"I'm so sorry about your recent publicity," Anastasia said, making a face of commiseration. "Fame sucks sometimes."

"Thank you," Clementine answered. "It's been difficult to deal with for sure." She colored slightly. "It's hard to talk to you knowing you've seen what's out there."

"I haven't," Anastasia assured her. "I heard about the photos and video, but I haven't watched or looked at anything. It's none of my fucking business," she concluded succinctly.

"Thank you," Clem said again, this time with more emphasis. "You don't know what that means to me."

They were in Anastasia's house, waiting for some of her friends to come collect their jackets.

Clem took a sip of her tea. "I hope your friends like their jackets," she said.

"Well, let's have a look at them," Anastasia suggested, gesturing to the bags Clem had brought in with her.

So Clementine pulled them out, one at a time, and Anastasia's response was all she could have hoped for.

"Wow, look at that one! The lime green crocheting really makes the leather pop, doesn't it? Whose is it?"

Clem looked at the tag. "Um, Mariah Townsend?"

"She's going to love it," Anastasia assured her. And with her coloring, it's going to look amazing on her."

Anastasia turned to her. "You know, I was going to ask you, and now seems like as good a time as any: Would you consider going into business with me? Making these jackets? We could actually buy the leather wholesale and have an entire color palette to work with, not just whatever jackets people happen to bring in off the streets, you know?"

Clem stared. "What do you mean, exactly, by 'going into business'?"

"Exactly what I said," Anastasia answered with a laugh. "You're obviously so talented, but you're just one person, with a limited income, I think?" She continued at Clementine's nod. "So, I have money to invest, and a little time, and I'd like to invest it in you. We could get you an actual location to work in, maybe even a store front, a website for sure, and maybe an assistant, I don't know."

"Wow, I don't know what to say," Clem replied, shaking her head. "I've never thought of making clothes for a living, you know? My pie in the sky dream was always my sketching, but even that—" she stopped, unsure how to continue. "I feel stupid saying that to an actual artist," she confessed.

"Well, don't," Anastasia responded, patting Clem's arm. "Your sketching has given you a really good eye for color and texture, and probably helped with the jacket making more than you know. You're just an all around creative person, which is exactly the kind of person I want around me. And the kind of person I want to be in business with," she concluded. "What do you say?" She looked at Clem expectantly. "If you agree, we'd do it up all legal and everything, with contracts and all that, I'd never try to take advantage of you or anything," she assured her.

"I wasn't worried about anything like that," Clem replied, shocked. "I was more concerned about you sinking your money into this, into me, and me letting you down."

"I wouldn't have offered if I were worried about that," Anastasia told her. "Look what's happened in the last few months, you have orders flooding in, and that's just from my word of mouth. Imagine what we could do with some real advertising." She smiled, her enthusiasm contagious.

"You're serious?" Clem still couldn't believe it. "You really want to do this? With me?"

Anastasia nodded, grinning widely. "Look, I know you have to think about it, maybe talk it over with people, but I'm dead serious. I'm finally starting to make real money with my stuff, and I need to do something with it. Plus, the idea of just investing in stocks and bonds or whatever just really sticks in my craw, you know? I want to do something fun with my money."

"How much money are we talking about, if you don't mind my asking?" Clem looked at Anastasia, who shrugged.

"Maybe half a mil to start, and up to a million, depending on how things go?"

Clementine swallowed. "And if things just tank and you lose all that money, I won't owe you anything?"

"Like I said, I'm not worried about that." Anastasia patted Clem's arm again. "I have faith in you. But no, you wouldn't owe me anything, the financial risk would be mine alone."

Clementine looked around Anastasia's beautiful home. Could this really be happening to her, a humble journalism major at UCLA? Was this how dreams like this began?

"Talk to Johnny and your sister about it," Anastasia suggested. "And your mom? See what they think. How's Hy handling all this? I was under the impression she had a thing for John herself?"

Clem swallowed. "Yeah, it's not going very well for us right now," she confessed. "It's been difficult for Hy."

"Is she giving you a hard time?" Anastasia guessed. "God, Clem, I'm so sorry, you don't deserve any of this."

