Chapter 1

Laurissa was pissed and she didn't care who knew about it. The taxi driver, who's cab the Laurissa had climbed into, learned of the young ladies temperament very quickly after he tried to engage her in playful banter to pass the time. He gave up after only a couple of blocks. It was clear the woman in the back wanted to be left alone.

Laurissa had come to Chicago to spend the weekend with her friend Stephanie. It was something they had been doing for nearly two years. The two women had grown up together and were as close as any sisters. They had even attended the same college. Eventually it was their chosen careers that had led them to two different cities. However, they were determined to try and stay in contact with one another. In addition to burning up the phone lines several times a week. One or the other would travel to the others city so that they could spend at least one weekend a month together. This time it had been her turn to fly up from St. Louis.

On more than one occasion there were times a month would pass between each visit. Even so the two women had always picked up where they left off as though no time had passed at all. This was counter balanced by the months that they visited more than twice in a single month. The two shared their lives and adventures like few sisters ever would. That was until two months previous. Shortly after that months visit, Stephanie had called. She wanted to share her news about finding 'the one'.

This was nothing new. Stephanie was always finding 'the one', even though the relationships were usually short lived. The fact that Stephanie was still with him during her next visit said something about the guy. Most of Steph's relationships lasted a week or two at most. This guy must have been strong enough to tolerate Steph's normally overbearing personality, or a total wimp. Either way, he made Steph happy and that was all Laurissa wanted to know about him.

Of course, the fact that the man in question made Stephanie happy, did eventually become a problem. The problem was, now that she had a man in her life and was happy. She thought everyone of her friends had to have a man to be equally as happy, regardless of what the person wanted. Since her and Laurissa were the closest, Laurissa became Stephanie's first target. Of course Laurissa was blissfully oblivious to Steph's machinations. She became aware of it during the following visit. Stephanie had decided to bring with her two extra visitors. One of the uninvited might have been overlooked and that was Stephanie's boyfriend.

However, Stephanie had made the decision, without asking, to include him. His presence was something that would intrude on their normal 'girls only' weekend. That in and of itself would have been bad enough, but Steph had gone further and brought along a guy that she was certain would be perfect for Laurissa.

Needless to say, Laurissa and Tom got along like oil and water. From Laurissa point of view the weekend was a total disaster. It was bad enough that she had to put up with her own mother playing the matchmaker during visits. The last thing she needed in her life was for her friend to start the same shit.