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"You don't have to do this," Andy says once again as he settles into a booth across from Maggie.

"It's my pleasure," Maggie assures him with a small shake of the head.

"I really do appreciate it. I don't think I would have wanted to be alone right now." He begins glancing through the menu.

"I can tell," she says, cracking a little smile. "And besides, I've already had a sufficiently screwed-up New Year's, don't ya think? Coming out for a drink and a bite to eat should be the lowlight of the night."

Andy raises his eyebrows. "Gee, thanks."

"That's not such a bad thing."

"No." He studies her for a moment, his index finger curled up and stroking his chin absently as he does so. "No, I guess not."

A waiter appears and they place their orders. Andy speaks again as soon as the waiter has departed. "Thank you for coming out with me."

"No need to thank me. I think it's fair to say that we've both had rough nights ... so let's just try to enjoy ourselves, all right?"

"Sounds good to me." He pauses again, drinking in Maggie's appearance -- the way stray wisps of black hair cross onto her face, and those lips ... "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"You've said a few times tonight that you weren't missing anything by not being home in Seattle tonight. I don't know if I'm prying here, but I've gotten the impression that you don't have a very pleasant situation at home ..." The inquiry drops off, losing steam as Andy realizes that he may be getting ahead of himself.

Maggie surprises him. "It's not that I have this awful life or anything. It's just ..." She shrugs. "There's tension. My parents run an architecture firm, and they have this big shindig every year with our family and friends and some people from the office."

"I'm afraid I don't follow. Where's the tension?"

"My ex-husband. He works at the firm, so he'll be there."

"That must be difficult."

"It is ... especially since I work there, too."

Andy lifts his eyebrows. "Wow."

"Exactly. Don't get me wrong, it could be a lot worse. Doug and I -- we still get along and we can work together and everything, even though he drives me absolutely crazy sometimes. But it's not always so fun to have to be around him all night on New Year's Eve."

"I would imagine not." Curious as he is to know more, the sense that he should not pry too hard is greater. He decides to swing the subject elsewhere. "So you're an architect?"

"That I am," Maggie says.

The waiter arrives with their drinks and each of them takes a sip before Andy remarks, "I used to be so interested in architecture. I was seriously considering going into it when I went to college, but my parents insisted I focus on business, so I did."

"What do you do now?"

"Nothing," he says, almost wincing at how ridiculous it sounds. "I really should be, I suppose. There's just never been any need for it ... I mean--"

"Gotcha. I did see the size of that mansion," she grins. "Well, I'll tell ya what. If you're ever up for a move to Seattle, I'm sure we could find something for you to do at the firm."

Andy takes another sip of his drink as he thinks. "I think there's something we need to do," he finally says.

"What's that?"

"Toast -- to the New Year. We missed celebrating the stroke of midnight in the midst of all that wedding chaos."

"That sounds like a wonderful plan," she agrees. There is a twinkle in her eye that gleams as she speaks -- something that catches Andy's attention for the umpteenth time tonight.

"Well, then," he says, raising his glass, "here's to the start of a wonderful New Year."

"Happy New Year," Maggie says, clinking her glass against his.

One . Two . Three . Four . Five . Six . Seven

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