[note from the author....this is a playful work in progress....I'll continue it as I complete sections, creativity and time permitting.]

Look up best friend in the dictionary, it’ll have a picture of Katie there. Promise. When I left my now ex-husband three years ago…Katie gave me a place to stay. When I got discouraged with the job market available to ex-housewives in this high tech world…Katie kept my spirits up, and told me not to sell myself short. After seeing an sketch pad from an art class I took in what felt like a previous life, she got me an interview at her advertising firm….despite my lack of degree. She even loaned me the gorgeous suit that boosted my self confidence enough to get me through the interview. Since then, she’s been the source of inspiration, mentoring, encouragement, laughs, and many many margharita refills. She’s my best friend, I owe her more than I want to remember, and I would do anything for her. So one might ask why I was in her office that afternoon, stubbornly refusing to do her this one tiny little favor.

“Melissa….please.”

“No.” My calmest, clearest, ‘here endeth the negotiations’ denial.

“Melissa…I need your help on this.”

Did she not hear the ‘here endeth’ tone in my voice? “Katie, I can’t.”

“Mel…I’m not asking much here.”

“It’s not that I won’t, Kate…I can’t” I plead. She’s not actually going to ask this of me. She loves me. She’ll understand…there are things that a person just can’t do.

I watch Katie sigh, run both hands back through her hair in exasperation, and close her eyes as she quietly asks, “is he really that bad?”

“No. No he’s not. He, in fact, has a smile like a young Harrison Ford, an ass like Brad Pit’s, and big brown eyes that make half the women in this building quiver. None of which matters, because I Can’t Do It.”

Kate starts covering old ground, in a reasonable, quiet, ‘don’t scare the animals’ tone of voice: “He’s the best copywriter we’ve got. The clients already love your designs. This is an important account. He’s easy on the eye. I’ve never heard a complaint about his sense of humour. He even smells nice. WHAT’S the PROBLEM?”

“You know the problem,” I all but whisper, dropping onto the couch across the room from her desk. “He’s my…my…my go-to guy.”

“You can’t work with Jason, despite all the pluses I just mentioned….because….”

I give up all pretence of discretion. After all, it’s not like she doesn’t know already. “Because, since I started working here, he’s the fantasy I go to when nothing else is working for me. And you know that. Good grief, Katie…I blush scarlet when I get into an ELEVATOR with this guy. There is no way, NONE, that I can work with him.”

My first day at Karn and Stemper, I’d seen him. He’d smiled at me, and my heart started beating a mile a minute. At home that night, trying to come down from the excitement of a new job, I’d had one of those times when you just can’t seem to get the rhythm right. My vibrator felt great, but there was no orgasm in site. No matter what I did. Until I remembered that smile, then BOOM. And to tell the truth, my nighttime fantasies had gone to my “go-to” guy a lot more than even Katie knew. There had even been a couple of day time “go-to”s with the door to my office locked and my legs up on my desk. There hadn’t been a problem with it, I mean…when you meet someone who can make your head spin like that, why not just enjoy the ride? But why oh why couldn’t it have been someone I knew in college and would never see again?

“Melissa. You tell me, how do I explain to the largest travel agency in town that they can’t have our best writer because the graphic designer once got off thinking about him in a hot tub? It’s 6 weeks, hon. You can come by my place every night to complain about the assignment if that’s what it, but please just do this? For me?”

At this point I know I’ve lost, but I can’t help it. “It’s not just the hot tub…it’s the shower, the living room, my room, his room..”

“You’ve never even seen his room, Mel!” Katie interrupts.

“I’ve got a good imagination,” I mutter.

“Your imagination gets more action than any three real women I know, Mel….but you can’t let it run your life. Rein it in here, Hon. Work with the guy.”

So much for grim determination….I agree to take what I think must be the most embarrassing assignment of my life.

“Good.” Katie breathed deeply. “If you want, come over tonight and we’ll raid my wardrobe. See if there’s something we can do to make you feel better about tomorrow.”