Alison works the studio angle as soon as she gets him alone. "You know how much money is in Sandman: they won't wait around to get their return on that money. You have to finish this project now if you want to do it yourself...and you know you're the only one who can do it right," she says. She never sucks up to him like that, has never once even complimented him the whole time she's worked for him. But she'll do almost anything to get him to snap back to his old self & dump the bitch upstairs.

"Yes, of course, the money thing," he says absently, "We'll need to do both at once, then. But Odessa's vehicle is top priority, so you'll have to handle most of the Sandman while I focus on that."

Before Alison can say anything, Byron is opening his arms to hug her, smiling at her in a way he's never seen, "Alison, you've worked for me for a long time now, and I've come to rely on you for so much. I can't begin to tell you how important you are to me, personally & professionally."

"In a lot of ways, you've become almost like an extension of myself," he continues as he embraces her fondly, "so turning Sandman over to you will be a lot like I'm still actively involved. You'll do a great job Alison, and I'll be around to advise you." Alison feels the weirdest set of emotions, gratified to at last be acknowledged by him, irritated knowing that he's being so complimentary to her only under some unnatural influence by the strange Odessa, discomfort at the unaccustomed display of affection.

As soon as she leaves his house, she calls Serena, tells her how she almost got through to him, playing on his vanity, & how he behaved towards her in his office, unnaturally solicitous. "I think I'm being played, somehow," Alison admits to the 'psychic'. "I just don't like it."

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