Cathy's lips pressed together firmly in a short laugh as her eyes rolled at being corrected. "Well hello, Uh Leo, Roberts, Leo Roberts. I'm Cathy. Just plain Cathy. Quite the moniker you have." she teased, crossing one leg over the other.

"No, it's just -" He stopped, realising too late that she was teasing him. And there were those legs, teasing him with the barest glimpse of the holy grail before crossing and hiding everything from sight. He clared his throat again, his hand now rubbing at his chin before dropping to his pocket again. "Never mind. You're playing the ballet bi - girl, right?"

"Ballet bi-girl" I didn't know that there were bi-sexuals in this. I must re-read my script!" She giggled and sat up, reaching her hands out to him. "Help a girl down?"

"Aw, geez, I didn't mean - Oh! Okay!" A little too eager, perhaps, but she wasn't running away. This was good, right' His arms lifted, hands avoiding hers to spread his fangers about her tiny waist. "Down you go - come - no -" Wincing at his own faux pas, he lowered her down into the pit, savouring the slow slide of her body along his for as long as he dared.

Cathy giggled again as he lifted her and her hands went to his shoulders. "My Leo, you're so tense! Why are you so tense?" She lingered, looking up at him with a playful glint in her eyes. Then she stepped away, turning dramatically. "Do I make you nervous," she turned and looked at him with those big doe eyes, "Leo?"

Leo was caught in the headlights. Any hope of a suave answer to that question was long gone the minute she pinned him with that look. Again he cleared his throat, unable to tear his eyes away. "Hell yes," came his honest, fervent answer. "You're beautiful."

Her eyes danced and she tossed her head a bit, letting loose the blond curls down her back. "Well, Leo, what would help to ease that nervousness" Wouldn't want you to play out of tune because of li'l ole me." She strode towards him, slowly and reached up to caress his cheek with an elegant hand. "You're not so bad yourself, hot stuff."

Tense was a good word for Leo right now. Was she really offering what he thought she was offering" When she touched his cheek, he let out a short huff of breath, swallowing hard. "Are you asking what I think you're asking?"

"Just what do you think I'm asking, Leo?" She said his name slowly, deliberately putting the tip of her tongue on her upper lip and ending in a oval shape of those lips when done. Her hand slowly moved from his cheek to his neck, rasping softly against the stubble.

Shy he may be, but there was only a certain amount of pressure Leo could take. And, you know, there wasn't anyone else here yet, so if he tried it on and got slapped for his trouble, he wouldn't be too humiliated. Brown eyes met hers head on, and his voice dropped an octave or two as he answered. "I think you're asking me to make you scream so hard you see stars, Cathy."

"Oh my," she lowered her hand from his neck to drop by her side. "There's the tiger hiding behind the poodle." She turned and walked a few steps away, tapping her lower lip in thought. It wouldn't be the first time a dancer and a musician from the band had a fling. But would it last after the curtains fell and the lights went out' With a sudden shrug and a grin she turned and flicked a brow up at him. "Well, can you?"

"Will you just shut up and listen?" She folded her arms over her chest and looked up at him with a scowl. She was beyond caring that anybody else heard at this point. He was calling her a cock-tease and that didn't settle well on her stomach. "We were flirting, getting to know each other. That does not lead straight to wham bam thank you ma'am for me. Now if you'd drop the poor pitiful me bullshit I'd like to ask you out to dinner, maybe some wine after wards. But only if you knock off the self pity routine. It really doesn't suit you, Leo."

"Yeah, it's not self pity," Leo snapped back before he considered what he was doing. "It's having your wife walk out the morning after your wedding because she found someone prettier to fuck around with. I don't play games, little girl, and you do. When you grow up, maybe you'll notice the difference." Ignoring the shocked looks of their colleagues, he turned to go again.

Cathy frowned, her chin jutting when he turned to walk away. But the more she thought about it, the more she fumed. Marching after him, she hurried to step into his way. "Thank you for such a vote of confidence. Because your wife was a bitch, all pretty women are bitches" We all play games" Let me tell you something, buster." She poked him in the middle of the chest. "I really liked you this morning. I thought we could be friends, get to know each other, and maybe become something else." She paused for a moment and then shook her head, "Fuck it, you want games, fine!" Putting both hands on his cheeks, she tip toed to kiss him firmly upon the lips.

