"Aside from sleeping," I said, then gave him a quick mock grin, "I finally got some of my junk unpacked..."
      "What kind of junk?" Lewis asked.
      "CDs, video games... the usual crud," I said. "Actually, I've got my CDs sitting in that box over there if ya wanna peruse them." I pointed at a box near one corner of the room.
      Lewis went over to the box and started rifling through the CDs. My God, no one besides my parents has ever shown as much interest in the music I like. He's actually reading what's on them!
      "You have one diverse collection of CDs here," he said.
      "Is that good?" I asked, now unsure if he has any real interest in the CDs.
      Lewis looked at me. "For some reason, I was expecting a 'Thank you'."
      "Sorry..." I paused. "You're actually reading what on those?" I asked, in partial shock.
      "Are you okay?" he asked.
      "Yeah, fine, it's just that I usually get the strangest looks for having every Monkees CD and country and oldies..." I trailed off. Then, I saw another strange look: sympathy. "I'm rambling. Keep looking," I said, trying to get him to stop giving me that look.
      Lewis turned away and started looking through the CDs again. Thank God.
      He stood up with a CD in hand. I tried to see which one, but I couldn't make it out. He went over to the stereo, put the CD in, then turned to face me.
      "How much ya wanna bet that I can pick out one of your favorite songs and play it first shot?" Lewis said.
      "You can figure that out from my collection?" I asked.
      "Yeah, How much?" he asked again.
      "Five bucks," I replied, keeping it within reason.
      He hit the track button and pushed play. The song that started was "She Hangs Out" by The Monkees. Gee, there goes five bucks!
      "Holy crap, that's amazing!" I said, then started digging in my pockets for the five bucks.
      Lewis came over and put his hands on my shoulders. "I wasn't serious about the bet." He smiled.
      WHat a smile! I stopped searching for the money and we sat on the couch. The CD continued while we started making out.

      Kate got home and plopped on the couch. She looked around at the mess. "And I thought Lewis and Oswald were slobs!"
      I came in the room. "Hi, Kate." I noticed her look of disgust. "Um, I'm really sorry about the mess. I guess we shoulda cleaned before you got back."
      She glared at me. "We? As in you and Leiws?"
      I could see her hold back a cringe. "Yeah, who else? The rest of you were at work."
      "Can I ask you something?" Kate said.
      "Sure," I replied.
      "If you work nearly all night, when do you sleep?" she asked.
      "Technically, I haven't gotten any sleep yet today, unless you unt the hour I was out because of the tranquilizer dart," I explained.
      'Tranquilizer' got her attention. "I wish I hadn't asked," Kate said. "I'm gonna go change. We're meeting at Drew's, wanna come?"
      "OF course!" I said, happily. Yay! Other human life!

      YOu should've seen me, Kate, Drew, and Oswald all trying to cram on the couch. Eventually, they pushed me off, me being the smallest. That left me with two choices: Lewis said I could sit on his lap or there was the floor. Heh, I grabbed a pillow and sat on the floor.
      Drew put the TV Guide down. "Looks like it's gonna be a boring night of TV."
      "Yup," Oswald said.
      "Anyone wanna watch a movie?" Kate asked.
      "Yup," Oswald said, again.
      :Can you say anything besides 'yup'?" Lewis asked.
      "Nope," Oswald answered.
      I looked at my watch. "Wow, that entertained us for thrity seconds... Now, what?"
      "I was serious about watching a movie," Kate said.
      "Hey, it's October, let's watch Christmas Vacation!" I suggested.
      "Tyrade time!" Lewis said, happily
      "I knew I couldn't be the only person who liked that part best," I said, then got up. "I'll get it." I went to the closet and got it.

      The movie ended. I love "Christmas Vacation". It was starting to get late.
      "Well, I guess I'll get goin' and get ready for work. I think I'll find my running shoes this time," I said, them left.
      "Yeah, another night of chasing the lab monkeys. I wish they'd fix the locks on those cages," Lewis said.
      "It's gotten so bad now that they actually trust you with a tranquilizer gun?" Kate asked.
      That got Drew and Oswald's attentions.
      Oswald started to get that goofy look on his face, then realized something. "Hey!"
      "Oh, please. Beer works much better than those stupid darts," Lewis said, and received glares from the othr three. "I'm not talking about Lauren." He got up. "I gotta find my sneakers." He left.
      "This is so weird, it's actually turning normal!" Drew commented. Whatever that means.

