Thank you all who responded to my question! I know what I am going to do now, but if you have any other opinions I would still love to hear them! Thanks again and keep reviewing! Ok, on with the story…..

The Freudian Slip

The next morning came too early for my taste; I don't think I have had proper sleep since I came to New York. I raised my exhausted head off the pillow and forced myself to get ready. It was not until I looked at myself in the full length mirror in the bathroom that I realized I had fallen asleep in my clothes. I shook my head. I was out the door before I noticed his coat on the back of my chair. Damn.

I decided to go directly over to his door and give it back. That way I would have an out if I needed one; I had the excuse of having to go to work.

I rapped on his door; he answered almost immediately; looking as though he had not slept at all,

"Your coat," I handed him the garment; he stared at it for a moment,

"Thank you," he said slowly,

"I have to go, I am late for work," I said quickly, and I turned and walked quickly away,

Erik watched me go, no doubt believing by my abruptness I was angry with him, or that I simply did not want to see him again. And I didn't; well at least I did not care either way; he was just another man, another complication, another mistake. And plus, he looked kind of weird.

He closed the door and threw the coat down on the floor, not really caring where it landed. If he was honest with himself he had to admit he was no closer to understanding what was going on than he had been the day before.

Erik had been around the apartment hundreds of times; he had looked into the closets and noted that they were full of clothes he had never seen before. His whole apartment contained so many things of mystery; a passport, a wallet, a cell phone, a microwave, a TV; all of which he had little to no idea of how to use.

His first encounter with the new technological kind came that day around noon. He heard a noise coming from somewhere; a kind of ringing. He located the source of the noise and saw a light was flashing as well. He had heard about telephones, but this looked much different than the crude instruments of his former day. He took a guess at how to use it anyway,

Erik picked up the phone and waited,

"Hello?" he heard a woman's voice,

"Hello?" Erik repeated, amazed at the fact that he could communicate with someone this way,

"May I speak with Erik Duval?"

Wondering how this woman knew a name he had thought he had just made up, it took him a moment to respond, "Speaking," he said,

"Mr. Duval this is Karen Hegel, with Mont Building and Design, I am calling to confirm your interview with Mr. Mont, at nine o'clock this Monday?"

Erik felt a hundred questions fill his head, but all he said was,

"Yes, thank you,"

"We will see you Monday then," the woman said brightly, "Have a good weekend," and there was a click on the other end.

Erik put the phone back down; what was Mont Building and Design, and how had he gotten an interview there? And what day was it? And what time was it?

It was Friday night in New York. I was on my way to meet my three best friends; Rebecca, the girl who kept me out too late, Susan, the girl who never stayed out too late, and Jackie, the girl who kept us all in high fashion without to high a price due to her being an editor at VOGUE magazine.

I met them right after work; they were already seated in the crowded restaurant. I had had to stay late to finish a brief.

"There you are!" Rebecca shouted at me as I navigated around the tables full of people to get to them, "We were worried you had dropped off the face of the earth!"

"Why?" I said confused as I sat down,

"I tried calling you all last night; you never picked up," Rebecca smiled at me, "Did Robert finally show?"

"Oh yes; he came to my office last night and followed me all the way home," I shook my head, "I finally got him to leave me alone by saying I had dinner plans with someone else," I suddenly bit my lip, did I want to tell my friends that I had spent the pervious night playing tour guide to the guy I used as a make believe boyfriend to get me out of awkward situations with other men?

"So then what?" Rebecca prompted, "Why didn't you answer your cell?"

"I…went out," I said,

There was a general intake of breath around the table and everyone leaned closer,

"Went out with who?" Susan said

"The guy who just moved in next to me; it was his first night in New York," I confessed grudgingly,

"Ah…A New York virgin!" Rebecca said smiling wickedly, "Did you sleep with him?"

Jackie shook her head and smiled wryly, Susan looked scandalized, and I just laughed,

"I just met the guy!" I said,

"So," Rebecca spoke in a business like manner, "You could still have slept with him; gave him an exciting first night," she sipped her cosmopolitan,

"I am woman, not a welcome mat," I said,

"I think I read that on a sampler once," Jackie said sarcastically, and we all laughed again,

"Okay, so why didn't you sleep with him?" Rebecca persisted,

"She shouldn't have slept with him! She just met him!" Susan patted my arm, "Is he boyfriend material?" Susan had this idea that every new man we met could turn out to be 'the one'

"No," I said, "He is too wonderful-I mean weird," all my friends stared at me and I felt like slapping myself in the face, "He acts strange," I tried to explain, "he does weird things; like he held the door open for me, and he gave me his coat to wear,"

"Aww…that sounds sweet!" Susan exclaimed, "What is wrong with that?"

