip liner, I now hadfresh eyeliner that looked a bit strange as for some reason the linerlooked perfect but my eye shadow was smudged. My eyebrows were also in avery high, thin arch which worried me because it would be hard to hidethem until they grew out. I've never looked so good even with damagedmakeup. After staring at myself in the mirror for a few minutes I thendiscovered that I now had pierced ears. Now once but three times in eachear! Shit, shit, shit, shit I kept. Michelle sat back after copy and pasting the last of their chat conversation to read over again, that last command hanging heavy in the air. She changed into her pjs as she thought about how she wanted to execute her orders, absently deciding on her silk bathrobe as sleepwear because she didnt own a mans button down like the one he pictured her in earlier. Silk against skin was a compromise she was willing to make instead of digging out a shirt with buttons- the most readily available being her.