Let Me Go Crazy On You
By The Cookie Cutter World.
- - -
"Will you go out with L?"
The question continued to resonate in her head and would not cease to bother her even as she was riding along the boulevard leading to the hotel where she was to meet L. It was Watari who asked her that question and although she was confused, she never bothered to question why she was picked among all the other women that the old man could ever think of.
Watari summoned her at the coffee shop of the hotel where he and L were staying. L just closed a case—the case that involved Beyond Birthday. The said criminal and ex-successor of L was already sent to a high-security prison. She and Aiber helped in the case, doing surveillance for L while Naomi Misora was in the apartment complex where B attempted to burn himself.
Watari explained to Wedy that L had missed out a lot because of his job as a detective who had been solving cases ever since he was 8 years old. Although L said that it was okay that he could not be like any other person in the world, Watari still wanted to let him experience being a normal person even for a short period of time. The first thing that entered his mind was to make L go out on a date.
"Will you go out with L?"
The question still continued to haunt her even as she stopped the engine of her motorbike and dismounted. She took off her helmet before handing the ignition key to the valet who seemed surprised to see her: an elegant woman in an expensive designer suit and wearing heels riding a motorcycle to a 5-star hotel in Los Angeles.
She casually walked inside the hotel as if nothing was bothering her. She never bothered to take off her sunglasses even though the lighting was a little dim. While she was inside the elevator, she thought that her situation was unusual. It was supposed to be a date and traditionally, it is the man's job task to pick up the lady from her home. In her case, she was the one who actually had to pick up her date from his hotel room! She wondered what her father and sisters would say if they found out about that. However, she had no intention of revealing anything to them about that date no matter what happens. After all, she was going to go out with L.
Wedy waited for Watari to answer the door. She just rang the buzzer to alert him that she was already there outside the door. While waiting, she wondered if she should have bought a bouquet of red roses and a box of chocolates for L. She imagined that if she did, it would really seem very weird. No matter how independent and carefree she seemed to be, she had to admit that the traditional values instilled in her by her family were still present in her, making her rather conservative in a way or two.
Watari opened the door for her and welcomed her with a smile. "Good evening, Miss Kenwood." He greeted. It surprised her that he actually referred to her with her real surname. "Good evening, Watari." She greeted. Although she knew his real name, she still preferred to call him by his alias for security purposes and for the reason that she had been accustomed to referring to him that way ever since she first met him.
Watari stepped aside to make way for L who was dressed in his usual clothes—that white long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans. She saw nothing different in his appearance except that he was wearing a pair of dirty and faded blue Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers. His hands were hidden securely behind his back and it was easy for Wedy to think that he was hiding something. "Here she is, L. I hope you'll have a good time out in the city." Watari told L.
Wedy forced a smile as she realized that they would look completely strange together. She knew she should have worn simple clothes like a shirt and jeans but she was not accustomed to sporting that kind of style. "Hello, L. Ready to go?" she asked.
He nodded as he took a step forward, revealing to her the presents that he had been hiding behind his him since she arrived: a bouquet of red roses and a heart-shaped box of chocolates.
She was at a loss for words. She never expected that a person like L would do something like that. She mentally counted the number of times that other boys had attempted to give her such gifts at any occasion they could find to win her attention. She recalled refusing all of them. Her father even accused her of having very high standards when it comes to men and warned her that she would eventually become an old maid with that attitude of hers.
"For you, Wedy." The way L spoke was similar to a shy schoolboy giving a gift to a girl he had been admiring from a far.
Wedy was nervous as she reached out and accepted the gifts while reminding herself that Watari telling her to go out with L was like asking her to play a pretend game with him. Her hands trembled a little but she hoped that L and Watari did not notice that. "Th-thank you, L." she said.
L bowed down his head and lowered his gaze to the ground as he mindlessly placed his right thumb by his lower lip while his other hand went inside the left front pocket of his jeans. Wedy wondered if he was feeling alright. At the same time, she was wondering if there were really chocolates inside the box or if L had eaten them already.
"Let's go." He said before leading the way.
Wedy turned to Watari with a clueless look on her face. Watari just urged her to go. "I did some further background research on you and I found out that this is your first date, too. Just have fun and take care. There's no curfew." He said, knowing that L had already gone to the elevator located at the end of the hallway.
