Special thanks to my beta-readers, Colonel Pop, GoodGirlSmiles, and PitaFish.

I don't own TMNT, just the story.

Author's Note: Yes, the character Irma is from the original '87 cartoon, but the story isn't based around that. I'm using Irma for reasons that I'll probably explain soon since it appears to be causing confusion. I honestly didn't foresee that happening because not many people know about the first cartoons, or rather, never watched it themselves. Irma is a rather obscure character in the TMNT universes, being in just the one series. She's largely the same in personality- just more mature. Sort of.

Chapter Two

Things were pretty ordinary after that afternoon when April and Mr. Sexy came walking in, at least in terms of out of norm, but I was busy anyway. Being a Head Librarian didn't make things any slower than being a regular librarian. I made sure to make a note of whatever came my way that looked anything like something either of them would be interested in concerning Bobo's Grapes (I could only keep so many titles in my head, after all) and e-mailed them both with the ISBN numbers and names so that they could look them up for themselves if they wanted to.

Friday came quickly, which was nice since it meant I'd get to sleep in the next two days. I didn't work on weekends, which was fine by me. The librarian who did work weekends might get paid a little more hourly, but I preferred having a few days off.

I was just leaving the library to head home that afternoon when I bumped into Ken again, in a very literal sense. I was busy rooting around in my purse to make sure I didn't forget my university ID in my office (which I was occasionally prone to do) when I ran into a figure in front of me. I stumbled back in surprise, stuttering an apology when I heard "Irma?"

Quickly adjusting my glasses, I saw that, yes indeed, it was Professor Babe in front of me. I had mixed feelings about it, since I had just bumped into him and made him drop several papers onto the ground. "Oh, geeze, I'm sorry!" I bent down to help him pick them up.

He protested and knelt down too. "No, I should be thanking you! You…" His voice trailed off when his hand fell onto mine when we both reached for the same paper. I hastily withdrew my hand and handed him the other papers that I had grabbed and we both stood, laughing nervously.

Ken cleared his throat and then started again. "Like I was saying, I should be thanking you. Those books that you sent me the info on were very helpful."

I grinned at him and adjusted my glasses looking up at him again. "Oh, really? Great! I was hoping they would."

He nodded and gestured towards the direction of the parking lot. "I was getting ready to head out actually. Would you mind if I walked with you to our cars? If you're leaving too I mean."

You might as well ask if I'd mind if you'd show up in my office to make out with me, I said in my mind. "No, not at all!" I said out loud with a smile. We started walking together, and I noticed how I had to take an extra stride occasionally to keep up with him. Long legs, I noted. "So, have you given that lecture to your students yet? Did you get the information you were looking for?"

"Actually, I did give the lecture. It went very well, which is good since it was my first one here. Always nice to know you're interesting," he joked.

"Well, you'd sure be able to keep my attention," I said in a jokingly flirty way.

He threw his head back and laughed. "In that case maybe I'll start inviting you to hear me lecture. That way I'd know there'd be at least one person listening." His stopped laughing and looked a little disappointed after a moment though. "But I never did find out too much about Seiobo's Nectar. It's a shame, really. I was hoping to use it in the lecture to really emphasis how much can be lost if people aren't careful. You really have no idea how much humanity has misplaced or destroyed over the centuries due to one culture not valuing or understanding another."

"It is a shame," I agreed. "I think people would have gotten along better if they had just gone by the rule Make Love, Not War."

He grinned and winked at me. "Can't say I argue with that one."

We both laughed again. "I'll be happy to send you any more info I can find on it if you like," I offered. I was rewarded with another brilliant smile and had another mental-swoon.

We chatted lightly until we got to the parking lot and, not even thinking, I walked to my car and he followed. "Ah, here we are. This," I said gesturing to my 2000 Toyota Camery, "is my oldsmobile."

"I named him Gary," I grinned at Ken. He chuckled and gave a little shake of his head. "I swear, I'm not crazy. It just looked like a Gary."

"No, it's not that, it's…" Ken looked at me and gave a little half grin.

I quirked an eyebrow at him. "It's…?"

"Would you like to go out for coffee or dinner or something sometime with me?" he asked.

My mouth fell open for a second and then I think the biggest grin ever came across my face. "Was the original pyramid of Cheops four hundred and eighty one feet tall?"

He gave a mischievous grin. "Four hundred eighty feet and eleven inches. I'll pick you up Sunday at six if you like."

"Make it five thirty. I'm an early eater and we can see that new ninja movie out in theaters at seven thirty if we take our time talking."

He gave a little bow. "As you wish, m'lady."

I gave his shoulder a playful slap and wrote out my address and number for him. I got into my car and pulled out, watching him walk away backwards so he could watch me drive away. "Gary," I said to the steering wheel, "I freaking love Fridays." I found myself singing along with the silly romantic pop songs on the radio all the way home.

