Ch 3.

Several minutes later, Leo drove the family's blue SUV down the streets of New York City and parked in front of a small white building where a large sign was lit up by several bulbs that blinked rapidly at him. Leo looked up at the sign then down at the card, Mutants 'R' Us….Professor Honeycutt's Dating Service,' Leo read as he looked back at the sign, 'Yep, this is the place,' He took a deep breath, got out of the vehicle and, after locking it, he stood with his back against the passenger side door for several long moments in contemplation before finally going in.

The first room he came to was a small outer office where a young woman with fiery red hair was sitting behind a desk currently typing angrily on her computer. When a bell sounded out signifying the arrival of a customer she looked up as Leo stepped in.

"Good morning," She said in a voice that sounded somewhat irritated, "Do you have an appointment?"

"Uh, no," Leo looked around the empty room, "Was I supposed to make one?"

"It's not necessary," She told him as she picked up her phone, "Just take a seat and the Professor will be with you in a moment," Leo did as told and picked up a magazine as he took a seat. "Professor," The secretary spoke harshly into the phone, "There's a customer out here; would you like to see him now or have him wait."

Leo put the magazine in front of his face to hide the uneasiness that he was certain was showing in his hazel eyes. The woman sounded almost angry as she spoke and he was beginning to wonder what it was he was actually getting himself into.

"Fine, I'll send him in," Leo peeked over the top of the magazine as the phone was placed back in its cradle with a bang, "You may go in," She told him, waving her hand toward the door. After Leo stood, she turned back to the computer and proceeded to type once again.

"Uh, thank you," Leo said as he quickly walked from the lobby to the room marked office.

He stepped in and looked around, noting the main office was slightly larger than the outer office, a filing cabinet was on one side of the office and across from that was a desk with a computer, a phone and several files spread along the top. In the front of the office was a folding screen and a few feet away was another door where a short man with white hair and thick glasses was walking out of.

"Good morning," The man said cheerfully, "I'm Professor Honeycutt," He reached his hand to Leo, "And you are?"

"My name is Leonardo Hamato," He told him as he continued to look around.

"Hamato," The Professor stroked his chin, "That name sounds familiar; did someone refer you to our service with that same last name?"

"Yes," Leo smiled at him, "Michelangelo Hamato, my brother and his future husband, Donatello Genio."

"Ah yes, I remember them," The small human made his way to his desk and sat down, "Very nice young fellows," He pulled out a sheet of paper, "I was so happy to hear of their engagement," He put the paper on a clipboard and placed a pen on top of it, "Am I to assume you are looking to join our little family and find the perfect mate?"

"I was thinking about it, yeah," Leo said, somewhat hesitantly.

"Only thinking about it?" The professor asked, looking at him intently, "If you are not sure, would you like to come back or…"

"No, I think I would just like to give it a try and if it doesn't work out for me," Leo shrugged, "I could always just forget about it," He looked at the professor with a nervous smile, "Couldn't I?"

Professor Honeycutt let out a small chuckle, "Of course you may," He said as he handed the turtle a clipboard, "This is our contract and application, there is a fifty dollar non refundable deposit. Just fill this out and when you're ready, we'll take a picture of you."

"A picture?" Leo looked at him in surprise.

Honeycutt looked at him expectantly, "Yes, what I do is take your information and download it into the computer, it can take anywhere from several moments to a few hours but the computer will go through our database of several eligible mutants," He pointed toward the screen, "While it's doing that we'll take a picture of you to be placed in our files so that you're potential mate will see who was picked for them," He explained excitedly, "You will also have the opportunity to see who you will be going out with once the computer picks someone."

"I see," Leo nodded and began to fill out the paperwork. Several minutes later he watched as the professor quickly imputed the information, then while the computer did its magic, Professor Honeycutt took Leo behind the screen and took his picture, "Would you be available tonight?" The professor asked.

Leo nodded, "Yes but what if I decide I don't like who you pick for me?"

"Well that has rarely happened," He stated matter-of-factly, "We do have a ninety-eight percent successful matchup rating," He smiled proudly as he stated his figures, "But if for some reason you decide you don't like who is picked, we'll find someone else for you."

They stepped out from behind the screen and Leo handed him his credit card. He waited patiently as the Professor charged him the fifty dollars then handed him a receipt, "There now you're all set," He told him happily, "We'll be forwarding your potential mate's information to you via your email, you should receive it sometime later today." He pointed to the bottom of the receipt, "Now then, if for some reason you do decide that you are not satisfied with our services, you may, with a thirty day notice, terminate the contract and there will be no additional fees charged to you, however, if you do decide to continue to use our service after the thirty days are up, then your credit card will be charged in full."

Leo nodded in understanding before placing the receipt into his wallet along with his credit card. "Thank you," he reached out and shook the professor's hand, "I'll be eagerly waiting to hear from you."

"See you soon Mr. Hamato, and please tell your brother and his fiancé I said hello," Honeycutt called out after him.

With a promise to do as requested, Leo left the office feeling a little more relaxed. But as he walked into the lobby, he looked over at the desk and noticed the woman who had been there earlier was no longer in the room and the desk was now completely disorganized, almost as if someone had deliberately took the contents from the drawers and tossed them about and now that uneasy feeling was coming back to him.

"I hope I'm not making a mistake," He muttered as he made his way back to his SUV. He put the key in the ignition, got the car in gear and headed back home feeling both anxious and nervous over what now laid ahead for him.

xxxxx

Leo arrived home fifteen minutes later and quickly walked into his room. He laid on his bed, pulled out his cell phone and quickly began going through his email. "Nothing yet," He muttered as he placed his phone down, he looked at his watch and shook his head, "Don't know what I'm thinking?" He said with a chuckle, "It's only been about twenty minutes and the Professor said it may take hours so….." A sudden dinging on his phone had him pulling up the emails. He smiled excitedly upon seeing his newest email from the dating service and he eagerly pulled it up.

