Chapter 3

Estrella listened to Topher's description of the date with Allegra, only interrupting with an occasional question for clarification. When he'd finished, she let out a low whistle. "Do you get any sense that she might be dangerous?"

"Dangerous?" Topher frowned into the phone. "No more dangerous than letting any stranger into your life would be. She seems a little fragile and maybe a bit sad, but oddly fearless on the subject of herself. I feel like she's exactly who she says she is."

"Was there anything you asked her about that she refused to answer or just got evasive?"

Topher almost said no, but then he remembered. "When she mentioned a couple of relationships that hadn't worked out for her and led to the creation of her rules, I asked about why they'd failed and she told me she wouldn't be able to explain until the third date. He thought for a second, then added, "Why do you think she might be dangerous?"

"She just seems ... odd," said Estrella. "And that offer to come home with you ... What if she was trying to rob you or something?"

Topher chuckled. "If she'd wanted to rob me, she could have just said 'yes' when I asked her out, come home with me that first night, and robbed me then. Why set up all these hoops for herself to jump through if she's just setting me up? Besides, I already know where she lives, her real name, her temp agency. I'd think she'd be more likely to kill me than to rob me."

Estrella sighed. "I just don't want to see you get hurt, Topher. You've always been a little too sweet for the world."

Topher found himself grinning into the phone. "Besides, I kind of assumed 'odd' was a given. Normal girls don't know what to make of me or vice versa. Allegra might even think I'm sweet. Wouldn't it be nice not to have to carry that burden alone anymore?"

"It's not just me." protested Estrella. "I heard your mother use it in relation to you once or twice."

"Well, yes," said Topher. "But always in the past tense."

When Allegra opened her apartment door and saw Topher standing, waiting for her, she raised her arms to show off the dark green crushed velvet dress that hugged her curves and showed bare skin from the nape of her neck down to her waist in the back. Her blond hair was piled up on top of her head and she wore teardrop-shaped diamonds in her ears. "Nice enough?"

Topher laughed. When he'd called to set the time for their date, Allegra had asked him how she should dress and Topher had told her "Nice, but not too nice." That had led to a cascade of other questions he'd been hard-pressed to answer without revealing their destination.

"Very nice." Topher leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, hand resting on the bare skin of her back.

"And not too sexy for whatever you have in mind?" There was a hint of real concern in her voice.

"If it were, I'd be on the phone immediately making other plans," Topher laughed again. "I'd hate to ask you to take it off."

Allegra raised an eyebrow and Topher fought off a smirk when he realized what he'd said. She glanced back into the apartment. "Do you have time to come inside for a few minutes? My roommates would like to vet you."

"Vet me?" Topher felt an odd moment of panic. He wasn't used to caring about strangers' opinions of himself. To his way of thinking, people who thought poorly of him were demonstrating their own poor judgement and rendering themselves unworthy of consideration. It was a virtuous cycle. He looked back over his shoulder. "We have a car waiting."

It sounded like a weak excuse even to him and, when Allegra dropped her eyes in disappointment, he added quickly, "But, it's hired for the day. We have some time."

She smiled, wrapped herself around his arm, and drew him into the apartment. To Topher's Manhattan-trained eyes, the place looked enormous, the living room almost as big as his whole place. A big, beefy man sat on a couch against the far wall with another woman Allegra's age at his side, her feet curled up under her. The man rose and shook Topher's hand. "Joe Haven, nice to meet you."

His grip was solid without being aggressive, but Topher could feel real strength behind it. He introduced himself. The young woman offered her hand to shake as well, not rising, "Luisa."

"Nice to meet you," said Topher. Luisa was a beautiful young woman with a cafe-au-lait complexion and Joe darker still.

"Have a seat," offered Joe. "Can we get you something to drink?"

Topher sat. His mouth had gotten a bit dry all of a sudden. "Maybe some water if it's not too much trouble."

Luisa rose and stepped out of the room. Allegra settled at Topher's side, sliding her feet out of her shoes and tucking them under her like Luisa had. It made him feel oddly like she was on his side.

"Have you ever boxed?" he asked Joe. "You're ... built like a boxer."

"Wrestling in high school," said Joe. "But that was years ago. I hear you box."

"I spar sometimes," said Topher. "I haven't had a match in years, but it's still really good exercise."

Joe nodded. Luiza reappeared with a tall glass of water on a tray, which she placed next to Topher. Also on the tray was a little dish with a slice each of lemon and lime. Raising his eyebrow in surprise, Topher said, "Thank you. The lemon and lime slices are a nice touch."