I had to tidy up the apartment a little before April came over that night. I've never been dirty, really, but I sometimes have the habit of letting the clutter pile up over time. Of course, the "over time" part depended on who you were and what qualified as "over time". Before my first marriage to Henry, "over time" meant over the period of a month. After he was done with me, over time meant longer than a few hours. I had gotten better with time. Now it was after a couple days. I still found myself scouring the apartment until it shone when I was worried about something though. Now I just did it without expecting someone to punch me in the face if I missed a spot.

I was just setting up the TV when April came in. Her red hair was pulled back into two messy pigtails on either side of her head. She wore a pair of short shorts and a tank top with flip flop sandals. My hair, normally up in a bun, was down around my shoulders and I was wearing my flannel leopard-print pajamas and big fuzzy slippers. April lifted up a bag of take out and a two-liter of coke for me to see and put them in the kitchen. I gave a squeal of delight and followed her in, getting out cups for us to use.

"So, what's the choice film for tonight?" she asked, getting our food out of the bags.

"I'm voting for Overboard," I said, separating my order from hers. "Oooh, you got my favorite! Chicken and steak hibachi. With the extra pink sauce too."

April made a face. "I don't know how you can like that goop. It tastes funny."

"It tastes like God, only pink," I retorted.

April laughed and then started pouring drinks. "So what's with the movie choice? You only want to watch Overboard when you've got a date."

"That's riiiight," I said in a sing-song voice, grinning broadly.

"Uh-oh," April said, mischief in her voice. "Poor guy doesn't know what he's getting himself into.'' I flicked some of my fried rice at her, making her laugh again. "I gotta say, I'm really glad you didn't want pizza tonight."

"Nah, I ordered pizza a few nights ago. Why? I thought you liked pizza."

"I do, but not every night."

I looked over at her curiously and noticed she was biting her lip, as if she wished she hadn't said something. "What, is your stove broken or something? Have you suddenly started burning everything you cook? Is it some weird craving you-" My eyes widened dramatically at a sudden revelation. "Oh my god, you're pregnant! You have pizza cravings because you're pregnant!"

"I'm not pregnant!" April snapped, her face turning red. "It's just a bet Casey has going with some friends, that after a month of nothing but pizza he'll love it and not want to eat anything else."

I blanched. "For your sake, I really hope he wins that bet."

She snorted. "Yeah, me too. But," she continued as we grabbed our food and drinks and headed to the living room where the TV was, "even if he lost, I'd tell him tough luck and cook whatever the heck I wanted."

I nodded my approval and flopped down on the sofa, giving a hugely dramatic moan of ecstasy at my first bite of dinner.

April looked over at me amused. "Don't make that sound around your new guy, Irma. He'll get the wrong idea. At least," she corrected herself "not before the second date."

I rolled my eyes and turned the movie on. We had both seen it before so we were fine with occasionally making small talk, as long as there wasn't something dramatic happening on the movie.

"So," April said, not taking her eyes off the film, "what's with this guy? How'd you meet him? Is he cute?"

"He's gorgeous," I said taking another bite of food, also watching the screen. "And I met him a little bit after you came to ask me about that thing, actually. Oh, and you know what's weird? He wanted to know about that fruity goddess too." April, who had been taking a sip of her coke, started coughing violently. "Geeze, April, you okay?"

She coughed for a few more seconds and I started to whack her on the back, making her cough even more before she managed to push my hands away. She took a deep breath and looked at me. "The SAME thing? He asked for the exact SAME thing? Did he say what for?"

I was confused. April never got flustered like that- at least not without someone asking questions about her sex life. "He's a new art professor at the university. He just wanted pictures or something because he was going to mention it in his first lecture. I didn't think it was a big deal or anything. I just sent him the same stuff I sent you." I scanned her face for any hint as to why she was so upset. "Are you angry or something? I didn't think you would be. I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "No, it's not your fault, it's just not something that I… I didn't expect anyone else to have any interest in it."

"Is it because you think he might be competition in getting it if it shows up?" I frowned. "He's just an art professor. I'm sure he's no threat to your business or anything."

April sighed and sat back. "It's nothing, Irma. Don't worry about it. It's fine."

"Alright…" I said slowly, not really believing her. But I was hungry and I wanted to watch the movie and make comments, so when she asked "So how cute IS he?" I eagerly informed her of just how good looking he was, and then we both took equal delight in comparing him with Casey.

I've always said, you know you're best friends when you can compare your men's butts and laugh about it afterwards. Okay, not really, but I felt like it applied to this situation.

After the movie, she gave me advice about what to wear on the date, and I wished her luck on the rest of Pizza Month and promised I'd keep looking for information for her.

I thought it best if I didn't mention that I'd also be telling Ken too.

Reviews and constructive criticism are always helpful and let me know what kind of job I'm doing.