Oliver collapsed into his bed. The vacation was nice, but it was even nicer to be able to lie in his own bed. He pulled the covers around himself and then succumbed to the exhaustion.

He awoke to a blaring alarm. Ollie jumped out of bed. He breathed a sigh of relief seeing his surroundings. He was in his room. His home. He wasn't in the desert. It wasn't an air raid. There were no bombs. No dead bodies. It was the building's fire alarm, he finally realized, taking a deep breath and raked a hand through his hair.

There was banging on his door. "Fire! Everyone out!" a voice yelled, fading away and knocking on the next door down, repeating the phrase.

Oliver quickly pulled on his clothes, which he had tossed carelessly on an arm chair next to his bed, when he'd gotten in from the airport the night before.

The alarms continued to blare. He grabbed his camera bag and tossed the strap over his shoulder. Everything else would have to be covered by his insurance, if the place went up. And Oliver had all his photographs scanned and safely stored on a cloud server, so he wouldn't be losing his work.

He grabbed his keys and went out into the hall to see his neighbors all heading towards the stairwell.

The commotion was overwhelming outside as they waited for the firefighters. No one knew where the fire was or who had set off the alarm. And no one was claiming to have seen any smoke.

Oliver leaned against a tree and watched. He liked to watch. He was an observer of the world. His photographs reflected that. He saw the confusion in the eyes of his neighbors; the fear in some.

He liked watching the children's reactions especially. There was such wide eyed innocence in children's eyes which the camera loved.

Right now, there were sleepy eyed children and some were actually sleeping in the parents arms, oblivious to what was going on around them. Others cried with tears streaming down their cheeks, and mucus coming out their noses. Others yelled for their teddy bears and other various toys.

Dogs barked at each other and the humans bustling about them. Cats meowed from carriers. Someone had even brought out a large cage of parakeets which were fluttering about and squawking.

Oliver held up his camera and took some pictures, capturing those chaotic moments.

He walked through the crowd, taking everything in. Oliver held up his camera again, looking through the viewfinder of his telescopic lens to look further away, and he saw her. The beautiful woman that he would bump into every once in a while.

Ollie smiled. Her hair was a mess. She wore a thin light blue robe that went just to her knees. She had her arms folded around herself, like a lot of the others did against the chill of the night. She blew a frustrated breath at her hair to move it out of her eyes without moving her hands.

He took her picture. She was sexier than any of the models he had ever taken pictures of, he thought, turning as the fire engines arrived, red lights flashing and sirens wailing. Oliver took some more pictures and headed in her direction.

*****************************

Gina was freezing. She sat down on the curb next to her neighbor and friend, Liz, and pulled her short robe further down around her knees.

She hadn't thought of what to wear when the alarm had blasted her out of bed. She had just grabbed a robe, her purse, and keys, and had followed the crowd outside. The cold night air cut through her, but no one would let her back in to get her jacket or to put on some pants.

"Hey, would you mind if I leave you for a minute? There's this hot guy..." Liz said, gesturing across to some of the news people.

"Go for it," Gina said encouragingly.

"You're the best," Liz exclaimed, bouncing away.

Gina laughed watching her friend approach one of the news anchors and turn on the charm.

Gina suddenly felt warmth and softness come around her shoulders. Putting her hand to it, she felt that the top was hard and she smelled leather. One of her favorite scents.

Gina looked up quickly to see gray eyes looking right into hers.

"Cold out," he commented, sitting down beside her.

"Oh, gosh, thanks so much!" she exclaimed gratefully and nervously, as she put her arms into the sleeves of his leather jacket.

"It looked like you could use it," he stated with a shrug, setting a bag down in front of him.

"Are you sure you don't need it?" Gina asked, feeling guilty.

"I'm okay. My clothes are a lot warmer than yours," he said, his eyes trailing down to her thin robe and bare legs.

