She grinned as he mentioned getting her hooked up with ebooks, that was exactly her plan too. It would come in handy for long car rides and even longer flights. "That's not a half bad plan" she agreed.

She moved behind him as he sat down and lightly rested her hands on his shoulders while he talked. "Sounds like you had a busy day." She told him kissing the top of his head before moving away. She listened to him talk. It seemed that he had something on his mind, something he didn't want to come right out and say.

She nodded a little as he talked about different places to go on dates. He was so sweet, and trying very hard. He was obviously wanting to find things they would both enjoy. "Those both sound like great ideas hon." She said as she sat next to him reaching for the remote to turn on Netflix so they could chose a movie.

She was about to start flipping through the selections when he got around to talking about what was really bothering him. She nodded knowingly. She could see how that could be concerning to him. "I can understand how that could be concerning for you." She said quietly. "Would it make you feel better to know I am on the pill and have been for years?" She asked turning a little so she could look at him. "If that is not your only concern, I would be glad to dig up the paperwork on my last STD screen. I tested negative for everything, and have not slept with anyone other than you since that was done." She said matter of factly.

"I'm sorry Duncan." She said. "I should have told you all of this BEFORE we were intimate." She took his hand in hers and smiled a little. "I should have realized that you would have had concerns." She said. "If there is anything else that is bothing you, please don't be worried about talking to me about it."

“STD? What … oh. That STD.” He was shaking his head. “I wasn’t so worried about that. Although, I suppose in a city like this I probably should. No, you mentioned you were Catholic and I thought that was against the rules. But then … “ He sighed. “Never mind. I worry too much. I am a regular boy scout. I try to plan for everything. You sort of threw me curveballs last night. Great curves.” He waggled his eyebrows letting Aliyah know he was recovering his poise.

“I guess you should know as that was a first - of everything - I’ve never had an STD test. But really my concern was pregnancy. I actually did have protection on me. Gary was looking out for me.” Duncan smiled. “He’s sort of like a big bother - and a lot better than my stepbrother ever was. You know he offered to give me motorcycle lessons. I am thinking of taking him up on that - not that I want to ride all over the country on a motorcycle. But it would be fun to learn.

“Anyways, one thing you can count on. I have no plans to sleep with any other lady while I am with you. Best way to prevent getting two girls pregnant at the same time. But you should know, I have no fear of being a father. Scary responsibility. But let’s face it; I can afford it.” He clamped his mouth shut for a moment, then added. “And enough of me being neurotic. Stop worrying so much Duncan. Live a little Duncan.”

Then he looked at the remote and grinned. “Movie night. You know, I have never used Netflix. I am all yours for the night. Your wish is my command. So … what kind of movies does Aliyah like?” He snuggled in alongside Aliyah, this time considerably less shy about proximity.

She laughed and playfully tapped his arm as he teased about her great curves. She smiled as he talked about Gary. "Yeah he seems like a great guy, you got lucky with him thats for sure."

She stretched a little snuggling closer to Duncan, ignoring his comments about sleeping with anyone else. She didn't quite know what they were, as far as their relationship, so if he did or didn't at this point was his choice. She knew better than to tell him that thought.

"You said you didn't watch much in the way of TV or Movies as a kid either." She remembered. "hmmm that leaves a LOT in the way of choices." She flicked down to the Family Movies selection. "There are a lot of good movies that were awesome when I was a kid, or of course Drama, action, horror, and the always good Chick Flicks. I like them all actually. I am not a picky movie watcher. Mostly I put something on in the background to listen to while I do something else." She said with a shrug curling up tighter against him.

"Pizza cool for dinner tonight?" She asked leaning forward to grab a take out menu and pass it along to him. "There is something to be said for Pizza and a movie. Kind of a classic night in."

Duncan wasn’t usually a fan of pizza. But that’s because places like Pizza Hut and Dominos dominated the market and flooded it with cheap, bad pizza. He had eaten far too much of it in college as it was considered one of the major food groups. The one condition he made was that they not order from one of the big chains, but some place that took a little pride in their work.

biaggiospizzeria.com/menu-items

He did a quick for Best pizza in Las Vegas and came up with a place called Biaggios. It was #1 on the list, had delivery service, and were actually pretty close. It also described itself as ‘good for dates.’ That sold him on the place even if it meant for dine in. He also spotted a dine in place down in Henderson that was authentic but dine in only. He tucked that in the back of his mind. The place also took reservations and that was a no no for now.

