Look at me go! I'm not super confident about this chapter, but I did have a question for whoever's still reading and reviewing. Are we feeling a romance? And if so, with who?

She wanted to take it back the moment she said it, but Murphy's raucous laugh had her grinning; half in relief and half in the thrill that he had gotten her joke.

"I'll pass the word along." He nodded, placing the empty bags inside each other.

Briar fought the urge to twirl her finger through a lock of stray hair nervously. "So what do you guys do?" She leaned back to rest her tailbone on her top drawer.

Murphy rested his hip against the counter and scratched behind his ear. "Security." He cleared his throat. "Nightclubs, you know."

She nodded. The hours make sense now. "Must have pretty good job security in this city."

"Aye. What about you?" He tilted his head curiously.

She felt her cheeks heat up. "Oh. I- uh write for the Mirror." Her eyes fell to the towel rack below the counter.

"Really?" She met Murphy's interested gaze. He had leaned onto the counter, elbows propping him up. "What do you write about?"

Her fingers crept into her hair unbidden. "I cover weddings." She admitted, the heat spreading down her neck.

"Really?" He looked genuinely curious. "How many do you do?"

She was surprised at how at ease he was with the concept. She found most people reacted in the extreme when it came to weddings; either adoring or resenting the entire concept. "Um, well I go to one a week; I do interviews with the couple beforehand and usually the article's out by the next week's edition."

"What's it like? Getting dressed up like that all the time?"

She smiled. "Well I have a designated 'just-for-weddings' dress so it's not nearly as glamorous as it sounds." She assured him. "The weddings themselves are fun though- all those Kodak memories being made. And the interviewing's easy; brides love to talk about their weddings."

"Aye, bet ya can't get them to shut up." He grinned widely. "Ever deal with really mental brides?"

She chuckled, thinking of a few of her Park Avenue Princesses who thought she should be lucky to have had the opportunity to interview them. "Sometimes. The worst part is trying to be objective about their weddings, no matter how rude they are."

"Well, I can't say I ever read it," Murphy admitted, "but I bet yer good at it."

She felt her face heat up. "Well I've only been at it a few months; it was a foot in the door."

"Oh?" he was rubbing his fingers over each other. Briar wondered if he needed another cigarette.

Her fingers combed through her hair. "Yeah, I'd love to cover something a little more serious then flower arrangements and china patterns. Maybe politics eventually." She shrugged. "I'd settle for the arts for the time being. And then there's every journalism student's dream of becoming a big shot, covering revolutions and interviewing presidents." She laughed a little, tugging on her hair gently. "But I'm really lucky. Most of the people I graduated with are still interning or are stuck being assistants."

He grinned. "Well then ya must be good!" he exclaimed, glancing behind her head at her big yellow clock.

She followed his gaze. "Are you working tonight? Don't let me keep you." As nice as Murphy was, he still made her nervous, and she didn't want to come off as the weird clingy neighbor.

He scratched behind his ear again. "We've got a job; don't have to be there for a while yet. Connor's supposed to be back soon though."

"Well I did buy some of those gross looking wax earplugs, just in case." Why did I just say that? She felt her face heating up and bit her lip. Now he knows I'm a complete idiot.

To her surprise he looked guilty. "Sorry 'bout tha'. We're gonna try an' be quiet when we get back. Shouldn't be til mornin' though."

"Well don't worry about it; I heard they block noise like nothing else." She tucked her hair behind her ear and gave him a small smile. She walked him to the front door. "Thanks for the help." She offered.

He leaned against the wall between their apartments, facing her. "O' course. If you've got any leftovers…"

"I'll know where to bring them." Briar finished, laughing a little.