LA, 2002
When her alarmclock went off, Daphne grunted, stretched one long arm and almost knocked her dragon poster off the wall trying to turn the blast thing off. She didn�t mind getting up early at all, she usually did to clean up, much to her friends� dismay, but when she had to work she hated it. And of course, she only got up early for the job, the others always lay in their beds, Daphne thought darkly, which wasn�t exactly true but 5 am is no time to be reasonable.The four Dutch friends had set up a freelance company that worked for several magazines a year ago, and they had moved to LA three weeks ago, because magazines there had been asking for their special reports and photos, as the girls always seemed to run into celebs. Daphne�s specialty were reviews, and she had an appointment for a special performance of a play for critics. She showered and clothed in silence, because although she had dark thoughts about them she didn�t really wanted to wake Wendy, Tamara and Jenny up.
Well not really.
The kitchen was a complete mess when she walked into it. She turned on the CDplayer, and started to clean up the kitchen sink. (mess-phobia, yes).
�Alright, just throw this in the bin outside� she said to herself lifting some chips bags. When she walked around the bar in the middle of the kitchen she got the shock of her life. A strange, seemingly lifeless man lay there on the ground.
Daphne stared at him for a bit, the garbage in her hand, before she shook her head. �I must be still dreaming� she told herself. �i knew it had to be bad for you getting up so early. This can�t be real. Let�s get back to bed.�
She threw the bags on the table and rubbed her eyes, then carefully looked through her fingers. He was still there. Damn. She squatted next to the man and listened to his breath. It was very regular, he was just fast asleep. Hmm. She walked back to the bedrooms and threw Jen�s and Tam�s bedroomdoors open at the same time.
�OK, who did it?� she yelled inside. �That you take a man along alright but at least take him in your bed and don�t let him sleep on the kitchen floor.�
�What!!� Jen yelled back while Tamara only turned around and looked at her friend with one eye.
Daphne put her hands on her hips. �There�s a MAN on the kitchen floor. What is he doing there. Now I�ll have to clean it again.�
Tamara groaned but Jenny came out of bed, while Wendy opened her door too on the other side. �What�s going on?� the oldest girl demanded. �I thought I told you not to wake us up, Daphne.�
�There�s a MAN on the kitchen floor� Daphne repeated. �You haven�t taken him, have you?�
�What? Don�t be silly. Of course, I always put strange men on the kitchen floor. You must be dreaming, or I am that you wake me up for that.�
�Maybe she�s been using� Jenny suggested.
�No she�s just mad� Dee told the younger girl.
�I�m not!� Daphne protested. �I know what I saw. Come see if you don�t believe me.�
�Ah! Alright, but if you are making this up�.Tamara, get your lazy ass out of bed!� Dee ordered.
Daphne led the three girls to the kitchen and gestured towards the man. �See?� she said. �I�m not mad at all.�
�Oh God!� Jen yelled. �Is he dead? What should we do?�
�Relax� replied Daphne hitting her on the head. �I checked of course. What do you think, that I bother waiting for you waking up first while a body might be laying in our kitchen. He�s just sleeping.�
�That�s weird� Tamara said, hugging her pillow she had brought along.
�Of course it�s weird� Dee told her. �That�s not the most intelligent remark ever, darling. What should we do? Call the police? Basically he�s an intruder.�
�Shouldn�t we try to wake him up and ask him who he is and all?� Daphne suggested.
�He might be dangerous� Jenny shrieked and tried to hide behind her tall friend.
At that moment, the man started to stir at their feet. Jenny grabbed Daph around the waist and hid behind her back. When the man had lifted his head and turned at the girls, he showed to be rather handsome�
�What the hell am I doing here?� he asked looking at the girls weirdly.
�Hey I wanted to ask that� Dee complained.
�Who are you?� Tamara asked.
�And more importantly why are you in our kitchen?� Daphne added.
The man shook his head. He had green/grey eyes, dark hair and a cute little beard. Daphne usually hated that, but this looked rather good�she looked aside to Dee and saw she was obvioulsy thinking the same and they smiled.
�Yeah, who am I? Er..� he shook his head again and stopped speaking.