He pulled up the menu and glanced over it. He had his order in about a minute. Supreme pizza. The size was dependent on Aliyah’s preferences. When he added fried zucchini and fried mushrooms, her reaction told him he found a food she didn’t like. So he went for a medium. They could always get 2 mediums.

Duncan’s stomach growled. He grinned. “Okay, maybe I AM hungry.” He let her finalize the order and asked if she wanted him to make the call. Then he thought better of it. Her address, her phone … yeah. That might be a mistake. Besides, he could save the surprise of ordering in Italian for dining in at the other place.

“Let’s see, a movie,” he didn’t fight or avoid being snuggled up against. In fact, he seemed for more comfortable with this than the first time. His body was already warming up. “Hmm … horror is a mood killer. I hate to admit it, but chick flicks, romances, or even drama with good romance sounds best.” His hands tapped on the keyboard of his laptop again. Best date movies. There was a link for Netflix. Date movies were a thing. Amazing. As it turned out he had trouble deciding now. He decided to trust Aliyah on this issue.

It had been a few minutes since she had curled up against him and he had tried to select a movie. Then he stiffened and snapped his head around to look at Aliyah. “Wait, when you said … doing something else …” He grinned. “I missed that. Maybe we need to look for a movie we can ignore.”

Aliyah was glad he agreed to pizza. She had had a lot of fun going out with Duncan, but she needed food she could identify. She was a very basic girl, and the last two days were more than enough in the way of culinary adventure for a little while.

She called and ordered his supreme with the fried mushrooms and zuccini, and a plain pepperoni easy sauce for her. She read off her debit card number and disconnected when they assured her they would be there in 35-45 minutes.

She raised an eyebrow as Duncan said horror films could be mood killers. He obviously hadn't seen the right ones. "You obviously haven't watched the right scary movies, or not with the right person." She said with a grin. "Having a girl practically climb in your lap and hiding her face in your neck or chest during the scary parts..." She teased but flipped past that section to Romantic comedies. That would probably be the best choice.

She laughed as he looked at her and finally caught on that she had implied that they might not see the whole movie. She reached up and kissed his lips softly. "finally caught that did you?" She asked. "Although, I am not only after sex, no matter how good it was." It had occured to her that with his inexperience he had missed out on a lot, things like making out like a couple of teenagers.

She pressed play on "The Wedding Planner." It was cheesy, but it was a decent movie. Before too long though she had pulled him close to her again kissing his neck softly. "You know, I am enjoying spending time with you."

Duncan’s eyes blinked; he stood a little straighter and taller; and his eyes drifted off into eternity. He was having a moment of epiphany. This was the moment he had realized something. You could tell sometimes when his brain got stuck on an idea and was starting to ignore everything else, or just let words drift past him. He had had one of those moments when Aliyah told him how much he was missing out on horror.

She should have expected this.

His eyes locked squarely on her chest. He drawled slightly, “Well, I wasn’t so much worried about you getting scared by horror movies. I was more worried by me…” Still staring. Then mock flash of genius. “Then again, maybe horror wouldn’t be such a bad idea.” A slow wolfish grin spread across his face. “Yeeeahh …. Could be worse things. You could pat ME on the back and tell me it was going to be okay while I bury MY face. Oh yeah, I could be convinced.” He was laughing a little.

“The Wedding Planner. Talk about a choice title. Freud would have loved us. You know, I thought Gary was going to have a stroke when I ordered my omelette this morning. To be honest, I had nothing planned until the moment I started going over the menu. I was a trainwreck until that moment. Turned it into the best breakfast of my life. Not one I’ll ever forget.”

The arrival of the pizza was one of those unwelcome interruptions that he was forced to endure. And he started to offer to take care of the bill, then remembered she had used his card. He growled a little. He always growled when he was frustrated. It was just one of his quirks. But he was smiling about it. Again she had been a step ahead of him.

She laughed as he teased her about buring his face against her. She wouldn't mind at all. It would certainly be fun. She shook her head and laughed as he mentioned this morning.

"I was a little surprised this morning myself, but I like it." She told him. She was saved from more conversation by a knock on the door. She answered it and got the pizza. She closed the door behind her and brought the pizza back to the living room. She set them on the coffee table before heading to the small window that separated the living room from the kitchen and grabbed a roll of paper towels to use as napkins.

