~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It shouldn't be this hard, it's just a simple question, Flack thought to himself, growing frustrated. Why hadn't he asked it? What was taking him so long to figure this whole thing out?
"So, did you figure it out?" asked Detective Angell as she walked up behind Flack, not getting a response. "Flack? Flack!"
"Huh?" Flack finally responded as he turning from his dazed state to face her.
"Did you ask the victim's brother what he would have been doing out here in this alley?"
"Um, no. Not yet"
"Waiting for an invitation?" Angell asked as she noticed Flack still tapping the edge of his pen against his notepad, which she knew was an odd habit of his. "You okay, Flack?"
"Yeah. Sure. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because you're doing that,..." she gestures twards his hands "...that thing with your pen again." she said, wondering if he was just concentrating on the scene.
Flack's phone rings and retreiving it is a good opportunity to put the pen back in his pocket. "Flack. Yeah, Messer. Where'd he go? Yeah, yeah, okay." Flack hangs up and informs Angell, "Danny says they can't find the victim's brother inside the building where he said he'd be. Looks like we're gonna have to track him down now to ask him."
Just then Angell sees someone running from the far end of the building, and yells, "We got a runner!" as she dashes past Flack who turns to see and also give chase. Angell is a fast runner but Flack's legs are longer so they're in a dead heat to catch up to the fleeing suspect. It probably would have been a tie, but a car was coming as they ran past another alley. Angell cleared the oncoming car just in time but Flack took a slight detour over the car's hood before continuing the chase. It seemed like only seconds and Flack didn't think he was that far behind till he rounded the last corner to see Angell had caught the guy. The suspect was on the ground with her atop his back with the cuffs clicking around his wrist, but he was resisting having the other hand cuffed. Before Flack could reach her to assist, the perp flung an elbow up which caught Angell in the mouth. Of course this really ticked her off and she let him know by pressing her knee in just under his shoulder blade while twisting his free arm back to secure the cuffs.
Flack pulled the perp to his feet and started reading him his rights while Angell walked away to spit some blood out of her mouth.
With the perp now secured in the back of his car, Flack went to the trunk looking for the first aid kit. He walked towards Angell shaking one of those instant ice packs and offered it to her. "Here. You're gonna need this." he said.
"That bad, huh?" she asked, not aware that her lip was swelling.
"Must be the adrenaline if you still can't feel it." he said walking to his side of the car and getting in. He wanted to ask her if she was okay, wanted to show her how concerned for her he really was, but knew she'd feel like he was treating her like a girl if he did. So he resisted.
"Crap!" Angell said looking in the small mirror on the visor.
"It's not that bad." Flack reassured her.
"True. But I'm suposed to see my brothers tomorrow, and leave it to them to spot any little thing like this. It's just the excuse they need." Jess rolled her eyes and flicked the mirror back up at the thought of it.
"The excuse they need for what?" he asked.
"It's complicated, Flack." she said, before blowing out a deep breath and putting the ice pack in place. "Let's go."
On the drive back to the precinct Flack & Angell attempted to talk to the victom's brother, but he only responded in Chineese. So Angell got on the radio and called ahead to central to request a translator.
Upon arrival at the precinct they were met by Officer Cheu (pronounced "chew") who would be their translator, then headed off to interogation.
Since neither Flack nor Angell spoke Chineese they were mostly studying Mr. Wu's body language and both concluded that he was nervous. But being nervous was normal for most people that had been put in one of those rooms and didn't mean they were guilty of anything.
Officer Cheu emerged to find the detectives waiting for his translation. "Mr. Wu has asked me to tell you how sorry he is for running. He was afraid to talk to you."
"Why's that?" Angell asked.
"Because where they're from, the police aren't always nice. They can be bought and some will do anything to make the extra dough." Officer Cheu explained.
"Does he understand now that he can trust us? Does he know we're detectives trying to figure out who murdered his brother in that alley?" Asked Flack.
"Yes, I've explained that all to him, but he still says he doesn't know anything. That his brother had asked him to tag along and help him do some work. Says he simply went to dump some trash and didn't come back for a while so he went looking for him."
