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Victor Isbecki never gave much thought to the dispatchers at the fourteenth precinct. As long as they answered when he called, he was good. Besides, a mousier looking group of ladies he'd never seen.

That was until he saw 'old' Thomas leading a new one through the precinct. She was no Chris tine Cagney, but she was cute enough with her red hair and green eyes.

"Jolene, this is two of our detectives, Paul La Guardia, and Victor Isbecki," Tom said, stop ping at their desks. "Gentlemen, this is Jolene Baker." She's going to be taking over for Sandra as one of our nighttime dispatchers.

"Your name is really Jolene?" Victor smirked.

"Yeah," she blushed. "I know, I know. The song. I've had green eyes and red hair and the name Jolene since 1960. Dolly didn't start singing about it until 1975 and if I could take a man from Dolly Parton, I def initely wouldn't be working nighttime dispatch in a police department."

Victor laughed.

"Now, Miss Baker, that is the most charming accent," La Guardia said, taking her hand in both of his. "Where are you from?"

"Oh," she covered her mouth and her cheeks turned even redder. "Louisiana."

"I thought I detected a southern drawl," La Guardia smiled.

"Yes, sir. Don't worry, I'll do my best to keep it under control when I'm on the radio. I'll try to remember that you all don't add three extra syllables to every word."

"Where in Louisiana?" Victor asked. "I've been to New Orleans a few times." Bon-Bon loved the French Quarter.

"Natchitoches. Nowhere near New Orleans, I'm afraid," she smiled. "It's in western Louisiana, far enough south that I can cook beignets, but far enough north that I'd probably just bake biscuits instead."

LaGuardia smiled, thoroughly charmed. He looked over her shoulder and motioned to the two ladies who had just walked into the office. "Christine, Marybeth, come meet our new recruit for dispatch."

"Nice to meet you," Mary Beth said after they were introduced. "Did you move here with your husband?"

"Oh, no ma'am," she laughed. "I'm not marr ied. My friend moved here after college and she recently lost her husband. She asked me to move up here with her while she gets back on her feet. Help her with her kids and all."

"That's so nice of you," Lacey smiled.

"Have you ever done this kind of work bef ore?" Christine asked kindly but sizing the young woman up critically. She didn't look strong enough to handle the stress of police work, even disp atch.

"Yes, ma'am," Jolene answered. "My Dad is the sheriff where I'm from. We lost my mother when I was a baby. I grew up in the office. The man who runs my dad's radio room brags that he taught me the ten codes before I knew my alphabet," she smiled.

"Another cop's daughter, nice." Cagney nodded her approval.

"Well, it was nice to meet you all, "Jolene said as Tom ushered her out.

"Did you meet the new dispatcher?" Isbecki asked Petrie later that afternoon.

"Yeah," Petrie nodded. "Seems nice."

"She's cute, right?"

"I don't care if she's cute, Victor," Petrie said. "I care if she can do her job."

''Come on," Isbecki chided. "She's cute, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she's cute." Petrie finally caved. "But that's all I'm going to say about that."

"I'm going to ask her out," Victor said.

"She's not going to accept," he warned.

"And why is that?"

"Because when she gets to work tonight, every woman in dispatch is going to tell her to stay away from Victor Isbecki and being the smart girl that she is, she'll listen," Petrie replied.

"Yeah, yeah," he sighed.

"What about Bon-Bon?"

Oh that," he said, dismissively. "she took her act to Las Vegas for three months." He was silent for a few minutes. ''I like the way she talks you know?"

Petrie laughed. "You are so gone, Isbecki."

"Hey. Miss Baker, got a minute?" Isbecki stopped her as she was leaving work.

"Yeah, sure, Detective Isbecki, right?" she smiled.

"Right. Listen, I was wondering, have you ever been to New York before?"

"My friend, Annalise, the one I moved up here to help, she brought me up here when we were in college to visit her folks. It was Christmas time. We went to Rockefeller center, visited Macy's Santa, you know, all the holiday stuff," she said.

"Well, um, would you want to go see some more of the sights and maybe get some dinner with me when you're off this weekend," he offered. "It's not as pretty as it is at Christmas time, but it should be nice out this weekend."

"That sounds nice," she smiled. "But before I accept, I have to tell you, Detective

Is…,"

"Victor," he interrupted.

"Victor. I work with police officers so I don't date them," she replied, "If the offer stands it'll have to be just as friends."

"Friends?" He looked as though he'd swallowed a fly but then brightened up again. "Yeah, hey, that's no problem."

"Look on the bright side, Victor," she said, cheerfully. "I buy my own tickets and pay for my own dinner as friends."

"Really? This just friends thing might not be so bad, then," he teased. "You're working Friday night?"

She nodded. "I'm off Saturday."

"What time should I pick you up? Would two be okay?" He asked.

"Two is fine. See you then." She patted his hand.

"Looking forward to it." He watched her walk out of the squad room before going to his desk.

"How'd it go?" Petrie asked.

"Friends. We're going out as friends," he replied flatly. "She doesn't date cops."

"I told you she was a smart girl."

"Yeah, yeah." Friends. Just friends. Victor wasn't sure he'd ever been just friends with a woman before.

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