"I didn't even think of bringing anything out! Not even my coat. They always ask you as a kid, when there's a fire and you could bring only one thing out with you, what would it be? I could never answer it," she blurted out nervously. "Everything is important to me."

"You got your bag," he said, nodding to her purse.

"Huh. Yeah, I guess so. I never even thought about it. I guess it's just a habit when I leave the apartment."

"Yeah, me too," he said, looking over at the fire trucks.

"Do you always carry that everywhere?" Gina asked, noticing that it was the same black leather bag that she always saw him with.

"They'll have to bury me with it," he reverently patted it.

"Is it something top secret or can you tell me?"

"I don't know. Can I trust you?" he asked mischievously.

He smiled as he looked into her eyes. Gina was pulled into his gaze and couldn't help but smile back. She didn't want to look away, but she needed to. Her heart was pounding with him sitting so close and with his jacket around her, smelling so much like him.

"Ah. You hesitate!"

"I just don't know, if I want to know," she answered. Gina was embarrassed it had taken her so long to just think of the word 'yes', but even that simple word wouldn't come out.

"Maybe not," he chuckled.

"Oh. Um, I'm Gina, by the way," she said bravely, outstretching her hand to him.

"You're Gina?!" he asked surprised as he shook her hand. "Gina Parker?"

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing that you know my name?"

"Mouse?" a man asked, coming over with a ear to ear grin on his face.

"Bradshaw?" Gina's handsome neighbor answered as he stood up to greet the man. "What are you doing here?"

"The usual," he gestured to where the reporters hovering. "What are you doing lazing around? Isn't there a fire going on?" the guy chuckled, pointing to the building.

"I don't do the news anymore."

"I know, I heard. Models! Lucky you!" the guy said, slapping her neighbor on the back.

"Well, it pays the bills."

"Come on, Mouse! Fess up. You got some pics," he said, nudging her neighbor with his shoulder.

"Maybe," Mouse answered with a shrug.

"Can we talk?"

He sighed, "I gave up the news. I'm not looking to go back."

"Come on, man, you've got the pics anyway. I've got the dough."

"Let me think about it," Mouse said, scratching behind his head.

"Alright, you know where to reach me, if you change your mind."

"Yeah, I do."

The guy left and walked over to a news crew carrying cameras.

"You're a reporter?" Gina asked curiously.

"Photographer," he corrected, watching the news crew.

"Ah, the secret in the black bag."

"It's considered a concealed weapon," he said, getting up, sliding the bag's strap over his shoulder. "I'm going to go check on when we can get back in."

"Okay." She was disappointed that he was leaving already. They hadn't had a chance to talk.

"It was nice meeting you, Gina."

"You too! Uh, sorry, what was your name, again?" she asked with a half laugh, knowing he hadn't told her yet, though she'd heard his friend call him something.

"My friends call me Mouse."

"Mouse?! Why do they call you that?"

He reached into the black bag and pulled out a professional looking camera. "Say cheese," he said, putting it to his eye. She smiled and the flash went off as he took her picture. He winked, "Because I always steal the cheese."

She laughed. "Cute."

"Thanks," he said, taking another picture of her.

"Oh! Your jacket," she started to take it off.

"Just give it back to me later. We may still be awhile." He reached over and pulled it back over her shoulders. The gesture reminded her of being tucked into bed at night. It was sweet, gentle, comforting.

"Thanks, Mouse." She stuck her hands in the pockets nervously.

"You wanna be in the papers?" he asked, lifting up his camera to take her picture again. The flash went off.

She wrinkled her nose."Not really."

"I'll keep you for myself then." He turned to walk away, but after a second turned back around with a cringe on his face. "I didn't mean that to sound so creepy."

She laughed.

*****************************

Mouse blew out a breath as he walked away from Gina. His palms were sweating like a teenager's. He had always been shy around girls. It'd been a stroke of luck being offered a job working with models, of all things, when he had decided to quit the news.

