"Blaine! How the heck are you? I didn't expect to hear from you again. Is everything okay?" Burt was suddenly concerned. Even though he had just talked to Kurt the previous evening, he still worried, imagining all the things that could happen to Kurt in New York.

"Hi, Burt. I'm fine, and Kurt's fantastic. We all got to hear him sing last night. Listen, I won't keep you -- I'm sure you're busy -- but Heidi asked me to remind you to send the camera back today. Were you able to get your video made?"

"I sure did! Becca, one of my mechanics, did the filming for me, and I sent it back yesterday. Hey, listen; whose idea was that, anyway?"

"I suggested that you make a video to go with Kurt's present, and Heidi ran with it and sent cameras to all the families. That's something she's really good at -- taking a simple little idea and developing it into something bigger and better. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I think you did me a big favor. If you get a chance, watch the first part of the video and you'll see what I mean. I just hope Kurt's okay with it."

That sounds sort of mysterious. I wonder what he means. "I'll be sure to do that. Talk to you later, Burt."

"Okay, bye, Buddy."

The camera was set up in the sewing room, where Chris and Phil were waiting for Kurt and Marisol to cut the material. Kurt was fascinated by the rotary cutter and ruler; they were much better tools than scissors for cutting precise rectangles of fabric and it wasn't long before all the fabric was prepared. Kurt gave Chris a quick lesson on the sewing machine. Chris was right when he said he knew how to sew; he just needed a few of the features of the upscale machine explained. Jo hadn't returned to take Marisol back to the Atlas, so the three designers set up an assembly line, Marisol pressing down the casing and cutting a slit for the drawstrings (a button hole wasn't needed since the bags would only be used once), Kurt serging the sides together and running around the top so the bag wouldn't ravel, and Chris sewing the hem. It wasn't long before Chris felt more comfortable and increased the speed on the machine. "What are you going to do with all these bags, Kurt?" he asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

Kurt looked at Marisol. Truthfully, he felt like he was taking advantage of Chris and he should at least offer to include him. He wasn't surprised at all when Marisol indicated agreement; she was one of the most considerate people he had ever met. "Don't tell anyone, but we're making Christmas cookies. I was going to say that we could put your name on the gift tag, but I just realized we don't have any gift tags. Marisol, we need to do something about that."

"Jen is already taking care of it, Kurt. Did you know that she drew some of her tattoos herself? She's really talented. When I get back, I'll tell her we need to add Chris' name."

"Oh, no, don't do that. I appreciate the lesson and the opportunity to practice," Chris said quickly. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have anything to practice on. Let's just call it even. Could we trade jobs, Kurt? I'd like to practice serging, too."

Blaine realized it was getting close to 9:00 and he hadn't heard from Amy. He hadn't specifically asked her to call him back, but he would feel better if he knew she had received the message he left. He didn't really want to have any interaction with her, but didn't want Mark to be late for his meeting with Heidi, so he chose the lesser of two evils and picked up the phone.

"Did you get my message?" he asked in his most businesslike voice. He didn't want her getting the idea that this was a personal call.

"Hi, Blaine." She dragged out both words, caressing them with her voice. "I'm so glad you called. I haven't listened to my messages yet, but I would have done it first thing if I had known that I would be hearing your voice. Did you want me?"

Blaine felt like rubbing his hands across his face, but restrained himself. I do not now, nor will I ever, want you, Amy. "Heidi wants you to pick up Mark and have him in her office by 9:30. I sent him an e-mail last night, but he didn't respond, so he may not be aware of the appointment. You might want to head up to his apartment pretty soon, just in case."

"You didn't give me much warning, Blaine! How am I supposed to get him ready and in Heidi's office before 9:30, especially if he isn't up yet? The boy can barely dress himself," Amy snapped, all flirtatiousness gone.

"I left a message a little after 8:00, when you should have been at your desk to answer the phone. We're talking about an elevator ride, not a trip across town, but I can tell Heidi that you need to reschedule if you'd like me to." Blaine was determined to stay calm and professional, no matter how irritating the girl became.

"No, don't do that. We wouldn't want you to look bad, now would we?" Her voice dripped with venom.

Wow! I don't know which is worse, angry-Amy or amorous-Amy. I don't want to be around either of them. "Okay. Let me know if there's anything I can help with." He winced as she banged the receiver down, disconnecting the call. I need to do something about this. She's going to be terribly mean to Mark if he isn't ready. I'd run up there myself, but Heidi said to have Amy take care of this, so I'd better not.

"Atlas New York. How may I help you?"

"George! I'm glad you're on duty. It's Blaine and I need a favor."

"What can I do for you? Does it have anything to do with that Christmas present you were working on?"

"No, I've got that under control now, and your suggestion helped, by the way." The brainstorming session hadn't been directly responsible, but the frustration it caused had led him to think of making the CD, so his thanks were sincere. "I need you to get a message to one of the designers for me. I sent him an e-mail but I don't think he read it, and Heidi wants to see him in her office at 9:30. Could you send someone up to tell Mark that Amy will pick him up in a few minutes?"

