‘Loubar won’t live to finish another job.’ Rollie thought, as he sat in the back of his FX van, not really watching, but looking at Angie, while she packed up the equipment they had just finished using. They had just, just shot the last scene of the day, for ‘What’s next?’ their latest movie. It was a comedy that had been offered to Tyler FX, just before Rollie was kidnapped, and he decided that a comedy could be just the thing to help cheer Angie and him up after what happened. And it only happened three days ago…

Rollie still couldn’t believe that it was only three days ago that he woke up in Chinatown, to find that Victor Loubar had come into his life once again, and this time he came for revenge. He came for it, and he got it, in the worst possible way; he seduced Angie, while wearing his –Rollie’s- face, and thereby ruined his relationship with Angie forever. Even though she didn’t turn completely away from him, like Loubar intended, or blame him for what happened like he did himself, she started acting distant and distracted all the time now and there didn’t seem to be anything Rollie could do to get his Angie back. ‘”Nothing’s changed, for me.”’ That’s what Angie had said, after she shot Rollie in the park, but he knew that that was a bloody lie, EVERYTHING CHANGED! Now instead of only thinking about Angie a lot of the time, he thought about her constantly, 24 hours a day, he didn’t even sleep a wink without dreaming about her –when he did manage to sleep at all, which was rare- but the most bloody annoying thing of all, was that even with all the extra time he spent thinking about Angie, he still didn’t have a damn clue how he felt, or what to do. He still thought of Angie as Manny’s daughter, and his very best friend in the entire world, and the only person he could count on for anything… But could he really expect her to continue to be all those things for him even after everything just being friends with him had cost her?

But that wasn’t the only way he saw Angie, it hadn’t been for quite a while, he had begun to realize a few years ago, that every time Angie went on a date, or even just flirted with a guy, he had the overwhelming desire to punch the man, whether he knew him or not. And he also started feeling desperately protective of Angie, ever since she was cryogenically frozen, because the thought of losing her had scared him so bad that he finally started to see just how important Angie really was to him. She was more than just a friend, and business partner. She was his family… But he never really saw her as a sister, he had never felt like they were related, or anything like that, he… Didn’t really know what he felt, he was just so bloody confused!! One thing that Rollie knew 100% for sure, was that he loved Angie, and he couldn’t live without her in his life… The question was; in what way did he love Angie? -Rollie was interrupted from his musings by Angie saying, “Rollie, did you even hear me just now?” She looked really tired, and more than a bit annoyed that Rollie wasn’t paying attention. “Sorry love, what did you say?” Rollie asked. “I said, I’ve got all the wires packed away, so I’m ready to leave when you are.” And with that she climbed into the van and shut the door.

So, with yet another day wasted on trying to figure out his own mind and coming up with zilch, Rollie climbed into the driver’s seat of the van, and started up the engine. Angie just sat at her computer console, not saying a word. Rollie wished she would talk to him about her feelings, he knew that if they could talk about it, they could sort their feelings out, and figure out where to go from there. He tried talking to her about it a dozen times, but every single time she said the same thing: “I’m fine Rol, really, I don’t have anything to say anyway.” And then she would walk away. And every time he looked into her eyes –which he couldn’t seem to manage quite as often as he used to- there was this indescribable sadness, and pain there, as well as… longing? Or did he imagine that last one?

After dropping Angie off at her apartment Rollie made his way home mechanically; barely even noticing the road or the traffic on it, as he drove. He pulled the van inside the garage, and walked into the loft in a daze. “Blue lights,” Rollie called, his voice echoing the dazedness of his attitude. He went upstairs and took a shower, then got dressed for bed, as if on autopilot, and then just lay in bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to carry him away.

Angie walked into her apartment, fed Chiops, took a shower, and got ready for bed, like a machine, then curled up in her bed, with the covers pulled tight, and prayed that she wouldn’t have another dream like last night. Angie awoke to the feeling of someone laying on top –or halfway on top- of her. She opened her eyes, and found that it was Rollie. Rollie was in her bed with her at her apartment! She gasped, and Rollie began to stir, when he opened his eyes and saw Angie looking at him like he had two heads, he smiled a huge smile, leaned in, and kissed her full on the mouth. Angie felt herself melting, as Rollie kissed her, and eagerly returned the gesture with passion, pulling him into her with her arms wrapping around his neck, and her legs around his. Rollie and Angie both felt like they were on fire, as they desperately searched each other’s mouths with their tongues. All of a sudden the door to Angie’s bedroom burst open, and both Rollie and Angie broke from their kiss, to see Victor Loubar standing in the doorway, with a gun pointed at Rollie. Before either one of them had time to think, Loubar pulled the trigger, and Angie was being covered in Rollie’s blood. “NOOOOOO!!” Angie woke up screaming, and sweating. Once she realized she had been dreaming, she stopped screaming, but she couldn’t manage to get her heart to stop pounding so hard that she literally thought it would burst out of her ribcage. She could barely breathe. Without thinking about it, Angie reached for the phone by her bed, and dialed Rollie’s number.

Rollie nearly jumped right out of his skin, when his phone started ringing. He glanced at the clock: 3:30 a.m. ‘bloody hell!’ He thought, ‘who would be calling at this time of night?’ Then it hit him: Angie. He grabbed the phone, suddenly feeling wide awake and answered, “Hello?” the anxiousness clearly audible in his voice. “Hi Rollie, it’s me… Oh my God, I just looked at the clock… I’m sorry, go back to sleep, we can talk later”- “No Ange, it’s all right, what’s up?” Rollie interrupted, before she could hang up. “Really it was nothing… I had a nightmare, and… ugh, I sound like a four-year-old! Just for get it Rollie; I’ll talk to you later.” And with that she hung up.

Rollie was not about to ‘just forget it’, so he got up, grabbed his keys, and headed for Angie’s. Angie had just managed to stop kicking herself for calling Rollie about her ‘bad dreams’, and was about to go back to sleep, when there was a knock on her door. She jumped, and then realizing that it was probably Rollie, she went to tell him to go back home. When she opened the door however, everything she had been about to say died on her lips. Rollie was standing in the hallway of her apartment building, in light blue pajama pants, a grey v-neck t-shirt, and no shoes. And when she looked at his face she wanted to cry; he looked exhausted, and miserable, not to mention pleading. She could tell before he said anything, that he was not going anywhere until they hashed this thing out once and for all. So, gulping heavily, Angie moved out of the doorway and motioned for Rollie to come in. She shut the door behind the tall Aussie, and went to sit on her couch. Rollie, both surprised, and relieved that Angie wasn’t trying to get rid of him, followed her lead, and sat down next to her on the sofa.

“Angela, I don’t ever want you to think that you need to wait to talk to me about anything that is on your mind, I don’t care what time it is, if you want to talk to me, you just open up your mouth and talk.” Rollie said, in a very reproachful tone. “Now please, talk to me, I know you’re keeping something from me, I can see it in your eyes every time you look at me. And I knew you hadn’t been sleeping… Now I know why.” Rollie finished. “I’ve already told you Rollie, it’s nothing, just stupid dreams-” Angie started -“No, it’s not nothing, these dreams are keeping you from sleeping properly, and I want you to stop lying to me, and telling me ‘you’re fine’, I know you’re not fine!” Rollie practically shouted. Angie glanced up at Rollie’s deeply warm and loving brown eyes, and before she could stop herself she was crying and saying: “I’ve been having these horrible dreams, where no matter where we are, it’s always the same; I’m with you, talking, or just sitting together, and even sometimes kissing, when all of a sudden L-Loubar comes out of nowhere and k-kills you!” Angie practically sobbed the last few words. Rollie pulled her into a tight hug, and stroked her hair as he reassured her, “It’s ok Angel, I’m right here, you’ll be just fine.” When Angie heard Rollie saying this however, she pulled away from him and looked incredulous, as she exclaimed: “Of course I’m all right! I was never scared for myself, I’m terrified that Loubar is going to come back and kill YOU!” Angie then pulled Rollie back into a hug, as she started to cry even harder than she had been, she was now shaking from head to tow, because she was crying so hard. Rollie didn’t know what to do, so he just resumed stroking Angie’s hair (oh, how he loved that silky smooth hair of hers!) and rocked her gently, back and forth. Rollie hadn’t realized before, just how nice it felt to be hugged by Angie, but it felt nice, really nice.

Angie continued to cry for nearly an hour, before she finally began to calm down. When she finally calmed down enough to think clearly, she realized that Rollie had fallen asleep holding her! Then she noticed that she was EXTREMELY tired, so she just rested her head on his shoulder and did the same. When Rollie woke up, it was broad daylight outside, and by the clock he figured out why: it was 2:30 in the afternoon!! His eyes bugging out, Rollie searched his mind desperately trying to figure out how to get off of Angie’s couch without waking her, until he looked down at her. And that’s when it hit him: he didn’t want to move, he wanted to stay right there, where he was, doing what he was. Because in that moment it hit him like a ton of bricks, that he was COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY in love with Angie! An extremely dazed, and amazed look covered Rollie’s face, just as Angie began to stir. Angie opened her eyes to find that she had slept on her sofa, and not alone either. When she saw Rollie sitting right up next to her, literally right up next to her, with his arms wrapped tightly around her, and a weird expression on his face, she tensed up, until she remembered what happened last night, and then she relaxed. Angie looked up at Rollie questioningly, wondering what he could be thinking about, to give him an expression like the one on his face.