To get away from the horrific memories of war he would have done anything. He ran a hand through his hair. The models had toughened him up. He knew that he was good looking enough and that was part of the problem. He did attract women and the models had expressed their attraction to him. They had flirted relentlessly with him.

At first, he found it embarrassing, which caused them to tease and flirt with him even more. Most of them were beautiful; gorgeous even. But he didn't have any interest in dating anyone that he worked with. He didn't like any messy situations. And going out with someone you worked with was one of the fastest ways to get into one.

Instead, most of the models had become good friends. And he felt safer keeping it that way. The advantage of having beautiful women as friends was that they taught him to loosen up around women, to be himself, and he could flirt back when he wanted to without the fear of rejection.

Mouse glanced back at where he left Gina sitting on the curb. He had flirted a little. But was it enough for a first introduction? Too much? He doubted himself. He bit his lower lip as he slipped through the firemen. He'd have to work on that.

****************************

"Anna, I talked to him!" Gina said sitting on the edge on Anna's desk.

"Elevator boy?"

Gina nodded.

"Details, details!" Anna said excitedly, leaning back in her chair.

"Well, there was a fire..."

"A fire? Gina, are you ok?!" Her friend asked concerned.

"Yeah, some little old lady on the second floor left a cigarette burning when she went to sleep. She's okay. It burned up her apartment quite a bit, though. The rest of the building was fine."

"So what does this have to do with tall, dark and handsome?"

"His name is Mouse."

"Mouse?"

"It's a nickname."

"Interesting choice..."

"He's a photographer; it's something about stealing the cheese," Gina said with a smile.

Anna snorted. "And he stole yours?"

"Stop," Gina said slapping her on the arm.

"At least it's not Rat," Anna said with a laugh. "So you met Mouse in the fire?"

"Outside. It was cold out. He lent me his jacket."

"How sweet!"

"It was. He was. I still have it. He went to go check with the condo manager when we could go back in. But when they let us back in, I couldn't find him to return it."

"Was it a nice jacket?"

"What does that matter?" Gina frowned.

"A man's attire says something about him. What's the jacket like?"

"I don't know. It's a brown leather jacket. Like a bomber jacket."

"What else was he wearing?"

"God, Anna. I don't know! Jeans and a tee shirt, I think."

"And you said that you've seen him in nice suits?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Hmm, he's got a classy side yet a casual side. It could be a nice combination. The name is unusual though. I don't know about that."

"He's a nice guy, Anna."

"That's what they always say about all the serial killers. 'I can't believe it was him. He seemed like a nice guy'."

"Will you stop!"

"I'm just putting it out there. You never know."

"You're the one that was encouraging me to get to know him."

"That's before I knew his name."

"It's cute!" Gina protested.

"Ok. So what's next with you and this Mouse person?"

"I don't know. I need to return his jacket. Hopefully, we'll run into each other in the elevator or something again so I can. I'm sure he wants it back."

When Gina got home she went and checked her mailbox. There was a note:

"Dear Gina, I hope that you're okay after all the commotion last night. Could you please leave my mail with the front desk? I have got a crazy schedule this week and I don't know when I could get it from you. Thanks again for your help. I really appreciate it. Sincerely, O. McKnight."

She sighed. So much for meeting another neighbor. She went upstairs and found another note under her door. This note was casually printed and looked like it was written quickly unlike the cursive and elegant notes she was used to with Oliver.

"Hey, Gina. If you're not busy tonight I'm meeting some friends after work at Jack's Grill on the corner of 5th and Monument at seven for dinner. Bring a friend if you like. Hope to see you then!"

There was a cute cartoon mouse hand drawn underneath.

******************************

"These are incredible, Mouse," Corbin said, looking over his shoulder.

"Yeah, well..." Mouse continued hanging up a picture up to dry.

"So modest," Corbin said picking one up.

"Don't touch," Mouse slapped Corbin's hand before taking it from him to hang it up with the others.

