"I love you."

The short note was written in the same childish script his daughter used - rounded letters, the "o" in the word "love" fashioned into a heart. Alex Epstein, the New
London Theater's current Munkustrap smiled as he set the card aside and looked briefly at the bouquet of flowers before setting those, too, on the adjacent end
table.

"There's a vase in Mike's dressing room. I'll put them in some water for you and put them in the Green Room?" offered Jodi, a red-haired stage assistant. She knew
that Alex's own dressing room was overflowing with flowers.

"Thanks, Jodi," Alex said as the young woman gathered up the bouquet and left.

Dropping into the chair next to Alex, Colin, already in full Alonzo regalia, picked up the small pink card and mimicked, "I love you" in a sing-song voice.

"Everyone loves me," said Alex, grinning smugly. "I'm entirely loveable."

"Well, you may have gotten flowers, but yesterday a girl brought me chocolates. *Godiva* chocolates."

"You didn't eat them, did you?"

Colin looked at him. "They're in their original package...it's safe." He shrugged. "It's bad enough we can't accept fan mail since September 11th...I'd hate to start
turning away gifts the fans *personally* bring to the shows."

"Yeah." Alex rubbed his eyes and yawned. He turned to face Colin. "They must be almost ready for us...I'm gonna go do some stretching before we start."

"Okay. See ya out there."

"Right." Alex wandered out into the hallway of the back stage area of the New London. He could just barely hear the hum of the audience as they were guided to
their seats by eager, efficient pages. In these last several minutes before showtime, he always felt a slight case of butterflies in his stomach. It didn't matter that once
the cameras were rolling the butterflies were instantly gone. Alex still expected a pre-show case of nerves and he always got them. He suspected they all did,
although it was something they never discussed.

Walking down the hallway a bit, Alex stopped and began to stretch his legs and back in hopes that his body would comfortably endure the close to three-hour show
of CATS that was to come. He winced somewhat as he leaned over to touch his toes; he couldn't quite reach at first but he forced himself to push slightly harder,
reaching slightly further until he achieved his goal, placing his fingertips on his grey and white dance shoes.

"Ahhhh," Alex exhaled, momentarily placing his hands on his knees before easing himself into an upright position. The hum of the crowd was growing louder and he
could hear the sound system being tested. He took a deep breath and continued to make his way down the hall, ready to perform.

**************

The evening began with the usual, right up until Grizabella's entrance. The quiet music of the intorduction began, causing a brief lull, during which a female voice
shouted out, "I love you, Alex!"

The audience burst out laughing and Karen Sawyer looked rather bewildered and not just a little annoyed at her entrance being spoiled. Colin took the opportunity
to slink down into the audience, a priveledge not many other performers of various musicals had. The woman who'd cried out sat in the first row.

"Are you the one who gave him those flowers?" he asked the owner of the voice in a bemused tone.

"Yes," she breathed excitedly, squirming in her seat.

"What's your name?" Colin asked in a whisper, peering at her.

"Kim."

Colin's amused interrogation was interrupted by a hard poke in the side, where an upset-looking Munkustrap lurked, having been relieved of his Grizabella-watching
while Demeter, one Kelly Turner, sang her solo.

"Really...thanks for the flowers. They're very nice," he said sincerely.

Kim looked up at him intently. Alex noticed her lashes were covered in too much mascara and seemed unnaturally thick, but other than that she was fresh-faced and
pretty.

"I do love you, you know," she said in a clear, firm voice over the din of the crowd. "I *love* you."

Alex's mouth opened slightly, but he could only continue to stare into her deep blue eyes. Finally, he simply said, "Gotta go!" and fled to the safety of the stage.

As the crowd continued to clap appreciatively, Colin leaned over and whispered to Alex, "That was intense...you should have worn your wedding ring tonight."

Alex rolled his eyes and instinctively pulled at his bare ring finger. Cats don't wear rings..one of the number one rules of the costume supervisors. He cupped his hand
over his mouth so his lips could not be read, and whispered back to Colin.

"She was a little creepy. She looked right through me."

"Well, you're entirely loveable," Colin teased.

**************************

Alex could smell bacon frying. He rolled over and resisted opening his eyes for as long as possible. The children's giggles wafted through the bungalow and he smiled
to himself as Sara's laughter rang out soon after. Finally, he turned over on his back and allowed his eyes to greet the morning. Glancing at the bedside clock, he saw
that it was 7:00 am. He had to be back at the theater by 9:00 for the afternoon's matinee.

Sara appeared in the doorway, her brown hair still wet from her shower and hanging in ringlets over her shoulders. "Come on, sleepyhead. "I'm making you some
breakfast."

