Lorraine bustles into Mercy Hospital, late as usual. She hated working Sundays, then again...she hated working altogether. She tries to sneak past the head nurse when she hears her call out her name.

"Nurse Miller," the head nurse called out. This time, Lorraine noticed that she didn't hear the warning undertone in her voice, the tone that says 'you're a stone's throw away from a pink slip'. Lorraine stops dead in her tracks.

Lorraine turns around. "Yes?"

"There's a delivery for you at the front desk. You may pick it up now, since you're already late." The Nurse was stern, but there was a trace of a...what, a smile on her face? Lorraine found this to be quite disturbing as she walks to the front desk.

"Hi. I'm told there was a delivery for me here?" She notices the beautiful white roses on the desk. She leans over and inhales their fragrance. She turns her attention back to the receptionist. "So, where is it?"

"You're smelling it!" The Receptionist said, barely able to contain herself. "Read the card, it's in..." The Receptionist sees Lorraine look of disgust at her having read the card before she got a chance to. "...I think it's in the center somewhere." The Receptionist walks off, hoping she covered her tracks.

Lorraine, rolling her eyes, turns her attention back to the roses. She found a smile crossing her face. 'I wonder who sent me flowers...and why?' She thought as she fished out the card. As she opened it, she read the note and after a few seconds of smiling, a frown covered her face. She picked up the roses straight out of the vase, and walks back to the Head Nurse.

"Can I have the afternoon off? There's something I need to take care of...an emergency. Thanks a lot, you're so understanding." Lorraine never gave the woman a chance to reply as she walked to her locker, knowing what she had to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stefan stands in his wine cellar, staring at the picture of Lasha longingly, wondering if he would ever be blessed enough to have anything he really wanted in this world.

Katherine's call brings him out of his reverie. He covers the picture just before Katherine enters.

Katherine walks over to him. "Hey, what have you been up to?" She leans up to plant a kiss on his cheek.

Stefan managed to cover his uneasiness. "I was just down here choosing a wine for dinner tonight.

Katherine looks at him suspiciously. "You never pick the dinner wine yourself, you usual get a servant or Mrs. Landsbury to do it. What gives?"

Stefan smiles at this woman who loves him so blindly. "Well, I wanted to personally choose the wine for this evening, since this evening will be very special..."

"Really? May I ask why?" Katherine walks closer to him and wraps her arms around his waist. She looks up at him and he almost chokes on the sincerity in her eyes. He gingerly removes her arms from around his waist and takes her hands in his.

"Patience, my dear...patience." With that he kisses her hands. "Let's go back upstairs." He moves to exit but Katherine lingers there, noticing for the first time the tarp that's covering something. She looks at it quizzically before turning to follow Stefan upstairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lizzy stands in front of Garcia's apartment door as she wills her heart to stop beating so fast. She smoothes her outfit one more time and rings the bell.

Garcia comes to the door, and Lizzy almost hyperventilates at the sight of him. She takes in the vision from head to toe, from they way his hair, freshly cut lays on the side of his neck...the way his black t-shirt was clinging to every muscle in his finely tooled chest; the way his jeans fit every nook and cranny of his lower body...

Lizzy realizes she must have been staring at him for quite some time, when Alex had to bring her back to the moment.

"Elizabeth...I'm equally pleased to see you." He smiles as he sees her blush. "Come on in." He stepped aside to allow her in.

Lizzy, feeling uncomfortable being alone with an actual 'man', tries to make light of her ever present panic she feels rising. "Great place you have here, Alex. Typical bachelor pad, but I think it needs a woman's touch."

"If it had a woman's touch, it wouldn't be a bachelor's pad." Alex says as he takes her coat and leads her to the sofa to sit. "Can I get you something to drink? Your usual, perhaps?"

Lizzy realized he meant the 'vodka on the rocks' he thinks they shared at the PC Grill. "Well, I'm really thirsty, do you have anything a little lighter?"

Garcia runs down the list. "Lemonade, Iced Tea..."

"Lemonade will be fine." Lizzy says.

"Coming right up. Make yourself at home. He says as he walks off to get her request.

Lizzy sits there awhile, not knowing what to do. 'Well, I guess I'll do as he says...make myself at home.' She gets up and walks around, looking at the pictures Garcia has around the apartment. She notices the weight bench in the corner with the free weights around it.

"Well, that explains the incredible body..." Lizzy says aloud. She didn't hear the footsteps behind her.

"Why...thank you." Garcia says from behind her.

