The following takes place between season 2 and season 3. Events do not occur in real time.

(PS: I do not own I am the cheese by Robert Cormier)

A DAY IN THE LIFEThe Beatles

Chapter 4 – Dancing on the Moon

Dancing on the Moon, 1997 – Starring Elisha Cuthbert as Sarah

TONY

It had been quite some time since the last time I'd been here. Two, two and a half years? Last time had been for…

Shut up.

Sighing, I pushed the front door open and entered the store. A young, considerably cute saleswoman I would have debated whether to invite to coffee or not (and would have chosen the second option) had it been a year and a half before came to assist me.

"Can I help you?"

"Um, no thanks. I already know what I'm buying."

And I did. Even though I hadn't set foot in the store, every time I passed it, I saw it in the display window.

It wasn't big, it wasn't overpriced, it wasn't shiny: it was perfect.

I slowly walked towards the end of the store. A woman was applying lipstick while looking in her pocket mirror.

"Wa wowen wease."

Assuming she meant 'One moment please', I answered, "Sure."

She rubbed her lips together and put her make-up stuff away. "Can I help you?"

Obviously. "Yes. I saw something in the display window the other day and I was wondering if you still had it…"

"Look in the glass case right here." She pointed at the case in front of her. "If it was in the window, it's here or it's been sold already."

I looked around.

There.

When I pointed at it, she looked at me questioningly. "You know this is for…"

No kidding. I cut her off. "Yes, I know. But I'm kind of in a hurry so…"

"Of course." She smiled at me and packed it up really fast. Still, no wait had ever felt so long in my whole life.

"919 dollars and 99 cents."

I gave her my credit card. "Thanks a lot."

"No problem. Who's the lucky girl?"

With a big, goofy smile, I replied, "I'm the lucky guy."

MICHELLE

I am riding the bicycle and I am on Route 31 in Mo…

My cell phone started ringing. "Dessler."

"Hi Michelle. I'm really sorry to be bothering you but I need you at work tomorrow. Tony took a day off too so you have to replace him. I'm so sorry about this but you know he needs it…"

I didn't mention we were supposed to spend the day together (nobody knew about us yet). "Alright. At what time do I come in?"

"Well, since I ruined your day, is ten alright?"

"Ten is good."

"Sorry Michelle."

"It's okay Jack. See you."

I decided to 'forget' to mention this to Tony today unless he started on the subject. Putting down my cell phone, I picked up my book again.

I am riding the bicycle and I am on Route 31 in Monument, Massachuss…

Dring, dring.

At least I got a word further than before.

"Dessler."

"Michelle?"

"Hi Dad."

"Sorry to bother you honey but Madeleine is going to her cottage this week-end and…"

"And…"

"She invited me to come with her."

"That's wonderful Dad!"

"Er yes."

"Er yes?"

"Oh, the hell with it. Sheila has nowhere to stay and I was wondering if…"

"No problem Dad, I'll take her." Even though I very much disliked cats, my father's more particularly.

I am such a good person.

"Thank you so much honey! I'll bring her on Wednesday."

"Yeah, yeah. Have fun and say hi to Madeleine."

"Thanks, bye!"

I am riding the bicycle and I am on Route 31 in Monument, Massachusetts, on my way to Rutterburg, Ver…

You guessed it. The phone rang… AGAIN.

If this is some more bad news, I am taking the elevator to the 13th floor and I am jumping from the building.

"Dessler."

Either my voice sounded harsh or Tony knew me too well. "Hey sweetheart. Am I bothering you?"

I smiled. "No, not at all. I've just been trying to read and people keep on calling me."

"What book are you reading?"

"I am the cheese…"

"…by Robert Cormier. I read that when I was in High School."

"So did I! And then, the other day, I was at the library and I took it to read it again."

"It's a good book, isn't it?"

"Yeah… So, what's up?"

"We still on for tonight?"

"Sure. Your place at seven, right?"

"Yeah. Well, I'll let you read now."

"Bye. I love you."

"I love you too."

I hung up, grinning. Then, I picked up my book once again and, crossing my fingers, hoped no one would interrupt me now.

I am riding the bicycle and I am on route 31 in Monument, Massachusetts, on my way to Rutterburg, Vermont, and I'm pedaling furiously because this is an old-fashioned bike, no speeds, no fenders, only the warped tires and the brakes that don't always work and the handlebars with crackled rubber grips to steer with. A plain bike – the kind my father rode as a kid years ago. It's cold as I pedal along, the wind like a snake slithering up my sleeves and into my jacket and my pants leg, too. But I keep pedaling, I keep pedaling…

TONY

I love you so much. Will you marry me?

