Not a bad start to Friday morning, all in all.

Then Vivian looked at her, her eyes shining with relief and happiness.

Jules got a little dizzy, and she wondered if the day would come when Vivian’s beauty didn’t shut down her mind completely.

But then Vivian got herself under control and let go of Jules’s hand, and just in time too because then the elevator dinged and the door opened and they were staring at Keisha and Charlotte.

Jules put on a straight face right away. So to speak.

Keisha and Charlotte got out of the way immediately, and Vivian brushed past like she hadn’t even seen them. Jules followed, but Charlotte grabbed her elbow and mouthed, Is it okay?

She couldn’t stop another grin as she nodded, and both Charlotte and Keisha relaxed. The whole office had no doubt been holding its breath in a prayer that Vivian’s entire pregnancy would go as well as possible because the alternative—and Vivian’s resulting mood—were too horrifying to consider.

But that day went as smooth as glass. Even when Allie mixed up a photo spread from Prada with one from Phillip Lim, even when Paul was late getting back from a meeting because of traffic, even when Simon had to leave the office early because of a crisis at Donna Karan, Vivian didn’t flip out.

The good mood persisted throughout the rest of the day, and sometime after lunch, it took a turn toward something else. Jules had seen the terrible tightness inside her all morning; now that it had loosened, it was like Vivian was letting herself feel other things.

And whatever those things were, they made her radiate sex appeal like Jules had never seen before. It seemed that Vivian didn’t so much walk as saunter.

Her movements, always purposeful, now seemed almost languid; she had a slow roll to her hips, a slight sway in her walk. Taking it easier today? Balancing a little extra weight? Jules didn’t know what it was, but while Vivian was in the office whispering her orders and being as terrifying as usual, her body was telling everyone within a ten-yard radius, “You should want to have sex with me.”

Worst of all, she didn’t even seem to be aware of it.

At least Jules wasn’t the only one who saw it. Even Joey stared when Vivian returned from an afternoon meeting, and he was gayer than Simon. This couldn’t possibly be what people meant when they talked about the glow of pregnancy, could it? Wasn’t that supposed to be more of a maternal thing? Not a throw-me-down-and-fuck-me-now kind of thing?

Whatever it was, Jules was horribly distracted all day long until a quarter to five. That was when Vivian summoned her for something that demanded every scrap of focus she could get.