Lizzy freezes as she realizes that he had heard her. She figured she was caught so she may as well play along with it. She turns to him and takes the lemonade he hands to her. "I was just admiring your..."

Her train of thought trails off as she stands face to chest with Garcia. 'Did he wear that t-shirt to try and drive me crazy?' She asked herself. She brings herself back to her sentence...

"...your dumbbells." Lizzy finally finished her sentence. "I can safely assume you work out on a regular basis. Keep up the good work, it's paying off." Lizzy says as she runs her hand across his chest. She mentally slapped herself upside the head. 'I can't believe I just did that!'

Garcia places his hand over the hand she has placed against his chest. "Well, a man has to do something to...work off tension, you know?" He stands there, stroking her hand with his thumb.

Lizzy almost drops her lemonade at the implication. 'You're in waaay over your head, girl!' She willed herself to not be so scared as Garcia stood there, gazing at her. She decided she'd better put some distance between the two of them. Smiling, she removes her hand from under his and walks across the room, sitting again on the sofa.

"So, what's for dinner?" She asks, trying desperately to change the subject.

Garcia can tell when a conversation's being re-routed. He walks over and sits, incredibly close to her, on the couch. "Well, I realized after you hung up that I didn't get any suggestions from you on what you would like. And...seeing that I didn't have a number where I could reach you..." he paused to let that last sentence sink in. "...I decided to take my chances. Do you like Spanish?"

Lizzy figured she would eat ants sautéed in garlic sauce, as long as it was with him. "Well, I can't say I've ever tried it, but it's worth a shot."

"You've never eaten Spanish food before? Well, you're in for a treat!"

Lizzy smiles. "Great! I love being introduced to new things...and cultures."

"Well..." Garcia says as he slips his arm around the back of the sofa, his hand falling across her shoulders. The feel of his fingertips playing up and down her arm almost sent Lizzy running for the front door. "...you know what they say about the Spanish male culture..."

"No...what do they say?" Lizzy tries to hide her fear, which was slowly being replaced with desire, the longer he sat this close to her.

Garcia picks up on this, and decided play with it awhile. "They say our appetites are insatiable..."

Lizzy's eyes widen. "Really..."

Garcia smiles. "For food, that is. So...are you hungry?"

Lizzy, looking in his eyes, not sure what she was hungry for. "I...I'm starved!" Lizzy said, a little too suggestively.

"Good, then let's eat!" Garcia gets up and extends his hand to Lizzy. Lizzy, embarrassed by her reading more into his words, takes his hand and he leads her to the dining room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katherine tips down the cellar stairs, praying no one was down there or no one heard her. She had snuck the key from the vase Stefan always dropped it in when he came up from here. She opens the door to the cellar and closes it lightly behind her. She walks over to the tarp and stands there for a moment.

She wasn't sure if she wanted to know what was under there or not, for she knew it probably had some meaning to why she always found Stefan here. She figured she was either overacting, or she could be hitting the nail on the head...the only way she would find out is to lift the tarp and see what it concealed.

Katherine stepped over to the tarp and, with an unsteady hand, lifted it in one sweep to reveal the picture of Lasha. She stood there, staring at the portrait of the woman she knew to be Laura Spencer. She wondered why Stefan would leave a picture of Nikolas' mother in the cellar. She wondered why Stefan would have a picture of Laura at all.

Suddenly, all the remarks from Helena came flooding back to her. '...you're just a replacement...' '...Stefan still prefers blondes, huh Ms. Bell?'

Katherine stares at the picture and everything comes back to her. Even the few warnings from Luke Spencer about how Stefan changes mistresses like he changes socks, all because he can't have the true one he...'

Katherine gasps as the truth, or what she believes could be the truth, comes to her with such a force that she is almost knocked off her feet. She quickly covers the portrait with the tarp and runs out of the wine cellar, forgetting to lock the door behind her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katherine comes back into the dining room, where Stefan and Nikolas are waiting for her.

"Where did you disappear to?" Stefan asks Katherine, who is looking a bit piqued. He notices her pale complexion. "Katherine, are you alright? You look as if you've seen a ghost."

Katherine looks at him. 'Yes, the ghost of Laura...one that will haunt me forever.' She decided not to share that thought with him or Nikolas. Her glance at Nikolas tells her he is in his own world. She turns to Stefan and looks him in the eye with all the courage and happiness she could muster...or pretend.

"I was just in the restroom, freshening up." Katherine says, a little too cheery. Stefan looks at her, wondering why would she have a need to freshen up when she'd only been there for fifteen minutes. He decided to ignore the thought.

