Windfall Page 0,9

with the world.

I missed David, oh God I missed David.

I curled up with my warm blanket and watched the rest of the movie, and fell asleep to the cold blue flicker.

The next morning's show went just about as badly as you might expect. No dumping of rain today; apparently Marvin was forecasting a good day for outside activities, so I got to pose in my stupid-looking walking shorts, oversized T-shirt, boonie hat, and zinc smeared white down my nose, while Cherise wore the cute little bikini and cheesecaked for the camera. One of us was happy. I got sand in my penny loafers, so it probably wasn't me.

But the worst was yet to come.

Cherise slipped into a thick terrycloth robe as soon as she stepped off camera-her usual habit on the set-and we were talking about doing the mall when I felt a thick, sweaty hand slide around my waist. A little too high to qualify as waist territory, actually-we were getting into oh-I-don't-think-so range.

Cherise looked startled, then grim, as Marvin's other arm went around her.

Luckily, her robe was belted the wrong way for him to slide his fingers inside.

"Girls," he said, and grinned, and squeezed. He'd definitely had his teeth whitened recently. They looked so white I was afraid they might glow in the dark. "Feel like a little breakfast? I'm buying!"

"Gee, boss, I have to fit into this bikini later," Cherise said. She wriggled free of his hold. "Thanks for the offer."

He didn't let go of me quite so easily. "Whaddaya say, Jo? Few pancakes might do you good! Sweeten you up a little! Come on, my dime!"

Chapter Three

I blinked, torn between indignation that he didn't think I was sweet enough, and relief that he'd at least noticed my sour attitude. "Previous engagement," I said. "Thanks, though. Some other time." At least he wasn't trying to drag us out for drinks, although I was pretty sure that if it had been a little later in the day-like, say, noon-it would have been Mojitos all around at the Cuban bar, and an expectation of a three-way at his fabulous bachelor pad later.

Marvin managed to look both crushed and lecherous at the same time. "Okay, doll. You girls go get your beauty sleep. Not that you need it!"

He was up to something. I gave him the flinty eye as he walked away, whistling a jaunty tune. Cherise shook her head, and preceded me off the set and into the changing room. She had to shower off body makeup; I just had to scrub off the zinc oxide and try to get my hair to do something that didn't look as if I was trying to take Best of Breed at the Purina Cup.

I finished first, and yelled into the showers, "Meet you outside!"

"Fifteen minutes!" Cherise was deep into conditioning territory. I navigated the tunnel-like hallways of the television station, avoiding harried interns and squinty-eyed techs, hid from the news director, and managed to get through the back door without being stopped to help out with anything that wasn't my job.

I walked over to the tiny lunch area, complete with palm trees, bolted-down picnic table, and overflowing trash container nobody seemed to remember to empty. Not exactly paradise, but it served, at times. I sat down on the cool metal bench, rested my elbows on the table, and watched the morning arrive.

Another lovely sunrise. Wispy clouds out to sea that glowed orange and gold; the ocean glittered dark blue, flecked with white foam. The sky shaded from turquoise in the east to indigo in the west, and a few brave stars were still glimmering through the dawn. A warm ocean breeze that slid over my exposed skin like silk.

It was a lovely way to pass a few minutes. I didn't do this nearly enough, just sitting, waiting, listening to the whispers of the world.

As I drifted up there I began to feel something inside me start to resonate.

Liquid light. A cell-deep hum. A deeply intimate feeling of coming home.

I had company again. The good kind, this time.

Down in the real world, warm fingers stroked my hair, and up on the aetheric I saw a white, sparkling flare of power, like a ghost.

The tense curls of my hair relaxed, and David's fingers dragged slowly through it, straightening it into a glossy black sheet of silk that fell heavily