The Accidental Husband
This fic was suggested to me by Agathanancy98, and it's also based on the plot of the movie of the same name. I've never seen the movie, but I am familiar with its plot, so rest assured this will not just be a copy-paste of the movie's script with Jane and Lisbon's names inserted in! I'm going to try and keep it as original as possible.
This is my first fic in a long, long time – I finished writing my exams that will determine whether I get into medical school or not (and I passed – YAY!) and have, understandably, gone through a bit of a creative slump with it. Thanks so much to Agathanancy98 for giving me something to write about!
Disclaimer: Bruno Heller owns The Mentalist and its characters, the creator of The Accidental Husband owns the plotline. I'm just borrowing – promise. Oh, and Drew is my own character.
Today was it - the big day!
Well, not exactly the real big day; not the one that was really big in the opinion of most people. That was coming up in two months' time. But in her opinion, today was just as big and just as important. As a woman of the law, applying for the marriage license was a very big step.
They stepped into the city clerk's office hand in hand, smiling from ear to ear. She knew her new husband-to-be was probably not as psyched about today as she was, but she was grateful for his enthusiasm, despite it being for her sake.
"Hi." He greeted the clerk with a wide smile. "We'd like to apply for a marriage license please."
The clerk looked up with weary eyes and nodded, typing on his computer. "Names and identification, please."
"Andrew Miller and Teresa Lisbon." Drew smiled down at her with his soulful chocolaty eyes and shifted their driver's licenses through the slot to the clerk.
While the clerk continued typing, Teresa's mind wandered to the events that led to this.
X
"Cho, I need you to check up on that assistant, Daniel Smith. He looked kind of shady when I spoke to him, looked away every time he spoke about the victim."
"Will do, Boss." Cho said.
"And I'm getting coffee. Anyone want?"
Over the phone there was the muffled sound of conversation, followed by Cho reciting the respective orders. The coffee order in mind, she walked into the Starbucks. It being in the beginnings of lunch hour, the store was filled with bustling people. She frowned, not really feeling up to the crowds, but her fading energy from an already-long day and her desperate need for caffeine made her swallow and stand in the line anyway.
She was tapping her foot and her eyes constantly darted to her wristwatch. She's never been a patient woman, especially not when waiting for her caffeine fix was concerned.
She tried to busy herself by watching the people waiting in front of her. The crowd of people waiting to have their orders taken in front of her; some high-strung interns and assistants getting coffee for their bosses, students with backpacks full of books slung across their shoulders, lunching people of all walks of life.
Her eye caught a man in the front of the line. He was tall and handsome with dark hair. He turned around to look at the wall clock by the door and she was instantly mesmerized by the chocolaty, deep brown eyes that stared just past her. She felt a flutter in her stomach and quickly dismissed it, shaking her head to expel the embarrassingly teenage-like thoughts. Grown women do not fawn over strangers in coffee-lines, she scolded herself internally and looked away from him.
But as much as she tried to ignore him, her eyes kept darting back to the handsome stranger. Even as he received his tray of coffees and walked away, closer towards her until he...
Suddenly, the handsome stranger was falling forward (bumped by another waiting customer and accidentally tripped) and his coffee with him. One of the cups' top broke open mid-fall and its contents spilled out – onto her.
She yelled in pain as the hot coffee made contact with her, staining her shirt and burning her skin underneath it.
The stranger – significantly less handsome to her angry eyes now – looked up from where he fell on the floor with a horrified expression.
"Oh my-... I'm so sorry!" He sprang up and immediately ran to her, trying to dab the coffee off of her shirt with a napkin. The coffee hadn't been hot enough to burn her, but it certainly had been hot enough to hurt – and to make her pretty damn pissed.
"What the hell is your problem? What do you think, you can just go around throwing hot coffee at random people?" She yelled, slapping his hands away when he tried to dab the coffee on her chest. He looked truly sorry standing in front of her, his own sleeves and the knees of his pants stained from coffee where he fell, his handsome face contorted guiltily.
"I'm sorry, i-it was an accident, I swear... Are you hurt?" He asked. His brown eyes were filled with concern, and she felt her anger slip away.
"Yeah. Sorry, I guess I overreacted. It was an accident, you didn't do it on purpose." She said, embarrassed at her yelling before and begrudgingly took the napkin in his hand to try and salvage her ruined shirt. She'd have to stop by her apartment before returning to work to change. "I'm not hurt, it's okay."
"Well, I ruined your shirt. I'm really sorry." He said. He got in line behind her, waiting to get coffee again. "I'm Drew, by the way." He said, extending a hand.
She shook it, giving a small smile in return. "Teresa."
"Teresa... That's a really nice name." He said, smiling geniunely and making the embarrassing flutter return to her stomach. "I feel I should do something to make it up to you, Teresa. Maybe I could take you out for coffee sometime?"
She looked down at her coffee-stained shirt, then back at him.
"Or... something else. Dinner maybe?" He salvaged, smiling.
She couldn't help a smile from appearing on her face as well...
X
It was, by all definitions, a whirlwind romance. After many years of placing her job ahead of relationships, of flings and first dates that never became seconds, she had found a man that was practically perfect.
Drew was smart, handsome, stable; he worked as a financial advisor at a prestigious firm. He had a strong enough personality to match hers and not let her overpower him – something she had always needed in a man. Finally, she had found the man she had been looking for. When he proposed one warm summer night, only a few months after they had met and started their relationship, her logical side was overthrown by her heart and she said yes.
The last few months had been a blur. Drew had gotten them a wedding planner – thank heavens – and she'd been dragged through a seemingly endless line of bridal shops and restaurants and bakeries to taste, sample, pick and choose among different shades of cream and lavender, different kinds of vanilla sponge cake and every possible kind of wedding dress imaginable.
Now they were finally getting to a part that made sense to her, and she was on cloud nine.
The clerk, still typing at a snail's pace on his computer, looked up at them with glazed grey eyes. The eyes darted back to the computer screen, then back to them.
The detective in her felt a stroke of suspicion; the bride in her felt a surge of panic.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Well, it seems there's a problem with the license." The clerk said cryptically.
"What kind of problem?" Drew asked, a crease forming between his eyes.
"It seems that Miss Lisbon – or Mrs..? – is already married." He said, a mean kind of amusement glinting in his eyes.
Lisbon's mouth fell open. She looked to Drew who was looking down at her, his eyes wide and filled with confusion and betrayal.
"N-No..." She stuttered, then looked back to the clerk. "What do you mean I'm married? I've never been married!"
"Well, here it is." He said, turning the monitor so they could see. "On record. You're married."
"To who?" Drew asked, finding his voice again.
The clerk clicked on the keyboard and another window opened up on the monitor, showing the face and details of a blonde, curly-headed man with blue eyes.
"To a man named Patrick Jane."
Okay, so I realize this isn't at all the characterization of the characters in the movie, but like I said before, I'm only keeping the basic plot. The characters of the movie and the characters of Lisbon and Jane are just a little too different (career-wise especially). I hope I don't upset anyone by mucking up the plotline of their favorite movie or something...
Anyway, I'd love some feedback. As I said, it's my first time writing again in a bit and I'd love to hear what you guys think of it so far. Please review!
Much love, Zanny