In the days since Emily had found out about Chris, the silence between them had been deafening. She wanted to talk to her about so much, but the friction between them had reached unbearable levels. Emily had been spending long hours at her studio, no longer stopping by for lunch breaks or idle chat between clients. On the nights when she wasn't with Stone, she'd hardly say two words before disappearing into her room for the night. Mary felt like she was living with a stranger, and it hurt her more than she could ever admit.

She hunkered down in the couch, attempting to hide behind the pages of the book without being noticed before Emily ran off to wherever she was headed.

Emily: "Hey."
Mary: "You going out again?"
Emily: "Yeah- I got a call from James a little while ago. They're doing a show and he wants us to be there. Do you want to come?"
Mary: "Is Stone going to be there?"
Emily: "No, Andy isn't going to be there. He had some business thing to take care of in Seattle tonight- won't be back until morning. You wouldn't have to lower yourself to act civil around him."

The air seemed to be instantly thick with tension. Mary was fairly certain she could actually see Emily restraining herself from reaching over and choking her. An idea stumbled around her head for a few seconds before landing in the center of her mind and grabbing hold. This was the opportunity she'd been waiting for, what'd she'd been planning in the weeks since she'd last seen Chris.

Mary: "You know what? Just go ahead without me. I've got a lot of work I need to be finishing up around here anyway. Gallery Indigo wants to do another show or something."
Emily: "Sorry I even asked. I'll be home later tonight."
Mary: "I might not be here when you get back- I was thinking about heading to the studio to get some work done and my muse is a night owl."

Emily's gaze narrowed, and for just a second Mary was sure she knew exactly what she was going to be doing that night.

Emily: "Whatever. Just… be careful."
Mary: "I am."

Emily paused again, staring down at her and shaking her head slightly before walking out the front door.

Mary waited until she saw her drive by and on to the main road before bolting up the stairs to her room. Her heart was pounding with excitement as she grabbed the keys and alarm codes before she slipped out of the house and into night, ready to bring back evidence against Andrew Stone.

Mary: "Oh this is ridiculous."

She got out of her car and quietly shut the door. After a quick look around, she made her way over to the elevator doors and promptly froze. There was no indication of a keypad of any sort, nowhere to put in the access codes, not even an 'up' button she could push- just a sleek stainless steel façade devoid of even fingerprints.

Finally, after realizing that staring blankly at the elevator doors probably wasn't the answer, she started waving her hands randomly in the hopes of tripping a motion sensor that would reveal a touch pad without setting off an alarm. With an almost inaudible click, a black screen appeared with blue backlit numbers on it.

She pulled out a crumpled piece of paper with hurriedly scrawled numbers on it and began entering them with trembling fingers. As she pressed the last digit, she squinted her eyes shut and braced herself for a deafening alarm. Instead, she was greeted by a friendly yet obviously artificial voice welcoming her to Stone Enterprises.

Mary: "Damned high-tech crap… someone's been watching way too much Star Trek."

The elevator doors opened whisper-quiet and Mary stepped in hesitantly. On the best of days she felt like she was stepping into her own tomb whenever she boarded an elevator- tonight she was sure she was taking a one-way trip straight to hell, forget about the burial. Before she could leap back out again, jump back in her car and drive away as quickly as she could, the doors slid shut.

The interior of the car was devoid of any buttons what so ever, only this time she didn't get a chance to wave her arms around like a fool. She felt the phantom movement of the car being pulled upwards, followed 41 seconds later by a slight jolt indicating the journey was now over.

Mary: "Destination reached… welcome to Hell."