I learned later that the person that had surprised Simon was, in fact, Helena Smith. Well, rather, Helena McCarthy. Pregnant with her and Matt's third child.

I got to talk to her later that evening. As I approached Helena, I couldn't help imagining her with her long, blond hair, her red reading glasses, and the imaginary torch she would always hold for Simon. But as I got closer I kept putting those thoughts out of my head. She wasn't the little sister I'd never had.

"Helena Huggybear!" I shouted, grinning widely.

Anyone else would have been mortified to be called "Huggybear." But Helena wasn't.

"Grace?" she called. "Grace, is that you?"

"Helena!" I ran to meet her.

She made her way through the crowd. Helena had the rosy cheeks of a happy and doting mother. My little sister Helena - is a mother! We hugged for a long time.

"How are you, Grace? You should have visited me, Matt and the kids in New York all this time. I've missed you muchly dear!"

"You should have come out to San Francisco, Huggybear," I replied, "but now I see you are with child again, congratulations!"

"Oh, this?" she good-naturely patted her stomach. "It's something new I'm trying, it's called the 'taking a vacation from the video business' diet. You like?" She looked as if she were trying to say this with a straight face but both of us ended up laughing about it.

I sighed. "My little Helena...is all grown up!" She laughed.

Her blonde hair, once so long and Rapunzel-like, was now cut short. She still dressed fashionably. "I couldn't believe that Nick remembered me after all these years. I knew Simon would never forget, but Nick is such a sweetheart for inviting me," Helena answered, smiling. "Grace, how have you been? Are you still teaching? Give me the 411, I've missed you so!"

"Come on girl, grab your glass of milk and let's TAWK!" I took her free hand and we sat down and talked like I had wished for so long.

"Oh dear," Helena said after I told her everything, and she had told me about her two children. "If I were you, yes - I would be lonely! I had expected John to propose but then I'd heard everything about Renee and Christy and everyone else..." She took my hand in hers and squeezed it. "But it'll be all right. If my wacky life could get resolved, I'm sure yours can. You just have to *let* it happen."

I sighed. "I'm tired of waiting. I'm no longer a spring chicken anymore you know, I'll be 38 this August you know. Helena, I've been feeling so lost..."

Helena nudged me to my feet. "What you *need* right now is a drink. A stiff one," she said quickly.

"And you're the one to tell me to?" I replied, eyebrows raised. Helena laughed.

"What are *you* doing?" she answered, laughing obviously about that annoying beer commercial on TV.

"Whare are *you* doing?" I replied, remembering with mock derision at the joke. I'm sure everyone around us probably thought we were drunk, nuts or both. I wasn't of course, I was just high on life now that I had been reunited with my childhood friend.

The night had winded down and there still were no signs of Nick or John. I thought they might just not show up at all. At the bar, I ordered a Long Island iced tea and when I turned around to return to Helena, who had been standing to the side, I almost knocked over a well-dressed brunette I didn't recognize.

"Watch where you're going!" she shouted. I apologized profusely, because if I had taken one morestep, I would have spilled my drink all over her gorgeous dress.

"Are you with someone in the band?" she asked, a little testily. I guess I still had to get used to the idea that I wasn't part of the Duran Duran "in crowd" anymore. I shot a worried look over to Helena, whose eyes seemed to indicate "so what?" I had never been a gorgeous model type but I was reminded of that fact by this woman, whoever she was.

I felt frumpy immediately, wearing a dress that I had specifically purchased to make me feel and look younger.

"Sort of. I am friends with the band, I knew back in the 1980s, when they first started." If she hadn't sounded so threatening I might have struck up a conversation about that incident. The woman said nothing else and dove into her martini, and turned to talk to someone else. I worked my way back to Helena. "Who the heck is that?" I asked her, knowing that Helena's guess would be just about as good as mine.

Helena shrugged. "I don't know, whoever she is, she must have woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Either that or she's someone's ex-wife!"

"Gela! There you are!" someone said loudly behind us. I scanned the crowd. That voice sounds so familiar...

My mouth dropped open. It was John.

As he had been coming in this woman's direction, he bumped into my shoulder. "I'm so sorry," he quickly apologized. When he realized it was me, he looked shocked to see me. "Grace! How have you been?" He raised his arms as if he meant to hug me.

