It was a nice summer day in New York for a change. The heatwave was over and eating one's lunch outside at a sidewalk bistro was enjoyable again. Assistant ME, Lucas Wahl, took another bite of his Kangaroo meat burger, which actually didn't taste as badly as he thought it would. His friend, Carlton Spears, who'd flown in from Washington, DC, where he'd recently began working as a Political Analyst for the CIA, still stared uncertainly at the untouched burger on his plate.
"So, how's that goin' for you," Lucas asked, wiping his mouth with his napkin, "workin' for the Feds?"
"Well, it's pretty important, my analyst duties," Carlton replied, his eyes jumping from the burger to Lucas, then back again. "Can't complain, though. Right now, it's kind of a dry go, but I'm sure it'll get more interesting the longer I'm on the job." He finally cut the burger in half and spread the two portions apart, then poked his fork at the ingredients between the bun.
Lucas listened and nodded politely, then abruptly changed the subject. "Have you caught those commercials on TV lately, the Most Interesting Man in the World?"
Carlton frowned a bit but nodded and finally picked up one half of the burger. "They got a new guy now. I think maybe they shoulda kept the original guy, though."
"Yeah, I agree, but ... guess we'll eventually get used to this new guy. I don't mind the commercials so much anymore, but I still kinda miss the other one." He stuffed three fries into his mouth and took another bite of his burger. "But I haven't met anyone else who's even half as interesting as the Doc."
Carlton scoffed and quickly set the burger back down onto his plate, probably thankful to be distracted enough not to try eating it yet. "Your boss? C'mon, Wahl, you guys cut up dead bodies for a living. What's so interesting about that? They're dead, they just lay there." He closed his eyes, hanged his head to the side and stuck out his tongue in an overly dramatic mimic of a corpse. Then righted himself, opening his eyes and laughing. "Yeah, that's pretty interesting, alright."
Lucas chewed another bite, unable to speak just yet and shook his head, but Carlton continued.
"Do you realize that in my job as a Political Analyst, I support US policymakers by producing written assessments of the domestic politics and international relations of foreign governments and entities? Sorry, old man, but my job sounds more interesting and my bosses are more interesting than your boss, this Doc person."
After swallowing, Lucas casually countered, "Nope. Doc's more interesting. Nobody can touch him with a ten-foot pole." He paused and thought for a second then said, "A 50-foot pole." Then he revised his assessment again. "Nobody on the Eastern seaboard can touch him."
"You're goin' overboard on this guy, Wahl," Carlton began. "Nobody on the Eastern seab - " his next words were lost in a loud ruckus across the street.
He watched as a dapperly-dressed man in his mid thirties with dark, curly hair revived a man who turned out to be the city's Mayor, by giving him CPR. He stood to his feet as a small crowd of onlookers applauded his efforts. A few yards up the street, an elderly woman screamed as a man ran away and toward him with her purse. The curly-haired man calmly stuck his leg out in the path of the perp, sending him sprawling face down onto the hard cement. The dapper man bent down and retrieved the purse, then calmly walked over and returned it to the woman. Onlookers had more reason to applaud him.
"Who in the world is that?" Carlton exclaimed.
"My boss," Lucas calmly but proudly replied.
"Yeah, okay, okay," Carlton grudingly admitted, "but can he get the girl?" He wiggled his eyebrows up and down. Before Lucas could reply, a beautiful blonde with sultry eyes and lips slinked her sexy figure over to the dapper man. They smiled appreciatively at each other, spoke a few words, then she kissed him on the cheek and walked away, both of them still smiling.
Carlton opened his mouth to say something but Lucas stopped him with a raised hand.
"Wait for it."
At that moment, a beautiful young woman with long, dark brown hair, lovely eyes, high cheekbones, a sultry mouth and a figure to die for, walked out of the building and up to the dapper man and smiling, kissed him with her eyes. A gold detective's shield was visible where it was clipped to her waistband. The dapper man took his place on the passenger side of a police-issued vehicle and the beautiful lady cop piled into the driver's seat. A few seconds later, they sped away down the street.
"Guess that answers your question," Lucas said with a cocky grin as he watched the car grow smaller and smaller as it sped away. He turned back to face his friend and nonchalantly announced, "They're probably off to some crime scene again. Ever since he started helping out the NYPD with investigations- best close rate in the city ... state ... region, even."
"Ya know, sometimes he doesn't even have to open up the bodies to know what killed them. Almost like they speak to him. Oh, and he speaks at least a dozen languages or more. Fluently. Ye-up. Makes working with the Doc pret-tee darn interesting," he added.
He finished off his meal and leaned back, groaning. "Well, lunch time's over." His long frame rose up from the small table and towered over his friend. "Back to work. See ya later, buddy. Let's do it again soon." He walked quickly to the edge of the sidewalk, looking for a break in the traffic, Carlton hot on his heels.
"Wait up, Wahl," Carlton said as he caught up to him and stood next to him. "Uh ... that, uh, guy, the Doc, yeah, pretty interesting. Say, uh, got any openings in the OCME? Any chance I could work for him, too?" He awkwardly followed alongside Lucas as they dodged cars.
"Nope."
"C'mon, put in a good word for me with your boss, the Doc?" Carlton begged.
"No can do. I am his only assistant. Besides, you got that ultra important, so interesting job in DC."
"That?" he laughed, "I can totally blow off that CIA thing - Wahl! Wait. Lucas! Wait!"