Don's POV
"Hey, you guys want to head over to Shamrock?" I asked on the way out of the precinct. Shamrock was a pub that I remember going to as a kid growing up in New York. We didn't go very often but when my grandparents wanted authentic Irish cuisine, we'd end up there. I knew that there was a Rangers game tonight. It was an away game but I knew that Rick McClanahan would be playing it on the TV in the pub.
"Rangers game tonight?" Sheldon Hawks asked.
"Yep." Danny Messer replied. "I'm game if you are, babe?" He looked at Lindsay, his wife.
"Sure, unless you don't want to pay the babysitter overtime." She laughed. Danny did too.
"What about you, Mac? Jo?" I looked at the other two. Mac Taylor and Jo Danville.
"I can't, I promised Ellie that I'd be home early tonight." Jo replied. We said good night to her as she headed home.
"Sounds good to me; it'll be nice to relax for once. It seems like we haven't been able to for a while." Mac replied. We all headed to the pub. I was right. Rick McClanahan had the game playing on the only TV in the place.
"Welcome, to Shamrock. Take a seat anywhere you like." A waitress greeted us. We sat at the closet table to the TV. I could feel someone watching us. I scanned the room and my eyes landed on a woman sitting alone in a booth. She seemed familiar somehow.
"Hey, she was at the Park this morning." Lindsay's voice broke me from my thoughts. I had been trying to place her and when Lindsay mentioned the Park I thought that maybe that was it but then something wasn't right. I remembered her from the Park, yes, but also from somewhere else. "It's Cailín, right?" Lindsay went over to her. "Come join us." The woman smiled and then followed Lindsay over to us.
"You were taking photos of us at the Park, weren't you?" Sheldon asked when she sat down.
"Yeah. I was on assignment for work. I had to take pictures of life in Central Park for a backdrop for an ad." She looked embarrassed.
"And you thought to take pictures of police at a crime scene?" Danny joked. She laughed a little.
"No, I eventually made my way to the other side of the Park to fulfill the assignment. Curiosity got the better of me for a moment." She looked up at the TV. "Oh, Eric, you could have blocked that. Where's your head?" Apparently, she knows the Rangers' goalie. "Hey, Susan, you're brother missed one again." She said to the bartender.
"He's your cousin." The bartender answered back.
"Yeah, but he was your brother first." So this woman was a McClanahan.
"I should probably introduce you to everyone." Lindsay spoke up. "This is my husband, Danny Messer, that's Sheldon Hawks, Mac Taylor, and Don Flack. This is Cailín McClanahan."
"Do you all work for the NYPD?" She asked.
"I'm a crime scene investigator but I used to be the ME and before that I worked at a hospital." Sheldon replied.
"I'm the director of the NYPD Crime Lab." Mac smiled at her.
"I'm a homicide detective." I couldn't shake the fact that she seemed familiar to me. "Excuse, I don't mean to sound rude, but do I know you?"
"I was thinking the same thing, Detective." She replied. "I've been thinking that since the Park. I grew up in New York City. My dad used to help my uncle run this place."
"You're Jason's kid sister." Recognition dawned on me. "You moved after your 8th grade year. After your mom died."
"Yeah, living in the city got to be too hard on Dad, so he moved us to D.C."
"What's Jason doing now?"
"He's a 'Top Gun' in the Navy. He lives in Annapolis with his wife and daughter. What's Samantha up to these days?" So she remembered my sister. But then, they had been best friends since elementary school.
"She's working in the PR department for the NYPD. She's not had the easiest life but she's trying to make things better." I had only recently made amends with my sister. I had called in a favor to get her the job with the Public Relations department as a journalist. Even though she'd messed up in the past, I wouldn't let her give up on her dreams.
"I'll have to give her a call sometime soon. We lost touch after I moved."
Cailín's POV
"I'll have to give her a call sometime soon. We lost touch after I moved." I had lost touch with my childhood friend after moving to DC. I couldn't believe that I was sitting at the same table as Don Flack. He and my brother had hung out a lot as kids. Don, Jason, and Eric would get into messes so many times it got to be a known fact that if something was broken, they probably broke it. Truth be told, I'd had a crush on Don. Of course, I never said anything to anybody and after we moved it seemed like I moved on. Now, things seemed to tell a different story. He was even cuter now than when he was a teenager. He and Jason are three years older than me. I wasn't Don's type back then and I'm probably not his type now. I shook that thought from my mind. It wasn't like that with us. Sometimes, Don had seemed like another brother looking out for me. Of course, that could be because I hung out with his kid sister all the time. Sam was probably my only friend growing up. Neither one of us were very popular.
"Yeah, you should. She'd like to know that you're back in the city." Don's voice snapped me from my thoughts. "I'll give you her number." He wrote her number on a napkin and handed it to me. I smiled at him.
"Thanks." I glanced up at the TV. "Oh, come on, Eric! Get your head in the game!" Suddenly, my cell phone rang. "Hello?" I walked toward the bathrooms.
"This is Mr. Peterson, from the magazine."
"Yes, sir?" I was a little nervous.
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this over the phone, but I'm afraid we're going to have to let you go. You'll finish the current assignment and then that will be it. I'm sorry but we've just calculated the budget and even though your work is incredible and you came highly recommend… it's just that you haven't been with us long enough to keep you with the budget cuts. I'm sorry. You will get credit for this assignment and you'll get the commission you're due. I'll see you in the morning, Ms. McClanahan. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Mr. Peterson." I couldn't believe it. I had just gotten the job a week ago and now I was being let go. I understood the budget cuts, but I just wished they would have figured it all out sooner. I sunk into my booth.