She sat down tearing off a few paper towels and handing them to him before reaching for her box of pizza. She didn't have much to say she was starving, and was enjoying the quiet time with him.

While they had been waiting on the pizza and selecting the movie, Duncan had spent his spare moments when her attention wasn’t on him, looking around. She hadn’t been kidding about the size of the place. Her whole apartment could fit in his bedroom at the casino. But that wasn’t what really caught his attention. It was her artwork. The place was tidy, but had that lived in look. Here and there were cross stitch artworks not unlike the ones his mother used to make. She had built a home here. He almost felt guilty about having her pack things up.

“Do you also do needlepoint? Or sketching? My mom did a LOT of needlepoint and cross stitch. I still have most of her stuff. Better yet, I have her patterns - and a program app I had designed to help her convert anything into a pattern for either. Basically it is a virtual needlepoint and cross stitch program that will print out. It also did those rugs … latch hook. That’s the word!” He frowned. “I lose words sometimes. Comes from learning too many languages, I think. I like your place. Cozy. And it makes my old dorm room look like a Spartan geek room. I kept nearly everything in storage.”

“Speaking of storage, you know, if you don’t want to move right away, you don’t have to. I could pay up the rent for the next year or so and have my estate manager take care of maintaining utilities. And probably the best way to pack stuff up is in a rental POD. Easier to ship it somewhere later. Again, I can cover the rentals. If there are any expenses associated with this travel stuff, don’t go and start bankrupting yourself. The idea is to get a chance to expand your horizons and see some of what is out there.”

When the pizza was finally set in front of him, he grinned. “Pizza, one of the major food groups. I swear, college students eat nothing else. I got so sick of Pizza Hut and Dominoes. THIS, however, smells good. Papa John’s was tolerable for a delivery chain. Mmm … I wonder if they used portabella for the fried shrooms. Most places don’t.” But it wasn’t long before he, too, was munching away as the movie started.

For his second date, Duncan was far more at easy - with everything. And he took the hint when Aliyah wanted to warm things up a bit. Less fumbling. And it was VERY clear he had done a little homework. No frustrated moments this time. He even grinned and admitted youtube was his friend - and that he couldn’t believe some of the things you could look up. He blushed brightly at that admission, but was laughing. He seemed a little proud of himself for taking a little initiative. Of course, he wasn’t going to explain anytime soon where he got SOME of his information. Let’s just say that of all the cities in the world, Las Vegas was one of two cities best qualified as a school for liaisons.

Unlike Aliyah, Duncan had no agenda other than breakfast the next morning. Well, he did have other things to do after breakfast. But he also had no issues with overnights or being someone’s blanket.

She turned her attention to him pleasantly surprised he took an interest in her hobby. "Not so much on the needlework, some of the more elaborate stitches are difficult for me, but then I haven't had a lot of time to practice. Cross stitch for me is easy, since Aida cloth is marked with equal spaces." She grinned. "I do create a lot of my own patterns on paper when necessary because well as you can see I do much more modern pieces than are really commercially available."

She shifted on the couch a little so she could look at him easier when they talked. "I have never been good at latch hook, it takes too much patience for me. But the cool thing is that any squared pattern be it cross stitch, latch hook, plastic canvas, or even the graphgan crochet patterns can all be interchangeable. I had thought about doing more pattern work and opening an online shop for them, there seems to be a decent market for it, but doing it by hand is a giant pain."

He mentioned moving or keeping her place for a while and shrugged. "Eh, nothing really keeping me here. It's really just a place to crash. I don't keep much in the the way of stuff. I had too many times as a kid where we packed up and left with nothing more than the clothes I was wearing. The only thing I really care about keeping these days are my machines." She gestured to a small desk on the other side of the room which held two vintage sewing machines, one was an electric Singer 99, and the other absolutely identical 99 that had been converted to a handcrank machine.

She laughed at his enthusiasum for pizza. "I have never been one for big chains, If you ask me Pizza hut has a very chemical aftertaste. I don't know why, but it does. And Papa John's? Pizza should never be that sweet. I had a friend who worked there and told me they use a five pound bag of sugar in their sauce."

