The bell rang, yet again, and Irene happily hopped up from the couch she was sitting on to pass out treats to all of the little trick-or-treaters.

"Oh, aren't you a cute little ghost! and look at you, are you a pirate?" The little boy and little girl grinned as they accepted the small handful of mini candy bars that Irene placed in each of their pumpkin pails.

"Ellie, come and look at these costumes, they're adorable."

Ellie Bartowski stood-up too fast from the couch and felt just a tad dizzy, after one too many glasses of wine. She'd been spending the evening with her friends from work. Irene had invited them all over for drinks and snacks while she passed out treats to the children in her neighborhood. Her girlfriends giggled and gossiped and drank wine while nibbling at the candy treats and other snacks each had brought to share.

Ellie was not ready to attend the annual Halloween party at her apartment complex. She'd always done that with Devon and honestly needed a break from it this year. She wasn't in the mood for getting dressed up in some ridiculous costume and parading around the courtyard. This year, after she and Devon had split, she decided to just enjoy Halloween like it used to be. A holiday for children. It seemed it was getting so out of hand and more and more adults and teens were using it as an excuse to parade in lingerie and dress as bold as they could, pushing the envelope to absurdity. She liked the idea of spending the evening at Irene's home, enjoying the wide-eyed wonderment of the children trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. No outlandish or inappropriate costumes here. Just little boys and girls dressed as Batman or Superman, or a Princess or a Pirate. Nothing over the top here. No scantily clad adult women or men prancing about making a spectacle of themselves.

Ellie joined Irene at the front door and gushed at how cute the kids were. She noticed a proud Mother and Father standing at the curb, patiently waiting for their children. "The costumes are adorable! Did you make them yourself?" she asked.

"Yes, I just finished sewing them today. A little too close for comfort," the women cheerfully replied.

"Well, you did a beautiful job. They're adorable."

Irene and Ellie waived as the couple walked on with their children happily bouncing along next to them.

The women joined their friends who were all seated in the living room, near the front door laughing and enjoying the evening.

"What is the silliest costume you ever wore?" one of the guests asked of Irene.

"I was a paper towel roll in middle school. My Dad used chicken wire to make a cylinder with holes for my head and arms and my Mom painted a sheet with the wrapper. It said "Bounty" across the middle. I won the best costume award that year." She jumped up to run and get a photo to share and returned momentarily with the picture. She passed it around proudly to show everyone.

"Okay, how about the most creative costume you ever wore as an adult?"

One of the doctors spoke up and giggled that she had made her own costume when she was working in pediatrics. "I made a spider costume, complete with eight legs that got in the way of everything. I knocked over an IV stand and decided that was the last time I wore that costume, but the kids in the ward liked it."

"I used that old Simplicity pattern that you can find in every fabric store and made the giant pumpkin costume once. It was easy to make and I stuffed it with newspaper to keep it round and full. I still have it stashed someplace."

"Alright, I've got one, what was the naughtiest costume you ever wore, ladies?"

Ellie took another sip of wine and jumped to answer the question. "Last year, Devon and I dressed as Adam and Eve. You know how comfortable Devon was in bike shorts, well he had nude colored bike shorts on, with a leaf covering his bits. I had a matching bikini on that was covered with glued-on leaves. We looked pretty good, but it really did look like we were nude under the strategically placed leaves," she grinned out.

It was easy to talk about Devon now. They'd had an amicable split and he'd moved on as had she.

"Oh, I can top that. When I was dating this guy in college, I decided to play a trick on him. I dressed in heels and a trench coat and put a on a mask and rang his bell and flashed him. He wasn't expecting me, as I was a waitress and he thought I was working that night. I still remember his face. He was shocked. He had no idea it was me. I made him squirm for about twenty seconds before ripping off the mask. Then his face was even funnier when he saw it was me. The only problem, was his buddies were over and I think one of them saw me when I was standing at the door. I was pretty carefree back then, so, I just laughed it off."

The door-bell rang again and this time Ellie hopped up to get it. She wobbled slightly but was able to pass out treats to a group of boys dressed as Pirates. Ellie feigned fright and cowered back from them as they did their best to scare her.

The conversation switched now and the women wanted to know about Ellie's love life.

"Okay, Ellie, spill about that nieghbor you've had your eye on."

"What?"

"Come on, the guy you keep talking about. You know, Chuck's friend, the one that has Sunday dinner with you, the one that sells appliances."

Ellie wondered if she spoke about John that much. She didn't think so, but he sure was on her mind a lot.

The others playfully chimed in and were begging her to share details.

