Ally sat back and was flipping through the channels when she got a knock at the door.  She got up and answered the door. “Hey,” Howie said. “Hey yourself.” Ally smiled.  “Come on in.” Howie walked in and took a seat.  Ally curled up on the couch.  “So what’s up?  How was the studio?” “Good, good.  Listen,” Howie swallowed.  “Can we talk?” “Sure, what about?” Howie took a moment to gaze at her.  She was sitting on her legs, her arm leaning against the end of the couch.  She had a University of Florida T-shirt with a pair of gray sweatpants that had a hole in the knee.  Her brown curly hair fell loosely around her shoulders and her blue eyes shone as she looked at him.  “Well…” he started when the phone rang. “Hold on a sec,” Ally grabbed the phone.  “Hello?  Hey Ki… You’re kidding?… Oh shit… Yeah, yeah… I’ll be there in a few…. Alright, OK… Later.”  She hung up the phone.  “That was Kira.” “Everything OK?” “They brought the wrong shipment in the store and Mario is having puppies.  I got to get down there.”  She stood up and Howie followed.  “Is everything OK?  You said you wanted to talk.” “It can wait.  Go on, we can talk later.” Howie started for the door and opened it for Ally. “I’ll see ya later.”  Ally went to her car and drove off with Howie watching.  “I’m so in love with you Ally.”  He walked back to his house. ~*~ Howie lay in his bed, checked the alarm clock and saw it was 3am.  Groaning, he got up and went to his bay window.  He saw Ally’s car parked in front of her house and her lights were off.  He heaved a big sigh.  Maybe it was fate tell him not to reveal the truth.  Or maybe it was just a coincidence.  He knew he had to tell her.  Her mother always said to him as a child all the way to his adulthood: Don’t let opportunity pass you by, or it may not come back. He suddenly had an idea.  Sitting down at his desk, he grabbed a pen and paper and began to write. ~*~ “So you think it can work?” Howie looked at the other guys in the studio. “It’s amazing,” Kevin looked at the paper. “I agree,” said Nick.  “Boy when you write, you write.” “I think it should be on the album,” said AJ.  “But that’ll be for at least another couple of months before…” Brian started. “No, I’m not gonna wait for that,” Howie said.  “I want to record it as soon as possible, and play it for her.” “Well, we need some music first,” said Brian. “I called Andrew Fromm and faxed him the lyrics this morning.  He’s gonna fly out today and do the arrangement with me.  We should record it by next week.” “And then?” asked Kevin. “Hope and pray man,” Howie sighed.  “Hope and pray.” ~*~ “That’s it, you got it,” Timmy Allen said to Howie from the booth.  Howie took off his headphones and headed out to the others who were waiting. “When can we have it edited?” asked Howie hopefully. “Probably by the end of the day,” answered Timmy.  “Jesus, what’s the rush about?” “Oh, it’s for a special project that we’re working on,” said AJ.  “Actually it’s Howie’s project.” “OK, then I’ll get started on it now,” Timmy turned back to the booth.  The boys went out to the other room.  “So how are you gonna play it?” Brian asked. “I have an idea,” smiled Howie.  “So you’re not gonna tell us?” asked Nick. “Nope,” Howie crossed his arms.  “You’ll have to wait for the end result.” “Which will be when Ally can’t keep her paws off of him.” AJ patted Howie’s back. ~*~ The boys waited for hours  when Timmy came out with a CD case.  “Figured you’d want a copy of this.”  He handed it to Howie. “Thanks so much,” Howie gripped it for dear life. “No problem.  That must be some project you’re working on.” “More than you know,” said Brian smiling at Howie. Timmy left the room.  They all looked at Howie. Nick broke the silence.  “Well, what are you standing there for man?” “Yeah, go get ‘em tiger!” Brian punched Howie in the arm. Howie got his keys.  “Good luck D.” AJ said. “I’ll need it,” Howie left. “Aw young love,” Kevin cooed. Chapter 15 Contents Chapter 13