They arranged to meet up at an Italian place Mindy had read about in one of those "best kept secrets" articles, the ones that always ruined the secret. She had given Danny a copy of the menu the day before.

"Italian food, Danny, you can't complain about that!" That was the only thing he couldn't complain about - the menu was limited, the prices outrageous, and the neighborhood sketchy.

"Geez, Mindy, we don't have to worry about getting mugged after we eat here. We'll be broke already." Danny grumbled.

"Now Danny, you don't want your new... friend... to think you're a cheapskate. I got you that menu information so you wouldn't cause a scene when we got there!"

"Great. Thanks."

He had been dreading this event, though everyone else seemed enthused. Denise seemed excited to meet his "work friends." He hadn't exactly spelled out the situation as a double date. She had arrived at his condo dressed sensibly, a simple navy dress and low heels. Classy. She was tall and slim, with dimples and close cropped auburn hair.

He was expecting to arrive at the restaurant before Mindy, but had not expected her to make such an entrance. Dragging Cliff by the hand, she almost ran up to him and introduced herself to Denise with a big hug. She nearly knocked Denise over and Danny had to grab Mindy to keep her from Toppling over in her very high heels.

"Hey, watch it, handsy." Mindy mock scolded him. As they were seated, she took off her coat to reveal what was possibly the loudest dress Danny had ever seen her wear, and that took some doing. It had green and fuchsia sequins and just one long sleeve, leaving most of her chest and one shoulder bare. Danny noticed she had goosebumps from the sudden chill and had to look away.

"What the hell, Mindy, did Lady Gaga have a garage sale?"

"My people love color, Danny. Don't be racist." Mindy preened.

"I'm just gonna go blind from the glare here." Danny gestured in Mindy's direction.

Denise laid her hand on Danny's arm. "Now Danny, it's lovely. You just don't know fashion." She chided him gently. Danny rubbed his neck and muttered "Nope."

Mindy frowned for a second before recovering her big grin. She didn't need this woman in the plain dress to defend her fabulous Barney's markdown bargain. And she certainly didn't need her insulting Danny!

The group was seated and made casual small talk as they perused the menu. The waiter came and gave them wine recommendations, with an emphasis on a pricey Cabernet that Denise also gave raves about, and left them to decide.

"Ugh. Sorry but I' m just over red wine. Pink, I can do!" Mindy exclaimed. The other three exchanged glances, and Denise helpfully explained the wines that suited each course. Danny pointed out she had been drinking red wine at his home, to which she replied stubbornly.

"It was all you had, Danny! Sorry, I'm not drinking gross bitter wine just because it goes with the food. But get what you want. I'm fine with water."

"Acting like a brat..." Danny muttered in a singsong voice under his breath. Mindy just wrinkled her nose at him and kicked him under the table.

When the waiter returned, Cliff ordered the bottle of Cabernet and Mindy tried not to pout.

"And a glass of the house rośe, please." Danny added, earning him a smirk from the waiter and a grin from Mindy. They ordered meals and resumed chatting.

"I love that hairstyle, Denise!" Mindy said with a side glance at Danny. "I cut my hair short when I went on a mission to Haiti. I loved it, but Danny hated it. He said I'd never get a boyfriend!" Mindy slid her arm into Cliff's and smiled at him adoringly.

"I didn't say that!" Danny sputtered.

"Oh that's right," Mindy grinned back. "What you said was men don't go for that style." She glanced back at Denise who just smiled in response. "You know, his ex had short hair too..." Danny coughed loudly and shot Mindy a glare.

"Do you hate my hair, Danny?" Denise asked.

"No, it's great! You have a... a good head for it!" Danny awkwardly patted the side of her head, then pulled his hand away and glared at Mindy again.

"I guess my head is, like, misshapen then." Mindy said with false sadness.

"Your head is fine, hon." Cliff said uncomfortably.

"Gee, thanks. Anyway, Denise, I guess Danny was right because I grew it out and now I have a man."

"That's wonderful for you. I had long hair for years. I haven't really noticed a difference with the, uh, man-getting." Denise smiled sweetly at Mindy, who was getting a little annoyed at just how damn nice this girl was acting. And it had to be acting. Nobody that good looking was actually a nice person.

The food arrived and the conversation dwindled as they dug in. Mindy eyed Danny's plate - the seafood pasta had been one of her choices but she had decided on a tortellini dish instead. "That looks so good Danny. I kinda wish I had gotten that instead." She poked at her food with her fork.

