Ginger and Danny where just getting ready to sit down to dinner when her cell rang.

Ginger - "Excuse me." She gets it out of her purse. "Hello?"

Summer - "Hey it's me."

Ginger - "Really I would have never guessed."

Summer - "Where are you?"

Ginger - "Home we were just getting ready to eat."

Summer - "Oh good. Umm, I need to stop by and change."

Ginger - "Why what's up?"

Summer - "I was just out with a friend and we were going to go get something to eat and I need to change and I don't want to run the whole way home."

Ginger - "Oh okay. When are you going to get here?"

Summer - "I'm down stairs now."

She looks out the window and Summer waves up. "Who's the guy?"

Summer - "My friend Nick."

Ginger - "Okay I'll let you up but you have a lot of explaining to do Lucy."

Summer - "I know." She hangs up. "Come on."

Nick - "What are you going to tell her about me?"

Summer - "an edited version of the truth."

Nick - "I'll just keep my mouth shut."

Summer - "Probably a good idea." Ginger opens the backdoor. "Hey sis."

Ginger - "hey. Come on in. I take it you'll be raiding my store."

Summer - "Yeah is that okay."

Ginger - "Sure I've got something in the back that I had you in mind for."

Summer - "Good. Oh Nick this is my sister Thalia but almost everyone calls her Ginger. Ging this is my friend Nick."

Nick - "Hi." He steps inside as Ginger shuts and locks the door again.

Ginger - "Hi. So you go to school with Summer."

Nick - "Ah no. We met through AJ."

Summer - "Yeah he's in that same band."

Ginger - "Oh okay so you guys met up in New York." Ginger looks suspiciously at her younger sister.

Nick - "Yeah."

Summer - "What?"

Ginger - "Nick you can go wait upstairs with Danny we'll be a few minutes." She points to the elevator.

Nick - "Okay." He leaves.

Ginger - 'What are you up to?"

Summer - "Nothing."

Ginger - "Is he the reason why you were all weird when you got back from New York."

Summer - "No he's just a friend."

Ginger - "Where's AJ?"

Summer - "I don't know Orlando I think."

Ginger - "So what's Nick doing here?"

Summer - "Well he was in town and wanted to going scuba diving and we had talked about it when I was up there so he called me." It was a quick excuse she was hoping her sister was going buy it.

Ginger - "Uh huh. And what does Brett have to say about that."

Summer - "He doesn't know."

Ginger - "You're sneaking around behind his back. Oh honey I'm so proud of you." She hugs her.

Summer - "I'm not sneaking around behind anyone's back." She pulls herself out of Ginger's tight grasp.

Ginger - "Oh my god you finally broke up with him."

Summer - "No Brett and I are still together. Nick's just a friend."

Ginger - "If he's just a friend why didn't you go home to change."

Summer - "Cause you are much more opened minded then Dads. He would have jumped to so many conclusions he would be on the roof. Now come on do you have something I can change in to or what."

Ginger - "alright but if something is going on you know I'm going to find out."

Summer - "There's nothing to find out."

Ginger - "So you say. I'm dropping it. We should get you changed. Danny's not usually the most social person, we shouldn't leave Nick up there too long."

Meanwhile.

Nick stands in the elevator staring at the control panel.. there are 5 buttons, each the size of a playing card and each in the shape of the suit with the exception of the 5th. He chuckles to himself at the names given to the various floors.

HEAVEN
" PURGATORY
HELL
STOP
OPEN DOOR

Since the "diamond" is illuminated, he assumes he is in PURGATORY. He remembers Ginger telling him to go "up and wait with Danny" and since Heaven is supposed to be ^up^. He pushes the club-shaped button. The old freight elevator jerks and then rises towards its destination and abruptly stops. The doors open to reveal a small flower-filled foyer, which has a "GOLDEN GATE" entrance. Nick is amused and wonders just who this Thalia/Ginger person is and what exactly does the entrance to HELL resemble. He steps out of the elevator and pushes the gate open and walks up the faux-stone path and into the living room, with it's pale blue walls and overstuffed creame color furniture and mythology/dragon/wizard/gargoyle/knights of the roundtable-esque theme. He looks around and is not at all surprised to see that Ginger eccentritness does not end with the elevator and the foyer.

