Disclaimer: I don't own Lie to Me, or these characters. If I did, they'd still be on your television.
Author's Note:
This story is for Lie to Me Lives.
The wonderful, talented and incredibly kind csiAngel mentioned finding evidence that there was supposed to be an episode named 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Tech?'. This wasn't what I'd originally planned to write, but here it is anyway.
Cal Lightman is restless. He slouches in his chair, then sits up again almost immediately, leaning forward and resting his chin on his hands before removing them and leaning back again. Torres ignores him as best she can, fast-forwarding through the interview footage to get to the part they needed to examine more closely.
"I can't put my finger on it," Ria tells him, squinting a little as she watches the man on the screen talking, slowing the video down to 1/8 speed. "There's just something about him that feels off," she adds, attempting to draw Cal's focus to the task at hand; an interview with a man who claimed to be a victim in a bank robbery, but who was suspected of being one of the perpetrators attempting to 'escape' with the hostages to avoid capture.
Cal leans to one side for a second, then shifts his weight to the other, crossing then uncrossing his legs. Torres glances at him out of the corner of her eye, his shifting starting to become irritating as she attempts to concentrate on the screen in front of her. She skips back fifteen seconds and goes to hit play, pausing instead when Cal shifts again.
"Alright boss?" she eventually asks, half prepared to be told to mind her own business, but unable to ignore his restlessness any longer.
Cal pulls a face, hesitating for a moment before offering an explanation. "Gillian's got a new boyfriend," he informs her.
'Ah. Of course,' Ria thinks. 'Foster.'
"Jealous much?" she accuses gently. It's not the first time she's called him on his feelings for his business partner, and although it's plain as day, he denies it every time.
"I'm not jealous," he protests. Neither of them believe him. "I'm concerned. Gillian doesn't exactly have a good track record when it comes to picking men, does she? That druggie ex-husband of hers, who may or may not have been getting a bit on the side, then our friend Captain America aka David Burns... Not to mention that guy she had in between. What was he? Stock broker? Accountant?"
Torres bites her lip briefly, choosing not to mention any of the other men who had shown some level of interest in the older woman during her employment with The Lightman Group. "She picked you," she reminds him. "As a business partner," she adds when he quirks an eyebrow briefly.
"I rest my case," he replies with a flourish, launching himself up and out of his chair. "Horrible taste in men. You can get this finished, yeah?" he says, not bothering to wait for a response before he starts to make his way to the door. "Report on my desk by the end of the day!" he calls out as he leaves the room and struts down the corridor. He has some digging to do.