Title: Meeting Mr. Clooney

Author: Juliana

Genre: humor, fluff

Rating: PG 13, language

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Not even Mr. Clooney.

A/N: The situation: Faith is divorced, she's still working the beat with Bosco, the sixth season never happened …

Ever since he had admitted to himself he had feelings for her he wanted to invite her on a date. She was single now after that jag-off Fred had left half a year ago and he dared hope she wouldn't turn him down outright if he invited her out. So when she went to get some snacks he made a call to get the phone number of a nice restaurant where he intended to take her.

When the woman on the other side started to recite the number he quickly pulled the first piece of paper he saw towards him and scribbled down the number. He then called the restaurant and told them he wanted to make a reservation for next weekend.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we're renovating. The restaurant is closed till next month, you can call us back then and we'll give you a reservation for any time you'll want," a pleasant voice informed him. He didn't want to wait for another month.

"No, that's okay. Thank you." He cursed under his breath. Lately nothing went the way he wanted to, at least not with Faith.

He crumpled the paper angrily and threw it across the room into the bin.

The next moment Faith returned and deposited two cups of coffee and a heap of chocolate bars on the desk in front of him.

"I won't eat all that," he scrunched up his face.

"You won't eat any of it, it's for me."

"You'll get fat," he said without thinking.

"Not like you'd care," she mumbled.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

"You really intend to eat all that? Is your sugar low or something? You should go to see a doctor. You could have diabetes," he said slightly worried because of her weird behavior lately.

"Oh, my sugar's just fine."

"Well, it's not normal for you to eat that much chocolate, Faith. You've never been such a sweet tooth in all the years we've worked together."

"I've never been single and sleeping alone in all the years we've worked together," she retorted.

His face was expressionless for a few seconds before he grasped her meaning.

"You don't honestly think a huge amount of sticky chocolate is a good substitute for a nice big …"

He stopped himself in time when he realized what he was about to say to Faith. His partner Faith.

"Well, it's as close as I can get," she said, getting a bit cranky because of the way the conversation was turning out. She wasn't exactly in a mood to discuss her love life with Bosco. She was ashamed to admit to him she wasn't getting any while he probably woke up in different bed every morning. It just wasn't fair.

Bosco's eyes widened slightly at her answer. He could never imagine she would have problems getting a date, not with her looks. He'd date her anytime. But I guess that didn't count as an objective opinion since he was in love with her.

"Well, you could always ask me," he said with a husky voice.

Her head snapped up from the desk, where she was looking for something, her wide eyes meeting with his.

"I mean, no, no! Not like that!" his eyes widened with horror when he realized how his words must've sounded. "I meant to say to arrange a date for you. I know a few guys, nice guys. You know? But I would go out with you too, I mean I wouldn't say no to you, well, you know what I mean. I didn't want to say that I wouldn't go on a date with you myself. I would, if you wanted me to. Not from pity or anything, you shouldn't think that. I would … I … I guess you don't want me anyway so I'll just shut my mouth and start with my report," he mumbled when he realized what a disastrous attempt at inviting her out that was. It was probably the worst attempt made by him or any other human being in the history of human kind. He just couldn't help it, whenever he only thought about asking her out he became unbelievably nervous and awkward. It just wasn't him but that was the effect she had always had on him.

Faith hid her smile and said nothing. She knew he must be embarrassed after his outburst and she didn't want him to feel any worse. Besides, she'd go out with him in a heartbeat. But she couldn't just openly admit that to her partner of ten years.

"Bosco, did you see a piece of paper here on top of these files?"

Still ashamed, he only lifted his head slightly to look at the pile she pointed at.

"No," he said straight away. But then it hit him he had seen a piece of paper on that pile, it was the paper he had used to write down the restaurant number.

"Actually, I did see it. Why?" he asked wanting to know first what nationally important form he had destroyed by scribbling on it and then throwing it into the bin.

"It's just … something was on it …" She blushed slightly when she said it. He looked at her surprised. He didn't manage to connect a bureaucratic form and Faith's blushing.

"What was on it? It was blank."

