The next day, she & Ruben are supposed to meet Byron at his house before the shoot to talk to him about some ideas for the Hell scenes. It's freaking dawn, earlier than humans should be awake, but Byron isn't here. The butler told her he made Byron's bed when he got here, but Byron was already out. Maybe he's walking his stupid dog, Alison thinks, now that Kelly got her internship at the vet's, he doesn't have anyone to care for Grok.

But, no, Alison discovers that Grok isn't out with his master, he's sitting in a puddle of his own piss in the kitchen.

The doorbell rings: Alison gets it before the butler, busy mopping up dog pee, can get to it. It's a Beverly Hills type woman in an Armani minisuit. The woman tells her she's Mercedes Arthag & she's come to talk to Byron about some art for charity event she's hosting.

Alison explains that she's Byron production assistant, but that he doesn't seem to be here right now. Mercedes is puzzled by this because Byron told her this would be a good time for her to see him. "A good time for him, maybe," Mercedes laughs huskily, "But I had to have my Irish girl wake me up to get here this early. I'm not happy about this at all," she adds petulantly.

"Tell him I was here," Mercedes says as she shakes Alison's hand. Alison isn't usually attracted to the Beverly Hills, high fashion, high maintenance types like Mercedes, but she has this Catherine Deneuve quality she finds a bit arousing. She's glad when the woman leaves: Alison doesn't have time for stray thoughts....

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