Almost before the kiss had a chance to begin, Leo's hands were firmly on Cathy's arms and he was holding her away from himself. When he spoke, it was in a hushed, angry tone of voice. "You listen to me, little girl," he ground out. "I liked you; I liked you a lot, being around you made me nervous. And then you turned on the sex and schmooze and got bold, and I liked that too. And the moment it looked as though I was gonna take you up on your offer, you withdrew it. That isn't a game" And just now, making sure the whole cast and crew knows you rejected me out of hand when god forbid it could've stayed a secret, you think that isn't part of the same game?" He released her, stepping back again. "No, not all pretty girls are bitches. It's a shame the nice ones are too busy being popular to care when someone likes them."

"Leo," her patience was growing thin. "I am not a little girl. We were playing and flirting this morning, nothing more. There was no game, I had no intentions of sleeping with you under the stage and I'm sorry you got that impression, but you're dead wrong if you think that I'm going to have sex just because you became a brute and tossed me over your shoulder. It doesn't work that way. Now, if this is over, would you like to have dinner with me, or not?"

He was silent for a long moment, looking her up and down. Gods, but she was beautiful. Just like another beautiful girl who didn't think she'd done a thing wrong. Some hang ups just don't go away. "No," he said finally. "I don't think so. I'd hate to embarrass you with my bad table manners, being the brute that I am." How many times had he walked away from her today'

Cathy nodded slowly when he answered. "Fine." She turned after taking one last look. Walking back to the stage, she gathered her bag and quickly left the building. She needed a good stiff drink after what she'd just been through. She kept her back straight and walked down the road.

"So ..." Brigid was a little breathless, having run to catch Cathy up. "I take it love is not in the air, huh?" She grinned, nudging her friend gently as they walked.

Cathy stumbled when she was nudged. When she finally regained her footing, she gave Brigid an incredulous look. "Who does that' I mean, really. What does he think I am' A no brained bimbo who opens her legs without giving it half a thought?" She was still furious and she spoke with wide gestures of her hands. "Really' Really?"

"God, no!" Brigid was laughingly incensed by the thought. "Happen I like my job, and my boss, thank you very much. Besides, he can't be all that great in bed, or he'd have had someone on his arm the day after she left him. Bein' married didn't stop him sowin' his oats before, did it?"

"Oh no, it didn't," Cathy shook her head with a laugh. "He was a notorious Don Juan, but possessive of Mataya. She had every right to leave him and I think she's crazy for taking him back, truth be known. That kind of guy is the kind you fool around with, not marry."

"Ah, she loves him, it's plain as the nose on your face, Queen Catherine," Brigid chuckled as they walked along. "And he's pretty smitten, too, if the way he looks at her is anythin' to go by. Besides, I haven't heard anythin' about him misbehavin' since I came here, and they've been in town almost a year now, haven't they?"

"Yes, maybe there is taming a wild beast, after all." Cathy sighed, the thought brought her back to thinking of Leo. She hugged herself and sighed again. "I really screwed it up, didn't I?"

Brigid squeezed her friend warmly. "Wasn't all you, nor him," she said firmly. "Just forget it ever happened and try again. Without flashing your tits, teeth, bum, or ...you know ....at him."

"Oh my God!" Cathy's eyes went wide and her hand went to her mouth. She stopped and turned to stare at Brigid. "I crossed my legs. He must have seen....Oh my God!"

Now, Brigid did try to be a good friend, and be supportive when Cathy needed her to be. But the mental image her friend's outburst had just conjured up was too good, and she dissolved into giggles. "Oh god! You really did flash him!"

Cathy hid her crimson face in her hands and groaned. "I need to talk to him. I didn't realize..." Her hands came down and she looked at Brigid remorsefully. "I really didn't Brigid, you have to believe me!"

Through her giggles, Brigid could see that her friend was genuinely distressed by what had happened, and forced herself to calm down. "Easy there, Windsor," she managed finally. "I was jokin', anyways. Best just to apologise for showin' off your knickers and leave it at that. Man like Leo Roberts isn't goin' to forget easy."

"I'll call him when we get back to the apartment." Cathy rolled her eyes and laughed, then turned to continue on their way. "I guess I am just a cheap floozy," she laughed with a shake of her head. "I can't believe I did that."

"Nothin' cheap about you, missy, and you know it," Brigid smiled. "You forget, I live with you. I've seen the face cream made with hamster bollocks that costs forty gold a pop."

"Hamster tails," Cathy corrected with a laugh. "You poor thing, putting up with me and my fussy ways. I envy you, do you know that' To get up that beautiful every day that you don't need the masks and the make up and the hair gel..."