"Well, sit dear, dinner is served." He pulls Katherine's chair out for her and sits directly across from her. Nikolas takes his place, not really acknowledging that he's a part of this dinner party.

Stefan notices Nikolas' distance. "Nikolas, is there something the matter?"

Nikolas turns to him and, with brutal honesty, asks, "What is the purpose of my presence here again?" With that, he turns and looks away. He had told Stefan earlier that he had plans with Sarah that evening, but Stefan insisted that he join he and Katherine for dinner...something about an announcement. He really didn't care one way or the other, for Katherine and his Uncle's relationship had been confusing him for quite some time now. He faded off mentally as he wondered what Sarah was up to now...

"Nikolas, am I interrupting?" Stefan looks at his nephew. Stefan is still not used to his nephew and this 'teenage love' sentiment.

Nikolas draws himself back to the task at hand. Whether he wanted to be here or not, he had to at least show interest in his Uncle's request for his presence, if only for Katherine. He smiles and looks at Stefan. "So, you said something about an announcement tonight. Let's hear it!"

Stefan is caught off guard. "The announcement will wait until after dinner. For now, let's enjoy this wonderful meal that Mrs. Landsbury has prepared for us. " Stefan glances at Katherine and realizes that she is in a world of her own. He looks at her, with her eyebrows knitted together and her lips set in a straight line, she looked as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.

"Katherine?" Stefan says in a whisper. "Are you alright?"

Katherine looks at him, trying to choke down the discomfort of her heart stuck in her throat. "I'm fine." She managed to whisper. She feigned cheerfulness, hoping she would be able to make it through dinner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jax was in his penthouse. He's on the phone, with some business proposition when there's a pounding on the door.

"I'll call you back." He says into the cellular as he walks over to the door. He swings it open to find Lorraine, with the roses he had sent to her earlier, in hand.

"So, I see you got my delivery." Jax said with a smile. He notices that she's not smiling back as she lets herself in.

Lorraine turns to face Jax. "Yes, I received your 'delivery'. Do you really think that was necessary?" Lorraine asks, her defense face in tact.

Jax looks at her, puzzled. "I never looked at a dozen roses as being necessary as much as being something that's done just because..."

"Just because?" Lorraine cuts into his thought. She walks over to him. "Look, Mr. Jacks, I understand that you always feel you have to be the big rich guy and lavish gifts all over women but let's get one thing straight...I am NOT Brenda Barrett."

Jax looks at her as if she were mad. Lorraine gives him a huff. "Oh, don't think I don't read the society pages. You 'whisk' Ms. Barrett off to an island in your 'private jet', just for dinner...you fly in oysters from...wherever, just because she 'asks' you to. I know what you do with women, Mr. Jacks. And if you by any chance think that I am gonna let you..."

"Wait...wait a minute." Jacks interrupts her this time. He looks down in her eyes, seeing the defense that's built there, and he feels sorry for her. He doesn't know how tall and solid that wall was, nor from how many years or heartbreaks or lovers back it started, but it was there, and he knew it would be as tough to break down as the Berlin Wall.

"First of all, call me Jax, this Mr. Jacks stuff doesn't sit well with me. Second of all, Lorraine...I'm not trying to buy you, convince you, or deal with you like Brenda or any other woman I know. You are, believe it or not, your own woman, and one would have no need to buy you."

He walks away from Lorraine, talking in revelation to himself more than anyone else. "I know I always had this obsession with making Brenda feel like a little girl with a new toy. The look a gift or a sudden surprise would bring to her face was all I needed to get through the day. It became a habit, then it became a way of life between us...eventually, even she grew weary of it."

He turns back to face Lorraine. "But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to treat you like a lady should be treated, or send you gifts or nice roses because I enjoyed your company the other night. Or better yet, call you and ask if I could be lucky enough to have you join me for dinner again sometime."

Lorraine, feeling a little foolish about her ranting, smiles in spite of herself. She looks in his eyes and finds herself drifting. She quickly brings herself back to her rock hard defensive self.

"I see what you're doing." She says critically. "You think you can just say anything you want and a woman is going to just fall at your feet because you're what...good looking AND rich? Well, like I said, Mr. Jacks...I'M NOT BRENDA!"

Lorraine slams the roses into Jax and heads out the door, slamming it behind her. Jax looks at the crushed roses against his chest, then looks up at the closed door Lorraine just walked out of.

He stops to think about what she said for a moment. 'Am I that obvious?' He says, a little disgusted with himself. He throws down the roses and darts out the door, trying to catch Lorraine.