Alex groaned and rolled over again, but on the inside he was touched. Sara was by no means a morning person, but during heavy performance cycles such as these,
she always got up with him extra early and made him breakfast so they'd have some time together before he had to go to work. Now she threw herself onto the bed
and tugged unsuccessfully at his pillow before finally taking her own and whacking him over the head with it.

"I said, "come on, sleepyhea..." she barely got the words out before Alex suddenly pulled her down beside him, eventually pinning her on her back.

Laughing, they wrestled around for a bit on their queen-sized bed. They each let out an annoyed grunt as the telephone rang. Sara loosened her grip on Alex's collar
and reached for the phone.

"Hello?" she answered. There was a brief pause, and she said again, "Hello...?" She looked at her husband and shrugged before hanging up. "Nobody there."

"Oh, well..." Alex sat up and ran a hand through his hair. He grinned at Sara. "I'm starved. Let's go eat."

****************************

At the studio, a blue-blazered page greeted Alex as he helped himself to coffee at the craft services table.

"Note for you," he said politely, handing Alex a postcard. Letters in envelopes were no longer permitted inside the studio gates. Alex instantly recognized the
handwriting on the card as Kim's, although the message was not signed. The card read: "Thanks for last night. It meant the world to me. See you soon."

Alex turned the card over. On the front was a picture of panda bear holding a pink heart. The caption beneath read, "I love you." A magic marker had been used to
turn the "o" into a heart.

"Meant the world to me?" Alex repeated, raising an eyebrow. "It was just a coupl'a words." He bit his lip and stuck the card in his jeans pocket, not wanting anyone
else to see it. He was embarrassed by the idea of having such an ardent fan; it was one of those trappings of theater and television that simply made him
uncomfortable. He didn't want to visit the web sites that were devoted to him, or hear that college students were keeping scrapbooks full of his photograph. It all just
seemed so bizarre; he was only a man, after all. He wished he could be like Mike, the current Mungojerrie, who had no trouble being gracious and warm to his fans
despite his shyness. Mike was like some sort of god on the Internet, yet he took it all in stride. Having a complete stranger say "I love you" didn't faze him in the least.

The players, minus a busy Karen, went out for an early lunch around 11:30 am. By 12:30 they returned to the theater, knowing Mikayla Callaghan, their director,
would be getting antsy. The show was due to start at 2 o'clock. In the parking lot, Greg did his imitation of Mikayla pacing around "like a wind-up doll".

"You guys are terrible," Kelly admonished through her laughter. Shielding her eyes from the sun with one hand and pointing with the other, she suddenly looked at
Alex. "Hey, isn't that your number one fan coming this way? The girl with the flowers?"

Alex, who had been leaning against Kelly's car, stood up straight and looked in the direction to which she was pointing. Sure enough, there was Kim, striding
purposefully across the lot in high heels and a short denim skirt. She swung a small purse at her side.

Greg whistled playfully. "Whoa, Epstein, she's back for more, dude."

"Shut up...hi there," Alex addressed the young lady as she approached.

"Hi." Kim nodded politely at the others. "Just came to line up for my seat." Her voice reminded Alex of the high notes on a flute.

"Better hurry," Greg told her. "The line-up's pretty long already...we saw it on our way in."

But Kim was too busy looking at Alex to hear him. "Did you get my note?"

Alex paused and unconsciously stuck his right hand in his pocket. "Yes...thanks. But - it wasn't necessary." He stared at Kim, trying to remember if there was some
other encounter they'd had, something that would make this woman think there was any other connection between them besides a short whispered exchange in front
of 300 spectators.

"You were sweet to me last night...I appreciate it."

"Uhh...well, you're welcome." Alex smiled down at her. "Look, we have to go in now and get ready for the show."

"We'll talk again," Kim stated simply as she gave a careless shrug. "I'll see you inside." She beamed up at Alex, but not before reaching out and giving his arm a
squeeze. As she did, she gave him the look that had made him uncomfortable the night before - the determined, piercing stare that made her eyes look inhuman.

As she walked away without so much as a glance behind her, Wayne, Carbucketty, shook his head incredulously at Alex.

"Man, that's some case of puppy love," he said with a smirk.

"I'll say," Kelly added with an amused grin. "Did you see the look in her eyes?"

Alex crumpled the note in his pocket. "Yeah," he replied dully, "I did."

By the time the two o'clock performance began, Alex had put Kim out of his mind and was feeling good. At the bginning of "Jellicle Songs", entering for his first line,
he gazed over the spectators for a second.

