'The Annie Arc'
Episode two: 'The Clash of the Titanium Blondes'
Written by Bluemoonshampoo and Sandra
Cue: Al Jarreau and the theme tune...
On this particular morning, inside the municipal building which housed Blue Moon Investigations, the elevator ping seemed to reflect the way Maddie Hayes was feeling - it spat out a sound of alarm rather than a gentle reminder that you had safely reached your floor of business. Her pumps, rather than gliding proudly up the corridor, stomped furiously - leaving indents in the upholstery. Her face was flushed, hair in dissaray and her eyes seethed dangerously. A business man from the same floor, holding his morning coffee and paper, literally had to swerve out of her way - this blonde ball of fire was best left to the outer fielders.
Unceremoniously, she pushed open the door to the Blue Moon office so that it left a permanent mark on the walls.
'Morning Miss Hayes,' tried Agnes, knowing that this battle was already lost.
'Grrrrr,' she growled in response, causing Agnes to shrink back behind her desk.
She grabbed her post from Miss DiPesto's out stretched-arm and reached for the newspaper, this was all in one fluid movement so she need not stop or alter her course. She bypassed her own office; barging straight into David's without knocking. She knew he would already be in. She hated that she knew this.
'I hate this!' she screeched as she bombarded him with a cannon volley of pent up feelings.
'Fine, I'll come in late from now on - God, there's no pleasing some people!'
'No, I hate this!'
'Maddie, do you wanna go out and come back in again and try making more sense this time? I'm not clear on your motivation for this scene, and well, it's a shot in the dark here but neither are they (he motions to the readers with a slight raise of one eye-brow).'
'Grrrr!' she growled.
'Now Maddie, what have I told you about not eating breakfast? It's the most important meal of the day...'
'Cut the crap, Addison!'
'That's generally what your roughage is for,' he fully realised he was playing with fire here but humour was always his defence in these tricky, head-on situations.
'She's my cousin!' shouted Maddie, the colour rising to her cheeks.
The penny dropped with a thud. 'Annie? Is this what this is all about?' he asked with a tinge of disbelief in his voice. Could this possibly be?
'Yes, Annie. I don't care if you go out there and give our number to every two-bit whore this side of LA but this is my cousin, David, and I don't take kindly to you grazing on this side of the fence!' She put her hands firmly on her hips in a menacing gesture.
Interesting, Blondie. This is Very interesting.
He raised both hands, as if in defense: 'Wait a minute, are you suggesting that Annie...'
Maddie was clearly mad. Her finger shot through the air at him like a poisoned arrow. 'No, I am not, David! I am suggesting that I find this distasteful.'
'Oh, okay,' he said sarcastically. 'Well, if you say so, Maddie Hayes... after all, you're the one who calls all of the shots around here.'
'...And whilst we're on the subject, can I also ask you to take your personal business elsewhere, rather than carry it out on my lawn in front of God and all my neighbours - it's embarrassing!' she spat the words out in a nauseated tone.
'Oooh,' he purred in a low voice. 'You saw that, huh?' So that was indeed your stare I felt on the back of my neck yesterday, Blondie!
'I saw that uh-huh!' Maddie's eyes opened wide and fired off lightning bolts, but beneath all that fury David could clearly detect... Hurt?
'Maddie, what do you want me to say here exactly? I'm a grown man: I've had my growth spurt, I've got all of my body hair and last time I looked I...'
'There's such a thing as discretion, David.'
He shook his head in disapproval and enjoyed her obvious emotional havoc. 'I can't believe you tried to put both of those words into one sentence, Maddie - shame on you!'
'I'm being serious!' she snapped.
'When are you not?'
'David,' she took a deep breath and tried desperately, and in vain, to take the high note out of her voice, 'I appreciate that you are unable to control certain aspects of your personality and I've grown to accept that about you, but would you please leave my cousin out of this.'
He was beginning to feel irritated by this recriminating tone in her voice – how dare she judge him after insisting that they were just... pals? – He decided to hit this particular ball back. 'Can I just interrupt you, Maddie?'
'Why not? You have turned it into an art form.'
'Maddie, let me remind you that this is none of your goddamn business,' as the words left his mouth, they felt uncomfortably familiar and left a bad taste. They were the words Maddie had used on him when he was riled up about Sam Crawford. Regardless, he ploughed ahead; it was easier than explaining what he had just expressed. 'I don't see the problem, Maddie! I'm supposed to be moving on with my life, you took great delight in telling me how over me you were and how over you I was supposed to be. So here I am, Maddie, doing, as usual, exactly what you want!' He stuttered on the last word and looked angry about it. 'Is it just because it's Annie?'
'Yes,' Maddie snapped, not sure why she had just told him this – she would never be able to explain it. She didn't even understand it herself.
'Why?' he shot back. 'Why should it make an iota of difference to you? You don't want me, but I guess that also means that no other woman is allowed me either! Come on, face it, Maddie - you couldn't stand to see any other woman in my arms!'
Maddie was speechless and could only manage to stare at him like she wanted a demon from hell to appear and drag him down into its murky depths. He could smell it. There was that green-eyed snake slithering out of nowhere.
'That's it, isn't it? You're jealous! That would explain your psychotic behaviour in the restaurant last night...'
'My what?'
'You heard me. I couldn't work it out. Now I know!'
'Know what? That your IQ score has always been lower than the average human being's? You figured out that your brain isn't located in your head, it's...'
'Low shot, Ms Hayes.'
'Exactly!' her eyes glittered with force.
He sat down on his office chair, put his feet up on the desk and just stared at her.
'What?' she demanded.
'I'm just watching the impossible,' he declared. 'I try everything to get you back, I try being the perfect date, show you my soul, put my own life in second place and then, the minute I give up and show genuine interest in someone else... there she blows!'
'I don't know what you're talking about – you're delusional.'
'Correction, you are delusional, Miss Hayes. You are jealous because I like your cousin and you saw us kissing on your lawn – and that kills you!'
'You're sounding like a juvenile again, David, 'Maddie smarted, 'We're not in the playground now.'
'Oh yeah? Well you better listen to your own advice, Miss Hayes,' David smirked, 'if you'll excuse me?'
'Why, what have you done now?'
'I have a brunch date with your cousin.'
Maddie swallowed, a prickly heat was making it's way up her aorta and into her throat.
'David, may I remind you that we have a client at 11.30,' she stammered.
'You may, Miss Hayes.'
'Just don't be late, please, David, we have a business to run here.'
'We're all about 'business' here, Maddie. 'And don't I know it.'
He grabbed his jacket from where he had slung it earlier, ran his hand through his hair and took one final glance at the complicated blonde before heading out of the office without even throwing a cursory goodbye into the mix.
'Bye then,' Maddie said in a soft voice to the empty office, a voice that betrayed how hurt she was.
Sighing deeply, she absently picked up some of David's discarded case files that were littering his desk, she'd get Agnes to file these as most of them were closed cases, he never was good with the organisation side of things.
She stopped in her tracks. This was David's diary. Obviously, he had forgotten it. A lot of that going around, she thought to herself. Would it hurt if she just took a tiny peek to check whether he had Miss Robinson, their 11.30, pencilled in? That would just be business, right?
Curiosity got the better of her and she flicked open the diary at today's date: yup, there it was, he'd even circled it. No brunch with Annie in here, but hey, wait a minute! He's taking her out tonight, and at Cicada in the financial district? Number 1, how dare he take my cousin out again and 2, how the hell can he afford that on what I'm paying him? She dropped the diary in disgust and left his office, just as livid as she felt when she had entered it.
'Miss DiPesto?' she asked in a formal tone, as she passed through to her office.
'Yes, Miss Hayes?' Agnes still had that worried sacrifical lamb look on her face.
'Please don't disturb me with any calls until our 11.30 arrrives.'
'Okay, Miss Hayes, not a problem.'
'Oh, and if you get a minute, can you tidy up the closed case files on Mr. Addison's desk? You could write a 'Who's Who' in the world of petit crime just from what's been left discarded, I'd hate to think what else is lurking in his office drawers...'
'Yes, Miss Hayes. Anything else, Miss Hayes?' Her question was met with a slam of Maddie's office door.
'Guess not,' Agnes said to herself as she took herself off to David's office to carry out her orders.
'Cicada, Cicada,' Maddie seethed aloud to her office walls. 'How the hell? There's gotta be a waiting list a month long to get a table there.' She thought about the dates he had taken her on in the past, the failed opera evening, the laundromat... and thought better of it.
Maddie's intercom buzzed and she picked it up at lightning speed. It was 11.30 am, the client was due and David was still AWOL. 'Yes, Miss DiPesto?'
'Miss Robinson is here to see you, shall I send her in?'
