Title: Summer in the City
Author: Vesper (Regina)
Warnings: T, some innuendo
Category: General/Humor
Characters: Henry Grubstick, Toni Katznelson
Spoilers: None
Summary: When Toni met Henry.
Disclaimer: Ugly Betty is the property of Silent H Productions, Reveille and Ventanarosa, and Touchstone Television. The story is mine.
Archival: If you wish to archive, please link to my website, or my Livejournal post. Please keep all my headers intact.
Notes: Second in the "When Henry Met Toni" series, written by myself and MaddieStJ. Toni Katznelson is used with her gracious permission. Thanks! Title and lines used from "Summer in the City" sung by The Lovin' Spoonful.

Toni lifted her hair from her neck, gathering it into a hand-held ponytail, in a semi-futile effort to cool down. The summer heat clung to everything with moist, sticky fingers and even the short distance from her work to home was enough to make her wish fervently that she could crawl into a freezer and stay there. She sighed, dropped her hand, and pressed the up button on the elevator one more time.

She just wanted to get home, sit down, cuddle her dogs and eventually get herself something to eat. A cool shower wouldn't go amiss, either.

Finally, finally, the elevator doors opened and she'd almost stepped in when she heard, "Hold the elevator! Please!"

Curious, she put a hand on the door and waited for the man. He jogged up to her, arms loaded down with two tall boxes, completely obscuring his face. He hustled past her, hurriedly trying to press the button for his floor without letting go of his boxes. Toni stepped in, reaching past him to press her button, just as he gave up the awkward struggle and set the boxes down on the floor. He straightened up, pressing his button on the way.

Out of breath, he took a moment to lean against the wall and push the hair that had flopped over his forehead out of his way. He said, "Thanks," on a huff of air and re-settled the black-rimmed glasses that were sitting crooked on his nose.

Toni smiled and said, "No worries."

He just waved a hand in a 'wait-for-it' gesture as he concentrated on catching his breath.

Toni glanced at the boxes. She asked, "Moving in?"

He said, "Just. Last ones."

"You'll like it here."

He'd finally gotten control of his breathing. He said, "I know I will, once I get past how wet it is outside. Is it always like this?"

"It's summer in the city; what else can you expect?"

"'Back of my neck gettin' dirty and gritty,'" he half-said, half-sung and then grinned. The face that Toni had been considering not half-bad, despite the desperate need for a hair-cut and those heavy, obscuring glasses was instantly up-graded to 'pretty darn nice'.

He said, "I'm used to much drier heat." He held out his hand and said, "By the way, I'm Henry. Henry Grubstick."

Toni held back a giggle, settling for a small smile. She shook Henry's hand and said, "Toni Katznelson."

Henry said, "That's a mouthful."

Toni countered, smiling more widely, "You're one to talk."

He smiled, not fazed in the least, and said, "Don't I know it."

The elevator chimed. The doors opened. Toni asked, pointing at the boxes, "Do you want any help?"

He said, "The boxes I can handle, but if you'll just hold the door for me while I look for my keys...?"

Toni nodded and watched as Henry dug around in his pants pocket for a second. A look of panic crossed his face and he said, "Oh, no."

"What?"

"I think...crap, I locked my keys in the apartment."

He turned to the wall of the elevator and thumped his forehead softly against it.

Toni, bemused, said, "I don't think it's the wall's fault."

Henry turned back to her and said, with an air of doom, "This day has not gone well. I don't suppose you know if the super is in? You live here, right?"

"Yes, to the latter, and no, to the former. Meaning, she's not in."

"It just keeps getting better and better."

Toni laughed and said, "Define better."

His mild glare was pointed enough for Toni to relent and take pity. She said, "I have an idea. Bring your boxes up to my apartment. They'll be safe there."

"What are you going to do?"

Toni dropped her hand, allowing the elevator to continue on up.

"You'll see."

"Oh?"

They rode in silence for a few seconds and then Henry asked, "So how long have you lived here?"

"Long enough to learn a few tricks."

He raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really."

"Yes, really."

"And it's one of these tricks that's going to get me back into my apartment?"

"Yes, it should."

"Intriguing."

Toni laughed.

"What?" Henry asked.

"Just...have you ever watched Star Trek?"

"Yes, but--oh, I get it. Commander Data."

"Yeah. Data."

Henry shook his head and started to say something, only to be interrupted by the chime of the elevator.

Henry leaned over to pick up his boxes and Toni waited for him. Once she saw that he was ready she said, "Follow me."

Henry's voice came from behind the boxes, "Okay. Just say stop when I need to."

Toni smiled to herself and set off toward her door. Henry followed behind. He said, "Just for the record, I'm not that much of a geek."

Toni said, "I never said you were. But, you did get it."

"Hey, I resent that."

Toni tried to figure out if he was joking or not, but his tone was too dry for her to do so. So she went with the safe response, "My apologies. We're here."

Henry stopped immediately.

Toni unlocked her door and Henry peeked around the boxes.

Toni said, "Welcome to Casa Katznelson. Mind my babies."

"What?" Henry asked and then staggered, barely holding onto the boxes as he was rushed by two very enthusiastic retrievers. They danced around him, trying, it seemed, to lick every inch of his hands.

Toni calmly said, "Ozzie, Gibson, heel."

The dogs sat on their haunches at once and stared at the newcomer with identical expressions of curiosity.

Henry carefully set his boxes down inside the door and said, "They're beautiful."

Toni beamed. "Thanks. Umm, I'll be right back. Couch is that way," she pointed to the right, "if you want to sit down."

"Thanks. I will."

Toni disappeared somewhere, followed by her dogs.

Henry made his way over to the couch, taking in the similarities and differences to his own loft.

