"They have gone into another dimension," Rollie said in a Rod Serling impression, "where hate is love and love is hate."

Angie nearly choked on the water as she laughed, grinning at him and passed him the bottle, "Do you think they resolved anything?"

"Tension…lust- love, who knows?" he replied, and put the cold bottle next to his forehead, "but those things do make you get a little hot, huh?"

"Umm, but worth it," Angie said, looking at him, her eyes bright as he noted her reddened cheeks and lips.

"Can you believe us?" Rollie said, laughing at himself.

"No- sometimes, I think it is a dream, a pretty wild one at that!" Angie said, as he pulled her forward into his arms and kissed the tip of her nose.

"It ain’t no Harlequin romance, Ms. Ramirez," he told her, back to his James Cagney impression.

"Thank God!" she said, her hand coming up to his face and resting there for a moment, "life’s too short and I’ve been through too much. I loved you so much when I was sixteen, it hurt, did you know that?"

"No, I was pretty much into other things…" Rollie began, his eyes dancing as she smiled and put her hand on his chest.

"Yeah, I’ll bet! Women of the world, not little sweet virgins like me," she told him, shaking her head.

"Angie, I was twenty-six years old. I could not, and would not look at you like that, well almost never…" he told her, his eyes rolling.

"It was hard, still- when I went away to college and couldn’t see you everyday, I was miserable. But Manny told me you were up to no good, as usual, remember Casey?" Angie asked him, recalling one of his girlfriends.

"Oh yeah, Casey…" he recalled, smiling as she grinned.

"Was there ever a time when you thought of me differently, not a teenager, back then?" she asked, coyly.

Rollie frowned for a moment, then smiled, "Yes…ah, senior in college, back from winter break. You brought that guy, Steve- Steve Minor- home with you."

Angie gasped. So, he had noticed! Steve had been her first lover. She had told herself then, that there would never be a Rollie and Angie future. She had decided to go on with her life- that she was no longer waiting.

"Oh, yeah" she said, "Steve…he was a nice guy."

"He was the one, wasn’t he?"

"What do you mean?"

"Lover…"

"How’d you know?" she asked, curious. She tried to recall how Rollie had acted during that winter break. Manny had seemed to like Steve okay. He had slept on the couch and Angie and he had been very cool around the home.

"Guys know…" Rollie told her, taking another swig from her bottle.

"Yeah, right- really, how did you know?"

"He touched you here," Rollie said, placing his hand on the back of her neck, "it was instinctive maybe, possessive…"

"Hardly proof!"

"yeah, and then there was the talk."

"What talk?"

"The Steve and Rollie talk," he said, matter-of-fact and turned around from her as the telephone rang.

"Yeah?" he asked, answering the telephone and Angie, now curious, stood behind him, "sure- that would be great. We’ll meet you there."

"Who are we meeting, and where?" Angie asked.

"Dingo and Dorinda- Dinner at the Top of The Sixes in an hour."

"What!"

"Not enough time?"

"Rollie, you gotta get really dressed up there. It’s all the way down in central Manhattan, and besides, you didn’t finish telling me, from before the phone call."

"What didn’t I tell you?" he asked her, smiling as he checked his wallet for cash.

"The Steve and Rollie talk. What was that?"

"Oh! It wasn’t anything really, just what were his intentions with you and all…"

"Oh God!" she groaned, remembering how Steve had acted that last day before he left to go home to his family for the rest of the break. He had seemed so detached from her. He didn’t want to even kiss her when he said goodbye to her that day.

"Did I ruin it for you?" Rollie asked, seeing her face.

"Yes- in fact, when I got back to school, Steve told me that we should start seeing other people! Rollie Tyler! What in the world did you say to Steve?"

"Nothing much…"

"It had to have been something!"

"I don’t remember now."

"Yes, you do!"

Angie stood before him, a force to be reckoned with and he shook his head, putting up his hands, surrendering.

"Okay! I told him that he had no business with you. That your father had betrothed you to me since birth and I was just waiting until your twenty-first birthday to stake my claim."

"Rollie! How could you? You were sleeping with all those women! And poor little me, I get my first love and what do you do? Scare him away!"

"But? You told me that I was your first love…" he told her, trying to confuse and tease her.