When Rollie noticed the look Angie was giving him, he quickly cleared his face of any sign of what he had been thinking about. Then, giving himself a mental shake, he abruptly got up off the couch, and asked: “Are you hungry Angie? Cause I feel like I haven’t eaten in days.” He looked in the direction of Angie’s kitchen as he said the last bit. Angie, picking up on Rollie’s ‘subtle’ attempt to avoid talking about whatever he was thinking about just then, decided that she was going to do exactly what he did to her last night; not let him run away. She stood up right in front of him, looked him in the eye, and said, “I’m not finished talking to you yet.” Rollie’s eyes widened in surprise at this comment, so much, that he just sat back down, and waited for Angie to start.

Angie sat down next to Rollie once again, and started getting her thoughts in order. “Thank you for making me talk about what was bothering me Rollie, I needed to talk about it but I was too scared to bring it up. I thought you would think I was being stupid, and childish.” Angie said, matter-of-factly. She seemed to be still trying to get her thoughts in order though, so she paused once again. Before she had a chance to get started again, however, Rollie looked at her with such seriousness in his eyes that what she was thinking about a second before, emptied right out of her mind, and she just looked into those deeply warm, and soulful brown eyes of his. “You never need to thank me for being your friend, Angela, that’s what I’m here for. And I’m not gonna quit, so you better just get used to it.” Rollie declared determinedly. Angie smiled at Rollie’s declaration, which caused Rollie to smile in turn. “Now that I’m done, it’s your turn to spill, so open up, Rol.” Angie commanded. Rollie panicked, ‘Bloody hell!’ He thought, obviously he hadn’t hidden his thoughts as well as he’d hoped. Well, he wasn’t about to ‘spill’ as Angie put it, so he decided to try lying. “Oh it was nothing, really, just weird a dream…”

Even though Angie didn’t really believe that little excuse Rollie gave her, she could tell that whatever he had actually been thinking about made him uncomfortable, so she decided to let it go, for now. “Ok boss, so shall we head over to the set?” Angie asked. Relieved no end, that Angie bought his cover, Rollie replied eagerly, “Sure sounds good, filming doesn’t start till 4:00, so I’m gonna head home and take a shower, I’ll be back to get you in the van at say, 3:15?” “It’s a plan.” Angie answered. And with that, Angie headed for her own shower, and Rollie headed for his car.

When they arrived on the set, Rollie and Angie saw that Jacob Ivanieter, the director of ‘What’s next?’ was having yet another argument with the executive producer Felicia Bennington. Filming on this movie had only started two days ago, and Jake (short for Jacob, which he mildly dislikes) and Felicia, had already had at least seven major arguments about it. This movie is about a guy, who is going through one of the worst days of his life, and is seriously considering quitting his job. The FX required for it, were mostly going to be mechanical stuff, aka; Rollie’s field of expertise. But there were still some things that required Angie’s special touch, like this one gag where the guy’s computer has a major resetting issue, for which Angie will need to create a virus of sorts, to cause this problem. Angie found this to be extremely fun.

Deciding that he’d better try and fix the problem before it got worse, Rollie approached the Director and Exec. Producer, and tried to figure out what was going on. Angie just stood at a distance, and let Rollie do his thing; she always got so irritated by these big shots and their ‘creative differences’. After about 10 minutes, Angie was just starting to wonder what problem could be taking this long to sort out, when she saw Rollie turn back around, and head in her direction. When he got a little closer, however, her interest only piqued further, as she saw that he was trying with all of his might not to burst out laughing. “What’s so funny boss?” Angie asked as soon as Rollie was close enough to hear her. “Well it seems that Jake forgot to mention to Felicia, that we were planning to do the coffeemaker gag today, and so she tried to get some coffee out of it earlier today! And she drank the special coffee!” Rollie replied, barely getting the last part out, without bursting with laughter. The gag that they had planned to do today required a specially tweaked coffeemaker, which would spurt out nothing but sludge; and steam like crazy. And it also seemed, that today, Mrs. Bennington was not paying full attention to things outside her own head. (her wedding anniversary was coming up soon.) Angie, knowing what it felt like to have other things on her mind, didn’t find the situation as funny as Rollie seemed to. “It’s not that funny Rol.” Angie said, giving him a disapproving look. “But that doesn’t really explain the spat we witnessed just now, why was she yelling at Jake?” Angie asked, wondering how Jake could possibly fit into poor Felicia’s accident. “It would appear that she believes that Jake deliberately neglected to mention the tampered coffeemaker, just to play a prank on her.” Rollie supplied.

Fortunately, the rest of the day’s shooting went by without anything else going so badly. Aside from Tara Reid (the leading lady) coughing on the set all day. But unfortunately, since Jake was a huge night owl, the entire shooting schedule was arranged a LOT later than either Rollie or Angie liked. They didn’t finish packing up their equipment until midnight, and Rollie felt dead on his feet by the time he managed to get behind the wheel. He was about to start the engine, when he realized just how dangerous it could be for him to drive while he was this tired, so he asked Angie to drive him home, and then take the truck to her apartment. Angie, agreeing wholeheartedly, did what Rollie asked, without a second’s hesitation.

By the time they reached the loft, Rollie was asleep, so Angie had to try to wake him. “Rol, wake up Rol, we’re home.” Angie said softly, as she rubbed Rollie’s arm. Rollie stirred slightly, and then realized where he was, and started to get out of the van, then stopped. “Thanks for driving Ange, and be careful on your way home ok.” Rollie said, and then he got out of the van, and proceeded into the loft, and went straight to bed after a really quick shower.

He had only been asleep for a little while, when a noise brought him back to consciousness, he sat bolt upright, and looked quickly around his bedroom, searching for the noisemaker. It wasn’t until he looked past the chair next to his wardrobe twice, that he realized that it wasn’t empty. Angie was sitting there staring right at him, looking a little ashamed, like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. “Bloody hell Angela, you nearly gave me a heart attack. What are you doing here?” Rollie asked, as he got up out of bed and walked over to where Angie was sitting. “I’m sorry Rol, I didn’t mean to wake you, I just -wanted to see you…” Angie trailed off, and stood up, trying to leave. She turned towards the door, and tried to walk over to it, but Rollie’s hand on hers, stopped her from moving. “Don’t leave.” Rollie whispered in Angie’s ear, making her tingle. She looked into Rollie’s eyes, and was surprised to see something she had never seen there when he was looking at her; desire a lot of it. Before she knew what was happening, Rollie bent down and started kissing her passionately; erasing any thoughts she had of leaving. Angie felt as if she was melting into Rollie as he touched his tongue to her lips, ever so lightly. She opened her mouth wide, and wrapped her arms around Rollie’s neck, pulling him closer to herself. Rollie desperately wanted Angie, and she seemed to want him just as badly, so he put his hands on her ass, picked her up, and carried her over to his bed. Angie moaned as Rollie lifted her off the floor, but didn’t let him break away from her, even when he put her down on his bed. Rollie reached under Angie’s shirt and pulled it up over her face, about to take it completely off of her, when he abruptly woke up in his bed once more, this time totally, absolutely alone. Rollie’s heart was beating so fast, it seemed ready to jump right out of his chest; he sighed a deep sigh of regret, and tried desperately to get back to sleep.

Angie awoke abruptly out of a very intense dream, during which she had had a nightmare about Rollie dying which scared her so badly, that she ran out of her apartment and drove to the loft, where she snuck –or tried to sneak- into Rollie’s bedroom, and just sat down to watch him sleep, in order to calm her frantic nerves. But Rollie heard her come in and asked her what she was doing there, only to start kissing her before she got a single word out. He picked her up, and carried her over to his bed, and was just starting to take her shirt off of her, when she woke up. Her heart rate had increased so much, that her whole body was shaking, and she had to go and get a drink of cold water in order to calm down enough to even attempt sleep.

Rollie had barely managed to get back to sleep when his alarm woke him up, and he had to drag his excessively tired body out of bed and into the shower. His shower helped him wake up a little bit, not much, but enough for him not to fall asleep standing up. Great 7:00, he had to be at Angie’s in half an hour. How was he supposed to keep his cool, and act naturally after that dream he had last night? This was definitely going to be a bloody long day.

Angie barely managed to drag herself out of bed and into the shower, by 7:15, so she was rushing through getting dressed, when Rollie knocked at her door, 15 minutes later. “Come on in Rol, I’ll be out in a minute!” Angie yelled from her bedroom, as she frantically searched for the pair of jeans she wanted to wear. “Morning Ange, we better hurry, we have to start getting to work on that elevator set, before Jake has a stroke; or tries to strangle me.” Rollie called, taking a seat on Angie’s sofa and waiting for her to emerge from her bedroom. When she came out a minute later, dressed as fabulously as she could be while still being casual, Rollie felt his breath catch in his throat. Then a weight dropped into the pit of his stomach when he realized that Angie probably had a date after wrap-up today (since they were supposed to have a fairly short day today). Angie looked at Rollie, as she headed for the door, and caught this incredibly sad look cross his face, but before she could say anything he abruptly stood up, and looked away from her, as they made their way down to the van. By the time they got into the van, Rollie had gotten his facial expression under control, and Angie was left puzzling.

The drive to the studio was spent in rather tense silence. When they arrived, they found that the elevator set was put together, and all that remained for them to do was to attach the cables onto it, that would be required to lift it up off the ground.

