They sat at the secluded table at Remo's Italian Restaurant, drinking wine and talking for what seemed like hours. The subjects varied, usually focusing on random topics; things that to most people made no sense at all, but somehow they both found reasons to laugh. And during a brief lull in the conversation, Annie found herself wanting to know more. She smiled, taking a deep breath.

"Tell me about yourself."

The question surprised her more than he and he gratefully obliged, telling her about his childhood, his family and how he came to be an IRS agent. And she hung on his every word, listening intently to the boring, uninteresting details. But there was one thing in particular she simply had to know. "Jimmy, how did you become interested in Cats?"

Instantly his eyes lit up and he began telling her in detail about how he'd discovered the musical by accident, noticing the huge billboard in Times Square when he was visiting New York City for the first time after graduating from college. The billboard, plastered with the familiar and classic black background, white letters spelling out C-A-T-S and yellow cat eyes with tiny dancers advertised the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical in all its glory! It was 1982 and it was unlike anything I'd ever seen!" Jimmy exclaimed. "I immediately rushed over to the Wintergarden Theater and bought tickets for the first show possible… full price mind you. Oh, I could have gotten them at the TKTS booths that are prominent in Times Square but this seemed too spectacular not to splurge! I couldn't afford it of course, but I didn't care! I couldn't believe my luck! An honest-to-goodness Broadway musical, based on my all-time favorite book!"

Annie's eyebrows rose. "Favorite book?"

"Yes! Old Possum's Guide to Practical Cats by the master, TS Elliot."

She stared at him blankly. "Who?"

"T.S. Elliot! The famous-." He gasped in horror, dramatically placing his hand on his chest. "Dear God, how can you not know who TS Elliot is? He's absolutely brilliant! I owe him tremendously for changing my life!"

Annie's eyes narrowed then. She'd definitely heard that line before… Jimmy had spoken it earlier. Perhaps he wasn't the sweet man that she'd perceived him to be, but she supposed it was par for the course.

It was a fact of life. She had no luck with men, no matter how hard she tried. And she definitely tried. They either saw her as someone who was great in bed (if she was lucky, which wasn't very often), or someone who was completely dense. Suddenly she wasn't sure which hurt worse. Sure, she had a reputation for one-night stands (one in which she would never be able to live down) but there had to be something more… something real. She wanted true love… the kind that lasts forever. The kind that lasted longer than 24 hours, anyway.

And it scared the crap out of her, for she never wanted true love before.

Unexpectedly tears filled her eyes and spilled onto her cheeks, but she didn't see the point in brushing them away. She'd never find that kind of love… the kind she wanted so desperately and the reaction inside surprised her… because it hurt.