Disclaimer: I don't own anything familiar to you. I do own Kennedi, her sisters and Connor.
I just wanted to let you all know a few things before you read the story. First of all this will not be a Flack/Angell story. I like them together but for the purpose of this story they are just friends. Second, Danny and Louie aren't the only Messer siblings. They have three sisters. Third, I will be changing some of Danny and Lindsay's relationship around a little to fit my story a little better. I don't think it will be that much. I also am a fan but don't know that much about theater or Broadway. So please be forgiving if I get something wrong. If it bothers you tell me and I will do my best to fix it. Another thing is one of the people in my story is Adam Pascal. I know that the real Adam might never in a million years do some of these things but it does work for my story. Please don't get upset over me using him. I also hope that I haven't offended anybody with something I wrote. If I did I am truly sorry. I would like to ask if someone is willing to help me with a story that is a crossover between Vegas and NY. If you are let me know in a review or pm/email me. That is pretty much it for now. This is probably the only time I will be posting my author's note before the chapter. I usually post it at the bottom. I hope you like this story but please when you review give me your honest opinion.
Brianna
It was snowing the first time they met. He was enjoying some much needed time off of work by getting a cup of coffee at his favorite coffee shop. It was more crowded than usual and Don had gotten there just in time to get his coffee, a blueberry muffin and a table in just the right spot for people watching. He had been there for about five minutes when he saw her. She stumbled through the door of the shop bumping into an older man that was leaving. The man said something to her and judging by the glare she sent his direction it wasn't something she liked. Don shook his head at how rude some people could be. That woman had her hands full with folders of some sort and didn't mean to run into the man, but the old man was unforgiving. After the man left, the young detective turned to watch the neighborhood kids play a game of street hockey. When he looked around the coffee shop again a few minutes later, he noticed the young woman from earlier trying to balance her muffin, coffee and look for a place to sit at the same time. There were no empty tables. She looked like she could use a break so Don left his jacket on his chair and got up to help her. He got there just in time to catch the folders that were slipping from her hands.
"Thanks. I just need to find a table and then I can take those from you. You don't mind do you?" She asked him with a smile.
"Your welcome, and no I don't mind. In fact I came over here to ask you if you wanted to share my table with me. I noticed you looking for one and then noticed that there weren't any open." A look of relief came over her face as he said this.
"Lead the way." The detective made his way through the crowd towards where he had been sitting by the window. As she was organizing her stuff they way she wanted it, Don took this time to take in her appearance. She was slim about five foot six and had the most gorgeous, silky dark red hair that fell to the middle of her back. He noticed that her pale cheeks were still slightly pink from being out in the cold as she tied her hair back with a ribbon. She looked about twenty-eight or twenty-nine.
"So may I know the name of my savior?" she asked once she was settled across from him.
"Don Flack and your name, my sweet lady, is?"
"Kennedi Messer. Thank you so much for helping me. I was supposed to meet my friend here but he bailed on me." When she said the name Messer, Don couldn't help but wonder if she was any relation to Danny. After all Messer wasn't a name you hear every day, even in a city as big as New York.
"It's not a problem, but what kind of guy would stand up a beautiful woman like you?" He knew it was probably not a good idea to flirt with her, especially if she was related to Danny, but he couldn't help himself.
"They gay kind that's who. Michael finally got the nerve to ask out this guy he has had his eye on for awhile, but the only time they could both do anything was today. And if I hadn't told him that I could go through all this stuff by myself then I would have lost one of my very best friends."
"Then you being stood up is good for both Michael and me. What was he suppose to help you with? Maybe I can help you out." Kennedi laughed and took a sip of her coffee.
"Well unless you have a vast knowledge of Broadway shows, then you can't help me. Trust me when I say this, you don't seem the type to like theater."
"I'll have you know that I am a native New Yorker missy and do know a couple of musicals."
"Yes but do you know them well enough to pick out one to do that is appropriate for children to perform? I don't think you do."
"And why is that exactly? You don't know me. I could very well be a closet musical guy."
"Well the fact that you assumed that I was talking about a musical when I said Broadway shows, tells me that you don't know as much about theater as you want me to believe. But since you seem to think you can help me what kind of Broadway shows do you know?"
"Um well there is." Don was struggling to think of the names of the plays he had seen advertised the last time he went down Broadway.
"There was CATS. And that one with the green person I can't think of the name right now. Then there is the one about that Phantom guy." Kennedi laughed at her companion's difficulty to come up with names of some theater productions.
"Stop. Please stop. You are just embarrassing yourself and proving me right at the same time. And you sound like my brother did that one time he was hitting on an actress I knew."
"Well if that actress was as beautiful as you then I must give this brother of yours credit for trying. Couldn't you do a Disney movie or something? Didn't they turn a bunch of their movies into plays?" Don grinned when Kennedi mentioned her brother. Trying to impress a girl with his musical knowledge was something Don knew that Danny would do. He almost asked her if Danny got the actresses number, but refrained when he realized that he didn't even know if Danny was her brother.
"Yes we could do The Lion King, Little Mermaid, or Beauty and the Beast. However I don't know if these kids would want to. Some of them are in middle school but most of them are high schoolers; and I have to find a way to let them be happy about the play we are doing while making sure it is subject appropriate."
"So what's with all the papers then? Is it like a complete list of every musical ever made or something?"
