Rick stood outside the door of the bookstore waiting for Ms. McScott. People were coming in and out of the store in a steady stream. He recognized a few people and spoke politely. He glanced down the street and spotted Kelly, one of his best students. She noticed him and turned to approach him. He was pleasantly surprised to see her and looked forward to saying HI...but who was she with? It looked like that "strange" girl...what was her name? Sitting Duck or something Indian sounding like that? There were lots of rumors about her. He thought that she was gay. What was she doing with Kelly? Now he dreaded talking to her...these situations always made him uncomfortable but they were definitely headed his way. Kelly and her friend approached Rick with warm smiles. He spoke politely and pretended to be preoccupied hoping they woUld move on quickly. Kelly introduced her friend and called her Dip. Lucky for Rick, Ms. McScott, or Raine as she preferred to be called, came out of the bookstore just in time. He quickly introduced the two girls and they entered the cafe without them.

The sat in a booth next to the window. Raine commented that he seemed a little tense. He guessed it was because of the Kelly situation, but he did not share that with her. He thought it might make her think he was not open-minded. A red-headed waitress with Genev on her nametag brought them water and took their order for coffee - or actually, tea for Raine. Raine excused herself briefly and Rick was once again left with his thoughts and the waitresses. He overheard Genev talking to the other waitress, True what a name, about meeting some rich girl named Cat at the night club last night. Evidently some guy made a pass at one of them and left quite an impression.

Raine returned and they continued to talk, but the conversation suddenly turned serious. Raine peered at Rick with her large, dark blue eyes and began to tell him things about himself, some of which he didn't want to hear. Rick couldn't understand why he was so hypnotized but most of what she said was correct. Except for the stuff about him being insecure and unwilling to let anyone care about him. Meredith used to say that, too. All women are alike, he figured. How did she know that someone from his past had just recently reentered his life? He told her about Nappy and the dog/flower incident.
She was convinced that Nappy would be some kind of inspiration for him. She obviously hadn't met Nappy! She said that Nappy would somehow "save the day" and that, very soon. Rick would need him...something about life and death. This was all a little too much weirdness for Rick to swallow. He politely finished his coffee and asked for the check. He took Raine's telephone number; not planning to call, of course. As they left the cafe, Raine thanked him for the tea and conversation. Rick turned to leave and she said, "By the way, when you run across that 'mysterious stranger', don't pass him by, he needs something that you have." Oh Brother...Rick really needed to get out of here. He thanked Raine for the advice and made his way to the pharmacy to pick yp a few vitamins. He always ran into Stan at the pharmacy...a real loser...he wasn't really in the mood for this today...

RICK NAP RAINE DIP GENEV TRUE CAT DON
WHEN ART HAPPENS