"No Nick, you have to do it like this."

"I know how to do it Urs."

"Nick...you DO remember how to do it don't you?"

"Yes. I remember."

"How long has it been?"

"About a couple of hundred years."

"Ohhh..."

"Give it to me Urs."

"No. Not until you do it right."

"Fine. Tell me what to do then."

"You put one leg on this side, and then...this one here...like this."

"That's not how I did it before."

"Well, it's better like this."

"Ouch. No, it's not."

"Well, then put this leg here and this...here, let me do it for you."

"Urs!"

"Quit being such a baby."

"I'm not. You are just doing it differently is all..."

"Well, if you do it your way, your gonna get a sore butt."

"Tell you what, if I complain you can hit me okay? But this is the way I 
do it see?"

"Hmmm...that's not so bad..."

"See, I told you. Now move over here so I can put this where it belongs."

"But it's too big to put there. It'll fall off."

"It won't fall off, it's attached."

"Oh, I see. But if it did you could glue it back on couldn't you?"

"I don't think it would look the same and it might not work anymore."

"If anything happens to that, Natalie is going to kill you."

"She's going to kill me anyway when when she finds out what we've been 
doing."

"True, but I'm not going to tell her."



Natalie was up to her elbows in someone when she heard a noise outside in 
the hallway.

Grace came through the door with a strange look on her face.

"Grace? What is it?"

"I could have sworn I heard a...nah...this double shift is really getting 
to me."

"Are you sure you're okay...Why don't you clock out early...I'll been 
done in a while."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Go on...I'll be done in a while anyway."

"Okay. See you tommorrow."


Grace gathered her things and fumbled in her purse for the keys. She had 
just opened the door to her old blue sedan when she heard the strange 
noise again.

She suddenly felt something nuzzle her back.

Without turning around...

"Okay...I don't know who you are, but I got a can of pepper spray here 
that'll..."

"It's okay Grace..."

Grace turned.

"Holy cow! Or horse?"

"How do you like him Grace?"

"Well, I uh don't...he's a horse, I guess...a good horsey, nice horsey."

"He doesn't bite..."

"Nick, what the heck are you doing out here in the middle of Toronto with a 
horse?"

"Came to take Natalie for a midnight ride."

"Oh...sounds romantic in a strange kind of a way."

"It will be...I hope. We're going riding by the edge of the lake. Care to 
take him for a spin Grace?"

"Uh, well...I..."

Nick extended his hand.

"Come on Grace..."

"I uh...no."

"Later then?"

Nick gave her a smile.

Grace returned one.

"Okay. Later. Maybe. You and Nat have fun now...watch out for cars."

"We will. I hope. I'm taking the back way to the lake."


It was just after one when Natalie finally came out of the Coroner's Office.

She was heading towards her car when she heard a strange noise.

"These double shifts..."

Natalie thought about driving over to Nick's but decided to opt for sleep 
instead.

When she got inside, she fed Sydney, changed into her pajamas and was 
just about to climb into bed when she heard the strains of...

"Mariachis?"

Nat quickly rushed over to the window and peered outside.

Sure enough, there were at least seven mariachi men strumming guitars and 
a couple of them had trumpets.

She took a second look at the lead guitarist.

"Vachon?"

Vachon waved at Nat and the band began a number. She took a step back 
into her room and shook her head. No way. This is too weird. Then she 
heard someone singing. No, it  wasn't as much singing as...no, it 
sounded...like someone in pain?

"Natalieeeeee! Mi Amourrrrrr! Mi Corazoooooooonnnn!"

"Nick?"

Natalie rushed to the window again, just in time to see Vachon pull his 
fingers out of his ears and swat at Nick who was shrugging his shoulders.

Nick was arguing something about being French...

And Vachon said...

"Like this..."

And as the band played Vachon began to sing in a beautiful voice...

"Natalie! Mi Amour..."

Nick shook his head and Vachon laughed.

Nick looked up and saw Natalie standing in the window laughing.

He got down on one knee and began singing again...

"Natalieeee...Mi Amooouuurrr...Por Favorrrrr....uh, Corazoooooonnnn..."

Nat rolled her eyes and stepped back inside the room.

She heard a couple of her neighbors yelling.

"Hey! What are ya doing? Can't a person get any sleep around here?"

"What's all that noise? Sounds like somebody killed a cat!"

"Crazy bunch of Mehicanos...."

She heard Vachon yell back at the neighbors.

"Hey, shut up! Can't you see that this is a romantic kind of thing going 
on here? Go back to sleep!"

The band broke into another song. This one was a slow, quiet beautiful piece.

She sat facing the door. She knew Nick would be in at any moment.

She felt cool hands on her shoulders. And heard Nick's soft voice singing 
to her in French.

"Your Spanish accent is a little rusty you know?"

"It was one of those learn Spanish in sixty seconds courses..."

"Ah. Vachon?"

"Screed."

"No wonder."

Nick was still massaging her shoulders.

"Care to take an early morning ride milady?"

"Ride? On that motorcycle? I caught a cold the last time."

"Who said anything about the motorcycle."

Natalie turned around to face him.

Nick had a lopsided grin on his face.

"What then?"

"A horse ride."

It was then that she noticed what Nick was wearing.

"Knee boots?"

"Riding boots."

"Nick...you smell like a horse."

"Thank you."

"My goodness but that leather looks...tight."

"Got a whip too."

Nat looked into Nick's eyes and sighed. She was thinking of how wonderful 
it would be to ride along the shores of a deserted beach, the wind 
whipping through her hair, as she wrapped her arms around Nick's 
waist...the moonlight glistening off his golden hair, his powerful thighs 
gripping the horse urging him faster and faster...

"I'm allergic to horses."

"Aw, Nat."

"Sorry."

"That's okay.

"I like to ride..."

"Oh, you do, do you?"

"Uh, huh."

Nick smiled.

Nat smiled.

And when the band left along with Vachon...the neighbors smiled.

The End

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