Two days later, Alan was working in his office when Denny came in. "Did you hear the news, Alan?" he cried out before settling down on the couch. "Well, good morning to you, too" Alan replied. "And no, I didn't hear the news. What's going on?" he inquired while a feeling of uneasiness came over him. Denny and Carl had returned the night before; surely Shirley had not already talked to Carl…He hadn't seen her since their conversation as he had been covered in work, all the time in the hopes of having some sort of sudden inspiration how to best deal with Denny. If push came to shove, he would take a bullet for Shirley, but he would nevertheless like to avoid that and for that a good strategy was of the essence.

"What have you been doing all day? It's all over the office: Shirley dumped Carl yesterday evening. Apparently, she wants him to move out as quickly as possible and she more or less kicked him out" Denny replied gleefully.

"Wow…That is…Wow.." Alan replied at a loss for words, his thoughts racing at 100 miles per hour.

"Yeah, I heard something about him being too boring and predictable and having no sense of humor" Denny said, smiling like a Cheshire cat.

"Not that it surprises me, Carl was never good enough for her" he added.

"Is there any guy ever good enough for Shirley?" Alan asked his friend, trying to maintain a poker face while anxiously waiting for the answer.

"Denny Crane!" Denny answered, getting up to help himself to a glass of scotch.

"Seriously, Denny. Is there any guy you would accept at her side?" Alan repeated, afraid of the answer and sure that any moment now all hell would break loose.

"Alan, I am not stupid and the answer is no. You will not get closer to Shirley in any way, shape or form" his friend replied sharply.

"Denny, could you please have a seat?" Alan sighed.

"What's going on? What happened?"

"Well…"

"Alan, spit it out or do I have to shoot you" Denny replied, getting angrier by the minute.

"Well, Shirley and were having drinks and cigars on the balcony yesterday evening" Alan started. "You did what? I told you to keep your hands off her" Denny shouted.

"Please let me continue, Denny. She asked me if I was sexually attracted to her, to which I answered yes. She then asked me if I were going there with her if she wanted to, to which I also said yes."

"You son of a…" Denny shouted, and Alan was seriously getting afraid. Unexpectedly, no one else had noticed anything so far. This one time Alan had hoped for some spectators (especially in the form of someone like Brad or Paul, who could actually keep Denny in check, not that he would ever admit that), they had a moment of privacy.

"I haven't finished yet, Denny. If you want to shoot me, please wait some more time. We talked some and I asked her why your permission for me to take her out was so important to her. She said that it is important to her as you are her friend. We talked some more, and I made her realize that she is very important to me and would never be a fling or a one-night stand. It turned out that she was not all too happy with Carl and attracted to me. To make a long story short, she told me she would break up with Carl and I would ask you to give us your permission to go out. I would love to go out with her Denny, and I hereby ask for your permission. She means so very much to me, but you mean the world to us, too and therefore please give me the permission to get to know her more closely" Alan finished. He was scared; Denny had not said another word and just stared at him. For a boisterous man like Denny, silence was atypical and reminded somewhat of the silence before a storm.

"You bastard! There was only one thing I asked you to do, and that was to keep your hands off Shirley! I am away for a couple of days, and you couldn't wait to put your filthy hands on her!" he suddenly shouted. "You're damn lucky I forgot to bring my guns, otherwise I'd shoot you!" he continued yelling.

"I know…But Denny, please listen: I didn't kiss Shirley. She would not allow that without your permission" Alan sheepishly replied, relieved beyond words that Denny had forgotten his guns. Mad Cow apparently also had its advantages…

"If you had kissed her, I'd get my guns right now. Damn mad cow, I never used to forget my guns" Denny grumbled angrily, but considerably calmer than before. It seemed as if Alan's confession that he and Shirley hadn't kissed without his permission had calmed him down.

"So, what will it be, Denny? Do I get your permission?"

"Yes, but there is one condition" Denny replied.

Alan couldn't believe it. "What is it?" he asked, expecting something like a threesome or a naked picture of Shirley.

"Don't hurt her. If you hurt her, I promise to kill you" Denny answered, looking Alan straight in the eyes.

"I won't hurt her, I promise" Alan answered, not able to suppress a smile.

"Denny, thank you…"

"Oh, get away. You just stole the woman I love" Denny grumbled.

"I know and I'm sorry...But we're still flamingoes, right?"
"Of course we are! We're flamingoes! But if you hurt her, you're dead, you hear?"
"Yes, Denny" Alan answered, before he slipped away quietly, not believing his luck.

"Hi Shirley", he smiled at her as he came into her office. "Denny told me you broke up with Carl?" he asked and took her hands to kiss them.

"Yes, I did. But Alan, did you..", "I just talked to Denny" he interrupted her.

"I didn't hear any shooting. Did you chicken out?" Shirley asked him with a little smile.

"I was lucky, he had forgotten his guns" Alan admitted.

"So…?"

"We have his permission, Shirley. But he told me he'd kill me if I hurt you" Alan replied and gently touched her face.

"I'd be worried if he didn't" Shirley laughed, putting her arms around his middle.

"So may I finally kiss you?" Alan asked her and when their lips touched, they both forgot where they were and didn't break up until Paul entered the room. "Shirley, I need to…Wow, sorry" he said and immediately backed off.

"Well, on the upside there won't be much office gossip as the news will travel fast" Shirley laughed as she disentangled herself from Alan's arms. "God, you're beautiful Shirley" Alan replied with a look on his face she had rarely seen before and not wanting to let her go.

"Alan, as much as I enjoy this you do know we're at work, don't you?" Shirley said, also having a hard time concentrating on something different.

"Shirley, I don't mind you being the boss. Actually.." Alan started with a smirk on his face. "I meant as in we're in the office and we should do something work related" Shirley answered sternly, although she couldn't stifle a smile. It was good that some things apparently wouldn't change.

"What do you think about dinner tonight?" Alan asked, accepting the change of subject.

"I'd love to, Alan" she smiled. "And thank you for talking to Denny."

"Thank you for talking to Carl" Alan answered before he kissed her on the cheek to go back to his office to see if Denny had calmed down some more. Behind the door, Paul was waiting for Alan to leave the office so that he could talk to Shirley and both men chose to ignore each other.

Shirley didn't even turn around when she heard someone come into the office. "Shirley…" Paul started. "Forget it, Paul. This is none of your business." She stopped him. "But.." "Paul, if this is about Alan, let me repeat myself, this is none of your business. I am not one of the associates. I'm Schmidt, so for god's sake, keep out of it" she replied, leaving no doubt that she was not willing to discuss her personal life. "Does Denny.." Paul tried one last attempt before being interrupted by Shirley. "Did I not speak English, Paul? This is none of your business so get out before I get one of Denny's guns myself" Shirley replied angrily, and Paul decided to let it rest and to resume work instead.

"So far, this is going easier than I expected" she thought, smiling to herself, before she too got to work. With Alan waiting for her, she didn't want to finish late.