His eye was drawn to the large west windows, seeing a artist's easel there, with a canvas covered by a large paint-spattered cloth. He by-passed the couch to get a closer look at the walls, seeing a few unframed canvases hung there.

Toni came back just as he drew near to one of them. He said, "You painted this."

"Yes," she said, "I dabble, at least."

"Oh, I'd call it more than dabbling. I like them. I've seen this style before, but I've never known what it's called."

Toni blushed, pleased, and answered, "Gullah."

"What?" He absently asked, and then turned to look at her saying, "Oh. That's the style?"

"Yes."

He looked again at the painting and Toni cleared her throat. When he looked back at her, Toni, satisfied that she had his attention again, held up her hand, displaying the screwdrivers there. She said, "Let me grab my knife and I'm ready to declare war on your door."

"Knife?" Henry asked, as Toni went over to the table and started searching among the tools there.

"Palette knife. You won't believe how handy it can be."

"So you're sure it will work?"

"Well, I've successfully done it to my own door, so I have high hopes."

"There's always a locksmith if it doesn't work."

Toni had located her palette knife and turned to face Henry.

She said, "Let me guess, you see the glass half empty."

Henry smiled. "Let me guess--you see it half full."

"Darn right. Let's go open you door."

Twenty minutes later, after much "I don't think" and "Oh, almost" and some swearing after Toni rammed the business end of a screwdriver into the heel of her hand, ("Are you okay?" "I'm not bleeding, but I think I'm going to have a very colorful bruise.") Henry's door was open.

Unfortunately, there were also mysterious bits and pieces of the inner workings of a lock mechanism scattered across the counter of Henry's kitchen. Toni pushed them into a neat pile and then hopped up onto the counter. She watched as Henry opened the freezer and pulled out a tray of ice cubes.

"What's that for?" she asked.

He pointed at her hand and, finding a towel, popped a few cubes out and into the towel and handed it to her.

Toni gingerly rested the makeshift icepack against her hand, grimacing more from chagrin than from pain. "Thanks," she said.

"No--thank you. You getting injured isn't exactly the best conclusion to your day, I'm betting."

"No, not exactly. I'll be okay."

"Just keep that on it."

"Yes, Doctor."

Henry smiled and turned away from her. He pulled a coffee maker towards him and started to make a pot.

"Care for some coffee? It's decaf." Henry asked.

"As long as you put ice in it. It's too hot to drink it any other way."

"Sure." He pointed at a box sitting on the counter, saying, "I think there are glasses and mugs in that one."

"I'll look." Toni pulled the box toward her, opened it and started rummaging around in it, lucking out at the first try. She pulled the coffee mug out, turning it around to read the bold red lettering on it. She raised her eyebrows and read it aloud, her inflection rising at the end in disbelief, "'Accountants do it with double entry'?"

Henry snatched the cup away from her. She smiled at the faint tinge of red on his cheeks, but didn't mention it. He turned the cup over in his hands and he smiled. Affectionately, thought Toni.

Henry replaced the cup on the pile of odds and ends, balancing and stabilizing it, as it started to slide down. He said, still smiling, "Graduation gift, from my roommate. She has a rather wicked sense of humor." He looked up and the smile he wore broke into a wide grin. "She's a riot."

"So you're an accountant?"

"Yep, that's me, your friendly neighborhood taxman."

Henry leaned back against the counter across from Toni, crossing his arms.

"Oh, don't go stereotyping yourself."

Henry uncrossed his arms and re-settled the glasses on his nose. He said, "So what do you do, besides paint?"

"I film and edit documentaries."

"Wow."

"Yes. I love it."

"Why?" The smell of coffee started to rise from the coffeemaker and the sound of it dripping filled the kitchen.

"It's demanding, exacting work. It keeps me occupied."

"Exactly the way I'd describe working with numbers."

"Well, there you go."

"What's that mean?"

"Is it supposed to mean something?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

"Are you a workaholic, Henry?" Toni asked, with a smirk.

"I can be." He raised an eyebrow. "What about you?"

"Oh no, I'm not. I just get very focused, but I know when to quit."

"Good for you." Henry turned back to the coffee maker and shut it off. He grabbed the mug he'd placed back on the box and searched around until he found a tall glass for Toni. He filled it with ice cubes and then poured coffee over it, the ice cracking and popping from the heat.

He handed it to her, saying, "I have no idea where my sugar is. Sorry."

She took it from him, took a sip with a grateful sigh, and said, "Doesn't matter. I can drink it this way."

Henry smiled and filled his mug. They both drank in silence for a few minutes.

Toni set her cup down next to the pile of metal. She ruefully sifted through the pieces of the lock on the counter. She said, "You know, maybe next time we should call a locksmith."

"There won't be a next time."

Toni sighed and hopped down from the counter. "I need to get home. It's been a long day."

"Likewise. Thanks again."

"No problem. It was good to meet you, Henry Grubstick."

"And you, Toni Katznelson. I'll see you to the door?"

"Such a gentleman."

Henry rolled his eyes.

Toni scoffed, "Hey, I just paid you a compliment. Don't be so dismissive."

"Oh. Okay."

"And don't be a stranger. My door's always open."

"Hah. Very funny."

Oh, unfortunate choice of words. "I mean...you know what I mean."

He smiled. "Good night, Toni."

"Good night, Henry."

He shut the door gently and Toni smiled and then rubbed her eyes and sighed. It had been a long day, but it had also been a good day. She realized she was still holding the icepack and almost knocked on Henry's door before thinking better of it. Next time. She'd return it when she saw him next time.

Toni walked down the hallway, singing, "'Come on, come on and dance all night, despite the heat, it'll be all right.'"

Oh yes, definitely all right.

End.