"So, who's the babe?" Corbin pointed to one of the pictures hanging on the studio wall.

"Neighbor," Mouse answered simply, looking at which one he pointed at.

Corbin whistled, "Maybe I need to move in here."

"You just bought a place," Mouse scoffed, looking back down at the photographs he was working on.

"Yeah, but it came with my wife," Corbin laughed.

"Funny."

"She thinks so," Corbin said, putting his feet up on a small table. "She fell in love with my sense of humor."

Mouse rolled his eyes, "She'd have to in order to live with you." He laughed at Corbin's glare.

"What's next on the job list, boss?" He asked, wanting the change the subject off of Gina. His palms were still sweating over the note he had left that morning.

Corbin leaned against Mouse's desk. "New designer, Jenny Fox. Central Park locale. Some small unknown models..."

"Central Park. Fun."

"It pays the bills, kid."

"I'm not complaining. I just hate the attention it'll bring in such a public spot."

"You should be used to it by now."

"I hate that stuff. You got security? I don't want to spend half the day telling people to stay back."

"All set up. Don't sweat it."

"I sweat it when equipment turns up missing too."

"Got it covered."

"Let's go get some beers."

"Now you're talking," Corbin said getting up.

Mouse watched Corbin as they headed out the door. Should he tell him about Gina? And about the notes? Did he screw up putting a note in her box about being too busy to able to get the mail from her and then turning around and asking her out with a note on her door? Would she even show up to have dinner with a nut who couldn't make up his mind if he was busy or not?

*****************************

"You have to come with me!" Gina begged Anna as she perused her closet.

"Why do I? He invited you."

"He said 'bring a friend'," Gina countered.

"Mouse was only saying that so you wouldn't feel awkward by going alone. But you should. He wants you to."

"I don't want to. I need back up. I'm a complete idiot by myself. I think words, but they either don't come out or they come out babble."

"Fine. I'll go."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"If it's the only way I'm going to get you to go out with a man, I'll do it."

Gina hit her on the arm, "Gee thanks, you're a real pal," she said sarcastically.

"What about this?" Anna
held up a short, black skirt.

Gina shook her head. "Too short."

"That's the point," Anna wagged her eyebrows.

******************************

Gina and Anna walked into the crowded restaurant. The massive bar was at the center of the room with stools around it, which was jammed packed with people smoking and drinking. The areas around the walls and throughout the room were tables and booths of people.

"How're we going to find him in this?" Gina asked.

"Let's try the bar," Anna answered, taking off her coat.

Gina followed Anna's red hair through the crowded room.

"Do you see him?" Anna asked, looking around the room herself though she had never met Mouse.

"No," Gina said disappointed. She juggled Mouse's jacket in her arms as she tried to pull off her own."God, it's hot in here!"

"Let me help you with that," a voice said in her ear.

His warm breath against her neck sent tingles down her spine. Gina felt her jacket slip off her shoulders and both jackets were taken out of her hands. She turned to look at him.

Mouse's gray eyes met hers and he was smiling,"Glad you could make it!"

"Yeah. Thanks for the invite."

He gave Anna a once-over. "Anytime. Who's your friend?"

"Anna," Anna answered, while Gina pushed back a surge of jealousy of Mouse eying Anna's curves. Anna shook his hand.

"Hi, Anna, great to meet you. I'm glad Gina was able to bring a friend so she'd be more comfortable meeting with me and my friends."

Mouse's hand squeezed her shoulder gently and Gina looked up at him in surprise. He was still interested in being with her? After seeing Anna?!

"Follow me, ladies," He put out his hand, offering it to Gina to take. She hesitantly placed her hand in his. Mouse led them through the crowd to a large booth in the corner.

"Guys, this is Gina and Anna," he said as they scooted into the booth. He pointed to each of his friends one by one, "This is Doyle, Wolf, Corbin, Tessa, and Janice."

"Hi." They all nodded at each other.

