Mindy Moves On and Claudine Moves In

"I don't understand what you're saying to me." Tyler Schuyler stared intently into his girlfriend Mindy's face. "What do you mean that you're going to marry someone else?"

"I mean that I'm going to marry someone else," Mindy said a touch impatiently. "I don't know how I can get any plainer than that, Tyler."

"Who are you going to marry?"

"Ummmm...my boss. Bernard Morton."

"I knew it! I knew you were fooling around with him! You've been crazy about him ever since you started working at Kutrate Kemicals--I could tell by the way you talked about him all the time and the way you looked at him whenever you were around him!"

"Then I guess this isn't such a big surprise for you then, Tyler. Look, I'm sorry. I don't mean to hurt you--"

"Well, you have hurt me. I quit going to college to help you out with your stupid investigative reporting. I got a job at Kutrate Kemicals and risked my life trying to snoop for you. I did all the leg work on Fat Off for you--"

"Tyler, please. Let's not exaggerate. You did those things because you wanted to. I never forced you."

"I did them because I loved you and I wanted to help you."

"I know that and I'm sorry."

"Excuse me." Claudine came into the living room and Mindy looked at her gratefully. She wasn't too crazy about Tyler's brother's girlfriend but at that moment she would have welcomed an interruption from the Sasquatch. "I didn't know anyone was in here. I'll leave the two of you alone."

"No! That's all right. I was just leaving, Claudine." Feeling extremely chicken hearted, Mindy seized the moment to escape and leaped to her feet. "Tyler, I am sorry. I know that you won't want to come to the wedding so I won't insult you further by inviting you." Dropping a kiss on Tyler's cheek, Mindy ran from the living room. Seconds later the sound of the front door slamming filled the air.

Claudine looked at Tyler. "Well. That's that. If you don't mind me saying so, you're better off without her. She has very sneaky eyes."

"She has beautiful eyes!" Tyler protested.

"Beautiful lying eyes," Claudine corrected. "I heard her say that she's marrying her boss."

"You were eavesdropping?"

Claudine shrugged. "It's hard not to hear things in a house like this one. The acoustics are perfect. Listen, Tyler, you're far too good for someone like Mindy. You have an innocent heart and a good mind. You can do much better." Claudine sat down next to Tyler and put a light hand on his knee. "As a matter of fact, I think that you have a great deal of potential. Probably more than anyone else living under this ridiculously expensive roof."

Tyler gulped. "Where's Brad?"

Claudine leaned forward and kissed him. "Visiting Tiffany with your mother. It's just the two of us, Tyler. Can you handle that?"

Tyler gulped again. Truthfully, he pretty much doubted that he could handle Claudine or any other woman at that moment. With a swift leap into the air, he bolted from the living room and left Claudine alone.