"Yeah it's really good. Here, try some." He speared a shrimp and some noodles and reached across the table with it. Mindy eagerly tried the sample, catching Danny's eye for just a second, and he grinned and nodded. "It's good."

"Yeah it is. Danny, put some on my plate." Mindy thrust her dish towards him, and he scraped a helping for her. Neither of them noticed the expressions on the faces of their dates.

"Mine's good too, Mindy." Cliff offered her a bite but she declined. "You know I'm not doing red meat right now." Cliff just shrugged.

The rest of the meal was uneventful. Danny and Cliff threw some sports talk around, and Denise tried to engage Mindy, but she kept missing Mindy's pop culture references. Somehow Danny was the one explaining them, which resulted in chortles of laughter from Mindy as she corrected him. But as the evening waned, Mindy really wanted to go home. For some reason, she had envisioned Denise to be yet another dull schlub of a girl that she could tease Danny about, not this smart, attractive interesting woman. She was pretty much perfect for Danny, and Mindy hated her.

"I'm going to run to the powder room." Mindy excused herself as the night came to an end. She was relived to find it was a fairly roomy lounge with big mirrors and she tossed some cold water on her face before touching up her makeup. How could she not be enjoying this night out, she asked herself. Denise walked in and washed her hands in the next sink. She turned to Mindy with a half smile.

"So, Mindy. Have a moment for a little girl talk?"

Mindy looked around the room. "Sure, this is a great place to relax and chat, Denise. It doesn't smell like poop at all."

Denise laughed an entirely fake sounding laugh. "Nice. This really won't take long." She faced the shorter woman and crossed her arms. "So. You and Danny. What's the story?"

"Story? There's no story." Mindy replied warily.

"OK. So you and he have never...?"

"What? We've never anything. What are you talking about?"

"I like Danny, but... I'm just trying to decide how invested I want to get. You and he have either happened, or are about to, and if it's the latter... I need to get out now."

"Denise, you... I... you don't know what you're talking about." Mindy stammered.

"Oh, come on Mindy. The fighting is almost flirting and the flirting... It's almost fucking. Just tell me one thing, Mindy. How long have you two been in love with each other?"

Mindy started to cough. "We aren't... in love? You've got to be kidding me. Danny doesn't love me!"

"Damn it. I knew it was too good to be true. A single, gorgeous doctor, in NYC, who doesn't wear women's panties or have any other weird fetishes... " Denise grabbed a paper towel and balled it up in frustration, chucking it at the trash.

"Well I think he might have one or two..." Mindy stopped herself - she was not helping her case.

"Thank you, Mindy. I'm really glad you invited us tonight. And good luck figuring this thing out." Denise walked out, leaving Mindy rattled. She waited a moment before exiting the ladies room and went to find Cliff.

"Oh, hey, Danny said bye. Denise just hustled him out of here... guess she wants Italian for dessert too. Hey, are you OK?" Cliff finally noticed Mindy was somewhat freaked out.

"Yeah... No. Let's get out of here."

Cliff hailed a cab and they started off towards Mindy's apartment. She started to explain about the confrontation. Cliff just watched her face as she reenacted the discussion animatedly.

"She just caught me totally off guard, Cliff. I mean, where does she get this crazy idea about Danny and me? Being in love? It's insane. She's insane. Oh my God, Danny. What is she going to tell Danny?"

Cliff just chuckled.

"Oh I'm glad you find this amusing, Cliff. It was horrible!"

"No, not at all, actually. I'm just laughing at myself for being such an idiot." Cliff let out a big sigh.

"What? Cliff?" Mindy looked at him and saw the disappointment written on his face. "Oh please... don't tell me you are buying into this crap!" Mindy clutched at Cliff's arm.

"How could she figure it out in one one meeting and I've been too stupid to see it all this time? That's what kills me." Cliff shook his head.

"Cliff, stop it. This is stupid. Danny is not in love with me!" She tightened her grip on his arm as she pleaded.

Cliff gently pulled his arm free and turned towards Mindy. "I don't give a shit about how Danny feels." He paused and took Mindy's hands in his.

"Just tell me the truth, straight out. Tell me that you don't have feelings for him and I'll forget this whole conversation." He gazed into Mindy's eyes and waited.

She looked away.

"Cliff, don't be ridiculous..." Mindy stammered, and Cliff released her hands and turned to stare out the window.