      Well, the monkeys got loose again. Fortunately, the monkapotamus didn't.
      I'd gone down to the breakroom. My feet were killing me and I wanted to prop them up for a little while.
      'My aching feet!' I thought, pulling off one sneaker, then the other. I'd just turned away from the door when Lewis appeared
      "I swear this can't be part of our job!" he said, out of breath.
      "Well, you should know! Didn't this ever happen before I started?" I said.
      "Well, yeah, but not as often," Lewis said. He came over to the couch, picked my feet up, plopped down, and rested my feet on his legs. "I'm not chasing them anymore tonight."
      "I'm glad you said that otherwise I'd've felt a little guilty about not goin' back up there," I said.
      "You were gonna leave me up there?" he asked.
      "Yeah," I said, bluntly.
      There was a brief silence.
      "Lauren?" Lewis started.
      "Yeah?" I said, again.
      He put his left hand on my ankle. "You ticklish?"

      About five o'clock the next morning (or that night, in my case), I got to Kate's apartment... half asleep and plopped face-first onto the couch. I probably could've fallen right asleep, but I just kept thinking about that question... and if I'd ever laugh again. No more laughing for tonight.
      Two hours later, Kate came into the living room. She looked over at me.
      'Now, what is she smiling about?' she thought, moving closer. 'Fell asleep smiling, not good.' She shook her head, then left.
      Out in the hall, Lewis had just come around the corner, saw Kate, and immediately turned around to leave.
      "Wait a minute," Kate said.
      Naturally, Lewis stopped. What a dope.
      "How long were you at work this time?" she asked.
      "Uh, 4:30?" he said, kind of unsure.
      "The monkeys got loose again?" Kate said. "Are you setting all this up?"
      "Shhsh, not so loud!" Lewis complained. "no, they changed the cages they keep them in and they keep pickin' the locks." He saw the look on her face. "They're those little slide latches... I was just gonna tell Lauren..."
      "She didn't know it was the cages? What'd you tell her when she asked why they keep getting loose... of course, I'm assuming she asked," Kate said.
      "I just said I didn't know. I gotta go tell her..." Lewis said, starting for the door.
      "Hey, use this, okay," Kate said, handing him a key. "I changed the locks." She started to turn away. "Oh, and I want it back... and if I find out you made a copy..."
      "Okay, okay, I get the idea," Lewis said, then started for the door. He unlocked the door and went in.
      Of course, I'd rolled over so he couldn't even see my face.. just hair.
      He tapped me on the shoulder. "Lauren?"
      "Go away," I mumbled into the cushion. At this moment, I didn't care about who I was saying that to. I could've just won the lottery and I would've still said that.
      "I just gotta tell ya something real quick," Lewis said.
      "What?" I said, still into the cushion.
      "I figured out how the monkeys keep getting out," he started.
      I turned my head to look at him. "How?"
      "They've been picking the locks on the new cages," Lewis replied.
      "Why did I ask?" I asked, turning my head away. "I'll rant on this later, right now, I need sleep."
      "I'll just let myself out, then," he said, starting for the door.
      "Lewis?" I said.
      He turned. "Yeah?"
      "Leave the key here," I replied. Gotcha.

      That evening, we met at Drew's house... uninvited, of course!
      I'd been yawning like crazy all day.
      "I guess chasing monkeys is tiring business," Drew said, after one of my yawns.
      "Are we sure it's the monkeys?" Oswald said, then grinned.
      "Oh, come on, how can you say that? She's your cousin," Kate said.
      "If I wasn't so sleep-deprived I'd defend myself," I said. "You're not pickin' on Lewis and he's been out for a half an hour over there." I pointed at him slumped on the chair.
      "Nah, we pick on him enough as is," Drew said.
      "I just hope you get back before dawn from now on," Kate said.
      "It might be a coupla more days before they get some real locks for the cages, then they gotta figure out a way to lock the door to keep the monkapotamus from getting loose again. I'm really starting to hate that thing," I said.
      "I thought you said it was kinda cute," Oswald said.
      "Well, I'm changing my mind, okay?" I said.
      Silence settled in. I hate that.
      "Boy, this is fun," Drew said.
      "Tons of fun," Kate said.
      "Why do we hafta sit here and watch Lewis sleep?" Oswald asked.
      "I'll solve the problem for ya. We've gotta get going anyway," I said, then went over to Lewis. I tapped him on the shoulder. "Lewis?"
      He fought back in his sleep.
      "Quick, the monkapotamus is after you! Run!" I said, then smacked him upside the head. "Wake up!"
      Lewis rubbed his head. "Thanks for the wake up call."
      "No problem," I started, then said quietly, "but yours was better."

The End