Nick - " Hello?" Nick stands there, he is not sure what this Danny person will be like, but when Danny comes walking out of the dinning room. He is not at all expecting him to be 6'7" , with tattoos and earrings, wearing dirty jeans, a black Harley Davidson T-shirt and his token "white trash" ball cap. Nick was instantly scared to death.

Danny - "Hey. Come on in"

Nick - " um, yeah, ah, they told me to come up here,.. and wait"

Danny nods, "Cool. You want something to eat or drink"

Nick - " no.. um.. no thank you"

Danny nods - " ok, well if you don't mind, I am going to finish my dinner before it gets cold"

Nick - "No go right ahead"

Nick follows Danny into the dining room, which he is fascinated to discover is dome up like a mid-evil castle's dinning hall. The long table seats 14, the chairs at either end resemble thrones. He notices that Danny and I dine at one end. Seeing Danny seated in the "throne chair" makes Nick a little uneasy.

Nick - "This is really some cool decorating"

Danny looks up from his steak and nods, he takes a drink of beer. "Ginger has a flair for the eccentric"

Nick - "I like the dragons "

Danny grins, "those are my additions."

Nick nods "They're cool."

Nick - "You guys have a very cool place, is the whole building yours?"

Danny - "Ginger owns the building and she is slowly reconstructing it according to her tastes. I don't live here. I'm just a permanent house guest, so to speak."

Nick chuckles at what he thinks is a joke, "yeah, so to speak." Danny looks at him like whatever and goes back to eating. "Do you mind if I look around, this place is like a museum."

Danny - "Knock yourself out."

Nick wanders around. He is dissapointed to find that the kitchen is just that, a kitchen. He doesn't really know what he was expecting anyway but he does notice the built-in china cabinet, which displays Ginger's collection of rare dishes, the youngest being 102 years old. He wanders down the hall, which is lined with framed photos of friends and family. He stops to look at some of the pictures, smiling at the ones that Summer is in. He looks in the first door and finds the bathroom, which is done up to resemble an Egyptian spa. The shower is huge and open with stone columns and the like. On the walls are Egyptian scenes and pyramid hyrogliphics are the boarder. On the vanity all the little bottles are gold or gold plated, he is guessing the former to be the correct assumption. He shakes his head in disbelief and mores on. He walks further down the hall and looks at some more photos. He walks past the partially opened door and peers in. Looking a little closer the door "accidently" opens further, revealing Ginger's bedroom. He quickly glances around the room. It has a huge wrought iron canopy bed, which is covered with a canopy made of brightly colored linens (actually sharis from India all sewn together) and the bed and surrounding floor area is covered with brightly colored throw pillows. He likes the antique dresser and chest of drawers set and raises an eyebrow at the out-of-place collection of motor cycle helmets lining the one wall, all set nicely on little stone pillars and each decorated with it's own theme. On the walls are 9 framed lithographs, depicting the 9 muses of mythology, of which Thalia, her namesake, is # 4 and on the farthest wall, there appears to be the beginning of a mural. He doesn't get a chance to see that it is of Mount Olympus complete with all the gods and goddesses. He hears Summer's voice and hurries out of the room, closing the door as it was before and going back to looking at photos on the hall wall. Ginger and Summer scare the shit out of him when they appear out of what he though was a grandfather clock at the end of the hall.

Summer smiles at the confused look on his face. "It's a hidden stairway that leads to Ginger's office."

Nick nods, "Oh, hey you look great"

Summer - "Thank you. Compliments of the bestest sister in the whole wide world"

Ginger groans, knowing the hidden meaning behind the words. "Shoes to match are in the closet in the spare room. Third shelf, 8th box from the right."

