How to Name Your Cat

How to Host a Party

Time passes in funny ways.

The best days are the shortest.

The worst days are the longest.

Yet, there's always the same 24 hours in a day and within them, the same 60 minutes.

The next week would go by extraordinarily fast for Magnus and almost painfully slow for Alec.

Magnus settled into a routine at work and did his best to keep it an 8-5 commitment. Some nights that worked. Most nights it didn't.

It was after a week that Magnus announced by mass email that the annual Employee Appreciation Gala would go on as planned.

"The company is in crippling debt and you're having a party?" Alec asked when Magnus got home.

"We can't give up our traditions," Magnus said. "Or that's what the board told me."

"So you disagree?"

"I disagree because I've seen how much this will cost us," Magnus said. "But hey, why not add another drop to the overflowing bathtub."

Alec made a comment about Magnus' metaphors.

.........

Alec hadn't been expecting Jace to be at the Employee Appreciation Gala.

But when Alec got out of his taxi, Jace was leaning against one of the glass windows at the front of the skyscraper.

"What are you doing?" Alec asked, walking up to Jace.

"I'm here for the party," Jace said, with a shrug. He was dressed in a cheap suit, just like Alec's.

"Is that your suit from Homecoming?" Alec asked.

"Absolutely," Jace said. "You don't need a suit to be a fitness trainer."

Alec and Jace went inside.

To save money, the gala was to be held in the large open space on the first floor of the skyscraper, usually reserved for minor conventions or large business meetings.

"So where's your boyfriend?" Jace asked as they handed their tickets to a woman at the door. Alec almost tripped over himself in shock.

"What—"

"Come on, Alec," Jace said, hitting on the back. "I'm not stupid. I've seen you in love. And you look that way now."

"I'm not—"

"Stop denying it," Jace said.

"Did he invite you?" Alec asked.

"Well, you didn't so someone had to," Jace said. "There's free food. I'll see you later."

Jace disappeared and Alec was left alone in a sea of people he didn't know.

He searched for Magnus for half an hour but he was nowhere to be found. So he started looking for Jace, who was standing against a wall, talking to Clary, the secretary.

"Hi," Alec said.

"Alec, have you met Clary?" Jace asked.

"Yes," Alec said. Clary gave him a sour look. "Have you seen Magnus?"

"Mr. Bane is still upstairs," Clary said. "He was finishing some work."

Alec resisted the urge to scream.

"Thank you," Alec said. He gave Jace one last look before leaving. Was he really flirting with Clary?

He left the party, taking an elevator up to the 60th floor.