'Yes, Miss DiPesto,' she hesitated, 'no David?'
'No, Miss Hayes,' she said with a twinge of sadness. 'I'll buzz you when he gets in though.'
'If he gets in,' she sighed, looking at her watch.
There was a soft knock at her door and Agnes entered with the client: a beautiful, dark haired woman, mid-thirties and well dressed. She immediately rose to her feet to greet this cool and sophisticated woman.
'Good Morning, Miss Robinson, I'm Maddie Hayes,' she said with a business like tone to her voice, the one she always adopted with clients. 'And...' It was an old habit, she was about to introduce David as her partner but he wasn't there '...and won't you take a seat.'
'Thank you, Miss Hayes.' She took the offered seat.
'Coffee?' asked Agnes, being polite and ensuring that all of the client's needs were met.
'No, thank you,' Miss Robinson replied, it was clear that she wanted to get down to business.
'Will that be all, Miss Hayes?'
'Yes, thank you, Agnes. Just... er... remember to...'
'...buzz you if Mr. Addison gets in.' Agnes always knew.
'Yes,' she stated in that business voice. 'So – Miss Robinson, how may we help you?' There she went again, using the collective 'we' when it was just her today.
'Well, Miss Hayes,' began Miss Robinson. 'Call me Catherine. What I'm about to tell you does not fit with formalities.'
'Alright, how may I help you today, Catherine?' Anything to please the clients, they weren't exactly knocking the door down at Blue Moon. Maddie felt a strange tinge of foreboding.
'I don't know how to explain this without sounding like some ridiculous love-sick teenager,' the client looked embarrassed. 'I am a lonely woman, Miss Hayes. It's hard for me to admit something like that. I always considered myself a strong woman, independent, and a woman who doesn't need anyone else in life to move forward.' Maddie, at once, felt sympathy for this woman.
'Then I met this man,' Catherine went on, 'and he totally devastated that safe world that I occupied.' Maddie froze inside. She shook her head as if to cast off unpleasant thoughts and let her client continue.
'Well, let me tell you, when I first met him I thought he was the biggest jerk on the planet,' Catherine laughed, nervously.
No, he isn't - I know who that guy is, thought Maddie.
'...he was, is still the biggest jerk on the planet... but that's another story.' Catherine cleared her throat, she was clearly finding this a difficult confession. 'Anyway, no matter how hard I fought it, this man managed to crawl right under my skin and stay there.'
Maddie was stirring uncomfortably on her seat. Why did she have the impression that she was looking in a mirror? And this woman wasn't even a blonde!
'The physical attraction was immediate,' Catherine went on, 'but as I said, Miss Hayes, I was not a walk over, I'd met plenty of handsome idiots in my time – and this one took the definition of idiot to new and dizzying heights!' It was not a mirror but a parallel universe. 'I fought against my attraction to him which was sometimes easy when he was being arrogant, acting the fool and driving me crazy, but sometimes it was far from it – now and again, he'd show me this other side of him, this softer side, the side that would show great consideration if I was having a bad day, the part of him that knew when I was sad, when to back off. I later learned that this same man would fly half way across the world for me if it would make me happy...' She grabbed for a tissue from Maddie's desk.
Maddie slowly drew out her breath; she was fighting the urge to grab a tissue herself, but managed a, 'do continue, Catherine.'
'I'm sorry,' Catherine sniffed. 'Well, to cut a long story short... we couldn't fight the feelings any longer.' She drew a deep breath. Maddie hung onto her client's silent lips, begging for more. What happened?
'I gave into desire and slept with him, even though he was not the man I had ever imagined, or dreamed of being with. And it was amazing, it was the best experience of my life... I had never felt that strongly about anyone before or since. This was the kind of love they depict in the movies... it didn't feel real.'
Involuntarily, Maddie's mind drifted back to an occasion about two years ago. She heard the sound of shattering glass objects and could almost feel the silky roughness of her own carpet on her skin. Without noticing, she rubbed her forearms and shivered with the memory.
'Simply?' Catherine shrugged. 'It was life-changing. He was 'The one'. Except, I screwed it up.' Maddie face drained of colour. For the life of her she didn't know why she was so taken with this particular story, or this particular client. Or did she know? She swallowed hard and put one hand to her throat.
'Really, Catherine?' she managed. 'And why's that?'
Catherine sighed. 'You see, Miss Hayes, I over analyze things... I'm a thinker, and therefore I reflect things to death. I over analyzed what we had, turned this fragile love into something resembling... pals!'
Maddie gasped when she heard that word. 'Why did you do that?' The same moment the words were out, she put a guilty hand over her mouth. Catherine looked at her with a strange expression on her face, frowning. She had hoped that she would not be judged today.
'What's really sad is,' Catherine went on, 'that he moved on and I didn't, haven't.' She lowered her head and looked at her hands which were knotted in her lap. The expression on her face was obviously one of pain and it held Maddie back from breathing. The following words were barely audible. 'He's newly married.' Maddie could physically feel this shock. She was absurdly appalled. How could he?
Catherine, with much effort, drew a deep breath. 'I guess this is where you come in,' she explained. 'I'm just so unhappy and I need to know whether he is too. I need to know if he is wonderfully contented with his wife – if he is, I'll just disappear, like I was never really here.' Only now she raised her head again and looked Maddie in the eyes. There was an admirable determination set on Catherine's face. Maddie felt almost envious. 'If he's not?' Catherine raised her chin. 'I want another chance with him. So, all I'm asking for you to do is to find this out for me.' Her voice was nearly pleading now. 'Miss Hayes, I found 'the one', and then I let him get away.' Her last words were spoken with a definite edge of despair.
The door was suddenly flung open and a dishevelled, slightly perspiring, flush faced David barged into the office. 'What did I miss?'
Maddie, pulling herself together, rose quickly from her chair. She cleared her throat selfconsciously and tried to kill David instantly with a look of chastisement.
'Miss Robinson,' she said in a funny voice, still shaken by her client's story, 'this is my partner, David Addison.' Catherine looked at her, frowning. She had immediately sensed something strange in Maddie's tone.
'Nice to meet you,' David said and stretched out his hand, his eyes acknowledged the attractive package that was Catherine Robinson. Maddie's eyes automatically rolled in response.
Catherine shook his hand and nodded; she then started to explain: 'Like I just told your partner, I need you to...'
'That won't be necessary, Catherine,' Maddie interrupted hastily. 'I'm sure your time is limited. I can brief my... partner' – she spat the word out, and Catherine raised a questioning eyebrow – 'later.'
'Yes, she surely will, Miss Robinson,' confirmed David but just couldn't keep that ironic note out of his voice. 'She's very good at... being brief.' Maddie shot him another mean glance. In answer, he just raised a mocking eyebrow and put on his half-smile. She visibly winced.
Catherine cleared her throat, pulled a white evelope out of her purse and handed it over to Maddie. 'Here, inside this envelope is all the information you will need in order to carry out what I've asked: his name, place of work, address...' She swallowed, and for a moment her voice was shaky when she addressed Maddie again: 'Please, Miss Hayes, I'd do anything if I could wipe my slate clean and start all over again and – do the right thing this time. That is, if there's the slightest chance...'
Maddie quickly took the envelope from Catherine's hand and interrupted: 'We'll do our very best, Catherine. I'll make sure, beyond any doubt, that the evidence we suppply you with will be one hundered percent certain.'
David scrutinized the client with interest. He sensed there was some unspoken communication happenng between the two women, but couldn't quite figure it out. It looked very much as if Miss Robinson's case had had an intriguing effect on the blonde. He was very curious about the forthcoming briefing. The women shook hands, and David politely opened the door for Miss Robinson.
'You'll hear from us as soon as possible,' he said in a business-like voice. As he shook the client's hand and closed the door behind her, he could not resist a quick glance at that shapely caboose. What is it with me and this part of the female anatomy at the moment?
Then he turned around, very slowly, to face Maddie. She was standing in the middle of the room – fists clenched, eyes narrowed, nostrils flared. He could almost smell the steam rising up around her. Absurdly enough, David felt an eager anticipation for the fight that was about to arise. They hadn't fought that much lately – of course not, they were pals. Pals didn't fight, and pals didn't make peace either. Pals didn't do any damn thing. They were indifferent. Somehow, the way Maddie was looking at him right now didn't seem pal-ish at all.
'You!' she fumed.
He looked down at himself. 'It really is.'
'You were late again!' she snapped, ignoring his comment. 'I reminded you of our appointment this morning, and you didn't even bother to...'
'Your cousin kept me,' he interjected in a deliberately nonchalant tone.
Ouch! Maddie's eyes widened with fury. 'Our business...'
'Oh please,' he put her off, 'don't act like I was on the verge of ruining the agency. I was five minutes late, you should be used to that by now, partner.'