"On one side, of course, it was blank. Where did you put it?" she asked more sternly.

"I'm not telling you until you tell me what was on it," he said enjoying the power he had gained over her for a change by withholding that tiny bit of information.

"Bosco! Tell me what you did with it or you'll write the reports for the next ten years."

Her voice was sweet but her eyes were flashing and he had learned in the past ten years when it was a good time to stop teasing her.

"I threw it in the bin because I scribbled a number on the back."

"You what?" she hollered. He instinctively looked around to see how many other officers heard her yell and on how many he could count for help if the situation escalated to a critical point.

"I threw it in a bin," he all but whispered under her enraged stare.

"That was my … that was my …" now he was afraid she'd pass out when he noticed her labored breathing.

"What? It was just a piece of paper. It was nothing on it."

He stood up and went to the bin to retrieve the paper. He unfolded it and turned it around.

His eyes widened and his jaw sagged.

"A signed and personalized George Clooney photo?" he didn't know whether to be even more afraid now since he knew how much she liked George Clooney or whether to laugh outright at her uncharacteristic behavior, treasuring a photo of her favorite star when she couldn't even bother to put the photos of her family into an album.

"-My- signed and personalized George Clooney photo, Bosco! My photo! The one it took me half a year to get!" Definitely more afraid!

Surprisingly her anger quieted down soon enough but her subsequent attitude towards him was even harder to bear. After saying 'I'm not talking to you ever again' she kept her promise for the better part of the week. She only spoke with him when absolutely needed and even then only about their job. She didn't even greet him at the end of the shift or in the morning. He had seen her pissed before but this wasn't anything like it. He contemplated asking her out to get her in a better mood but he doubted she'd appreciate it after his disastrous attempt earlier that week and the sole fact of the invitation coming from him could cause her to erupt like melted lava from a volcano. He wouldn't mind her melting because of him one bit but he definitely minded her melting because of her being angry with him.

Finally one day while reading the newspaper in their RMP, for the lack of anything better to do since they weren't talking, he suddenly got a brilliant idea. He didn't tell her anything till the end of the week. On Saturday when they were both off, he came unannounced to her apartment. She was sorely tempted to shut the door to his face when she realized who knocked on her door at one in the afternoon.

"Faith, get dressed, I'm taking you to see something."

"Are you out of your mind? I'm not going anywhere with you after what you did." Her voice was sharp as a razor but she didn't scare him off. That must've been the first time ever, she thought.

"I'm serious, Faith. I wanna show you something and I'm sure you'll like it. Trust me, just this once, please."

When she didn't answer, he continued, "Really Faith, it's … a way of saying I'm sorry for destroying your photo and to make it up to you."

She still didn't say anything but she moved from the door so he could enter.

"So where exactly are you taking me?"

"Well, it's sort of a surprise. Just dress nicely and we'll be on our way."

"Nicely? You're not taking me to some fancy restaurant, are you? Cause just paying loads of money for a half empty plate of weird looking dish isn't gonna make me forgive you," she threatened.

"No, not a restaurant. Something better, a lot better. Well, for you anyway. It's not like I'm gonna enjoy it overmuch," he made a face.

"Good. I'll be ready in a minute," she said, satisfied at the thought that he was going to do something he wouldn't be able to enjoy. And all that for her. That would definitely be a fair punishment for him.

Their drive to wherever Bosco was taking her was still quiet. She wasn't sure whether he deserved to be pardoned yet or not. When after more than half an hour he stopped in front of several trailers and groups of people walking around, her brow furrowed.

"What is this, Bosco? Where did you bring me to?"

"Wait and see," he answered uncharacteristically patiently.

"If this is some kinda joke, I'll kill you, I swear. I've had enough from you …"

"Faith, could you just let me live a little while longer so I can get you in," his patience started to slip.

"Get me in?"

He didn't bother with an answer. He closed his door and walked towards the first trailer. Faith ran after him. He stopped when he saw a middle-aged woman with graying hair and a stack of papers in her hands.

"Hey there, where could I get a Ms. Lampard?"

