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get your hopes up.”
                  Jo pulled her files closer against her chest, aware that Becca wanted her to ask and that she shouldn’t give her the satisfaction, but she was unable to resist. “Why not?”
                  “Well, it’s hard for everyone to miss that great looking guy who’s been hanging out in your office lately. But obviously you haven’t noticed that Kathleen has a thing for him.”
                  “For who?”
                  Becca laughed. “How many men have you had in your office lately? Or ever?”
                  Jo bit her lip, the sight of Mark sitting casually on the couch in her office flitting through her mind. “That shouldn’t have any bearing on anything.”
                  “Yeah, well, it does.” The elevator doors opened then and Becca walked through them, pausing for a second to look at Jo over her shoulder. “No hard feelings, Jo? You probably wouldn’t have done well in that job anyway. It requires that you get along with all the people who would be under you and, let’s face it, no one around here really likes you all that much.”
                  Then the doors closed and Becca was gone.
     
                  Jo walked into the restaurant, ten minutes late. Emily glanced up when Jo slid into an empty chair, but her mother did not acknowledge her at all. Jo caught the attention of a nearby waiter and asked for a glass of red wine, a merlot that she knew was the restaurant’s house wine. He told her he wasn’t her waiter. Jo had to bite her tongue to keep from saying something unpleasant in a harsh undertone, not that it would have made much difference.
                  When the right waiter finally made his appearance, Jo had decided to ask for the whole bottle. She deserved some oblivion tonight.
                  “Bad day?” Emily asked as Jo poured her second glass.
                  “You can say that.”
                  “It’s that job. You should have gone into sales, like I told you,” her mother said.
                  “My degree is in sociology and business administration, mother. Human resources is a better fit.”
                  “But in sales, you would have met more people and would be married by now.”
                  “Not to mention the discounts I could have gotten for you if I had gotten that job at Versace like you wanted.”
                  Jo’s mother just waved her hand, not even denying what she had just said. Jo took a long swallow from her wine glass. Emily shot her a sympathetic look that took a little of the sting out. For the moment.
                  “So Emily and Ryan have set a date,” mother announced.
                  Jo looked at Emily. “Really? That’s great.”
                  Emily stared down at her wine glass, a dark blush coloring her lightly tanned cheeks. A bad feeling began to worm its way up Jo’s spine as she looked at her sister. She knew there was something going on she wouldn’t like. She didn’t have long to wait to find out what it was.
                  “It’s May 10 th ,” mother announced.
                  Jo looked sharply at her mother, then at Emily. Emily continued to stare at her wine, fidgeting in her seat like a two year old in time out.
                  “But that’s my birthday.”
                  “We know that,” mother announced. “But it was the only date in May the Imperial could handle the reception. You know everyone who is anyone has their reception at the Imperial.”
                  “I told mother it didn’t have to be in May,” Emily said quietly. “Or at the Imperial.”
                  “But May is a prime social month. The only thing better would have been June, but