Ally began straightening the couch cushions when she heard a knock on the door. She abandoned her chores and went to answer the door. Upon opening it, she found Victor Morrison, her boyfriend.

"Hi Victor," smiled Ally.

"Hey honey," he said, kissing her cheek. "Is Maddie here?"

"Yeah, she's upstairs," replied Ally, slightly annoyed that Victor sometimes showed more interest in her daughter than her. "Come in."

Victor entered the house and plopped himself down on the couch, messing up the neatly placed cushions that Ally had just fixed. She sighed.

Victor was a great guy. He was kind, courteous, and a darn good handyman. Helpless women around the world who didn't know a thing about plumbing would do anything to have a man like Victor. He was helpful, sweet, good with kids, and had a butt that looked great in jeans. He was textbook perfect.

But as much as Ally wanted to believe that she could have a serious future with Victor, there was just something that was missing. There was no real spark. There was no real passion. He wasn't exciting. He wasn't combative. He wasn't....

:: KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK ::

Before Ally could finish her thought, she had another visitor.

"I'll get it," said Victor, getting up from the couch. As he walked across the room, Ally smiled.

He does look great in jeans, she thought.

Victor opened the door to a vision of pink.... pink hair, that is.

It was Claire Otems.

"Hellooooo, Ally!!!" said Claire in that distinctive voice that could only be hers.

"Claire!" said a surprised Ally. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Ally. Hello Victor. Have the two of you hit the sheets yet?"

Victor looked at Ally questionably and she just signaled for him to ignore Claire.

"Anyway," continued Claire. "I came by because I baked these chocolate chip cookies and I thought you'd like to have a sampling of them. You could stand to pack on a few pounds anyway."

Ally, irritated by her comment and by her speaking voice, took the cookies from Claire and placed them on the coffee table.

"You came all the way to my house just to give me cookies?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Claire, smiling. "I enjoy baking them but I don't enjoy eating them. Chocolate chip cookies don't sit well in my stomach. They make me..." Her sentence trailed off as she began making one of her disgusting burping noises.

Ally shook her head in disbelief. Victor just smiled at the situation and happily watched Ally try to wiggle her way out of this one.

Before Ally could figure out how to lose Claire, somebody else stormed into Ally's house.

It was Liza Bumpp. A.K.A. Lolita.

"Lolita!" said Ally. "I mean, Liza. What in the world..."

"Hello Ally," said Liza, who looked like a tiny porcelain doll with huge eyes. "I came here to inform you that the working atmosphere at Cage, Fish & McBeal is becoming hostile. That lady with the big blone hair, Morgan, is out to get me. She keeps calling me Debbie and insists that's my real name when it really isn't. At least, it hasn't been for a long time. I'd like you to talk to her. That cute little John Cage is feeling a little threatened by my superior lawyering skills and keeps spying on me through his Napolean painting in his office. Oh, and Richard Fish keeps touching my neck. Now while I enjoy my new job and like having help from that trampy secretary, there are just some things I could really do without." Liza turned to Claire and without taking a breath said, "Is that thing on your head a wig or did your mother have pink hair too?"

Ally put her face in her hands and screamed inside. What did she do to deseve situations like this? And why did she ever hire this Lolita person?

"Liza," Ally began carefully, not wanting to make her cry which she frequently did when her feelings were hurt. Then she realized something. "Wait a minute! How do you know where I live?" Then Ally turned to Claire. "And that goes for you too! Who told the both of you where I lived?!"

Before either could answer, Ally was surprised with yet another visitor. This time it was.....

Todd Merrick.... the lawyer she interviewed a couple of weeks ago. The one who reminded her of......

"Hi Ally!" he said, grinning. He was wearing his baseball cap backwards on his head, just like he had it when she first saw him. "Did you miss me?"

"Todd!" said a shocked Ally. "How did you....?"

"I did a little investigating and found your address. Nice house!" he said, looking around. He spotted Victor and nodded his head. "You're a lucky guy. Ally wouldn't date me so I guess you're the next best thing. Oh, cookies!" Todd made a play for the chocolate chip cookes that Claire had brought over. He stuffed a couple into his mouth. "Delicious!" he said, with his mouth full.

"Thank you!" said Claire, delighted.

Todd looked at Claire, confused by the sight of her.

An annoyed Victor walked over to where Ally was standing. "Ally, what is he doing here?"

"Victor, I don't know," said Ally, helplessly. "If I knew, I would tell you. Believe me. I -- "

Before Ally could continue, the newest lawyer at Cage, Fish & McBeal -- Wilson -- walked in.

"Hello, Ms. McBeal," he said in his deep voice.

"What the -- !" said Ally.

"Would you like to sample my cookes?" Claire offered to Wilson. He shook his head no. Claire continued, "Then how about you and I get out of here and catch a movie?"

"I think I'll pass," said Wilson, backing away. He was annoyed by Claire's constant advances.

"Yes! Yes! Get out of here!" screamed Ally, who had lost all patience. "All of you get out of my house!!!"

Victor sighed and began making his way out the door. Ally stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"No, no, Victor. Not you," Ally nervously laughed.

"How rude!" said Claire, opening the front door.

What Ally found on the other side of that door was not a welcomed sight.