Although stunned by what he had revealed to her, she still wondered how he was able to find out about that little fact about her. She thought that maybe he contacted her family or something.
She breathed in and took off her sunglasses. Watari saw the uncomfortable look in her eyes even though she had a sweet smile plastered on her face. "That is why I'm nervous." She admitted before turning to L who was already standing by the elevator and looking at her with his large dark eyes.
The two of them went down to the underground parking area and she quietly followed him as he made his way to a black 2002 Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph. She has observed the vehicles Watari has driven before and it was the first time she saw that car. She wondered if it was newly-purchased or it has been around for a long time already and she just failed to catch a glimpse of it.
Nevertheless, the events were making her heart was beat fast. The adrenaline rush that this first date was giving to her was very different from the excitement she could always experience from speed when riding a motorbike and it was definitely different from the thrill she would usually experience while on-the-job as a spy or back when she was robbing the rich. She waited for L to throw her the keys to the car so she can drive but he eventually went to the front passenger seat and opened the door for her. "Get in." he told her.
She did not move. She observed the look on L's face. He neither seemed excited nor bored. He just looked… casual. Well that so-called "date" was only supposed to be like a game of pretend, so why does she feel as if it's the real thing? "Chill out, girl. Maybe it's because you have never gone out on a date before that's why you're having the jitters right now." She thought silently before finally obliging to get inside the car.
L shut the door for her and she watched as he casually walked over to the driver's side of the vehicle. What bothered Wedy was the look on his face. It made her feel as if she was going out with the most insensitive person in the world. So did she imagine the shy schoolboy persona he exuded earlier when he handed her the bouquet and the box of chocolates? Or was it all real and he was just acting?
And speaking of the box of chocolates, she decided to open it to inspect the contents. Much to her surprise, there were actually chocolates inside the box. And they were not just ordinary chocolates that can easily be bought in convenience stores or groceries. They were Godivas.
She was interrupted when L opened the door and got inside. "Buckle up." He told her as he shut the door and started the engine.
Soon enough, he was driving the car in the streets. She did not even imagine that somebody as sheltered and over-protected as L would be able to learn how to drive. A song was playing from the radio of the car and he discreetly bobbed his head to the tune when a red light halted them before reaching an intersection. "Do you like this band?" he asked.
She mentally recalled the name of the band performing the song. "Heart? Yeah, they're cool." She answered casually, trying to pretend like there was nothing wrong although she was wondering why he suddenly asked about the band.
"Do you know this song?" he asked her.
The song was Crazy On You but it took her a couple of moments before she was able to answer his question.
He turned his gaze to her and then lowered it to the box of chocolates on her lap. She followed his gaze and saw where he was staring at. She flashed him a sweet smile and opened the box for him. "Care for one? I'm sure you want to eat them." She said.
He just stared at the chocolates, counting them quickly just before the traffic light switched to green. He shifted gears and stepped on the gas pedal. "No thank you. They're for you." He said.
What? Did he just refuse her offer? And to think that she offered him chocolates. Godiva chocolates. Sweets. Expensive chocolates that are really made from the finest ingredients. And he just shunned them away.
She began to think that she was in the Twilight Zone.
L drove in silence and Wedy could only wonder where they were going. She was not exactly the talkative type either so she just sat in silence, observing the city lights and the other cars through the dark tinted window at her right side.
"Your father tells me that you haven't gone out on a single date in your life. I find that hard to believe." He told her.
She was surprised that he actually decided to speak up already. Aside from that, she was surprised that he actually spoke to her father but could not find the words to ask how he managed to do that. Instead, she just looked at him casually and shook her head. "Well it's true."
"A pretty lady like you hasn't gone out on a single date in her life. It's very unusual. It's enough for me to think that maybe your gender orientation isn't really…"
She laughed and shook her head, cutting off his sentence. "I ain't a lesbian, if that's what you're trying to say. I just got high standards for the men that I want to date."
L stepped on the brakes, which surprised her because the action was too sudden. "We're here." He announced.
Although stunned, she looked outside and saw that he had stopped in front of a posh restaurant.
