We jumped into Mocha Daze for a quick breakfast. Andrew grabbed a table while I ordered some muffins and coffee.

How was I going to break it to him?

I practiced in my head....

"Drew, I forgot to tell you, I'm, I have to go to San Francisco for the

weekend -- business... What business?... umm, a medical convention,

I think... something medical... yeah, it's a surgeon's convention."

Try another...

"Drew, what're you doing this weekend? Busy? Too bad, I got us tickets

to -- to -- Las Vegas! I was going to surprise you... too bad you can't go-- maybe I'll take a friend..."

Awful! Just tell him, I said to myself. I got the breakfast, took it to the table and sat. We ate a bit in silence while I steeled myself to come up with the lie. Here I was, lying again to Andrew. I thought, what the hell am I doing? I swore never to lie to him again after Mark Fitzgerald. I swore I'd be straight with him and I wasn't. I was about to...

"I have to go away for the weekend."

"What? Where?" he asked.

Okay -- here I go...

"Um... a conference in Las Vegas, Dr. Granville was supposed to go but at the last minute he asked me to take his place."

"But Eric, we're going to Santa Barbara to the Flea Market," he said.

"Drew, this is kind of an honor. I'm taking his daughter, Rebecca.

Granville said he's proud of me and he wanted to thank me for all my

new clients by sending me on this trip. It's a real honor, an honor..."

My palms were sweating.

But he bought it. He agreed it was a good thing for my career. Then Drew suggested he come along.

"NO!" I said and quickly covered. "I mean, I'll be stuck in some meeting room for the whole thing, I don't want you gambling away

our life savings."

We both laughed-- me a little too much, I thought. He went on,

"But I would love to get to know Rebecca more. She seems like a great person, Eric. Is she funny? I mean, she seems so funny and cool."

I told him Rebecca was "okay" and changed the subject.

The weekend was just a few days away...