When she was satisfied, she sank into the tub and sipped another glass of red wine. She looked at the bottle and giggled when she saw that she drank almost ¾ of it since she got home. She lifted herself from the tub and toweled off the warm water from her body. The bed seemed to call her name as she laid on it and pulled the covers over her body. Before she knew it, she had drifted off into a deep and much needed sleep. The breeze off the ocean dried her and her uncombed hair as she slept. In her dreams Dylan came into her room and placed little kisses all over her body. She smiled as Dylan entered her wet core with long slender fingers. In her dreams, she moaned as she came, “I know you have done this before.”

Her sleep was abruptly interrupted by her cell phone ringing. It was Tasha shouting frantically, “Helena where are you? The studio execs are here and wanting to begin their usual spin on the movie. They were hoping you would be here since you were the one who initially secured the film for Shoalin. I thought you would be here by now. What the fuck is going on? Are you coming? What should I tell them?”

Helena looked at the clock, “Fuck!”She had slept for three hours after her bath. She was exhausted from sleepless nights since Dylan’s return. The walk, wine, heat from the tub and her orgasms relaxed her more than she intended. She touched her matted hair. There was no way she could get herself together quickly. “Tell them I came down with something, or whatever. Just think of something. Tell them they should proceed with their program without me.” She jumped out of her bed and looked at herself in the mirror. “Fuck! Tasha I  fell asleep. It will be at least an hour before I get there.”

“I’ll make something up. You just get here are fast as you can.  No! You need to get here faster than that.”

Helena jumped out of her bed and looked in the mirror. “God, I look like a mess.” She jumped in the shower to wet her curly hair again. She hurriedly partially blew dry her hair. She opted for a simple twiat to cover the wetness that persisted in her hair. A few wisps of unruly stray hairs framed her face. She quickly threw on her dress and applied her make-up. She studied herself in the mirror and commented, “Not bad all things considered.” She saw the rest of the bottle of wine and poured herself the last of in her glass. She drank it and she told herself repeatedly, “Just a few more hours. It will be all over in a few more hours.”

The drive to the restaurant was fast and furious. She realized that she was still feeling the effects of the wine from before her nap and the additional glass was beginning to kick in. She told herself, "No more for the rest of the night."

When she walked into the restaurant, like a homing device the first person she spotted was Dylan. Dylan was wearing a blue-gray tailored pant suit that showed off her slender figure and gentle curves. Dylan was speaking to members of the local press and stopped mid-sentence to look at Helena. Their eyes locked from across the room. Dylan smiled, her deep brown eyes sparkled, happy to see that Helena had finally arrived. She was mesmerized by how simply beautiful Helena was. Even after all this time Helena could still take her breath away and make her heart beat accelerate. Her assistant Chelsea noticed Dylan’s distraction and pulled on her arm to bring her back to earth. To break her trance Chelsea suggested, “Dylan, I think the LA Times wanted to get some photos of you.” Dylan looked down to acknowledge Chelsea and quickly looked back to find Helena. On second look Helena was gone. As she searched the room, she could see Helena was greeting several VIPs from the studio. Helena could feel the heat of Dylan’s eyes on her. She fought to keep her breathing steady knowing she was under the watchful eyes. With usual Helena Peabody charm and poise she engaged her company into meaningless small talk. All the while she knew if she were to survive the night emotionally, she needed to stay as far away from Dylan as she could.