AN: All hail the Cheese Cake Factory! Your $5 dollar slices are worth it!

I walked in and was assaulted by the smell of bleach, rubbing my eyes I realized that A: the sun was brighter than normal. B: She was still there, and I still didn't remember her name. And C: the apartment was clean. Looking up and down I made a mental picture of her, I may never her again: Her hair was gathered into a high ponytail and she had a rag stuffed in her back pocket. She was wearing a pink tight fitting tank top, a pair of tight fitting jeans, and an old pair of sandals. Her coat was cast off, showing her delicate figure and the sun shown in from behind her making her no more than a silhouette…wait, silhouette? What has gotten into me?

Finally I found out her name. Leah. If I remember my Hebrew well enough from lessons it meant weary. We walked down the sidewalk on the way to the closest bakery and she just gawked, had she ever been in New York City before? Last night she made the comment that she didn't know NY very well. Was this the first time she had ever been here?

"First time in the Big Apple?"

"No, I came here once with a few friends after graduation a couple years back, we saw a few shows, you know, Cats, that sort of thing. And we went to the Statue of Liberty."

"Really? I've never been there."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope, and I've only been to Times Square once."

"That's crazy."

"Why?"

"You live in New York, I mean you live here how can you not have seen it?"

"So, where did you live before here?"

"Around Kansas City. Why?"
"So what's the biggest tourist attraction there?"

"I don't know... The Cheese Cake factory. I get it. I've never seen the sights there, you haven't seen them here." Pausing, "I wonder why that is."

"Why what is?"

"You know, we never be tourist at our home."

Together we walked into the bakery and picked out a dozen day-old bagels. She pulled out a few ones and paid for them, also getting a cup of coffee. She somehow knew that I was broke and bought me a cup too. As we started back she asked me how I knew Collins. So I told her and described the rest of the group for her. Nodding, she put a face to each one, when I got to me she smiled. I love to see her smile.

When we got back to the loft she smiled again, we were outside the door. I smiled back. What's going on man? You didn't know her name an hour ago and now you are smiling! I slid open the door to be interrupted by Roger throwing his clothes around. In the matter of a half an hour he had somehow completely up ended the apartment. His boxers re-took their residence on a lamp and everything else went back to where they were. Leah barely missed a dirty sock that was headed for her head. Slowly I got madder and madder, right before I exploded she started to laugh. I looked at her to see her double over.

"What's wrong?"

"What else? He obviously can't live without his appropriate lighting!" She giggled as she pointed to the lampshades' covers (a red & white poka-dotted boxers that Angel got him for his birthday and a pair of Mimi's socks)

I couldn't help but chuckle myself. Roger looked at both of us, shrugged his shoulders and went back to digging through the laundry bag.

"So would you help me out of NY? I have a paper due Monday and I only have four pages done." She asked me, readjusting her purse.

"Umm. Ok. Do you mind if we leave after breakfast though? I am still really hungry."

"I meant after- I mean that's why we went to- ok."