Walk the dog, play with the dog, feed the dog, bathe the dog.....Kelly loves animals but this isn't what she wants to be doing with herself all day. The money isn't bad, so she isn't going to walk away from it: but she is thinking seriously about finding a more interesting career, maybe even something in the animal care field, as long as it isn't a dog's servant job. With such a tedious job, of course Kelly has Alison on her mind all day, but the gorgeous redhead has been working mostly at the studio & Kelly sees even less of her than when she's working here. She does drop by one afternoon to deliver something to Byron & Kelly manages to sneak away from Grok long enough to have a brief conversation with her. Alison asks Kelly out to the movies for Christmas day, the only day she's got off until New Years. Kelly didn't know movies were open on holidays like Christmas, but she's up for doing whatever Alison wants. Sitting in an empty room with Alison would be better than sitting in Burbank, listening to her parents & her ex call & whine at her that she didn't come home for the holidays.

Alison talks her into trying Indian food. It all seems a little weird to Kelly, but Alison promises she'll like it, so Kelly lets her order for her. Alison tells her they're going to see some science fiction movie Kelly vaguely remembers coming out back when she lived back east: Alison tells her it was the first movie she ever worked on for Byron. Kelly's not a big sci fi fan, but it is pretty cool to go see a movie made by your boss, that your date worked on. "Are you really into all that sci fi stuff?" Kelly asks. Alison laughs & says, "No, I'm not really...all those intergalactic space wars & cyborgs from the future crap kind of bores me. But the projects Byron chooses aren't so much about the 'science' as it is about the nature of reality & the human condition." Alison is very obviosly into what she does: Kelly asks her simple questions about making movies, and she is fascinated by the depth of Alison's replies. She knows so much, she's done & seen so much, she has everything together, it seems. Kelly can only hope that someday she will be as sure of herself & what she wants as Alison is, and that maybe just being in Alison's company will help her get there.

But Kelly is attracted to far more than just Alison's mind, and this is a date after all, not a classroom. "Hey, I though you said you wanted to romance me," she quips, imitating Alison's own wry humor & snappy delivery.

Kelly gets exactly what she wanted. Alison kisses her so deeply, Kelly can't remember what dinner tasted like.

NEXT