There were a total of 3 cables that needed to be connected to the top of the ‘elevator’, one for lifting it, and lowering it, one for braking, and one for backup braking. Rollie decided that after last time, he was not going to risk any elevator accidents of any kind. The difficult thing was going to be getting to the top of the ‘elevator’ because Tyler FX’s ladder was currently out of commission, and Rollie forgot to get another one. “Ok Rol, where’s the ladder?” Angie asked, looking around the set. “Um, I might have forgotten to replace the ladder Ange…” Rollie replied shakily, knowing what was coming. “You might have forgotten to?! What does that mean, you might have forgotten?!” Angie demanded. “I’m sorry Angie, but I don’t have any excuses, I really just forgot.” Rollie replied meekly. “Ugh, fine, give me a leg up and I’ll see if I can get up there.” Angie said, in a resigned manner. Rollie walked over next to the ‘elevator’, and positioned himself to give Angie a leg up. Angie walked over next to Rollie, and was about to take his leg up, when something suddenly occurred to her and she looked into Rollie’s eyes threateningly, and said, “I swear to God Rol, if you drop me, I will make you pay.” Rollie stifled a laugh and got a devilish glint in his eyes as he said, “You know, I hadn’t even thought about that, thanks Ange.” And he grinned evilly. Angie punched Rollie’s shoulder lightly, and said seriously, “I mean it Rol.” And with that she climbed up on top of the ‘elevator’, and started getting to work.

The cables didn’t take long to set up, but it needed to be tested before the actors tried to use it, so Angie gave Rollie the thumbs up, and he pulled out his PDA and guided the ‘elevator’ up a few yards off the ground, and then back down again, without any problems. “Crap,” Angie said all of a sudden. “What is it Ange?” Rollie called, anxiously, as he stepped back and tried to locate whatever it was that was troubling Angie. “Well, I’ve gotten up here just fine, but I’m not sure how to get back down now.” Angie said, worriedly. Rollie immediately relaxed, and started laughing as he realized what Angie meant; there really wasn’t anything she could do except… “Well Angie, it looks like you’ll have to jump, and trust me to catch you.” Rollie said, barely managing to stop laughing. “Yeah right, like I trust you.” Angie replied skeptically, as she tried desperately to think of any other way she could get down. It didn’t take her long to realize that there was no other way, so she heaved a deep sigh, and said, “You better not let me fall on my butt.” Rollie just smiled and held his arms out, as if waiting to be handed something, so Angie gave him what he was waiting for; she jumped at him. She landed on her mark, but not quite the way she intended to, she ended up knocking Rollie down, and being sprawled on top of him. After a few seconds of just looking at each other, Rollie and Angie both started laughing hysterically at the same exact time.

They both stopped laughing after a few minutes, when they realized just how close their faces were, and how very little they would have to move if they wanted to start making out like crazy, which they both secretly REALLY wanted to do. They lay there on the ground just looking in each other’s eyes and contemplating how easy it would be to kiss one another, when someone clearing their throat quite pointedly, made them jump up off of the ground and stand about 3ft apart, looking extremely guilty and embarrassed, at anything but Felicia who just stood there and smiled knowingly back at them. “Well, I just came to find out if you had gotten that ‘elevator’ set up for that gag next week, because Jake needs to figure out if we will have time to squeeze some extra shooting in then…” Felicia said, trying to explain why she was there. “Well Felicia, everything seems to be in order, so you can go ahead and tell Jake that we’re all good to go here.” Rollie informed the awkward Executive Producer. “Ok, well I really didn’t mean to interrupt, or rush you guys or anything, I mean, we still have like another three hours until the leads get here anyway so… I’ll see ya.” Felicia hastily replied, and with that, she practically ran out of the room. “Well, that certainly made her nervous, we should definitely use that trick again; the next time we have unwanted ‘guests’.” Rollie said, and immediately wanted to punch himself in the nose. “I mean…” Rollie trailed off helplessly, not sure how to fix that tremendous batching of intelligent human speech. Angie just looked around uncomfortably everywhere but at Rollie, and replied, “Right, well I’m gonna go find out if our guy’s computer has arrived yet.” And she left without giving Rollie a chance to answer her.

Angie wanted to kick herself for the rest of the day, she just kept playing that scene in her mind over and over again: “Well, that certainly made her nervous, we should definitely use that trick again the next time we have unwanted ‘guests’.”… And she just stood there like staring at him like an IDIOT!! All she managed to say was, ‘Right.” Right! What kind of conversationally challenged MORON replies to something like that with, ‘Right’?! And what was up with that little escape excuse; ‘I’m just gonna go see if that computer is here, cause I’m too mortified to do anything else and I can’t stand in the same room with you for another second without jumping your bones!’ Ok, so that wasn’t what she said, but it was what she was thinking, and she was sure that Rollie could tell, at least part of it by the tone in her voice, and the fact that she practically ran off in search of a computer to go rig! And just how did Rollie manage to smell so good all of the time? She still hadn’t figured out how, but somehow that man managed to smell like heaven, all of the time, and she could barely stand in the same room with him without sighing, and wanting to jump his bones!

Rollie COULD NOT BELIEVE he had said that! All day long all he could think was: how could I act like such a bloody moron?! I didn’t even consult with sanity, before I opened my mouth! And Angie? Angie was so freaked out by my verbal diarrhea; she couldn’t get away from me fast enough! Rollie continued to berate himself for his blunder all day long, while he rigged some pens to squirt ink out the back end whenever someone tried to write with them; and even after that when he moved on to rigging an alarm clock to go off, and not stop ringing once it started.

Angie continued to obsess over how she had acted all day. She just kept going over it in her mind, and got madder, and madder at herself as she furiously programmed the computer that the lead, Johnathan Jackson (yes, that Johnathan Jackson) would be using for his character’s job. It was supposed to reset itself every 2-3 minutes, and this, while seemingly easy enough in theory, was rather difficult, not to mention time consuming, -especially considering how distracted she was- in actual practice. By the time she was done, Jake had already called a wrap a while ago, and Rollie was packing up the equipment he had been using. “Sorry Rol, I just got finished with the computer, I know still need to get started on the fax…” Angie said as she stretched her stiff muscles. “What time is it anyway?” Angie asked, as she reached for Rollie’s watch hand. “It’s almost 10 Ange, and don’t sweat the fax, that was quite a task and you did it in record time, it would take most people at least 2 weeks to program a virus like that, and besides Jake doesn’t need the fax till the end of next week.” Rollie assured her, as he resumed packing up the equipment he had out. “Listen, I’ve got this under control, so why don’t you go ahead and get going…” Rollie added sadly, deliberately not looking at Angie, as he was heartbroken with the thought that she was going out tonight, and not with him. “Why? Where exactly do you suggest I go boss? My apartment is being painted today, and I don’t have a car anyway.” Angie questioned, wondering what on earth Rollie was getting at. Once Rollie realized that Angie didn’t have a date after all, and mostly managed to suppress his enormous urge to smile, he looked up at her and said, “Well I don’t know about you but I’m starved, what’s say we get this –and he indicated the pile of stuff he had yet to pack- cleared up, and then hit ‘Paco’s tacos’?” Rollie sounded so eager that even if Angie hadn’t been starving, she would have agreed anyway. “You read my mind Rol, I’m practically dying here, lets go!” Angie replied, as she hastily assisted in putting everything away.

“Say Ange, where are you staying tonight, seeing as your apartment is being painted?” Rollie asked as they made their way to Paco’s. “Well I was thinking about asking to crash on your couch, now that you mention it…” Angie answered, looking at Rollie with pleading eyes. “You don’t ever need to ask Ange, ‘mi casa y su casa’.” Rollie informed her. “But I’ll have to insist that you take the bed and I take the couch.” Rollie added, bossily. Angie opened her mouth to object but at that moment, they pulled into Paco’s, and as they were leaving Rollie beat her to the punch, “Angie don’t even bother objecting, I insist, ok. Just deal with it.” And with that they headed to the loft.

As soon as Rollie entered the loft, and called out his usual ‘Lights Blue,” he made his way directly upstairs to his third story living area, and came down a minute later, with a pillow, and blanket under his arm. He deposited these on the arm of the sofa, and then sat down, and started digging into his tacos. Angie quickly followed suit, sitting down right next to him and diving in. They ate in comparative silence, the only noise coming from them chewing their food, and the crinkle of the taco wrappers.

When they were done, Rollie stood up and started clearing up the trash; and Angie tried to suppress and enormous yawn. “Why don’t you go ahead and take the shower first Ange, I’ll get this cleared up.” He said, as Angie started trying to help him. “Sure boss, whatever you say.” Angie replied, and headed up the stairs. When she got out, she went downstairs to find Rollie dozing off on the sofa while sitting up. “It’s all yours Rol,” She called, causing Rollie to start, as he was wakened. “Thanks Ange.” Rollie said through an enormous yawn he didn’t even try to suppress. And he headed upstairs to take a quick shower. Despite the fact that it was very quick indeed, and Rollie came out of the bathroom fully dressed, only 10 minutes later, he found that Angie was dead asleep sprawled sideways across the bed, on top of the covers.

‘Thank God I replaced that bed when I did,’ Rollie thought. ‘If I hadn’t replaced that bed with this one, Angie probably wouldn’t even be able to look at it. I know I couldn’t.’ And Rollie remembered the night that Loubar got away…

He had gotten a ride home from Mira, and walked through the loft in a daze, until he entered the bedroom, then he was overcome with a million different emotions, all at once; he felt hurt, and guilty, and enraged, and violated, and sick to his stomach, all at the same time. He made it to the bathroom just in the nick of time, and threw up whatever he had eaten earlier that week. When he finished, he stood up, gave himself a rough shake, and stormed back into his bedroom, where he proceeded to tear his bed to pieces. First he tore the sheets to shreds, then he turned the frame to tiny shards, and piled all that on top of the mattress, and box spring, all of which he set on fire, and burned down to ashes. Once he had finished cleaning up the ashes, he immediately went to the mattress store, and picked out the one that looked the least like his old one that he could find…

Coming back to the present, Rollie crept over next to the bed, as quietly as he could, and very gently pulled the covers out from under Angie. He covered her up, and leaned down to give her a kiss on her forehead, and whispered, “Night Angel,” then he proceeded downstairs, where he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Angie woke up screaming, and was surprised to discover she wasn’t in her bed, or her apartment for that matter; it took her a few minutes to remember that she was in Rollie’s bed at the loft. When she realized this, she also realized that what she thought just happened was just a nightmare… Wasn’t it? She couldn’t be entirely sure until she saw for herself that Rollie was alive and well.

