INTRODUCTION:
The moments are back! But enough with the (tragic) story of Danny and Lindsay.
Let's make up Eric/Calleigh stories before they muck up this one.
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Eric Delko is on speed dial no. 3 on Calleigh Duquesne's phone (#1 is her dad, #2 is Horatio). So it is never a difficult thing to drive her Hummer with one hand and ring Eric on the other.
"Delko" the suave, low-voice answered on the other end.
Calleigh sported her shades and adjusted her rearview mirror as she stopped at a red light. "Hey, sorry to bother you on your day off, but H needs you."
"No big deal" Delko answered on the other line. Calleigh could hear splashing. "Are we talking about an ocean dive or a swamp dive?"
"Ocean" Calleigh said and smiled. "So you won't be all stinky for whatever you have planned for tonight."
Delko laughed "If that's your way of implying that I do have plans for tonight, and that those plans are with certain female individuals, then I can honestly say that you are mistaken, Ms. Duquesne."
Calleigh giggled herself. In her mind she didn't intend to imply that, but it's hard to pick her words when it comes to Delko these days. Somehow, there's always a double meaning.
"Let me just get my gear from my apartment" Delko answered.
"No need, I got your Hummer and everything in it" Calleigh said. "Just tell me where you are".
"University of Miami" Delko answered. "At the pool"
Calleigh nodded her head. He's swimming. He's wet and he's practically naked. While he's on the phone.
A loud honk startled her from behind.
"Alright" Calleigh said as she stepped on the gas -- a little too hard, as a matter of fact -- "I'm near, I'll see you in five minutes".
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Eric flipped his phone shut and debated with himself whether he should run to the showers and get himself all cleaned up before Calleigh -- the woman who makes his insides melt -- arrives. He debated with himself because he didn't know what Calleigh would prefer seeing -- him all clean with the smell of aftershave, or him all wet and naked?
And then he thought about all those years they were friends, rewinded in his head all the things he's learned about Calleigh. The type of sandwich that she eats (ham and cheese on rye so it's not messy). How she keeps her desk and her locker and her car clean and in order. The discreteness of her relationships (Hagen, Elliot, Berkley). The strength in her character in every obstacle that has come her way, especially with her father's drinking problem. And he thought, nah. Calleigh's not that girl.
Like a jolt, Eric stood up from the bench and grabbed his towel, almost running towards the showers, thinking of the horrible, horrible reaction that the pure-in-spirit Calleigh would have seeing him naked. Would it disgust her?
He almost reached the shower room but Calleigh stood at the end of the hallway.
Eric just smiled, carefully wrapping the towel around his lower half -- especially his ass and his crotch. Calleigh couldn't look him in the eye. She seemed to have found a spot near his chin and focused on it as she said the words.
"I guess I drove too fast" Calleigh said.
"Sorry, I can change in the hummer" Eric answered.
Eric and Calleigh walked in awkward silence towards the parking lot until Calleigh finally found her tongue.
"Ummm….. yeah…. We found um…. Body parts leading to the um…." Calleigh stuttered as Eric grunted to open the Hummer's back door. "To the beach" Calleigh continued, her eyes fixed on the case folder in her hands. "Part of a femur…. A shoulder…." Calleigh said as Eric dug into his overnight bag and found a shirt and a pair of jeans. "… and …um…. A foot"
"Shark attack?" Eric asked as he peeked into Calleigh's case folder for the photos. He loomed over her, his moist, cold, firm chest touching the soft fabric of her blouse.
"We found what looks like tool marks" Calleigh said, her voice breaking. She could feel his warm breath in her hair. "So this was done by a man, not an animal"
"Murder it is" Delko answered. He just stood there, staring at the pictures, his shirt and jeans still in his hand. He was still half naked in his towel.
"What did the ME say? Victim was cut up post-mortem?" Eric asked, fully invested in the case.
Calleigh wiped her eyes in frustration. "Eric, could you please put some clothes on it's…. distracting."
Eric smiled his naughty Delko smile. "What's distracting?"
"I don't mean 'it'…. I mean you" Calleigh's hands flailed in the air, almost knocking off the folder in his hand "I mean your guise is…. just….." Calleigh gave up "Ugh, just get in the car, I'll drive".
Calleigh walked towards the driver's seat, beet red. Eric proceeded to put the shirt over his head, completely amused.
Hmmm…. Maybe Calleigh's that girl after all.