"I still can't believe what you said to Courtney on Tuesday, dude. You went too far, she'll try and kick you out of this office."

"Chris, cut to the chase. You're calling me on an off day. You suspended me after that fight, remember?"

"Well, your deadline for your portfolio is coming up."

"What about it?"

"Well… the day after you get back from suspension is the day the guys in head production expect to see your work. They moved the date up, and you're the lucky guy who gets to be the runner up."

"Chris, that's in two days. I've only been on suspension for three."

"Well, good luck to you, eh?"

"My camera is at the office."

"Tough luck, dude"

"Chris, you bastard-"

Alejandro throws his phone against the nearest wall. It bounces off of one of Gwen's paintings and lands back near his hand making him curse loudly. The neighbor upstairs slams her broom down in response, which makes him fume quieter.

"You do that a lot, you know." Gwen appears out of the kitchen, carrying a mug of coffee. She is dressed his one of his white collared shirts and tiny white underwear, giving him a delicious view of her body.

"Do what?" He is still snappish, but she only laughs and sits next to him. She takes a sip of her coffee, before replying,

"Every time you answer your phone, you always end up cursing loudly in Spanish." She puts the cup to his lips and smiles softly. "Drink." It's an order, and he does. It's the same type of coffee as on their first date. The pumpkin flavor drink (minus the whip cream), that reminds him of home.

"You must truly be magic, Chica. How did you manage to make a perfect brew?" She bites her lip, and blushes slightly.

"It was how Noah and I first met. I worked as a barista in his café. He helped me get into art school and…" Alejandro's eyes are burning and he isn't looking at her, but at the cup.

"Alejandro, I'm sorry if our relationship bothers you but he's one of my closet friends."

"Oh, Princess!" A man's booing voice cuts off the argument as tall man with an obnoxious green Mohawk walks in, "Oh, my Gwenny, this one's a fine catch." He nods approvingly at Alejandro, and then turns back to Gwen. "Anyways, your art teacher, ah what's that bastards name…. Yes! Hatchet!" He snaps his fingers for emphasis, smilingly stupidly.

"Duncan, you're high. On what, this time?"

"Oh a little PSD, some weed and this other pill some girl gave to at that party. You missed it, man! That shit was on fire! But anyways, Hatchet wants to see you before your art thingy. So, I'm gonna go…let you two do your thing. Peace, this punk is out!" He winks conspiratorially at them both and walks away on wobbly legs.

"That was my uh-Brother Duncan." She says it so awkwardly; he can't help but laugh at her mortified expression. His humour fades quickly, and he gets up to find a shirt of his that she isn't wearing.

"I have to go get a camera. Chris suspended me from the office, which means I can't go near it. I'll probably be gone all day, so don't stay awake for me, Chica." The search for a shirt is futile; he throws himself on Gwen's bed and sighs.

"If you go into my closet, there's a box on the top right hand corner. Go get it. And grab one of Duncan's shirts, you two are probably near the same size" She buttons up his shirt as she speaks, taking the mug of coffee to her tiny kitchen.

As Alejandro walks up and around to her closet he recognizes the small details that make her apartment so homey: A picture of her, Noah and Duncan, no more than sevenyears old, laughing and smiling; A sketch of a beautiful woman, who could be his Gwen if he squints hard enough; A doll, with porcelain skin and honey colored hair, wearing a peasant styled dress with white flowers embroidered on the starch fabric.

Her closet is full of stockings, tights, scarfs, hats, skirts and shirts. It's a novelty for him to see a woman's closet and he presses a scarf to his nose, inhaling her scent. He recognizes the blue fabric instantly and a smile graces his lips.

"Stop going through my stuff, Alejandro!" The closet muffles Gwen's playful tease; he scanned the top shelf looking for the box. It's covered in dust and crammed in the darkest corner, but he manages to pull it out without setting off an avalanche.

"I found the box." Curiosity gets the better of him as he brushes off the dust on the top of the lid. Scrawled in very messy calligraphy are the letters "MC".

"Go on and open you. I see you eyeing it." She throws herself against his back, her arms wraps around his neck and she is propped on her knees so she can see over his head of hair.

He pries open the lid, dust flying everywhere making Gwen cough loudly. Nestled in the box, lay two cameras, a Polaroid and a Nikon.

His breath catches in his throat; no girl has ever given him gifts of this proportion. He picks up the Polaroid; it fits perfectly in his hands. He takes a picture of the little doll in the corner, to test it out and the picture comes out grainy and vintage he loves it.

