Part Nine
Author: Maureen
(See below for list of emoticons and their meanings)

Rollie lifted his head from Angie's, their  separating. He felt like he could  her forever. No one had ever made him feel like she did, not even Taya. He d her so much that he felt as if his  would burst from the overflow of emotion. 

Rollie stood and drew his  and  to her feet. "Let's go."

"Go where?" Angie asked, wishing that he'd go back to ing and ging her.

"I'm going to show you how romantic a guy I can really be," Rollie murmured, ing ingly.

ing happily, Angie took Rollie's hand and walked with him out of the loft. 

**********

"Excuse me," Jeff mumbled , paying only cursory attention to the woman he'd bumped into, even though she was very pretty. 

The woman nodded and started walking on by. But then, she halted. "Did . . . I just hear you speak the name Rollie Tyler?" she asked in an accented voice.

"Yeah. Why?" 

"You know Rollie?"

"Not really. I only just met him. I know his assistant, Angie Ramirez. We . . . used to date." Jeff was unable to keep the , , and  out of his voice. 

"Really." So, here was someone who'd also discovered Rollie and Angie's new relationship  and wasn't  about it. Dani looked the young man up and down, sizing him up as a  began to form in her mind. "I used to date Rollie. We had a good thing going, but now. . . ." She let her statement trail off with a , hoping he'd take the bait.

"Yeah, Angie's with Rollie now."  Jeff studied the tall, statuesque blonde before him. She was very different from Angie, both in her looks and bearing, and he couldn't help but wonder how Rollie Tyler could be interested in Angie if this was the kind of woman he'd dated before.

Pleased that the man had followed through with her thoughts, Dani adopted a  expression. "Yes, I know," she said, giving another . "To tell you the truth, I really don't think that they are right for each other."

"You don't?" Jeff responded, a glimmer of hope lighting in him. If this woman thought that Rollie and Angie didn't belong together, then maybe they would too eventually. 

Dani saw the hope growing in the man's eyes and knew she had him hooked.  "Oh, my. I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Dani."

"It's nice to meet you, Dani. I'm Jeff."

"It's very nice to meet YOU, Jeff." Dani gave him her most winning . She paused. Now would come the tricky part.  "Um, Jeff. I can see that you'd like to have Angie back, right? Well, I'd like to get Rollie back. What if we . . . worked together to make that happen?"

"What do you mean?"

"I think we both agree that Rollie and Angie don't belong together as a couple. They'd probably figure that out eventually. How about if we help them see it more quickly?" 

Jeff stared at the woman, wondering what she had in mind.  "How?" he asked.

"Well, with us working together, we could make them see the truth, get them to break up." 

"Hey, it's true that I'd like to get Angie back, but I don't want anyone to get hurt in the process," Jeff said, starting to feel a little ill at ease.  "I care about Angie."

"And I care about Rollie," Dani quickly assured him. "But don't you agree that we'd be doing both of them a favor by making them see that they shouldn't be together?" She d reassuringly.

"Well . . . yeah, I guess so," Jeff said hesitantly, still not certain that he liked this idea.  Just then, he glanced over at the exit and saw Rollie and Angie leaving, ging and ing. The sight brought back his  and . He returned his attention to Dani. "Okay, I'm in. What's your plan?"

ing triumphantly on the inside, Dani began to outline her  to destroy Rollie and Angie's relationship.

**********

ing contentedly, Angie snuggled underneath Rollie's arm as they walked slowly toward the Aussie's car.  It had been a wonderful afternoon and evening. First, Rollie had taken her to the park, where they'd gone for a very long stroll, ging and ing the entire way. As evening came, he took her to dinner, sharing a meal with her by candlelight. After that, they went dancing, the new  holding each other close, their  meeting repeatedly as they swayed in time to the music. To end the evening, they took in a late showing of a movie, a romantic comedy that Angie knew Rollie would never go to see for himself. They'd spent almost the entire movie in the back row of the theater, ing and caressing. 

Rollie opened the door of the car for Angie, and she slid into the passenger seat. Closing the door, the Aussie went around the car and got behind the wheel. He gave Angie a ing  before turning on the engine and pulling out of the parking lot.

They drove the miles to Angie's apartment in silence, neither of them wanting the evening to end,  but both of them thinking about what might happen next. 