"And that's when he found him in the alley." Flack says, more of a statement than a question.
"That's right." Officer Cheu confirms.
"Shall we cut him lose?" Flack asks Angell
"We'll have to. We've nothing to hold him on." she replies.
"Yes, we do. Assaulting an officer. Or do you need to look in the mirror again?" He says, eyebrows raised.
Angell shakes her head no and adds, "He's here on a work Visa with only a week left. He's in a strange country, away from his family, doesn't speak the language, and now he's got a dead brother to bury." She pauses. "Cut him lose."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As officers Cheu & Miller took Mr. Wu back to the warehouse where his rental care was, Angell took the opportunity to track down a lead on a separate case she was working, while Flack took care of some paperwork. They'd get back to Vincent Wu's murder afterwards.
Not only did Flack find himself paying more attention to Angell but even pirked up when he heard others mention her name, and that's what happened as he passed the Presinct Desk, returning from visiting the corner vendor for a snack.
"Detective Angell could be out for quite a while, but you can leave it with me. I'll make sure she gets it." Officer Chebouski told the man at the counter.
"Thanks," he replied, "guess I'll just have to call her about the rest."
"I work with Detective Angell," Flack said as the man had turned to leave and was now facing him, "Can I help you with something?" he asked, wondering if it was a lead on a case that should be handled right away.
"You work with Jessie, huh?" he replied with a grin on his face.
"Jessie?" Flack asked surprised and with his brows crunched, but the man did not respond.
The man's grin continued as he took in Flack's height and badge before finally speaking. "I'm her brother."
"Detective Flack." Flack said, introducing himself as he offered his hand, which the man shook. "So, which one are you?"
"I'm Joshua, the youngest." Flack nodded in understanding that he meant the youngest of four. "I was just dropping off a birthday card for my sister, but I've been informed that she's out right now. She out chasin' down a lead?"
"Actually, I can't comment on that." Flack said, starting to explain.
"Of course not. I understand." Joshua nodded, "Family of cops, remember?"
Flack nodded in mutual understanding and agreement, "Birthday, huh?"
"Yeah. We're all suposed to get together at our dad's house this weekend, but now I've gotta fly out in a few hours. Last minute change of plans with a client kinda thing. So I won't get to be there after all."
"Well, I'll make sure she gets the card." Flack assured, shaking Joshua's hand again, "It was nice meeting you."
"Same here." Joshua says before giving a 'thank you' wave to officer Chebouski who was still behind the counter taking in the men's conversation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Hmm,' Flack thought to himself, 'maybe this would be a good time to ask.'
Angell hung her coat on the back of her chair before picking up an envelope from the top of her desk, glanced at it, tossed it into the top drawer, then sat down.
"Whoa, baby! Now if ya let her do the interrogating, I just might tell ya all something. She can put me in cuffs any time!" were the words from the scruffy looking man being hauled off to interrogation.
"Shut up, you!" came the quick response from the officer draging him thru the bullpen.
"What,... no response?" asked Flack, as Angell had not so much as looked up from her paperwork at the crude words.
"From that?" She responded gesturing to where the officer was still dragging the perp thru the set of doors. Flack only nodded. "Nope." Flack looked surprised and possibly a bit impressed at her self control.
"Really?" Angell only nodded a confirmation before looking back down at her paperwork. "I half expected some witty comment about men, or at least about that one's IQ." Angell only shook her head 'no'. "Not even some jab about testosterone?"
"I don't usually waste my time..." she began as she looked up again, "...commenting on things I don't understand."
Flack laughed, at least on the outside, but inside he was telling himself, 'okay, maybe now isn't the best time to ask after all.' His phone rang. A tip on Vincent Wu's murder just gave them plenty of names to work with and it would be lots of leg work tracking them all down. Flack and Angell took the 'divide and conquer' aproach.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flack's set of names took him south, while Angell headed north. It would be late afternoon before they'd each complete their list, and the first on Angell's was across the street from the warehouse where the victim was killed. "If you think of anything, Mr. Abrams." Angell said, handing him her card but knowing full well that he was witholding information. She'd have to order a tail on him as soon as she got back to the presinct.
