It's hard to tell what the first digit is on the face of the alarm clock. Is it 6 or 8? The box of Puffs Plus was blocking her view. Audrey couldn't understand why anyone would use that kind of tissue all the time. It always left a film on your hand every time you blew your nose. She stretched her neck trying to look around the pink box but she couldn't see that first digit. Audrey didn't want to wake or stir the body lying so closely next to her.

The sweet smell of Calvin Klein's latest brew is what caught her attention at the party last night. She was in the middle of a dispute with Zeon Green, the designer florist, about the Academy Awards. She often wondered what the difference was between a florist and a designer florist, but she didn't dare ask Zeon. Zeon was about to give her ten reasons why John Travolta deserves the Oscar over Tom Hanks, when she caught the beautiful scent that swiftly past her as she took a sip of Andre. She whirled around trying to catch a glimpse of the owner of the amorous smell, but all she saw was her husband Steve gloriously kissing someone's ass, as usual. It wasn't until after most of the guests had left that Audrey finally found the CK1 again. It was coming from the far west corner of the room. There were three of them huddled in the corner laughing and carrying on. Of course the two women were doing all the laughing. Audrey made her way to the corner to see what the two women were competing for so diligently.

"Audrey, honey, I'm going to take Mr. Humphrey and these young ladies back to his hotel room,"

Audrey looked over to Mr. Humphrey and the so called ladies they were beautiful and not much older than eighteen, she was sure of it. She didn't say anything and let Steve continue,

"Honey listen, I think they have had a little too much to drink and I would feel terrible if anything happened to them and I could've....."

Audrey didn't need to hear anymore of his pathetic explanations. She stopped him smiled and whispered back,

"Don't worry Steve, I 'm sure I'll find someone to give me a ride home."

And she pulled her arm out of his grip and walked away. Her arm was still a little sore from the last little spat they had over a similar discussion. Steve had a temper and she had decided she wouldn't question him anymore, it wasn't worth the trouble nor the pain. Audrey didn't want to think about why Mr. Humphrey needed the company of two young women and she didn't want to think about the real reason why Steve was going along. She just wanted to find the source of the CK1.

"Can I join the party ?" Audrey asked sweetly and the two women turned around and revealed the man they had been hiding with their hair. His brown eyes looked over the champagne flute he was emptying and he raised his eyebrows to acknowledge her presence. She felt a cool chill all over her body.She took a deep breath trying to get as much of this beautiful scent into her as possible.

"Hi, my name is Frank, this is Jasmin and this is Kay," he pointed to the two women on either side of him.

"Audrey," she said with a smile and a nod to each one. Jasmin sort of grinned and turned back to Frank. She was one of the usuals. The usuals were high maintenance beauties that surrounded the richest and the most available. Kay nodded and smiled back at Audrey. Audrey had never seen her before. She was attractive but not in the same way, she was real. Her skin glowed and her smile seemed sincere. She was wearing a simple black dress. It wasn't a designer this or that but she looked stunning. She noticed Audrey looking at her and turned, smiled and gave her a somewhat seductive wink. Audrey was sure it was only a friendly wink but to her it seemed seductive because of the glorious aroma in the air. She stood and listened to this Frank guy and the more she listened the more she realized the aroma was not matching with the person.

"So, Audrey, why so quiet," he said as he peered into the empty Andre bottle, "you haven't said much since you joined us."

"I'm sorry, I guess I have a lot on my mind tonight," Audrey answered with the best smile she could put on.

"That's O.K.honey we all have those nights once in a while," Kay's voice broke into the conversation. She patted Audrey's wrist and smiled gently.

"Well, I think I'll get us some more of this stuff," Frank held the bottle up and came closer to Audrey, "that's all you need, really, you'll be feeling good with a couple more sips of this..." he mumbled and stumbled off in search of another champagne bottle.

Kay moved closer to Audrey and whispered,

"Sorry about him," he's had a little too much to drink, he's really a nice guy."

Audrey felt the aroma radiating from Kay's skin as she whispered each word into her ear. It wasn't Frank wearing the CK1. It was Kay.

Audrey gently opened her eyes with a deep sigh and tried peering over the Puffs box trying to see the time. She had spent way too long laying in bed reminiscing.

Oh hell, what's the worst that can happen? she thought to herself. She could wake up and want to know why your leaving silly. But Audrey didn't want to wake her. She gently pulled her legs out from underneath the Laura Ashley floral sheet and placed her feet quietly onto the plush rose carpet. It seemed like forever before her toes actually felt the soft carpet.She got out of bed and Kay was still sleeping. Audrey walked over to her clothes and walked out of the bedroom. She felt safer out of the bedroom. She didn't have to hold her breath anymore. She slid her dress back on and caught her reflection in the mirror behind her. She was glowing. She couldn't remember being any happier than she had been the last few hours.

Kay and Audrey had talked all night. They talked about politics music , movies, ethics, their goals, everything that Audrey couldn't talk to Steve about. They laughed and laughed like two little girls at a sleep over. Then as the birds started chirping around 4:30 in the morning they laughed into each other's arms. The whirl of the deepest love Audrey had ever felt-- began and took her on a beautiful journey.

Kay made Audrey forget the bruises and the apologies of flowers and kindness that always followed. She made Audrey forget about the blondes with the 40D's. Audrey forgot about Steve. She forgot about her family's pleas to give him yet another chance.

"He's taking such good care of you" was her mom's response after Audrey had gone to her for help. "You never have to worry about money again," her mom kept repeating. Audrey forgot her misery and the emptiness that filled her life.

Her fingers slid across the mahogany desk feeling the luster of the finish. She was trying to find some paper. She felt bad going through Kay's drawers. There were so many drawers. They were filled with notebooks and cassette tapes. There were disks and disks each neatly labeled and color coded. The last drawer on the bottom finally had some stationary. It was a rose print and it smelled like roses too. Audrey closed her eyes and remembered Kay's goodnight kiss. It was so long--but not long enough. Audrey didn't want it to stop. She didn't want Kay to ever let her go. She could still feel the warmth of Kay's breath as she whispered "I love you, Audrey, please stay with me forever." At that moment, Audrey never wanted to leave either. She whispered "I love you too" and squeezed harder. They fell asleep in a beautiful embrace.

Audrey opened her eyes and took a deep breath. She had to get home. Steve was going to be furious. She got up from the desk and folded the note in half and placed it on Kay's desk. She hated herself for doing this to Kay but she had no other choice. As she opened the front door she turned back and saw the note in the mirror. Kay would see it as soon as she came out of her room, I'll never forget your CK1. Audrey closed the door behind her. The ache inside grew in strength and the longing for Kay's loving embrace had begun.