Chapter 6

After a night of what Tony like to describe as torrid love making they lay intertwined and exhausted the next morning. They were just looking at each other after waking up when Tony's cell phone rang. They both groaned

"Son of a bitch!" He cursed as he felt around on the floor for it.

"Almeida." He said in annoyance, pulling Michelle back against him.

"Hey man, it's Jack. What's up with the mood? I guess you're not a morning person huh?"

Tony stiffened a little upon hearing Jack's voice, and then relaxed.

"Oh, um sorry I just woke up."

"Uh- huh. Anyway a bunch of us are heading out tonight to get drunk so how about it? Oh and tell Michelle she is invited too of course."

"Well sure, I mean if I see her." Tony said uncomfortably and Michelle smiled as she was close enough to hear both sides of the conversation.

"Yeah, so we're meeting at Madison's for about 8pm. I guess you and Michelle will be arriving together."

"Jack, I um…."

"Tony give it up, she's lying so close to you I can practically hear her breathing."

Michelle laughed out loud and that and they both knew they were busted.

Although his last comment had been a lucky guess; Jack sighed and shook his head. "Oh kids, when will you ever learn that nothing gets past Jack Bauer?"

Kim walked past him to the refrigerator and muttered, "You got that right."

"So, I'll see you later, that is of course if you can drag yourselves out of bed!"

Jack hung up and smiled, folding his arms at his breakfast table while Kim fussed over him. He knew exactly where Tony had headed for last night after work and he wanted the satisfaction of making him squirm about it.

Tony shook his head in despair.

They got up reluctantly to start their day. After the amazing breakfast that Tony had promised, there was a knock at the door.

"I guess I'd better put some clothes on." Tony said sauntering past her in his boxers.

She laughed and patted his backside as she made her way to the door. She smiled as she saw who was on the other side of it and flung the door open to reveal her best friend Gaby.

"Hey girl!" Gaby exclaimed, enveloping Michelle in a hug. "I was so worried about you! Are you doing okay?"

"I'm fine. Honestly, we've got six days off now so I have plenty of time to recover."

Gaby came in discarding her coat and bag and flopping down on the sofa. Michelle sat down beside her glancing at the closed bedroom door. She wondered how to tell her friend that Tony was in there. Suddenly Gaby looked around and then back at Michelle.

"I smell a man."

Michelle was taken aback and looked at her in shock. Gaby got up and sniffed the air.

"Gaby, what do you mean you can smell a man. Where you previously a basset hound?"

Gaby smiled and stood over Michelle.

"I mean, I smell cologne and something I can't quite put my finger on. Do you have a man in here?"

Tony listened on the other side of the door trying to contain his laughter and trying to picture Michelle's face.

"Gaby, listen…"

At that moment the bedroom door opened and Tony appeared. Gaby looked both triumphant and shocked that she was right. She looked back at Michelle and raised her eyebrows. They stood awkwardly for a moment before Tony offered Gaby his hand.

"Hi, I'm Tony. You must be Gaby."

Gaby took Tony's hand and smiled warmly.

"That's right, and you must be the famous Tony."

Tony looked at Michelle who was ten shades of embarrassed. He nodded and grabbed his keys from the table.

"I'm going to go pick up a few things at my place. I'll see you in a little while?" He said, looking at Michelle.

She nodded and got up, following him to the door as Gaby sat down again. She handed him a key from her set. She looked a little embarrassed but he smiled at her lovingly, taking it and putting it in his pocket.

He gave her a soft and gentle kiss before turning back and saying,

"It was nice to meet you Gaby."

"Oh, it was great meeting you too." She replied still with a huge grin on her face.

She watched with interest as Michelle watched him go with a look of longing on her face. She sighed shutting the door and sat back down next to Gaby who looked like she was about to burst.

"He is not at all like I pictured him! I thought he was going to be some kind of Adonis. I mean don't get me wrong, there's sex oozing from him but I pictured him loving himself. He's really nice. And did you get a load of that ass! What am I taking about; you've probably had a handful of it all night."

Michelle shook her head as Gaby babbled animatedly. Finally she took a breath and said,

"Ok, so tell me everything and don't leave anything out! The last I heard you had totally fell for this guy but hadn't got up the courage to do anything about it and now you guys are red hot lovers?"

Michelle smiled and took a breath.

"Well, after that day we had at work we realised that we felt the same way about each other. I was so tired and drained and he was sweet and gave me a hug. Then I kissed him…."

"Hold on, you kissed him? Michelle Dessler never makes the first move."

"That was after I had already asked him out." She said smiling as Gaby looked even more confused.

"Look, the thing is we went on a date the night before last and had a great time and then we attended a memorial service yesterday. Tony arrived at my door at like 2am and I asked him to stay."

She said breaking into a small smile.

"Ah hah!" Gaby said triumphantly.

"What do you mean ah hah?"

"That's the other thing I can smell……Sex."

Michelle gasped and wrinkled her nose in disgust as Gaby laughed.

Gaby turned her head and patted Michelle's hand. She was happy to see Michelle this excited about the man she'd liked for a long time. She had watched one loser after another stamp all over Michelle's confidence and she was glad to see that it was back with a vengeance after spending two days with Tony. She knew he had to be pretty special to bring out the best in Michelle.

"Listen honey, I'm just glad to see you so happy. It's been a while since that light's been in your eyes." She leaned in closer to Michelle.

"Actually I don't think I've ever seen that particular light in your eyes. This guy must be pretty special."

"He is." Michelle replied without hesitation. "Gaby, I'm in love with him and miraculously, he's in love with me." She said biting her lip.

"Not miraculously. Of course he's in love with you. You're wonderful!"

Gaby smiled and pulled her into a hug, glad that not only was her friend safe but that she had finally found the love she'd been searching for.