"Okay, okay. His name is John Casey, he is my brother's friend, but he's older and not a nerd." She corrected herself. "Not that my brother is a nerd, but John is different. He's not like Chuck. He's mature."

"Okay, he's older?"

"No, not mature like, AARP, mature, mature like he's self-confident and secure in himself. He doesn't play video games, you know, mature, mature."

"So, he's not boyish?"

"No, not boyish, but sexy in a boyish kind of way."

Now they were getting slightly irritated and kept pushing. "Tell us what he looks like?"

"Well, he's tall, very tall, actually. He has brown hair and piercing blue eyes and he's very handsome."

"So what's the deal?"

"Well, I see him quite often, but we're always with other people. My brother and his girlfriend are almost always with us. I've never spent anytime with him alone, but I'd like to," she wistfully added.

"Is he at the apartment party right now with your brother?"

"Yes, probably. Last year, he didn't really attend the party per-say, he just stayed in his apartment, but he's probably there this year as he knows everyone better."

"Well, I think we should meet him Ellie."

There was something in the way that they all said it, that made her realize they had an idea.

"Oh, no. No way. We are not going to that party. I told you guys I just wanted to hang out here. No costume party, nothing like that."

Irene, who had a very evil smile on her face let the cat out of the bag. "Here's what we do, I have a bunch of coats in my closet. We all wear one and we get a few brown grocery bags, cut out holes for the eyes and then, poof, we have a quick easy disguise."

"Then we all pile in my car and drive over there, we mingle with the other people at the party while you go ring his bell. If he answers, you flash him! then we all can get a look at him. Then we take off. With five of us, dressed the same, he won't know who you are, and he won't recognize my car. Oh my god, it's perfect."

"Now I know you've had too much wine. Why on earth would I dress up in a trench coat and flash my neighbor?"

Again, an overwhelming group response made her giggle as all of her friends yelled, "Because it's fun, Ellie."

Irene jumped back in. "It's Halloween, come on, let's have some fun. I want to see this guys face. I'm going to record it on my cell."

"Oh yeah, right, I'm going to let you record me, naked, in a trench coat, flashing my neighbor?"

They were giggling so hard now it was almost like they were back in high-school.

"I'm not going to record you, in all your glory, just him. I want to see him answer the door, then see what he does when you show him the goods."

"This is silly. We're professional women. We don't drive around in trench coats, flashing men."

"Ellie, it's Halloween. Everyone is out in costumes doing weird stuff. Come on, this will be fun. We all need a good laugh. There is no way he'll know who you are! come on, let's just do this. It'll be so freaking funny."

Ellie took another drink from her wine glass. The fact that she was even contemplating this indicated she was probably drunk. But, she had to admit, there really was no way that he'd know it was her. It would be kind of fun to pull a prank with her friends and she secretly liked the idea of letting him see her naked and seeing his reaction to the whole thing.

So, how on earth she ended up agreeing, was beyond her, but she found herself seated in the front seat of Irene's minivan as they headed towards her apartment building. She left her car at Irene's as they'd head back that way and, if she was still buzzed, she'd just stay over night and come home on Sunday morning. She knew the party would be busy, as there were many people from the complex that would be there so getting in, would be easy.

"Okay, if we do this, we do it right. Pull over a block or so before we park and let's put the bags over our heads. I am not taking any chances that my brother or any of his friends could be in the area."

The car pulled up to the drop-off zone at the curb of the apartment building. Irene went into squad leader mode. "Shhh. Absolute silence, ladies! Ellie, let us get into place and mingle. I'll stay far enough back, that he probably won't even notice me. But I want to get this on my cell."

Ellie and Irene watched the other girls stroll into the party and begin to mingle. She felt her heart begin to race ever so slightly as she headed for John's front door. She didn't see Chuck, Sarah or even Morgan which was a good sign. Maybe they'd headed off to another party. Then she panicked for just a moment at the thought that Chuck may be in John's apartment. But, if that was the case, she'd just turn tail and leave and abort her "mission." She was now standing at John's front door. The lights were on inside and she could hear the television in the background.

When she was thirteen, she'd gone to a slumber party and everyone had snuck out after midnight to toilet paper the home of a boy from school that she, and all of her friends had a crush on. She remembered how anxious she'd felt, but, how much fun it had been and smiled under the secrecy of her brown bag as she realized that she felt exactly the same way then, that she did now. Her pulse was rapid, and she was breathing a bit harder than normal. She thought of how it would feel to unabashedly expose her naked body to the intense gaze of John Casey. And decided she liked the idea more and more. She untied the belt on the trench coat and decided now was the time. She took a deep breath and knocked.

(TBC)