"Talking to yourself, Babe?" Speaking of the Bat…

I rolled my eyes and sat up. Fixing Ranger with a pissy look, I mumbled something about making some noise once in a while. He quietly chuckled. I didn't bother to ask how he came to be standing in my bedroom, when I know I locked the door to the apartment. Ranger broke in on a regular basis. Hell, half of Trenton was known to break into my apartment with an alarming success rate. I wasn't really sure him being here was a good thing. My realization was fresh in my mind and with a few beers in my system, I didn't really trust myself to not say something stupid. "What do you want Ranger?"

"You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" I refused to meet his eyes. I know he'd obviously heard that Joe and I had had a disagreement again. I just didn't know how much he'd heard.

"Babe..." was the only response I got from him.

"Who told?" I tried to get worked up and glare at him, but I was too drained. I just sighed.

"Tank. Lula called earlier to cancel their date. Something about you being upset and song therapy." Ranger raised an eyebrow questioningly at the last part.

"You don't wanna know." I answered his implied question and shook my head. "I had no idea Lula cancelled out on Tank tonight." Tank is Ranger's right hand man, his second in command at his security company Rangeman. He also happens to be dating Lula. Sort of. Actually I'm not sure what's going on between them exactly. "What's going on with the two of them anyway?" Subtle. Good job Stephanie. Change the subject and maybe he'll forget all about "song therapy". Shrugging, Ranger gave me a look that clearly said he knew what I was up to and was going to let it go….for now.

"Car's in the lot. Call if you need anything." With that, he leaned over, kissed my forehead and was gone. Well, no worries about getting to work on time tomorrow. Lula never gets to the office on time so I'd have been late if I had to wait for her to come get me in the morning. I grabbed my cell phone, left Lula a message and got ready for bed.

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I managed to drag myself out of bed when my alarm went off in the morning, wishing I could kill the idiot who invented such torture devices. After a quick shower, I threw on one of my Rangeman uniforms strictly out of convenience. I knew I matched. No fuss, no muss. My hair and make-up weren't going to win me any beauty contests but I looked decent enough. I arrived at the office and walked in the door approximately 90 minutes after waking up. Not bad. I think it's a new personal record.

"Any new FTAs for me?" I asked by way of greeting as I shuffled in the door. I had stopped drinking last night just short of getting drunk enough to cause a hangover but I still wasn't feeling on top of my game.

"Yeah, but you're not getting them until you explain this," Connie answered, waving her hand at a vase of roses on her desk. Connie Rosolli is Vinnie's office manager and bears a striking resemblance to Betty Boop. If Betty had a slight mustache and Jersey Girl hair, that is. She's a member of the Family, as in the Godfather type of Family but not an active member if you catch my drift, at least as far as I know. The 'Burg grapevine would probably have let something slip if she was. After all, Connie is only a few years older than me and a 'Burg girl herself. Word would get around. I stared at the vase of flowers she indicated.

"Uh, roses?" I answered, wondering what there was to explain. "Surely you recognize roses when you see them. What do they have to do with me getting my files?" Lula and Connie exchanged a look.

"Uh Oh," I heard Lula mumble under her breath.

"Um…" Connie started. I looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Spit it out already!" I was starting to really wonder what was going on. Connie isn't usually tongue-tied, at least not unless Ranger was in the vicinity. Lula wasn't fanning herself so I was pretty sure this wasn't a Ranger-induced hormonally-charged short-circuiting of Connie's vocal capabilities. Connie continued to stammer and Lula apparently had had enough. With a disgusted look at Connie, Lula began to talk.

"They're for you. They were on the door step when Connie opened the office this morning." At that, Connie slid a small white envelope across the desk towards me. I took it and realized it must have been in with the flowers. On the outside one word was typed: Bombshell. With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I carefully opened the envelope and trying to handle it only by the edges, I removed the card from inside. In the same type as the envelope, it read: I got your message loud and clear last night. I plan to prove to you that I am the man for you. Black dots swam into my vision. I saw Connie's mouth moving but I heard nothing except the sound of the blood rushing through my veins. My legs gave out and I collapsed.

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AN: I have decided to try elaborating on this when/if the muse cooperates. If you are enjoying this, I'd like to know. If you have constructive critiques, I'd like to hear them. Standard Disclaimer applies -- they are all Janet's characters and I'm just exercising my creative writing skills, definitely not making any money on this.