'Partner?' she hissed. 'Partner? You don't act like a partner. Partners don't let each other down. Partners don't...' she stopped abruptly.
'Don't what?' he jumped in. 'Don't date their partner's cousin? Or don't date anybody, for what it's worth?'
'This has nothing to do with your... date!' Maddie spat out the last word in a disgusted tone.
David could clearly detect the dry noise of a scaly snake slithering smoothly and slowly over the carpet in his direction. That's right, c'mere and show me your bilious eyes. He was ready to meet it.
'Oh yeah?' he replied in a sarcastic tone. 'I was under the impression that your steaming had everything to do with my date.'
Maddie desperately tried to keep her rage under control. How self-centered and arrogant he was! How dare he assume her fury was about him dating Annie, or anybody else! She was suddenly having trouble picturing any other woman looking up into his damn green eyes, melting in his arms, where she and only she belonged... she put a hand over her mouth in shock as if she had spoken her thoughts out loud. Where did that come from?
David was staring intently at her, and not for the first time she experienced the disturbing sensation that he was looking right down to the bottom of her soul, to the center of her being. With great effort, she fought back the impulse to stride over and slap him as hard as she could. Such an action could have unforeseeable consequences. 'You're out of your mind, Addison,' she finally snapped, pulling herself together. 'This is about business. About our client.'
'Sure. If you say so.' He positioned himself, with folded arms, on the edge of her desk, looking totally relaxed and at ease with himself. Inside, of course, he was wound up to a high pitch. He was perfectly aware that he had to let her off the hook for a moment. 'Then why don't you tell me about our client, Miss Hayes?'
Unaware of her own actions, Maddie took a deep and relieved breath of much needed air. Discussing the case was safe ground. Or wasn't it? She abandoned that thought. 'She wants us to find out something for her.'
'And she hires a detective agency? How very unusual.' He tried to get into their usual bantering rhythm to take some of the tension away. If he wanted her to open up, he had to assume her pace. But somehow, it didn't seem to work – she didn't even shoot him a mean glance, she just looked down at the floor, exuding discomfort. David became more and more curious about this case. 'Could you maybe be more specific about this something?' he asked in a slightly softer voice.
Maddie walked past him and sat down behind her desk, feeling a little safer and less confused with the huge wooden barrier between them. She folded her hands to keep them from trembling. 'Sure.' She assumed her professional demeanor, however right before she started to speak, she made a quick pact with herself not to tell David the whole truth about the client's request. Somehow, she knew this would make everything more complicated. Not something she needed right now. 'Miss Robinson has a... friend. He...'
'He?' David interrupted and raised an eyebrow.
'He,' Maddie confirmed in an annoyed voice.
He rose from her desk and threw himself on a chair, stretching out his legs and propping them up on the desk. 'Strange.'
'What's strange?' she asked menacingly.
'That she should have a male... friend.' He stretched the word in an ironic tone.
'Why?' she snapped. 'Because, in your limited cosmos, men and women can only be blood-related relatives or sexually involved? There's such a thing as friendship, you know!' At the same moment, she knew this was too much. It was not fair suggesting he hadn't shown true and faithful friendship towards her in all those years. God, why did he always bring out the worst in her?
Now it was him who threw her a bitter glance. 'I happen to be perfectly aware of that, Miss Hayes!' he snapped back. 'For your information, my best friend used to be a woman. As far as I know, nowadays, men and women can even be pals! Go figure!'
'Anyway,' she went on without pursuing the argument further, 'it is none of our business what he is to her and what he isn't, right? Aren't you the one who always says that we're not here to judge the clients' morals and motivations?'
'OK,' he gave in, 'this friend, then – what's the matter with him?'
'He's newly wed.'
David raised his eyebrows again. 'And she wants us to convey her best wishes?'
'Of course not,' Maddie snapped. 'She is... she is afraid that he may have... made a mistake.'
David was watching her intensely. 'Strange again,' he said slowly and thoughtfully. 'To me, it sounded more like she was afraid she had made a mistake.'
'However,' Maddie went on, 'to cut a long story short, the client wants us to find out if her friend and his wife are the perfect match. If they really love each other. She wants to know if her friend is... happy.'
'Wow,' David replied with fake enthusiasm. 'She's hired the perfect experts then. Happiness is our middle name.'
'David,' Maddie assumed an almost pleading voice, suddenly feeling very strained by this conversation which scratched away at her very substance, 'there's really no need to...'
'But there's one thing I seem to have missed,' he interrupted, rising to his feet. 'Does she want to know if her friend and his wife are the perfect match, or if they really love each other? Because that's not necessarily the same thing you know.' He threw her a meaningful look.
Maddie felt exhausted. She hated how she was feeling, and she hated that he noticed it, her voice didn't obey her orders any more and it gave her away. It sounded small and hurt when she spoke. 'I guess when they really love each other, they are the perfect match.' Her eyes looked wistful.
David stared at her in disbelief; not saying a word. She had fallen silent, and he had the strange impression that she was waiting for him to say something, to confirm her statement. He wasn't so sure if she really was actually ready to believe what she just had conveyed. That was something she definitely had to find out by herself – if she didn't really believe it deep in her heart, from the bottom of her soul, there was no point in trying to talk her into it. Been there, done that. You're looking for confirmation in the wrong place, Blondie. Look inside yourself and see if you can find it there. That's the only thing that matters here.
She became aware of what she had just said and, with discomfort, looked away from him - still feeling his gaze. She stirred in her seat.
'So... without intending to forestall you...' He raised a questiorning eyebrow. Since when has that held you back? Maddie herself hated the stiffness of her own words. Loathed that she wasn't able to talk to him like she always had. God, what has happened to us? She touched her temple for a moment with her fingertips and went on in a business-like voice: 'I think if we want to find out if the couple in question is the perfect...' - she interrupted herself angrily - '...well, you know what I mean. If we want to find it out, I say we have to follow them. Follow them and watch them in as many every day situations as possible. Watch their interaction. What do you think?'
David nodded slowly. 'I suppose so.'
Usually, he always came up with a strategy for such occasions, and Maddie was bemused that, in this case, he didn't, infact, he seemed to show low interest. She started to feel annoyed. And why the hell was he looking like he had just come out of an airport security frisking session? Maddie shook her head, annoyed and startled with herself. These thoughts had, again, come out of nowhere, and they were certainly not pertinent to the case.
'Well,' she went on, 'the earlier we get results, the better. So I'd say we start tonight, strike whilst the iron is hot, and see what we can get.'
'If you want to start tonight, you're gonna have to go by yourself,' David said nonchalantly.
Maddie felt as if she had been shot through the heart by these words, but at the same time she remembered what she had seen in David's diary earlier that morning, and she started to feel white heat rising to the top of her head. I am calm, and I am in control. - Damn! A flying frig I am!
'Really,' she pressed through clenched teeth, 'and why's that?'
'Because I have plans for tonight,' he replied in a low voice.
'Well – you're gonna have to cancel them!'
He raised a mocking eyebrow. 'Oh – I missed the part of the script where we got back to the boss/employee level. I thought you were not in the position to give me orders any more – or, for what it's worth, in any interesting position with regard to me.'
She jumped to her feet. 'Damn right you are!' she fumed. 'And for the life of me I wouldn't go back to that if you were the last man on earth!' The moment the words were out, she knew she had given away far too much. She was indeed acting in a way that would cause him to assume she was mad about him dating her cousin. Or anybody. She was breathing heavily and was full of self-anguish.
'Then that's settled,' David replied quietly.
'David, this is about business!' she snapped, attempting to sound convincing. 'We have to go on a stakeout and I can't go by myself. I... I've never been on one alone!' She hated to sound like she needed him. She hated to feel that she needed him. God, she hated him!
'Well, there's a first time for everything,' he replied, heading for the door of her office. 'Besides, this is the perfect case for you to get potty trained – from what you told me, there's no danger of any tricky situations, I know you can handle it by yourself. You're a big girl.' He had reached the door and turned the doorknob. Before he opened it, he turned around to face her once again and said with a completely serious face and in a low voice: 'But you don't have to go alone if you don't want to. Take one of the guys with you. Take Viola.' Without waiting for a reaction, he walked out of her office and closed the door softly behind him. Once again, there were no goodbyes - just the silence that was left behind.
It was late afternoon at Blue Moon; Agnes was at her workstation trying to find words that rhymed with gum-shoe, Bert was competing with McGillycuddy over how long either of them could go without coffee and Maddie Hayes was talking to herself in her office. This was otherwise known as: business as usual.
