Several weeks passed. Leslie spent almost all his free time at Janet's place, and the two of them went out regularly, until the day he never showed up. Janet went to his apartment and knocked on the door. There was no response. Deeply concerned, she returned to her own apartment.

"You look like your best friend just died," Jack remarked.

"Leslie never came over, and he won't answer his door!" Janet cried. "I guess he doesn't want to see me anymore!"

"Don't jump to conclusions, now," said Jack. "Maybe he just got sick or something."

"If that were the case, he'd call and tell me!"

"Perhaps he's too sick to call," Jack suggested.

"Oh, no! He might be in the hospital dying as we speak!"

"Before you panic, why don't you just wait and see what happens," said Jack. "I'm sure he'll be in touch, eventually."

It occurred to Janet that Leslie might have met another woman, and that thought made her feel very anxious.

"Maybe you'll have time to talk to me and Jack now," Terri said when she found out what was going on.

"What do you mean? Have I really been ignoring you guys?"

"Mm hm." Terri nodded.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry!" Janet embraced her friends. "I didn't even realize it!"

"That's OK," said Jack. "We understand. Just don't do it again with your next boyfriend."

"My next boyfriend?" asked Janet.

"Well, sure," Jack replied. "I mean, if you haven't heard from Leslie after this long..."

Janet began to wail, and Terri attempted to comfort her while glaring at Jack.

"What did I do?" Jack asked innocently.

"You know darn well what you did!" Terri snapped.

A few days later, the doorbell rang, and Janet saw that it was Leslie. He was accompanied by a man who looked like a younger version of himself but was slightly taller. Nonplussed, she opened the door to let the two men in.

"Janet, please let me explain!" Leslie began. "My Dad had a stroke, and he was unconscious for several days. I had to rush back to London as quickly as I could. For awhile, they didn't even know whether or not he'd live. He only woke up a couple of days ago. I had to make sure he was going to be all right before I could come back."

"Oh, Leslie, I'm so sorry!" Janet exclaimed. "I had no idea!"

"I know you didn't. I had to leave in such a hurry I didn't have time to tell you. Oh, by the way, this is my younger brother, Nigel. He's a magician, and he wanted to try his luck across the pond as well."

"It's lovely to meet you." Nigel smiled a brilliant smile as he shook Janet's hand. "My brother told me all about you. Turns out he's quite besotted with you."

"Once again, I apologize sincerely for being out of touch for so long," Leslie added. "I certainly hope you didn't think you'd put me off!"

Actually, that was exactly what I thought, Janet told herself.

"You didn't, did you?" Leslie sounded very concerned.

"Oh, no! No..."

Just then Terri entered the apartment. "You wouldn't believe the kind of day I had! There was this patient...oh, hi, Leslie." She glanced at Nigel curiously. "And who do we have here?"

Leslie smiled. "Allow me to introduce my younger brother, Nigel. Nigel, this is Janet's roommate, Terri."

"Well, hello there!" Terri grinned broadly as Nigel took her proffered hand in his own and kissed it.

"How about if we all go to the Regal Beagle and have a nice little chat? After all, we have a bit to catch up on," Leslie suggested. "Just a friendly piece of advice," he added to his brother. "They don't accept five pound notes."

Janet blushed as she remembered her first encounter with Leslie, and the preposterous assumption she and her roommates had made about him.

The four of them had a marvelous time at the Regal Beagle, and Leslie and Nigel took Janet and Terri out dancing afterwards. For a while after that, Jack had to put up with living with two starstruck females, but he was used to it and didn't really mind.


One rainy afternoon in February, Janet was stepping off the bus when her foot caught in a crack in the pavement and her ankle twisted. She gasped in pain as she tried to take a step and almost fell.

Oh, no! she thought to herself. How will I ever make it back to the apartment? The rain was coming down in sheets, and she knew that walking on her injured ankle would be impossible.

"Janet!" Startled, she looked up to see Leslie holding an umbrella. "What happened?"

"I twisted my ankle," Janet told him. "I must have sprained it. It really hurts."

"Oh, you poor thing!" Leslie exclaimed. "Let me help you!" Leaning heavily on him, Janet limped all the way back to her apartment.

"Thank you so much!" she said once she was settled on the sofa at home. "I had no idea you were on that bus too!"

"I had an errand to run. I had to go out and buy this." He handed her a huge heart-shaped box of chocolates. "Happy Valentine's day, Janet."