Aliyah was very pleased with his new found skills. She just kissed him as he mentioned using YouTube to look things up. She was touched by his effort in making sure things were just as enjoyable for her as they were for him. Tonight did bring about one thing different for Aliyah. She actually asked him to stay. She confessed that she had never spent the entire night with someone before, but asked him to stay. She wanted to get comfortable with the idea, and doing it here, at her place seemed to be the most likely way to make that happen.

------------------------------------------------
The next morning Aliyah slid from the bed whispering quietly to the still sleeping Duncan. "Just getting ready for work. Gotta give my notice today." She said before heading to the shower. She got dressed and ready for work, slipping her feet into her shoes she grabbed her keys and worked off one of the two keys to her apartment. She walked quietly back into the bedroom and leaned over kissing Duncan softly. "I have to go to work Hon," She set the key on the nightstand with a soft clink. "I am leaving you a key. Make yourself at home. I'll see you in a few hours for breakfast."

With one final kiss she headed out the door to start her day.

Duncan awoke unusually lazily. There was something both frightening and thrilling about awakening next to Aliyah the next morning. Any fear was lost as she greeted him and headed off to get ready for work. He couldn’t help but enjoy those moments. Then he took stock of himself. He had had no idea that having a clue what he was doing would prove more tiring than not. Aliyah was going make an old man out of him soon. He grinned, slightly worried at that thought. Maybe he ought to slow down - just a little - and enjoy life.

She had settled the matter of his worries about children. He had done a little research on that as well. He had expected to find the effectiveness rate to be in the 90-95% range at best. He had been surprised to learn how wrong he was - over 99%. Technology had come a long ways. Of course, he wasn’t really worried either. But he did want to get to know Aliyah better before starting a family - if that was in their future. He wouldn’t have even gone so far if it hadn’t been considered. The fantasy of such a beautiful wife was alluring.

He waited until Aliyah was gone and forced himself out of bed. This time he had been considerably more organized about things - well, almost. He had tried anyways. He did have a trail to follow to find everything. He half expected to need to look for another shirt. He was not about to wear one of Aliyah’s. Not only would it never fit, he was have felt about as silly as it got. After getting himself cleaned up and ready to start the day, he called Gary to come pick him up.

As he headed out he locked up, then stared at the key. That had been unexpected. He had always had a way of putting people at ease after speaking with them. He just tended to foster trust.

Gary noticed that Duncan was far less the emotional train wreck he had been the other day. He glanced up. “You seem to be doing better today. I would guess that the date went well?”

Duncan tried not to grin. “Well … and better. Thanks.”

Gary smiled. “You’re the one taking the initiative.”

Duncan shook his head. “No, believe it or not, you being there helped the other day. And thanks for letting me work through it myself. You know, I had absolutely no idea what I was going to say or do until I read the menu.” He laughed. “Then …” he grinned. “That impish side of me won out. Once I started placing my order … the rest just rolled out.”

Gary laughed. “Well, I am pretty sure she caught the innuendo.”

Duncan grinned, then looked slightly worried. “Yeah, part of me is wondering if her choice of movie last night wasn’t also innuendo. Hmm.” He didn’t explain and Gary didn’t ask.

+++++++++

Duncan and Gary entered the diner right around opening time. Gary already knew what he wanted - as did Duncan. But not being in a rush they took coffee and let Aliyah take some of the other orders first. The younger man looked up as soon as Aliyah was ready to take their order and did his best to keep a straight face. But his eyes had a way of twinkling mischievously whenever he was about to enjoy a joke.

“Let’s see … I want … ahh … My Little Chick A Dee. Couple eggs over easy in the side.” A slow grin spread across his face. “Couldn’t resist.”

Once Aliyah went of to take care of other customers, Duncan forced his attention to his laptop and began planning out the day’s work. Mostly it was all about managing his money - taxes and such. He hated it to be honest. But he had to get things organized or he would never be free to travel.

This morning was hard for Aliyah. Not waking up next to Duncan, or anything at home. What was hard was taking a minute before opening to talk to her manager. She had decided that today was the day she was going to give notice. It was definately a change for her. One she wasn't sure how she felt about.

She and her manager talked for a while, and it was decided that since the new schedule hadn't been put up yet, that she would just work the next few days. It was a very emotional day as she informed her coworkers that she would be leaving.

