“Hey, I’m sorry, TJ,” Jason said quietly, steeling himself in the face of that penetrating stare.  “I didn’t mean to imply that we didn’t need to work more on this thing …”

“Yeah, c’mon TJ,” Bailey, Angie’s best friend piped in, trying to break up the sudden tension that arose between TJ and Jason. “Cut us some slack. Not all of us were fortunate enough to grow up knowing how to do this, learning at the feet of the coolest parents of the upper east side, you know.  Exposing you guys to all of this from a young age …”

“Look, this has nothing to do with how Angie and I were brought up.  Or who our parents are.  All I’m saying is let’s all remember who we’re doing this for, alright?” TJ interrupted her, shaking his head slightly as he leaned forward.  He pointed at the little girl in the photo.

“I’ve explained already to each of you when I asked who wanted to join me work on this that just moments after that photo was taken that that little girl was shot down, along with her friends, in the schoolyard while at recess, by men who think girls don’t deserve to get an education,” he continued, with barely concealed passion.

“So, either we do this right, or we don’t do this at all!” he declared as he looked around the room, fixing each one again with a piercing glare from the unusual blue-grey eyes he’d inherited from his father.

Those eyes, combined with the lightly bronzed skin that wrapped tightly over the aristocratic planes of a handsome face that was punctuated by a sharp, aquiline nose, dimpled chin, and ruddy pillow soft lips, could stop you on your tracks.  More than a few girls (and their mothers) had whispered to their friends about wanting to get lost in them. And when he smiled, especially if he flashed you the dazzling smile he’d inherited from his mother, the world, as Jason’s mom once observed to Bette, “how does that old song go? The whole world stops and stares for a while …”

Bailey observed her best friend’s hunky brother.  TJ was scowling now, not smiling, but this did little to detract from his swoon-worthy looks, Bailey thought.  After a few minutes, Brad spoke up, and gave his best friend the best cajoling smile he could summon and then said, “Well, I’m still in bro.  You know that.  Through thick and thin, that’s our motto, right?  So if the hole is in the financials, I promise you I’ll find it.  Let me and Haley figure out the financials again.”