Beth looked around the ballroom enchanted by it's majestic splendor. The scene painted on the  ceiling looked as if Michelangelo had created it himself and the gold gilding covering almost any flat surface looked to be genuine 24 karat.<br/><br/>Such a different way of life than what she was used to.  The simple 2 bedroom home she shared with her roommate was modest but comfortable in a quaint neighborhood on the north side-far from the poverty district but just as far from her hosts castle-like home.<br/><br/>She wondered, then, if he lived here alone, and if so, if he ever got lonely? It seemed such a place, when not filled as it currently was, would be very isolating indeed.<br/><br/>As Alister excused himself and Miranda seemed to wonder off as well, she found herself standing alone,<em>Hmm, what to do now?</em>she thought to herself.<br/>