"Shopping," I admit guiltily. I mouth the word "Austin" to Ava and she grins.

"On a workday?" He laughs. "I don't know how you squeeze everything in."

"Well, I had a break so I'm out with Ava and Lauren. Those are the girls in the pictures with me from the Vanity Fair party --"

"Hi, Austin!" Lauren grabs the phone from my ear and Ava snuggles up next to her so she can hear too. "This is Lauren."

"And Ava!" Ava winks at me.

"I've seen your picture and I have to say you're really cute." Lauren giggles.

"Way hot. You're not a dork though, are you?" Ava asks.

"Ava!" I scold.

They fire off a few embarrassing questions before I wrestle the phone back. "It's me," I say, shooing the girls away by pointing out a cool bag I just spotted.

"So that's Lauren and Ava." He sounds amused. "They sound . . . interesting." I'm not sure if that's a compliment, but I'm too afraid to ask.

"They are," I promise, "and they're dying to meet you."

"So when are you due back at work?" Austin asks. "I've never heard of you shopping on your lunch hour before."

"Yeah, well." I can't lie to him. "Tom wanted me to film my interview for the retrospective and Nadine was driving me up a wall so I bailed."

"Burke, that's not like you," Austin scolds.

"I know," I say guiltily.

"What time are you due back?" Austin asks.

I look at my watch. It's 2:15 PM. 2:15! I was due back at work fifteen minutes ago! "I'm late," I shriek. "I'll call you later."

"Get back there," Austin says. "Miss you."

"Miss you too," I murmur. I wish I could say more, but the "I love you" thing can't be said over the phone. Especially with Larry the Liar nearby.

"Guys, I've got to go!" I wave down Lauren and Ava before they can head back in the dressing room with another pile of clothes. "I'm late."

Lauren looks up. "No biggie. I'm sure they'll be cool with it. We'll leave in a few." She pulls me close for another picture.

The sales woman walks over and offers to take my stuff from me and turns to Ava. "I just talked to Taylor. We can give you a thirty percent discount today, but I can't give you anything gratis. We've had a light month. I hope you understand."

"Sure. No problem," Ava says with a tight smile. Then she pulls Lauren and me into the dressing room and makes a face. "Great. I was sure she'd comp half our stuff for sure when we brought Gary! She always does!"

"What a pill," Lauren moans.

"I'm going to sort through my stuff and go pay," I tell them as they continue to complain. As I walk up to the register, I can still hear Ava and Lauren whispering in the dressing room. Hmm . . . how much do I have here? I start pulling things apart and making two piles as Gary and Larry take more pictures. When are they leaving?