"Is everything okay Mr. Klein?" Eddie asked, curious as to why he was here wanting to see them at the precinct after she and Jamie had made him so angry interfering with his show's production.
"Things couldn't be better! The ratings will be going through the roof now that we fired Joe."
"Oh. So you found out he was never a real cop," Eddie stated.
"What? Really? Well that explains a lot. Quite a lot, actually. No. That's not why we fired him- he was sexually harassing the extras."
Jamie and Eddie shared a pointed look.
"So, why are you here then?" Jamie asked.
He smiled back with excitement at the two confused partners. "I was lying in bed last night thinking about you two, and suddenly- IT HIT ME! I have this idea I want your take on."
Jamie and Eddie looked at each other again, equally creeped-out.
"Mr. Klein, our assignment is over. And you made it clear we weren't supposed to interfere. There's really nothing else we can do for you, so…" Jamie tried to reason.
"I get that, but just hear me out and then I'll leave you alone. What do you think of this? I'm thinking of doing a complete rewrite of the show. What if we scrap the idea of the two girl cops as partners. So instead, we have a guy cop and a girl cop that get partnered up together. She's the rookie but he's been on the job a while. And as they get to know each other, they sort of accidently fall in love and there's all this sexual tension and it would be an audience teaser because it's a 'will they-won't they' type of scenario. People would ship that, right?"
Jamie awkwardly shifted his stance and started rubbing his neck with his hand looking down at the floor. Eddie just stood there looking like a deer in the headlights. Since Jamie wasn't saying anything to break the awkward silence, she piped up. "Um….ship? What does that mean?"
"Oh come on. You've never heard that term before? Ship. As in relationship. When fans of the show root for a certain couple to get together, and they name the couple by smashing their two names together. Like, for example, if someone were to ship the two of you, they could name the ship 'Jeddie.' No, that doesn't sound right. Too Star Wars-y. 'Reaganko'. No. That's a mouthful, isn't it?" He laughed and then snapped his fingers together. "Ah! I got it! 'Jamko'!"
Jamie nervously cleared his throat. "First off, Mr. Klein, partners aren't allowed to…um….date, or…uh…have that kind of…relationship. It's against the rules." Jamie swallowed hard.
It was Eddie's turn to look at the floor, hoping to look invisible.
"Oh, I know that. Which is why I think it's such a brilliant idea! Adds a little spice to the storyline, don't you think? We'd have to drag the whole thing out, of course, and not let them get together right away, if at all. Oh! We could even have them share a passionate kiss or something, to show that they have real chemistry and spark, but then for the next two seasons, have it be like them ignoring their real feelings for each other, maybe even have them get into some fights, and have them be jealous of other people and stuff. You know, like really play with the audience and get them wondering if it will really ever happen between the two of them. I mean, people would really ship that hard, right? Am I right?"
Eddie spoke up. "Sounds a little….uh…wrong…to do that to the fans of the show, doesn't it? To make them wait? I would think that you might make some people mad with all that teasing. Wouldn't the audience just want to see them get together already…"
Jamie looked to Eddie in surprise and Eddie felt his eyes heavy on her but she pressed on. "…I mean, isn't that what the fans of the show would eventually want? What's the point of having a love story if the couple doesn't get together in the end?" she nervously chuckled.
"Exactly! Oh I KNEW this was a brilliant idea! Thank you Officer Janko!" he exclaimed while grabbing her by the arms and giving them a quick squeeze while Eddie stood frozen stiff. "I knew at least one of you would get it!"
And with that, Mr. Klein continued to walk down the hall and out of the front doors of the precinct, excited to start the rewrite of his show.
Jamie and Eddie stood motionless and silent in the middle of the hallway, finding other things to look at rather than at each other.
Finally, after some thinking, Eddie found her voice along with some confidence. "Yeah. I'd ship that."
She then started to walk down the hall leaving Jamie standing there alone in total embarrassment.