Two valets opened the doors for them. Wedy decided to leave the chocolates and the flowers inside the car before she got out and waited for L by the entrance of the restaurant. L spoke to the valet who was in charge of parking his car but she could not make out what he was telling the man. Afterwards, he walked over to Wedy and they were greeted by the doorman. She thought it was bizarre that they were dining at an expensive restaurant with a strict dress code and nobody seemed to notice the way L was dressed.
As soon as they were seated in a secluded area in the restaurant and have ordered their meals, L decided to continue their discussion that he had interrupted earlier, "About the high standards you were telling me about earlier… does that mean that I passed them?"
She noticed a waiter arriving with a bottle of champagne from her peripheral vision. She waited until he poured the contents into their glasses and left before answering the question. "This is like a pretend-date so I decided to play along and go out with you."
He stared at her with his large dark eyes and it made her feel uneasy because he did not even bother to blink. "Pretend?" he asked.
"Yes." She answered casually as she took her glass and raised it to him. "Cheers." She said before taking a sip.
L kicked off his shoes and propped up his feet on the chair. Soon, he was seated in his usual way. "But Watari said that it's real."
She frowned. "What?" Did Watari trick her or is this one of L's little mind games again? She observed his behavior and recalled the way he had propped up his feet onto the chair. In the years she had known him, she already made her own observation regarding his behavior. He would sit like that whenever he was required to think. She just smirked. "You're lying." She pointed out.
He kept his silence and stared back at her with a straight face. "Believe what you want." He said.
Now she was confused. Was L lying or Watari was the one who lied to her?
"Why would you think that I am lying, Wedy?" he asked her.
She put down her glass on the table and crossed her arms. "Because Watari told me that this is like a pretend-date to make you feel like a normal person and then here you are telling me that you think it's real. Then," she pointed at his knees. "You propped up your feet on the chair, which means that you're thinking deeply right now."
"But I always sit like this."
"Well then it's either Watari lied or you're the one lying."
L was quiet for a few moments, waiting for her to say something else. When she did not, he lowered his gaze to the empty soup bowl before him and focus his gaze on its features: white, somewhat deep, has a small chip on one side that was almost unnoticeable at first glance… and he looked up at her again with his large eyes. "Would I lie to you, Wedy?"
- - -
Wedy was not in the mood for mind games with L. She knows how hardcore he can get when it comes to those things so her first attempt to change the subject was to start discussing about Beyond Birthday, which L eventually shunned off by saying that there was nothing left to discuss about B.
So Wedy eventually introduced another topic by the time their orders arrived: con-artists like Aiber. "How did you catch him again?" she asked.
L just replied while attempting to twirl the pasta around his fork. "…You already know the answer to that." He took in his first forkful of spaghetti pasta with seafood marinara sauce and concentrated on the taste. His gaze seemed to dart all over the room as he chewed on his food. If he had eyebrows, Wedy could have sworn he frowned.
As soon as he swallowed, he stuck out his tongue and he really looked disgusted. "It lacks something," he said as he snapped his fingers to call the waiter.
The waiter immediately approached and L whispered something to him. Part of her job as a spy made her learn how to eavesdrop with ordinary hearing without being obvious. Eventually, she heard him tell the waiter, "Could you give me some sugar?"
The waiter returned with a small jar of sugar with a teaspoon. Wedy watched as L scooped up a teaspoonful of white sugar and scattered it all over his seafood marinara pasta. She observed him carefully as he mixed the sugar with his food and then tasted it. He smiled. "Perfect." He said as he lifted his plate, offering some to Wedy. "Would you like to taste?" he asked.
She shook her head, refusing to imagine how it would be like to taste super sweet seafood marinara. "No, thank you. I'm okay with my chicken pesto." She said. Although she thought twice about her refusal when she saw his lips form a slight pout before proceeding to eat his food again.
She just turned back to her own food but she would like to speak more to L about various things just to keep him talking. Eventually, she thought of another topic that L seemed to have predicted she would bring up, so before she could actually speak up, he already told her, "Please don't bring up any more topics about criminals and cases I have solved in the past. I prefer to discuss other things with you."
She was stunned that he actually knew what she was going to ask him, which had something to do with the most challenging case he has ever attempted to solve in his lifetime. "Well, so what do you want to talk about?"