"Chris would hate this." He holds up the Polaroid camera, making Gwen laugh, a high tingling sound, but as he turns to face her she looks sad.

"I'm glad you like it, Mi Principe." She plasters on a smile, her eyes remain fixated on the cameras lying in that dusty old box. Alejandro doesn't know what to do with a sad woman; he only knows the physical and no strings attached kind of relationship. It doesn't stop him from pulling her into his arms and kisses her sweetly.

"I can make a great vintage-themed project with this. Gracias, Mi Dulce." He quickly stands, throwing on a green shirt and grabbing his leather jacket from the hanger on the wall. Gwen catches herself and latches onto his arms.

"You have to leave so soon?" She pouts, jutting out her lower lip and presses her forehead against his shoulder.

"We both do. You are going to my apartment and grabbing my computer. It should be on my desk -the one with all of the pictures-make sure to get the mouse and the power cable." He kisses her on the forehead and disentangles her arm from his. He passes her his house key.

"I wrote my address on that thing you have on your kitchen door, the ones with the dry erase markers. Just bring the computer it all back here. I have to find… Well you'll see when my project is down yes?"

"Who said I was doing all of that?I could have an artist's… Something to do-"

"But you don't. And if you do, I'll make it worth the trouble tonight. I promise." He leaves no room for argument, and before she can say a word, he has kissed her in the way that makes her knees weak.

Then, he is gone.

His apartment door is red. She wasn't expected something so bright; he seems like such a down to earth, dark man and the red door throws her completely off guard. Gwen feels the eyes of the upper class patrons staring daggers into her paint-stained hoodie and she wants to shrink against the door.

It's high school all over again.

Her hands are shaking as she inserts the key into lock, she turns the key to unlock the door and she hears bells echoing inside the massive building.

"How much money does this man have…?"She mutters as she walks in through the automatic doors. Alejandro's apartment is lush and large, but sparsely decorated as if he was never there. Decorating the walls are pictures of every genre; most are grey-scale, some are partially colored and there was few full colored pictures.

She can't help but run her fingers over the surfaces, but all of the pictures have the same glossy, mass produced feel. In the corner of each photo is a black signature signed simply by Alejandro R.

She follows the trail of paintings, which leads her to the desk he told her about. The desk is the only space in his apartment that is messy and unorganized. There is a manuscript in the corner that is bound in leather and written in completely Spanish. She slips it into her messenger bag along with the computer. The mouse slips and crashes to the floor the ball pops out and rolls into the hallway. Gwen curses loudly and runs after it, promptly colliding with a woman who is wrapped up in only a sheet.

"What are you doing here?" The woman asks. She narrows her eyes, her brown hair falling down past her shoulders, and clutches an envelope to her chest. Gwen looks her squarely in the eyes, Courtney's voice full of contempt.

"This is my boyfriend's apartment." Gwen responds. The woman scoffs, but Gwen sees the doubt in her eyes.

"Well, I'm his secretary." She puffs out her chest and tries to look haughty. "I don't know what you're doing with- wait, you're that whore he's been working with aren't you?"

Gwen's fists clench to her sides but her face remains neutral if not a little guarded. "Yes, I am. Are you the jealous office worker who got him suspended? You must be threatened by me."

"You filthy little street urchin! I have a PhD!" Gwen has gotten to her and they both know it. Courtney is fuming; the burning of her face is setting off the freckles on the bridge of her nose.

"And the PhD has landing you where exactly?"

"At least I'm not a starving artist who doesn't even have a proper studio!" Courtney's voice is shrill. Her shoulders are tense and she goes to pull a second envelope from her bag.

Gwen raises her eyebrow and crosses he arms, tapping one foot.

"You don't even know the things that man has done! I have proof, right here." She shakes the envelope in her right hand for emphasis. "And don't think I forgot you, Pasty. You think you can get away with using city properly like that?" A tingle of fear is running up Gwen's spine and she turns to leave but Courtney grabs her by the bag. "You both will go down if you keep working with him." She whispers softly in Gwen's ear, but Gwen pulls away and runs to the door, her breath coming in short gasps.

I have to get to Alejandro.

"You're just jealous because he picked a girl like me over a girl like you." Gwen can't resist the last jab at the other woman's pride, but this gets Courtney only screaming louder, drawing attention to them both.

"This isn't over you whore!"