"Okay. One large 'Happy Engagement' Cake, check." Goh sighed as he shifted the plastic bag in his hand; thinking about the occasion the pastry was for.

Himeno and Hayate's engagement. For some reason…it stilled pissed him off a bit. On the other hand, it had given him a reason to purchase a 3-pound celebration cake. And if he had gotten his favorite kind, well, who was to argue. He grinned to himself with self-appreciation.

"Always a silver lining." He snickered as he turned the corner from the bakery.

He planned to take the short way to Himeno's house and didn't want to be caught so he turned into an alley. His entrance, however, heralded the exit of another, person colliding into him. Goh winced as he fell back in surprise, dropping the bag and managing to land right atop the cake. He glanced down towards the contents, which had begun to ooze out of the bag.

"Damn it all!" he stood, lifting the crushed back and sighed tragically "Easy come…" He turned at the sound of shifting behind him and walked towards the figure sprawled out on the ground. A grin lit on hid face as the person sat up. "Well hello…."

Simone stared down at the pack of cigarettes in her hand, dark eyes speculative and slightly vexed. Once cigarette had been partly lifted from the army of others arranged neatly inside the box and her gaze was fixed on it. Just one maybe? After all, Celia seemed to think they took all her troubles away.

Simone winced at the thought of her spoiled half sister. Where would Celia be now? Probably with that man she was dating. The 30 year old, what was his name? Koa? Kouga? T…Touga! That guy, Touga. She thought of slimy man and hissed with distaste, he was a bum. Constantly at the house eating everything in sight. She didn't understand how Celia could stand him. Or maybe she could. They were both leeches.

Simone's fingers tightened around the cigarette pack before she sighed then flung it away from her into the trashcan at the end of the alley she stood in. What a stupid thought. She was dumb for even considering it.

She shifted the strap of her purse further up her shoulder then turned and walked out of the alley. Momentum of her brisk pace sent her slamming right into some barrier, falling back to land on the sidewalk. She gasped from where she lay, flat on her back, staring at the sky overhead. So maybe this was bad karma? The sound of a voice caused her to sit up slowly, burying fingers in her hair so she could massage her head.

"Well hello…"

"Ah!" She yelped in surprise to find a man crouched next to her. "Who are you?"

"Actually." He grinned, lifting up a bag that seemed to be oozing with…icing and strawberry filling?" "I'm the guy you bumped into."

"Oh." She stared at the back then up at him. He wore a smile with a kind of brilliant warmth she hadn't encountered since her mother had died. She would have assumed it was false if not for the equally cheerful light in his eyes. "I'm sorry. Here, I'll pay for the cake." Lifting her purse into her lap.

"Don't worry about it." He stood, extending his hand towards her.

For a moment, Simone almost accepted it. Almost. But she found she couldn't, and wouldn't. She'd been depending only on her own strength for a long time and wouldn't have a perfect record marred now, by a stranger. She pushed to her feet on her own, ignoring his hand then smoothed down the gypsy skirt she wore.

"Really." She went on, ignoring the slightly hurt look the followed her rejection. "It was my fault. How much was it?"

"How about instead of paying me…" he grinned. "I buy you coffee?"

She blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Don't you like coffee?"

"I never said I didn't like coffee. I just mean't…I don't think it's a good idea. How about I just write you a check or something and go?"

"Well you could I guess." He rubbed the back of his head with a hand. "But I'd prefer a date."

"A date." She licked her lips in surprise, not sure what to make of him, glancing away. "Why do you want to go on a date with me?"

"Why…why…..I don't really have a reason why. I just know I'd like to." He laughed sheepishly.

Simone lifted her eyes to him and then couldn't help the smile that touched her lips. She pushed her hair behind her shoulder and strolled past him. "Alright."

"Really?"

She nodded. "But how about ice cream instead. My name's Simone Andrade by the way."

He smiled. "Goh."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"So what was the cake for?"

Goh turned his head from his study of the park they sat in. Strangely enough it was the same one Himeno usually favor, though he suspected it was mainly because the ice cream stand always set up around here. Instead he turned attention towards the girl, Simone, and grinned. She watched him with a pair of dark jeweled black eyes. Every so often she'd brush back shoulder length raven locks with a hand bearing a cinnamon hued complexion.

"My brother." He answered. "Or my brother and his girlfriend rather. They just got engaged and they're celebrating."

"Oh! Now I feel even worse for ruining it." She hiccupped.

"What? You wouldn't have felt bad if it was just for me?"

She sent him an amused look. "Not even a little bit. I would have told myself that I single handedly saved you from high blood sugar and lots of fat. And possibly a trip to that hospital for consuming a cake that big."

"My hero." He said dryly then grinned when she laughed. He was surprised. The hesitant, haughty demeanor he'd first encountered was gone, as if it had never existed. "So what were you doing lurking in that alley?"

She paused a moment, licking ice cream from her lips. "Talking myself out of a bad decision." She sighed, waving her ice cream cone at him dismissively. "It's a long story."

"Do you live around her?"

She nodded slowly. "Well, I do now. I only moved her about a year ago. And I moved to Japan only 5 years ago."

"Really?" he questioned in surprise. "Where did you live before that?"

"France. With my mother." Her voice was quiet and she stifled any other words by biting into the cone.

He knew that inflection. Her mother had died, not recently enough that it was too hard to even mention it, but still hard enough that she didn't want to go into it. He let it lay.

"So. How about dinner?"

She gave him a look, half amused half suspicious. "Don't you think it's strange to have desert then dinner."

"Not really."

"It's 3 o' clock in the afternoon!"

"Lunch?" he persisted and she laughed.

"Even if I wanted to I couldn't. I have to pick my sister up from her classes in a half an hour." She licked ice cream drippings from her fingers absently.

"That's no problem. I could go with you."

"No!" the word was a sharp bark and ignited surprise and suspicion. "I mean. She doesn't like strangers and I don't want to worry her. Besides that's just the tip of my list. In fact," she balled up the napkin she held and threw it, crumpled paper landing neatly in the garbage can. "I should leave now."

"Wait!" he half rose when she stood "How about tomorrow?"

She blinked at him curiously. "You don't give up do you?"

"I could always ask around until I found you." He grinned, figuring he'd try from honesty again since it had worked for him the first time.

She appeared doubtful at first, lips tipping into a small frown as she glanced away, scratching a fingernail against the face of her watch hesitant. She shouldn't, she knew, but well...it would be nice talking to someone besides the people at the library. Finally she nodded.

"Alright." Her watch ticked as if urging her along. "Tomorrow then."

"Ice cream again?" he stuck his tongue out a bit, not seeming overly enthusiastic.

Simone couldn't help the smile. "Coffee." And then she hurried from the park to pick of Celia. If she knew her sister the girl would be holding court just outside the modeling hall, tapping a heeled foot impatiently.

Simone sighed.