Angell had just opened her car door when the shots rang out. She drew her sidearm, took a protective stance there on the driver's side, and looked around to figure out where the shots were coming from. As she reached for the radio she realized it wasn't necessary, it had already been called in. The words 'Officer Down' were all it took for Angell to head into the warehouse.
Flack was still at the first stop on his list, as he was getting lots of helpful information, when he'd heard the call go out.
With her sidearm at the ready Angell made her way quietly into and thru the warehouse, checking every possible location for a shooter.
"He took off!" Officer Miller shouted from leaning over Officer Cheu as Angell approached. She checked for a pulse as Miller continued to applied pressure to Cheu's shoulder.
"It's weak." She informed him as Cheu's eyes slowly closed. "Stay with us, Cheu. Stay with us!" she encouraged as she kept a constant check on his pulse, but she could feel his life sliping away beneath her fingers till eventually she looked at Miller and shook her head.
It seemed like every street to get there was more congested than the one before and Flack was getting frustrated as he tried to make his way to the warehouse. It didn't help that he knew Angell's first stop was to be just across the street and wondered if it was her that was down.
Miller and Angell could hear the sirens coming. An 'Officer Down' call would get a huge resonse and give them the extra hands needed to keep Cheu alive. Angell needed both hands to continue chest compressions, while Miller was trying to keep pressure on the wound while doing mouth-to-mouth. Flack arrived along with several others to find both Angell and Miller covered in so much blood they wondered if Cheu had any left in his veigns. Two officers took over for Miller and Flack offered to take over for Angell but she just continued without responding to his offer. "Just let her alone, Flack." said Officer Henley as he checked Cheu's eyes for response. "She's in a rhythm." Flack knew Henley was also a medic and nodded in understanding, although he could tell she was getting tired. Flack could also tell by the look on her face that she was determined and in deep concentration, as if she'd shut the rest of the world out.
"Can't speed up. Can't slow down. Must keep steady." Angell told herself, feeling that if she failed that a fellow officer would die. Feeling that his life was in her hands. Literally. She continued, even though her arms hurt.
The warehouse was now crawling with cops, but the ambulance sirens were just now coming into ear shot. Angell didn't know how much time had passed but actually wished she could no longer feel her arms because they now hurt to the point of burning, but she would not stop. Henley was now taking a turn at Cheu's shoulder, and another officer switched off giving mouth-to-mouth to keep from getting light-headed.
Two officers were relieved as the paramedics stepped in to take over, but Angell continued.... the chest compressions continued..... pressure on the wound continued.... the mouth-to-mouth continued.... 'till finally, "I've got a pulse." was announced by one of the paramedics.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day began with a pit-stop at the hospital. Officer Cheu had made it thru the night. There had been a huge blood loss and the extended time without a pulse didn't help. He was still unconscious.
"I'll check on family contact information when I get to the presinct. I'm not sure if he has any in this country. They may all be in China since he was part of an exchange program." Angel told the doctor before leaving. She and Flack still had to track down the shooter. They wanted to be able to tell Cheu that they'd caught him as soon as he woke up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flack and Angell arrived at the lab to find Messer studying bullet casings. "It's the same calliber and from the same gun that killed Vincent Vu." he informed them.
"Vu's killer came back to the warehouse." stated Flack.
"Guess he didn't leave the first time with what he'd come for." Added Angell, then included, "And maybe he didn't get it the second time, either."
"You got anything else for us, Danno?" Flack asked.
"Yep. Stella found some traces of cocain on a stack of crates that looked like they were being used for a table. Could have been a drug deal gone bad." Danny answered.
"Sounds like we're going back to the warehouse." Angell said as she headed for the door, Flack following close behind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This isn't a very fun way to spend your birthday, is it, Angell?"
Angell turned her torch off and put her hands on her hips, "How do you know it's my birthday?"
