Oh, man, it had been such a long day. Alexis had gotten up much earlier than usual to prepare for her early court date that morning, and then she had case after case for the rest of the afternoon. She felt like the day would never end. At least Ric had been somewhat pleasant to her. She hadn't really seen him that much (thank God!), but at least he didn't try to instigate anything in the few moments that she did see him. She was grateful for that; she didn't want to have to deal with Ric, especially today.

She cozied into the cushions of her couch, ready to curl up for the next few hours with her solitude (since Kristina was out with Viola) and the TV remote. But the knock on the door interrupted her plans. She would have kept quiet and pretended that she wasn't home, but whoever it was certainly was not going to go away any time soon. After what must have been the hundredth knock, she finally got off the couch, sighing with exasperation. She had every intention of telling whoever it was to say what they came to say and get the hell out. But when she opened the door, she saw a young boy, who couldn't have been more than 10 years old.

"Alexis Davis?" he asked, squinting up at her.

"Hi. Yes, I am. Can I help you?"

"This is for you," he said quickly, holding up an envelope. She took it and examined it closely; she didn't recognize the handwriting that spelled out her name across the front. The minute the envelope left the little boy's hands, he took off down the hall.

"Um, thank you!" she called after him. She shook her head and went back inside her apartment, closing the door behind her. "That was odd," she said curiously. She shrugged and proceeded to open the envelope. Inside was a small, rectangular white card with gold trim. The note in the center read:

"Had a long day, counselor? Be at Kelly's at 7:00."

Alexis read the note three times over, looking for some sort of clue as to who wrote it. She had her suspicions, but she prayed she was wrong. Just in case her instincts were correct this time, she decided to ignore the note. She put it on her desk and went back to the couch and to her original plans of wasting the night away in front of the TV. Unfortunately, that stupid note wouldn't let her. She kept looking over at it until she finally clicked off the TV. There was no way she was going to concentrate on anything; her curiosity was, as they say, getting the best of her. She checked her watch: 6:35. She hoped she had time to make it to Kelly's before 7:00. She went in the bathroom quickly to touch up her make up, and then stealing one final glance at the card propped annoyingly on her desk, she headed out the door.

---

Kelly's was practically empty. It was more of a daytime hangout. The Haunted Star and the Cellar were the more favorable choices for nighttime dining. She sat at the counter as Mike appeared from around the corner.

"Hello, Alexis," he said politely.

"Hi, Mike."

"Can I get you anything?"

"Not at the moment, thanks," she said with a smile. He nodded and headed off to tend to one of the few customers in the place. She looked at her watch: 7:05. Her curiosity was only growing by the minute. She looked at her watch about every 30 seconds, and began to question if the note hadn't said 7:00. The more she checked her watch, the more she began to question whether she hadn't dreamt this whole thing up. Mike came back over to her and, noticing that the time seemed to fascinate her, he questioned her about it.

"Are you meeting someone here?" he asked, looking a little unsure.

"I'm not sure," she said with a laugh, and, if possible, he looked more puzzled. "I got this mysterious note delivered to my door this evening, and it said to come here."

"Ah, then this must be for you," he said with a grin as he pulled out an envelope. It had her name written across the front in the same handwriting as the note that was delivered to her door. She accepted the envelope from him and, brushing the hair out of her face, she opened it carefully. Inside was a similar small, rectangular white card with gold trim. She read its contents quietly to herself.

"We've all got skeletons in The Closet, but what have we got in The Basement?"

As she had with the first card, she read it over a few times. "The Basement?" she said aloud to Mike. "Is that supposed to be a place?"

"Could be," Mike said, shrugging. Alexis got the distinct impression that he knew more about what was going on than he was letting on. Her shoulders rose and fell with her sigh of frustration.

"The Basement," she repeated to herself. "What on earth..." Suddenly, it hit her. "Oh!" She got up out of her chair quickly, not bothered by how rude it must have seemed to have arrived and ordered nothing.

"Good luck!" Mike called after her with a chuckle. She gave him a quick wave before disappearing out the door.

---

It didn't take her very long to reach the Cellar – after all, it was right below Kelly's. She entered in through the front door and immediately locked eyes with Carly, who looked none too pleased with her arrival. She chose to ignore her ex-client. Her eyes were immediately drawn to a familiar table towards the middle of the room, where a small envelope sat with her name in the middle.

"Not another one!" she sighed. She casually strolled over to it and reached inside to find a small, rectangular white card with gold trim. Without hesitation, she read the message in the center.

"Music can Lift us, Body and soul."

