Mr Anderson's PA on the phone? Kim wondered.

    "Tell her I'm busy," Kim said even as excitement swirled through her. He hadn't given up.

    Never one to do as she was told, Kam handed the phone to her. "Tell her yourself." Kim glared at her sister in annoyance. "You're enjoying this way too much."

     "Payback is so sweet." Kam chuckled as she sat down on the couch next to Kim, a rapt and unavoidable audience.

     "Doesn't Raine need a bath or something?"

     "Already had one before you came home. She's asleep now." Kam said shamelessly not taking the hint.

     Whatever.

     "Hello, thank you for taking my call, Miss Chiu. I'm Elena Ventura, Mr Anderson's PA."

     "Yes, I know." Kim sighed. "I don't mean to be rude, but if I wasn't going to say yes to him, why does he think that having his secretary call me is going to change my mind?"

     "Personal Assistant," the woman corrected gently, but continued on in a sweet, woman next door tone. "I apologize for interrupting your evening, but after everything Gerald has been through this week, I had to try to help him."

     "Everything he has been through?" That caught Kim's attention. She leaned forward, not caring that Kam practically pressed her own ear to the other side of the phone. In resignation, Kim turned her hand so Kam could hear better.

     "He didn't tell you? I should have known he wouldn't. He's not very good at asking for help."

     "I have no idea what you're taliking about," Kim said with growing interest.

     There was a short pause. "Miss Chiu, Gerald's father passed away a few days ago. He came back to Manila for the reading of the will."

     "Oh, my God," the sisters said in unison. Kim shushed her sister with a wave of her hand. "So, tomorrow he wanted me...?" It was almost too embarrassing to ask. She'd assumed that he was sending a limo over to whisk her away for an afternoon of lovemaking in some secluded suite. However, it was looking more like her initial instincts about him were correct.

     "He was hoping you would join him for the reading of his father's will," Ms Ventura said, confirming Kim's sinking feeling. Has she completely misread the entire evening? She'd let her own attraction to him blind her to the reality that Gerald was a man who simply didn't want to be alone due to a recent loss.

     That stung.

     So much for being irresistible.

     Her nurturing vibes must have drawn him in. People turned to her when in crisis. She should be used to it by now. "Doesn't he - I mean shouldn't he bring someone he knows better than me to something like that?"

     "My dear," the older woman's voice was full of the kind emotion a mother would have for a son, "Gerald is a busy man. He doesn't have time for friends. Business associates, yes. People who want to say they are part of his social circle, yes. But no one he felt he could take to something like this."

     The sisters exchanged a look. To have everything and still have nothing was so sad. No matter how awful their parent's death had been, at least they'd had each other. "I feel for him, Ms Ventura, but I just met him for the frist time tonight. I don't know what he told you, but we barely know each other."

     "He said he needed you there. That was enough for me."

     "He said that?" Kim's heart clenched in her chest. Kam practically clapped her hands in excitement and then made a form of a heart on her chest with her hands. Kim swatted her.

     He needs me? Was all of his tough talk just that - talk? He'd lost his father and din't want to face a painful situation alone. She understood, too well, how the loss of a parent could shake ones very foundation.

     Ms Ventura said, "Yes, and you should know that I have never, in all the years I've worked for him, made a personal call for him."

     So, he wanted me there enough to involve his assistant in his endeavor. What did that mean?

     "Did he ask you to explain about his father?" Kim said.

     Ms Ventura dismissed the idea with a short laugh. "Oh, no. I think I was supposed to call and threaten you or wave some magical wand and convince you to go with him. All he said was that he knew if anyone could get you to come it would be me. I'm flattered by his confidence, but I think your decision will have more to do with your level of compassion than my ability to persuade."

     "Don't be sure about that," Kam muttered.

     Kim shushed her.

     Kam shrugged and whispered while pointing to the phone, "Come on, she's good!"

     Too true. The older woman's soothing voice had made fulfilling Gerald's outrageous request sound like an act of kindness, rather than recklessness.

     Ms Ventura added, "I realize that Gerald saaid the limo would come for you at 11, but if possible I'd like to pick you up at 7 for a morning spa and then some shopping,"

     Oh, first I'm fat, now I need a makeover? "Tell your boss that if I'm not good enough as I am..."

     Ms Ventura interrupted, "Oh, no! Gerald didn't suggest this. I just thought that if I were going to attend a multi-million dollar will reading, I'd want to primp first."

     WOW. Put that way, Kim was in full agreement. "Ms Ventura, I think I love you."

      The woman laughed sweetly. "I'm just doing my job. And just call me Elena."

     Kim suspected it was a bit more than that. This woman obviously cared about Gerald. "Then please call me Kim. Don't take this wrong way, but you don't seem like you'd be Gerald's assistant. You're so.. nice."

     The maternal tone returned. "Don't let your first impression of Gerald taint your opinion of him. He's much more that he lets peolple see. My husband worked for him when he first started his company, but left before it took off. Stan was a good husband, but not much of a businessman. He died about seven years ago and left me deeply in debt. There I was, in my late fifties, broke, with no skills to get a job. I called Gerald on some desperate whim that he might remember my husband. He did. He said Stan had been a good man and he hired me as his assistant that day. I've worked for him ever since."

     Kim shared a look with her sister. Gerald couldn't be all that bad if he'd taken an old employee's wife under his wing. What was holding her back? She wanted to go just as much as he wanted her there. Could her sister be right? Was it time for her to shrug off the responsible role she'd donned out of necessity and allow herslf this one crazy adventure?

     "Ok," Kim said in a shaky voice. "I'll do it."

     "That's fantastic," Ms Ventura said. "Now get some rest dear. I'll pick you up at seven."

     Before hanging up, Kim asked, "Are you sure about all about this?" There must be someone else he..."

     The older woman rushed to reassure her. "Don't second guess yourself. Take it one step at a time. For now, just focus on the fact that you're going to be pampered tomorrow like you've never imagined."

     "That sounds nice,"

     "You have no idea, Kim. I'll see you at 7."