'Huh!' Maddie rasped, as she paced her office. 'Just another mediocre stakeout - surely I can handle this one by myself with my hands tied behind my back? It's detecting on the simplest rung of the ladder Maddie, even Viola couldn't mess this one up! You won't need anyone holding your hand, Miss Madolyn Hayes - it's time to walk on your own... it's a simple case of 'I spy with my little... Grrrrrrrr.' As she repeated his words, she could feel not just anger rising to the surface but also the unmistakable hint of heart ache - where did that come from? It wasn't that she couldn't handle a little detecting on her own, she had proved that when she had cleared David's name of euthanasia all that time ago, it was... she didn't know what it was. You know?
The sound of a soft knock interrupted her mid-flow.
'Yes?' she hissed.
Hesitating, Agnes pushed the door open just enough to pop her head around the frame, she smiled at Maddie 'Want a rant?'
'I beg your pardon?'
'Wanna rant? Rage? Get it all outta your system?'
'Can I help you, Agnes?' Maddie asked with a stern look etched upon her face.
'I always find that a good primal scream always clears the cobwebs - very cathartic. Although, it can also get you into a whole lotta trouble with your neighbours.'
'I don't know what you're talking about,' Maddie said defensively.
'Oh okay,' uttered Agnes, ' just thought you'd been in here a long time today, Miss Hayes, and you might like to talk... but I guess it's not really any of my bee's wax. Have you tried stress balls by the way?' Agnes sounded genuinely concerned for her boss's welfare.
'Excuse me, have I tried what?'
'Stress balls.' She held two beanbags at arm's length through the door as if she was offering a lion a tasty morsel of meat.
'Agnes,' breathed Maddie, 'just come in and bring your... balls with you.'
Agnes wandered in, looking around her, smiling all the while; she placed the stress balls in front of Maddie.
Maddie stared at them in disbelief. 'There's a few things I could do to those right now but squeezing them is not one of 'em,' she quipped, brandishing a letter opener.
'That bad, huh?'
'That bad, uh-huh,' replied Maddie, slumping down onto her pink couch.
'Wanna talk?'
'Yes... no... Maybe.'
Agnes, as usual, had read the signs correctly and proceeded with plan B: 'Is it because she's your cousin, Miss Hayes?' Agnes always felt that it was important to get straight to the crux of the matter when it came to these two. Five years of playing 'the piggy in the middle' had stood her in good stead.
'My cousin?'
'Yeah, your cousin,' repeated Agnes. 'Is it because he's dating your cousin that you're so upset, or is it that he's dating period?'
Maddie sighed, grabbed for a cushion and hid under it - she could only talk about her feelings when her face was covered.
'Miss Hayes? Are you okay?' asked a deeply concerned Agnes.
'No,' it was a soft reply that could be heard from beneath upholstery.
'You know when I'm upset like this; I like to say all the things that are bothering me out loud.'
'You do, huh?' Maddie's voice, which came from the depths of the couch, was laced with sarcasm.
'What's going on, Miss Hayes?' Agnes asked plaintively.
Maddie shifted the cushion enough so that her mouth was exposed but her eyes were not. 'Going on? Well, there's not a lot going on,' she sighed. 'I'm just... upset. Is it Annie? Maybe, Agnes.' She was deliberately being vague.
'Miss Hayes,' ventured Agnes, 'just because he's takin' her to that restaurant tonight? Let's just say, he might be ordering the fruit salad but he's probably thinking about the Crème Brulée.' Agnes instinctively knew that Maddie, from her behaviour, must have knowledge of the date.
Maddie dropped the cushion fully for a moment and stared at Agnes before replacing it over her eyes once more.
'I'll tell you what really hurts, Agnes,' began Maddie, 'that he wants me to do this stake-out on my own tonight so he can go on this date. I know that probably sounds downright pathetic, huh? I mean, all it entails is observing this couple and deciding whether they're the real deal. What could possibly go wrong, right?'
'Right, Miss Hayes,' Agnes always knew when it was the correct time to interrupt, to show that she was listening and taking it in.
'Okay. So, no big deal. Except, he's never asked me to go solo before,' she sounded sad. 'I mean, at first I was angry and then I realized that wasn't what I was feeling, I was feeling...'
'Hurt, Miss Hayes?'
'Yeah, kinda, I guess,' came Maddie's, as always, uncommitted answer. 'You know what can happen at these stake-outs, Agnes. They're not always as simple as they seem; sometimes they turn into great big chase scenes that end the show... I'd hate to do one of those without him.'
'Miss Hayes?'
'Yes, Agnes?'
'Would you like me to come with you tonight?'
'Oh you don't have to, Agnes; I don't want to spoil your evening with Bert and...'
'It would be my pleasure. There's no one I'd rather stakeout with than you, Miss Hayes.'
David looked at his watch. Almost 5 pm.
Since he had left Maddie's office at noon, he hadn't seen her or spoken to her. He was feeling nervous, and if he knew it would be of any use, he would have gladly stormed back into her office to tell her that he had absolutely no real interest in dating her cousin and would have very much preferred to spend this evening with her and nobody else... but no, that would have immediately driven her to retreat back into her shell, to hide behind her palisade. It was not enough that he knew she was in the stranglehold of the green-eyed snake again. She had to become aware of it. Painful as it may be, she needed a few insights first, she needed to admit what she really felt and wanted. She needed to stew in her own juices, nice and slow.
He drew a deep, frustrated, breath and closed the case file he'd been working on. Maddie's cousin was due any minute now. They had planned to take a few drinks first and then go to the fancy restaurant she had suggested. Surely any other man would have literally jumped at the occasion to have drinks and a nice dinner with a sexy, and obviously not too puritan, blonde. However, for some reason, David didn't feel very thrilled with the prospect.
After a short knock, Agnes opened the door, and he responded by waving her in with two fingers. 'Nice evening, Agnes,' he said, but she obviously hadn't come in just to say goodbye.
Without answering, she shuffled in, head held low and closed the door behind her.
'D'you have something on your mind?' he asked. 'Or are you just in here to admire the view?'
'No more than you, Mr. Addison,' she replied.
He raised a questioning eyebrow. Then he said: 'You'd be surprised what I have on my mind.'
Instead of an answer, she announced: 'I'm going on a stake-out with Miss Hayes tonight.'
OK. Agnes was definitely not surprised about anything. 'Congratulations, Miss Moneypenny,' he replied with a smile.´That first badge you sew onto your uniform is always the toughest.'
'Just wanted you to know,' she went on, unimpressed by his comment, 'that I'm gonna keep an eye on her for you.' She just stood there, folding her arms and throwing him a reproachful glance. 'As it seems you're too busy with what's-her-name tonight,' she added.
David felt, like on many previous occasions, struck to the marrow by Agnes's, casual and disguised, wisdom. A wisdom that was rooted deeply and firmly in her heart. He walked over to her with three determined steps and put both hands, reassuringly, on her shoulders. Her usually soft brown eyes were not playing the game, instead the shutters were closed to him.
'Agnes,' he said softly, 'I want you to know that there's nothing I'd rather do tonight than go on that stake-out with her.' He swallowed and started to stutter. 'Look, this date... I don't...' He sighed deeply, desperately almost. 'It's just that...' his voice drifted off.
Agnes nodded slowly, knowingly. 'Desperate situations require desperate measures,' she said simply; a flicker of understanding and hope exchanged between them.
'I couldn't have said it better,' David agreed reluctantly.
She nodded again. 'And that means something.'
He smiled gloomily. 'Yeah.'
'Yeah,' she repeated.
They looked at each other for a few moments in silence, then Agnes sighed and pulled herself together. 'Well... guess you know what you're doing, Mr. Addison.'
'It's a matter of sink or swim, Agnes.'
'Then I guess we'll go swimming, right?' Her smile became brighter, more encouraging.
David nodded thankfully. 'Right.'
'Right.' With a last determined nod, Agnes turned around and opened the door. Stopping once again, she threw him a final glance over her shoulder. She had a conspiratorial, a mischievious glint in her eyes. 'Don't you worry, Mr. Addison... I'm a good swimmer.' Then she left.
He stared at the closed door for a moment and shook his head in disbelief. 'La Dolce DiPesto,' he murmured. He was already feeling better.
He opened his fridge, found some chocolate milk, took it to his desk and settled down to enjoy the combination of his favourite drink and some deep thinking when he was startled by yet another knock at his door. Agnes popped her head around.
'Agnes, don't tell me, you bought us all life jackets!' David quipped.
'On the contrary, Sir, Miss Charnock is here to see you.'
Before he even had time to adjust his current frame of mind and answer, Annie had squeezed past Agnes and into his office. She threw a careless 'thanks' in the direction of Agnes that suggested Agnes should leave now - her purpose had been fulfilled.
'Hi Dave!' she beamed at him, her blonde curls bobbing vivacioulsy - she'd obviously come straight from the hairdresser's.
