Chapter Seven
 
               Andros had borrowed Ashley's car for his wooing of Cassie.  One 
just couldn't date without one, now could they?  Opening the door, he helped 
Cassie inside and shut the door behind her.  Climbing into the driver's seat, 
he turned the key and the engine came to life.  Almost ready to put the car in 
gear, Cassie broke his thoughts.
               "Andros, what did you mean by, 'you've given me the greatest gift'?" 
she asked her voice soft and sultry.
               Andros, caught off guard by the question, had no idea what she was
 talking about.  Trying to cover as best as he could, under the circumstances, 
he searched his mind for any excuse he could think of.  "Well, Cassie, I was
 referring to the whole concept of giving in general." he replied, cringing 
inwardly, knowing how awful that sounded.
               "Wow, yeah, I know what you mean," she replied, putting Andros 
in a state of shock.  "Just think though, if you hadn't written those letters, 
I'd be out with Carlos," she added.  "I know this great place we should go."
               "Where?" he asked, still mystified that she bought that line of bull.
               "Turn here," she pointed to the right and a small road off to the 
side that led to a wide-open space, overlooking the whole city.  Moving 
closer to him, she kissed his neck, already trying to get a jump on the 
evening before they were even parked.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
               Ashley, not happy with how her night was going, climbed the hill 
that overlooked the point.  Not only could she see all the idiots parking below, 
but also the city lights were wonderful from this view.  Pulling the tab on her soda, 
she took a drink from the can.  Something familiar caught her eye, and her mood 
disintegrated. 
               Her car pulled up in a vacant spot.  "Great," she said then continued, 
"I hate you Andros," she muttered, her voice full of sadness and not knowing 
what to do now.  Deciding to leave so as not to spoil the rest of her evening, 
she got to her feet, but dropped her can when she spotted Carlos's car.  
"Oh no," she breathed, looking toward her car.  By that time, Carlos had 
already begun going from car to car in search of Cassie.
               Ashley hurriedly made her way down the hill, her mind frantically 
searching for some way to stop Carlos from reaching her car.  Running up 
beside him, nearly out of breath, she smiled as best she could. 
               "Hi Carlos," she said, trying to draw his attention.  
               "Hey Ashley," he uttered back, as he moved to the next car.
               "What are you doing, Carlos?" she tried again, still no go.
               "Looking for Cassie.  She's out with some creep and when 
I get my hands on him, I'm going to kill him." he replied angrily.
               "Forget Cassie, you could do so much better Carlos.  There are 
plenty of girls out there just waiting for the chance to be with you," she said 
another car closer to Andros.
               Carlos stopped to look at her.  "Yeah?  Like whom?" he asked, 
eyeing her suspiciously.
               "Well, like me." she answered quickly, regretting her choice in 
words, but would follow through with it to keep Andros and Cassie in one 
piece. Grabbing his hand, she placed it on her chest.  "Can't you feel my
 heart pounding?" she asked, her eyes searching his.
               "Got a pretty big heart there," he smiled.
               "You want to go somewhere?  Just the two of us?" she asked.
               "Yeah, sure why not?" he replied, looking her up and down.  "Let's go.
You know, I've always liked you Ashley," he said, wrapping his arm around 
her and leading her away from the line of cars.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
               "What are we doing here Sue?" Robert asked, taking in the familiar 
sight of the town below.
               "Just thought we could use the quiet to talk," she replied, looking over
 at him.  Then all of a sudden she shrieked in horror and squished down in the seat.
               "What's wrong?" he asked, finding it a bit silly that a grown woman would 
be hiding in a place like this.
               "My daughter is in the next car," she squealed.  "Get us out of here
Robert!" she shrieked. 
               "But you're the one that brought us here Sue," he mused.
               "Get down, I don't want her to see you!" she yelled, grabbing his shirt 
and yanking him down into the seat.  "I'll get us out of here and that will be that." 
she said, starting the car, and backing it out without looking much further over 
the dash, making their great escape.