‘Kit,’ Ivan interrupted. He placed his hand on Kit’s as he leaned over and looked up at her. ‘Just promise me you’ll call if you ladies need anything.’ This time Kit smiled fully, once again thanking whoever was up there listening that Ivan was in her life. ‘I promise.’ Ivan smiled back as Kit took a step back allowing him to drive away.

The morning crowd had gone from the Planet and it was the quiet period before the lunch rush began. Marina was buried in her paperwork; she usually did it in her office but had found herself staring at the phone more than the figures. With Francesca gone, hopefully to never return, she wondered how she would be able to make the necessary payments. It was no use; there was no way The Planet was making enough money to cover the outgoings.

Maybe if she had another partner to invest some capital then that would keep it afloat while she sought more long term solutions. Only who had that kind of money? She’d been talking with Kit, but she still hadn’t received any royalties from Slim Daddy and was supposed to talk to Bette about co-signing a loan with her but after this morning who knew what frame of mind Bette was in.

Just as she allowed this thought to distract her once again from the books Marina looked up and saw the doors opening slowly. She looked on curiously, they remained ajar but no one had come in. With a raised eyebrow she continued to look on, and then suddenly both were raised as a seemingly disembodied Alice poked her head through the gap complete with dark glasses.

Alice‘s head darted from side to side scanning The Planet. On her second scan she caught Marina staring at her incomprehensibly. Trying to act as though she hadn’t just been auditioning for the latest Hollywood spy movie Alice‘s body found her head as it came into view and she stepped through the doors fully but held them closed behind her.

She ran her hand through her hair nonchalantly hoping that Marina had been the only person to see her. She nodded in her direction, ‘Hey.’ Glancing around again, ‘You, uh, you alone?’ She said as she peered over her dark glasses. Marina mimicked Alice‘s movements and looked around at the empty tables in front of her, ‘Yes?’ Alice nodded her head approvingly. Now she was starting to look like a bodyguard for the secret service.