The woman turned and eyed him up and down. Faith was more and more puzzled as to where all this was leading.

"That would be me. And you are?" she finally said and an 'Oh' escaped from Bosco's mouth before he managed to shut them.

"I'm Maurice Boscorelli. We talked over the phone."

"Oh, so this is the nice guy who wants to make up to a friend for doing something bad. I take it she's the friend." He nodded embarrassed when he saw Faith's surprised look. More than anything she was surprised that he had actually told the truth about doing something bad instead of making up an unbelievable story of just being an awfully nice guy trying to do a favor for someone. Though she did start to wonder what this favor was exactly.

"Come with me," she turned away, "Mr. Clooney is just on his lunch break and he'll be delighted to meet such an ardent fan. Ms. What was it? I'm sorry but I'm terrible with names." She turned to look back at Faith but she was standing on the same spot as before, her jaw sagging almost to the ground.

"Clooney?" she mumbled.

"Your last name is Clooney, too? What a coincidence," the woman chirped till Bosco cleared the situation. "Her name is Faith Yokas, she just didn't know she was going to meet George Clooney. It's a surprise."

"Blimey! You must really care about your friend if you were ready to arrange such a nice surprise for her."

By this time Faith too managed to close her mouth and she threw an astonished look in Bosco's direction. When their eyes met, her look softened into a warm smile. He smiled back, satisfied that she was happy with him for a change.

They followed Ms. Lampard to a trailer in front of which stood none other than Mr. Clooney himself. He was dressed in a dark suit, wearing sunglasses and his sun-tanned face was stretched into a grin while he was talking to a young girl and signing her notebook. Faith stopped suddenly and Bosco almost bumped into her.

"What?"

"I can't do this. I can't go see him."

"Stop it, Faith. Of course you're going to see him. Do you have any idea how much time I spent to arrange for this? And you're extremely lucky I got the idea for this when I read that he was filming here."

"Bosco, this is George Clooney we're talking about."

"I –know-. He's awfully hard to get to. Thankfully Ms. Lampard here was kind enough to do me a favor. Now, go on and talk to him."

He unceremoniously pushed her forward. Ms. Lampard smiled at their conversation.

"Don't worry, Ms. Yokas, he's a very nice man."

Faith gulped hard and walked after the woman, making sure that Bosco was close behind her. When they stopped, George Clooney turned around and smiled.

"What's up Carol?" he said and took his glasses off.

"Here's a fan who wanted to meet you," Carol winked and literally dragged Faith forward.

"Faith Yokas meet George Clooney."

Faith smiled and shook Clooney's hand.

"It's really nice meeting you, Faith."

Carol then introduced Bosco too and he awkwardly accepted the actor's hand. He wasn't feeling very comfortable in the vicinity of such a star but he wouldn't want to admit that, especially not with Faith around.

"So where are you two from?"

"New York." Faith's answer was brief and she seemed a bit winded from the excitement.

"Lucky for you we're filming here, then."

"Well, you see, I didn't know we were coming here. It was a surprise," Faith admitted and looked at Bosco when Clooney turned to him.

"Really?"

"I … owed her a favor. And since I knew how crazy she is about you …" Faith glared at him but then smiled sweetly when she turned to the other man. She was positively drowning in his brown eyes and she was convinced his strong chin and his wide smile was the sexiest thing she had ever seen on a man's face.

Bosco stood beside them for another ten minutes but they totally excluded him from their conversation. Well, actually he was excluded because he didn't know any of the movies they'd discussed. Besides, he kept gaping at Faith's knowledge about every movie Clooney had ever made. He had never known she was that much into movies. He was surprised at how fast Faith forgot about her nervousness and totally relaxed in the company of the movie star. Her eyes were sparkling and her cheeks had a special glow. He wished she would look that way at him.

When he decided he had enough of watching Faith getting all sweet on Clooney, he interrupted their conversation just to inform her he would wait for her in the diner across the street. She hardly noticed him talking and she merely nodded before turning away again. Bosco's shoulders slumped and he walked slowly to the diner, feeling defeated by his own brilliant plan.