"Consider it done, Blaine. In fact, I'll take care of it myself right now. Come say hi next time you get a chance."

"Thanks, George. Will do."

Sandy shook her head. She had only heard Blaine's side of the conversations, but she had a pretty good idea what had gone on. "You are entirely too nice to that girl!"

"I wasn't being nice to her. I just didn't want Mark to have to deal with her obnoxiousness this morning. If he's ready to go, she might even be nice to him. She was acting all lovey-dovey with him last night."

"Where was this?"

"Annie's group invited everyone to supper. I guess Mark must have asked Amy. They got there before I did, but he's the only one who would have had the opportunity, and he was very attentive all evening." Oh, no. I hope I didn't just hurt Sandy's feelings.

"No, I'm fine, Blaine. I don't expect to be included in everything that goes on, but if Jen makes cake again, I want a piece. Oh, don't look so puzzled. Your emotions are written all over your face. One of these days, I want to play poker with you. You can't hide anything from me."

You just keep thinking that, Sandy. As long as you don't guess the big one, I don't care about the little stuff. "I guess I should work on that; a guy should have some secrets. Maybe it's not me; maybe you're just unusually astute. Oh, listen; that reminds me. Everyone got to call home last night except for Annie and Marisol. Annie is supposed to get her phone about 1:00 this afternoon. If I take it to her, can you have someone pick it up about 1:30? Everyone got half an hour last night. I'll see if I can set Marisol up for the same time; that will save a trip."

"Sure, but I thought you were taking off at noon. I can take the phones to the Atlas and wait while they call."

"I … I'll be rehearsing with Kurt for the talent show this afternoon. I can drop the phones off then. He wants to have a Christmas carol sing-along at the end of the show, if that's okay with you. I may have forgotten to tell you that," he said with a grimace. "You won't need me to perform any more, so just take me off the program." At least I won't have to finish that song right now, and I can sing it to him later.

"I don't think so!" Sandy and Blaine both jumped when Heidi's voice floated out of her office.

Oh, great! Is she upset because I'm rehearsing when she told me to take time off? Maybe I can make her understand that rehearsing is my idea of 'something fun'."I'm sorry, Heidi. Is there a problem?" he asked as she stepped into the outer office.

"There's only a problem if you don't perform at the talent show, Blaine. Singing Christmas carols it a great idea, but just add it to the end of the show. You don't need to change the program, Sandy. It will be more fun if it's unannounced. Do you have a set list, Blaine, or were you planning to wing it?"

"We've sort of got one, but we thought we could take requests, too. Kurt thinks we should keep it upbeat, if possible. If someone requests something I can't fake, they can just sing it a cappella."

"If someone requests something you can't fake, I'll appear in public in sweatpants," retorted Heidi. "I think keeping it positive is a good idea, but go with the crowd if you take requests. If they want to sing Blue Christmas or something similar, that's fine. Just don't end on something depressing."

"That's a good point, Heidi. I think you're right."

"You think I'm right, Blaine? You think?" Heidi teased.

"Uh … let me try that again. I'm sure you're right, Heidi, because you're always right. We'll do that."

"Much better," she approved. "We'll discuss your definition of 'fun' some other time, but after last night, I can see that anything musical probably qualifies." She went back to her office to send a mass e-mail to the Runway staff with details about the talent show, making it clear that this was an opportunity, not an obligation, and that they were free to bring family members and friends. She carefully deleted Blaine's name from the address field and added a few of the Atlas and Parsons employees before she sent it. The show sounded like fun, and the participants deserved a larger audience than just the designers and models.

Amy was still angry at Blaine and she had no intention of going to Mark's apartment early. I'm not going to stand around while he gets ready. If he didn't read his e-mail, that's his problem. Blaine should have followed up with him. When Amy got there at 9:20, she was surprised to find a neatly-dressed Mark waiting outside the door. "What's this?" she asked when he handed her one of the two cups he was holding.

"I thought you might enjoy something warm this morning. I need my caffeine if I'm going to meet with Heidi," he said, watching her face carefully.

Amy was touched by his thoughtfulness, especially when she compared it to the way Blaine had treated her, but she hated coffee. She decided to take a token sip and dispose of the rest after they parted company. Mark was a nice guy and she didn't want to hurt his feelings, even if the way he was staring was making her slightly uncomfortable. "Thank you so much, Mark. It's nice to have someone thinking of me." She steeled herself and raised the detested beverage to her lips. When the fragrant steam hit her nostrils, her reaction was everything Mark had hoped for. "This isn't coffee!" she exclaimed. "Is it …?"

"Your chai tea latte," he finished for her. "The barista told me that you always order the same thing."

"You asked the barista?" Amy was definitely not used to guys who went out of their way to do nice things for her. She closed her eyes and drank deeply, sighing in contentment.

"I wanted to make sure you had something you liked. It's too early in the morning for unpleasant surprises. Project Runway didn't work out too well for me," he said ruefully, "but I sure am glad I met you."

"Speaking of Project Runway, we'd better get going. You don't want to be late for your meeting." She tucked her free hand under his arm, and he shifted his coffee to the other side to accommodate her. "Shall we?"

