DISCLAIMER: I own the character of Allyson. Everything else belongs to someone else.
Around nine o'clock the next morning, Allyson was watching the city bustling below her window. She was thinking what she could do for her day when the phone rang.
Allyson was surprised to find Detective Lupo on the line.
"Allyson, this is Cyrus Lupo," he said.
"Cyrus! How are you," she asked.
"I'm good. Look, I hope you don't mind but I got your number from Connie. I'm not working this weekend, unless I get called, and I was wondering if you wanted to... hang out," Cyrus asked.
"I'd like that. I don't have any plans. Want to meet me at my place," she asked.
"That's great. Say, an hour? I'll treat you to lunch," he said.
"Sounds good," she said. Allyson gave Cyrus her address and went to get ready for her day.
She showered and changed into jeans and a London sweatshirt. She grabbed her coat, hat and scarf from the coat rack. She picked up her phone and purse. She was buttoning her coat when she saw Cyrus' car come down the street. She exited her door and headed down the stairs.
Lupo checked the address...twice. He couldn't believe Allyson lived in a place like this.
She came out the door and was inside the car before he could open the door.
"I was..." he started to say.
"I know, but it's cold," she said, smiling.
"Where to," he asked.
"You asked me, remember," she said, watching him.
He chuckled slightly. "Yeah, I guess I did. Well, how about the Met or something else," he suggested.
"You're going to think this is nuts. Especially since it's cold out, but I want to go see the Statue," she said.
Cyrus looked at her.
"I haven't been since I was a little girl and it was closed the last few times I'd been to New York," she said.
"Then we'll do it," he said, heading toward the ferry for the Statue.
"And after that, we'll do the Met," she said, smiling at him.
They rode in silence until the got to the parking lot for the ferry.
As they stood in line, Ally decided to mention the house.
"It was my grandmother's. I got it in the will. It's really big. Gram bought it so I could spend the summers with my parents. She even put a castle in the family room. Gram got rid of that shortly before she died. She created a room at the children's hospital and had the castle moved there. It's really, really nice," she said.
"How big is it," he asked, not wanting to be nosy, but he was curious.
"It's five bedrooms with a basement, ground floor, main floor and three stories above that. And a roof garden. When we go back, I'll give you the grand tour," she said.
"I'd like that. It's a beautiful area to live in," he said as he handed the man money for the tickets and guided her through the line.
They sat together on the boat and talked about little things. Allyson related what it was like to be the daughter of two cops. He told stories of his time overseas. He asked about life in the UK.
"You never visited there when you were overseas," she asked as they strolled along Ellis Island.
"Never had the chance. Spent time in Germany and was in France for a bit. Never made it to the UK, though," he said.
"It's a different place, but it's a lot like New York in some ways," she said.
They spent the day 'sightseeing.' Allyson hadn't seen a lot of the tourist attractions since she was a kid and enjoyed walking around with Cyrus. They had lunch at an Italian restaurant and Allyson was enjoying herself. Cyrus was really easy to talk to and she found herself not missing London, and Matt, as much.
They spent the afternoon riding around the park in a carriage. Allyson admitted she'd never done that before and Cyrus was glad to be a part of her first trip.
"Since you treated me to lunch, how about you come back to my house and we'll watch a movie or something. I like doing that on the weekends. I've got lots of popcorn," she said as they walked to the car.
"You sure," Cyrus asked. It wasn't that he didn't want to spend more time with her, he just didn't want her to get sick of him.
"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't. Come on. What else is either of us going to do tonight. I have the pizza guy on speed dial," she said.
He closed the passenger door and went to the driver's side.
"That sounds like fun," he said.
He headed back toward her house. Just before he turned down the street, she told him to go around the block.
"There's a little drive that all the neighbors use. I have a two car garage in the back. I only have one car," she said.
Cyrus followed her directions and pulled into the driveway. She pushed a fob on her key ring and the door opened. He pulled into the driveway next to a BMW Z4.
"Wow, that's some car," he said.
"I know. It's actually the only thing I've bought with the money I inherited that wasn't for school. I decided I wanted one and got it. I enjoyed driving one while in London. Thought it might be fun for the weekend," she said.
They got out of the car and she unlocked the door to the house. He followed her through the door and locked it behind them.
"Here's the fifty-cent tour. That's my office," she said, pointing to a door on the left. "The family room is through that door. I haven't gotten any furniture in there, so it's empty. There's a gym downstairs," she said.
"Wow. Do you use it," he asked.
They went up the stairs.
"This is where I live most of the time. Kitchen is to the right and the living room is to the left. There's a small powder room off the kitchen. Why don't you find us something to watch. The movies are in the cabinet. I'm going to change my clothes, do you mind," she asked.
"No. Get comfortable. I'll find something for us to watch," he said.
"Perfect. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen," she said, heading up the two flights of stairs to the master bedroom. She'd thought about moving to one of the second floor bedrooms, but she hadn't. Her grandmother's room had been on the second floor so she could be near the aides she had. When she had gotten too sick to travel, she'd stayed in London and she had closed up the house. After her death, Allyson's mother went to the home and inventoried the things marked for charity and then leaving the rest for Allyson.