Unimpressed, Agnes smiled tentaively at David and announced 'I'll just go take a dive then.'
David smiled back and winked knowingly. Annie mistook this as a welcome aimed at her and practically jumped on top of him, obviously intending to plant a kiss straight on his mouth. Casually, David averted his face by an inch so that Annie's lips missed his and landed on his cheek instead. He looked at his unopened chocolate milk carton and sighed inwardly.
He greeted her nonchalantly: 'Hey,' followed by an elegant side step, 'get any sight seeing done?'
She shrugged, flippantly. 'Guess the cutest object of interest is waiting to take me out,' she smiled flirtatiously. 'Are you ready for take off?'
He opened his mouth to answer when his office door was violently thrown open. Maddie stood there. Boy, was Agnes a fast swimmer! 'Just come on in, why don't ya! Everyone else is.'
Annie greeted her with a fake smile. 'Hi Maddie, thought you'd already gone home?'
Maddie returned the fake smile. 'Obviously not, what a surprise to see you here.'
Annie calculated just the right tone to deliver her news. 'We're just going out for a few drinks and a fancy dinner... surely you don't mind that, do ya?' She winked at Maddie.
Maddie recalled, only too well, the conversation from the previous evening in Spago's restroom where Annie had, all too clearly, announced her interest in David. She had called him 'a tasty tidbit'. Against her will, she bristled. 'No, 'she said with controlled anger in her voice, 'I really don't. '
David, who had not uttered a word so far, cleared his throat. 'Maddie, did you just come in here to wish me a pleasant evening, or do you have something else on your mind?'
She shot him a particularly mean glance. 'No, I um, just wanted to inform you that...' Obviously she was trying to think of a response. '...I'm taking Miss DiPesto on the stake-out with me. I thought it might interest you as my business partner.'
He smirked. 'I know, she informed me already. I'm sure she'll do a great job.' He paused before going for the jugular. 'I owe you, by the way. The next time you have a date with one of your NSMs, I'll fill in for you too, huh?'
Her normally blue eyes suddenly shimmered with green, but he was so blinded by the fury that he couldn't see the hurt that betrayed her. 'Sure,' she hissed. She turned and slithered back out of his door, slamming it behind her.
Annie, who had watched the whole scene play out in front of her, was both unimpressed and indifferent to her cousin's reaction. 'Shall we go then?' she breezed, without commenting on Maddie's emotional display.
Quite a hard nosed cousin you have there Blondie.
He faked enthusiasm. 'Sure! What are we waiting for?'
Maddie and Agnes were both dressed in evening wear; they figured that, if they were following a newly wedded couple for the night, it might involve a restaurant somewhere along the line. Maddie had opted for a simple, elegant black number cut a little shorter than her usual style - she seemed oblivious to the way it effortlessly hugged her curves in all of the right places and revealed just the right amount of leg to make a grown man cry. Agnes on the other hand seemed to have had a fight with a paint palette - nothing matched but it was endearingly sweet.
Bert had been busy that afternoon, snooping around Mr. Wright's secretary to find out where the romantic evening would start. He had professed to have some urgent documentation, of National importance, to deliver to Mr. Wright that could not possibly wait until the morning. It was with much coercing and persuasive art, that Bert had finally managed to wrench the information out of her. He was like a terrier with a ball and the poor girl had told him just to get rid of him in the end.
'You ready?' asked Maddie as Agnes slipped into the passenger seat of the BMW.
'Ready, Miss Hayes,' Agnes replied, performing a salute. She was excited at the prospect of working outside the confines of her workstation.
'Thanks for doing this,' smiled Maddie, showing heartfelt appreciation for the company tonight.
'Not a problem, Miss Hayes,' smiled Agnes, 'what are friends for?'
Maddie smiled at her, Agnes always was just the right company she needed tonight. 'Right, detective, let's get snooping.' She started the engine and they hit the road together, Thelma and Louise style.
On arrival at 'The Light', Maddie sighed deeply. She had never liked this part of the job: where they got to be Peeping Toms - David had always justified it to her as a crucial element to their detecting, without it there would be no answers, no silly chase scenes and therefore no pay check. She was also aware that tonight was different, she was hoping to give Catherine Robinson some good news but what if they were perfect together - how would she break the news then?
'You sure you're okay, Miss Hayes?' asked a concerned Agnes as she stepped cautiously out of the car - she was used to wearing high-tops, not high heels.
'Huh?' Maddie asked, clearly distracted.
'I just asked if you were okay,' repeated Agnes, taking in her surroundings: this bar was something else, let's just say it oozed wealth. Thank goodness they had decided to dress up she thought as she adjusted her dress and compared herself to Miss Hayes. Bad idea, Miss Hayes was looking every bit the model; however, Agnes just smiled to herself, she was proud to be out with her glamorous boss. She was a detective tonight.
'About what?'
'Never mind, Miss Hayes. So, our perfect couple are in there?' She pointed at the cool, trendy hot spot that was 'The Light'. 'Guess a place like that doesn't serve Kamikazes?'
'Guess not,' replied Maddie, also taken aback by the place, she was not in the mood for this kind of bar, not tonight. 'Well, what are we waiting for?' She sounded like she was trying to convince herself. 'Let's go and see if our Mr. and Mrs. Wright are as right in 'The Light' as they are on paper - right?'
'Right, right, right, Miss Hayes,' nodded Agnes, taking her role seriously - she even had a notebook stuffed into her purse in case of emergency evidence collating.
Inside, 'The Light' was the height of sophistication, minimalist, subdued lighting and soft music; every corner appeared to house a couple who seemed fiercely in love - or so it seemed to Maddie. The couples seemed to stare at each other as if they were devouring every word, look and facial flicker - it was the intensity of newly found love. It made Maddie feel alone and she looked to Agnes to find some levity. The irony of the song being played in the air tonight was not lost on her. So much for not needing Doctor Donadio any longer! She noticed the soft music playing in the background.
I've never seen a night so long
when time goes crawling by
The moon just went behind a cloud
To hide its face and cry
The silence of a falling star
lights up a purple sky
And as I wonder where you are
I'm so lonesome I could cry
Great soundtrack! 'Have you spotted them yet, Agnes?' she whispered. 'There's so many couples in here, I can't see ours for the trees.'
'Uh-uh.' Agnes shook her head. 'Miss Hayes, if we want to blend in, I think we should order a drink,' suggested Agnes, in the mood for alcohol. Miss Hayes could certainly do with a Boiler Maker or two!
'Yes, I suppose,' answered Maddie, making her way to the bar. She managed to miss the appreciative glances from the men, single and taken, as she sidled up to the bartender. 'What can I get you, Agnes?'
Agnes was stumped for a moment - if there weren't Kamikazes then... 'I'll have a Dirty Martini,' she decided.
Maddie looked at her with eyes that suggested Oh Lord, do I really have to ask for that? 'Can I get a... Dirty Martini and a small glass of chilled white wine, please?'
'Comin' right up,' smiled the bartender, holding her gaze just a little too long.
Maddie, again, did not appear to notice but Agnes was soaking it all up. She was in an observant mood - an observant mood for observing she joked with herself, thinking that could be classed as Addisonism. That's when she spotted the couple from the glossy photograph which sat in the depths of her handbag, along with the notepad.
'Miss Hayes!' Agnes grabbed Maddie's arm. 'They're over there.' She motioned towards a dimly lit corner at the back of the bar where Mr. and Mrs. Wright were sitting, facing each other; sharing a drink. 'Let's take our drinks over... there's a free table opposite.'
Maddie and Agnes settled comfortably into their seats and therefore their role of detective for the evening - but only Maddie felt uncomfortable with the fit. They sipped their drinks and made small talk in low voices so that Mr. and Mrs. Wright held dominance over the airwaves. They carried on this way for what seemed like an age, Maddie becoming increasingly aware that these two were more than enjoying each other's company. She felt sad that she may have to report those words that Catherine would not want to hear.
'Miss Hayes,' observed Agnes. 'They're close, huh? But not that close.'
'You can't get much closer than that,' replied Maddie, looking pensive.
'Oh but you can...' suggested Agnes with a knowing smile.
'What do you mean Agnes? No wait... I don't want to know what you mean,' she blushed, knowing exactly what Agnes meant.
'So,' began Agnes.
'So?' Maddie replied automatically.
Agnes grinned and took a big sip of her Dirty Martini 'He may not be here tonight, Miss Hayes but he is here – d'you know what I mean?'
'Agnes, I'm sorry but I'm not in the mood for discussing Mr. Addison tonight. Mr. Addison is probably already getting more attention than single malt whiskey in the prohibition era and doesn't need our help.' She wasn't even aware that Agnes had not mentioned his name.