He ordered a coffee and asked himself what he had started. Instead of flinging herself in his arms gratefully she now hardly even noticed him. He was beginning to believe he had done a big mistake.

He was drinking his third coffee in the past two hours and that didn't help him calm down when he observed Faith positively drooling over some hunky film star. Okay, it wasn't just any hunky film star, it was George Clooney himself. But still! He had no right to charm Faith right from under his nose.

He knew by now what was causing the churning in his stomach and the pain in his chest. She was his partner and his best friend … she was his love. He'd waited for so many years when she had been married to Fred and now when he finally got the chance … he was stupid enough to bring her in the vicinity of someone like George Clooney. She would never even look at him again after seeing that … guy. He should've known that wasn't a good idea but he only wanted to make up for destroying her beloved signed photo of her favorite actor. And now he started to realize what little good being nice to her did him.

His jealousy and the effect the consumed coffee had on him caused him to stand up and leave the diner. He walked straight to the couple and cleared his throat when he stopped behind Faith's back. She turned and looked at him with questioning eyes.

"What?" her voice showed a tinge of annoyance at the interruption.

"We should be going, it's getting late."

"Late? Bosco, it's four in the afternoon!" She looked at him like he just sprang a second head.

"I know what time it is, Faith. I just wanted to remind you you have kids at home you need to take care of," he said in an attempt to dissuade Clooney from taking any further interest in her.

She stared at him with her mouth open. How did he dare say something like that? And in front of George Clooney! Bosco looked at the other man and saw he was eyeing him with amusement. What the hell did he find funny here?

"Well, Faith, I better let you go or you'll have problems with your friend."

"I don't care about him," she waved her hand, glaring at Bosco. Bosco for his part was glaring at Clooney for making fun of him. His glare would be more effective had their eyes been on equal levels but as it was, Bosco had to tilt his head rather far back so he could look the tall handsome actor in the eyes.

"Anyway, it's been really nice meeting you. You're an amazing woman. It's nice knowing people like you are taking care of us." With that he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. Bosco snorted and Faith gave him a nasty look.

"Let's get going," he said when he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards his car without even saying goodbye to Mr. Clooney.

"Bosco, you're hurting me!" she complained.

"I didn't even have time to ask him for another signed photo," she whined after five minutes of their drive back home.

"You didn't have time? You talked to him for two hours! I'd think a short question like that would've fit into that amount of time, don't you think?" he sneered.

"We talked about other stuff," she practically yelled back, still upset with his behavior in front of George Clooney.

"Yeah? I don't think you managed to do much talking with all the drool coming from your mouth!"

"I did not drool," she emphasized each word separately. No matter how much she wanted to convince him that she wasn't all that impressed by George Clooney, she couldn't keep herself from blushing because in truth she was thrilled and very honored that an actor like him behaved so charmingly towards her. But the last thing she wanted was Bosco seeing that kind of behavior from her, after all she wasn't some fanciful teenager.

"Did too!"

"I did not!" she almost yelled again.

"I saw you, remember? I was sitting in the diner across the street. For two hours!" he pointed out the last bit resentfully.

"There is only one man I'd drool over and it's not George Clooney," she stated with a sudden smirk. She knew her words would have a strong effect on him.

"Don't tell me it's Brad Pitt!"

"Nope, it's someone I know personally but I'm not telling you who." Her grin now was even more satisfied. She had a feeling her statement was going to haunt him till she decided to end his misery and tell him the name. But she wasn't going to do that just yet. She had seen his looks thrown her way lately when he thought she wasn't watching. But she was. And it made her all tingly inside to know he was actually jealous.

"Oh, God, tell me it's not Fred. Cause that would be downright disgusting!" he made a face.

"No, it's not Fred."

"Oh," he all but whispered. And after a minute he gathered the courage to ask, "So you've met someone else then?"

She cast him a sideways glance and almost felt sorry for him because of what she was about to do. Almost.

"Nah, I've known him for awhile now. It's just … well, I've only recently realized my feelings towards him changed, you know. But it's still too soon to talk about it, maybe I'll tell you who he is when I know for sure he's returning my feelings."