Rollie was yanked out of sleep by a bloodcurdling scream coming from his bedroom. When he realized that it was Angie screaming, he jumped off the couch, and dashed upstairs. When he came into his bedroom, he found Angie getting up out of his bed, a terrified expression on her face. “What is it Ange?” Rollie asked, concern written all over his face and voice. Angie started at being spoken to, apparently she hadn’t noticed Rollie come in. “Oh Rollie,” she cried as she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. “I had another nightmare, and I was so scared… I thought it was r-real, even after I woke up.” Angie sobbed into Rollie’s shoulder. “It’s all right Angel, I’m right here, and nothing’s happened to me, except a bit of a scare; that’s some voice you’ve got there Love, I just about jumped out my skin when I heard you screaming like that.” Rollie informed Angie, stroking her hair with one hand, the other one resting on the small of her back.

After a few minutes Angie calmed down a bit, and loosened her grip on Rollie’s neck just a little. Rollie, sensing this, pulled back just a hair, and searched Angie’s eyes, trying to figure out if she was alright. Although she let him pull away a bit, Rollie could tell by the look in Angie’s eyes that she needed him to stay, at least a little longer, so he mutely led her over to his bed, and sat her down on it, sitting down right next to her at the same time, and wrapping one of those long, strong arms around Angie’s shoulders, and holding her close. Angie sighed contentedly when Rollie did this, and wished that she could come up with some way to keep him there all night. She had been looking at Rollie while she was thinking this; and Rollie read her facial expression like a book. So he leaned back onto the bed, and pulled Angie along with him. And they fell asleep hugging each other close.

When Angie woke up the next morning, she didn’t need to remember where she was, or why there was a wonderfully comforting person sleeping next to her; she already knew perfectly well, she would probably never forget this for the rest of her life. It felt so WONDERFUL she wished that it would never end, but unfortunately it would. Angie sighed sadly as she thought about the fact that this had to end eventually, and that caused Rollie to stir a bit, he was still mostly asleep, but he pulled Angie closer, and held her a little tighter than he had been a moment before. ‘Nice,’ Angie thought, ‘Rollie is probably dreaming, and he’s gonna be pretty disappointed when he wakes up, and finds out that it’s only me next to him.’ Rollie opened his eyes just as Angie was thinking this, and got a confused expression on his face. “What wrong Love?” He whispered, not loosening his grip one bit. Angie felt like she wanted to die right now! But instead she settled for evasion. “Nothing Rol, I just… had a weird dream.” Angie lied, throwing Rollie’s own words back at him. And with that she hastily got up – practically having to pry Rollie’s arms off of her to do so- and headed for the shower.

Rollie was highly disappointed by how fast Angie jumped away from him, and had to use all of his self control not to run after her, and pull her back to bed with him.

When Angie emerged from her shower in nothing but a towel, Rollie had to quickly avert his eyes, and not look at Angie at all as he ran into the shower himself, and he had to take a VERY COLD one, to calm himself down. Angie was still puzzling over Rollie’s odd behavior when he came out of the bathroom, but was quickly distracted, as he came out in nothing but a towel around his waist, and he was still fairly wet. She was amazed she could even think, let alone find the presence of mind to leave the room, and let Rollie get dressed. But she somehow managed to not only do that, but state that she was going to go fix breakfast as well! Now, since she volunteered herself, Angie got to work making scrambled eggs, and toast. By the time Rollie came downstairs, she was almost done. ‘What took him so long?’ Angie wondered inwardly. He was dressed the same as always; casually, with black jeans, and an ordinary blank green t-shirt. “I hope you’re in the mood for eggs, ‘cause that’s all I had time to make.” Angie announced, as she set the two plates of food she had prepared, onto the table, and sat down in front of one. Rollie took in a deep smell of the delicious food Angie provided, just before he dug in, he didn’t know how she managed it, but Angie made AMAZING eggs! He had never in his life had better eggs than Angie made, and was pretty sure he never would. “Of course I’m in the mood for eggs Ange, how could I not be when you make ‘em?” Rollie stated, blushing slightly when he realized just how stupid he sounded, gushing over Angie’s eggs. His blush was nothing compared to Angie’s though, she was literally the color of an apple, but Rollie, who was too busy trying to hide his own embarrassment, didn’t see Angie’s. “Thanks Rol,” Angie replied shyly, when she finally managed to unglue her tongue and use it.

On their way to the set, Rollie and Angie could barely stop stealing glances at each other. Yet they somehow managed to sneak peeks at each other without the other one knowing it. When they got onto the set, they found that Jake was going thermonuclear, because Johnathan apparently decided that he wanted a haircut, and didn’t want to wait until the final wrap-up to get it. Angie rolled her eyes and groaned, while Rollie nearly died from suppressed laughter, when they found out. Before Jake melted down completely, however, Rollie suggested that they try and work the haircut into the plot. Jake looked at Rollie like he had never seen anything like him when he made that suggestion, and instantly cheered up, as he headed over to the writer’s trailer. “Well it looks like the crises are starting early today Ange, beware.” Rollie warned, as he headed over to where Felicia was, to find out which scenes they would be filming today, since there was a big rescheduling debacle going on thanks to the leading lady, Tara Reid, having come down with what she considered to be a severe flu yesterday. It turned out that due to Ms. Reid’s absence they were going to bump up the faulty pen gag, and leave the elevator scenes until a later date. (Because she was going to be in all of those shots.) Rollie went ahead and handed the ‘faulty’ pens over to the set coordinator, and started heading over to the van, when someone shouted his name. “Yes?” Rollie said, walking back in the direction of the speaker, searching for a person to put with the yell. “Tyler, there’s something wrong with these pens, they aren’t squirting powerfully enough, we need them to really spray, you know what I mean?” Jake Ivanieter said as Rollie walked over to him, seeing that he was the one who had called his name. “What do you mean Jake?” Rollie asked, since he had no idea what the problem was. “Well watch,” Jake said, and he proceeded to demonstrate that if Johnathan tried to write with one of these pens, it would end up squirting his lap, instead of his shirt, which was what was intended. “Yeah, I see what you mean; sorry Jake, but I can fix this in two shakes.” Rollie said, and with that he took the pen from Jake, along with the rest, and took them back to his van, where he could fix them.

Angie got the fax set up a lot faster than the computer, because all she had to do for it was program it to spit blank pages, instead of anything with writing on it. She decided to go sit down in the van for a sec, because for some reason she felt really tired all of a sudden. When she got to the van, however, she stopped dead in her tracks; Rollie exited the van, shirtless, right in her face. He was literally right in front of her, and she froze. She could barely breathe let alone think, or speak, or move.

Rollie was just about to go and give the pens back to Jake, when he exited the van right into Angie, nearly knocking her over, but she just stood there, right in front of him not saying a word. She didn’t even yell at him for nearly knocking her over, she just stood there and stared at him. And that’s when it hit him; he was standing there without a shirt on right in her face, and he probably scared the hell out of her, not to mention he probably smelled like ink, since he went and squirted himself with it, while he was trying to fix one of the pens. Rollie was about to apologize for startling Angie when he saw something in her eyes that made him go numb; desire, it looked like she wanted him, bad.

Rollie quickly shoved that thought out of his head, and walked away toward Jake, pens in hand. Angie wanted him, sure! And pigs fly! Angie wanted Rollie like her cat wanted to get its shots. Angie told him that nothing had changed, because she didn’t want things to change; she wanted to forget what happened with Loubar, she thought it was a mistake, and she probably tried to tell Loubar/Rollie that when she woke up the morning after…

Angie felt like she had been zapped when Rollie all of a sudden walked away from her; she had been about to kiss him, and then he walked away! Was she never going to get what she wanted? Would Rollie always look at her as ‘good old Ange’? She didn’t know how much longer she could stand this. If she got that close to him one more time, she was fairly certain that she was going to lose it. ‘Good thing we’re having a short shoot today’ she thought, ‘I seriously need to get hold of myself before I can spend another entire work day with Rollie.’

Right when Rollie was about to start packing it in for the night, Jake came running over to tell him that Felicia told him a grip said that there was some sort of problem with the ‘elevator’s’ lift mechanism, and he needed to fix it right away! Sighing heavily, Rollie informed Angie that it looked like they weren’t done yet after all, and he needed her help with one last thing. 10:00 p.m. and they were stuck on the set all alone, trying to figure out what problem Jake had been yammering about. But so far they hadn’t found anything. They looked over the whole mechanism, but everything seemed to be in order. Rollie tried rising and lowering it while it was empty, and while he stood inside it, but it seemed to work fine, so he asked Angie to join him, and test it with a little extra weight. “Here goes nothing,” Rollie said, as he used his PDA to raise the ‘elevator’ off the ground. Nothing happened, it just rose steadily like it was supposed to, and held firm when he stopped it. So, deciding that it was obviously just an ‘operator problem’ that Jake had had earlier, Rollie lowered the ‘elevator’ to the ground again. And that’s when it happened. The doors of the ‘elevator’ locked themselves, and Rollie could not get them open, no matter what he tried. He tried everything he could think of on his PDA, and let Angie try, to no avail. They even went as far as trying to pry the doors open with their hands, but it was no use, they would be stuck in there until someone came along tomorrow.

