Waking up in his bed, he groaned at the sharp pains in his head and back. Cursing liquor, he rolled over to find a chocolate on his pillow, cherry liqueur flavored. Rubbing his hand across his eyes with a bleary frown, he recalled some details from last night and groaned again. He pulled on an undershirt, and proceeded to the bathroom to shave. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a feminine bottle on the edge of his bathtub. Dropping the razor into the sink, he crouched down to read the label.
"Cherri Berri Bubble Bath™ - With Real Cherry Scent"
He groaned again and noted that he'd been doing a lot of that this morning. Putting a hand to his face, he realized two things. It was still covered in shaving cream, and he was late for work.
It shouldn't have been that hard to drive to the station in the morning, but it was, and he did. Pulling into the reserved lot by the front gave him a sense of belonging, of purpose, and he'd usually stride confidently through the bustling foyer and to his desk. But not today. Carlton got out of his car reluctantly, feeling Shawn's eyes on him even though the exuberant man-child was nowhere to be seen. Loosening his tie and squinting up at the July sun, he briefly considered sticking his head in the break room freezer when he got inside. The moment passed however, when he sighted Shawn bouncing down the concrete steps with Gus behind, advancing on him rapidly. He thought for a moment that the picture would be complete if Shawn had one of those toddler stuffed-monkey leashes with the end in Gus's hand.
"Lassie! Here. Take Gus's tie. You look like a shaggy water buffalo in Arizona."
Shawn deftly removed the navy tie with an exaggerated flick of his hand and wrapped it around Lassiter's head in a lopsided bow. His hair ruffled out around the tie, creating a genuinely goofy look had it not been for his attempts to burn a hole straight through Shawn's forehead. Procuring a feather from his pocket, Shawn tucked it behind Lassiter's ear and grew wide eyed.
"Ah! Lassie! Tomahawk my head!" He thrusted his scalp towards Carlton, earning an eye-roll from both men.
"Uh, Shawn? The term is 'scalp', and I'm pretty sure we might not be welcome right now."
Gus undid the bow from around Carlton's head, letting the feather fall to the concrete. Gingerly holding his newly sweat-stained Breuer tie, he scowled at the sidewalk. After a moment of intense internal deliberation, Lassiter spoke.
"Actually, I came here to see you guys"
Shawn's mouth fell into an exaggerated 'o', and he screeched.
"Lassie! Spill your scruffy salt and pepper secrets!"
Gus rolled his eyes and Lassiter ran his hand through his hair, briefly considering a dye, and then dismissing it when he thought of the mortification of walking into a salon.
"Okay, okay. Well..."
He couldn't seem to get it out, he knew everyone would know his secret as soon as Spencer opened his fool mouth. Never could keep a secret, that arrogant toddler. Shawn was nearly wiggling out of his pants while Gus looked on in a mixture of annoyance and pity for Lassie.
"TELL ME. ME ME ME!" Shawn screeched in suspense, flapping his arms around and coming dangerously close to hitting the tray of coffees McNab was walking by with.
"Hey, whoa!"
The tray wobbled precariously, and McNab righted himself, and handed a coffee to Carlton. Accepting the comfort of his highly sweetened coffee, he curtly nodded to Buzz, and turned to Shawn to finish his sentence.
"Aw jeez, Buzz I'm sorry. Here, I'd be happy to take this from you."
Shawn took the remaining coffee from a bewildered McNab, who left to enter the station in confusion. Sipping it and wrinkling his face in disgust, he gave it to a woman walking into the station and turned back to Carlton.
"I hate creamer in coffee."
Sighing in exasperation, Lassie gathered his thoughts, and spoke.
"I met someone... And I can't remember who she is."