"Oh no, don't get involved with a man like that," Jackie warned me, sipping her red wine, "First he is holding open doors; then he is asking you to quit your job and buy a van,"

"That's not true!" Susan argued, "He could just be trying to be sweet,"

"No one is just trying to be sweet," Rebecca interjected, ""They are just trying to get laid or…get laid,"

"I think I saw that on a sampler somewhere," I said,

"So how old is he?" Susan pressed; determined to give this guy she did not know a chance,

"I don't know, thirty nine?" I guessed exasperated,

"Has he ever been married before?" Susan asked,

"Well actually; his fiancé left him," I said,

"Aw, that's so tragic!" Susan exclaimed, "It's like a romantic fairy tale! He came to New York brokenhearted, and then he met you,"

"And then he goes out and sleeps with all the other woman in the city," Rebecca tore down Susan's fantasy life, "Remember honey; there are no romantic fairy tales,"

"That's what I say, romance is dead," I continued, "This is a fairy tale meeting that will turn into a relationship,"

"Don't you mean this is not a fairy tale meeting that will turn into a relationship?" Jackie looked at me with her eyebrows raised,

"That is what I said," wasn't it?

"No, what you said was that it was a fairy tale meeting that is going to turn into a relationship," Susan smiled at me, "You subconsciously like him!"

I sighed, "This is not high school Susan; if I liked him, I would say so,"

"But you did say so! You Freudian slipped it!"

"I did not," I had certainly not done anything of the sort, but then I began to wonder; had I? I had just accidentally said I thought we could have a relationship, and the night before; I had seen Mark, the former object of my undying affection, but I had kissed him, what did that mean?

And then my phone rang; I rummaged through my purse to find it; "Olivia Moss," I said hurriedly and everyone at the table stopped talking to listen to me,

"O-Olivia?" I recognized the voice immediately,

"Erik?" I was bewildered, "How did you get this number?"

"It was in your wallet,"

"How did you get my wallet?" I was stunned,

"It was in my coat pocket; I just found it, do you need it?" he was standing in his apartment and he had picked up the coat, found the wallet and gone through it. He did not know much, but by the way I had paid for everything the night before with the credit cards and the bills, he thought I might need the continents. He had found a slip of paper I had written my number on when I had first gotten my phone,

Did I need the it? Of course I needed it; I could not believe I had not noticed it was gone yet, "Well, yes, but I am not at home; I am at dinner,"

"Oh…well…where?"

I gave him the name and address of the restaurant and told him to get into a cab and bring it to me; I needed the money to pay for dinner; and even though I knew my friends would pay for me, I asked him to come any way.

"Who was that?" Rebecca asked,

I just stared at the cell phone, "It was him," I said slowly, "I must have gone to put my wallet in my purse, and put it in his coat pocket instead,"

"Wait…what did you do?" Rebecca looked at me confused,

I looked up, "Remember I said he let me wear his coat last night because I was cold? Well I gave it back to him this morning and I was in such a rush I must have accidentally slipped my wallet into his pocket instead of into my purse,"

"Accidentally on purpose!" Susan exclaimed, "You put your wallet into his pocket so you would have to go over and see him again, or he would have to bring it to you!" Susan smiled triumphantly, "You do like him don't you!"

"No," I remained firm, but in my mind my position was slipping. I had enjoyed our night together; he had been heartbroken and solemn but at least he had not been jaded. He had been smart, God knows he had been polite, and at the end of the night he had not turned into an amoebae who's sole intent was getting through the door and into the bed; he was a find so rare it was like spotting a great dress at a discount price,

And I want to see him again; there was only one problem,

"Listen when he gets here, I have to warn you; one side of his face is really strange looking," I tried to explain,

"Strange like lazy eye strange or like elephant man strange?" Jackie said,

"Closer to the elephant man side of the spectrum," I said seriously

"Eww, really?" Susan shrieked; her fairy tale romance was shattered as the handsome prince became the ogre,

"Susan, are you twelve? You don't say 'eww,' and you have to be nice to him," I said, and as I waited, my eyes on the door, I wondered what would happen because of my little wallet slip,