Arlington, Virginia

Alex was at Brian's, packing, while Brian watched from the guestroom doorway. Alex paused with some socks in his hand and turned to his friend.

"You know, next time, instead of me coming here, you should come over."

"To Tokyo?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Er, the expense, for one thing."

"Get the company to send you."

"You mean, Kurtz calls me into his office and says, 'Brian, in recognition of the good job you're doing, we're sending you to Tokyo.' What's wrong with this picture?"