Unfortunately, the woman intercepted him first. "Hi baby," she drawled, enveoping John like an octopus envelopes its dinner. Guess that woman was his wife!

"You've met my wife, Gela, I trust?" John asked me, disentangling himself from her grasp.

She replied curtly, "yes, we've met. You know this woman?"

John nodded, "of course I do. This is Grace Huang. We were..." he said, thinking for a moment. I think he almost wanted to say the word "lovers" but instead changed his mind and continued with "uh, we were very good friends. When we were just starting out and needing people to give us a chance."

I'm sure John would have said something more but Gela insisted on wanting to find Simon, dragging John with her.

Helena sighed audibly. "Oh geez, John *should* have married you instead!" she yelled. "Geez!"

I laughed. "Oh well, I'm sure she has some redeeming qualities that made John choose her. As long as she makes *him* happy. Everyone has faults." "True, very true."

A bit later, I wanted to locate the guys so I could say goodnight to each of them. Helena bid me adieu, she was getting tired and complained about her feet swelling up a bit that it was painful enough for her to want to leave. "Don't be a stranger, Grace," she said before leaving. We gave each other another brief hug, and she went to leave.

Without my little sister I felt out of place, and I felt like crying again. Why couldn't my life be as perfect as hers? Why did I always have to be such a screwup? On my way out though, I ran into Nick.

"Gracie? Where are you going in such a rush? Don't I get a kiss?" I almost didn't recognize him, my brain had gotten accustomed to the fact that I wasn't going to see him that night at all. And here he was, in the flesh, wearing a fashionable dark purple suit.

I gave him a quick peck on the face. "Nick, you used to call me that name so many years ago. I'm no longer a baby, Rhodes. Nicky, I'm tired, I just got through a marathon convo with Helena..."

"Oh good, you saw Helena. I was hoping you two would talk. I always remembered how much she meant to you and Simon. You're not driving back to S.F. now, are you?" "Nope, I'm going to be here for a couple days. I am taking a well-deserved vacation. I also figured I would go in and talk to some publishing houses today about my writing," I replied.

Nick played with his tie. "Oh, brill! You interested in getting together for lunch or dinner this week? We'll be here for a couple days too, but I couldn't stand just hanging around the record execs. I need to go eat with someone that actually can strike up a decent conversation!"

I shrugged. "I suppose that'd be fine. Right now I need some sleep." I didn't add that I wanted to sleep to rid myself of the alcohol in my system. Nick put his hands on my shoulders. "I'm glad I ran into you, I gave something Simon earlier, but I guess some other people got a hold of him and he didn't get a chance to give it to you." He pushed a brown package in my hands. "This is for you, number 8, I'm particularly proud of that one. Let me know what you think, okay? I'll call you later."

I nodded, half-smiling. "Okay, will do. 'nite Nick."

"Good night, Grace. We'll be talking again real soon."

Back at my hotel, I changed into my pajamas, then sat on my bed, wondering what Nick meant by "number 8" - it sounded so cryptic. Shrugging, I ripped into the small square, Kraft-paper wrapped present. He'd even written "#8 for Gracie" on the front.

Inside was a CD jewelcase. The gold CD on the inside had the words "Pop Trash, Nick's copy of master" hastily scribbled on it. I sighed happily. That Nick, he'd given me a copy of Pop Trash before anyone else. How thoughtful.

As instructed, I slipped the CD into my Discman and skipped ahead to track number 8 as Nick had said. Began the song with heavy beats, I thought to myself as I had adjusted my headphones.

Thirty something graduate,
green eyes,
perfect Christian lady,
candlelit dinner,
slimmer female figure,
sense of humor,
extrovert,
where are you, where are you, where are you?

I liked this song. I wondered where it was going though, it sounded like a want ad. What did Nick mean by the song? Maybe he and Simon had discussed my feelings of loneliness...

Then came the chorus...

someone is perfect for you,
when Mars meets Venus,
do you wanna spend your life...
you're gonna be perfect for them,
when Mars meets Venus...

Or maybe Nick knew me better than I knew myself. Anxiously, I waited for Nick to call me up. We had much to talk about.