'That's an expensive restaurant he's takin' her to,' Agnes just saw an opportunity and jumped right in. 'Do you think it was his idea?'
'Agnes!' hissed Maddie, clearly affected by this turn of conversation; she reached for her wine and downed half the glass in one. 'No, I don't think David would know what Cicada was, or stood for, if it jumped out of the grass and began playing its own unique song right in front of him. No, that will be Annie's influence - that girl's done her homework. I just hope he can afford the check at the end of the night.'
'Maybe they'll skip dessert?' suggested Agnes, fully aware of what she was implying.
'Agnes, they're leaving for a restaurant... come on,' Maddie rose out of her chair a little quickly, the wine, on top of her empty stomach, made her feel instantly dizzy. 'We'd better move fast and follow them, Agnes, you ready for this?' She grabbed her coat and bag.
'Ready and prepared,' stated Agnes, clutching the camera that she had hidden in her over-sized coat.
At a safe distance, Maddie and Agnes followed behind the black Mercedes in their own silver BMW, never letting more than five cars come between them. That was until they drew to a stop outside 'Cicada'...
'Just great,' Maddie said flatly, dropping her head down in despair. 'Of all the restaurants in LA he had to take her here.'
'I thought it was Annie who suggested it?' asked a confused Agnes.
'Not David,' moaned Maddie, 'our couple, the couple we're observing, the couple who've led us to this restaurant of all restaurants... I must have done something horrible in a previous life.'
'Like what?' asked Agnes unhelpfully.
'Grrrrr,' spat Maddie swinging the car door open in an ungainly fashion, almost tumbling out of the car. She watched the chic couple slink into the restaurant, him with his arm lightly touching her back, her looking up at him and smiling at every word he said. 'They make it look so easy,' she fumed.
'Make what look so easy?' inquired Agnes, reaching for the camera and her notepad - she wanted to do this job well tonight. 'Getting out of a car in heels?'
'Something like that,' Maddie sighed. 'What are we gonna do? This place must have a waiting list a mile long.'
'We're detectives, we'll think of something,' nodded Agnes with confidence. 'Come on, Miss Hayes.'
Maddie, bemused, followed a determined young Agnes up to the front desk of 'Cicada' – she still wore her sunglasses and pulled the collar of her jacket up high. She did not want to be recognized and she wasn't talking about Mr. and Mrs. Wright.
'Do you think if I beg God enough, he'll take pity on me and send me to hell now, right now - as in open up the Earth and let me slip straight into the burning flames...' thought Maddie aloud.
'Miss Hayes, follow me,' urged Agnes, holding onto Maddie's arm, pulling her along.
'...no of course not, he's got a worse punishment in mind for me,' she remarked with sarcasm.
'Can I help you?' asked the young, female reptile behind Cicada's front station.
'Do you have a table for two?' asked Agnes as if she had every right to be there.
The reptile began to laugh, and the laugh grew in intensity. Maddie found herself irritated by it and fumed out loud: 'Listen buster, do you have a table or not?'
'Not... Madam. This is Cicada.'
'I'm aware of that,' said Maddie through tight lips. 'It's just that it's my...' she paused in thought '...friend's birthday and I forgot to book.'
'I'm sorry; we have no availability until...' she perused the restaurant diary, 'the first Saturday in August.'
'That's five months away,' declared a startled Agnes. 'I don't think I'll be in the mood to celebrate my birthday then.'
'Like I said, this is Cicada.'
'Oh well...' smiled Maddie. 'We can't possibly get in there Agnes, so I guess we better just go... home.' She suddenly wanted to be as far away from this restaurant as humanly possible.
'Not so fast,' whispered Agnes to Maddie.
'No?' Maddie sounded disappointed.
'Thanks for trying, we'll book next time,' said Agnes to the reptile. She nodded and smiled at the other people in the queue and backed out of the restaurant with Maddie.
Back on the street, Agnes grabbed Maddie's arm once again and started heading round the back of the building with her. Agnes had made herself a promise, a promise to ensure that this job was completed to the best of her ability and that did not include turning around and heading home at the first whiff of an obstacle. She was Detective DiPesto.
'Agnes, where are we going?' demanded Maddie, thinking that this was feeling all too familiar.
'Well... if we can't get in the front... then there's only one other option,' she grinned: 'the back entry.'
If David was here he would not have been able to resist the urge to jump straight on that last line of Agnes'. Instead Maddie just gave Agnes a disapproving look.
'You said you didn't want to let Miss Robinson down, right?' Agnes could be quite the boss sometimes. 'Well, what kind of detectives would we be if we took to the hills at the first sign of a blocked entrance?'
Again, Maddie instinctively thought of David's probable response to those words - it would be dirty, smutty, crude... and boy, did she miss it!
Detectives Maddie Hayes and Agnes DiPesto found the back entrance to the chic restaurant: it was surrounded by large wheelie bins, dead glass bottles and the odd worker bee enjoying a five minute smoke break.
'Funny, no matter how sophisticated the restaurant, they all look alike from behind,' Maddie mused turning to Agnes. 'Aren't you gonna make a lewd joke about my behind?'
'No, Miss Hayes,' replied Agnes sadly, 'I'm not, but we could go in and find Mr. Addison so he could.'
'Come on,' said Maddie with more determination this time. 'Let's go!'
Agnes DiPesto emerged from the 'staff only' door and into the restaurant; she was dressed in the waitress uniform of Cicada: a short dress in the colours of the Italian flag – her name tag, pinned to her front, suggested to all that she was known as: Missy. She fit the bill. On the other hand, Maddie did not. An unwilling Madolyn Hayes also emerged, somewhat more reluctantly, from the doorway, also dressed in the cheeky Italian number but serving up a scowl with her name tag: Trixie.
'Nice subdued lighting,' remarked Agnes looking around, 'tables are very separate, cosy mood lighting... must remember to bring Bert here some time.'
'Cause of the romantic ambience?' asked Maddie.
'No, 'cause of the subdued lighting,' said Agnes with a straight face.
'Come on, girls, it's a busy night!' yelled the restaurant manager to Agnes and Maddie. 'We've got work to do!' He thrust two steaming hot bowls of spaghetti into Maddie's hands and pushed her in the direction of table 4. Agnes followed the path of steam - she wasn't sure if it was coming from Maddie, or the Bolognese.
'Bingo,' stated Agnes as they approached table 4. 'Our targets are seated only a couple of tables across from here. You serve these plates and I'll see if I can get some 10 by 8 glossies of the happy couple.' She was really getting into this detecting business.
'Great,' fumed Maddie, aware of how ridiculous she looked. 'I'll get my hands dirty then... why did I think this would be any different with Agnes?'
She approached table four with a terrifying scowl. 'Your food,' she snapped, almost throwing down the plates in front of their shocked owners.
'Earl,' complained the woman to her husband, 'if I'd wanted service like this we could have gone to 'Wine 'n' Dine'' She glowered at Maddie, who glowered back.
'Enjoy your meals,' Maddie huffed; she was about to head over to where Agnes had positioned herself to get some paparazzi style shots when she spotted them. She immediately crouched down in front of the table that belonged to the highly dissatisfied customers.
'Oh God,' she groaned. 'Please don't let them see me.'
The angry couple looked from Maddie to the table she was hiding from, 'is this your first day on the job, honey?' The woman softened a little.
'Please tell me that the couple sat at the table opposite didn't see me,' Maddie prayed out loud.
The couple looked confused and ploughed on 'Did you mess their order up, dear?' They asked, regarding David and Annie's table.
'I guess you could say that,' fumed Maddie.
'I'm sure if you just apologize, they'll understand,' smiled the elderly Earl. 'Isn't that right, Betty?'
'I'm not apologizing to them - over my dead body!' growled Maddie.
'He looks like a very nice man,' Betty suggested, admiring him from afar. 'Not sure about her though.'
'He needs to apologize to me!' she hissed, her cheeks flushed.
'I'm afraid that's not how it works in the catering trade,' the man tried to help, 'you see, the customer is always right.'
'That man is never right!' stormed Maddie.
'Maybe you're just in the wrong job,' suggested Betty looking down at her waitress as she crouched beneath her table.
'Miss Hayes!' Agnes called across the restaurant as Maddie sank even lower to the floor. 'I think I've got all the shots we need. Miss Hayes?' She looked wildly around the restaurant - she was sure that she had left her boss waiting on this table 'Where are you, Miss Hayes?'
'I wanna die,' Maddie sighed. She had crawled under the table now, content to stay there for the foreseeable future.
'Excuse me,' Agnes politely asked the elderly couple at table four. 'Have you seen a tall lady with blonde hair, kinda beautiful, looks more like a model than a waitress?'
