Al Bauer stood in his livingroom with the silent telephone reciever in his hand, wondering who it was on the other end. Pissed at the lack of response, he hung up. He had always hated phones, and now he hated them even more.

Since he was standing there in the buff, dripping all over the carpet, he felt a little uneasy when the doorbell rang. Grabbing his towel, he walked to the door and opened it. Realizing far too late, that it wasn't Eddie at the door. There he stood, wrapped only in a towel. He looked up to see his exgirlfriend standing surprised in the doorway. No matter how big a bitch she was, he would always love her. Without a word, she stepped in and closed the door behind herself. As he turned to walk back into the bathroom, she reached out and pinched him on the ass. He jumped, she laughed, and they both looked at each other, knowing somehow, they would always be friends.

"Get some clothes on, I need to talk to you, it's really important." she said.

Al headed for the bedroom to get dressed. He wondered what could be so important that Amy would be up and about at 6 am. She was a very beautiful woman, born without a sense of humor, and allergic to mornings. He could hear her mumbling about something, but concentrated instead on getting dressed. After having finished dressing, he walked up to the pile of clothes that had been ringing, and with what seemed to be a practiced swoop, lifted the entire pile and shoved it into the hungry awaiting mouth of the nearby clothes hamper.

Standing in front of the mirrored wall combing his hair, he saw for the first time, a lonely, middle aged guy staring back at himself. He reached out to touch the face of the aging man that was staring back, as if it were possible to do so through the glass. Before his hand touched the glass, Amy startled him and said, "Hey, Bowser, you got coffee made yet?" There were only two people that were still allowed to call him that. Amy was one, the other was Eddie Pierce.

"Hell no, the phone rang, then you showed up at the door. I haven't had time to make any yet." he snapped.

"Alright, alright, i'll make some, just hurry up, will ya?" replied Amy as she walked toward the kitchen.

Now dressed, but still feeling "unclean", Al emerged from the bedroom. Walking into the kitchen he sees Amy leaning over, looking into the cabinet below the sink. Fighting the urge to to reach out and grab her ass, he walked past her and plucked a mug from the small wooden mugtree on the counter. Amy closed the cabinet, stood up and turned, planting herself next to him. They stood silent...waiting for the coffee gods to spew forth their ebony nectar. The only sound, the gurgling of the coffee maker. Unable to wait another moment, Al does his daily liquid juggling act. Trying to slide the coffee pot out, and the coffee cup under the dripping coffee in an attempt to cheat time without making a mess...time wins, Al mumbles, and the mess magically appears. Amy stands viewing this circus of sorts, smiling. Still the clown, after all these years. These child-like qualities are what had attracted her to him in the first place. She was still attracted.

He turned, looking at her and trying to look stern, he said, "What the hell are you smiling at?"

Standing there with cup in hand, she simply shook her head and said, "You."

Seeing that his cup was now full, she held out her own. Al filled it and then attempted the juggling act in reverse. Again he loses.

Al turned to walk away and Amy grabbed a rag and stopped the small river of coffee that was headed for the edge of the counter. Having done that, she casually tossed the rag onto the stack of dirty dishes that seemed to be a viable part of the decor.

Following Al into the livingroom, she sat at the opposite end of the sofa and pulled her foot up onto the cushion. Al was still impressed with her graceful and fluid movements.

Looking up at her he said,"What brings you out so damned early in the morning?"

Amy visibly shuddered and said,"I had a very strange visitor last night."

Questioningly Al asked< "A visitor? Who? When?"

Amy looked up and said, "A woman, late last night. She said something about a cover-up of somekind."

Now interested, Al asked, "Are you kidding me? A cover-up? What kind of cover-up?"

"Look, you've known me a long time. You're the one that's always said I have no sense of humor and no, I'm not kidding.", Amy snapped, as her eyes began to puddle.

Al reached out and gently laid his hand on her shoulder and said soothingly,"Hey, hey, calm down kiddo, it's going to be ok. Just tell me what happened and we'll work it out...ok?"

"Work it out? What's to work out? This strange woman I've never seen before, comes to my door in the middle of the night, telling me that there is conspiracy, a cover-up of some kind, and that you, me, and Eddie could be in danger. How the hell am i supposed to calm down?", she quickly blurted.

"Well just exactly what did she say? How are you and Eddie involved in this? Hell, how am I involved in whatever it is?", Al asked as he got up for another cup of coffee. Looking at Amy he asked, "More coffee?"

Needing and wanting more, Amy handed him her cup and mumbled, "Thanks, yeah please."

Al took the cups and headed for the kitchen. Half way there, he stopped and turned, asking her "Did she say what any of this was about?"

Amy shook her head in a negative response. Al turned and resumed his quest for coffee. Although he could make no sense of Amy's story, the urgency in her voice and the fear in her heart, were in fact genuine.

As Al stood filling the cups, Amy sat on the sofa fiddling with an imaginary something and waited for him to return. The phone rang and shattered the silence, startling them both.

Al yelled, "Get that will ya?"

Amy complied and picked up the reciever, "Hello".

A mans voice on the other end asked, "What number is this?"

"What number are you calling?", Amy questioned.

"Who is this?", asked the voice.

"Who are you trying to call?", she asked.

The call ended as abruptly as it had began. Leaving Amy sitting there with a confused look on her face and upset with being hung-up on.

Al, still in the kitchen fetching the coffee yells, "Who is it?"

Still confused about what had just transpired, Amy turned on the sofa facing Al's general direction. Still holding the phone as it played it's one note concerto, she looked at Al and said, "I don't know. This guy just asked what nuber this was and i asked him what number he was calling, and he hung up".

"That's it? That's all he said?"

"Yep", she said, "That's all."

Al handed her the coffee cup and stood there a little dumbfounded, wondering what was going on. First he had recieved a call from "no one" this morning, and now this call. Whatever it was, it left Al feeling a bit apprehensive.

Amy took the coffee but never took her eyes off his. She saw the uneasiness. She felt an almost electric spark as she took the cup. She also saw the light go out in Als eyes.

Before Al could say anything else, before he could tell Amy about the shock that just ran down the back of his neck, or the way he had always felt about her, his heart stopped. He fell to the floor dead, eyes open, as if looking to her for forgiveness.