Clem nodded just as the doorbell rang.

"Oh, here they come, get ready for some serious compliments," Anastasia advised.

It was Bea, the beautiful girl Clem had met at Anastasia's games night. She tried on her black and gray jacket, oohing and ahing over it.

"Clementine, this is just gorgeous! Look at the hook work, it's so delicate and intricate," she gushed. "My grammy taught me how to crochet when I was little, so I know how hard this is. You've done amazing work here."

"Thanks," Clem answered, slightly embarrassed. "I liked working with the two colors, too, it was a new direction for me."

"And you made it extra wide across the top to fit my huge shoulders," Bea noted with satisfaction. "I have the hardest time finding jackets to fit across because of all the swimming I did. I have 'man shoulders,'" she joked. "But yeah, this is perfect. Well done, Clementine O'Dell."

Anastasia smiled at Clem over Bea's shoulder, raising her eyebrows.

I told you.

Clementine smiled back and wiped away a tear, but not before Bea saw it.

"Hey, whoa, what's wrong?" she asked, concerned.

"It's nothing," Clementine assured her, sniffling. "I've just had the most craptastic week, you know? So this is nice, it's been a nice afternoon, just talking to Ana and having you like your jacket."

Bea leaned forward and hugged her. "I know. I'm glad I could be part of making you feel better."

The doorbell rang again.

"That'll be Mariah," Anastasia guessed.

It was, along with another friend of hers.

"We're here for our jackets," they chorused as Anastasia let them in.

Clem smiled. Maybe life wasn't so bad.

A few hours later and a few thousand dollars richer, Clementine stepped out of Anastasia's house and into the LA sunshine. She hadn't gone this long without thinking about the video or photos since the whole sordid mess had exploded all over the internet.

She turned her car towards Johnny's house, looking forward to seeing him and sharing her news.

The sun was in her eyes because it was late afternoon and she was heading west. She pulled her sunglasses down from the top of her head and lowered her visor, wondering if John would be there, or if she'd have to wait. He hadn't been sure when he'd finish today. Her heart leapt when she saw his car in the driveway.

She quickly got out of the car and walked to his door to ring the bell.

"Clementine, god how I missed you!" John declared when he opened the door. "It's always so long without you." He enveloped her in a bone crushing hug before pulling her into the house.

"I missed you too, John," Clem responded breathlessly, hugging him back. "And I have news, too!"

"I guess today was a bit better than the past few days have been?" John deduced as he led her to the sofa.

"Yes, today was a good day, I think," Clem agreed, sitting down. "Can I tell you?"

"By all means, please tell me," John agreed, sitting next to her and kissing her cheek.

Clem's expression opened like a flower as she told him about her day, about Anastasia's proposal and the reception her jackets had gotten from their new owners.

He beamed as he listened, true joy in his handsome features.

"I made more money just today than I've ever had in my life," she confessed. "So? What do you think about me going into business with her?" She looked at him expectantly.

"I think it's a brilliant idea," he responded, giving her a one-armed hug. "I might even throw a little of my money into the venture if I'm being honest."

"Johnny, no, I don't need your money!" Clementine protested, staring at him. "I love you for you, not what you can give me."

"I know, I know," he assured her, golden eyes sparkling. "But I'm always looking for things to do with my money, too, you know. It's not easy being a multi-million dollar corporation all on one's own."

"Really? You'd invest money in me?"

"I couldn't think of a better person to invest in," John said, nodding for emphasis.

Wow.

"You probably won't need my money, though," he said knowledgeably. "What Ana's describing could easily be done for a million American dollars."

"How do you know?" Clementine asked. She hadn't the first clue how much such a venture would cost.

"I've been helping manage my money for years," he replied, stretching his long legs out and resting them on the coffee table. "This wouldn't be the first time I've taken an investment idea to my financial manager." He looked at Clem and smiled reassuringly. "Don't you worry your pretty little head about it," he said with a laugh. "Leave the business to us, you just be creative."

"Okay, sounds good," Clem said, nestling into his side. "So, what do you want to do for dinner?"