Later that evening, like clockwork, Daphne arrived to spend time with Davy. Peter was hoping that they would go out somewhere, but lately due to lack of funds Davy was spending his time with Daphne at the pad. The couple had set up themselves up on the couch with a movie. They had invited Peter to watch the movie since he was already in that space, but he of course declined. No way he was going to put himself in the line of fire.

Peter scanned the communal space to find something to put his attention on. He noticed a familiar and no doubt disruptive option…Micky was working on one of his 'brilliant ideas.' Peter watched as Micky raced back and forth between several piles of items. He seemed to be simultaneously working on everything and not accomplishing anything.

"Hey Micky, what are you working on?" Peter inquired.

"I'm working on creating potential business opportunities for us. I can't decide which is the most brilliant idea, so I'm working on both," Micky answered without making eye contact with Peter and continued tinkering with things.

Peter observed the pile of wires, phone receivers, and notepads on one table. "What is the plan for this?"

"A wake up service! Calling people in the morning to wake them up. I call it 'Sometime in the Morning.''

"What about alarm clocks?"

"Shhhhh," Micky said covering Peter's mouth with his hand. "Don't let potential customers hear about the alternatives."

"Remember working at Urgent Answering Service though and what a mess that was?"

"Peter, are you going to be a drag the whole time?"

"Sorry. Let me guess this one," Peter continued looking at the other pile with empty plastic tubes and magnifying glasses, "you're trying to make telescopes."

"Right! We will allow people interested is star gazing to use our prime location to scratch their space itch. I'll call it…"

"'Star Collectors'," Peter interrupted.

"How did you know?"

"Wild guess," Peter said sarcastically. "Need some help?"

This was the first time the Micky had stopped fiddling with the piles and actually looked at Peter. "You want to help me?"

The question made sense. Mike had made it abundantly clear to Peter not to encourage Micky with his get rich quick schemes. The guys were expected to ignore Micky in hopes that he would move on from his ideas as quickly as he got them. Although, normally he was on to the next just as soon as he stopped. Peter was desperate for distraction at this moment.

"Sure, I've got nothing else going on."

"Great! How are you with a chainsaw?"

Well that idea was a bust. Not only Micky's idea, since he abandoned both within the hour due to lack of phone jacks and the cloudy forecast for a next few days. Also, Peter's plan to avoid Davy's date by focusing his attention elsewhere was a failure.

Micky's projects were not too far away from the couch, and Peter had a front row seat to Davy's charms. Peter had tried to focus on what he was doing and not even look in the direction of the couple. It was difficult though when Daphne began laughing loudly. Peter glanced up and noticed that they were spooning on the couch with Daphne in the front. Davy was slowly tracing his fingers up and down Daphne's sides from hip to ribcage. She began giggling uncontrollably and that led to a full on make out session right in front of Peter's eyes. Again, is nothing private?

Peter felt the feelings of frustration well up in his body with tension in his upper body and beginning to get hot and flushed. He needed to get out of there and abruptly bolted out the back door headed for the beach.

He had walked down to the opposite end of the beach to get rid of his excess energy and was now sitting watching the waves roll in and out. I don't know how much longer I can keep these emotions bottled up before I explode, he thought. Apparently, distraction is not working. What else is there?

Then Peter realized, he wasn't distracting and dealing with his emotions. He was avoiding. Trying to stuff down these feelings in hopes that things would resolve themselves. That wasn't helpful. So what was the opposite of avoiding things?

That's it! Peter finally got it. The old phrase says, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." If I want to learn how to interact with girls, I need to observe the guys tricks.

That could not have gone more terribly. Peter fell onto his bed after arriving home from his date with Joanna. He buried his face under his pillow and felt like disappearing so that no one would ask him about the date.

Peter had gone forward with his plan to observe his friends during dates in order to gain insight into how to interact with girls. First, he followed Mike and his date to a movie. He sat a few rows back and watched the couple instead of the movie. Since movies are not a space for much conversation, Peter assumed that this was part of Mike's plan. Mike was more quiet and did not need to talk much to impress a girl. Even on the ride home, as Peter hid in the very backseat, he noted that Mike didn't talk much. He was a listener, letting his date do the talking and speaking with his body language like his arm around her shoulders and intense eye contact. Peter recorded in his notebook, strong silent type.

Second, Peter observed Micky chatting up a few girls at a party the guys were performing at. He was keeping his audience in stitches doing impressions and telling jokes. After the performance was over, Micky was on a couch sandwiched between two girls who were stroking his ego and being very touchy feely. The drummer was eating up the attention and continuing to use humor to his advantage. Another note added to Peter's research, sense of humor.

Finally, Davy. Peter had seen Davy interact with girls on numerous occasions, but he needed to really scrutinize every detail. What really kept all the girls devoted to the Brit? Peter hid behind a plant in the pad, clad in camouflage makeup, to answer that very question. It could have been the British accent or his striking features. Even though those aspects only added to the overall attraction, it seemed to be Davy's charm and poise that sealed the deal. He was personable and genuine, always showing interest in a girl as though she was the only person in the room. And asking open-ended questions to learn more about her instead of focusing on himself, which makes the girl feel important. He showed vulnerability in not being afraid to show emotion in his statements as well as expressions. Davy was also not one to shy away from touch as a means to ensure intimacy. One last note, charisma.

After these scientific discoveries, Peter had determined that he would put these findings to the test with Joanna a woman he had met at the laundromat. He had taken her out to dinner at Pop's Italian Restaurant. He decided to combine all three of his notes together into one cringe worthy display. What was something that would show emotion, humor, and be silent? What else, but a mime. Peter was putting on an act of stereotypical mime gags, stuck in a box, pulling on a rope, etc. He must have broken out of the box too forcefully, because he ended up knocking over Joanna's plate of spaghetti straight onto her lap.

Peter had apologized profusely for the mishap, but the damage was already done. Joanna stormed out of the restaurant only stating that Peter should not try to contact her again. And here he was, lying in bed feeling defeated. I give up.