Resigned to staying here for a while, Rollie leaned against the railing, and tried to relax, he was extremely tired, and desperately craved a nice cool shower, and a good night’s rest, instead, he got to spend the night trapped in an ‘elevator’ with Angie- wait a minute, he got to spend the night alone with Angie! Things could definitely have been worse, now if only he could convince Angie of this; she had begun to pace their very tight quarters, and was now searching desperately for some way out of here. “Jeez Ange, we’ll be out of here soon enough, just relax, making yourself anxious isn’t going to get you anywhere.” Rollie said, trying to convince Angie to give up her pacing, and just relax. “I know Rol, I just can’t do this, I REALLY can’t do this…” Angie said nervously, deliberately looking anywhere but at Rollie the entire time. “What’s the matter Ange? I know you’re not claustrophobic, do you need to pee or something?” Rollie asked jokingly, trying to get Angie to look at him, but not succeeding. “No Rollie, I just have to get out of here that’s all, before I…” Angie trailed off, not wanting to say what she was likely to do. “Before you what?” Rollie whispered, pulling Angie’s face up by her chin so she was forced to look him in the eyes.

All at once Angie lost control, and pulled Rollie down to her in a deep kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly, preventing him from pulling away even if he had wanted to. Rollie was shocked beyond belief at what was happening, but before he could marvel at it for very long, he was overcome with desire for Angie, and he started running his hands across her back, and then he took hold of her shirt, and pulled it up over her head, and this time he got it all the way off of her, and threw it onto the floor, and neither one of them woke up; neither of them were dreaming this time. Rollie was driving Angie wild, sending trails of fire everywhere he touched her, and she couldn’t get his shirt off fast enough, it joined hers on the floor, and they were soon lying on top of them. Rollie was on top of Angie, kissing her deeply on her mouth, then he went down to her neck, and chewed it softly, causing her to groan with pleasure, and pull his head back up to hers and start kissing him again. Neither one of them could seem to get enough of the other.

All at once, it occurred to both of them that they were locked in an ‘elevator’, and they had yet to discuss anything remotely similar to the things they were doing, so they simultaneously pulled away from each other, and picked up their shirts, and put them on. Once they were fully dressed again, and they caught their breath, Rollie and Angie, both looked at each other, and saw what they were feeling reflected in the other’s eyes. They flew into each other’s arms in a tight hug, and both started to cry. But they were crying tears of joy and relief, not sadness or regret. After a few minutes they stopped crying, and dried their faces, and they pulled away from each other, just enough to look into each other’s eyes. It was time to talk.

“Rollie, I know I said nothing has changed, but I can’t continue to pretend that that’s true, I’m in love with you, and I can’t spend every day of my life, working with you, knowing that you don’t feel the same way.” Angie started, before she lost her nerve. She was about to continue, when Rollie put a finger on her lips, and said, “You have no idea how happy that makes me, if I had to spend one more day, trying to keep my hands off you, I think I would have gone insane.” Rollie followed his words up with a long tender kiss on Angie’s lips. When he pulled away again, Angie was about to start talking again, when Rollie stopped her again, and continued. “I wasn’t finished, it took me a long time to realize this, but I’m in love with you as well, and I don’t want to spend one more day pretending I don’t, I want you, and no one else.” And with that Rollie looked at Angie, waiting for her to finish what she wanted to say. But it seemed that whatever Angie had been trying to say was now irrelevant, since all she said was, “Oh Rollie,” and with that she hugged him tightly once more.

After a few minutes, Rollie and Angie shifted, so that Rollie was sitting against the corner of the elevator, and Angie was sitting in his lap, facing the same direction he was. And they just sat there, Rollie resting his arms loosely around Angie’s waist, while Angie absently stroked Rollie’s arms with her fingers. “You know I nearly lost it when you jumped out of the van without a shirt on Rol.” Angie stated, in an almost accusatory tone. Rollie laughed and said, “Well, I didn’t know how else to get your attention.” As if he had done that as part of some master plan to attract her in the first place. This caused Angie to laugh in turn. “Besides, when I showed up at your apartment to pick you up on Wednesday, I just about fainted when you came out of your bedroom dressed the way you did.” Rollie shot out, trying to level the playing field. Angie turned her head and looked at him like she didn’t believe him. “No really, I thought you were going out on a date later or something, I was this close –he put his thumb and index finger a centimeter apart from each other- to jumping up off your couch and taking you right then and there. But I knew I had no right to try and stop you from going out, so I used all the self control I could muster, and restrained myself.” Rollie declared, seriously. “I love you Rollie.” Angie said happily, and she leaned in and kissed him quickly. “I love you too sweetie.” Rollie replied, kissing her a little more deeply, than she did him.

Angie sat in Rollie’s lap, marveling at the fact that he loved her. ‘He loves me!’ She thought, ‘Oh, what wonderful words! What a wonderful feeling; Ange felt as if she could fly right now, just jump right up, and fly into the sky! All of a sudden, Angie had a huge urge to hug Rollie, so she turned around in his arms, and hugged him tight. She sighed contentedly as she thought about how amazing it was to be able to express her love for Rollie physically, the way she was. Then, Angie breathed deeply, taking in a gigantic whiff of her favorite smell in the world; Rollie. Angie just LOVED the way Rollie smelled, nothing and no one else compared, there just wasn’t any contest.

Rollie’s brow furrowed, as he noticed Angie sniffing him. “Uh…Ange? What are you doing?” Rollie asked looking at her confusedly, since he was honestly perplexed. Angie didn’t see any point in lying to Rollie, so she told him exactly, word for word, what she had just been thinking. She was slightly embarrassed to admit the thing about him smelling good, but her embarrassment was nothing compared to Rollie’s. He was SO embarrassed, that his face was beet red, and he smiled shyly at Angie’s lap, since he was too embarrassed to look her in the eyes just then. Then all of a sudden, Rollie pulled Angie back into their hug, and took in a deep whiff of her hair, which caused Angie to giggle embarrassedly, and hug him even tighter, which thrilled Rollie to pieces.

The next thing they knew, Rollie and Angie were being awakened by the sound of Jake yelling at someone to find the remote for the ‘elevator’. They hadn’t even realized that they had fallen asleep. Smiling at each other sheepishly, they both stood up and walked over to the door of the ‘elevator’. “Hey Jake, can you hear me out there mate?!” Rollie yelled. “Rollie? Is that you?” Jake questioned, “What are you doing in there?” “And where is the remote for this thing?” Jake questioned, clearly surprised and confused to find his FX expert locked himself in that ‘elevator’. “I was trying to figure out the problem that you were having with this thing like you asked me to last night, and I have no idea where the bloody remote is!” Rollie shot back, annoyed and more than ready to get out of there. “Sorry about that Rollie, we’re looking for the remote as we speak.” Jake apologized; he was obviously feeling guilty about Rollie getting locked in there all night. “Listen, no worries mate, just ah… hurry up, there isn’t exactly a bathroom in here if you know what I mean…” Rollie informed Jake. After that the only things Rollie and Angie heard, were the sounds of at least a dozen people tearing the set apart, in search of ‘The Illusive Remote’.

All of a sudden, after 15 minutes of searching fruitlessly, Rollie and Angie heard muffled voices for a sec, and then everyone stopped searching. A single set of footsteps approached the ‘elevator’, and then the doors clanked and opened. Rollie and Angie found themselves standing face to face with Felicia Bennington, who held the ‘elevator’s’ remote in her hand, and wore a smug grin on her face. “Here’s the remote,” She said, handing the said piece of equipment to Rollie. “You guys should really be more careful where you leave that thing, you never know what someone might do if they got their hands on it.” Felicia had tried to sound innocent but barely managed to say that without laughing, as she walked away, continuing to smile smugly. Jake stared back and forth between Rollie and Angie, a surprised look on his face, and then he smiled and walked closer to the pair of FX artists. “Good for you guys!” Jake congratulated Rollie and Angie enthusiastically, as he glanced at their hands, and then walked away. It wasn’t until he was gone, that Rollie and Angie looked down at their hands, and realized that they had been holding hands ever since they woke up.

Rollie and Angie looked at each other, and Angie slowly, reluctantly released her grip on Rollie’s hand. Rollie looked intently into Angie’s eyes and smiled reassuringly as he said, “We’ll talk about this as soon as filming is over today ok?” Angie returned Rollie’s smile and nodded, then walked over to the FX van, and started getting ready to work.

Today would be the day they did the sequence with the computer and fax, so Angie tried to give it her full attention. But as hard as she might try, she couldn’t forget what happened earlier, and those incredibly warm and soulful eyes looking right into her soul. It always seemed like that was what Rollie did when he looked into Angie’s eyes, like he looked right into her soul; how else could he always seem to know exactly what she was feeling or thinking? Sometimes Angie could do it back too, but only if Rollie wasn’t shutting her out; which he sometimes did. Almost every time Rollie did this to Angie it sent a thrill throughout her entire body, and she wondered if Rollie felt the same way when she managed to do it to him. Angie got a bewildered look on her face as she thought about just how fast she was adjusting to this whole romantic-relationship-with-Rollie thing.