"Tessa, you look so familiar. Do I know you?" Anna asked.

"Oh, I'm a model," Tessa flipped her long hair over her shoulder. "You've probably seen me in some magazines."

"Oh. I guess so," Anna answered, looking at Gina, who was studying Janice's face as if it looked familiar.

Both women were gorgeous. Tessa had long curly dark brown hair and hazel eyes, and Janice had short blonde hair with incredible blue eyes. Both wore short shirts, showing off their large bosoms and flat stomachs.

Gina self consciously pulled down her short skirt to cover her self-consciously non- impressive legs, which she was sure the two of them had under the table.

Doyle was short, had blond hair, and blue eyes. He wasn't a bad looking guy, but there was something elf-like about him.

Wolf was almost as good looking as Mouse. He had a lighter brown hair than Mouse, but his was long and pulled back into a pony tail. His eyes were dark unlike Mouse's beautiful light gray ones.

"So, what do you do?" Tessa asked them.

"We work for Family Time magazine," Anna answered.

"Oh, you have a family then?" Janice asked, a pleased smile tugging at her lips as ran her eyes hungrily over Mouse.

"No, we're totally single." Anna flashed Wolf a grin.

He looked at her in surprise and a slow smile slid onto his face. Wolf glanced at Mouse and then back to Anna.

"Then why do you work for a family magazine?" Janice's perfectly made up face scrunched up in confusion.

"Do you use all the products you model for?" Gina asked.

"Well, no." Janice bit her bottom lip.

"We don't need to have kids to work for a family magazine either." Anna snapped.

"Okay, ladies. Change of subject," Mouse said, sliding an arm on the top of the booth behind Gina as he sat down beside her.

"How 'bout we order?" Corbin asked in a relieved tone.

"First round's on me," Mouse said to the group.

Wolf took a roll out of the basket in the middle of the table. "Mouse is feeling generous. If we get him drunk maybe he'll pay for dinner."

"In your dreams," Mouse answered. "But I will cover the ladies." He took a roll for himself and passed the basket to Gina.

"Always a gentleman," Tessa batted her eyelashes at him and tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"That's 'cause now he makes the big bucks," Wolf said, biting into the roll. "By the way, you still owe me for June 16, 1996."

Mouse laughed. "I think I've more than made up for it over the years."

Wolf shrugged and grinned.

"So, you guys met in an elevator?" Corbin asked Gina.

"Uh, sort of. We live in the same building."

"You live there too?" Wolf asked Anna.

"No. I live downtown."

"Me too. You guys should come over to my place New Year's Eve. I'm having a big bash," Wolf said. "My building has a rooftop deck and you get an awesome view of the fireworks."

"That'd be cool, huh, Gina?" Anna asked.

"Sure, sounds like fun." Gina shrugged, glancing hesitantly at Mouse. Would he care she and Anna were making plans with his friends for a couple months away?

"Mouse, are you coming or do you have to work?" Wolf asked.

"I don't know. Corbin? Do you know what's on the schedule yet?"

"I've got you home in time," Corbin answered.

"What about Christmas? Mom wants me home this year."

"I've got to check the schedule. Might be cutting it close."

"Man," Mouse groaned.

"I've got to be in Paris for Christmas. My mother's having a cow," Tessa said, rolling her eyes.

"Can I come?" Doyle finally spoke up.

Tessa looked him over. "You'll fit in my suitcase."

They all laughed as Doyle pouted.

"Hey!" Doyle yelled offended.

"Maybe you're on that shoot too, Mouse," Tessa said to him.

"Probably. We've been working together a lot lately."

"They just want the best," Tessa preened.

"Damn straight," Mouse said toasting her with a glass of water.

****************************

Gina had a great time with Mouse's friends. They liked to throw insults at each other, but she could tell they were all good friends to each other.

She would have been more jealous of Tessa and Janice, but she noticed that Mouse wasn't hanging onto their every word as the other boys were. Gina was pleased that he was paying attention to her when she talked instead.

