Disclaimer: I own nobody.

Maria threw her coat on the coat hanger as soon as she walked through the door.

"Randy? Randy, honey, I'm home." She yelled, looking around.

The house was pretty dark and only a few lights were on in the dining room. She smiled; sure he was trying to be romantic. She blushed as she walked through the doorframe, seeing all the roses everywhere. The beautiful cherry wood table was decorated with her finest china and both places were set up perfectly.

She wondered if Randy had spent all day preparing for this. Suddenly, his slender body appeared in front of her, two wine glasses and an unopened bottle of wine.

He smiled at her, "You like it?"

She was breathless, "Of course I do…"

He set the wine down and grabbed her hand and lead her to her seat. He pulled out her chair and after she sat down he pushed it back in gently.

She looked in front of her, a beautiful platter of various fruits sat in front of her.

Randy stared at her as he poured them both wine. He handed her a glass, eyes never leaving hers.

She giggled, "This is super romantic… But you honestly didn't have to do all this… If anything I should do something like this for you…"

Randy tilted his head, "Why's that?"

"Because… We've barely gotten to see each other in months… It's my fault, I'm so wrapped up in work. I need to take a deep breath and step back…" She looked down at her hands, remembering the threatening email.

"Oh, babe, it's okay… Remember the time I didn't leave my office?"

Maria shook her head, "That was different… Randy you're a lawyer, it's like your job to get absorbed in your work…"

Randy smiled and shook his head, "That's no excuse, but seriously… it's fine… I mean, you're here now and that's all that matters."

His eyes were shining in the dim light, making Maria's heart melt.

"Your right and I am taking a break from the case."

Randy's head snapped up, "Why?"

Maria shrugged, "I realized I wasn't getting anywhere and it was just a waste of time…"

Randy said nothing.

-

Melina continued staring at the elevator, depressed that Cody hadn't shown up yet. She rolled her eyes, he'd probably gotten stuck on his game and refused to quit until he beat it.

She pulled her phone out, seeing that Maria hadn't texted her. She decided to call the red head, figuring she forgot; it rang and rang until it went to voicemail.

"Hey, Sweetie… Hope you and Randy aren't having too much fun… I know I'm not… I've been waiting at least 45 minutes for Cody… We're going out for coffee, hopefully before tomorrow morning." She laughed a little, "Oh well, I'll let you know what happens tomorrow… I love youuu!" She made a kiss noise and hung up.

She pouted and glared at her phone as the time turned to 10:00 PM. She sighed again, but then the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

Sure enough Cody emerged, his blue button up shirt ruffled and partly tucked into his dark blue jeans. He was trying to smooth his shirt out when Melina called out to him, "About time! It's rude to make a lady wait for the first date." She winked at him.

"I was pretty sure we didn't set a time… I finished up less then a minute ago, I even debated taking the stairs." Cody said, crossing his arms.

Melina laughed, "It's all right… it's not really even a date."

Cody raised an eyebrow, "It's not? Damn, sorry I'm so dressed up then." He frowned but smiled a second later.

Melina blushed, "I'm ready if you are."

Cody nodded and held out his arm for her to wrap hers around. He escorted her to the elevator and asked her what floor she wanted.

She looked at him funny.

"Fine." He pushed the roof button.

Melina started protesting but he put a finger on her lips. She was panicking a little, not sure what he was up to, not sure if she should have gone along with him.

They were silent until they reached the roof.

"Why are we up here?"

Cody shrugged, "It's pretty up here."

Melina looked up at the thousands of stars sprinkled throughout the sky. "It is… But I was hoping we were getting coffee."

"Tired?" Cody asked tilting his head.

Melina shook her head, "No, I'm cold."

Cody walked up to her and smiled down at her, "I can help that…"

Melina blushed but shook her head, "So that's why you brought me up here. Smooth." She shook her head and walked away from him.

He sighed, "No, that's not why I came up here… It's just… I get nervous around females and I knew it'd be kinda dark up here so you wouldn't be able to tell just how red my cheeks are. I can't talk to a girl without making myself look stupid, or embarrassing me or her."

Melina looked at him, "Really? You were afraid of looking stupid in front of me? Have you met my best friend?" She smiled after seeing his teeth shining in the darkness.

"I know… its lame, but true…" He was looking at the ground.

"Cody… I could never think you're stupid, I think it's cute you get uncomfortable around girls."

She held out her hand and he grabbed it. She smiled sweetly and they walked back to the elevator and left the building.

"We'll go to the coffee house right down the street." Cody said, half afraid of what Melina would say.

"Sounds great." She said, nodding and smiling.

"Awesome." Cody said, jumping in his car and unlocking Melina's door since the lock was broke.

Melina looked at him funny but got in as he started the engine.

The Café was completely empty except for one irritated employee, who was about to close the place early but at the last second Cody and Melina showed up.

They ordered, and it seemed to take an extra long time. This didn't faze either of them because they were too busy talking about nothing and giggling at everything.

They both jumped when the woman set their coffee down. Melina glared at her and the woman smiled sweetly then rolled her eyes.

-

"Need help with the dishes, sweetie?" Maria asked, walking into the kitchen.

Randy looked up from the soapy dish he was holding. "No, no. You go upstairs and relax. I got this." He smiled and continued scrubbing.

Maria walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek then went up to her bedroom. It was big; had a king sized bed and a huge plasma screen, in the corner was her old desktop computer that she kept to work from home.

She sprawled out on her bed and before she knew it, she was asleep. An hour or so after she had fallen asleep she vaguely felt Randy crawl into bed next to her.

She snuggled up next to him but he laid stiff, ignoring her; she whimpered in her sleep causing him to sit up.

He shook her awake as she started panting.

"What's the matter, Maria!" He all but yelled.

She stared at him with big eyes. "I had a nightmare…. About her and about whoever wanted her dead…"

Randy grit his teeth, "I thought you were giving up on that."

Maria looked at him, "But I have a clue now, I have an email address."

In the complete darkness Randy's eyes lit up, "Oh really." It wasn't a question at all, but Maria didn't catch his slight attitude change.

"Yeah! They said if she hadn't killed herself, they would have."

Randy sighed, his eye twitching. "Yeah."

"Yeah, maybe I'll be able to find out who it is!"

"Is it really any of our business?"

"Randy, it's my job."

He sighed again and got out of bed and left the room.

Maria laid in shock, not sure what just happened or if it even happened. She decided to forget about it and go back to sleep.

-

When she woke up she tried in vain to open her eyes, or mouth she couldn't even move. She felt something over her eyes, she felt the ropes holding her wrists and ankles together, and the duct tape that was preventing her from screaming.

-

Keep this up? Delete? I just wanted to put up the new idea and give you a hint at where it's going. For once I do know where I'm going with this; it'll be prolly 5 parts all together, maybe just 4 not 100% sure there. But, review – let me know what you think =]