"You were jealous of him."

"Yes!"

"Then, why in Hell didn’t you tell me?"

"Because you were Manny Ramirez’s daughter, silly. He would have killed me. You were suppose to be like my sister."

"Looks like we both denied ourselves this relationship for a long time!" Angie said, softly.

"Wasn’t right until now, Angie. Fate, luck, destiny- it was meant for now- with the experiences that we have had until now as the instructional guide for the future," Rollie said, then hearing what he had just said, "oh, that was philosophical, wasn’t it? Bloody awful, eh?"

Angie crinkled her nose at him and nodded in agreement, "yes, and we have got to get ready! So, scoot! I have to find something in all that mess, you call a closet upstairs."

"I’ll grab the shower," he said, "besides, I get the impression that Dingo wants to tell us something."

"Like?"

"Maybe he’s announcing his own wedding plans!"

"Oh no!" Angie said, her voice high and protesting the thought.

"Why? What’s the matter with that?" Rollie asked, climbing the stairs.

"Dorinda makes my flesh crawl," Angie said, flatly.

"I don’t get it? You, Mira and Lucinda all seem to not care for her. What is it about her, the fact that she dances for a living?"

"No…it’s something else. It’s the way she looks at me and the way she looks at you."

"She is a flirty girl, Ange!"

"No kidding, but that’s not it."

"Woman’s intuition then?"

"Maybe…"

They reached the Top of the Sixes on Fifth Avenue, late about twenty minutes. They rode up the incredible 64 floors, Angie having to swallow several times as her ears popped.

"You look incredible!" Rollie remarked, as he lifted the spaghetti strap on Angie’s shoulder with his finger and then released it. Her dress was an aqua-blue shimmering, spandex that was form fitting to every curve in her body. Even with heels, she barely came up to his shoulders.

"Thanks, but I feel like I wearing my underwear only!" she remarked, looking down at her chest.

"No! Lovely, very sexy dress with a woman whose just a little chilled, that’s all," Rollie replied, with a smirk as Angie punched him and put her arms across her chest.

"This is one of Luce’s dresses, I should have known," Angie said, still feeling uncomfortable. She should have gone with frumpy but the dress was there, dry-cleaned, and available for wearing to just this kind of place.

The doors to the elevator opened and they could hear the piano softly being played in the background. The maitre-d showed them to their table, already occupied by a very dressed up Dingo and Dorinda who was eyeing Angie’s dress with a decidedly jealous eye.

"Wow! Nice dress, Angie!" Dingo remarked, as Rollie helped Angie to her seat and pushed her chair in for her.

"Yes, not an inch to spare, I must say!" Dorinda chimed in, as Angie looked at her and tightened her lips.

"Okay, what’s this all about?" Rollie said, sighing and putting his hand over the top of his champagne glass as the waiter offered to pour.

"Interesting before dinner drink, Dingo" Rollie said, his eyebrows raised, remembering his father’s bare pockets just a day ago.

"Well, we are celebrating, Rol!" Dingo remarked, touching Dorinda’s hand with his own. Dorinda smiled sweetly at him and then back to Rollie.

"Yes! I can’t wait…Dingo has asked me to marry him!"

"Oh God!" Rollie said, his voice betraying his shock and dismay.

"That’s won- wonderful!" Angie said quickly, stammering as she tried to cover for Rollie’s tone. Rollie had sat back in his chair, playing with his fork.

"Son, I thought you’d be happy for me!" Dingo told him, his anger starting to boil.

"Well, you thought wrong! You have only known this woman for a few weeks! My God, Dingo! She tried to rob you. She’s a bloody coochie dancer!" Rollie’s voice was raised and other diners had turned around, hearing him.

"I know that you could never see me in your mother’s place, Rollie. I am not trying to be that. I am just trying to find a little happiness with the man I love. I told you, the ring was a mistake, I understand that now. Taking it was wrong but Rollie, you have to understand! I love him!" Dorinda was tearing up and taking her napkin to her eyes.

"Oh jeez," Rollie said, his voice lowered and starting to see where the conversation and the dinner was headed.

"Son…I never would have believed this would happen but I have found the woman who I want to marry. After your mother died, I kept the ring next to my heart. But now! Well, I want the ring back, son. I want to give it to my future wife."

