The next morning Amanda woke up sometime around ten o' clock and poured herself a cup of hot tea, sitting at her kitchen table in her Paul Frank pajamas to drink it. Finally she got bored and decided to wake him up-the very thought made her smile.

In the apartment next door, his cell phone rang on his bedside table. "Uh, hello?" "Wake up, sleeping beauty." His eyes brightened as her voice came over the receiving line. "You're up early." He cracked a rare smile as he spoke. "It's Saturday. It's your only day off." "It's also my shopping day." Amanda could almost see him roll his eyes.

"Well, what do you say I meet you for Starbucks at the corner of Clover and Castle at noon?" She nodded and smiled. "Sure thing." "I'll buy your mocha this time." "Thanks." She hung up and grabbed her purse, heading to her bedroom to change, not forgetting to hit the stereo and start up her workout tunes as she made her way to the door.

A little while later Amanda emerged from the complex and waltzed gracefully down the stairs onto the street, wearing a T-shirt she'd made at a Rickmaniac Society meeting. It was a black halter that she cut off at her belly (she'd worked hard for that washboard!) and had the "Die Hard" cover image on it, except she'd rhinestoned the straps and the title like a Hollywood billboard. She loved Bruce, too, but she had a soft spot for villians. Somewhere under her bed she found her favorite Paris Blues a week too late and had decided before the trip that the instant she got home she'd break in her new blue Chucks.

She bought herself a smoothie early on and sipped it as she window-shopped, looking proudly at the homemade belly piercing she'd done with a ruby teardrop earring last month. The bruise was beginning to heal, and it was so much better than-what was that American blonde git's name again? She played with the many earrings in both ears, up and down the cartilage, as she strolled calmly along the stores. Many of the English skater punks, teenagers probably still in senior year, stopped to look her over but she went against her better judgement of having them mistake her grin for faraway affection and refused to hide her delight. It was almost time to meet Alan.

Finally she saw him in the coffee shop across the street from her favorite antique store and tried to look bored as she made her way across the street. "Hey." She said calmly as she set her purse down next to him and slid into the booth. "So what have you wasted your morning on? I see no baggage." He gestured at the purse. "Not much game." She said, ordering a café latte and slurping the last of her cherry smoothie. He nodded, as if he understood. "Ok then.listen, err, I wanted to tell you.you remember Tom Felton, the actor who plays Draco Malfoy in the film?" She nodded, watching him curiously, and put down her cup. "He asked me to see if you'd like to join him for dinner tonight. He doesn't live far from us, and he says he could use a little help with the cooking and perhaps the dishes. I told him you weren't the type to be finicky about getting your hands dirty, and perhaps you'd take him up on it?" "Well, yeah, I mean, sounds great." She said, smiling. Tom had been very sweet to her of late. "I can't wait to see him."