Sex.  It was something absent in Mort's life for longer than he cared to remember.  He wasn't a typical male, if he were, he would have had no qualms about finding a willing, breathing woman to take to his bed.  No, he saw physical intimacy as something that should not be taken lightly under any circumstance…it could lead to things getting rather messy.  Sure, the urges were there, but they weren't strong enough to do anything more than…attend to the matter himself.  This solution suited him just fine until he saw her.

Alexandra Leidy sat at a red light – nothing unusual for her daily routine.  She looked down at her clothes and laughed; there were splotches of red paint all over her.  Mental note: leave painting to the art teacher.  She loved her class, but they weren't the neatest group.

Just when she thought she was stuck at the world's longest light, she felt a hard impact on her car from the behind, then the unmistakable crunching of metal.  She watched as her car crashed into the black Nissan Exterra in front of her own.  Her head snapped forward, only then realizing what had happened.

In her review mirror, she watched the car behind her pull out and race up the lane along side her, out of sight.  Holding her head she thought, That didn't just happen.  Her body ached already and she couldn't move well enough to get out of her car.  She thought she could make out sirens in the distance.  Her eyes began to tear as the driver of the car in front of hers got out.  She closed her eyes and waited to be yelled at, knowing full well that this wasn't her fault.  She had been driving with her window down, which let her hear the approaching footsteps. 

"Oh my God.  Miss, are you all right?" a man's voice asked.

Alexandra opened her eyes and would have nodded if her neck wasn't in so much pain.  She started to cry as she said, "I'm so sorry, it was…"  She looked up the best that she could and stopped talking.  You would have to hit someone good looking, wouldn't you?  "…sorry about your car."

Mort looked at the young woman and there was a flash in his mind.  Blood…but not as much as we saw.  Mort shook his head and the thought left as quickly as it came leaving no memory of itself behind.  "Not your fault, Miss, I saw the ass that hit you.  You got it much worse than I did."

"I…I did?" she asked, not processing exactly what he meant.  "Oh, front and rear you mean?"

"No, well, yes…but, I mean, you look pretty hurt."

"Huh?"

"You're bleeding," Mort said plainly.

"I am?"  She let her eyes look down – the paint.  "Oh, no," she said quickly, "that's not blood, it's paint.  Um, moving at the moment, however, isn't going so well."

Mort looked up the street.  "The ambulance is almost here." 

Alexandra looked at the man who was currently holding her head still for her.  She could have sworn she'd seen him somewhere before.  Sure, like you could forget that face.  Despite her thoughts, she had to ask, if not just to break the silence.  "Is there any chance I could know you from someplace?"

She thinks she knows you…  Once again, the thought came and went in a flash.  Finding the woman attractive, Mort decided to lay down some charm.  "I'd certainly remember if I'd seen you before.  I've only been in town a short time."

Alexandra couldn't help but blush – whether he had meant it as a compliment or not, she took it as one.  "Oh…"  She didn't have time to say more; the ambulance had arrived.  She was taken out of her car on a backboard and put onto a gurney.  Before she was hoisted into the ambulance she said, "Thanks for not yelling."  Mort smiled at her.

"Sir, are you injured?" a paramedic asked.

"Huh?"  Mort was slightly startled.  "Uh, no…no, I'm fine.  Will she be all right?"

"Should be – she'll have to get some x-rays.  You a friend?"

Mort hesitated a moment.  "No."  I'd like to be…