She was very glad to see Duncan when he and Gary arrived shortly after opening. She gave them coffee, finished up with a few other tables and headed back to take their order. She laughed and playfully tapped Duncan on the shoulder with a menu as he placed his order. He was certainly in a good mood. The morning went well, and passed fairly quickly. As she got off work there were lots of hugs, and even some tears from coworkers who wouldn't be working with her again before she left.

She made her way back to Duncan's table untying her apron with one hand and wiping away a few tears with the other. "Never realized how much I was going to miss this place." She said. "I threatened to quit at least once a week, but now that I am..." She sighed softly.

She slid in the booth next to Duncan and rested her hand lightly on his knee resting her head on his shoulder for a minute. "Whatcha got going on today?" She asked. "I've got some more packing and sorting to do, so I'll be home all day."

Duncan shrugged the one shoulder that Aliyah wasn’t using, making sure she realized he wasn’t trying to shrug her off. He actually liked having her want to use his shoulder to cry on - not that he liked her crying at all. But he knew the moment was emotional for her.

“I understand. School is pretty much all I have known for 5-6 years. And really … longer than that. But it made no sense for me to just sit in a dorm room with all my winnings. I’ll be honest. You are the best thing that’s happened to me - and that includes the money. I mean, I am making good money with my books - and I plan to keep writing. It will be something to do while you are reading on long drives.

“Today is more tax stuff, hiring people to handle my business, investors. I am afraid I’ll have several days of that .. and every so often a day or so for months. I’d say I’ll have that problem for at least a year - like until after next tax season. I also have to see lawyers about all sorts of money stuff. It’s boring, but has to be done.”

He looked around the restaurant and looked a little guilty. “I almost feel bad about taking you away from them - almost. Uhm, something I just thought about - I hate cameras. Oh, I’ll tolerate them. I am just always getting caught in bad poses. Cameras are evil. But if you want to keep a scrapbook - pics or video - we can run and pick up some gear like that.

“I made a list of Things to Do before we go. It has all the passport, clothing, etc items. If we need luggage .. that too. But give me a few hours to get my stuff done and I can swing by and help with the packing. Uhm .. just how fast do you want to pack up stuff like your bed at your place? I mean, after that I can make you a guest at Caesar’s until we are ready to go. I know you … you know … What I am saying is we don’t have to rush. I .. liked sleeping over myself. It was nice not waking up alone.”

Aliyah curled more into him letting her arm rest across his hips as he talked. "I'm kind of glad you are the one who has to deal with that mess not me." She said with a small laugh. "It sounds about as entertaining as watching paint dry."

She gave his knee a little squeeze as he mentioned feeling a little guilty about taking her away from what had really become her home. "Don't feel too bad. When I told everyone why I was leaving, they pretty much told me that if I hadn't agreed to go they would have hog tied me and sent me anyway" She told him with a little laugh.

"I'm glad at least ONE of us is organized about this traveling thing. I am used to just grabbing what I can and walking out the door." She admitted. "We don't have to worry about packing up any of the furniture at my place. None of it is worth storing. We can set it out by the dumpster and it will have a new home in minutes." She said. "I don't have a whole lot left to do. A few boxes to run to Goodwill, and the sewing machines to store, other than that there isn't a whole lot I plan to keep."

She turned her head to kiss his cheek as he mentioned that he liked waking up next to her. "I liked it too, and if it isn't a problem Your bed is certainly more comfortable than mine." She said with a smile.

She slid from the booth taking Gary up on the offer to drop her off at home. Before she slid from the limo she kissed Duncan again softly. "I will probably have my head phones in while cleaning. Just use your key to let yourself in when you get home."

As they dropped Aliyah at her apartment and drove off Gary looked up into the rearview mirror and raised an eyebrow. “Your key?” Every so often it was fun to poke at Duncan.

Duncan flushed and fought unsuccessfully to contain the grin. “Yeah. I had to lock up somehow.” Suddenly serious, he added. “And I am going to need to add her name to the room and get her a key card. And, she’s not going to like it, but she needs to go shopping to meet dress codes or she is going to feel out of place.”

Gary raised his eyebrows high at that remark.

Duncan growled a little. “Yeah … yeah. Me too.”

“You did like the way she devoured you with her eyes when you dressed even a little for that first date?” Gary asked. Duncan grinned and Gary added, “Just saying. Try making other ladies stare and drool when she isn’t there to swat them away.”