Filming went exceedingly well all morning, so well in fact that Angie was SURE something bad was bound to happen any minute. She began keeping an eagle-eye’s watch on everything going on around her and Rollie for the rest of the day; just in case. “Cut and print. That’s lunch everyone!” Jake called, at the end of a particularly good take. Angie started to feel even more anxious as she watched Rollie head over to the van for lunch. Rollie was just opening his lunch when asked, “Are you Rollie Tyler?” Rollie looked up to see a beautiful woman; medium height, slim, dishwater blonde, and nicely attired in a navy pantsuit and gunmetal blouse. Just as Rollie opened his mouth to answer, he was cut off by Angie saying, “That all depends on who’s asking.” Angie came up behind the newcomer as she said this, and the woman turned to see who answered her. “Agent Mrs. Ortiz, with the FBI is who’s asking, who are you?” The woman flashed her badge at Angie, and then Rollie as she answered. “That’s my partner, Angela Ramirez, and I am Rollie Tyler. So what can we do for you Agent Ortiz?” Rollie asked, almost afraid of what they could possibly want now. This whole sticking his neck on the line for law enforcement was getting a little tiring. Ever since Loubar, Rollie just didn’t feel quite the same about helping the police or the feds, as he did before. He still felt a sense of responsibility to help if he could; he just also started thinking that the price was piling up a little too high on top of his head.

“It’s not about ‘what you can do for me.’ It’s about how you can assist a fellow agent of mine I’m sure you two are familiar with: Agent Michael Sanchez?” Agent Ortiz looked back and forth between Rollie and Angie, seeking confirmation of their familiarity with the agent in question. Angie and Rollie exchanged an astounded look, and then turned their attention back to Agent Ortiz. “Agent Sanchez?” Rollie questioned, not quite willing to believe he’d heard what he thought he just heard. “Yes, I was told that you are familiar with him.” Agent Ortiz informed them, looking a little annoyed that she might have been misinformed. “Alright…Agent Ortiz was it? What can we –Rollie looked at Angie as he said ‘we’- do to assist Agent Sanchez?” Rollie asked wondering what he might be getting him and Angie into this time. “I appreciate your willingness to cooperate Mister Tyler, but we shouldn’t discuss this here…” Agent Ortiz Said, trying to think of somewhere they could go to talk about why she was there. “Why don’t you stop by my loft at say, 9:00 tonight, I’ll be home by then, and we can talk in private, and at length.” Rollie offered. “Excellent idea Mister Tyler, I’ll see you then.” Agent Ortiz replied after considering it for only a second. And with that she walked away.

Angie looked at Rollie worriedly as Agent Ortiz disappeared. She was terrified, because she just KNEW that Rollie would do EVERYTHING in his power to help the feds once again, and would end up once again putting his life at risk. Rollie took one look at Angie and knew that she was upset because he agreed to help the feds yet again. So he stood up, walked the three steps necessary bring him right up to her, and pulled her into a tight hug. Angie was stiff for a minute, but she gave in fairly quickly as Rollie continued to hug her. After a few minutes Rollie pulled away a bit, just a bit, enough to look into Angie’s eyes as he said, “I promise you Angela, I will be careful and not do anything stupid.” He put emphasis on ‘anything’ for added effect. Rollie spoke with such earnestness (my personal tribute to Jayne :-p) that Angie couldn’t help but believe him. “I want you to be really, really careful, not just a little more careful than usual, you hear me Rol?” Angie demanded, as if adding final conditions to his promise. “I promise.” Rollie agreed, holding his hands up as if in surrender. “Put those back where they were.” Angie ordered, moving Rollie’s hands back around her waist. Rollie did as he was told, still a little amazed, and more than a little thrilled at the change taking place in his and Angie’s relationship. Just yesterday, he could hardly get within arm’s length of Angie without getting nervous, or making her nervous, and now she was demanding hugs! Just then Angie practically sighed happily, “You know, I could really get used to this Rol.” Which caused Rollie to smile wider, and reply, “So could I Sweetie.” In the same happy whisper.

The rest of the day passed quickly, with Rollie and Angie working with their usually high level of teamwork, and efficiency. The only thing that was different from yesterday, were the stolen smiles, that Rollie gave to Angie as often as he possibly could, which caused Angie to blush every time. Jake called a wrap-up for the day at 7:00, and Rollie and Angie made it to the loft at 7:45, leaving them plenty of time to eat before Agent Ortiz was supposed to arrive, so Rollie ordered Chinese, and they sat on the sofa to wait for it. Rollie was the first to break the silence, “Ange, I know I said that we would talk as soon as shooting was over today, but I think we’ll have to wait a bit longer. At least until we find out what Agent Ortiz wants.” And Rollie looked at Angie anxiously, expecting her to go livid. “You’re right Rol; we should probably wait and see what she has to say before we talk about us.” Angie replied calmly, sending a thrill down Rollie’s spine at the use of the word ‘us’ not to mention the calmness she was exhibiting.

Their food arrived, and they ate in silence growing more and more, tense as the minutes ticked by, bringing Agent Ortiz ever closer. There was a knock at the door promptly at 9:00, and Rollie called, “Open door Blue,” without even bothering to check the monitor first. Agent Ortiz walked into the loft, briefcase in hand, and marched right over to the chair opposite where Angie was still sitting, and waited mutely for Rollie to join them in the lounge. “Well come on in why don’t you.” Rollie muttered to himself as he took his seat by Angie and motioned with his hand for Agent Ortiz to take the seat she was right in front of. This seemed to be the cue Agent Ortiz was waiting for; for without further ado, she took the seat, opened up her briefcase, pulled out a rather thin folder, and handed it to Rollie. This surprised both Rollie and Angie, since every time they were asked for help -especially by the feds- they were always kept on a strictly need-to-know basis, and a verbal one at that. The fact that this agent handed the case file right to him, added a level of respect to Rollie’s opinion of Agent Ortiz.

Rollie exchanged a shocked look with Angie, and then opened the file. Rollie’s eyes narrowed in horror as he read the name at the top of the file in his hand. He had his mouth open, but didn’t seem to care, he just looked at Agent Ortiz as if she had hit him in the face. Angie was getting more and more nervous every second that Rollie stared at that file, and then at Agent Ortiz. She desperately wanted to know what Rollie was looking at, but at the same time, did not want to see what made him get an expression like that on his face. Deciding that it was better to know than wonder, Angie swallowed deeply and asked, “What is it Rol?” Quiet, and tentative as she had spoken, Angie’s words caused Rollie to start. He looked at Angie for a second, and then turned his attention back to Agent Ortiz. “You can’t be serious.” He said to her, praying that this was some kind of twisted joke, there was just no way, Rollie was going to tangle with that piece of biohazardous filth ever again. “I assure you Mister Tyler I am perfectly serious, and before you object, let me promise you that I am not asking you or anyone you know –she looked at Angie as she said the last- to come anywhere near him, you have my word on that.” Agent Ortiz declared. Fed up with waiting, Angie took the file from Rollie and opened it before either of the others could stop her, and all at once everything that was going on made sense. The size of the folder, the look on Rollie’s face, the necessity for discretion, this woman coming to ask for assistance on someone else’s behalf, it all added up. The name on the file was, Victor Loubar.

Angie started to panic; she couldn’t deal with this again! She just couldn’t! There had to be someone else the feds could ask! There just had to be! Before Angie was able to voice these thoughts, however, Agent Ortiz put another two cents in. “I have been briefed on your history with this man, and therefore I understand that you probably want to throw me out on my ass right now, but I meant what I just said, I don’t expect either of you to go ANYWHERE NEAR him. What I have come to ask of you, is equipment to disguise an agent as you Mister Tyler, and some recordings of your voice, that’s all.” Agent Ortiz assured her thoroughly horrified hosts. “J-Just disguise equipment? You swear that’s all you want?” Angie asked disbelievingly. “That’s it. You have my word.” Agent Ortiz promised. A long tense pause ensued. Rollie was the one to break it. “Well if you want disguise equipment Agent Ortiz, you’ve got it, but I will not give you anything else.” Rollie spoke quietly, but determinedly, even if Agent Ortiz had wanted something else, she wouldn’t have gotten it and she knew it. “Thank you Mister Tyler, I understand your concern, and I assure you once again, we will not ask you for anything but this.” Agent Ortiz replied. And without further ado, Rollie, Angie and Agent Ortiz got to work putting together the disguise she requested. “I think you’ll understand that I must ask you not to tell anyone of your involvement with this case, and to also keep to yourselves the involvement of myself and Agent Sanchez as well?” Agent Ortiz asked, looking at Rollie and Angie as if she wished she had brought this up sooner. “Of course we understand, and we promise, we will not tell anyone about this.” Rollie assured Mrs. Ortiz. At 10:15 p.m. Agent Ortiz walked out of the loft, and Angie and Rollie had a strange feeling that they would never see her again.

Rollie insisted that Angie stay at the loft that night; just the mere mention of Loubar had him scared to death. Angie didn’t even try to protest, she felt just as scared, if not more so, than Rollie did. Rollie once again insisted that Angie take his bed, and he take the couch. But after at least an hour of lying awake in Rollie’s bed, Angie went downstairs and demanded that Rollie come back up with her, because she couldn’t sleep without him there. Rollie would have objected, if he wasn’t so tired he could barely think straight, and yet still unable to sleep. So he followed Angie upstairs, and curled up in his bed with her, where he fell asleep less than five minutes later, Angie following close behind.

Agent Ortiz stepped out of a rental car in

Mongolia

at 4 a.m.