"Your brother Joshua stopped by the presinct yesterday while you were out. Left that card and note I put on your desk." Angell turned her torch back on. "I've never heard anyone call you 'Jessie' before." Angell gave a sigh and rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. "Is there a story in that eye rolling?"
"Yeah." She said, almost under her breath.
"You gonna dish?" Flack prodded, hoping for an answer.
After a long hesitation and quite a bit of reluctance, Angell finally spilled.... "I was suposed to be the fifth son." She was hoping Flack would catch on so she didn't need to elaborate. He didn't. She sighed heavily then continued, "My parents just assumed, since they'd had four boys, that they'd have another boy. They had the name 'Jesse' picked out for him." Flack continued looking at her but remained silent, hoping she would continue. She did, "Obviously they were surprised and also without a name for me. So, 'Jesse' became 'Jessica' and to this day when my brothers want to rub it in that I'm female, they call me 'Jessie', knowing I hate it."
"I see." Was all Flack cold manage to say. He for one was very glad she was female and wanted to say something supportive, but the words just couldn't form in his mind quick enough.
"Obviously this was a drug buy gone wrong." Angell said, returning her mind and the conversation back to the scene. "But what role did the Wu brothers play in all this?"
"There's nothing here the CSI's didn't already find. So I'm thinking we should continue our interviews that were interupted yesterday." Flack says turning off his torch, and the two detecitives head for their cars. "I understand your not liking being called 'Jessie'." Flack says, trying to resume their previous conversation. "I mean, it's the same way I am about being called 'Donnie'."
"Yeah, I supose." Angell says, as she opens her car door. "But,.... oh, never mind." She added with an obvious fake smile.
"What? Come on, Angell, there's obviously more to this than just a name." Flack says, hoping she will open up just a bit. Here he was hoping to ask her out, hoping to get up enough nerve to ask her a simple question, but also realizing just how little he knew about his partner.
"It's just that," She gave a sign and was obviously struggling to find the right words. "If you'd grown up with four older sisters you might understand. You don't know what it's like to always be left out, to always be the odd-ball, to always struggle to fit in, to always be the one no one wanted to get stuck playing with, to always feel like you had to work twice as hard to be considered half as good, to always feel like the one no body wanted." Oops, she'd meant for that last part to stay in her head, not intending to say it out loud, and it was obvious when her hand went to her mouth as soon as the words came out.
"Angell,..." He was stunned by her last words, and actually hurt for her at that moment, "do you really feel like your parents didn't want you because you were a girl?" Flack asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
She now paced a bit, rubbing the back of her neck while kicking herself inside for saying that last part. She stopped, and looking down took a deep breath, "Usually just on my birthday." She could tell he looked confused by her words. "Jared, he's my oldest brother, and I.... our birthdays are only two days apart. So growing up my parents always combined our birthdays, which was easier for them, but my brothers didn't exactly appreciate it." She paused, seeing the look on his face change, then continued, "Jared, being the oldest, always got the coolest and funnest parties. So when I came along and the parties started being for both of us, well, that changed."
"Star Wars suddenly clashed with My Little Pony?" Flack asked, trying to get a picture in his head.
"Something like that."
"I can see this being a big deal when you're kids, but now that you're all adults.... " Flack left the the question hanging.
"Yeah, you're right. Combined kiddie parties obviously transitioned into combined adult dinners, but...." Angell sighed again, "but my birthday is more of their annual opportunity to rub it in. Actually, Jared doesn't do it too much, but Joshua, he's the worst."
"And calling you 'Jessie' is part of that rubbing experience?" Angell nodded as she figited with her keyes. 'An annual reminder that they think you're not good enough' Flack thought to himself, slowly losing respect for her brother he'd met the day before.
"Well, we'd better get the rest of these interviews..." Angell didn't get to finish as Flack cut her off.
"I'm sorry." He mad eye contact with her again, "I can't say that I can relate, just, because I'm the oldest, I guess. But I can say that I understand what you're saying." Angell nodded, she appreciated the sentiment. "You're a damn good cop, Angell. That's all that should matter now." He didn't want this to sound like a pep-talk, "Your dad's got every reason to be real proud of you, and if your brothers can't see that, then I feel sorry for them, because they should be proud of you, too." His face was serious, and she could tell.
