Mike opened the door. He wasn’t expecting Carrie, and the sight of her caught his breath for a second. She stood there, wearing her gold suit - a short-fitted skirt and shaped jacket - and a floral pattern blouse. Her hair fell softly to her shoulders, and she looked beautiful as she beamed a smile at Mike. The sun was setting behind her, and she was surrounded by brilliant colors. She appeared to glow as the light reflected off the golden highlights in her hair and the shiny-finish texture of her suit. It almost seemed unreal, and being struck unexpectedly with this vision of glowing color and beauty, Mike felt as though he had opened the door to the Land of Oz.

Still holding on to the door handle, he blinked a few times and finally broke the spell long enough to glance down to see if she was wearing red shoes. No - they were light brown. Well, at least he knew he wasn’t in Oz. He finally recovered his senses.

"Carrie! What - "

"I’m sorry to bother you Mike," Carrie interrupted as she usually did, "but I have a couple of things I need to talk to you about before a meeting in the morning, and I thought I’d just swing by and see if you have a few minutes…"

"Oh… yeah, sure - come on in," he said stepping aside, still hanging on to the door handle.

Carrie picked up her briefcase she had set down, and walked through the door into the house. She’d been there so many times before, but this was the first time since it became "Mike’s" house. Well, it wasn’t really his; it still belonged to Jennifer and Jack. But Laura had decided she needed a change, and recently purchased a condo. Mike chose to remain living in the house until Jennifer and Jack returned from Africa. So it felt different being there this time.

Mike closed the door and followed Carrie into the living room area. The television was on, and there were papers strewn around on the couch, as well as a partially eaten package of Oreo cookies. Mike hurried around Carrie to clear a place for her to sit.

"Sorry for the mess," he apologized as he quickly gathered the papers and put them on the table in front of the couch. "I was just going over some medical reports."

"Maybe I shouldn’t have bothered you…"

"No, no, no… It’s not a problem at all. Here, sit down," he assured her, motioning toward the couch.

Carrie looked at Mike for a moment as he stood there in his blue jeans and bare feet. He still had the light blue shirt on he wore to work that day, only it was untucked, minus the tie, and he’d rolled up the sleeves. 8-D His hair was a bit tousled, and he looked more like a big kid than a Chief of Staff. As she smiled, she realized that this was when she found him the most attractive - somewhat tousled. There was just something about it…. She shook her head a little to break the thought.

"Thanks," she replied as she set her briefcase on the floor near the couch. She slid the chain strap of her purse off her shoulder and put the purse on the table next to Mike’s papers. She sat down on one end of the couch, carefully trying to keep her skirt where it should be.

Mike stood there, hands on his hips, watching Carrie as she sat down. She had come right from work, and was still wearing that gold suit - the suit that would now forever make him think of Dorothy and Oz. He suddenly realized that if she hadn’t changed her clothes, she probably hadn’t eaten either.

"Carrie, did you eat? Are you hungry, or do you want something to drink?"

"I grabbed a quick sandwich, but I could use a glass of water."

As Mike headed off to the kitchen, Carrie glanced at the television. There was an old movie on, and she realized it was a Cary Grant film. She smiled again; she’d always liked Cary Grant, particularly in a tux. She looked around the room, until her eyes finally fell on the package of Oreos still sitting on the couch next to her. Hmmm… she didn’t know Mike liked Oreos. She thought she knew almost everything about Mike…

Her thoughts were pulled away from the Oreos as Mike walked back into the room with a glass of ice water in one hand, and a big glass of milk in the other. He handed her the water, which she immediately sipped and then set on the table in front of her. Mike set the milk on the table as well, and sat down on the other end of the couch.

Carrie apologized for interrupting his movie, and he assured her it was okay. Since the movie was nearing the end, they decided to finish watching it before discussing business. After a couple minutes, Mike reached down and pulled an Oreo out of the package. Carrie turned and looked at him.

"Mike, I didn’t know you like Oreos."

"Yeah, I love ‘em. You want one? Help yourself." He pushed the package more in her direction.

"Maybe in a bit."

