Mark sighed. His hands slid off the edge of the bath to rest on her legs and he turned his head to face her. He realized that he hadn't really considered what she'd been through in the last few weeks and months, with Benjamin Moore, her mentor and friend dying. Then she'd been thrown in to look after him, and that must have been so stressful for her."You worried about today?" He asked gently."A little," She admitted, her gaze fixed on the wall. "It seems like saying goodbye to him, but I don't really want to. Does that make sense?""Absolutely," Mark said gently. "You know I'm here for you, right?"She nodded once, then sighed. "I miss him.""I bet you do.""This whole thing with you is confusing me too," She admitted quietly. "I thought you and I could have the same sort of relationship that Benjamin and I had, but it's different.""How different?""Well, we never did anyth

"There's nothing else on the schedule for today after that," Jasmine said finally. "On the media side of things, our press office is getting hammered with requests, and there's been a list of people who have come forward to be interviewed by the media.""Anything about my past?" Myra asked cautiously."Not yet," Jasmine replied. "It's worthwhile mentioning that Diablo Cody used to be a dancer until she wrote Juno. If it breaks that you used to be a dancer, then with the cover story of being a writer you can probably expect calls from the studios asking you to write something for them. They're always looking for the next someone or other, in this case Diably Cody..""That'll be no comfort when the press are painting me as a slut," Myra said flatly."We've already got strategies prepared if that happens," Jasmine replied.Myra didn't look relieved, so Jasmine turned to Maddy."There's

The staff were the first to drift away, with nearly all of them working, and many of the guests followed. Maddy and Myra got up, but Mark remained in his seat, wanting to stay and witness the burial, but his sisters reminded him they had lots of guests and that he couldn't stay there all day.On the walk back up to the house Mark got many compliments on his speech, of the courage it took to get up there, and of how it reminded them of Benjamin Moore himself in the way it was delivered. The last part came as a surprise to Mark.The next half hour of mingling back at the house was a repeat of the same conversation. Really great speech, emotional, reminded me of him, but it passed quickly and it was time to walk many of the guests back to the boat or the helicopters that were waiting to take them back to the world.By the time they bade them farewell and got back to the house, Mark was feeling pretty drained and excuse

He turned his alarm off quickly and flicked on the bedside light. Jasmine had rolled over at some point in the night and was sprawled across the bed, the sheet twisted down around her hips.He looked at her lying there for a second, then reminded himself he wasn't a fucking creep and got out of bed. A quick wash in the bathroom woke him up and he entered the dressing room quietly, removing his top, stained with saliva where Jasmine had drooled on it as she slept. He slipped another one on, then gathered up his phone, pulled the sheet up over her and headed for the gym. Mark was feeling pretty pleased with himself for not giving in to temptation last night. At one point he'd woken up, spooned in behind her and as he moved he felt her pushing her ass back into him. It would have been all too easy for instinct to take over, and it had tempted him at the time, but he'd remembered the state she was in, and he didn't want that. If he was goin

Mark left and got dressed, opting for light blue jeans, an old faded t-shirt and timberland boots, Francesca be damned. He roughly towel-dried his hair and swept into place with his fingers, grabbed a pair of shades, his phone and cigarettes and headed outside.He found the actress sitting at a table overlooking the pool, looking elegant as she sipped at a coffee. Mark said hello and took a seat."Sleep well?""Yes," She smiled. "It's so peaceful here.""Feel free to visit any time you like," Mark told her. "I've no idea if my sisters or I will be here, but there's plenty room if you need to get away for a few days.""I might take you up on that," She replied. Her eyes flicked down to the phone and cigarettes on the table. "Smoke if you want to, I don't mind."Mark lit up. "So you wanted to see me?""Yeah. When you coming to LA?"He laughed, reminded of the conversation u