"Thanks, Flack."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was late in the day when Flack and Angell finished their interviews. It tuned out to be a fruitful process, though, as they ended up interrogating two from each list, including the man Angell did not trust. These interrogations got them a lead and ultimatley a confession by the end of the day. Turned out Vincent Wu was murdered by his own brother who was trying to talk him into selling cocaine while he was in the states, but when he refused his brother got angry and chased him into the alley before shooting him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the hospital, there were lots of fellow officers in the waiting area, all waiting for the latest news on Cheu. The head nurse had come out shortly after Flack arrived to inform them all that Cheu had just regained consceousness.
Angell arrived a short time later and was getting an update from Miller when the doctor walked thru. She recognized him from earlier and asked, "When can we see him?"
"I'm sorry, Detecitive, but he's not out of the woods yet, so it's family only right now."
"But he doesn't have any family here in this country, doctor." Miller interjected. The doctor just shrugged his shoulders.
"Yes he does." Stated Angell. Both the doctor and Miller looked at her confused. "In fact, he's got a huge family, right here. We're called the NYPD,.... and we take care of our own." She added, giving the doctor a blank stare as several moments of silence passed.
"Nurse," the doctor said, tipping his head twards her without breaking eye contact with Angell, "make a note on Officer Cheu's chart, please. All his 'family' will be wearing badges, and that's all the I.D. they need to get to see him."
Miller smiled at Angell's acomplishment and the thought of getting to see his injured partner. "Thanks, Angell. You wanna go in with me?"
"Nah, you'd better take Patterson in first. He's got a pregnant wife to get home to." Miller waved Patterson over and they went in as Angell took the empty seat next to Flack.
"You're not gonna make it to your dad's for your birthday dinner at this rate." Flack stated.
"True." Angell said, stating the obvious. Flack noticed as she begain rolling her shoulders. They were surely sore from doing chest compressoins earlier. "Maybe I'll drive up tomorrow." She added.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, where do you want to go?" Flack asked Angell after she returned to the waiting area after visiting Cheu.
"What do you mean?"
"To eat." Flack said, putting on his coat and finally glad to have a means of asking her what he'd wanted to for days. "I hope you don't think I'd you eat some frozen microwaveable dinner alone on your birthday. What about going to...."
"Flack, you don't have to..." Angell said, cutting him off.
"I want to." He said, now cutting her off. She looked up at him, a bit surprised and unsure what to say. "I mean, I'd like to have dinner with you."
"Are you talking about,... a.... date?" she asked rather slowly.
"Call it a date, call it a birthday dinner, call it a hero's reward for helping save a fellow officer's life today. Call it whatever you want. I just want to have dinner with you."
A small smile and a bit of a blush slowly crept across Angell's face, "Okay. I'd like that."
"I was thinking about Oliver's, across town. But it's up to you, birthday girl."
"Oliver's? That's a nice place, Flack."
"That's what I've heard. I'll head home and change. Pick you up at seven?"
"Okay. But don't think I'm wearing no dress, just because of where we're going. I Don't do dresses, Flack."
"Something tells me there's probably a story in that, too."
Angell nodded. There was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angell was excited. She and Flack had left this dinner quite undefined. Was it a date that just happened to be on her birthday? Was it just a friend taking a friend to dinner because of a birthday? 'Hmm', she thought to herself, 'if this is a date, he'll want to come to my door and pick me up. But if it's just dinner,... Oh, why do I do this to myself, why do I have to overannalize things like this?'
Flack pulled up in front of Angell's apartment building just before seven o'clock. She was waiting out front, looking a bit taller for some reason. 'I should get out and open the door for her,' he thought to himself. 'She deserves to be treated like a lady, especially on her birthday. Well, actually, any time, by any man.' Before Flack could kill the engine Angell was opening the passenger door to gettin in.
"Hey." She said with a smile and pink cheeks.