Mike picked up his glass of milk, and proceeded to dunk his Oreo for several seconds before taking a bite. Not only did Carrie not realize Mike liked Oreos, she also had no idea he was a dunker! For some reason, she just didn’t think of him as a dunker. He then dunked the remainder of the cookie and finished eating it. During the next several minutes, she observed him going through this process a couple more times. For some reason she found it interesting that he did this. But he had it all wrong. That certainly wasn’t the way to eat Oreos.

"Maybe I WILL try one," Carrie said as she pulled a cookie out of the package.

Mike looked at her and smiled, then focused on the movie again. Carrie carefully twisted her Oreo apart. She took the side with the cream on it, and began to lick the cream off of the cookie. After she had licked it clean, she proceeded to eat the cookie itself. After a while, she took another cookie and followed the same process.

Mike gradually became aware of what Carrie was doing. He not only didn’t know she liked Oreos, but he had no idea she ate them THAT way. Why go through all the trouble of pulling them apart and eating everything separately? It all mixes together anyway. This was starting to fascinate him.

So there they sat, eating Oreos. Dunking, twisting, and licking. Finally, Mike couldn’t stand it any longer, and asked Carrie why she ate her Oreos that way. She stopped mid-Oreo and looked at him.

"Why? Well, I guess it’s because I really like the cream inside. It’s the best part, and I like to eat that by itself first, and then eat the rest of the cookie afterward. So, let me ask you - why do you DUNK yours?"

"Why do I dunk? Well, I just like the way the cold milk soaks into the cookie and softens it a bit. Then the cookie part mushes better with the cream inside. And I like eating the cookie and cream together not separately."

"Well, I guess there’s just different ways to eat Oreos, " Carrie said taking a sip of her water.

"Yeah, I guess."

They continued to watch the movie and eat Oreos. But Mike was having trouble focusing on the movie. He couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off Carrie, and the way she ate her Oreos. In fact, he was starting to find it very distracting, and even somewhat sensuous. And without even realizing it, every time she took another cookie, so did he. Every time she licked her cookie, he dunked one. And they gradually picked up speed as they kept pace with each other.

Carrie noticed that Mike was watching her eat her Oreos. She found it humorous at first, and was having fun. But gradually she realized that every time she took a cookie, so did he. Every time she licked her cookie, he would dunk. She was starting to find this somewhat exhilarating, and began eating Oreos at a faster pace. But he always kept up with her. So she decided to tease him.

Carrie pulled out an Oreo, and turned more toward Mike. She had a teasing smile on her face as she carefully twisted her cookie apart. Looking at Mike all the while, she tauntingly raised the cream side to her mouth, and began to slowly and deliberately maneuver her tongue over the cream until she had cleaned every bit off the cookie. Mike swallowed hard, and just continued to watch. Carrie carefully bit into the cookie that was left, letting crumbs fall onto her chin. She chewed slowly, savoring every bite. With Mike still staring, she did the same with the rest of the cookie.

"Now that’s the proper way to eat an Oreo," she mumbled with her mouth still full. She finished chewing and brushed the crumbs off her hands. "Would you like to try it?"

Mike just continued to stare. Carrie picked out another Oreo, and again carefully twisted it apart. She stopped and looked up at Mike and smiled. She took her finger and slowly moved it across the cookie, scooping up a big blob of cream. She held her finger up and looked at it, and then looked back at Mike. He still just stared. She inched a little closer to him, and brought her finger up to his mouth.

"Here, try it."

Mike pulled his eyes away from Carrie for a second to look down at her finger. As he looked back at her, he moved forward, opened his mouth, and then slowly closed it over her finger. He began to swirl his tongue around her finger searching for every bit of cream he could find.

Whatever Carrie might have expected, she certainly wasn’t prepared for THIS sensation. She never thought anything like this would be that sensuous. This was…. this was…. this was v-e-r-y n-i-c-e…. Wait a minute, she thought - who was teasing who here? But at that point it didn’t matter, as a warm tingle spread through her hand and up her arm, and exploded into a flush.

Having finished the job, Mike released Carrie’s finger. For a second she just sat there, with her finger in the air, staring at him. Suddenly she realized he was no longer on the other end, and dropped her hand feeling somewhat embarrassed. She cleared her throat, sat back and folded her arms, and looked at the television.