By the time Jo returned to the workroom, there were two neat stacks of gift bags on the table, one of bright red and green plaid, and one of elegant gold brocade. "You've certainly been busy," she commented. "This project must be a little more involved than I thought. Phil, did you get all the footage you needed?" The cameraman gave her a thumbs-up. "Okay, then. Anyone who's ready can walk back to the Atlas with me."

"Can we have little longer, please, Jo?" Marisol asked. "We just have four more bags to finish."

"We don't want to keep Jo waiting, Marisol. You and Chris go ahead. I have something else I want to work on, so I'll be staying a while and I can finish the bags. We can insert the drawstrings later. I know I have at least one bodkin in my toolbox. Do you have one, Marisol? Jo, is it okay to take the tools back to the apartment?"

"You can take them to the apartment, but if you forget to bring them back before the next challenge, you can't make a special trip to retrieve them."

"I have a package of three bodkins in my kit," Chris volunteered. "You can use two of them, and if you forget to return them it won't be a problem."

"Thank you, Chris." Marisol beamed at him. "We'll be sure to get them back to you. Kurt, I guess we'll see you later. Are you coming home for lunch?"

"Will that work for you, Jo, if you pick me up about 11:45? You've been such a big help with this already; I don't want to put you out."

"I'll 'make it work', Kurt, and thank you. I've been dying for an opportunity to say that," Jo laughed. Let's go, guys. Kurt, I'll see you at a quarter to twelve."

Phil hung back, pretending to fuss with his camera, until the others had cleared the room. Then he capped the lens, removed the battery and set the camera down, making it clear that he wasn't filming. Having time alone with any of the designers was a very rare occurrence, and he knew this was probably his best opportunity to find out a little more about the young man who had so completely captivated the unflappable Blaine. "You went to a lot of trouble to get Blaine's measurements the other day. Does that have anything to do with the 'something else' you're working on?" Kurt raised one elegantly groomed eyebrow. "Life looks different through the camera lens, Kurt. Somehow, the camera filters out the extraneous and illuminates the essential. You would be astounded by some of the footage I've shot. But I'm proud to say," he added, "that I've never betrayed a confidence, even an unintentional one, and I've never caused anyone public embarrassment, although, I must admit, I've done my share of private teasing from time to time. And in case you're wondering, I'm pretty sure everyone else in the room, including Blaine, was completely oblivious. He was too embarrassed to notice, and everyone else was too busy admiring his physique or laughing at his discomfort. I'm Phil, by the way."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm making him a shirt for Christmas," Kurt said with uncharacteristic shyness. "I got permission first; don't worry," he hastened to add as he pulled up a sketch on the laptop. "It's either going to be this one …" He flipped to the next sketch. "... or this one. I'm not quite sure yet, but I'd better make up my mind soon if I'm going to get it finished. Actually, you could help, if you don't mind. This is the fabric." He pulled a rich burgundy silk out of the Mood bag under the table. "I don't think he'd wear this color to work, so I'd probably be better off with the second design. What do you think?"

"Let me see them both again, please?" Kurt arranged the windows so Phil could see both at once. "I like the design of the first one. It's your basic dress shirt for work, with a little extra oomph, but I think you're right about the color. That burgundy is going to look fantastic on Blaine, and he might wear that color in a cotton, or a less aggressive color in a silk, but probably not both together, at least not at work. The color and the fabric are both so rich; they're more 'rock star' than 'working stiff'. The angularity of the second one will go well with the planes of his face and the eyebrows, and I like the asymmetry. It's a little more avant garde than the things he usually wears, at least to work, but not so much so that he would be uncomfortable with it. I don't think it's something he would pick out for himself, but I'm sure he would enjoy having it."

"That's what I was thinking, too -- the fabric is too much for work. That's decided then. I'm making the second one." Kurt was impressed by Phil's knowledge; he supposed it came from years of working in the industry. "Did you know he sings? Actually, 'sings' doesn't begin to cover what he does. I was sort of aiming for something he could perform in, or at least wear to go out."

"I didn't know that. Does he perform in public?"

"I don't think so, but we're singing together for the talent show on Saturday. I don't know if they plan to film it or if it's just for us. Will you be there?"

"I don't know if it's on the filming schedule, but I think I'll come anyway, if it's permitted. I'd love to hear both of you. Don't take this the wrong way, Kurt, but isn't that a pretty extravagant gift for someone you don't know very well?"

"The fabric was surprisingly inexpensive for washable silk, so it's mostly just my time. It looks better than it actually is." Kurt could have left it there, but for some reason, he wanted Phil to understand. "This is sort of hard to explain, but Blaine and I had an instant connection. It feels like I've known him my whole life. 'Best friends' sounds so Kindergarten, but that's what we are. If he weren't straight, I'd probably want to marry him or something."

Phil nodded solemnly. "My son has a friend like that. But don't sell yourself short; a 'Kurt Hummel original' may end up being worth more than you think. I'd better run; we've got a few color spots to do this morning."

"Oh, I like the sound of that -- 'a Kurt Hummel original'. Thanks, Phil. I'll see you later."