Title: The Morning After
By: InuGhost2.0
Date: 10/30/10
Synopsis: It's the morning after episode 13.1 All is calm and peaceful at Leena's Bed and Breakfast until trouble arises from a decision Claudia made.
A/N: I've been working on this for the last month or so. Special thanks to KJay99 for betaing. Let me know what you think, and if I should write another chapter for this or not.
Disclaimer: Last time I checked my name wasn't Jack Kenny or Andrew Cosby. As a result I'll never own the rights to anything that appears in this. Which is probably a good thing considering my difficulties in seeing things through to the very end.
Yawning loudly and running a hand through her hair Claudia stumbled her way into the dining room of the Bed and Breakfast.
"Morning Claudia. Rough night?" Myka asked the younger girl as she took in her disheveled appearance.
Claudia's appearance was rather different from normal. Walking into the dinning room wearing aqua silk pajamas with the top rather messily buttoned, rather than her normal shorts and tank top, her normally perfect hair was somewhat disheveled and was partially sticking up in the back. Though regardless of her appearance she was smiling.
"New pajamas Claud?" Pete queried around his mouthful of cereal earning him a disgusted look from Myka.
"Hmm…oh yeah. I got them just last week. Like them?"
"They look good on you Claudia." Myka began "Though aren't they a little big?"
As she sat down at the table the shirt slipped down baring one of her shoulders. With seemingly practiced ease Claudia pulled it back up over her shoulder. "It's a little big, but I'm hopeful that it will shrink a little in the wash. Besides I still have some growing to do so better that I grow into it as opposed to out of it." She finished with a sly smile on her face and her eyes twinkling as though enjoying a private joke.
Claudia was spared further questioning as Artie walked into the room whistling a cheerful tune and carrying a plate full of waffles. As several sets of disproving eyes fixated on the senior agent he at least had the decency to stop whistling as he set the plate down with a guilty look on his face. "I know, I know. Leena would be chastising me for this, but what she does not know is best for me."
"Artie there is a reason you've been on that diet for a month. If you don't start losing weight then who knows what lengths she'll go to ensure you lose weight." Myka grabbed a donut out of the box set in the middle of the table and set it on her plate for after she finished her breakfast.
"Which is something that I will concern myself with when she returns in three days." Artie said smugly as he sat down at the table and dug into his waffles.
Before Artie could take his first bite a loud chime sounded throughout the Bed and Breakfast. While Pete and Myka look around in confusion uncertain where the chime was Artie grumbled loudly as he got up from the table. "Figures…first day in months that Leena's out of town, and we suddenly have people ringing our front doorbell."
As Artie headed out of the room Claudia pulled a box of cereal over towards her along with a bowl. At that moment Artie walked back into the room with a confused look on his face.
"Myka, is Dr. Fargo still here?"
"Fargo? He left sometime yesterday after he finished upgrading the Warehouse. Remember?"
"Is something wrong with Douglas?" Claudia queried a spoonful of cereal held aloft in her hand and dribbling milk on the table seemingly completely forgotten by the tech geek.
"No, nothing is wrong. It is just a minor misunderstanding. Ms. Lupo, his head of security, claims that she's here to pick him up. I better let her know that he's most certainly not here." Turning around Artie headed back outside.
As Pete and Myka returned to their respective breakfasts Claudia set her spoon back into the cereal bowl untouched. Turning Claudia stared out the window at nothing in particular as she was lost in thought. As usual, when her mind was elsewhere, she nervously fiddled with the spoon she still held onto.
The faint argument occurring outside picked up in volume as Artie opened the door and walked back into the Bed and Breakfast. Shutting the door behind him he rubbed at his eyes as he felt the first painful twinge of a headache coming on. As he walked back into the Kitchen Pete and Myka's stopped whatever conversation they were having and turned to look at him. "She's fairly adamant that he's still here. Supposedly he called last night telling her he'd chosen to stay the night and just drive back in the morning."