Her bedroom as a child had been across the hall and still had the pink and purple color scheme from her childhood.
She changed into her sweat pants and another soccer shirt and went downstairs.
She found Cyrus looking out the window.
"You should see the view from the roof," she said, startling him.
"This one is pretty nice," he said.
Without giving it a second thought she beckoned him to follow her.
She led the way up the stairs all the way to the roof.
She unlocked the deadbolt and stepped out a tiled terrace.
There was a bistro table and chairs set up and there was a hot tub in the corner of the roof.
"Your grandmother had a hot tub," Lupo asked, grinning at Allyson.
"Actually, she put it in for my brothers. Gram let them have some parties here when she was in town. My brothers are ten and thirteen years older, so they could do stuff like that. Then they snuck in while Gram was in the hospital and she changed the locks on this door. It was quite amusing. She later changed all the locks when they decided to get greedy. They always asked for money. Thought she owed them something. We used to sit up here when I was little and look at the stars," she said.
Allyson shivered and Cyrus grabbed her shoulders. "Come on. Let's go back inside. It's a little cold out here," he said.
They headed back downstairs and Allyson went to the kitchen.
"Popcorn," she asked, taking the bags out of the cabinet.
"Sure," he said.
He watched Allyson move around the kitchen and was amazed at how much fun they had that day. He hadn't spent a day like that in a while.
"Would you like something to drink," he asked, going to the fridge.
"Yeah. I have some iced tea in the fridge," she said.
He looked at her and Allyson laughed. "Don't look at me that way. I actually like drinking tea in any form," she said.
"I wasn't saying anything," he said, laughing.
Allyson tossed a few pieces of popcorn at him and he dodged them.
"Now, counselor, that's not fair. I can't very well throw tea at you," he said.
Allyson laughed. "Ready," she asked.
Cyrus carried the tea and Allyson carried the popcorn and they went to the couch. They settled down next to each other and Allyson asked Cyrus what he wanted to watch.
"Whatever you want to see," he said, taking a drink from his glass.
"Well, I want to see this one," she said, pointing to a new release that was a certifiable chick flick. Figuring their were worst ways to spend the evening.
"Then let's watch it," he said.
"Are you sure," she asked;.
"Yeah. Besides, if you cry, you can use my sleeve," he said.
Allyson smiled and settled on the couch to watch the movie with Cyrus. She was shocked that she was feeling almost as comfortable with Cyrus as she did with Matt. She had a hard time trusting men that she didn't know well, but Cyrus was a good guy.
Two hours later, the movie was over and Allyson was sleeping on Cyrus. He had his arm around her shoulders and her head was resting on his chest. His cheek was resting on top of her head. The pair slept soundly until the wee hours.
When Allyson awoke that morning, she was shocked she was still on the couch. She was even more alarmed to find she was with someone. She moved her head and found herself with Cyrus on the sofa. She relaxed a bit and closed her eyes. She fell back asleep. Cyrus awoke about ten minutes after Allyson had and was shocked he was sleeping on her sofa. With her. She seemed to be comfortable, so Cyrus leaned back more on the sofa and closed his eyes again.
When the sun came through the window and fell on Allyson's face, she immediately turned from the window and opened her eyes when she hit a chest. She looked up and found Cyrus looking down at her. He smiled.
"Morning," she said, sitting up.
"Morning," he said.
"I'm sorry. I've probably kept you from something," she said.
"Nah. Dog's at the vet until this afternoon. I am free until then," he said.
Allyson rubbed her face and ran her hands through her hair.
"Still, I'm sorry. Not only did you have to sleep on a sofa, you're probably hungry and you have to look at this in the morning," she said, pointing at herself.
"I like that," he said.
Allyson blushed and stood up. "Breakfast," she asked.
Just then, his cell phone vibrated and Cyrus grabbed it.
"How about dinner? Kevin just texted me the address of a homicide. I'll call you and I'll take you out again," he said.
"Take me out? I asked you, so it's my treat," she said.
Cyrus rolled his eyes. "That's not very gentlemanly of me, now is it," he said.
"My treat. You can do dinner the next time," she said.
Next time. He liked the thought of that. "I'll call you when I know about this case and how much time it's going to take away," he asked.
"Sounds good. I'll see you later," she said.
Not knowing what to do, Cyrus just said goodbye and waved and headed downstairs to her garage.
Allyson headed up to her bedroom and her shower. She was smiling. Granted, she'd only been in New York for a few weeks, but she was starting to see it definitely had it's benefits.
Cyrus was a decent guy and she had enjoyed hanging out with him the previous day. She didn't know what would happen because she still hadn't resolved her feelings for Matt, but,if anything, they were friends.
She showered and changed into her sweats. She was going to go downstairs to her office and work on the paperwork Jack had given her. He wanted her to catch up on the cases so she could start helping Mike and Connie as soon as possible. She fixed herself a cup of tea and grabbed an energy bar. As she entered the office, she turned on the Ipod docked in the stereo system. She turned on a small monitor in the corner of the room that showed the front door. Allyson loved the house, but she wanted to be aware of who was at the door when she was downstairs. She sat her cell phone next to the computer and she started working.