"Coby!" Xtina exclaims happily as she comes in to see Coby hanging out in the lobby, "I wasn't expecting you!" Xtina throws her arms around him, expecting one of his warm bear hugs, but while he does embrace her, it's not the hug she expected at all, not half as warm, and it's over far too quickly. "Hey, Ti," he says, pulling away from her, "I'm here to meet my...friend...Rebecca." He hesitates around 'friend', implying something else altogether. "Rebecca? The chick who moved into your old apartment?" Xtina asks. "Pretty bizarre coincidence, isn't it?" Rebecca answers for him, coming in at that moment & taking Coby by the arm, and they head out with barely a goodbye. "You didn't used to date her, did you?" Xtina hears Rebecca says they open the front door. "Let's just go, Becca," Coby says before they disappear out the door.

Xtina can't stop thinking about it, Coby & Rebecca. She went out to the club, couldn't afford to buy herself a drink & couldn't find anyone to buy one for her, got bored & came home, kind of early but hey, she actually has a job to get to tomorrow anyway. She tries Rainier's room but of course he's still at work, and as she walks back toward the stairs she glances at the door of Rebecca's room, the room that used to be Coby's. There's no way to tell from the closed door if Rebecca and Coby are in there, or more likely they'd go back to his place with his big new bed...not that Xtina needs to know or anything. She heads down to the kitchen, hoping a snack might cure her malaise. As she reaches the bottom of the stairs, she hears one of the doors above close and steps coming down the hall. Xtina turns & looks up, watches Coby coming down the stairs, his head hung down. "Coby?" Xtina says his name & he looks up. "Hey," he sighs, stopping one stair before the ground, "Alone again?" Xtina winces, and stops the tears she feels coming on by hissing, "I hate you," before she turns and skitters off to the kitchen. It's bad enough she gave him up & he got snatched away by Rebecca, but did he have to remind what she gave him up for? "I'm sorry, Ti, that was really stupid," he says following her, grabbing her arm so she looks up at him, "I've been stupider than usual lately, I'm not sure why," he adds, trying to smile & failing. Xtina glares up at him, but his forlorn expression & red rimmed eyes make her anger melt into sympathy, and she reaches a hand up to brush a lock of hair from his brow. "I was going to go whip something up in the kitchen...you want to join me?" she asks.

"So, when did you meet her?" Xtina asks, trying to sound nonchalant. "High school," Coby answers, a totally unexpected response, "She was my sister's best friend, I've had a crush on her forever." Xtina nearly drops her fork, and she only recovers from the shock enough to murmur a stunned 'Oh' while she looks down at her plate. Coby has always been pointedly honest with her, and tonight it's painful to hear him tell how much he adored this girl through his high school years & how her return now has renewed that old crush. "So I guess you must be happy now, you've got her" she sighs miserably. Coby's fork comes down heavily on the plate, "Ti, look at me, do I look like I'm happy now?" he asks. Xtina looks up at his pained eyes, and asks, "What's wrong then?" Coby shakes his head, "She's just playing with me. I know it's not like I deserve better, considering what I've done with girls. But knowing that doesn't stop it from hurting. I want her to love me, but I don't think she ever will." Xtina didn't believe Coby would ever be this serious about another girl again, and even the fact that it's mostly unrequited and causing him pain doesn't make Xtina feel any better about it. She's lost him, really lost him.

Xtina goes into her 'job' the next day, expecting Eleanor to be around, at least. But Eleanor isn't in the gallery, instead, it's Rebecca. "What are you doing here?" Xtina asks in surprise. Rebecca turns & looks her up & down, "Oh don't tell me you're the receptionist Eleanor told me was starting today," she says. "I'm not just the receptionist, I'm Eleanor's best friend," Xtina says, wanting it to sound impressive but Rebecca's raised eyebrow doesn't seem impressed at all. "Well, I'm the manager," Rebecca says, "So I guess you work for me." Could her life possibly get any crappier? It does, at lunch time, when Coby comes in & Xtina has to call Rebecca back in the office to tell her her date is here to pick her up. "I want to die," Xtina moans, her head on the desk after the couple go out the door. But there's no one around to hear her complaint.