Duncan laughed. But he hated to admit it. He liked that idea. Then it hit him. “Problem with that is it works both ways.”

++++++++

Duncan arrived later at Aliyah’s apartment. It had been a productive day. His taxes were paid through the next year except for anything generated by investments. $3.685 billion. That’s what he had to play with. He had decided to leave $185 million in the bank for all his fun and expenses. The other $3.5 billion were divided into 6 financial empires. He started a real estate company. Which was actually divided into 3, commercial business, commercial residential, and a construction and house flipping company. He had his attorneys working on ethical agreements to assure laws and the public interest was preserved placing his CEO’s in positions of responsibility. And he made it clear that if the Law had any reason to search records of business dealings, he was more likely to cooperate rather than make them go and get warrants.

He started a tech firm, a think tank. He had had dreams of having a multi billion dollar super think tank, but set those aside to be more practical and started smaller. About $2.5 billion was divvied up among 5 investment brokerage firms, with instructions to work on growth and income. His expected after tax earnings were estimated at $25 million a month. He asked for $10 million a month with instructions to re-invest the rest.

Of the $185 million he had already spent less nearly half. He had taken over a 160 foot solar yacht and upgraded it with some of the latest technologies. It was expected to be ready in about 6 months. It sported a small submarine, a viewing port to look down, some dolphin shaped probes, a small greenhouse, solar distillation plant, living quarters for 10-12. He was still trying to figure out how to add a mini fusion powerplant. But even without any added power, the yacht could sail around the planet without using a drop of fuel.

He had selected a butler and an estate manager. Well, that was tentative. He actually had narrowed his selection down to 3 candidates for each position. He was a little surprised at how few applied for the butler position. One of his conditions had been the matter of travel - to include naval travel. Both of his final candidates had applied. One was qualified for the estate manager position. The butler was Japanese though she was bilingual. The estate manager was British. Both had attended the International Butler Academy. He discovered that his yacht was … too small. Oh, that news came from the placement services. Apparently most of their people went to much larger vessels. They actually managed to make him feel …. Poor. But he explained the nature of his wealth and that he was young and really just getting started - and would probably need at least one able to train butlers or select ones with the right skills for later efforts. When he brought up his real estate plans they brightened up a bit.

Link to images of the butlers docs.google.com/document/d/1UonI8-vVtv..

He up set up plans for a video conference interview of the finalists. The Academy was slightly more impressed at Duncan’s methods. To be honest, Duncan had had a lot of help with this. He had taken weeks to learn how to answer his smart phone and still didn’t know how to add Apps. But the employment agency recommended by Caesar’s had been more than helpful. He made a simple off to pay them for placement services even though the butlers weren’t their clients - just for the use of of an office set up for the video conferences. They set up his laptop, docked it by wifi to transmit to a large widescreen. They even offered to dress him up a bit - which he declined. He did however, dress up and had a picture taken.

He made his decision and got help with making a good offer. But he allowed room for negotiation regarding benefits. Masumi Fujita was going to have it the hardest as she would be traveling everywhere with them. Marcia Adams would live and work out of his estate home in Albuquerque. He set up first class travel arrangements with the employment agency as a point of contact with any troubles in their travels.

+++++++++

Duncan tried to knock first. But Alyah had mentioned that she might have headphones on. So he unlocked and poked his head in. “Hello?” No response, he slid into the room and closed the door behind him. In one hand he had a pad of various colored stickers. He had thought of an idea how to get rid of her old furniture, but save them the agony of having to move it themselves. His idea was to have the Kidney Foundation send a couple guys in a truck to come and take it away. All Aliyah had to do was use the stickers to mark what items to take. The rest of her stuff he suggested to be packed into a POD. The smallest unit was a 7 foot that was equivalent to a 5’ x 10’ storage unit. But it could be shipped anywhere and stored until they were ready to unload it. He could store it in the garage of his estate home in Albuquerque. The minimum rental was 3 months. He could pay online for the rental of the pod. And even the smallest was plenty big enough for all her stuff. He brought a bunch of boxes - small ones - and tape. He figured she had been using whatever boxes were handy. He also thought to bring markers.

He caught her oblivious to his presence as he poked his head into the room. Then he stepped into plain view and just waited until she noticed him standing there admiring her form. He was grinning and waiting for the startled look. He had been sorely tempted to surprise her from behind with a hug, but thought better of it.