She looked at him innocently, noticing how his face fell.

"I see," he muttered and that was the last thing he said till they reached her apartment building. He had had no idea that it wasn't Clooney who was threatening his chances with Faith. She had already been involved with someone else. So he was screwed again. Bosco sighed despondently before he managed to stop himself.

Faith already opened her mouth to say something but she changed her mind. It was his own fault he was so blind, so it was his own fault he was suffering too, she told herself. A smile curled her lips when she thought about what she was going to tell him when they came home.

When he stopped the car he didn't look at her, he was staring through the front window.

"You wanna come up?" she asked, her voice raspy from not talking for over half an hour.

He shook his head. "Nah, I'm tired, I'll just go home," he choked out.

"Oh, come on. Come up and have a beer with me, Bosco, I don't wanna be alone in the apartment. The kids are with Fred."

"Good thing you can use me when none of your lovers is around, huh?" he asked bitterly.

"Oh, don't be so surly. We'll have a beer and we'll talk. Come."

Finally he relented and followed her to her empty apartment.

She brought two beers into the living room, handing him one. He was uncommonly quiet and she had to admit that her words must've hurt him more than she had anticipated.

"Bosco, thank you for taking me to meet George Clooney. It was awfully nice of you," she whispered. "How did you get them to let us to the set, anyway?"

"Well, I used all my charm to get Carol to agree to it."

"So that's what that 'oh' was about when you saw her? You thought she was younger and prettier, I suppose," she giggled. He couldn't help but chuckle. "Too bad all your charm was lost on a middle-aged woman, huh?"

"Judging by her voice I did think she was younger, that's true. But it wasn't all lost, was it? I mean, you did enjoy seeing him?"

"Yeah, it was great. Thanks again, Bos."

"Well, I was the one who destroyed your photo. And I'm really sorry you didn't have time to ask him for another one. I was behaving stupidly again. I'll call back and see …"

"Shhh. It's okay. It's just a photo."

"Yeah, but it was personalized and it meant a great deal to you."

"Nah, not all that much really, I just wanted you to feel bad for destroying it."

He looked at her incredulously.

"So … you just pretended to be sad and pissed just to … and then I went through all the trouble to get you to see him and I had to watch you practically melting in front of him … and … Faith!" he cried accusingly.

She realized admitting that was a mistake. She needed to calm him quickly or her plans for the night would quickly fall through.

"I'd do it right now if I wasn't afraid you'd think I was disgusting."

"Huh?"

"I would start drooling if I wasn't afraid you'd think I was disgusting. But I gotta tell you I can hardly keep myself from doing it."

His face was still perplexed and he was speechless.

"It's you, I'd only ever drool over you." She made a tentative step towards him, now standing only two feet away. She took the bottle from his hands without him even noticing it and deposited both bottles on the coffee table.

Bosco slowly glanced over his shoulder as if afraid someone had suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind his back without him noticing it and Faith was now talking over his shoulder to that guy. But there was no one there, just Faith and he.

"Faith?"

"You can be such a blind fool sometimes, Bosco. I don't care about George Clooney or Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise. I mean they're sexy and all, and rich and famous and … well, they're all great …"

"Faith," he interjected again, this time a hint of a smirk forming on his lips. "You're drooling again."

"Am not. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you it's always been you and you only. None of them has your attitude and your temperament or your way of yelling 'jag-off'."

"Great! So you only like everything that's bad about me," he sighed sadly. "I can be a nice guy too, you know. I can be caring and loving and tender and stuff," he said softly as if begging her to believe him.

"Well, that's exactly what I'm looking forward to find out, Bos. Will you show me?" she asked innocently, sending shivers down his back when she touched his chest with her fingers.

He forgot how to use his voice so he only nodded before he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. He snaked his hands around her waist to pull her closer. A moan escaped her when she felt him flush against her body and his tongue caressing her lower lip.

When he deepened the kiss she was extremely grateful that his strong arms were holding her or she would've melted into an ungraceful pool of drool on the floor.