He gets to the elevator just as the doors are closing. He rushes and puts his hand between the elevator doors, causing the doors to open again.

Lorraine rolls her eyes. "Don't you know you could lose a hand that way?" She sighs deeply in disgust as he gets into the elevator with her.

Jax pulls the 'stop' button and the elevator comes to a halt. Lorraine looks at him in mock amazement.

"I'm sorry." Jax says, coming closer to her with sincerity. "I'm sorry if I made you feel like a 'replacement Brenda', but believe me..."

She looks up at him, waiting for an explanation...wishing for a reason that would give her permission to jump on this golden-hair god. She kept her steel look, not flinching at the fact that he was this close to her.

"Believe what?" She says, not responding to her urge to find ways to play with that cleft in his chin.

Jax smiles at her. "Believe that I'm moving on...on from Brenda and trying to find my own way. I may need some help, though." He stops to look in her eyes. "Do you think you could help me, Lorraine?"

"What about when she comes back? What then, Mr. Jacks?" Lorraine says. She refused to give in to this without a fight. "What happens when she 'flits' back into town, into your life again..."

Jax looks down at the elevator floor. "I'm not going to lie to you, Lorraine. I've been with Brenda for years, whether it was just emotionally, physically or mentally, but I've been... SHE'S been in my life for years now. I'm tired of the games, Lorraine. I just want to be normal, you know, be ordinary. To fall in love with an ordinary woman who is not going to make me feel like I am the only thing in the world that makes her happy...yet I can be the biggest source of happiness in her life. Someone who has a life dependent of me, but depends on me to fill her life as well. Can you understand what I'm saying?"

Lorraine figured she really couldn't understand what he was saying because he lost her at the 'fall in love' part. Lorraine stopped to take an impromptu inventory of her life. Had she ever really been in 'love'? She really couldn't answer that question.

"I understand." She said to Jax. "And are you saying that you want to see if I can help you fulfil this type of thing with me?"

Jax lets out a sigh. "I'm not saying anything right now, Lorraine. I just need time..."

"This is what I think...Jax." Lorraine says, walking up to him. "I think you need time to heal...from Ms. Barrett and all the hell and heartache she's caused you. Then you need time to get yourself back on your feet as your 'own man' again. Then, after you've accomplished these feats, you can think about falling in love again. But until then, Jax, you're going to be forever the 'prince charming', who feels he has to come riding in to save Cinderella from her life of woes. You don't want that, do you?" Lorraine looks in his eyes, seeing the hurt there, something she knew she could associate with.

Jax smiled at her. "How'd you get to be so smart?"

Lorraine smiles back. "I don't know, life teaches you some lessons you can't forget, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I know." Jax says.

"That and Psych 101." Lorraine puts her hand on his shoulder. "But if you need me to help you along the way...hey, I'm bored out of my mind in this one-horse town, and it looks like you've run out of women in Port Charles to pamper so...I guess I could help you out a little." She looks at his ruined silk shirt where she had crushed the damp roses. "Oh, I'm sorry about the shirt, and the roses. I guess I'm just a little..."

"Defensive?" Jax finished for her. "No, really...I understand. No one wants to be '2nd best'. Don't worry, Lorraine, you're not. You're one in a million. And you don't have to worry about the shirt, but I guess this means you owe me a dinner date now, huh?"

Lorraine laughs. "Sure, Jax. Dinner with you, that's a fair trade."

Jax smiles. "Tonight?

"Tonight." Lorraine answers.

"Great", Jax says, "and this time, we'll save getting drunk 'til after dinner."

The both burst out in laughter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lizzy and Alex are sitting on the sofa after dinner.

Lizzy, feeling a little less awkward, is talking more than usual.

"Dinner was fantastic! Thank you, Alex...you're great in the kitchen!"

Garcia smiles. "Well, the evening isn't over yet, we have to dance this meal off!" He gets up and walks over to the stereo. He puts on Salsa and walks back over to Lizzy. "Come on, let's see what you've got!"

Lizzy takes the challenge. "Okay, I'll show you. Anything you can do I can do better." She hadn't noticed that she was no longer nervous.

"We'll see about that!" Garcia laughs as he takes her hand and starts the Meringue. Lizzy is following his lead for awhile, until their feet get tangled together and Lizzy almost trips. Garcia grabs her before she goes down.

"I've got you." Garcia whispers, holding her against his body in his arms. Lizzy has her arms wrapped around his neck and she's breathing heavily.

