The next day was free of Clay and his crew, as I was thinking of them now. I wondered, briefly, if he'd reconsidered, and felt happy that the money he'd given me was still in the safe and not deposited. I hadn't told my uncle that I'd rented out the shop. It wasn't like he'd care, really, but I felt sure that the less people who knew about Clay and the others, the better. Strange, but true.

I'd just said goodbye to Rachel and Erin, the girls that had worked with me during the evening shift, the sun dipping below the horizon as I shooed them on their way. Turning over the open sign to closed, I was locking the top lock when Clay was suddenly staring at me through the door. Well, that answered my question. Clicking the lock back open, I opened the door with a smile. "I guess you'd be wanting these-" I tossed him the spare keys, ones that ONLY locked and unlocked the front door. "Remember to turn off the lights when you're done, don't open the door for anyone craving a scone, and have a good meeting." I was offering this as I walked through the shop toward the back. The interior entrance to my apartment was the one I used most often.

"Where are you going?" Looking over my shoulder I realized he'd relocked the door and was following me curiously.

"To my apartment," I tilted my head toward the door that no one seemed to notice until they needed a bathroom. "I live upstairs." I could see his face change and wondered just what I'd gotten myself into. "Is that a problem?"

Clay's face relaxed again, as though whatever passed had been just my imagination. "No, of course not, Charlotte. I thought you were getting a deposit ready or something, I was going to offer to walk with you to the bank. Or drive-" I smiled at his attempt at chivalry.

"Thanks, but I go during the day." I turned again, using a key that only me and ONE other person had access to to open the door leading to the stairs for my apartment. "If you need anything, I'm just-" I pointed up, and smiled.

I locked the door behind me and climbed my stairs, wondering again, what the hell had I gotten into?

I had barely pulled my hair down out of the topknot I'd worn all day, replaced my work clothes with a pair comfortable shorts and a ratty t-shirt from my college days when I heard the soft knock on my outer door. No one, ok, rarely anyone ever came to my apartment so that was new.

"Hello?" I opened the door and blinked at the hot tech geek, 'JJ' standing on the small porch that was hidden on the back of the building. "Can I help you?"

He ran his hand over his short hair and looked abashed at standing outside my home. "Hey, Charlotte, I was wondering-"

"How did you know I live here?" It was an abrupt question, but my spidey senses were tingling. "No one really knows I live here." Seriously, very few people outside my closest friends and family knew. And I mean CLOSEST.

'JJ' blushed, and for a moment I forgot my irritation and suspicion. Only a moment, though. "Yeah, so-" he sighed and shyly smiled at me. "I saw you go through the door downstairs early on, and wondered what was behind it, and I looked online- They have records of EVERYTHING online, and found the plans for the building and long story short, figured out you probably lived up here." I raised an eyebrow. "Guess you aren't the only one who sounds stalker-like, huh?"

Biting my lip, I considered my next question. "So, you looked on the county website, found the blueprints for this building and decided that I MUST live upstairs because you saw me go through a mystery door downstairs once?" I hoped I sounded as disbelieving as I felt, but at the same time I was curious why he'd bothered. "Why?"

"Why?" Now it was his turn to look confused. "Why did I look on the website or-" He left it hanging and I sighed.

Shaking my head, leaning against the doorway I stared up at him. "No, why are you here now?"

He smiled and it changed his face entirely. "Oh, that's simple. I wanted to take you to dinner." Wait, what? I blinked and thought fondly of a time when I wasn't part owl. "So will you go to dinner with me?"

Another head shake, not to say no, but to clear out the cobwebs that had to be growing in my fucking brain for this entire situation to be happening in front of me. "Dinner? With you?" I needed to figure out what fucking alternative universe I'd slipped into for this to make sense. "Sure," I let the word trail off. Vague agreement seemed best for now. I mean the weirdo had researched the building to find out that I lived here. If I believed his story.

"Great, I'll wait here while you get ready." What? I raised an eyebrow. "I saw a really great Italian place a couple blocks over-"

"Enzo's?" I asked, clearly my mouth wasn't nearly as behind as my brain felt. "It's one of my favorite spots."

His eyes and face seemed to light up. "Great, so grab some clothes and let's-"

"Now?" I asked, blinking again. "You want to go to dinner now?" He nodded and I felt like I had missed a few beats. I could close the door, call the police and tell them I had a living breathing stalker on my doorstep, but he seemed harmless. I mean awkward, goofy as fuck, but attractive and somehow I knew he wasn't planning on hurting me. What? Some people have that kind of intuition, right? "OK, just give me a-" I left the door open and wandered into my bedroom to change. As I pulled on a dress, I was staring at myself in the standing floor length mirror and saw that I was still blinking repeatedly. Fuck. I had brain damage. Probably dropped a heavy bag of coffee beans or flour on my fucking head and was actually laying on the floor in the shop while my employees stood around and contemplated who would call the ambulance. Feeling calmer at the thought that all of this entire fucking week was going on in my broken brain, I slipped on shoes and grabbed my purse. Screw it, at least dream/brain damaged me might have fun.