She walked from one side of the dark alley she was in to the other, looking toward both ends as she did so; making sure she wasn’t being watched. This alleyway is in between gigantic warehouse-looking buildings with fairly small doors in comparison. She walked directly across from where she parked her car, and knocked on the door; Three very short, but very distinct knocks. She waits silently for a moment, and then the door is opened. It is darker inside the building than outside, making it impossible for Agent Ortiz to see anything at all inside. This doesn’t seem to bother her however, she simply leans into the dark doorway and whispers, “I have retrieved the supplies you requested, they are in this case.” And she lifts the briefcase in her hand, into the pitch black warehouse. It is taken silently from her hand, and she continues. “Tyler and Ramirez reacted like you predicted, and I didn’t have to deal with the local law enforcement at all. Everything is being kept under the lid, Tyler and Ramirez have promised to keep it to themselves, and I can’t help but trust those two. Good luck sir.” And with that, Agent Ortiz turns about face and heads back toward her rental. The door to the warehouse is shut just as silently as it had opened, as she walks away. Agent Ortiz headed to the airport prepared to go back to Washington immediately, feeling she had done her job well.

Agent Ortiz was not mistaken; Michael Sanches opened the briefcase he had been given, and got to work immediately. At 5:30 a.m. a tall man with long wavy brown hair walked into a small airport in

Mongolia

, a syringe loaded and ready to be used, sitting inside his pocket. The man leaned against a pillar in sight of the entrance as well as the boarding station of the airport. He scanned the crowd nonchalantly waiting for his prey to appear. A few minutes later he spotted him. The man our observer spotted was just as tall, with a thick red mustache, and big sunglasses on. His hair as well as the rest of his features were hidden by the tan fedora the man wore, as well as his sand-colored trench coat that had it’s collar turned up rather conspicuously. The man seemed to be in a large hurry. Our observer smiled evilly, and left his post, headed for his target. Swifter than most normal men, our observer overtook his object, and ran in front of him causing the man to stop. Our observer looked the man directly in the eyes as he circled around behind him, and yanked his syringe out of his pocket and quickly shoved it into the other man’s neck. He plunged the contents of the syringe into his opponent’s bloodstream before the other man had time to react. All the man managed to do before he passed out was whisper a name, ‘Tyler…’ And then he collapsed onto the airport floor. His attacker picked up the man and slung him over his shoulder, and walked right back out the entrance of the airport. No one seemed to take any notice of this man’s behavior, inside of the airport or outside.

Rollie and Angie awoke at the same time to the sound of someone knocking on the loft’s front door. 8:00 a.m. And they were already being harassed out of bed! They didn’t have to work today, so Rollie really didn’t know who it could be except… Well, they weren’t going away, whoever they were, so Rollie reluctantly went downstairs to find out who had woken them. “Window one Blue.” Rollie called to his six-legged pal, as he looked at the monitor. Frank and Mira were waiting outside the door. “Open door Blue.” Rollie called, moving over to the doorway and motioning for Frank and Mira to enter. “Come on in,” He said, “And what can I do for two of New York’s finest at this time of the morning?” Rollie asked. “Is Angie here?” Mira asked, “We have something the both of you need to hear.” She clarified. “Yeah, she’s upstairs. Hey Ange! Frank and Mira are here, they say they have news for us!” Rollie called up the stairs, then, turning back to Frank and Mira said, “Well have a seat, she’ll be down in a minute.” Rollie was feeling strangely cheery this morning, despite what happened yesterday. But then, maybe it was because of what the events of yesterday, had caused to happen last night. Either way, his behavior was reflective of his mood, and this was not lost on Frank or Mira. This seemed to make them a little gloomy, like they had bad news that might spoil Rollie’s good mood.

Rollie was just starting to get nervous, when Angie came downstairs, and said, “Morning Frank, Mira, what did you need to tell us?” All it took to make Rollie’s anxiety disappear; was for Angie to walk into the room. His face lit up, and he just couldn’t suppress the smile breaking across his face. Frank, noticing this, smiled as well. He sobered however, on remembering the reason for their visit. “Listen guys, we have some bad news. “We were being kept informed of Loubar’s whereabouts by a contact in the FBI, but early this morning, around 6 a.m. He apparently disappeared. No one seems to know where he might be, one minute he’s in an airport in

Mongolia

, the next minute no one knows.” Frank said sadly, hating to be the bearer of bad news. Rollie and Angie just exchanged a significant glance and then Rollie said, “Well, keep us up to date ok?” As if Frank had just told him that the Yankees lost a pre-season game. “Was that all you guys had to tell us?” Angie asked, seeing the surprised looks on Frank and Mira’s faces, and wanting to try and get rid of them before they dragged the story of yesterday’s FBI encounter out of them. This was not lost on the detectives, so they both started searching their brains for a change of subject. “How’s the movie going?” Mira asked, deciding to get Rollie and Angie into shop-talk mode. Rollie and Angie briefly updated Frank and Mira on what was going on with ‘What’s next’, still desperately trying to figure out a way to get rid of them. Rollie suddenly recalled a conversation he and Angie had had about getting rid of unwanted ‘guests’ and a smile came to his face as he recalled the solution to the problem. Angie looked at Rollie, and he could tell that the same thought had come to her mind, and they smiled shyly at each other and blushed in perfect synchronization.

Feeling extremely out of the loop, and totally unwanted, Frank and Mira decided it was time to go. They had work to do, and they could grill their friends later. “Well, we’ve gotta get going, so we’ll see you guys later.” Frank said, as he and his partner headed for the door. “Alright, we’ll see you later then…” Rollie said clearly pleased that Frank and Mira got the hint. As soon as they were gone, and the door was shut behind them, Rollie turned around to look at Angie, and knew that the time had come for their talk.

Rollie sat down on the couch, and patted the seat next to him hinting for Angie to seat herself there. Angie took the suggested seat and looked deeply into Rollie’s wonderfully warm brown eyes. “You go first.” She said. “Alright, I will. I love you so much Angie, I don’t think I have ever loved anyone as much as I love you, and I don’t think I ever will. You are the only person for me, and I don’t care who knows it. I want you and only you, and your opinion is the only one that matters to me when it comes to this.” Rollie said, gesturing to himself and Angie as he said ‘this’. Angie smiled widely, and caressed Rollie’s face with her hand as she got ready to begin, and his hand went up to cover it and keep it there. “I love you too, I have for SO long. I think I fell in love with you the day we met. And you are the only person in the world for me as well, I don’t think I have ever loved anyone the way I love you, and I know I never could love anyone MORE than I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” Angie declared, barely able to fight back tears. Rollie had given up that battle a long while ago; his face was soaked by the time Angie finished talking. Angie wiped the tears off of Rollie’s face with her hands, and kissed him all over his face, whispering ‘I love you’ over and over between kisses.

Rollie could hardly believe his ears. How could Angie have felt this way for so long and kept it a secret all this time? How could she even continue to love him when he went out with all those random girls right in front of her like he did? This was just too good to be true; he just couldn’t seem to digest it. Rollie continued to marvel at how much Angie cared for him, as she led him upstairs and into the shower with her. Rollie and Angie finally made love to each other, after all this time, and all this longing. And it was the most unbelievably amazingly wonderful thing either one of them had ever experienced in their lives. They made love over and over again all day and well into the night, stopping briefly to catch their breath, and eat. They fell asleep in each other’s arms, once again, this time with their clothes on the floor.

Back at the warehouse in Mongolia.

Rollie’s twin had taken Loubar back to his hideout, and placed him on an operating table of sorts, that had metal restraints for his wrists, ankles, legs, arms, head, and chest. Loubar was still unconscious, but when he did wake up, there was no way he was going to get out of here very fast. As Loubar continued to sleep, his captor –if Loubar is human enough to be considered ‘captured’- set up a myriad of tools, from screwdrivers and pliers, to kitchen knives and gardening supplies. All of this was spread out neatly across a table on wheels that Loubar’s captor positioned in a way that would allow Loubar to see it when he woke up, but not be able to reach it no matter how far he stretched.

Rollie asked Angie to move into the loft the next morning and she agreed. They shared the great news of their relationship with all of their closest friends, as well as any coworkers who asked (and many of them did, since they were acting a LOT more friendly than they used to.) Angie was completely moved into the loft by the end of the week. And Rollie and Angie shared the most wonderful relationship of all; the friendly, loving, playful kind, that only people who are friends first, can have. They never gave themselves labels (i.e. boyfriend, girlfriend etc.) but they didn’t hide their relationship from anyone. Of all the enthusiastic people to congratulate them, Lucinda Scott was the most enthusiastic of all. She squealed into the phone for about 15 minutes, all of what she said was entirely unintelligible, and then she hung up, and caught the next available flight from L.A. to come and celebrate with Rollie and Angie in person. They went out for drinks the first night, and then the next day, she insisted on taking Angie out for a girls’ day, which consisted of shopping, and talking about men; one man in particular though.

