Kyle was worried. He had been watching Sheila all day and knew something wasn't right. Every time someone entered the club she looked up expectantly and then her face became a mixture of relief and disappointment.

When he touched her shoulder she nearly jumped out of her skin, from being so absorbed in thought. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you?" Kyle said coming around sit next to her at the juice bar.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so jumpy. My nerves are a little raw." Sheila said, looking at the doors again when they opened. Even though she told Christian to leave her alone, Sheila still expected him to come walking through the health club doors. She felt the excitement in her belly only to be popped like a balloon when it wasn't him. Perhaps she just got used to him trying to force his way into her life that it felt bizarre to think it really was over. She really was a mess, she wanted him to leave her alone, now that she was alone she's been hoping all day that he'd come back, but if he did come back she would just have to send him away again, as he was not free to be hers. So what was the point really?

"There's that look again, " Kyle said looking concerned. "You have any good plans for your birthday tomorrow?"

Sheila just cringed thinking of it. The big 3-O. "No, I think I'll just pass this one over," she said swirling her protein shake with her straw, not even wanting to take a drink even though it was her favorite.

"What?! You can't do that!" Kyle said shocked. "This is a monumental moment in life. Transitioning from twenty to thirty is a big deal, you can't just let that pass you by.

"Why not?" Sheila said seriously, "Everything else has?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm turning 30 and outside of losing the weight and keeping it off, which I've wanted to do since childhood and winning a few belly dancing competitions, what do I have to show for it? By this point in my life, I had expected to not only be in a long term relationship but maybe even married, adventuring into the idea of having kids, living in a home and not a one bedroom apartment all alone with my trophies. I'm reaching this mile marker and I got nothing."

Kyle did not like this at all. This was not his Sheila. She was about as far from the self-pitying kind of person as you can get. Normally she was giving the pep talks around here, not needing one.

"Okay, that settles it. Wes and I are taking you away from here. Someplace fun. Somewhere you can really let loose and enjoy yourself. There is no way I am letting you bring in the New Year of Sheila feeling bad about yourself."

Sheila smiled for the first time since Wes left her this morning. Whatever she had done to gain two such loyal and wonderful friends she did not know but felt eternally grateful.

"What did you have in mind?"

Kyle smiled a huge smile showing all his pearly whites. "That's my girl. I'm not sure but I know we, meaning Wes and me, we'll come up with everything."

"Things going better between you two then?" Sheila asked remembering the conversation she had with Wes the other night.

"Things aren't back to where they ought to be but yeah, he called and we talked things through, and I'm willing to take him back and see where it goes."

"I'm glad to hear it," Sheila said, "you two are meant for one another."

Kyle laughed at this. "I don't know if there really is a perfect match, Sheila. Only maybe a chance to try. That's really all we can do truthfully."

Sheila had hoped she'd get that chance and then watched it flitter away. Why did he have to be married? It sucked. Big time. Each time she thought of Christian, his arms around her, the way he looked at her, kissed her, now felt like torture, a regret that weighed heavily on her heart.

"Well I'll leave it to you then," Sheila said, "got to get to my next class. Let me know what you and Wes decide. I surrender to your care." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and went to her next Belly Dance for Fitness class.

Kyle swiped his phone and smiled when heard, "Hey there, Kitty. Couldn't wait to talk to me already?" He loved hearing Wes call him by the pet name he came up with for him.

"You know I love the sound of your voice but truthfully I need help with "Project Sensational Sheila." She's forgotten how powerful she is and we need to remind her."

"I'm all in," Wes said.

"That's what he said..." Kyle countered earning Wes' hearty chuckle vibrating through the phone warming his heart.

It was nearly 2 o'clock in the afternoon when James strolled into the health club. He spotted her right away. She was holding a class. Ironically it would seem it was a belly dancing class. He stood staring at her from behind the glass like a kid at a candy store but then quickly inserted other visuals, she belonged to Christian, he had to rein it in and take one for the team. "Lanie's mother," he thought trying to bring the visual to his mind. "Yeah, that outta do it. No, sexual impulses here," he said rather proud of himself.

Sheila stumbled slightly when she thought she saw James or someone she thought was James outside of her classroom window. It threw off the whole rest of her session as she found she kept making mistakes wondering if James were here and if Christian was with him.

After the class, she looked around but saw no signs of James anywhere and she could feel the tension starting to subside. She already knew James had no qualms cheating on his soon to be wife so she hardly thought him a reasonable choice to plead Christian's case. To her disappointment, yet again, she didn't see Christian either.

She turned her thoughts to what Kyle and Wes might be planning for her and her birthday and for the first time she felt excited by what they may come up with. They were master party planners, so she knew whatever it was they were going to have a great time doing it.

As she turned the bend to the woman's locker room someone had reached out and grabbed her placing a hand over her mouth to muffle the squeak. "Shh, Shh, Shh. It's only me."

It took Sheila a moment to place the voice. So he was in the club after all. She'll have to tell Nick to add another name to the list and then she bit his hand.

"Ow! What the hell did you do that for?" James asked sucking on his injured finger.

"What are you doing here?" Sheila demanded.

Tucked safely in their quiet corner, James smiled down at her. "How did you expect me to stay away?"

Bewilderment flashed momentarily in her eyes before she fired back, "Perhaps because that is where you're supposed to be? Away. Far, far away." Sheila's eyes darted around for someone, anyone coming around the corner that she could enlist the help of but seeing that these lockers are for employees only and located in the wing that was still under construction she held out little hope.

"I was watching you teach class today. You were as mesmerizing as you were Saturday night?" James said curling a piece of her hair around his finger that escaped her ponytail.

Sheila half thought of kneeing him and making a run for it but didn't think she was in any real danger. "So, you know it's me," she said with a certain cocky aloofness about her, making it clear she could care less.

