*******

"Whoa, whoa whoa. Run that by me again?"

Tori sighed. "He broke up with Lynn, Susan. For me."

"Yeah I got that part. But in his office?"

Tori grinned. "Nothing happened. It was a big almost. Now, if the phone hadn't rang......"

Susan laughed. "So, what's he like?"

"You know I don't like talking about this...."

"C'mon.......you can tell me......."

"Well....."Tori lowered her voice. "The best."

Susan's mouth gaped open. "Conan? He's your best?"

Tori smiled and nodded, and got the sense she was being looked at. She turned around and saw Conan. He smiled and waved a little. She blew him a kiss. "Definitely the best." She murmered.

"He sure doesn't look it." said Susan.

Tori gave her a shove. "Guess you'll never know."

She looked back at Conan, who was now coming towards her. "Go."Tori ordered.

"Let me say hi....."

Conan approached them. "What's up, Susan?"

Susan smiled, unsure of how to respond. Nothing, just talking about how great you are in bed.... "Not much. Sorry about Lynn."

Conan slipped his arm around Tori's waist. "Everything happens for a reason...." he replied, smiling.

Tori stared at him with a dazed expression. Susan was pretty surprised herself. Conan was not usually so open about his feelings. She smiled at him a little flirtatiously, while Tori was not looking. He returned the smile.

Uh oh. What was he doing? Conan asked himself, and not getting an answer. No, no, he cared about Tori, he was not flirting with this girl. he composed himself. Okay. he was back on track. Tori. Right.

*******

Susan ran her fingers through her hair, breathing heavily. Next to her, Conan was silent.

Susan had not planned for it to be this way. After the show, after Tori had left, they had run into each other, and next thing Susan knew she was running her finger along his upper arm saying "So you live all alone now?" She had then said something tacky, along the lines of "I would love to see your new apartment sometime" and Conan had answered with the equally tacky "Why not right now?" It was all fake--they knew what they wanted. As soon as the door shut they were all over each other. When she thought about it, it was Conan that had made the first move. She had walked in, genuinely impressed by the size of the apartment, and he had followed her, slid his arms around her from behind, kissed her neck. She had just ruined her friendship with Tori. It was almost worth it she thought, grinning into the dark. Tori had not been kidding.

Conan was running his finger along her upper arm, much like she had done earlier. She turned and smiled at him, though she couldn't see him too well in the dark.

"You're lucky tomorrow is Saturday."She said, gesturing to the clock. It said 3am. She did a double take. An hour? That had not seemed like an hour.

Conan chuckled. "Usually I hate Saturdays.....but I think today may be an exception....." He felt sick listening to himself. The old Catholic guilt was kicking in. On one hand, he was ecstatic. He was happy. He was getting laid. And of course, on the other hand, he was guilty. But it was.....less there. Andy had been right. Conan needed to come to terms with who he was. He glanced at Susan, who was dozing off. Was this who he was? Did he sleep around with college girls who screamed every word during sex? And they both had. He wasn't imagining that. That was something else he didn't get. Was he better now or something?

Susan was now sound asleep. But Conan was not tired at all. He got up to get something to drink.

He opened the fridge, and had not many options. Beer and beer. He had bought a bunch on the way there with Susan, intending to get drunk. Of course, he never needed it. He grabbed a beer and sat in front of the TV without turning it on.

"Well, O'Brien." he said, never afraid to talk to himself "What's, or should I say who's, next?" He took a sip of beer and thought about his makeup artist, a pretty 26 year old.

*******

Conan sat there for hours, staring at the tv. He was just starting to dose off when he heard a key slide in the font door knob. He jumped up, knowing immediately that it was Lynn. She pushed open the door, but the chain held it in place.

Lynn let out an exasperated sigh. "Conan, take off the chain." she called.

Conan didn't know what to do, so he let her in. She walked in slowly, looking at Conan. The old Conan rose up in him. At that second, he wanted nothing but Lynn. It was such an overwhelming feelings that tears welled up in his eyes....because he could sense what was going to happen. He knew that he looked guilty.

Lynn stared at him "Conan, I've been thinking...." she sighed. "Even though what you did is...horrible, to say the least...I'm willing to give you a second chance....."

No, no, no. Why was she picking here and now to say this?....he couldn't lie......"Lynn, I have to tell you something." he said quietly, glancing towards the bedroom door.

She followed his eyes and met his in absolute horror. "You have her here?"

Conan closed his eyes, wishing he were a good liar. "Not her her....somebody else."

Lynn acted like she was talking to a stranger. "Oh. I see. Well, I'm here for my things.....could you get them?"

Conan nodded, standing up. "Give me a few minutes....." he muttered, walking quickly to the room. Susan stirred as he walked in, and she propped herself up and smiled. "What's wrong, baby?"

He turned and looked at her, the new Conan returning. He put his finger to his lips. "Lynn's here." He whispered, winking.

Susan covered her mouth and giggled as Conan grabbed a box and began tossing Lynn's clothes and other belongings in it. Susan looked on with interest. Some of those things looked really expensive.

Conan finished up and dragged the box out to Lynn

She looked a little more calm. Silently, he picked up the box and brought it downstairs for her.

They stood at Lynn's car, unsure of what to do. Finally, Lynn made the first move.

"Well, I guess this is it..."

Conan smiled sheepishly at her. He stepped up to her and embraced her. "I'm sorry." he murmured into her hair.

Lynn sniffed, nodding. She pulled away and got into her car. "I love you." she said before pulling her car away. Conan watched her drive away, unsure of how to react.

*******

Susan ended up leaving not too much later, so Conan was finally alone. He sat in silence, contemplating the entire week. He had undergone such a major transformation. He was not a good person.

But he was happy. And he did not know which was better--what others thought of him, or how he felt. In his business, it was the first one, of course, but Conan knew if he stayed that nicey-nice way for too long, either his head would explode or he would lose his mind.

Conan sighed. it was time to make a desicion. Who was he?

The following tuesday, somebody was putting the finishing touches on what was to be the last note. She slowly wrote it, something about being ignored for years and now he would pay for it. She would do it tonight.

Conan walked into the makeup room, were Sheila, the 26 year old makeup artist was shoving something in her pocket. He sat in the chair. "Hey Sheila, I was thinking, we never really got to know eachother."

Sheila stared at him "Know?"

"Well, yeah. I was thinking we could go to dinner or something tonight."

Sheila thought of the note in her pocket.

This wouldn't be so complicated after all.