Daphne and Dee helped him up, convinced he would do them no harm, and that he was suffering from amnesia. Daph had to slap away Jen�s hands first who now tried to hide behind Tamara but Jen was slightly taller so that didn�t really help. They put the man on the couch in the living, and looked at him expectingly.
�Erm�I think I went to have a drink last night..� he said.
�More than one, methinks� Tamara muttered.
�Do you live in this street?� Dee asked gently.
�Em..�
�Oh Dee he doesn�t even know his name, like he knows where he lives!�
�I think so..�
�Daphne, if you know better then you try!�
�I found him, you can do some work now!�
�Eh, girls..� the man tried, but they had completely lost their attention for him, and it was then that the doorbell rang.
�I�ll get it. As if it�s not weird enough, someone rings the bell at 5:15 am� Dee threw her hands in the air at the madness of this world, but went to open the door. Well, she was in for a completely new surprise as she opened the door. No one else but Elijah Wood was there�
�Er..� Elijah was just as knocked out seeing the dark-haired beautiful girl in the doorway as he rang as she obviously was to see him. His mother had said there were new people living in the house opposite to theirs, but she hadn�t said it were young girls. They both stared at eachother for a while, before a tall red-haired girl joined the first one and looked at Lij expectingly.
�Em, sorry to bother you this early but I thought I saw some life here� Elijah said apologizing. �I know this might sound a little weird but have you seen a man? Slightly taller than I am, dark hair? I lost him.�
�Well you wouldn�t believe it but we actually did� Dee said in her most friendly tone.
�Oh so he belongs with you� Daphne said looking up and down Elijah. �He was in our kitchen. Maybe you should keep him chained or something. Not everyone is as mad as we are to react calmly at it. I mean it�s quite weird after all.�
�He�s here? Could I see him please?�
�Come in� Dee replied and opened the door with a smile. Daphne frowned at her and Dee shrugged as she let him in. They brought him to the living room where Jen and Tam were standing as statues next to the couch, Tam yawning and hugging her pillow and Jenny glancing at the man from behind Tamara�s back.
�Oh you�re here Dominic!� Elijah exclaimed. �I�m sorry girls, he�s the man I�m looking for. What are you doing here, forgot where you live?�
Dominic stared at his friend weirdly, before his penny dropped. �Oh, now I remember!� he exclaimed happily. �I entered the wrong house. Sorry, Lij.�
Tamara bent over to Daphne and whispered in her ear. �Is it me or is that extremely weird.�
�Quite� Daphne whispered back.
�I think I had a few too much drinks last night� Dom said scratching his head.
�I think so too� the four girls and Lij replied at the same time, and then they burst out laughing.
�Well thanx girls, for all� Dom said to them when they could finally stop laughing and they walked the two guys to the door. �Especially for reacting so calmly. Promise I won�t do it again.�
�I hope so too� Jen said, and giggled.
�Chain him� Daphne said to Elijah.
�I will� he whispered back and grinned broadly, but he looked at Dee. �Come see us someday� he said out loud. Oh god I haven�t even said my name. I�m��
�Elijah Wood� the four girls added and he looked surprised.
�We�re in the bizz� Dee explained. �We write for magazines and stuff, so we have to know, by the way you�re quite known.� She smiled at him again and extended her hand. �I�m Wendy, but call me Dee. This is Daphne, the blondie overthere�s Jenny, she�s the youngest, that�s Daphne, she�s the tallest as you can see, and with the blue-dyed hair�s Tamara. She�s the photographer with us, so watch your looks when she�s around.�
The guys laughed at that not realising Dee had been perfectly serious about that. They shook hands and Dom introduced himself too.
�Hope to see you soon then in our kitchen� he invited them with a cute smile. �I will not be lying on the floor then.�
�We�ll do that� agreed the girls, and the two men left, and the girls went to the kitchen to eat.
�Alright that was the weirdest way I ever woke up� Tamara told the others, still not putting down her pillow.
�Wicked though� Dee added and Daphne nodded her agreement, before she looked at her watch.
�Oh Gods!� she shrieked. �I�m so gonna be late! On no!� She stormed out of the house, followed by hunting laughter of the other girls