Suddenly, a familiar face caught his eye. He realized with a sinking feeling that it was Kim, this time in the front row by the ramp, mere feet from where he stood. She
smiled at him without showing any teeth. Her blue eyes looked even more intense than they had earlier in the parking lot. She held in her lap a toy panda. She stared
at Alex and mouthed, "I love you."

Alex felt his grip on his tail, which he picked up out of habit, tightening. Kim was by no means the first female fan to have a crush on him; some of his fans showed up
at all of his appearances and requested hugs, which he always gave without protest despite how awkward it made him feel. But there was something different about
Kim, something about the way she stared that was all too serious and determined, as though he were a valuable commodity she simply had to have. He swallowed
hard as he realized the song had begun. He realized, as well, that he'd missed his intro and the orchestra had started again. He glanced at Colin, who gave him a
bemused stare in return.

For the rest of the afternoon he fought to keep himself from looking into the audience. All he could see was the glassy stare of the toy panda.

The next day, Alex was still trying to get over his carelessness during "Jellicle Songs." Of all the players, he was the hardest on himself when he performed to a
standard of anything less than perfection. The others had teased him a little about his "spacing out", because teasing each other came as naturally to them as
breathing. But none of them went too far in the teasing whenever Alex's performance was concerned, as they knew how deeply he felt it and how personally he took
it. Now he sat alone in his dressing room, flipping through the magazine he'd bought earlier, before settling in to read the entire thing. After a few minutes he was so
engrossed he barely noticed a knock at his door.

"Come in," he called out, not taking his eyes off his reading.

"I came to give you a fresh pot of coffee. I'll set it here on your table," came a female voice.

Stage Assistants were in and out all the time. Alex had little reason to look up except that he'd been raised to be courteous.

"Thank you," he said, turning to face the speaker. His magazine fell to the floor and a gasp escaped from his lips as he realized he was staring into the face of Kim.
She wore the long blue blazer and short skirt typical of a New London assistant. She gingerly set the coffee pot next to Alex's chair and blinked her long lashes at
him.

"Isn't it great, Green Eyes? My application was accepted. I work here now!"

Alex looked blankly at her, not knowing what to say. She smiled patiently.

"Now we can really get to know each other!"

Finding his voice, Alex blinked back at her before speaking.

"What's going on here?"

"What do you mean, darling?"

Alex jerked back slightly at the word "darling". He stood up and stepped a few paces away from her.

"I mean...what are you doing? Are you - are you following me? Do you want something from me?"

Kim laughed as though she were dealing with a small, slow child. "Darling, I have watched you in musicals and on TV since I was a teenager. I always knew we had
a special connection, and that one day, when the time was right, we could be friends...and then, someday, more than friends." She cocked her head slightly. "The
time is now...yesterday was my 21st birthday."

"Happy Birthday," Alex muttered numbly.

"Thanks. Can I pour us some coffee?"

"Um, no...listen, miss..."

"Kim. It's Kim," she said in a hurt voice.

"Kim...I'm sorry. You've got to leave. Whatever you're thinking, it can't be. I'm a married man."

Kim blinked back sudden tears and Alex felt an unexpected pang of sympathy for her. Just then, Mark Cohen, the Head Stage Manager appeared in the doorway.
He'd heard the entire exchange.

"I'm afraid you've broken rule number one," he said sternly to Kim. "No bothering the performers." He shook his head. "For Pete's Sake, you've only been here an
hour."

"I'm sorry," Kim said desperately, the tears reappearing. "I won't do it again, I promise."

"Sorry. We have a zero tolerance policy for this kind of thing around here. You were warned of that when you were interviewed. Come with me, please."

Kim looked helplessly at Alex, her eyes pleading for help. Alex looked down at the floor, feeling guilty but at the same time knowing this was the best thing for both
of them. He watched as Mark led her out the door to turn in her blazer. The man returned, alone, some time later.

"Sorry about that, Alex. I trusted she'd been screened better than that. We just needed somebody quickly."

"It's alright, Mark."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes..."

"Look, I know everyone's worried about their personal safety these days," Mark went on. "That's why I feel so badly about this. But she was just a star-struck little
girl with a crush on you...and now she's gone. So try not to think about it anymore, okay? This kinda stuff is just gonna happen sometimes." He chuckled. "Like that
woman who flashed Dave in Vegas last year, remember?"

Alex looked at Mark and nodded, smiling at the memory. "Yeah. It happens," he conceded, shrugging. "Thanks for taking care of it."

Mark patted him on the shoulder and left quietly. Alex closed his eyes and tried, unsuccessfully, to erase Kim's image from his mind.