"Cailín?" Uncle Rick sat down across from me.
"I've been let go." I looked at him.
"From the magazine?" I nodded. "You just got that job last week."
"That was my boss. He said that they just calculated the budget and they can't afford to keep me. I'll finish this current assignment and get the credit and commission I'm due, but then that's it. It's a good thing I'm still freelancing. I do have a few architecture jobs next week and then a couple of fashion shoots the following week. I've sent some photos to National Geographic but no word on those yet." I tried to look at the positive. "I really didn't like that job anyways. I took it because it was the only job offer I got and it would have been a steady job unlike the freelance."
"It's going to be alright, Cailín. You have talent. Somebody will see that. So, what happened between you and that Matt guy?"
"Uncle Rick, please don't."
"Don't what? Don't ask about that guy you seemed crazy about?"
"Apparently, he wasn't crazy about me. He was cheating on me with a girl from his work." I looked at the picture of my mom and dad. "They were so happy."
"Yeah, they were." Rick smiled at me. "One day, Star, you'll find someone who will make you that happy." He kissed the top of my head and then headed into the kitchen.
"Cailín, are you alright?" Lindsay came over and sat across from me. "I couldn't help but overhear."
"I'm fine. The thing with Matt was one of the reasons why I moved back to New York. I had to get away from DC. Getting let go isn't the worst thing that's happened recently—that was Matt. I'm a talented photographer. I'm starting small but taking even the slightest job helps me get known. I'll be fine. I'm still going to look for a more permanent job, but for right now I'll focus on freelance." I smiled at her. Even though I've only just met her I could tell that there was a friendship growing.
"If you ever need anything, just let me know. Alright?"
"Sure." Suddenly, my cell rang again. "Hey, Jason, what's up?" Lindsay headed back to the others.
"Sis, there are a couple of things I have to tell you." He sounded down.
"Okay?" I braced myself. The way my day has been going, anything could happen.
"First, the good news." He paused. "Lacey's pregnant."
"That's great news! When did you find out?"
"The doctor just called. She went in for a check-up and they ran a test. The results just came in." He sounded happy.
"There's bad news?"
"Matt's in the hospital." He paused again, letting it sink in. "He and his girlfriend were in a car accident. She died en route to the hospital. He doesn't look good."
"What happened exactly?" I asked, not sure I really wanted to know.
"The cops said a drunk driver ran a red light going 70 mph. He was dead when the paramedics arrived on scene. You don't want to know any more details." He was probably right.
"How are Matt's parents handling it?" I asked about Matt's parents because they had been nothing but nice to me. Matt and I had dated for about two years before I found out he was cheating. He'd said that he'd only been seeing the other girl for three months when I found out. I wasn't quick to believe him.
"They're taking it hard. They might not have agreed with his lifestyle choices, but he was still their son."
"I know. Thanks for telling me. With all of this I probably shouldn't tell you how my day went."
"No, you should." He laughed a little.
"The good news. It's a small world." I laughed as the song played in my head.
"How so?"
"Do you remember Don Flack?" I noticed Don look at me when he heard his name.
"Yeah, what about him?"
"He's sitting at a table here at the pub. Of course, Uncle Rick has the Rangers' game on. Speaking of which, you need to tell that cousin of yours to practice his blocking." I laughed and so did Jason.
"What's Flack up to these days?"
"You should ask him. I'll give him your number and you two can catch up."
"You said 'good news,' so what's the bad news?"
"I've been let go." I waited for his response.
"You've only had that job a week!"
"Budget cuts. The boss said that my talent wasn't what got me cut. They just figured that they couldn't afford my position and that I hadn't been with the magazine long enough to secure a spot for me. It's fine, Jase, I have several freelance jobs coming up in the next couple of weeks. I'm still going to look for a more permanent job but for right now that freelancing will keep my head above water."
"As long as you're okay with all of this. Hey, I'd better go. Lacey and Sarah are begging for attention. They send their love. I'll tell Dad you said hi. Love you, sis. Night."
"Night, Jase, love you too." I hung up the phone. I smiled. No matter what was going on, Jason could always cheer me up. Even if it was just a simple 'hello.'
"Was that Jason?" Uncle Rick asked.
"Yep. Lacey's pregnant again."
"How many does this make them?" Rick joked.
"This will be their second. It's about time though, I think Sarah's been asking for a baby brother or sister since she could talk." We laughed. I headed back to the group at the table.
"Everything alright, back home?" Lindsay asked.
"Yeah. My brother and his wife are expecting their second child. My father is doing well. My ex-boyfriend may not make it through the night." I replied.
"What?" Lindsay, along with the rest of the table, looked at me.
"Okay, that's not a good thing, I know. He and his girlfriend were hit by a drunk driver who ran a red light doing 70. That's what Jason said the cops said. Karen died en route to the hospital, the other driver was dead before the paramedics arrived, and Matt isn't expected to live much longer. Jason wouldn't go into any more detail; he said I wouldn't want to know. He's probably right." I wrote Jason's number on napkin. "Here, Flack. It's Jason's number. He'll be expecting a call, probably."