Leo scanned over the information and frowned, the picture of his potential mate showed a muscular mutant male turtle with intense gray eyes and a smile that seemed more like a sneer than a grin, "What the?" Leo exclaimed in surprise, "A male!?" He pulled the card out of his wallet and dialed the number listed.

"Good morning, Mutants R' Us Dating service, Professor Honeycutt speaking, how may I help you?"

"Professor, this is Leonardo Hamato," Leo began, "I just got the email from your site and…well, I have some questions."

"Ah yes," The Professor responded, "Leonardo, what do you think of your match, does he have everything you were looking for?"

Leo went back to the email and looked over the information, "Well, yes surprisingly he does but there is one thing that concerns me."

"Oh, and what would that be?"

"The fact that he's a male turtle."

"Oh," Honeycutt sounded confused, "Were you hoping for something outside of your species?"

"No," Leo rolled his eyes, "A turtle would be fine," Leo told him with growing irritation in his voice, "I was just hoping the turtle would be more female than male."

"Oh I see," The Professor responded.

Leo furrowed his brow as the sound of clicking could be heard over the phone, "I'm going through my findings and according to the data given to us by you, a male turtle would actually be a perfect mate for you."

"But I don't want a male," Leo told him adamantly, "I've never wanted to date a male in my life, what part of my information did I give you that would suggest I would want to date a male?"

"Certain words and descriptions you used and that I imputed into the computer told me that," The Professor responded.

"Well I suggest you re-input your information and try again Professor," Leo told him angrily.

He heard the professor sigh heavily, "Mr. Hamato," Honeycutt began in a soothing voice, "If there is one thing I've come to learn in this profession is that not everyone knows who they really are and sometimes it takes someone else to make them realize certain things about them."

"But Professor….."

"Please understand, Leonardo, my computer is usually very accurate about these things so how about you go on one date and see how it goes; if you decide it's absolutely something you are completely against then we can try again."

Leo sighed as he contemplated the request. As much as he was reluctant to date a male of any species, he decided it would at least be nice to find someone who might share the same interest and possibly become the kind of friend he would be able to confide in.

"Okay Professor," Leo finally responded as he looked over the information on the email, "I'll give this turtle one chance and see what happens but I'm telling you…." His voice rose slightly, "I'm pretty sure I'm more interested in the opposite sex then the same sex."

"You have a meeting scheduled with him tonight so we shall see Leonardo," The professor said with a slight chuckle, "We shall see."

Leo hung up his cell and continued to look over the picture of his future date, "Well, he may look like a tough outlaw but maybe in the end he could be a friend," He told himself, "After all, the way I'm feeling these days, I could really use one."

A knock on his door had Leo quickly putting his phone away, "Come in," He called out. A moment later the door opened and Mikey poked his head in.

"Hey bro" He smiled at him, "I saw you come home and just wanted to know how your appointment went."

Leo looked at him startled, "What appointment Mikey?" He asked innocently.

Mikey shook his head and walked further into the room, "Seriously Leo," He said as he sat down next to him on the bed, "Did you not think I wouldn't notice the card was gone?"

Leo blushed lightly, "Okay," He responded ruefully, "So I decided to give this dating service thing a try," He shook his head and placed the card on his end table, "But I'm beginning to think this is a big mistake, Mikey."

"Really?" Mikey sat down next to him and looked at him in surprise, "Why Leo?" He asked, "I think it's a great idea!" He noted the email on Leo's phone, "I see you already received your date's information, don't you like who you got?"

"No Mikey I don't," Leo stood and paced angrily, "He picked a male for me Mikey!" Leo yelled out, "In what way do I look like I would want to date a male?"

When Mikey didn't answer, Leo turned to look at him and was surprised to see him looking away in uncertainty, "What?" Leo asked, walking over to him, "Don't tell me you think I am the kind of turtle who would want to date a male?" He leered down angrily at his younger brother, "Do you?!"

"Welllll…." Mikey bit his lower lip as he contemplated the right words to say.

Leo stood tall and looked at Mikey in shock, "Are you serious?" Leo again began to pace angrily, "Do you really think I could be gay!?" He turned blazing eyes on Mikey, "Like you!?"

"Look Leo," Mikey stood and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, "Sometimes it takes another person to point out something about a person that should have been obvious all along."

Leo narrowed his eyes at him, "Are you saying that there are things I do and or say that tells people I do prefer males instead of females?"

Mikey shrugged then nodded at him.

"LIKE WHAT!?" Leo yelled.

"Well," Mikey looked around his brother's room and pointed to certain posters, "You have posters of half naked men on the wall."

"Their wrestlers," Leo pointed out.

"Yeah but they're not wrestling," Mikey looked at each picture, "They're just standing there, hot and oily looking," He looked at his brother and shook his head, "I can see a girl wanting to stare at a guy looking like that but another guy?" He started walking to Leo's desk, "I don't know bro." He picked up a magazine, "And you have a GQ Magazine," He flipped to a page that Leo had ear-marked, "And how often do you stare at this guy in a tux in Leo?"

"So I just want fashion information," Leo snatched the magazine out of Mikey's hand, "I think you are putting too much emphasis on what I enjoy looking at."

"Like how you stare intently at guys on the beach," Mikey stated as he started toward Leo's door, "Weather it's on the TV or in real life," He shook his head at him, "Face it Leo," His older brother watched in bewilderment as Mikey started out the door, "There may be more to you then even you realize," He stopped and looked back at him, "But maybe when you are finally ready to accept it, you may actually be happier with who you are." He walked out the room closing the door behind him, "I know I was," He said just before the door shut.