"What? Mum wanted me to have it!"

"Son, please- this means so much to me- to give the woman I love the real thing, you have to understand!"

Angie was holding her breath. She looked down at the paste ring and smiled suddenly. The ring was beautiful, even the paste but it had never really been for her. It had been made for a Greek girl over forty-five years ago. It had been won in a card game. It was not meant for her and she had known it from the beginning.

"I can’t believe this!" Rollie said, standing up as Dingo threw his napkin down on the table and under his breath, with his teeth clenched tightly together, said:

"Sit down!"

Angie pulled at Rollie’s arm as well, and he looked down at her, seeing she was not that upset. She smiled up at him, like the sun suddenly came into the window in the middle of the night, radiant and warming his darkened heart.

He sat. Dorinda got up and walked stiffly to the ladies room. Dingo’s face was ruddy and set hard. Angie pulled off the paste ring and handed it to Dingo.

"Here’s the paste. We can get you the real thing later tonight, if you want it," she told him as she reached for his hand and gave it to him.

Dingo smiled at her and she grasped his hand tightly. Rollie shook his head and then stood up.

"I’ve lost my appetite suddenly. Angie? You coming?"

Angie was torn between the two men. She felt badly for both. Dingo released her hand and smiled at her, "Thank you, Angie- you know what you do for love, don’t you?"

The words, the very same that Angie had said to him during the Loubar deception, after the bomb had gone off at Loubar’s house resounded in his mind. Angie got up and faced Rollie. His face was a mask of emotional turmoil. She took his hand and led him out, leaving his father at the table alone. There was a hushed silence in the restaurant as they headed for the elevator door.

They rode down without saying anything to each other. Once inside the car, Angie took a deep breath. Rollie put the keys in the ignition and just sat there then, not moving.

"It’s only a thing, Rollie. It wasn’t meant to be for me. Let him have his ring. It never felt right on my hand- it got stuck on Luce’s hand. It really is- Dingo’s ring."

"A cheating, lying bastard’s ring!" Rollie suddenly said, breaking his silence.

"Rollie! He’s your father…"

"Not much of one, ever really," Rollie replied, his eyes watering.

Angie knew he was thinking of his mother. She knew that he felt that Dingo had betrayed her wish about the ring. She touched his arm and he looked over at her, seeing her lovely face in the shadows of the night and smiled finally.

"What would I do without you?"

"Not much…" she replied, then grinned as she pulled out one of the cigars that Rick had given him in a box for Christmas the year before he died. Rollie had kept the box in the car. She slid off the cigar band from one and handed it to Rollie. It was gold foil with a Cuban logo etched on it. She held up her left hand and he smiled, genuinely like a little boy as the lines in his forehead lessened. He placed the gold foil band over her left ring finger, it loosely fitting.

"Ah, a Cuban engagement ring, what more could a little exile like me want?" she told him softly as she kissed him warmly and smiled.

"It’s illegal though," he told her, crunching it down to fit tight on her finger.

"Well, like father, like son!" she remarked, shrugging her shoulders.

"Forget about him, right now," Rollie told her, "come on, we’re going to get something to eat where I can loosen up a bit." He undid his tie, unbuttoned his shirt at the neck and she laughed.

They ate at a small Italian restaurant called Mama’s near the loft. Rick and Luce had eaten there many times but never Rollie or Angie. They ate and enjoyed themselves, not thinking about the earlier night’s encounter.

Back at the loft, Dingo was waiting. Rollie went over to Blue and pulled the real Heart of God ring out of his battery pack. He handed it over to Dingo without a word as Dorinda seemed to jump in excitement. The older man slipped the ring on Dorinda’s finger with ease. Angie smiled for them as Rollie left the room, heading for his chamber.

"Thanks Angie for understanding," Dingo told her, kissing her on the cheek as Dorinda did the same.

"No problem, and don’t worry about Rollie. He’ll come around, I know it."

"I don’t know. His sulks like this could last for days, as a boy," Dingo told her, remembering his moody son.

They left happy and Angie told Blue to turn off the lights as she headed up the stairs, glancing at the chamber. She could hear the sound of aborigine tribal music and knew he was trying to resolve this somehow like Mangela had taught him. She would not disturb him, she knew him too well.