"And that is what has pissed her off so badly?" Pete asked as he snagged Myka's donut off her plate while she wasn't looking.
"Well that and being forced to spend the night in a Motel 6 sleeping on a broken mattress."
"That doesn't make sense. I spent two hours last night cleaning up the room he rented, because someone couldn't be torn away from his football game to come and help me like he promised." Myka delivered a swift kick to Pete's ankle causing her partner to cry out in pain as he bent down under the table to cradle the injury. "Don't ever steal my donut again Pete."
"Claudia you helped him move his stuff out yesterday afternoon. Did he say anything about going anywhere?" Receiving no answer from the redhead Artie sighed took a deep breath and leaned down till he was scant inches away from her ear "Claudia!"
"Yow!" Claudia's nearly jumped out of her chair as she sat bolt upright. Losing her grip on the spoon the utensil went sailing into the air, hit the wooden floor with a low CLANG and skidded completely out of the room. Turning Claudia glared at the older man. "No, Doug did not tell me he was going anywhere. Besides he doesn't have a car so he couldn't have gone someplace even if he wanted to." Done with the conversation Claudia turned back to her cereal losing herself in her thoughts once more.
"I better go out and tell that Lupo person that he most certainly is not here before she makes a scene and draws a large crowd." Artie tiredly said. Casting a forlorn look at his cooled off waffles he made to exit the room.
"Hold on Artie I'll do it." Pete bravely volunteered rising from his seat. "I'm done with my Breakfast anyway so you go ahead and enjoy yours." Pushing past the senior agent Pete headed out to the driveway to confront the irate woman.
"Thanks Pete." Artie called out as the door slammed shut behind the agent. "Sucker." Artie smiled as he sat back down at the table pleased that he had successfully tricked Pete into dealing with a problem even Ms. Frederic's would not have wanted to handle.
As Artie dug into his waffles Myka simply rolled her eyes and smiled as the angry cries from outside became more heated as Pete's voice joined in with the yelling. Sipping at her coffee Myka went back to her paper while still keeping a part of her attention focused on what was taking place outside.
Claudia seemed particularly absorbed in her cereal but had yet to take a bite of it. She appeared to be lost in her own thoughts and unaware of the conversation taking place around her.
An uncomfortable silence filled the room broken only when music began filling the air from an unknown source. It took a few seconds for Artie to recognize the tune as the opening theme to Buffy.
"Claudia, is that your cell phone?" Looking over at the still drowsy girl Myka was beginning to become worried about her.
Looking confused Claudia took a moment to ponder her friends question before realization dawned in her eyes. "Huh…oh wait yeah that's me!" Digging through both pants pockets Claudia's fingers mercilessly hunted down the device. Feeling a fingertip brush against it Claudia's face took on a triumphant grin as she yanked the phone out and slammed it down on the kitchen table putting an end to its musical tone. With quiet restored she picked up her glass of juice and took a drink.
At that moment a loud angry voice filled the kitchen. "Fargo where the Hell are you! If you don't get your butt out here within the next five seconds then I swear I'm going to shoot you again!"
Artie franticly scanned the room searching for the origin of the angry voice. Finally his eyes settled on the innocent looking phone set on the table that had somehow managed to be switched over to speaker when Claudia had set it down. As he stared at the phone it finally dawned on him that it was not Claudia's phone. Unless of course she had gotten a new one within the last twenty-four hours with a completely new ring tone to go along with her new pajamas.
As the woman on the other end of the line continued her angry ranting and violent threats all eyes were on the warehouse's resident tech genius. Her face almost as red as her hair Claudia rested her elbows on the table as she buried her face in her hands and slowly shook her head from side to side in utter embarrassment.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this story. Please let me know what you thought of it, and if I should continue it or not. Also feel free to let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to answer them. Oh and remember reviews make authors happy and happy authors are productive authors.