Earl pointed to Maddie's back end which was sticking out from under the table and shrugged.
'Miss Hayes?'
'It's okay, Agnes, you just go about your business, I'll just stay here - I'm fine.'
Agnes smiled at the couple like it was completely normal for their waitress to be underneath their table. It was in this instant that she also spotted David and Annie across the way. 'Miss Hayes?'
'Yes, Agnes?' Her voice sounded muffled as it travelled up from beneath the table.
'I think I can see Mr. Addison and your cousin!'
'You don't say,' replied Maddie trying to crawl even further under.
'Do you want to know what they're doing?' asked Agnes helpfully.
'Not really,' Maddie replied.
'Well, Mr. Addison's telling a joke and she's laughing but it's that polite laughter, like when you don't really get the punch line.'
'Agnes, I really don't wanna know.'
'Now he's pouring her more wine... and some for himself...' Agnes reported, rather an investigatory observation.
'He's trying to get her drunk?' Maddie sounded angry again.
'No, I see it more like they need alcohol to pretend they're having a good time,' Agnes, with her usual astuteness, retaliated. 'Motor oil for the tongue.'
'She's right,' said Betty. 'That's what you do if the conversation dries up.'
'Not like us, honey,' added Earl. 'We can talk for England.'
'And you wanna know what else?' questioned Agnes.
'No,' the voice was soft, yet curious.
'Mr. Addison keeps looking at his watch,' observed Agnes.
'He does not,' mumbled Maddie, popping her head up above the table top.
'He does,' said Earl and Betty in unison.
'Does not,' she snapped.
'He does,' they repeated.
Maddie squinted in the direction of their table, still down on her knees 'He's probably got somewhere he wants to take her afterwards.'
'Mr. Addison?' smiled Agnes, 'No, his eyes definitely don't look like they want to move on anywhere else.'
'He keeps checking his wallet and looking anxious,' observed Earl, getting quite into this.
'Maybe the price is out of his range? She looks like an expensive vixen,' added Betty.
'No,' Maddie adamantly disagreed. 'He's thinking he ought to pay for the whole thing rather than going Dutch - it's what he does.'
'In this restaurant?' gasped Earl and Betty in unison.
'He'd have to hock that watch if he wanted to do that,' chuckled Earl.
'He probably thinks she's worth it,' seethed Maddie.
'Uh-uh,' Agnes shook her head profusely. 'The body language is suggesting that this is fun but not great; he does not maintain eye-contact for more than a few seconds and his eyes keep wandering around the restaurant - they're not locked on hers like Mr. Wright's were. In fact...' Agnes suddenly started snapping photographic evidence of them; she had clearly immersed herself too far in her role as Miss Marple this evening.
'Agnes, what are you doing?' Maddie demanded. She crawled out from under the table.
'Evidence, Miss Hayes, pure, unadulterated facts...' she snapped away, moving even closer to her target in a stealthy manner.
Maddie was forced to stand up. 'Agnes, stop it!' Maddie's voice rose in anger. 'Agnes, give me the camera!'
'Just a few more,' interrupted Agnes, clicking furiously away at the images of David and Annie.
'I said give it to me...' Maddie wrestled the camera from Agnes who was still taking pictures – this resulted in the camera suddenly taking flight in a high arc - it soared through the air, in what felt like slow motion, finally reaching its destination with a plop. It had landed, directly, into David's soup bowl.
'Waiter!' cried David in mock horror. 'There's a camera in my soup!'
'Sorry, Mr. Addison,' Agnes cried with despair as she watched her good work ruined. She came rushing over to him and grabbed the sodden apparatus from his bowl, wiping off the soup and showing concern for the safety of the film.
'Agnes?' David sounded startled.
'Maddie?' asked an incredulous Annie. 'What are you doing here?'
'Is this a surprise double date?' David quipped, wishing instantly that he could retract those words.
Maddie reluctantly stepped up to their table, her hair in disarray. 'We're having stake-out issues,' Maddie sighed, her face reddening as she attempted to behave in a polite manner befitting their location. The outfit she was wearing clashed terribly with her humiliation.
'That's why I always order my stake-out medium rare,' he retorted again – wondering why his mouth kept getting the better of him. He looked up at her and took in the hair, waitress uniform and her red cheeks. She looked amazing - the thought pushed him slightly off centre for a fraction of a second. He could not take his eyes off her.
'Oh are you working?' asked Annie, looking at Maddie's uniform. 'Is this a disguise or something?' She couldn't keep the patronising tone out of her voice.
'Waitress, can I get a fresh bowl of soup - my last one had a heavy invasion of paparazzi!' David declared with wide eyes, complete with challenging sparkle.
Maddie glared at him. She caught his sparkle and took it as a sign that he wanted to banter.
'Agnes and I are in the middle of work,' she hissed, 'kindly refrain from bringing attention to us!'
'You're taking care of that just fine by yourself,' he said looking her up and down. She tensed under his gaze.
'Well, it's been great bumping into you, Maddie,' smiled Annie, 'but I'm sure you have work to get on with.'
'No, not really,' answered Agnes for her, 'we're all outta ammo. Game over.'
'You wanna join us?' asked David, being polite but feeing as awkward as hell.
Annie kicked him under the table 'They don't want to do that, David, they're not exactly dressed for the occasion. They look they'd be happier serving our dinner, rather than dining with us.'
'We wouldn't want to interrupt your evening,' said Maddie under her breath, the irony was not wasted on her; this was bringing back memories of David hijacking her dinner with Sam Crawford. She was feeling overwhelmingly uncomfortable.
'Too late for that,' David smirked. 'Investigation a flop?'
'No, actually it was highly successful... job done,' declared Maddie in her professional voice.
'Okay,' David paused to wet his lips. 'I get your message... you want to go, so go - go do whatever it is Maddie Hayes does on a Saturday night.'
'What is that supposed to mean?' demanded Maddie.
Agnes hid behind her boss and Annie just sat back, enjoying the show - an unpleasant smile sitting upon her self-satisfied face.
'Nothing, it wasn't meant to mean anything,' replied David. 'You just seem in a hurry to scram outta here.'
'You mean you're in a hurry to get us outta here,' she shifted his comment in reverse and put it into fifth gear. So you can spend more time alone with my cousin!
'That's not what I said,' David's voice had an edge to it now. 'Sorry,' he said to Annie, 'you want to pick your dessert, honey?'
Honey? 'We're clearly holding you up,' pointed out Maddie. 'Agnes? Are you ready to leave?'
'Whatever you want, Miss Hayes,' Agnes replied, wide-eyed.
'Oh, here it comes!' David blurted - eager to keep them at the table because it sure beat the hell out of the evening he had experienced so far. Now he felt alive, his blood was flowing, and his interest was piqued. 'Maddie's answer to everything... It's the Hayes version of a goodbye: the butt farewell!'
Maddie turned on him venomously, 'what do you expect? You left me to do this stake-out on my own so you could take my cousin out and show her a good time!'
'Spot on Maddie,' David observed, 'so why don't you let me get on with showing her that good time then?' He swung an apologetic look in the direction of Annie.
'I'm not stopping you,' she shot back.
'Well, how come you're still here?' he yelled, secretly pleased that she was.
'I'm not - I'm outta here!' she yelled back.
Agnes and Annie watched as if they were spectators at the Coliseum.
'Good!'
'Good!'
'Fine!'
'Fine!'
'Excuse me?' interrupted a man dressed in black and white and sporting a badge that informed the world that he was the manager of Cicada. 'Could I please ask you all to leave? You're disturbing our guests and the reputation of this restaurant is foremost.'
'What?' breathed David.
'I'll ask you again,' he stated, 'if you leave now, I won't be forced to call security!'
'So embarrassing!' said Annie, averting her eyes.
'Oh call security,' flared Maddie, 'see if I care.'
'It's not your evening,' snorted Annie. 'Thanks for ruining mine.'
Maddie suddenly felt like she was being attacked from both sides which resulted in bringing the worst out in her: 'Ruining your evening! Huh! Agnes and I were getting on just fine with our business until you two decided to get involved.'
'Maddie, if I remember correctly - it's you that included us... I don't remember accepting the invitation to this stake-out! In fact - I distinctly remember declining this particular invitation!' spurted David with a fury he did not realize that he possessed.
'Ladies and gentleman?' said the manager with force.
Annie began to rise from her seat, a look of distaste on her face. David took this as his cue to also stand. All four stared at each other across the void, willing someone to make a move towards the entrance first.
'Guess that'll be me then,' Agnes accepted her duty and started to move towards the exit - followed closely by the others - they tip-toed out follow-my-leader style.
The manager physically threw David, as the last to leave, out of his restaurant. 'Okay already, 'David complained, brushing down his suit. 'Thanks for the helping hand - but it really wasn't necessary!'
