'M SO SORRY, DENISE," HOLLY apologized to her friend. They were sitting in the staff room of Denise's workplace surrounded by boxes of hangers, rails of clothes, bags and accessories, which were untidily strewn around the room. There was a musty smell in the air from the dust that had landed on the rails and rails of clothes that had been sitting out for so long. A security camera attached to the wall stared at them and recorded their conversation.

Holly watched Denise's face for a reaction and saw her friend purse her lips and nod her head wildly, as if to let Holly know it was OK.

"No, it's not OK." Holly sat forward in her chair, trying to have a serious discussion. "I didn't mean to lose my temper on the phone. Just because I'm feeling extrasensitive these days, it doesn't give me the right to take it out on you."

Denise looked brave enough to finally speak. "No, you were right, Holly . . ."

Holly shook her head and tried to disagree but Denise kept on talking, "I've been so excited about this wedding that I didn't stop to think about how you might be feeling." Her eyes rested on her friend, whose face looked pale against her dark jacket. Holly was doing so well it was easy for them all to forget that she still had ghosts to be rid of.

"But you're right to be excited," Holly insisted.

"And you're right to be upset," Denise said firmly. "I didn't think, I just didn't think." She held her hands to her cheeks as she shook her head. "Don't go to the ball if you don't feel comfortable. We will all understand." She reached out to hold her friend's hands.

Holly felt confused. Chris had succeeded in convincing her to go to the ball, but now her best friend was saying it was OK not to go. She had a headache, and headaches scared her. She hugged Denise good-bye in the shop, promising to call her later to give her a decision about the ball.

She headed back to the office feeling even more unsure than before. Maybe Denise was right, it was only a stupid ball and she didn't have to go if she didn't want to. However, it was a stupid ball that was hugely representative of Holly and Gerry's time together. It was a night they had both enjoyed, a night they would share with their friends and an opportunity to dance to their favorite songs. If she went without him she would be destroying that tradition, replacing happy memories with an entirely different one. She didn't want to do that. She wanted to hang on to every single shred of memory of the two of them together. It was scaring her that she was forgetting his face. When she dreamed about him he was always somebody else; a person she made up in her mind with a different face and a different voice.

Now and again she rang his mobile phone just to hear his voice on his answering machine, she had even been paying the mobile company every month just to keep his account open. His smell had faded from the house; his clothes long gone under his own orders. He was fading from her mind, and she clung to every little bit of him that she could. She deliberately thought about him every night right before she went to sleep just so that she would dream about him. She even bought his favorite aftershave and splashed it around the house so she wouldn't feel so alone. Sometimes she would be out and a familiar smell or song would transport her back to another time and place. A happier time.

She would catch a glimpse of him walking down the street or driving by in a car and she would chase that person for miles only to discover it wasn't him; just a look-alike. She couldn't seem to let go. She couldn't let go because she didn't want to let go, and she didn't want to let go because he was all she had. But she didn't really have him, so she felt lost and confused.

Just before reaching the office Holly poked her head into Hogan's. She was feeling much more at ease with Daniel. Since that dinner where she had felt so uncomfortable in his company, she had realized that she was being ridiculous. She understood now why she had felt that way. Before, the only close friendship she had ever had with a man was with Gerry, and that was a romantic relationship. The idea of becoming so close to Daniel seemed strange and unusual. Holly had since convinced herself that there didn't need to be a romantic link for her to share a friendship with an unattached man. Even if he was good-looking.

And the ease she felt had become a feeling of companionship. She had felt that from the moment she'd met him. They could talk for hours discussing her feelings, her life, his feelings, his life, and she knew that they had a common enemy: loneliness. She knew that he was suffering from a different kind of grief and they were helping each other through the difficult days, when they needed a caring ear or someone to make them laugh.

And there were many of those days.

"Well?" he said, walking around from behind the bar. "Will Cinderella go to the ball?"

Holly smiled and scrunched up her nose, about to tell him that she wouldn't be going, when she stopped herself. "Are you going?"

He smiled and scrunched up his nose and she laughed. "Well, it's going to be another case of Couples 'R' Us. I don't think I could cope with another night of Sam and Samantha or Robert and Roberta." He pulled out a high stool for her at the bar and she sat down.

Holly giggled, "Well, we could just be terribly rude and ignore them all."

"Then what would be the point in going?" Daniel sat beside her and rested his leather boot on the footrest of her chair. "You don't expect me to talk to you all night, do you? We've talked the ears off each other by now; maybe I'm bored of you."

"Fine then!" Holly pretended to be insulted. "I was planning on ignoring you anyway."

"Phew!" Daniel wiped his brow and pretended to look relieved. "I'm definitely going then."

Holly became serious. "I think I really need to be there."

Daniel stopped laughing. "Well then, we shall go."

Holly smiled at him. "I think it would be good for you too, Daniel," she said softly.

His foot dropped from her chair and he turned his head away from her to pretend to survey the lounge. "Holly, I'm fine," he said unconvincingly.

Holly hopped off her chair, held him by the cheeks and kissed him roughly on the forehead. "Daniel Connelly, stop trying to be all macho and strong. It doesn't wash with me."

They hugged each other good-bye and Holly marched back to her office, determined not to change her mind again. She banged loudly up the stairs and marched straight by Alice, who was still staring dreamily at her article. "John Paul!" Holly yelled. "I need a dress, quick!"