"Hey, back at ya, birthday girl. You look cold."
"I am. But that's what I get for being born in February." She said, straightening out her long coat before putting her seatbelt on.
"You could have waited inside. I would have come up for you." Flack said, kind of dissapointed he didn't have that opportunity. She just shrugged without answering.
Twenty minutes later Flack held the door to Oliver's open for Angell to enter first. He had made reservations but their table was still being cleared so they took seats in the waiting area. A waitress came over to take their drink orders and came back just a few minutes later, setting them on the side table before she left. The wait was quite short and they carried their drinks with them to their table.
Angell removed her coat, which the hostess took for her, revealing a silky wine colored wrap style blouse over black dress slacks. "I thought you looked a bit taller tonight." Flack said to her, noticing her wine colored matching pumps.
"Never an excuse to wear them." She shrugged.
"That could be fixed." Flack said, hoping it would later open the door for a chance at another 'date' or whatever this evening was. Angell blushed a bit and looked down at her menu. "I hear the samlon is good here."
Angell found it on the menu, noticing it was one of the higher priced items. 'Heck, everything on this menue is high priced,' she thought to herself. Flack was definetly sparing no expence on their date, uh, birthday dinner, oh heck, whatever it was. She wondered why she kept torturing herself trying to put a label on tonight. She decided to just put it out of her mind, again, and enjoy their dinner together. "Sounds good."
"So, what were birthdays like for you when you were a kid?" She asked, as they enjoyed their meal.
Flack would have had an easier time answering, or even paying attention to the question if he wasn't distracted by the candle light's reflection dancing in her hair. Of course when she looked up that reflection shifted and danced in her eyes instead which made it even harder for him to focus. "Well, I'm the oldest, and the first boy born on both sides of the family, so I guess you could say I raked in pretty good."
Angell returned his smile, "No shared parties for you, huh?"
"Nope." He grinned at the memories till he saw her smile fade. "Angell, I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to drag up bad memories when I asked about...." He could see her holding up one hand while pressing her napkin agains her mouth with the other, so he just let his words go unfinished.
"It's okay," she started to say as she swallowed, "it was a legitimate question. You probably weren't expecting me to unload on you like that, and I shouldn't have, so it's probably me that should be apoligizing here."
"How about we do this," he began, gesturing with his empty fork, "we just agree to put the blame on Joshua and say that it's him who should be apologizing?" Flack was hoping this half comment half question would lighten the mood again. It did, as a smile came to Angell's face at the idea of Joshua being volunteered to apologize. Flack returned her smile and they resumed their dinner coversation with more pleasant topics till the dessert tray arrived.
Angell was having a harder time deciding than Flack, which was saying a lot. There were just too many yummy desserts to chose from, so it's no wonder they decided to split a sampler plate that came with a little of everything on it. "I supose I don't have to state the obvious; that I'm not one of those women who are afraid to eat in front of a guy."
"True. Why do some women do that anyway?" He asked.
"Why are you asking me? How should I know?"
"Uh, because you are a woman. I figured that was reason enough to ask why women in general do something."
"Funny, Flack. Very funny." She said with a sarcastic expression, "Do you really think I'm like most women?" After seeing a sudden look of fear overtake his face she continued without making him answer. "I grew up a tomboy. I can quote football and baseball stats. I carry a gun and am trained to shoot most any weapon out there. I'm trained in hand-to-hand combat. I can kick most any man's ..."
"Okay, okay. Point taken." He interupted while watching her close her mouth slowly and raise her eyebrows to see to it that he'd gotten the point. Flack reached for another dessert, thinking that if he kept his mouth busy he couldn't say anything wrong. "But," okay, maybe his logic wasn't going to work after all, "must people who can quote football stats, carry a gun, and kick ass, don't look as good as you in those pumps." 'Okay, that was kind of, well, smooth.' he though to himself as he waited for her reaction.