Rollie accompanied Angie to the door of her apartment, the silence between them unbroken. Standing before the door, Angie turned to Rollie.

"I had a wonderful time, Rol. It was really great," she said. 

"I'm glad. I had a great time too, Ange. I . . . wanted tonight to be special for both of us.  After all, it was, technically, our first date."

"It WAS special, very special. Thank you." Angie fell silent, suddenly feeling a little shy  and . Finally, she cleared her throat ly. "Would . . . would you like to come in for a while?" she asked, ing.

Rollie gazed into Angie's eyes, wondering why he was feeling so . He was pretty sure he knew what would happen if he went with Angie into her apartment, and the thought made him feel both excited and a little . He wanted to make  to her, to hold her and  her all night long until the sun came up.  But, at the same time, it was finally hitting him that this was ANGIE he was with, the girl he'd known since she was a child. 

Rollie kept gazing into Angie's beautiful eyes, seeing the  shining there and feeling his own  for her burning deep inside him. His ness easing, he at last d and nodded his head.

Giving him an answering , Angie unlocked the door, and they both went inside.

"Would you, um, like some coffee?" Angie asked, dismayed that she couldn't hide the ness in her voice. 

"That would be great. Thanks," Rollie said. He went over to Angie's stereo and stared at her collection of CD's, not really seeing them. 

"You can put some music on, if you'd like," Angie said from the kitchen. 

"Um, sure." Rollie focused on the titles. He d softly as he spied one he recognized. Putting it in, he programmed the player to skip to a particular song, but did not start the music.  Picking up the remote control, he went into the kitchen. Angie was taking down two cups from the cupboard. He could see that her hands were trembling and knew that she was as  as he had been. Walking up behind her, Rollie took her hand.

"Come with me," he murmured, giving her a gentle . 

ing, Angie followed Rollie into the livingroom.

"I want to dance with you," he whispered, pulling her into his arms.  He hit the Play button on the remote. A soft  song began to play. Holding her close, Rollie started to sing along with the female duet, his eyes never leaving hers.

With Rollie's soft tenor voice making her feel as if she was going to melt right into the floor, Angie clung to him as they began to move with the music. 

Before time began, there was a plan,
Every  would find that one true .
Somewhere in the night, before my eyes,
You were standing there and so it was.

Everything I'd ever done
Somehow led me straight to us.
Like an arrow finds its mark,
I was destined for your .

I waited for your touch.
I wanted you so much.
Somehow, I always knew you were the one.

Before we ever ed,
I could have told you this.
I wouldn't want to live without your .

And as sure as day will follow night,
You can count on me to be by your side.

In this world of changing times,
We will watch the years drift by.
We will cross the bridge of time,
Together with your hand in mine.

I waited for your touch.
I wanted you so much,
When  was just a whisper in the wind.

Before we ever ed,
I knew it even then.
I wouldn't want to live without your .

Before we ever ed,
I could have told you this.
I wouldn't want to live without your .

As the song ended, Rollie turned off the stereo. He gazed at the woman in his arms, the  of his life. "What do you want, Angie?" he whispered.

Angie looked deeply into the eyes of the man she'd  d forever, seeing his  for her shining there. As the last of her ness vanished, she touched his cheek. "I want you," she murmured.

Slowly, Rollie's  descend to hers. With a sigh, Angie melted against him, her arms encircling his neck, feeling safe and warm and knowing that this was where she belonged. .

The gentle  soon grew deep and hungry as Rollie pulled her more tightly against him, their passion rising.  Moaning into her mouth, Rollie lifted Angie into his arms and carried her into the bedroom.

!!!

 

Emotion	Face		Emotion	Face		Emotion	Face
Smile			Frustrated Sigh			Love
Cool Smile			Happy / Happy Sigh			Heart
Grin			Sad Sigh			Kiss / Lips
Cool Grin			Huh?			Wow! / awe
Laugh out loud			Crazy			Mad
Laugh			Frown			Furious
Sad			Nervous			Eek!
Wink (animated)			Hug			Playful
Wink			Friend / Friends			Discontent
Wicked Grin			Lover / Lovers			Oh, Well
Evil Grin			Grumble			Surprise or Shock
Misery / Miserable			Evil / Devil			Nooo!
I'm Sorry			Sick			Scared
Cry / Crying			Jealous / Jealousy			Blush
Wail / Wailing			Scheme / Crafty