No.

Michelle, this last year has been… I don't know how to explain. Will you marry me?

No.

Michelle, you are the love of my life, the sun of my nights. I love you to death. Will you marry me?

Absolutely not.

Discouraged, I called Jack. He would know what to do.

"Bauer."

"Jack, it's Tony."

"Hey. What's up?"

"I… Can you help me?"

I could almost see him grinning on the other side of the line. "This is about Michelle, isn't it? You better do your thing tonight. I told her she was working tomorrow so she doesn't suspect anything."

"I know, I know. But that's the problem. I don't know what to say."

"Come on, Tony. Go with the flow."

"THE FLOW? Here I am, in my kitchen, making pasta while trying to find different ways to propose to my girlfriend, each way more ridiculous than the other. And you want me to go with the flow?"

"It doesn't have to be complicated. When I asked… Teri," Jack paused. Teri's death was still affecting him.

Gently, I encouraged him. "Yeah, with Teri. What happened?"

"We were working on her uncle's farm. And, one day, I…"

"It's okay. You don't have to continue."

"No, I'm okay." He sighed and continued. "One day, we were in the barn fooling around."

Sensing a commentary of some kind from me, he added, "NO, not that kind of fooling around. Anyways, we were nineteen. In my head, I had this whole speech learnt by heart. But, when the moment came, I just snuggled up to her, opened the little box and said: 'Marry me, Teri.' She started smiling like crazy and said yes of course. Then, later on, we went skinny-dipping in her uncle's pond after dark. After that, we…"

Not wanting to here more, I hastily interrupted him. "Riiiiiight! Too many details, thank you."

Jack sounded taken aback. "Nothing happened that night. A few nights later though…"

"Thanks Jack! I think I'll be okay." I hung up before he could say anything that could make us both very uncomfortable. At work, Jack could be a total jerk (a jerk who knew his way around but still…). Everyone is a jerk when they're at work. But Jack had a very different personality outside of CTU. He was very goofy and fun. Since Teri's death and Nina's betrayal, we became much closer. And after the day of the bomb, our friendship grew even stronger. It was me who had told him he should ask Kate out on a date and him who, yes, at first, had cautioned me against Michelle but, since, had been helping me a lot with these romance things. I really sucked at that stuff so it was a relief having him as a friend.

Suddenly… "Damn it!" I had forgotten the pasta in the boiling water and, now, it was overcooked… the way both Michelle and I hated it.

"Shit, shit, shit!" I dumped the pasta into the garbage can and opened a new pack.

Man! I have to start it all over again!

Then, I realised something. Everything (not just the pasta) was starting anew. Was this what I wanted?

Yes.

MICHELLE

If I had to choose the thing I liked the most about Tony's apartment, I wouldn't have been able to make a choice. Seriously! There were just so many things I loved about it. There was, of course, Tony living there. There were also other little things like waking up in the morning in his bed, falling asleep on his couch (and being carried by him back to the bedroom), stealing his towel from him when he came out from the shower, failing miserably when he tried to teach me how to make rice (Did I ever tell you how bad I am at cooking? I'm VERY bad, I suck. You don't even want to joke about it.)… And, when I stepped inside the apartment, I always felt safer, loved. Yes, I really loved his apartment.

In fact, I was secretly hoping he'd one day ask me to move in with him. Sadly, that day had not come yet (though he did give me a key, telling me I could come over whenever I wanted).

Having forgotten my key, as usual, I rang the doorbell and waited. While waiting, I looked at the little etiquette next to his doorbell.

T. Almeida.

Wouldn't a & M. Dessler have looked very nice next to it?

"Michelle?"

I pressed on the button of the intercom. "Yeah. It's me."

The door unlocked and I slipped in. I climbed up the stairs to the third floor.

Apartment 303.

The door was half open. I walked in quietly and surprised Tony in a hug while he was setting the table.

He smiled. "Hey baby." He turned around and kissed me softly.

"Hi…" I grabbed the plates on the counter and helped him set up. "What did you do today?"

He paused one second too long. "Nothing."

"Uh huh and I'm the Queen of England."

"You are, you are. Did you finish your book?"

"Yeah but it still confuses me."