Aliyah hit the shower as soon as she got home. Once she was dressed in a pair of comfy sweats and a t-shirt she stood in a corner looking at her place. She needed a plan of attack.

She headed to the kitchen and grabbed a trash bag. She would start here. She headed to the cabinet and started pull everything out on the cabinets. She started sorting, unexpired goods went into a box for donation, but anything opened or expired went into the trash. She even found that mysterious can of McCormick seasoning, you know the one, the one that has been with you through 37 moves and expired before you were born.

She packed up all her pots and pans, and tossed all of the stuff in the fridge. Cleaning out the cabinets in the kitchen took longer than she thought. When Duncan let himself in she was in the kitchen singing softly scrubing out all of the cabinets with bleach water.

She didn't notice him at first, but soon she saw him standing there out of the corner of her eye. She jumped and let out a little screech. "You scared me!" she said laughing as she tossed her rag on the counter and headed over to kiss him hello.

"How was your day?"

Duncan just smiled and wrapped both arms around Aliyah. Most people would scarcely recognize Duncan from several years ago. Years ago he could barely get one arm around another person - and even that would have made him want to run screaming. Aliyah was easy to hug.

“You know .. you TOLD me to just let myself in. I did knock. Anyways, I’d call my day … productive. I went a long ways toward getting the money stuff sorted, taxes done. I sent offers to an estate manager and a butler. I gave the go ahead for 5 investment brokerages to start making my money work. I put attorneys to work drafting ethics agreements for my CEO’s. I went through a bunch of resumes for accountants. I think I would have rather watched the pain dry, but at least it was productive. I still have about $50 million free for travel use. And I set an income for myself of about $10 million a month.”

He ran his ideas for getting everything moved and stored. “You know, I am thinking of running back to Albuquerque first to meet my estate manager in person. I don’t know. I guess it just feels weird hiring someone so remotely.” He looked around. “Are we still going to have a place to sleep here? Or do we need to make other plans. And what are the plans for work … and tonight?” He smiled. “I’m a classic Libra. I have to know everything so I can plan life to a tee. And yes … I know it never works out that way.”

Aliyah snuggled into his arms, her head resting against his chest as he told her about his day. She forced herself not to hold her breath as he talked numbers. Those numbers blew her mind, as in simply didn't compute.

"Albuqurque works fine for me." She said finally pulling away to pick up her rag again wiping down the counters. "We can stay here as long as we need to. I am on a month to month, so basically when I stop paying the rent, and toss the furniture out is our last day." She said with a laugh.

She stopped wiping the counters long enough to turn around and look at him for a minute. "I have two days left. I talked to my manager this morning and instead of a two full weeks, she just isn't going to schedule me on the next schedule. Once I am done with that I am completely yours... well aside from finishing up packing which is oddly taking longer than I thought it would."

She reached over and picked up the tin container of spices and held it up. "I keep finding shit like this. I swear it is older than I am. How does that even happen?" She glared at it before tossing it into the trash can.

"I don't have any specific plans for tonight. Is there something you wanted to do?" She asked wiping down the stove top. "I mean if you want to go out anywhere I have to shower and change. I smell like bleach." She complained.

Duncan cocked his head from side to side playfully looking Aliyah over. “Taking a shower sounds like a great start. But if we don’t want to starve to death, maybe you should do that alone.” He sniffed a little. “And I like your strawberry shampoo much better than bleach.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

Then he straightened. “Oh! I did think of something to do for your last day - or close to it. Seeing as it isn’t a 24 hour diner, I was thinking of inviting the whole staff and their families or plus ones out for dinner - my treat. I was sort of thinking of a karaoke night out. Maybe rent a conference center, hire a band of DJ, and have catering. Or if you know a good karaoke place that could handle all of us, that would work. I hope you can sing. You know they will expect you to get up on stage.”

“For tonight though … maybe …” he stopped. “Hmm, I can’t really think of much on short notice like that that would be a unique experience. We could go over to my place and have room service bring something and just be lazy. Uhm, a butler also comes with the villa suites. Or I get preferred seating in the Nobu restaurant. But I think they have a dress code.”

She laughed as he teased her about showering. Showering together could be something very fun, but not in her shower. It would be far too diffuclt to fit them both in there in any way that could result in pleasant activities.