She wasn't sure how he felt about her. He never hit on her or touched her in a way to say he was in any way more than a friend. Mouse's arm had been on the back of the booth, along her shoulders, but he never let his hand or arm touch her. He was probably just more comfortable with his arm stretched across the bench. He was a tall guy.

Gina appreciated the fact that he hadn't made a move. She wasn't sure how she would have handled it if he had. She'd rather take things slow then jump into something with someone she didn't know. No matter how attracted she was to him.

"Do you need a ride home?" Mouse asked, helping her with her coat.

"We walked. It's only a few blocks."

"I can drive you. It's too cold to walk. Anna, you need a ride home?" Mouse called to her.

"Wolf's going to drive me. Thanks, though," Anna said smiling at Gina as Wolf helped her into her coat.

"How about it? Anna's covered," Mouse asked Gina.

"Sure," Gina said with a shrug.

"Did you have fun?" he asked, opening the front door of the restaurant.

"Yeah, it was great, thanks for inviting us."

"No prob. I've been meaning to get to know my neighbors more. But you know, with work and everything, I'm hardly ever home. "

"I know the feeling," she replied, following him to a green Jeep Liberty.

Mouse opened the door and held her hand as she climbed in. Gina held her own hand as she sat, still feeling his warm hand on hers.

They were home within minutes. He took them underground into the garage.

"I hate this place at night. It's so creepy," Gina said, pulling her jacket around her as they walked towards the garage lobby for the elevators to the building.

"I'll protect you," he said putting an arm around her.

"Who will protect you?" she asked nervously that his arm hung lazily around her.

Mouse laughed, letting go of her as he opened the door to the building. They walked into the building and went over to the elevators.

"I just noticed that you don't have your camera with you," she said as they entered the elevator. She pressed the button for her floor.

"I'm trying to wean myself off of it. Corbin tells me people actually don't like a camera in their face all the time," he said as if that was an outrage. He leaned against the elevator wall to look at her.

"How's it going?"

"I'm having withdrawal," he said with a straight face.

"What's camera withdrawal like?" she teased.

"My trigger finger shakes. See." He held it up and wiggled it.

"Poor baby."

"It's painful," he said with a smile.

"This is me," she said as the elevator doors opened.

"Yeah," he said, stepping out with her.

"Thanks again, Mouse. I had a really great time."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you could come."

"I guess I'll be seeing you..." Gina said hesitantly.

"I hope so. Goodnight, Gina." He smiled and moved back towards the elevator.

"Goodnight, Mouse." She was disappointed he didn't try to kiss her. That he didn't even hug her. That he didn't ask her out again or for her phone number.

*****************************

"What?! No kiss!" Anna yelled over the phone the next day.

"No. We're friends, Anna."

"Bull. He had his eyes on you all night."

"He did not!"

"Yeah, he did. Even Wolf said so."

"Wolf," Gina repeated in surprise. "So, um, how'd that go?"

"Awesome. We're going out Saturday night."

"Anna! We were supposed to go to the movies," Gina complained.

"Sorry, I had a better offer." Anna shrugged.

"I can't believe you!"

"Come on, Gina. You'd do the same if Mouse asked you out."

"I wouldn't," Gina muttered looking at her reflection in the mirror, wondering if she would.

"Why don't you ask Mouse out?"

"Oh, right, like that's something that I'm capable of doing."

"He made a move. He asked you to go out with him and his friends. Why not ask him out? We could double if you want."

"No. You go; have a good time."

"Gina."

"I'm not asking him out, Anna. If he wants to go out with me, he'll ask. Right now, I'm not reading anything more than friendship off of him."

"Then you're dumber than I thought."

"Bye, Anna."

"Bye, Gina."

Gina looked at herself in the mirror again. Could she do it? Could she ask a guy out? She picked up the brush and brushed her hair while she pondered the irrational idea.