He looked at her with a serious gaze just as he had a fork inside his mouth. He spoke in a rather muffled way because of the fork and the food inside his mouth. "…something more about yourself."
She almost laughed when she heard that but she kept her composure and just smiled. "Why bother? I'd assume you already found out everything you need to know about me already when you were investigating my crimes. I know you did a lot of background checks on me, too." she pointed out.
"Then tell me something that I still do not know about you." He said.
She pursed her lips and looked at her food thoughtfully before smiling. "Okay. And tell me more about yourself, too." she said.
"But nothing about crimes, cases, or anything work-related." He added.
"Deal." She said.
And there was silence that followed soon after. Anybody who would care to spy on their make-believe date would easily think that it's either they have nothing else to say about themselves or they simply refuse to say anything to each other in fear that secrets could be revealed.
They sat there in silence for 30 more minutes just eating their dinner without saying anything. That scenario went on even after they have had their dessert and L paid the bill. However, just as they were already outside and waiting for the valet to arrive with L's Rolls-Royce, he asked her a question that made her heart jump and gave her goosebumps. "Do you think Aiber is attractive?"
Wedy could not help but make a face due to disgust. "Ew! Why would you even ask something like that?" she demanded.
L just looked at her in wonder with his wide dark eyes. "…because you're almost always assigned in missions with him. I'd assume that you're already attracted to him or something… even though he's married."
She shook her head in disgust and crossed her arms. "Please. If he claims he can charm all the ladies with his sweet-talking, then I ain't one of those ladies." She said.
L placed the tip of his index finger on his lower lip as he listened to her with an amused smile on his face. "…What about me? Do you like me?" he asked.
She looked at him in wonder while trying to interpret the way he was looking at her. She did not know whether to treat the question as a joke or not, but part of her was already panicking because she realized that it was one question that she wished he would never ever ask. "I prefer to keep the answer to myself, thankyouverymuch…" she muttered. Unfortunately for her, a bus with a noisy muffler passed by and its noise drowned her voice. Because of that, L was not able to understand a single word. "Huh?" he reacted, squinting. He even failed to read her lips as she spoke because he was mainly looking in her eyes.
She wished she would not repeat herself anymore but what else can she do to divert his attention? She wondered if the old-fashioned "hey look up, it's a bird!" trick would work for him but she doubted that it would because she always knew him to be smarter than the average Joe. Still, she tried, but did it in another way. She took advantage of the fact that L's gaze were glued on her eyes so she looked past his left shoulder, widened her eyes, and opened her mouth in a silent gasp as if surprised by something. Much to her amusement, he looked away and turned around to check on what made her react like that.
…
The valet arrived with L's car and Wedy guffawed. L turned back to her and looked at her disappointedly while impatiently tapping his teeth with the nail of his thumb. "That wasn't very nice, Wedy." He mumbled before walking over to the driver's side to tip the valet. Wedy realized that he did not even open the door for her anymore. She felt a bad for herself and guilty for what she did.
L drove at high speed along the highway going back to the hotel, seemingly not caring about the fact that if he gets caught by the police, he could get a traffic violation for speeding. Wedy could tell he was still ticked off by what she did; but she could not find the words to tell him to be calm and slow down. She simply hated dealing with the police so as much as possible, she wanted to avoid any situation that would require her to speak with them—specifically, situations where she can be arrested or reprimanded for anything that is against the law. She just sat in silence while fidgeting with her fingers and keeping her eyes on the box of chocolates. Hey, maybe a piece of Godiva would make him feel better. As she opened the box, L made a sharp turn to the left. Wedy wondered if he did that as a form of revenge to her for what she did to him. She noticed that he pulled over so she looked at the side mirror and saw a policeman riding his motorcycle approaching them.
She clenched her jaw and looked at L while wondering if he has a driver's license that is valid in the United States or at least, in California. "L," she began.
He did not seem to be interested in what she had to say. Instead, he rolled down his window and anticipated the arrival of the police officer.
"L, is this your way of getting back at me for tricking you?" she asked bluntly while looking at him suspiciously.
The police officer arrived and peered inside the vehicle. "Good evening, folks." And he turned to L. "…May I see your license, please?" he asked.
L reached for his pocket, pulled out what looked like a driver's license.