Mike smiled. Two could play at this game. He took the last Oreo cookie from the package, and held it up in the air in front of Carrie. This time HE had the teasing look on his face.

"So, would you like to try it MY way this time?"
Surprised, Carrie turned to look at him. "You mean - dunk?" Mike nodded. "Well, I suppose since you tried it my way…"

Mike picked up his glass of milk, along with the coaster it was sitting on. He put the coaster over the top of the glass, then gave the whole thing a good solid shake. Carrie’s look immediately changed to perplexed - what the heck was he doing? Mike looked at her and smiled.

"It’s much better if the milk is frothy."

Carrie mouthed the word ‘ohhh’ as she slowly nodded as if she understood. Actually, she didn’t know whether to believe him or not. But it didn’t matter because he was ready to dunk. He slowly dipped the Oreo into the glass, and held it there for a few seconds. When he pulled it out, it was covered with frothy bubbles. Carrie stared at the Oreo as he held it in the air, watching it gradually drip milk back into the glass.

Mike inched a little closer to Carrie, and her eyes followed as he raised the drenched Oreo to her mouth. She stared at the cookie, then back at Mike as she slowly leaned forward and took a bite. She carefully began to chew as Mike stared expectantly at her with raised eyebrows.

"Well??" he inquired, anxious to hear what she thought.

"Well…. this is… actually, it’s pretty good."

"See, I knew you’d like it. But here, you need to follow each bite with a swallow of milk."

With that he lifted the edge of the glass to her lips. She looked up at him not believing he was actually going to ‘feed’ her milk. He slowly tipped the glass toward her and began to pour. But for some reason her bottom lip didn’t work properly, and milk dribbled down both sides of her chin. He pulled the glass away and looked at her, but she didn’t move.

"Here, let me…." Mike offered as he set the milk back on the table.

He gently placed his finger under her chin, and carefully wiped away the drops of milk. He brought his finger up the side of her chin, and slowly moved it in a circle around her mouth. He gradually began touching her lips, moving his finger back and forth, very lightly, very slowly, very….

Carrie just stared at Mike. She couldn’t move. She felt like a cat getting it’s chin scratched, and she tilted her head back a bit leaning into his touch. This was unbelievably sensuous, and shivers swam through her lips and face, then straight down her neck. She suddenly became aware that Mike was moving closer to her. His finger left her lips as his hand moved to her neck. He leaned in closer…

"I better leave…" Carrie sputtered as she forced herself to pull back from Mike. And with that, she mustered all her strength and backed herself off the couch. She stood there for a moment, their eyes not willing to release each other just yet.

"Carrie - you can’t go yet…"

"Mike, I NEED to go," she said quietly, finally breaking their gaze.

Feeling the need to leave quickly before she found herself unable to leave at all, Carrie grabbed her purse and turned to head for the door - and promptly tripped over her briefcase. She stumbled a bit and dropped her purse, but managed to catch herself before losing her balance. Feeling a flush of embarrassment, she just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. Averting her eyes to avoid seeing Mike’s reaction, she bent down to get her toppled briefcase. But before she could get hold of it, Mike got hold of HER. He was off the couch and grabbed her by the hand, pulling her up toward him.

"Carrie…"

"I’m sorry Mike. I just need to go, that’s all."

Taking hold of her other hand as well, Mike smiled slightly as he looked into her eyes.

"But you can’t leave yet," he said very quietly.

"I can’t? Why not?" Carrie asked in an even softer voice.

Mike looked lovingly at her, and stepped closer. He was amazed at how clear and beautiful her eyes were. He was silent for a moment as he imagined he saw love for him in those eyes. Or was it his imagination?

Carrie felt a twinge inside as Mike moved toward her. She knew she should back away, but couldn’t get herself to move. If only she could just click her heels together she thought, and wish herself away. Suddenly she wondered what made her think of THAT. Anyway, did she really want to go?

"You can’t go…" Mike tilted his head toward Carrie’s. "Because…" He moved his mouth closer to hers, and could hear her breathing harder as her eyes followed his lips.

Carrie could feel herself breathing harder as Mike’s lips came closer to hers. It was too late now to leave she told herself, as thoughts of Oreos swirled through her head.