Summer - " THANK YOU "

She goes running into the room with Nick following. He finds her already inside the huge walk-in.

Nick - " WOW!!! This is ultra organized"

Summer - " yeah, Ging knows where ever piece of clothing she owns is. She is a Virgo ( mentioning her astrological sign), very organized"

Nick - "She has more shoes than my sister and I thought that would be impossible"

Summer - "That's what she does for a living and a hobby, it's her first love. Oh here we go" She pulls a box off the shelf.

Nick - "What is?"

Summer - "What is what?"

Nick - "Her first love."

Summer - "Making people look and feel pretty"

Nick - "Noble goal I guess"

Summer - "If people feel better about themselves than they are better people all together"

Nick - "I guess that kind of makes sense."

Summer - "Although I don't know, I am beginning to think that designing is taking a backseat to Danny"

Nick - "huh?"

Summer - "Well, this is between you and me and the man in the moon." She points behind Nick's shoulder to the wall where there is a mural of the phases of the moon, and the full moon has a face on it. He shakes his head as she continues, "well anyway. Danny is the first guy she has let completely into every facset of her life. I don't' know, but I think he might be a keeper."

Nick - "What about you?"

Summer - "What about me"

Nick - " have you ever let anyone completely in" She looks at her feet to avoid his gaze. Ginger saves the day by picking that moment to come in and help look for the shoes.

Ginger - "Oh those are it. Don't you like them?"

Summer looks down and for the first time really sees the shoes. "Yeah, they are very cool. Thank you"

Ginger - "You can keep the outfit, I want the shoes back, but I can make you some almost like it"

Summer - "Hum, always keep the originals for your self"

Ginger - "You know it" They walk back into the hall

Nick - "You have a great home"

Ginger - "Thank you. Have you met Danny?"

Nick - "Ah, yeah." Danny hears them and walks into the hall

Summer - " Danny!!!" She squeals and runs over and hug him, she loves doing the baby sister routine with him. He loves it although he'd never admit it.

Danny - "Hey short cake."

Summer- "Ugh! You're all dirty!"

Danny - "Hey I wash my hands before I eat."

Ginger - "Now you do."

Danny - "I was working on one of my bikes."

Nick - "What kind?"

Danny - "I was working on my Ninja. You ride?"

Nick - "Nah. My mom would kill me herself before she let me buy a motorcycle. Maybe when I move out I'll get one."

Danny - "When you do let me know I know a few guys that could give you a good deal."

Nick - "Thanks."

Summer - "Well we should probably get going."

Ginger - "Okay. I take it I'm covering for you again."

Summer - "Yeah you mind."

Ginger - "If I did would it make a difference."

Summer - "Yes it would. I'd have to think of something else."

Ginger - "I don't mind."

Summer - "Thanks. Come on Nick I'm starving." She almost took his hand but then remembered and didn't. Ginger and Danny walk them to the elevator.

Danny - "He seems like a nice kid."

Ginger - "Yeah. Now why can't Summer be a guy like that. I didn't get any kind of weird vibe off of him. Did you?"

Danny - "Nope come on dinner's getting cold." Ginger sits down at the table.

Ginger - "Oh honey I forgot my water could you get it for me please?"

Danny - "Alright." He goes into the kitchen and glances out the window as he passes. He sees Nick teasing Summer about her clothes and then pulling her into a friendly embrace. He runs his hand down her back and kisses her cheek. She lets him at first but then pushes him away quick and looks up towards the apartment. He ducks behind the curtain so he's not seen. Nick then helps her in the truck and they drive off.

Ginger - "Hey what are you doing?" She calls from the dining room.

Danny - "Nothing did you want ice?"

Ginger - "Yeah." He decided not to say anything.

Ginger would just get obessive and not let it rest until she figured out what exactly was going on. He figured Summer was just having a little fun behind Brett's back. He's done things like that, not since he met Ginger but before.

Chapter Fifty-One