The police officer inspected the license before returning it to L. "Well I'm sorry for ruining your evening, Mr. Weller. But I'm gonna have to give you a speeding ticket."
"It's alright, sir. I was just driving here with my wife." L replied.
The police officer glanced over at Wedy and then looked at L. "You sure look like you're not from here, sir." He said while writing the details on the ticket.
"I moved here from England so I can be with my American wife. Isn't she lovely?" L asked.
Wedy just kept a straight face as she tried her best not to face the police officer. However, she could not help but wonder whose driver's license L was using or if it simply belonged to another one of his fake identities. She thought that Watari was very good at faking legal documents for L.
"You're from England? Whoa, that's like, cool, man." The police officer said.
Much to Wedy's surprise, L just shifted gears and stepped on the gas, speeding away from the scene.
"L, what are you doing?" she exclaimed in panic. Oh they're really going to get into big trouble this time. She could not explain the look on L's face—it was bordering from deranged to extremely happy. She began to wonder if he thought that it was all a game. She could hear the siren of the police officer's motorcycle wailing from far behind them. She would like to tell him to go faster but at the rate that he's going, she figured that there was no need for her to do that anymore.
Eventually, they reached a secluded road and he decided to step on the brake just as he was certain that they were able to ditch the police.
Wedy did not realize that she was panting too hard until L looked at her, smiled, and then said, "Did you enjoy that?" He simply enjoyed the look on her face: a mixture of distraught, shocked, and mortified. Her hair was also disheveled because L failed to roll up the window when he sped away from the police officer.
Wedy slowly calmed down and her breathing gradually returned to normal as she realized that it had been a fun ride. She let out a soft chuckle that turned into giggles and eventually, into laughter that reflected her delight at what just happened. "You should try that with a motorbike. It's more fun that way." She pointed out with a wink.
L just observed the way her eyes danced as she continued to laugh. "I know you like speed so…" he looked outside at the night sky and observed the stars and the full moon. He realized that he hasn't seen the evening sky for a long time already because he was always confined inside closed rooms or he would simply refuse to look outside the window.
He was interrupted when he felt her fist playfully hit his arm. He turned back to her and observed the solemnity of her facial expression. The highway was dark and streetlamps were distanced far apart from one another so he could only rely on the moonlight and the headlights of the Rolls-Royce as his means for lighting. Shadows played across her face and he thought her eyes were illuminated more by the little light they had.
"How'd you know I like speed?" she asked before offering him a piece of Godiva chocolate. L shifted his gaze to the chocolate being held by her right thumb and index finger. He looked at her again. "It's just an observation." And he leaned forward, taking in the chocolate in his mouth. However, his mouth enclosed not just over the chocolate but also around her fingers that were holding it. It shocked her at first, fearing that he might bite her; but she could not move.
L reached for her wrist and held her steadily. She breathed in, observing the way he closed his eyes as if savoring relishing the sweetness of the chocolate as it melted slowly inside his mouth. As for Wedy, she was beginning to feel uncomfortable yet for some reason, she allowed herself to just sit still and wait for him to finish. She could only feel the warmth of his mouth around her fingers and the feeling of the chocolate melting on it.
And L withdrew.
She stared at her fingers and found no stains of chocolate on it.
L was licking his lips while observing the stunned look on her face. Much to his amusement, he wondered if she knew that her lower lip was trembling; but instead of pointing it out, he decided to turn away and open the door. "Let's get out of here before the police officer finds us." He said as he got out.
Wedy sat still as she relived the events in her head. Again, she felt like she just entered the Twilight Zone. She shakily made her way out of the car as she struggled to regain her composure. "How are we going to return to your hotel?" she asked, trying hard to conceal the discomfort in her voice as she followed L who was already walking a bit far ahead of her. "And don't tell me you're leaving this car out here?" she demanded in disbelief.
"It's an old Rolls-Royce model so it's nothing." He explained nonchalantly.
She blinked. "L, it's a luxury car!"
"So?"
"How many people are willing to kill or steal for something like that? And you're just leaving it in a deserted highway?"
"I can buy another one if I want to anyway. You can drive that but the police is going to catch you." He reasoned.