"Nice save, Flack." she took in his grin. "Let's just get back to the point." she continued while taking another piece of the chocolate cake, "I can assure you, I will never be one of those overprocessed, silicone enhanced, anorexic bimbos who don't know how to appreciate a good cheese burger." While Flack watched her lick the chocolate off her fingers he was suddenly reminded of the many women he'd dated that fit that very description.
"It'll probably feel even worse tomorrow." Flack said, leaving Angell totally confused. "Your arms," he clarified as he was gesturing with his fork again, "you've been rubbing your elbows all through dinner." Angell looked down at her hand doing exactly what he had said. "A couple of years back I was the first to arrive at an officer down call and did chest compressions for what seemed like forever till the ambulance got there. Though my arms were going to fall off. You feel it in the shoulders first, then the wrist and elbow joints later. I was sore for two days." She gave a shy smile as she remembered the events of earlier that day. "How about we get going so you can get home and rest those wings fo yours." Angell put her napkin on the table as she rolled her eyes. Flack just smiled.
"Excuse me," Flack said as their waiter passed, "I just noticed that our drinks, the ones we had out front, didn't get included on my bill."
"Oh, that's okay, Mr. Flack. Don't worry about it." the waiter said starting to walk off.
"Um, I don't uderstand." Flack said stopping him from leaving just yet. "You don't want me to pay for our drinks?"
The waiter grinned and filled them in... "The owner of this restaurant is a retired police officer, and waitress that took your drink order is his daughter. When she saw that you were cops she told her dad, and he made sure the drinks were on the house." he said, shrugging his shoulders matter-of-factly.
"Looks like they don't want you paying for our dessert tray either, 'cause that's not on here either." Angell said, looking at the bill folder she'd taken from in front of Flack.
"Happy birthday, ma'am." the waiter said walking away quickly before they could stop him again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Something on your mind, Detective?" Flack asked Angell on the drive back to her apartment, noticing that her thoughts seemed a million miles away.
She quickly brought herself back to her current surroundings and smiled, "I'm, just thinking about tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Flack was so wrapped up in the present, and very happy that it included Angell, that he'd forgotten her plans for the next day.
"Yeah, about going to my dad's." She let out a heavy sigh.
"Oh, geez, there I go again. Asking about something that's..."
"Don't do that to yourself, Flack" She said, cutting him off. "It was just another simple question. I'm the one with the hungup answers." She sighed again, "But since you asked, yes, I think I will go. I know I should. Even though there's a part of me that really doesn't want to." He gave her a reasuring nod and smile. "After all, it's like you said earlier, we're all adults now. And I have to act like one, even if my brothers chose not to." She paused, "You working tomorrow?" trying to change the subject. He nodded as he pulled up in front of her apartment.
Once again they were both reminded that their evening was never quite defined as either a 'date' or a 'birthday dinner'. Flack found himself wanting to walk her to her door as if they had been on a date, perhaps even making presidence for another dinner they really could label as a date, but didn't want to make her uncomfortable. Angell was wondering if he would walk her to her door, but if she acted like she was waiting for him to, it could make him uncomfortable, after all they hadn't defined their evening. Oh geez, there she went again over analyzing the situation.
"Wait there." Was all Flack said as he got out of the car. Angell watched him walk around to her side, and her heart fluttered a bit as he opened her door and extend his hand to her.
'Maybe this really was more than just a birthday dinner between friends.' She thought to herself. "Thank you." She said, taking his offered hand and swinging her high heels onto the sidewalk.
"What?" She asked with a puzzled look as they walked.
"Just trying to picture you chasing a perp in those things." He answered, referring to her pumps, which he found very sexy. She laughed at his response as she stopped and turned around at the bottom of the steps. "Happy birthday, Angell." He said, as he stepped back.
"Thanks, Flack. Good night." she smiled.
Flack gave her an over-the-shoulder good night wave and smile as he turned and headed back to his car.
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Well, there you have it. The 2nd in my "Flack & Angell's First Dates" series. Next I'll work on them having a 'real' date! And I'll try to get it posted a little quicker next time. I find myself working on ideas for future stories instead of the next one in line. However, I just might have to pause the series to write up my idea about their first Valentine's Day.