She blinked and rolled her eyes up to keep from tearing up as he mentioned plans for a goodbye shindig with her coworkers. It was by far the sweetest thing anyone had ever proposed. She grinned at him as he listed out his ideas. She couldn't think of anything that sounded better. "You know, and I can't believe I am saying this... it sounds like a great idea. I think it could be a lot of fun. "

She slid her hand in his and tugged him towards the couch. "A lazy night in sounds just fine by me. Let's just avoid activities that involve Gary making me go shopping. He's worse than my grandmother." She laughed. Letting him sit on the couch while she went to the dresser that served as her makeshift TV stand. She folded the edges of a box marked "Pillsbury Frozen Biscuits" Duncan was so organized, that what she was about to do was likely to drive him absolutely crazy.

She pulled out the first dresser drawer and riffled through it. It held several cut lengths of Aida cloth which she laid on the coffee table, a couple of hoops, a package of needles and what seemed like a million skeins of embroidery floss. She pulled out the hoops, needles, and some black and white floss. The rest she just unceremoniously dumped into the box before sliding the drawer back in place.

She opened the next drawer which was pens, colored pencils, pads of graph paper, and other small craft items. She dumped those into the box as well. When the box was full she closed the flaps, taped it shut and marked it "CRAFT CRAP STORAGE"

The last two drawers were full of what was commonly called fat quarters, rectangles of fabric cut 18" by 22" These were all dumped into a box as well. She labeled that box "FQ STORE"

She looked at Duncan and shrugged a little. "Do you want to go back to the hotel tonight, or can we stay here and finish this up? I think by the end of the night, I should be done so that all that is left is moving out the furniture and cleaning everything really good."

Though he didn’t like his choice, Duncan was predictable. “Let’s finish. It’ll feel more like we got something done if we actually do.” He looked around and made an odd face. “Can’t say I’m a fan of housework. It was the main reason I lived in a dorm room for all these years. Only hard thing about helping here is that I can’t tell what to save and what goes to Goodwill. But as a good start, I’d say any food not expired should go to Goodwill. By the time we get back it will be expired. Books we save. Why don’t I concentrate there? I find anything else I’ll make a pile for you to sort. Clothing you don’t seem to have a lot of.”

Duncan laughed a little. “Yeah, Gary and I were talking about clothes. I may go ahead and start changing my wardrobe a little. Can’t hurt. But I am clueless about style, so I plan to get help there. I might get a swim suit. I used to like swimming. After my … back … well, it sort of bothered me.” He raised his hands in a defensive gesture, almost a little angry with himself. “In the past,” he reminded himself out loud. “I just thought all the scars would make people uncomfortable. People always ask questions even when they don’t really want to know the answers.

“I remember in high school I had a bit of a chip about all that mess. There was this one guy who was trying to bully me and pick a fight. He started trash talking my mother. Well, he got around to getting personal about and suggested he was having an affair with my mother. Now at that time a good sized group of kids had gathered to witness the fight. Up until them I had pretty much ignored him. But I let him get under my skin just a little. So I asked if he was into necrophilia. When I explain that she had been shot in the head and thanked him so much for reminding me, it sort of took the wind out of his sails. That was just a few weeks after I had been shot and stabbed myself. I could barely stand at the time. I had been in a lot of physical pain, so I guess I had been a little shorter tempered than usual. Oddly enough taking the wind out of his sails took the wind out of my own as well. I told him he couldn’t have known and forgave him.”

Duncan just laughed softly. “Old news. I notice you don’t like to talk much about your family. I gather it isn’t a pleasant story. I can come up with a few possible histories. But I won’t talk about them until you are ready. I don’t want you mad at me for pushing. But I have had a LOT of time with shrinks. You don’t go through what I went through without the State wanting to make sure you aren’t going to end up a psycho. I never mentioned that I killed half that gang. Yeah … of the 12 who broke in, only 6 survived. Of the ones who survived, two remained in a coma, 2 were paraplegics. Only two were able to leave the hospital after 72 hours. Law called it self defense in my own home, starting in my own bedroom. They did kill my mother first. Allegedly they killed my brother. They were chasing my little brothers. And all the evidence pointed to their purpose of being there was to kill me. So that’s the skeleton in my closet.

“Speaking of closets … you said it wasn’t safe to open yours?” He laughed a little, hoping to lighten the mood again. He knocked on the door. “Hello, Mr Skeleton? You in there?”