"Well," Lizzy says, between breaths, "I guess I'm not cut out for this stuff after all. You, on the other hand, are a born natural. You're so light on your feet. Well, you won't be now...not if you have to carry me around..."

"Believe me, I don't mind..." Garcia says. He's just inches from her face, her blue eyes looking like pools of the ocean. "You're as light as a feather." There's something about her that he found so...endearing, yet so innocent. Then there's this side that drives him crazy.

Lizzy looks him directly in the eyes. There was something about him that intrigued her. 'Could it be that he is gorgeous?' Lizzy thought to herself. She found herself examining his face closely, focusing in on his full, warm mouth. She thought of him kissing her, but she figured she would pass out if he did. There was no way she would be able to kiss him first, so he would have to kiss her first. Though she told herself this, she somehow found herself lacing her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. She realized that he wasn't really holding her to him as much as she was holding herself against him.

Garcia notices that she has sent the right signals to give him a green light, but he was still apprehensive...there was just something about her...

Lizzy feels he was trying to drive her crazy, holding her this close, smelling his cologne... feeling his beautiful body against hers... and not doing anything about it. She continued to stare at his mouth again, wondering how it would feel. She bit her lip at the thought of it, which was enough to drive Garcia over the edge.

He closes in on her and plants his lips on hers, holding her so close that she felt she couldn't breathe. She felt his hands as they around her waist. Lizzy reveled in the feel of his mouth on hers. It felt sure, confident...not like the memory she had of her first kiss with Brian in the eighth grade. His sloppy, goofy attempt to be romantic was nothing to prepare her for this! She felt her hands slide down his shoulders and run down his chest.

Lizzy thought she would surely die when his lips left hers and slid down until they found the small of her throat. She let out a small gasp as he trailed kisses along her neck. He then wrapped his arms around her and put his face in her hair, taking in her smell. She figured she'd already lost her mind for being here and kissing him, she'd may as well go all the way. She mimicked his actions by kissing him in that spot right under his jawbone, the spot that Cosmopolitan magazine, which she read faithfully, had told her time and time again was a man's weakness. Garcia responds by letting out a small groan. Lizzy, all the while, telling herself she'd better stop playing around, couldn't will herself to stop. The thought that she was able to elicit a reaction in a grown man made her feel like she could possibly handle this situation. She had no idea how wrong she was!

Garcia's hands came up from her waist and landed at the buttons on her blouse. Before she realized what was happening, he was already on the fourth button. He brought his lips down to meet hers again, this time with a deeper and stronger hunger than before.

Lizzy was so deep into his kiss, she had no idea what this was actually leading to.

"Oh, Liz..." Garcia moans against her lips.

His referral to her as 'Liz' struck a cord in Lizzy. She suddenly came out of her euphoria and realized what was going on. She looked down and noticed for the first time that her blouse was unbuttoned. She also noticed that her hands had somehow gotten under Alex's t-shirt. She pulls away now, realizing this was going further than she ever thought imaginable.

Garcia, realizing the change of moods, asks, "Elizabeth, are you okay?"

Lizzy, buttoning her blouse and tucking it back in, says in a panic. "Um...it's getting late, I have to go home. Right now."

"But Elizabeth, it's still early..."

"Well, it's a school night and..." Lizzy catches herself. She wonders if he caught what she said. She didn't have to wonder for long.

"School night?" he asks.

Lizzy makes a quick recovery. "Yeah, I'm taking classes at PCU. I'm used to hitting the books and then going to bed early. I'm off tonight but, I still need to get home and prepare for tomorrow..."

Garcia notices her suddenly uneasiness. "Elizabeth, is there something wrong?"

Lizzy looks in his eyes. She was so sorry she had lied to him now, because she could feel that she was falling for this guy. "No, nothing's wrong. I'm just...tired and I need to get home, that's all."

Garcia tried to hide his disappointment. "Okay, then, let me take you home..."

"No!" Lizzy blurts out. "I mean, I can catch a cab..."

"Elizabeth, we've been through this before and it just doesn't make sense. I can just take you home."

Lizzy refuses to give in. "No, no I'm going to make it home fine. I'll take the cab. I'll hail one downstairs."

Garcia gives in. "Okay, I'll go down and wait with you."

"Sure, that'll be fine." Lizzy takes her coat he hands her. Garcia walks her to the door, completely in the dark about this girl and her sudden split personality.

