Jim knew he was hitting the 'not dating' thing to hard by the look on Ali's face.  It was funny, he never would have thought that he would be trying, and probably failing, to put a gorgeous woman at ease by telling her he was not interested in dating her.  Especially since it was such an obvious lie.  What had his world come to?  He was actually caught in a win-win situation with Friday and didn't really care which option they ended up with.  If Bree could make it, great.  He wanted to make up his previous behavior and what better way than to have Ali there.  If Bree couldn't make it, then great.  He would Ali alone and maybe this whole not dating thing could be ignored?  Dinner and a movie IS a date no matter how much he said otherwise.<br/><br/>"Thanks, Ali.  You're the best.  By the way, you look very nice today.  Something is different about you, and it agrees with you."  Jim was not astute enough to recognize her wardrobe alterations, but he could innate feel the fact that without the overtness of her previous wardrobe, she looked wonderful.  "Let me know about Bree."  Jim stood and while discretely checking the area to make sure there were no prying eyes, he hugged Ali in a very 'friend' hug.  Not too tight or touching the wrong areas, but still a genuine hug.  "Thanks for stopping by, it meant a lot to me.  I look forward to Friday very much."<br/><br/>After Ali left, Jim did what work he needed to to ready himself for his absence, making sure that certain things were up to date and trying to get ahead of his workload for once.  Doing all that made the time pass very quickly and before he knew it it was time for Jim to leave on his trip.<br/><br/>Thursday night, Jim was arriving home tired and an emotional mess.  He had enjoyed visiting his family, including many relatives he hadn't seen in a while.  Funerals bring people together, he thought.  He was saddened by the passing of his aunt, but she had seemed a distant relative even when alive and so it was more of a general sadness than anything personal.  But it was afterwards that he received the greatest shock.  His aunt, a moderately wealthy  woman had remembered Jim in her will.  And remembered him well.  Jim was at a loss as to why he had received such largesse.  Some relatives spoke in hush hush terms and others seemed a bit angry with him as they were expecting more.  This was what was causing Jim's turmoil as he arrived home.  He couldn't wait to tell Ali about it.