Alexis read this note, too, several times. She noticed that there seemed to be an emphasis on the words "Lift" and "Body". Had she only read the card once, or had she been anyone else, she would have thought it to have some sort of inappropriate connotation. But, being the intelligent woman that she was, she noticed that the mention of "music" was no accident. She knew where her next adventure would lead her.

---

By the time Alexis reached L&B Records, it was already 8:00. She felt a flutter in the pit of her stomach as she knocked on the door. There wasn't an answer, but when she tried the doorknob, it opened without a complaint. She entered in cautiously and saw Ned sitting at the opposite end of the room, wearing the biggest grin she'd ever seen.

"I was wondering when you'd get here," he said, standing up to greet her at the door.

"Sorry it took me so long," she said, looking up into his eyes. "I had my doubts about coming."

"I'm glad you changed your mind," he said grinning.

"Are you..." she began carefully.

"What?" he teased. "Responsible for the mysterious notes that only led to more mysterious notes, all over town?" He shook his head in amusement. "You know I'm not."

"Then can you please tell me what the hell is going on?" she pled desperately.

"Nope! You've got to figure it out on your own." He left her for a moment and returned seconds later with a rather large box in his hands. "This is for you," he said handing it to her. Underneath the ribbons that surrounded the box was an envelope with her name written across the front in the same familiar handwriting. She set the box down and removed the card from it. She reached inside and pulled out a small, rectangular white card with gold trim. This one she didn't read aloud:

"Love isn't a commodity. It doesn't just happen."

This had to be the most cryptic one of all. All the other notes had at least given her some clue as to where to go. The first one specifically said where. They seemed to get progressively more difficult, but Alexis was completely lost on this one. It gave no clues as to where she was supposed to go next. Maybe this was the end. Maybe all the notes were intended to leave her with a puzzling message or some sort of moral. Feeling a little disappointed, she reluctantly went for the box. Ned fidgeted impatiently as she tore off the paper and removed the lid from the top. Beneath the folds of tissue paper was the most elegant and stunningly gorgeous pale purple dress she had ever seen. She took it out slowly and gazed at its magnificence and perfection.

"It's beautiful," she breathed. She turned suddenly to Ned. "Who...?"

"I don't know," he said stubbornly, and he shrugged.

"Come on, you cannot deny that you know more about what's going on than I do. Who's it from?"

"Just put it on. I want to see if it fits." He pointed towards the back of the studio in the direction of the bathrooms. She sighed and, feeling like it was her only remaining option, she headed in the direction he was pointing.

She emerged from the bathroom shortly thereafter, wearing the dress that fit her perfectly.

"You look beautiful," Ned praised.

"Thank you. Are you really not going to tell me who it's from?"

"I told you, I don't know!" he said beaming, and he walked off into the back room, whistling innocently.

"Ugh, how stubborn," she sighed. She went over to the card that she had left next to the box, and picked it up to read it once more. She searched the furthest recesses of her mind to try to locate some sort of meaning attached to the words. She was almost about to give up and go home, when suddenly a conversation from too long ago flooded her mind, as though she had only just had it. She was rather pleased with herself for figuring it out, and she hurried out the door in impatient anticipation.

---

The walk to the gazebo in the park had never taken so long. By the time Alexis had gotten there, her eagerness had reached its height. But her quick pace slowed down to a halt as she took in her surroundings in awe. The only sources of light were coming from the few candles that dotted the inside of the gazebo, the string of lights that decorated the outside of the gazebo, and the moonshine. Beautiful, melodious guitar music danced in the air. As she drew closer to the gazebo, she saw an elaborate dinner for two. She walked up the steps to the gazebo and saw him there, guitar in hand, looking so irresistible.

He looked up when he heard her footsteps. He continued to play his guitar, and she sat down timidly next to him. She was captivated by the movement of his fingers and the effect that the music had on her. She watched and listened to him for as long as he played, until the last note rang out into the night. He quietly set down his guitar and turned to her.

"Ric, that was beautiful," she breathed.

"The dress fits," he noted astutely, and she nodded. "Do you like it?"

"It's perfect," she whispered. He smiled, rather pleased with his taste. He stood up and held out his hand to her.

"Dance with me," he said. She took his hand willingly and stood up, entering into his embrace. She rested her head on his shoulder as they swayed together in the tranquility of the night. It didn't matter that the whisper-soft music from his guitar had long ago stopped; their dance was all the music they needed. Ric slid his hand into hers, and she lifted her head up, starting into his eyes. He brushed back her hair and spoke ever so quietly.

"Happy birthday, Alexis."

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