Brigid stuck her tongue out at Cathy and pulled a truly gruesome face. "Aye, and despite it all, I haven't had a decent screw in three years," she finished the tale of woe with a chuckle. "Tell you what, I wouldn't say no to bein' forced if the fella was handsome and had a massive todger." She paused, looking thoughtful. "Is it rape if you start by sayin' no and end up sayin' yes?"

"Well, these curves ain't winnin' any prizes," Brigid snickered as she pushed open the door to their building. "And those skin and bones got the sexiest man in the theatre to toss her over his shoulder and go caveman on her."

"Aww, now come on, Brigid. I wish you could see what I see. You really are a beautiful girl, Brigid. And you're kind and sweet and a really true friend. You've got it all. All I've got is a body." She sighed and shook her head. "If I'd have given in to Leo, do you think he'd still be around?"

Brigid looked back over her shoulder at Cathy as they climbed the stairs. "Darlin', you work together," she pointed out with a faint smirk. "But apart from that, he doesn't strike me as the type who comes and goes. And you're more than just a body, so don't go puttin' yourself down, or I'll have to fork out for pizza and ice cream again."

"Mmm pizza and ice cream," Cathy grinned as they headed up the stairs. "So, let's have a compromise then. You're beautiful and I'm a flasher?" She giggled at that all the way up to their door.

Brigid laughed aloud. "Both lies, I can deal with that."

"Fair deal," Cathy laughed and opened up the door. Putting her bag down, she strode across the room. "I'm going to take a quick shower, then we'll figure out dinner, ok?"

"Sounds like a plan," Brigid nodded with a grin, moving to unload both bags of rehearsal clothes and dump them in the washer. "If any handsome men turn up looking angry, shall I send them in to you?"

"No!" Cathy laughed and disappeared into the shower. As she cleaned up and washed her hair, she felt more relaxed. So when she appeared wrapped in a towel around her body and one in her hair, it was with a smile on her face. "How about some Caesar salads and pinot grigio?"

"Ooh, goin' for healthy today, huh?" Brigid chuckled, looking up as Cathy wandered back in. "Aye, sounds good. You do what you do, it's my turn for a cold shower."

Cathy removed the towel from her hair and walked over to the phone. "I'll call in the order and then Leo." She nodded to Brigid and then picked up the phone. The delivery order was made quickly, then she took a deep breath and dialed Leo's number from the cast list.

Leo himself was just stepping out of the shower when his phone rang. Frowning at the number, which he didn't recognise, he lifted it to his ear. "Roberts," was his curt greeting, but then, he didn't know who was calling.

"Um, um," Cathy was at a loss for words suddenly. She had thought about what she was going to say while she was in the shower, but that little speech was gone with the wind. She stood staring down at her feet, wondering what to say.

"Hello?" Leo paused, waiting for anything else to be said. Idly, he paced across his bedroom, flicking his wet hair out of his eyes. "Is there someone there?"

"Oh, I, um," Cathy stomped her foot, angry at herself for becoming so flustered. "I, uh, Leo' It's, um, it's Cathy' I, well I, oh hell." She began to pace and run her hand through her damp hair. Why couldn't she even form a sentence?

"Oh, it's just Emmy, my daughter." Leo's answer was completely honest and delivered in that absent manner parents have when they realise they haven't yet admitted to being a parent. "Not jealous, are you? Because, you know, you can back off from that. She's eight."

"Oh," she laughed a little too loudly. "No, not at all. I'd love to meet her some day." Cathy reclined back on the sofa and sighed softly. "Can we try again, Leo?"

"Depends," came his answer, with the rounded smoothness of a grin attached. "When do I get to see your knickers again?" Immediately on the heels of that, Cathy was treated to backpedalling that wasn't aimed at her. "No, honey, I'm not talking to you. Or Mommy. It's a friend of Daddy's. No, don't you ever say what Daddy just said to anyone who isn't your husband."

Cathy couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Dinner's being delivered. You're both more than welcome to come by. I think we've a lot to talk about. Just make sure you give us girls some time to get ready. I don't think your little one needs to see naked women running around and we're not even on date one yet. So no knickers for you, either."

"Well, now, Miss Catherine, that's a mighty fine offer," Leo chuckled, one hand over his daughter's mouth to prevent any more interruptions. "So long as Brigid doesn't mind, we'll be over in about an hour. How's that sound?"

"Date one commences in one hour." Cathy giggled into the phone. "See you then, tiger."