All four of them found themselves out in the cold, stark parking lot... having been thrown out of the most expensive restaurant in LA.
'Well, that was humiliating,' remarked Annie.
'Oh, leave it to Mr. David Addison to demonstrate the art of humiliation!' shrieked Maddie. 'I warned you about him, Annie!'
'Oh, you warned her about me?' spat David. 'What exactly did you warn her about?'
Maddie just stared at him, her eyes locked onto his. 'That you can't possibly be trusted.' The words left her mouth and she knew she was sliding down that slope again, the one where she ended up with nothing but that hollow feeling inside her.
'I can't be trusted, Maddie?' he intervened, looking directly into her soul. 'Trust is a fragile word to be shooting around like that.' He noticed that her eyes were locked against him - he could not delve any deeper past the anger that sparkled on the surface and it frustrated the hell out of him.
'Well you oughta know!' She knew, without doubt, that her words were her defense, her shield around her true emotions. She knew this man inside and out which meant that she also knew how to hurt him with deadly accuracy.
'Me know?' David sounded both angry and hurt.
'Yeah, you know!' Maddie felt the heat rise within her as she approached the subject that was closest to her heart. 'You bandy it around like it was a red ball in a pool game!'
'Me?' He was furious now, so furious that he forgot the presence of both Annie and Agnes who were mesmerised by this heated interaction. 'Me?' He was too livid to speak.
'Get over yourself, Addison!' She drove on up the freeway despite the danger signs.
'Baby - there's only one person in this charade who needs to get over herself,' David shouted, now oblivious to the effect of his bullets, 'and that's you!' I must have been crazy. She's not jealous, she's irrefutably nuts.
'What charade? This ridiculous 'show' that you're putting on for my benefit, you mean that charade? The one where you're moving on with your life?' She fumbled about in her purse. 'Here,' she stated, 'have some more of these!' She started throwing Blue Moon business cards at him. 'You might need 'em to reinforce your point! I don't think you gave Annie one yet...'
David just stood there as she aimed her business cards at him. He suddenly looked like he had no more left to give; his gun was out of rounds. He looked helpless. Lost.
However, Maddie was so riled up that she was unable to control her anger, it was driving her and she had no idea which direction it would take her next. 'Why don't you just leave me alone, David?' she screamed from the depths of her pain. 'Just do me a favour and get out of my life! We have nothing left, Addison, so why do you keep on with all of this? Nothing. We're nothing!' Tears threatened to escape the confines of her eyes. 'Just take my cousin and your cards and get out of my sight!'
David parked the car in front of Maddie's house and turned the engine off. He stared through the windshield at the lonely, dark street, his jawbone so tight that it almost hurt. She had told him that he couldn't be trusted. After all these years, after all they had been through together. She had clearly shown him that there was nothing left between them but a wasteland between two enemy countries.
'What's the matter with you?' Annie asked in a bored voice. 'You haven't said a word since we left the restaurant. You're behaving strangely.'
'Looks like I swallowed something too big,' David replied grimly.
Annie giggled. 'Luckily this has never happened to me!' she said, making the comment sound deliberately lewd. 'Is it because of that silly little scene with Maddie and that strange secretary of yours? Don't think about it. She was always good at making a scene. It doesn't mean anything, it never meant anything - she was just being a drama queen as usual.'
David turned his head around to face her; however, she didn't notice the disgusted look on his face, hidden by the shadows. 'Listen,' he said, 'I think we'd better...'
'Don't think,' she interrupted, 'thinking is for boring people. You look like a man of action to me.'
She took his startled face with both hands and pulled him towards her, like she had done earlier that morning, after their brunch date. She kissed him, but this time she didn't release him. Almost automatically, after a few moments of hesitation, he returned the kiss and after another few moments, the adrenaline rush made him dizzy. The resulting chemical reactions performed their roles accordingly. His body started to respond to Annie's touch, and he heard his own blood rush - deafening his ears, mingled with Maddie's disgusted, cold voice: ...just do me a favor and get out of my life! We have nothing left... Nothing. We're nothing.
Face it, pal, he thought, she's through with you. She chewed up your heart and spat it out. Why the hell do you still have qualms about that stubborn cold bitch? She wants to be left alone? Hell, then leave her alone - once and for all.
He took Annie's face and kissed her back with more enthusiasm then he actually felt. When they finally withdrew, both were breathing heavily. Her from passion, him from intense emotional release.
'Let's get in,' Annie panted. 'She won't be home till late.'
'No!' he said curtly.
She leaned over and nibbled playfully on his neck. 'Then let's go to your place,' she breathed in his ear. We have nothing left, Addison, so why do you keep on with all of this? Why don't you just leave me alone? He shook his head and hoped it would make Maddie's voice go away once and for all. Sink or swim? I guess this iceberg is far too big for the Titanic.
He heard himself say 'OK, let's go.' But that funny voice belonged to somebody else. He started the engine.
Twenty minutes later, they entered his apartment. David's head had started to ache.
'Wow,' Annie exclaimed, noticing his lack of furnishings, 'that's what I call open space!' She stepped out of her shoes and unceremoniously took off her blouse, pulling it over her head without unbuttoning it, revealing a lace-trimmed pink bra. She tossed the blouse aside and grabbed David by the lapels. 'Well... who needs furniture anyway?' she purred and pulled him in for a kiss. It was all wrong, there was no beautiful light, no tenderness, nothing. Yet he could not help himself.
This is utter crap, shot through his mind, but as she began to passionately kiss his face with her pouting lips, due to simple biochemical processes, he became carried away by the heat and an impersonal urge to satisfy long suppressed needs. He had a desperate, painful longing for oblivion. With determination, he silenced the sad voice at the back of his head that was constantly repeating that goddamned name, and he screamed inwardly, soundlessly: I won't have this anymore! Finally, his hands and mouth found their way without any participation of his mind. He was dead inside.
When it was over, David lay on his back, stoney-faced, staring at the ceiling, both hands on his stomach, as if he were trying to cover the empty hole he sensed somewhere deep in his soul. Although he was covered with the crumpled sheet, he felt cold and numb. There was a bad, sickening taste in his mouth, and it didn't take him long to realize that it came from the utter disgust he was feeling towards himself.
Annie sat up and shook back her hair - her face was flushed but unimpressed. Slipping out of the bed, she turned the radio on to disguise the uncomfortable silence. She headed for the bathroom.
In her absence, filling the room, was the smooth and sad voice of an elder Elvis Presley. The words were sung directly from one sad stranger to another. He closed his eyes and felt true grief.
'I've never seen a night so long When time goes crawling by The moon just went behind a cloud To hide its face and cry
The silence of a falling star Lights up a purple sky And as I wonder where you are I'm so lonesome I could cry'
'God,' said Annie, coming back from the bathroom, 'what a boring song - it's so miserable!'
'Hm?' David managed. He opened his eyes and saw she was gathering up her discarded clothes that were still lying about on the floor.
'Boring,' she repeated, slipping into her skirt, 'that song. Listen, I'd better be going. Wouldn't want to have another stupid discussion with Miss Purity.' She zipped up her skirt.
The sound of her voice and the tone in which she spoke about Maddie made him feel even sicker. 'I'm sure she couldn't care less.'
Casually, she pulled the blouse over her head and looked for her hairbrush in her purse. She shrugged in response to his last remark. 'Oh, believe me, she would. She was envious of us right from the very start.'
David frowned. 'Right from the start?' What was this?
She was brushing her hair with fervor. 'Sure. Yesterday, when I told her I was interested in you, she immediately wanted to talk me out of it. It surely wasn't because she was worrying about me. She said there was only business between you two, but at the same time she told me it was... complicated.' She stretched the last word in a sarcastic voice, mocking Maddie's way of speaking.
David sat up. 'Complicated?' he echoed. Now she tells me this!
Annie finished brushing her hair and tossed it back, in what she perceived to be a sultry manner, and turned around to face him - her smile turning rapidly to a frown. 'Why do you always repeat what I just said?' she asked in an half amused, half bored tone.
He shook his head. 'Never mind.'
'Well,' she said carelessly, 'I'll take a cab. Guess we'll speak tomorrow?'
'Guess so,' he replied reluctantly.
She waved. 'Bye then.' She didn't even wait for him to answer before she was gone.
David pulled the sheet over his head and groaned, like he was in his own personal hell. He was in pain. He fumbled for his new alarm clock and threw it across the room to silence that damn sad voice coming from the radio, but he missed it. Elvis did not spare him a final repeat of that chorus - reminding him of what he already knew - all too well.
'And as I wonder where you are I'm so lonesome I could cry.'
And he did.
TO BE CONTINUED...