his　mouth　with　a　cocktail　napkin。　A　trace　of　dark　five　o？clock　shadow　cloaked　his　sharply　defined

chin。　？I　was　in　a　breakfast　meeting　this　morning；　eating　Cheerios　with　five　other　lawyers；　and　I

was　thinking　about　you；？　he　admitted。

Blair　ran　her　fingernail　over　her　fishnet…stockinged　knee。　？Really？？　she　asked；　immediately

wishing　her　voice　didn？t　sound　quite　so　eager　and　hopeful。

Owen　raised　his　glass　to　his　lips；　his　blue　eyes　smoldering。　？Yeah。　I？ve　been　so　crazy　busy　this

week；　but　I　promise　I？ll　get　that　report　over　to　the　guys　at　Yale　ASAP。？

？Oh；？　Blair　responded　disappointedly。　She　twirled　her　little　brown　cocktail　straw　around　in　her

drink。　For　once　she　hadn？t　even　been　thinking　about　Yale。　Being　with　Owen　made　her　feel　like　she

wasbeyond　Yale。　She　was　his　？gorgeous；？　the　star　of　his　show。　Or　maybe　she　was　only　deluding

herself。

Glancing　through　the　paned　glass　window　behind　them；　Blair　could　barely　see　the　cars　parked

out　on　the　street。　They　were　just　masses　of　white；　like　big；　dumb　sleeping　elephants。

She　could　feel　Owen　watching　her　as　she　puffed　on　her　cigarette　and　blew　a　stream　of　gray

smoke　into　the　air　above　their　heads。　He？d　asked　to　see　her　again；　hadn？t　he？　And　he　wouldn？t

have　done　that　if　he　wasn？t　attracted　to　her。　He　was　just　nervous；　that　was　all。　Inside　Blair？s　head；

the　cameras　were　starting　to　roll。　She　was　the　femme　fatale　seducing　the　handsome；　good；　older

lawyer。　Yale　was　the　last　thing　she　wanted　to　talk　about　right　now。

She　took　one　last　puff　on　her　cigarette　and　then　stubbed　it　out　in　the　chrome　ashtray　in　the　center

of　the　table。　？I　almost　went　to　jail　once；？　she　announced；　trying　to　sound　intriguing。