"Don't play coy with me. You want me. I know you want me." James said pinning her against the wall with his body weight. Sheila tried to push him away but to no avail and his new position nullified her original thought of kneeing him, she was now at his mercy but she still had her tongue.

Sheila laughed. It sounded more nervous then the devil may care she had hoped to portray. "Don't be ridiculous. What would ever make you think I'd want someone like you?"

"I don't know. Perhaps it was the way you convinced Christian to allow you to dance for me? Or maybe it was the way you posed as his cousin just so you could wrangle an invitation to my wedding. You have been a busy girl," he taunted her as he let his hand drift over the skin of her arm.

"Is that what he told you. That I wanted you?" Sheila scoffed in disbelief. Christian lied but why? Did his male pride keep him from believing she wouldn't be with him because he was married? Turning him down and walking away from his tempting offer, was one of the hardest things she had to do but she couldn't believe he'd so low.

"He didn't have to, you see I figured out your little secret. How long has it been really? Eight, nine years now?" he asked teasingly while trailing his finger up and down her arm.

Sheila paled. He knew more than the fact that they, Christian and her, weren't cousins he knew exactly who she was.

"It's been a long time Shelly," James said turning her chin so she had to look at him. She didn't know what was worse. Him knowing her true identity or the fact that he actually believed that she had done all of this for him, believing she still wanted him after all these years.

James looked about to lean in for a kiss when the sound of voices drifted down the hall. Sheila took advantage of the distraction and slipped from his grasp. She nearly made it around the bend before he snagged her again.

"Let go of me," Sheila snapped.

"It's him, isn't it? I should have known there was more than he was telling me."

"What?" Sheila said shaking her head in confusion.

"I guess you believe yourself in love with him or something?" James snarled.

"Sheila, this guy giving you trouble?" Suddenly as if they materialized from the very woodwork two muscle-bound warriors stood at her side ready to do battle.

James reluctantly let her go. He knew this was a long shot. If he tried telling her how Christian truly felt she'd never of believed him but if she thought he wasn't giving the information willingly... she'd have no choice but to believe what he was saying was true.

After getting the full story from Christian, James knew he owed it to him to set things right. Sheila may have only recently discovered she had fallen in love with Christian but Christian had loved her all throughout their four years at college and he, James, was the only thing that stood in their way.

Rubbing her wrist, happy to be free of him she laughed. "Don't be absurd. I don't make a habit of dating married men or soon to be married men for that matter." Turning to her knights in shiny spandex she asked, "Can you please make sure this gentleman is escorted to the door?"

They moved in and each grabbed an arm. "Christian had best appreciate this." James thought, as he was bound and determined to make a scene if necessary to get his information across.

"Shelly, please! Had I only known what we could have meant to one another." Her guards started dragging him to the door and Sheila turned her back on him. So his voice only got louder.

"I don't care, Shelly. I don't care that Christian is my best friend and he's in love with you. I don't care that he's been separated from his wife for over a year now and that there getting a divorce. I love you Shelly and I'm not going to let you go that easily. You understand me?" James yelled as he was being dragged out the door.

Sheila was mortified, but she understood. She understood all too well. She may have made the biggest mistake of her life. Sheila ran back to the locker room grabbed her backpack and jacket. Wherever Christian was she had to find him, if he'd still have her.

After clearing the afternoon off with her boss, Sheila still had to reschedule her afternoon classes with the receptionist before she could leave. Someone tapped her on her shoulder. Sheila turned only to be greeted with a hand across her face. The sting and the shock of being hit took Sheila back a moment.

"How dare you?" Lanie spat at her. Sheila looked around it had only been minutes since James was dragged out the door. She couldn't even begin to imagine where the little blonde came from but there she was standing in front of her in what Sheila now registered as workout gear.

"Oh God, She must have seen the whole display." Shiela thought as she looked at the broken-hearted woman before her.

"Please, can we talk about this?" Sheila asked knowing the chances were unlikely but feeling as though she owed the woman an explanation.

"What makes you think I'd want to listen to a thing that comes out of your mouth? You've done nothing but lie to me. Like I'd trust anything you'd say. If you think you can have him... Well, you can't... So don't even bother trying." Lanie said with her nostrils flaring. She stood her ground and was prepared to fight for her man but Sheila wasn't fooled she could see the unshed tears in Lanie's baby blue eyes that made them look enormous in comparison to her smaller delicate features. "I can make your life a living hell you know?"

Sheila opened her mouth to speak again but Lanie turned her back to her motioning for someone to come over. Sheila recognized the person in question to be her boss, who apparently was trying, unsuccessfully, to hide behind a potted palm.

Confused Sheila just looked on, wondering what was about to take place. With her experiences of the last few days, she realized anything is possible but she really didn't know how much more she could take.

"Nick," Lanie huffed, "I want this woman fired."

Sheila looked down at the outstretched finger that was pointing directly at her chest. When Lanie said she was going to make her life a living hell, Sheila hadn't expected her to react so quickly.

"Miss Sterling," Nick said in an appeasing tone as he looked up at Sheila pleading for her understanding.

Lanie wasn't backing down. "Do I have to remind you who finances this place?" Lanie said stomping her foot on the ground. Nick looked in agony as he glanced from one woman to the other.

Sheila decided to put him out of his misery. "Don't sweat it, Nick. I quit," she said taking her photo ID from around her neck and handing it to him.

"As for you," she said to Lanie, "perhaps if you showed a little more of this side of yourself to James he wouldn't be looking elsewhere. Not that I'm interested in him, because I'm not."

Lanie just stared at Sheila with open-mouthed shock, which Sheila ignored. "Take care, Nick. Tell the rest of them I said goodbye?"

Nick just nodded. He hated seeing her go.