She took off the dress, slipped off her shoes and took a shower. She climbed into bed, looking at the empty pillow beside her. Glancing down at her makeshift cigar band ring, she smiled. For the first time, she felt that this engagement and the marriage that was to follow were now all her own, not belonging to anyone else.

She stirred and awoke briefly when Rollie finally came to bed. He laid on his side away from her at first and she took a deep breath and turned away from him on her side. She would not try to talk to him until he was ready.

She was drifting back to sleep, her eyes heavy with ensuing slumber when she heard him shift in bed and felt his arms come around her, his lips on the back of her neck. She moved her hips and pushed back into him, arching her back slightly, feeling him take a deep breath.

"You are the most precious thing in my life, Angie," he told her, in little more than a whisper. Angie smiled and kissed his arm that was wrapped around her snugly. He added then, "Don’t ever change…"

She turned around then, staring into his face, and kissed him softly. He seemed lost and somewhat saddened.

"I want to marry you, Rollie. You tell me when- and I don’t care about any details. I would marry you tomorrow in a potato sack with twine wrapped around my waist. I don’t need fancy- I don’t need big. I don’t care about crowds or dinners or showers or any of that stuff. I care about you."

"Angie…"

Rollie pulled her into his arms, his mouth seeking hers with a crushing hunger. His lovemaking knew no bounds as she responded to his passion and his strength in their committed bond. She knew that Rollie and she could never have had a long, drawn out courtship for they had always been soul mates. Once the realization had hit them both, it had been the easiest and most natural thing to love each other, spiritually and physically.

"Oh," he said, falling back on his pillow, spent and drained as Angie drew up her legs, bending her knees and closed her eyes.

"It must be the new ring, Rollie," she remarked, not opening her eyes as she smiled, "it’s got magic, mystical powers."

"indeed!" he replied, smiling as his arm reached out across the bed and found her hand as it rested across her chest, "I’m going to start looking for an exact replica in gold tomorrow."

She laughed as did he but they were both interrupted by the sound of rapid knocking on the door downstairs.

"Who could that be?" Angie asked, drawing the sheet around her tightly.

"Dunno, but I’m about to give them a good tongue lashing!" Rollie said, in warning. He got up, putting his robe on as Angie sat up and reached for her own.

She could hear a very panicked voice downstairs and she raced down the stairs to find Rollie with Dingo. Dingo’s right eye was swollen shut and his face had been plummeted with blows like he had been pistol-whipped.

"She’s gone! The ring’s gone too!" he was shouting and then he saw Angie, her mouth opened in shock.

"Ange, how ‘bout putting on the kettle. Dorinda has disappeared with the ring. Dingo thinks she was kidnapped by the Greek’s men," Rollie told her as he motioned his father to a seat.

She complied but she had her doubts that Dorinda was taken. More likely, she had take the ring to sell for herself… Angie thought to herself.

There was another knock on the door and Rollie answered it. A six-man squad of men came in, with FBI jackets. Rollie recognized one of the men however as he walked right by without saying a word.

"Cuff him and take him out to the car," he told one of the other men. Two agents put cuffs on Dingo as Rollie started to protest. Michael gave him a stern warning look, a silencer in effect. As they pulled out of the loft, Michael stayed behind.

"Look, Rollie- I have procedure to follow here. I was ordered to bring Dingo in tonight- looks like we are too late. The ring has already gotten back into the hands of Stephanos Skartsonis."

Michael gave Angie a quick look and then backed out of the door to join the rest of the team.

"Looks like Dingo isn’t going to take that trip down the aisle after all, Rollie," Angie said as Rollie shut the door and looked at her whitened face.

"You know what? I’m not going to say I told you so, to him…that would be too easy," Rollie said, his anger still placed on his father.

Angie sat on the bottom steps of the loft and yawned, "There must be something wrong with me, Rollie."

"What? Why’s that?" he asked her, turning around, looking down at her and seeing her perplexed expression.

"Because, this all seemed so contrite- as if Michael and Dingo were in on this together."

Rollie looked to the door and thought about what she had just said."That would be a twist- my father on the right side of the law?" he commented, folding his arms across his chest and frowning.