Lizzy steps out of the doorway and walks to the elevator. She was able to steal a moment alone to calm herself. 'What have I gotten myself into?' Lizzy thought, panicked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinner was over and Stefan, Katherine and Nikolas were in the sitting room. Stefan had poured champagne for them all. He handed Nikolas a glass of champagne, Nikolas raised his eyebrows in question, as he took the glass.

Stefan smiled at his nephew. "I figured for this announcement, you could have a little champagne. After all, Nikolas, you are almost eighteen years old."

Nikolas smiled as he thought of the fact of finally being an adult and at his Uncle's unusual light mood. 'Something's going on here...' Nikolas thought to himself as he waited for the announcement.

Stefan turned towards Katherine, smiling. He knew what he had to do. He figured if he could just move on with life, this time make it work, he would be able to banish his demons, the demons that tortured him every time he thought back on his past life, and the woman who shared it.

"Katherine..." Stefan says, "I love you...that has never been questioned in my heart..."

Katherine felt her stomach churn. 'This can't be happening' she thought to herself as the realization of the 'announcement' finally came to fruition.

"...and I know that your undying love for me makes me the man to be envied by the world." Stefan takes her champagne from her and places it on the table with his. He reaches into his breast pocket and pulls out a small velvet box. Katherine's breath catches as he opens the lid of the box and reveals the most beautiful diamond ring she had ever seen.

"Katherine, you have made me the luckiest man in the world...I would like to make you the happiest woman." Stefan gets down on one knee and looks up at Katherine, eyes shining.

"Marry me, Katherine."

Katherine stands there, staring back and forth from Stefan to Nikolas. She tries to read the expression on Nikolas' face, but she's unable to. Nikolas looks at Katherine. It seemed as if she were trying to get him to tell her what her response should be.

Katherine looked back at Stefan, down on one knee, looking up at her. This is the moment she had always wished for. True it would be the third or fourth time...she tended to forget, but this would be the first time she would really be love. Tears came to her eyes as she looked at Stefan.

"I...I can't. No, Stefan...I can't marry you. I'm sorry." She turns and exits the room.

Stefan sits there, on one knee, holding the ring in the case, wondering what caused this most unsuspected reaction in the woman that he believed loved him. He turned to Nikolas, who didn't understand what was going on any more than Stefan did. Nikolas turned away, not knowing what to say.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nikolas walked to the guesthouse and knocked on the door. Katherine, face swollen from the steady crying she's been doing for the past hour, refused to open the door.

"Katherine!" Nikolas shouts. Stefan was back at the main house, still brooding, trying to figure out why she had turned down his proposal. 'He can be quite arrogant at times...' Nikolas thought. He figured Stefan would have gone looking for Katherine instead of trying to come up with a feasible cause to why she had refused to spend the rest of her life with him.

Nikolas continued to pound on the door. "Katherine...please o...open the door. Please."

Katherine, never being able to resist the pleas of the dear boy, walks over to the door. She tries to fix herself as much as she could, then opened the door. Nikolas stands there, waiting for an invitation in. Katherine senses this and, stepping to the side, allows him to enter. Nikolas comes in, turning to face Katherine.

Katherine could barely keep her voice steady. "He's still in love with your mother, Nikolas." Her voice began to tremble, as did she.

Nikolas looks at her, for the first time finding reason to pity Katherine. He walks over to her and, taking her hand, looked her straight in the eye. "I know, Katherine...I know."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lizzy and Garcia get downstairs and a cab almost immediately pulls up. Garcia opens the door for her then turns back to her on the sidewalk.

"I had a really great time tonight, Alex ." Lizzy says. She can see confusion on his face. 'He's not getting the right signals...he's going to start getting suspicious. You'd better fix this!'

Lizzy walks up to him, wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him full on the lips. Garcia's arms wrap around her tiny waist and pulls her close to him. Lizzy feels herself drowning in his kiss and reminds herself that she'd better get out of here while she had the chance.

Lizzy pulls away from him. "Goodnight, Alex. I'll call you."

Garcia looks in her eyes. "You'd better." He then cocks his head to the side and looks at her through squinted eyes. "You know, you're a very secretive young lady, Ms. Nicholson. I guess I'll just have to hang around long enough to figure you out."

Lizzy smiles and, while getting in the cab, says, "I was hoping you would say that."

Garcia stands there and realizes that he's, again, watching her fade off into the sunset, just as 'in the dark' as the first time, not knowing where she was going or what she was doing. He didn't like being in the dark, and something was making him very suspicious and he didn't know what it was.

"Oh, but I intend to find out," Garcia says aloud, as he turns and goes back into his building.

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