She caught up with him. "So now we're going to walk?" she asked in exasperation. "…you know, I don't know what's going on in your mind but you didn't have to drive off from that police officer who's about to give you a speeding ticket."
He looked at her. "I've always wanted to feel what it's like to be… ordinary."
Ordinary? What is he trying to do this time, play another mind game with her?
"This is probably the first and the only night I can ever go out without Watari. And this is probably the first and last time I can experience something like this. I've seen and read things about dates-gone-wrong and I thought it could be fun. See, what we've done tonight is like a little bit of everything: flowers and chocolates from the man to the lady, dinner at an expensive restaurant, something goes wrong, and then we're suddenly like a couple who are being chased-after by the authorities, then we spend time inside the car with a little bit of intimacy. Isn't that fun?"
Wedy did not know what to say or how to react. However, one thing was certain already. This was all L's plan and not Watari's. "You dirty little…" she began, feeling a little enraged by what he did. However, he raised a finger at her in an attempt to make her stop talking. "Admit that you enjoyed it, Wedy." He said.
She stopped walking and so did he. She could feel a wave of mixed emotions taking over her. She did not know if she wanted to cry, scream, laugh, throw a fit, beat him up, or push him away. All she could do was look at him helplessly as if she had just lost a game to him. Again. She could remember feeling that way the first time he had her arrested and interrogated.
L was thinking of the same thing. The way she gazed him reminded him of the first time he caught and interrogated her for her crimes.
"But why me?" she asked.
He looked away and pulled out his mobile phone to call Watari and asked him to fetch them. Wedy predicted that he would never answer the question anymore. He was always like that.
- - -
Wedy and L sat in the backseat of Watari's Bentley Arnage while the old man drove quietly.
Watari observed the distance between the two and could not help but take a deep breath and let out a disappointed sigh. "You're like two children who had a quarrel over spilled milk and soggy cookies back in the orphanage." He pointed out.
Wedy refused to move as she continued to gaze out at the window. "He's the one who spilled the milk and made the cookies very soggy, Watari." She answered stiffly while maintaining a straight face, although her voice trembled towards the very end.
Watari arrived at Wedy's hotel and urged L to walk her back to her room. Wedy did not want to show any disrespect to the old man so she just played along and let L walk her back to her hotel room. After all, it's part of that pretend-date: the gentleman walks the lady back to her house. In her case, it's her hotel room.
When they got to her room on the 20th floor, Wedy rummaged through her purse to find her card key. "My motorbike is still in your hotel. I think I'll just pick it up in the morning." She said. She whipped out her card key from her purse and just as she was able to open her door with it, L reached for her wrist and forced her to face him. It happened very fast and she was not able to resist—he pinned her against the doorway and he locked his lips with hers.
She dropped her things on the floor, feeling as if her insides were melting. She did not know how long that kiss lasted but just as she gained the guts to relish the moment, he pulled away. "I beat you again." he said.
She was stunned when she heard that.
He raised his index and middle finger at her, forming a "V" to signify "Victory". "See, it's part of our date, too. We fight, I walk you to your door, we kiss, we make up." He explained with a satisfied smile.
She breathed in and shook her head. "For once, L, can't you stop with your games and just make this is…" she stopped herself from going further. She just clenched her jaw and rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry. Goodnight." She said before turning away.
"You didn't answer my question yet," he told her just before she stepped inside her room. She frowned. There were so many questions already in her head that she could not remember specifically the question that he was talking about.
"Do you like me?"
She just turned to face him again with a tired smile on her face. "Good night, L." she said before closing the door. She took a deep breath while shuddering in the process. She pursed her lips and then licked them. She could still taste some sweet residue on them. "Yes I do." She mumbled before she moved away from the door.
As for L, when he got back to the car, Watari noticed the sadness in his eyes. As soon as they were on the road again, he pointed out to L, "Well, this was all your plan. It seemed so perfect but how come you still look like that?"
L propped up his feet on the seat while trying to avoid looking at Watari. "She didn't answer my question." He leaned back against the seat let his head fall back until he could stare at the ceiling completely. "She thought I was still playing." He said disappointedly.
- - -
The End.
Author's Note: I wanted to write an LxWedy so here it is. The title is inspired by Heart's "Crazy On You". Well it was one crazy night for L and Wedy so…