Tony put down the utensils and approached me. "What don't you understand?" he said in a husky voice.

"Um the boy. Adam. What really happened? Was his dad really in the hospital?"

"Maybe." He came closer.

"And the end. It's so brutal."

"Maybe." Even closer.

"I can't…," I stammered. "I can't think of the name now and anyway I am too busy singing, and I hold Pokey the Pig close to me and I smile as I sing…"

"…because I know, of course, who I am, who I will always be." Dangerously close. "I am the cheese." The remaining gap between our mouths disappeared.

After a while, I pulled away. "How do you know all of this?"

"The same way you do. When there's a line in a book I like, I write it down somewhere." He kissed me again.

"The food…" I said, breathless.

"Your point…"

I thought about it for a brief second. "I have no point. Kiss me."

And so he did.

TONY

By the time we came back to the dining room, the food was cold and the table was still not set.

Damn.

I shouldn't have been surprised. Did I think that a fairy might appear from the sky and keep the food warm while setting the table for us?

Michelle appeared behind me and kissed my back. She had pulled back her hair from her face and was wearing a tee-shirt of mine and a pair of my boxers.

"You go heat up the food. I'll set the table."

I took the pasta plate and put in the oven before joining Michelle, who had finished setting the table, on the balcony.

For a long time, neither of us spoke. Finally, Michelle broke the silence.

"It's the full moon."

"Yeah. I'll probably turn into a werewolf and bite you."

She laughed softly. "It's beautiful out here."

I sat down on the lounge chair and motioned her to sit on me. She sat down and, for god knows how long, neither of us spoke.

I had fallen asleep for a few minutes when Michelle shook me from my sleep.

"Tony."

"Mmm?"

"Your pasta…"

"My pasta…"

"I think it's burning."

"Burning… Burning!"

Michelle got up and I ran to the kitchen… but it was too late.

"Shit!"

Michelle was laughing very hard. "Oh my god! This is too funny! I thought I was the bad cook here!"

I tried to look annoyed but failed miserably. I started grinning. "You haven't heard the best of it. It's the second time today I screw up the pasta."

"This is so sad! When we get married and have kids, they're going to die, poisoned by our meals." She paused for a moment before adding, "Knock on wood," and thumping on the wooden chair she was sitting on.

I wasn't sure if the 'Knock on wood' was about the getting married part or the poisoning. "Hey! It's the first time I burn my food! Today is just not my day, that's all…"

I sat down and pushed the salad bowl towards her. Smiling shyly, I said, "We have salad…"

She smiled and took both our salad plates. "Okay."

We ate in silence, all of our energy devoted to lifting the forks to our mouths. After we finished, I put the plates in the sink and decided I would take care of that tomorrow.

We sat down in the living room. Michelle cuddled next to me: it reminded me of Jack's story. I remembered the little velvet box on the coffee table right next to me, relieved Michelle hadn't noticed it yet. Somehow, at that moment, I knew that, no matter how cheesy my speech would be, no matter how stupid I would look, Michelle would say yes.

I smiled.

Maybe today is my day, after all…

MICHELLE

After a while, we got up from the couch and returned to the balcony, saying nothing. Tony was the first to speak up.

"Michelle?"

"Yeah?"

"You know, before, you were talking about getting married and having kids and poisoning them with your home-cooked meals?"

"Hey! With your over-cooked, burnt pasta, you mean."

"Fine, fine. With my pasta. But…" He hesitated and I let him take his time. "Did you mean all of that, the kids and married part?"

I paused for a moment. "Yeah. I mean, I guess so."

"So, if I ask you to marry me one day, you'll say yes?"

"Uh huh."

"What about if I asked you know?"

My heart started beating very fast. "As in, right now?"

"Uh yes."

I thought about it and answered. "I'd say 'Hell yeah' and jump into your arms." We both grinned. "Though I'm probably too tired to jump into your arms."

And, just like that, even though there hadn't been the big 'Will you marry me?' and the ecstatic 'YES!', Tony had proposed to me and I had accepted.

He took my hand and put the ring he had been fumbling with for some time but that I hadn't noticed until now on my fourth finger. I looked at it, smiling.

The ring was made of white gold and was as simple as it can get. No diamond, no design. But that was exactly what I wanted (and what Tony knew I wanted).

Within minutes, we were both asleep on the lounge chair.

That night, I had a really weird dream. I dreamt we were dancing on the moon. I guess, in a way, we really were.