Luiza smiled back at him and settled at Joe's side again. Joe asked, "So, where are you two headed tonight?"

"I asked Topher to surprise me," said Allegra. She looked over. "Wherever we're going, he says the dress is appropriate."

"There's no dress code," said Topher. "We could probably show up in t-shirts and sweatpants, but we can't go wrong by dressing nicely." He glanced down at his black suit with the navy button-down shirt, open at the neck. "This is what I usually wear to meet a client for the first time."

Luiza looked at Joe, then over at Topher. "Okay ... more curious by the moment. If Allegra leaves the room, will you tell us?"

Topher fought down a momentary annoyance at the question. "Maybe Allegra will tell you all about it when she gets home."

Joe laughed. It was an easy-going sound. "You'll have to forgive us if we're kind of nosy. Allegra is very special to us and we're glad to see her making new friends, but we've kind of gotten used to being a little overprotective."

Topher gave a grunt. "It's good that Allegra has friends who care about her ... even if they are a bit nosy." He sipped his water. "Is it that important that you know where we're going to be? I'll tell you if you insist."

Now, Joe sighed. "No. We trust Ally's judgment. It's just ... a bit of well-meaning bullying, I guess."

That made Topher chuckle. He glanced down at Allegra's clutch. "Is your phone in there?" She nodded. "Maybe you'd like to text your friends once we get there ... so they know I don't have you locked in a dungeon somewhere."

"So, we're not going to a dungeon?" Allegra batted her eyes like she might if she were trying to hide her disappointment, then sighed... "It's probably just as well. Dungeons can be messy and this is dry clean only..."

"Dungeons are really more third-date appropriate anyway," added Luiza, completely straight-faced.

In the back of the radio car, Allegra gave Topher a look that might have been apologetic. "I hope that wasn't too bad."

Topher chuckled, breathing a slow sigh of relief. "I think I might like your friends." It came out as a grudging admission. The four of them had talked for almost a half hour and somehow the subject had kept coming back to Topher himself.

"They like you, too."

Topher raised an eyebrow. "Really? I honestly couldn't tell."

Allegra leaned in against his shoulder. "When they don't like someone, they're very polite about it. They only ask a lot of questions if they think you might stick around."

Topher put his arm around her. "It was a bit like in the movies when the boy picks up his date at her parents' house for the first time and they sit him down and grill him."

Allegra looked up at him. "Joe and Luiza are my closest friends ... the family I would have chosen if I'd had a choice."

Topher stroked her cheek and when Allegra leaned her head back, kissed her softly. "Then, I'm very glad they like me."

Allegra looked out the window. "So, we're going somewhere in Manhattan?" They were crossing the Queensboro Bridge.

Topher nodded. "Pretty much anywhere I know about in the city well enough to take a date, it's going to be in Manhattan. My knowledge of the outer boroughs is pretty sparse. I've been looking at apartments in Brooklyn this summer. It's the most time I've ever spent there."

"You're moving?"

"Maybe ... but probably not to Brooklyn. The whole idea was that I shouldn't be paying so much to live in Manhattan if I don't need to be there every day anymore. Theoretically, I could live anywhere if I were willing to travel in once in a while, but I like New York."

"I like New York too." Allegra smiled. "The town where I grew up, people had a very definite idea of the way things ought to be and woe be to those who didn't toe the line. God forbid you wanted to do anything more than work in one of the factories or have babies."

Topher realized that, as much as they'd talked before and during their first date, they'd touched very little on Allegra's past. He knew from working with her that she'd grown up in Indiana, but that was about it. "How long have you been here?"

"We came on a choir trip when I was sixteen," said Allegra. "In my head, I never really left after that. Once I finished high school, I was on the first bus heading east. I didn't even wait for school to start."

"I grew up here," said Topher. "Well ... close enough to get on a PATH train and be here within an hour. Once my parents accepted that I was going to be coming into the city on my own, I used to come in every weekend. I had more friends in New York than I did back home." He smiled, remembering. "I've been a few other places, mostly for work, but I can't imagine living anywhere else."

Allegra cuddled up against him and Topher thought back to places he'd traveled to and ones he still wanted to see. "Have you had much chance to travel? I'm supposed to be planning a vacation for next month, but I still haven't decided where."

"Not a lot," admitted Allegra. "Joe and I went to London and Paris when I was twenty."