He pursed his lips and was throwing his arm around her when he heard the voice return, "Thanks for waiting.  I’m buzzing you in, and when you get past the door, just walk to the end of the hall, take the elevator, and hit "D."  That will take you to the duplex level."

Sandrine jumped up and down happily, "Ye-hey!  We’re going to see the inside.  We’re going to see the inside."

Martin was pushing her inside, "Like I said, don’t be disappointed if the inside looks like crap."

They got into the elevator.  Martin pushed "D," as Sandrine pretended to chastise him, "Why do you have to be such a grouch…"

"Not a grouch," he answered, teasingly.  He was feeling warmer already.  "I was just saying, um… you remember when you were so disappointed after we had dinner the other night with Lucien and that artist he’s dating?"

She wrinkled her nose at the unpleasant memory.  He continued, teasingly, "And you were complaining about how warm she was initially, when we asked about the painting she did that Lucien said was going to be displayed in the Lyon Biennial this fall?"

"I know," Sandrine, picking up on Martin’s thought, "And then she suddenly turned cold when we said we just wanted to look at her stuff, and that we weren’t …."

"And you said she was such a typical artist-girlfriend of Lucien, beautiful, but cold, calculating," he finished, with knowing smile.  "You just fall for it every time Sandrine."

She punched him playfully, as the elevator door opened.  "Well, I can’t help being an optimist, Martin. Your brother deserves a good wife, and every time he introduces us to someone new, he always seems so excited…"

"Too bad he can’t seem find what I’ve found, huh?," he asked, giving her a kiss, "Beautiful, warm, loving, sexy, … and rich!"

"Stop it!," she pushed back at him playfully, as he grabbed her, trying to pull her closer to him, angling for another kiss.

"Hi!," Christy said, opening the door just then.  She smiled at the couple playfully fighting with each other.

Sandrine wriggled out of Martin’s embrace, and stepped forward extending a hand, "Hi … please don’t mind him.  He’s gone crazy from the cold here in New York!"

Christy shook her hand, introducing herself, laughing slightly.  She added, "Sorry about asking you to wait outside a bit…"