As it turned out, the drinks and ‘girls’ day’ weren’t the only things Lucinda had planned to congratulate the couple on their eventual hook-up. On Sunday night, after shooting was done, Rollie and Angie walked into the loft tired and unsuspecting, to find an entire party waiting to welcome them. Along with the 20 or so people in the room, the most prominent of which was Lucinda, there was a gigantic banner that read: WELCOME HOME ROLLIE AND ANGIE!! “Well it certainly took you two long enough to get here. We’ve all been waiting for about an hour!” Lucinda said, as if Rollie and Angie had stood her up for a previously arranged dinner date or something. “Gee Luce, we’re sorry, we didn’t mean to be late for the surprise party that we knew nothing about, next time we’ll try to make better time with out surprises.” Angie said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Be nice Angie, Luce was trying to do a good thing here. Her heart was in the right place, she just lost track of her temper, right Lucinda?” Rollie said, commanding Lucinda to agree with him. “Rollie’s right Angie, sorry…” Lucinda apologized. It was obvious that Lucinda had help setting this thing up; there was no way she pulled this off alone. There were dozens of snack foods scattered across every flat surface, streamers hanging stylishly from rafters overhead, and some very tasteful music was emanating from somewhere or other in the loft. Even though Angie was annoyed with Lucinda for that accusation on her and Rollie’s arrival, Angie had to admit that she was touched to find that SO MANY people had been rooting for her and Rollie to become a couple. And judging by the look on his face Angie figured that Rollie was feeling the same way.

Three hours later, even more exhausted than they already were, Rollie and Angie found themselves left alone to clean up the party that had been thrown for them. “This always happens.” Angie sighed, as she picked up a broom and started sweeping. “What always happens?” Rollie asked, wondering what had bummed Angie out so fast; just 2 minutes ago she had been laughing and smiling. “Well parties are always fun, but the clean-up is always a pain.” Angie answered, continuing to sweep the floor. All of a sudden, Angie dropped the broom and spun on her heels to face Rollie. Her back had been sprayed with mustard. Angie stood stock still, an expression of shocked disbelief on her face. “Are you sure you want to start this with me?” Angie asked, threateningly, her fingers twitching slightly. “Bring it on!” Rollie called as he grabbed a bowl of chips off of the counter and dove behind the couch. Angie took this opportunity to search the available inventory for something really nasty to get Rollie with. And she found it; a bowl of cheesy dip. Picking it up quietly, Angie snuck over to the back of the couch and peeked over the top, looking for Rollie. She was greeted by a handful of chips flying in her face, as Rollie fled his hideout. He ran around behind Angie, and dumped the contents of his bowl down the back of her shirt, causing Angie to squeal. Before Rollie could escape again, Angie spun around and dumped the dip she had onto his head, causing Rollie to gasp and growl, “Why you…” He dashed toward the nearest food he could find; a tray of vegetables. He immediately began launching carrot and celery sticks at Angie, missing a lot as she was on the move. Angie squealed every time Rollie got her, or nearly got her with a projectile vegetable.

The fight raged on for nearly an hour until Rollie and Angie literally had no energy left, and they both lay sprawled out on the floor a few feet apart, breathing deeply. Rollie decided to go and propose a truce, so he struggled onto his hands and knees, and made his way slowly over to where Angie lay. Angie saw Rollie approach her as she lay on her back with only her bra covering her chest; her shirt lay discarded on the other side of the room covered in food. Rollie crawled right on top of Angie, and before she could try to get away, he arrested her to the ground, holding her arms down by the wrists. “I’ve come to propose a truce.” Rollie declared, deadly serious. Angie seemed to be considering something for a minute, and then she got a big warm smile on her face and said, “I’ll only agree to a truce on one condition.” She looked Rollie in the eyes, and her smile vanished, to be replaced by a look of dead seriousness. “Name it.” Rollie answered, a little nervous about the expressions passing over Angie’s face. “The only way I’m gonna let you have a truce is if you agree to marry me.” Angie declared determinedly. Rollie was so shocked by Angie’s asking him to marry her (what seemed to him like out of the blue) that he just lay still on top of her staring at her for a minute. Angie was starting to panic as Rollie just lay there on top of her staring at her (like I just sprouted another head. She thought) when all of a sudden, Rollie smiled a huge warm smile, leaned down and kissed her deeply. When he pulled away Rollie was crying, but he still had that smile on also. He gazed deeply into Angie’s eyes and said, “Yes.” In little more than a whisper. That one word, spoken softly as it had been, caused Angie to start laughing and crying at the same time. For a second there she had been really worried that she had stepped in it by asking Rollie, instead of waiting for him to ask her. She was SO THRILLED that Rollie reacted the way he did, she just wrapped her arms around his neck and held him in a tight hug as she continued to laugh and cry for a while. Angie’s silly behavior, and the joy spreading throughout Rollie’s entire brain, caused Rollie to start laughing as well.

Although time doesn’t actually speed up or slow down during moments like these, people do tend to become more or less conscious of it’s passing. In this case, Rollie and Angie forgot time even existed for a while. Once they got over the initial thrill of becoming engaged, Rollie and Angie got up off the floor and went upstairs, had a shower together, and went to bed; exhausted but ecstatic.

When Angie woke up the next morning with Rollie still asleep half on top of her she smiled contentedly. As she recalled everything that happened last night, she was suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to call everyone she knew, and tell them that Rollie was going to marry her! Rollie was going to marry her! Rollie was going to marry her! She never got tired of saying it in her mind: ‘Rollie is gonna marry me! I’m gonna marry Rollie! I’m gonna become… Mrs. Ramirez-Tyler? Mrs. Tyler? Whatever, the name thing can wait until later!’ She thought. Angie grew more and more impatient the more she thought about how great this all was. She finally decided that she couldn’t wait any longer, so she leaned in to Rollie, and started kissing him all over his face. Rollie began to stir as Angie continued to kiss him. A huge smile spread over his face, but Rollie kept his eyes closed. “Mmm,” he purred. “What a nice way to wake up.” Rollie opened his eyes as he finished. Angie smiled at Rollie, but there was a hint of impatience in her eyes that she couldn’t hide from him. “What?” Rollie asked, searching Angie’s face intently, as if expecting to read the answer to his question there. “It’s only 7:00, and we have everything all ready to go for today in the van. What is it Ange?” Rollie questioned, as Angie continued to look at Rollie silently. “I want to call everyone I know right now, and tell them that you are going to marry me.” Angie replied, as if asking for some sort of favor. Rollie chuckled, and then kissed Angie and said, “Go ahead, I’m gonna go take a shower.” And with that, he got up and headed for the bathroom. “Want some company?” Angie asked seductively, raising her eyebrows at Rollie. “Well sure, but I thought you wanted to call everyone you know and tell them that I’m marrying you?” Rollie asked, faking a hurt attitude. “That can wait a little while.” Angie replied, jumping off the bed and running into the bathroom ahead of Rollie.

Rollie and Angie had gotten out of the shower, and were getting dressed, when Rollie’s stomach informed him that it was time for breakfast. This was seconded 30 seconds later by Angie’s stomach in like manner. Deciding that it would be best to quiet their stomachs up before they attempted any phone calls, Rollie and Angie had a hasty breakfast, before going to the phone. Angie told Bluey to put the speakerphone on, and was about to tell him to dial Lucinda at her hotel, when there was a knock at the door, which caused him to bark excitedly. “Window one Blue.” Rollie called to his electronic masterpiece, as he headed to the monitor to see who was at the door. “Uh, Ange? I think we can skip calling Luce, she’s right outside.” Rollie informed Angie as he was looking right at Lucinda’s expectant face through the monitor. “Open door Blue.” Rollie further ordered his pet, as he headed to the doorway to welcome Lucinda inside. “Hey Luce, come on in. You have great timing, you’ll be the first to hear the big news!” Rollie informed his guest, as he wrapped an arm around Angie who had come up beside him. “Big news?- Oh my God! I’m SOO happy for you guys!!” Lucinda squealed, she had taken one look at the identical smiles on their faces, and knew just knew, what this ‘big news’ was. She was about to run up and give them both a huge hug when something seemed to occur to her and she stopped. “I’m sorry, did you guys want to tell me?” She asked, figuring that they probably wanted to ‘announce’ this. Her eyes darted back and forth between Rollie and Angie as she waited impatiently for a reply. She REALLY wanted to give them a gigantic hug! Rollie and Angie looked at each other and then returned their attention to Lucinda. “Is it THAT obvious?” Rollie asked, wondering just how transparent he could be. “Well you guys moved in together, and you’ve been in love with each other for SUCH a looong time, and then you’re standing there smiling like that, and you say you have ‘big news’ so I just put 2 and 2 and 2 together.” Lucinda answered all in one breath. “But please, I want to hear you say it.” She prompted eagerly.

Angie and Lucinda were both a bit surprised when Rollie smiled proudly and announced, “Last night, after everyone went home, Angie asked me to marry her, and I said yes; we are engaged!” Rollie sounded so proud and happy you would have thought that he had won an award of some kind. Angie leaned her head on Rollie’s shoulder and looked at Lucinda, waiting to see what she thought. “Well, I have to say I expected as much from you Angela, -referring to her having asked Rollie- but I didn’t think Rollie would be quite this proud to admit that his girlfriend had asked him to marry her, and he agreed.” Lucinda said disbelievingly. “Why not?” Rollie asked, looking and sounding genuinely confused. “Cause I pegged you as being more macho than that.” Lucinda replied matter-of-factly. Angie burst out laughing at this comment, and Rollie and Lucinda joined in not because they found anything particularly funny, but because the general atmosphere was just so joyful that they found laughter highly contagious at the moment. After a minute or two they all stopped laughing, but Angie continued to grin significantly. “Obviously you don’t know Rollie as well as you thought you did Luce.” Angie said, giving Rollie a significant look as she did so. “You remember the time I bet you $50 you couldn’t walk around in a dress for a whole day Rol?” Angie asked barely able to restrain herself from laughing. “Yes Angela, I do remember, I wouldn’t be able to forget if I wanted to. Far too many witnesses for me to forget that.” Rollie said mortified. “I did make $50 though…” Rollie added, seeming to think that this last made up for the first.