"No. It's all the suggestions from the kids about what musical we should do. Most of them want to do Phantom of the Opera, Rent, or Sweeny Todd."
"And you can't do those because?"
"Well Phantom is a little too dark and intense for the younger kids, plus it's really hard to maneuver a set like that in our theater. No matter what they hear in school most of the younger one's parents would prefer that we not let their children perform a play about a demon barber. Rent has almost everything that middle school children aren't suppose to know about yet. It has cursing, sex, aids, a few homosexual couples, drugs and that is something that the parents of the middle school kids would not like to see their kids in. Most parents let their kids hang out at the theater because it is a safe place to go and have fun without getting into trouble. The parents are trying to keep their children from the drugs and the cursing. I would love to put on a production of Rent. It is my sisters and I favorite musical of all time. But we have certain restrictions when it comes to these kids and that is why Rent is out of the question."
"I see your problem. Why don't you do that one with the two rival gangs or whatever?" when Don said this Kennedi's emerald eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Don that's brilliant! We can do West Side Story. Nobody will object to that. Not the parents or the students. Thank you so much! Once again you saved me. Now I can relax and think about something else. Like you. What do you do?" Don smiled at her child like excitement. All the while trying to figure out how to answer her question. He had to be careful because he wasn't sure if confirming what he already suspected was a good thing. If it was true that she was related to Danny then dating her might not be a good idea. He didn't want to ruin his chances with the first girl he connected with in a long time. He decided to take his chances.
"Once again you are welcome. As for me, I'm a homicide detective with the NYPD. Which reminds me, I was wondering if you could clear something up for me?" When the words homicide detective came out of Don's mouth Kennedi's eyes widened in surprise. She started to laugh to herself. It was just her luck. That when she finally meets a nice guy that she really connected with he had to turn out to know her brother. 'He probably wants to know if I'm Danny's sister.' She thought to herself.
"It figures of all the people I could have met today, I meet a homicide detective. I have a feeling I know what you're going to ask me. So ask away." Don wasn't surprised that she figured it out. She wasn't stupid.
"Are you related to Danny Messer by any chance?" As he asked his question her eyes met his. They stayed like that for almost a minute. Green on blue. Blue on green. Neither one of them ready for her to answer just yet.
"Yeah. I'm one of his baby sisters." Her voice was quite as she answered without breaking eye contact. Finally, Don broke away and turned to look out the window. The young Messer just sat there waiting for him to respond.
"Just one of his baby sisters? How many of you are there?" Kennedi smiled and made a decision right then that she wouldn't let the 'Danny Factor' stop her.
"Three. Kellie, Kristi, and I. We're triplets, but were not identical. I'm the only one in my family that has red hair and green eyes. My sisters are blond and blue eyed like D.J. and Louie."
"Who did you get your hair and eyes from? And D.J.?"
"My maternal grandmother. She was Irish. They skipped a generation though. My mom has brown hair and brown eyes. My brothers and sisters get the blond hair and blue eyes from our Italian relatives. And D.J. is my nickname for Danny. His middle name is Jonathan and when I was about six I heard my dad call my mom Jen. I thought this was weird because her name was Jennifer. So I went and asked Danny about it. He said that it was a nickname. A shortened version of somebody's name. Then I thought it would be cool if I gave him a nickname, but then he said that he already had one. When I asked him what it was he told me Danny. I laughed and said that it didn't count because it was his name. He then told me that his name was Daniel and that Danny was the short version of that. I was still determined to give him a nickname so over the next couple of days I thought really hard about it. I don't remember how I thought of D.J. but one day I called him that; and he just looked at me weird and accepted his new nickname. I'm the only one that calls him D.J. and the only one allowed to call him that." For the next hour or so Don and Kennedi sat in that coffee shop talking about everything and nothing. At about eleven-thirty Kennedi looked at her watch a jumped up.
"Crap. I didn't realize how late it was. I have to go. I'm sorry. It was nice meeting you." She was about to rush off and leave Don by himself, but he stopped her.
"Hey! Can I at least get your number?" She grinned, gave it to him then rushed out into the busy New York Streets.
As Kennedi sat in traffic, she thought about her morning and meeting Don. He was a nice guy and she really liked him. She tried to remember if D.J. ever mentioned him when he talked about his friends from work. She could never remember. She also knew that getting involved with him could be a bad idea. Not because of D.J. though. 'Oh well, no reason to worry about it now.' She told herself. When Kennedi pulled up in front of her parents Staten Island home all thoughts of her morning left her mind as she observed the scene in the front yard. There was a group of about six or seven neighborhood boys all throwing snowballs at each other while the older couple on the porch laughed at how silly they were being. As she got out of her car Kennedi heard her father call a timeout.
"Hey kids why don't you take a break for a minute." The boys didn't seem to like this idea.
"Aww Pops what for? It's a snow day!" The older man grinned at the younger boy who addressed him.
"I know it's a snow day but don't you want to at least tell your mother hello so she doesn't think you're ignoring her?" As Jonathan Messer answered his grandson's question his mother walked up to meet them. As soon as she was behind him Connor turned around to give his mother a hug.
"Hi mom. Can we finish our game now?" Kennedi laughed at her son.
"Hey kid and of course you can but as soon as lunch is ready you will have to stop it again ok?" Connor nodded at his mother and then went off to play with his friends again. The three adults just smiled at him before going into the house.