Mike paused just above Carrie’s lips. She leaned toward him letting her head fall back a bit as she closed her eyes. He grazed her lips so lightly that she wasn’t even sure he had actually touched her. She felt his warm breath on her face as he slowly moved past her cheek, and put his mouth next to her ear. The sensation of him breathing in her ear was almost too much to bear as it sent a shiver straight through her.

Mike’s voice was barely a whisper now. "Because……" He paused again. "You have crumbs all over your face."

For a second there was no reaction. Suddenly Carrie’s eyes flew open as she straightened up and pulled back from Mike. She stared at him.

"Oh Mike!" was all she could say as her hands flew up to cover her face. "Why didn’t you tell me earlier? And take that smirk off your face!"

"Carrie, you look good in crumbs," Mike offered as he tried to keep from grinning.

Carrie dropped her hands, and threw a threatening look at Mike. He was NOT helping.

"Crumbs? You want crumbs? I’ll give you crumbs."

She brushed past him and snatched the empty Oreo package off the couch. She turned around with a mischievous smile on her face, and took a couple steps toward Mike. He glanced down and saw the cookie crumbs in the package she was hanging on to with both hands. She raised her arms in the air, and he cringed a bit, waiting to be crumbed. He certainly wasn’t going to stop her though - this was the most fun he’d had in a long while.

Carrie hesitated for a few seconds, her arms in the air, trying to imagine crumbs all through Mike’s tousled blond hair. But then her smile went serious, and suddenly she turned the package - and dumped the crumbs all over her head.

"There. How great do I look NOW?"

Mike uncringed and blinked in disbelief. He stared at Carrie standing there with cookie crumbs sifting through her hair, landing on her eyelashes and face, and falling to the floor, some latching on to her clothes on the way down. And he realized just how much he loved her. No other woman had ever crumbed herself for him. This was a very special moment. All he could do was shake his head and laugh.

Carrie, still staring at Mike, finally let a smile spread across her face. What a strange evening this had turned out to be. She couldn’t believe what she had just done. As she looked down to brush off her skirt, her hair rained more crumbs all over the place. The more she brushed, the more she rained. She finally gave up trying to clean herself off any further, and looked up at Mike and just shrugged her shoulders.

Still chuckling, Mike stepped toward Carrie offering to help. Using both hands, he carefully began brushing crumbs off her face. Carrie felt like a little girl whose daddy was cleaning her up after dessert. But as she looked up at Mike, her feelings were far from that of a daughter.

Their eyes locked once again, and neither one spoke as Mike continued to clean her face. She couldn’t believe how gentle his touch was. As the crumbs disappeared, he took hold of her face and stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. He was always doing sensuous little things with his thumbs. How could such a small gesture feel so meaningful?

Mike paused for a second, then lightly pushed her bangs out of her eyes. He knew that for now, this did need to end. He let go of her face and pulled her into a hug, smiling as crumbs fell all over him.

"There, at least your face is de-crumbed."

They clung to each other in silence for a moment longer. Finally, Carrie hesitantly pulled away.

"Well, I guess we’ll have to talk in the morning about the meeting."

Mike looked at her; he had forgotten that was the reason she stopped by. As he slid his hands into his pockets, he just nodded.

Carrie collected her purse and briefcase, then paused for a moment, looking at Mike as though she wanted to say something. Instead, she smiled slightly and turned toward the door. As he silently followed Carrie across the room, Mike wondered what it was she wouldn’t allow herself to say.

Carrie opened the door and stepped out into the night air. She walked a few steps, then stopped and turned around. And the site of her caught Mike’s breath for a second. The moon was full and bright, and she appeared to glow as the moonlight wrapped itself around her. It almost seemed unreal. He grabbed hold of the door handle and blinked a few times, and finally broke the spell long enough to glance down and see the trail of cookie crumbs she was leaving. Then he heard Carrie’s voice.

"Next time Mike…. let’s have Twinkies."

Mike looked up at Carrie, his eyebrows raised. Leaving him with a sly smile, she turned and walked away. As he watched her disappear into the moonlight, he suddenly realized she had said ‘next time’.

Twinkies…. Hmmm…. He smiled, and closed the door.