Jenny Shaw, Glenn Foy, and Raymond Milbury made their way into Ally's living room.

"Oh no, oh no," cried Ally, shaking her head. "Somebody make this stop!"

Jenny walked over to Ally and took her hands. With a pout on her face, she said, "Ally, I hate to do this to you but Glenn and I really need our jobs back. Our new firm isn't working out. If you won't take me back, at least take back Glenn. After all, you once wanted to sleep with him."

Ally looked at Glenn. The Boy, Ally thought. Glenn smiled at her. Ally couldn't help noticing that he still looked like a walking GQ ad.

"You wanted to sleep with him?!" Victor said angrily.

Now he decides to get mad, thought Ally.

"No! I mean, yes!" answered Ally. "But not anymore. I -- "

"What is going on down here?!" said a young voice coming from the stairs.

Ally turned around and saw Maddie. "Oh honey," said Ally, rushing over to her. She hugged her daughter. "Don't worry about any of this. These people just want to talk to mommy about work. That's all. It's okay."

"Okay. Can I have a kitten?" asked Maddie.

"No, you cannot," sighed Ally.

"Fine," said Maddie. "Oh, before I forget, I've decided that when I get to college, I'm going to donate my eggs just like you did. It would be so cool to have a 10-year old kid show up on my doorstep one day out of the blue. I want to be just like you Ally."

Before a stunned Ally could answer, Maddie skipped into the living room and grabbed a cookie. She looked around the room, wide-eyed. Finally, Maddie turned back to Ally and said, "You work with the weirdest people."

"Tell me about it," said Ally. She sat down on the stairs and began banging her head against the wall. Maybe this would make them all go away.

"Bonnie!" she heard Maddie say.

Ally looked up to find Bonnie, Maddie's aunt, in her living room. Ally stood up.

"Hi Ally," said Bonnie, a little sternly. "Ally, I don't know how to say this so I'll just say it. I really miss Maddie and I want her to come back home with me. If you say no, I'll have no choice but to challenge custody in court.

Ally just stared at Bonnie blankly, her mouth hanging open.

"Ally, give me your hand," a man's voice said behind her.

Ally spun around to find her former therapist standing there. It was the strange therapist who couldn't say a C-word without tilting his head.

"How did you -- " began Ally, but then decided not to fight it. She just sighed and gave in. She offered her hand to him.

"Ally," he began. "This is quite a situation you're in. Just breathe deep and relax. You need to be --" He tilted his head. " creative in finding some concrete reasons to get these people out of your house. If you don't, I don't see how anybody can find this situation to be --" Tilting his head one more time... "comfortable."

Ally screamed. She screamed like there was no tomorrow. Then her world began spinning.... literally. The room began moving in circles and Ally was being assaulted by images of everyone in her house -- Victor, Maddie, Claire, Liza, Jenny, Glenn, Raymond, Todd, Wilson, Bonnie, the strange therapist.......

Oh my god, Ally thought. Make them go away. Please! Make them all go away! Everyone in the room began laughing at her. They all began taunting her. It became menacing as the room just spun around faster and faster. Their voices became louder and Ally became weaker. She didn't know if she could hold on any longer.

Ally's eyes snapped open.

Her pulse was racing and her heart was beating a mile a minute. She didn't dare move. Desperately trying to gather her thoughts, Ally closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She slowly opened her eyes again and was staring at a ceiling. She was, in fact, lying down. On a bed, it seemed like.

What happened? she thought to herself.

Still not wanting to make any sudden movements, Ally continued to lie there. She slowly realized that somebody's arm was around her waist, gently protecting her. Victor? was Ally's first thought. She slowly turned her head to see who was next to her. She gasped when she saw who it was.

It was Larry Paul.

Ally sat straight up in shock. Her sudden movements caused Larry to awake immediately.

"Huh? Ally? What is it?" he said, groggily.

Ally whipped her head around to look at Larry. She put her hands on his head. Then she put her hands on his arms. Then on his stomach.

"Ally, it's a little early for foreplay," Larry joked.

"Larry?" she said to him.

"Last time I checked," he said, confused.

"Oh!" Ally gasped. "Oh!" she said again, looking around. She was in her bedroom. In her apartment. "Oh!" she gasped one more time.

Larry raised his eyebrows and just watched Ally. She was always a strange one but even this was a bit much. "Are you okay?"

Ally nodded her head. "I think so. I just -- Oh my god, where's Maddie?!"

"Who?" asked Larry.

"Maddie! She's late for school!"

"Um, Ally?"

"What?"

"Are you nuts?"

"I think I just may be," she sighed. She thought for a minute as Larry watched her. "What's today?" she finally asked.

"It's the day after your birthday," replied Larry. "Remember? I got Sting into the bar last night and we sang to you. Look Ally, I'm sorry again for missing most of your birthday. It's just that the case was so -- "

Ally put her finger to his lips to quiet him. Her mind was racing with thoughts. She needed to think.

The lightning bulb finally flashed and she lay back down onto the bed. She began laughing and relief washed over her.

"Okay, Ally. If you don't tell me what's going on soon, I'm going to have you committed," said Larry.

Ally took a few more seconds to gather her thoughts. Finally, she felt normal again.

"Oh my god, Larry," said Ally. "I just had the weirdest dream."