"I still don't know why we couldn't ride in the blueberry." Shawn muttered, scraping the vibrant green spoon against the frozen yogurt bowl.
Gus, who had just taken a spoonful of his own yogurt, took a moment to reply.
"Firstly, I can't imagine attempting to drive and eat a delicious frozen treat without either crashing or spilling my food. Secondly, it's a company car, and I can't even pretend that we're using it for work."
"Are you kidding?" Shawn tossed the empty container in a nearby trash can. "This is totally work. Why else would we be going out to Tom Blair's Pub?"
"To eat food, Shawn."
Shawn scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. We're scoping out clients – one of which, may I mention, we haven't had in three weeks!"
"How are we supposed to scope out clients at a restaurant?"
"Oh don't tell me you've never done it."
"I've never scoped out clients at a restaurant."
Shawn opened the door, instinctively scanning the room from top to bottom. "Tell me that in ten minutes," he said, turning to the hostess. "Hello, table for two. Although if you're particularly full, it could also be a ledge; even a hidey-hole." He looked at her seriously, and Gus rolled his eyes.
The rather attractive woman looked at Shawn; Gus looked on incredulously. It still amazed him how quickly women seemed to warm up to his friend. She spoke through a smile, "Fortunately for you, we do happen to have a table open. If you'll follow me?"
"Perfect. Although I definitely wouldn't say no to the hidey-hole. What about you, Gus?" He sat down.
Gus took his jacket off and draped it over the back of his seat, pointedly ignoring his friend. "Thank you, ma'am," he said, thankfully sending the hostess back to the front of the restaurant. "How do you scope out clients at a restaurant, then?"
"Gus, I thought you'd never ask. Ok, the couple in the corner: the dude's obviously in over his head for this relationship – he wants to propose in the next week, but he doesn't realize that his girlfriend is cheating on him. And the man sitting alone at the bar? His wife is missing but no one will believe him, not even the police. He's getting desperate and thinking of going after her, but he doesn't know where to look." He looked at the man, who had just downed three shots, "He may also be an alcoholic."
"You can't possibly know that." Gus frowned. Yeah, Shawn was good, but he wasn't that good.
"Are you doubting me, Gus, after all this time?"
"No, I just know that you can't possibly know that – you know, psychically."
Shawn shrugged. "Yeah, you're probably right. But hey, look at this!" He pulled out a gray folder and laid it on the table.
"We're already on the case?" Gus exclaimed. "Shawn, you said we needed to find a case!"
Shawn hushed him quickly, "Dude, we're not on the case. Jules just wants us to check this guy out – his name is Ralph, unstable fellow – and see if he's gonna fly off the handle."
"Check him out? Shawn, last I knew, no one got paid for checking people out!" Gus fumed.
"Exactly! Which is why he's going to hire us."
"Oh, so now you can tell he's just going to hire us, out of the blue; Shawn, did you just bring us here to get free burgers?"
"Of course not, Gus, it was for the delicious pineapple-mango smoothies. Of course, I wasn't quite sold on them at first – why would you add mango to a smoothie that's absolutely divine with just pineapple – but – here, try some." He bent the straw in Gus's direction.
Gus obligingly took a sip, hmming appreciatively at the delicious flavor. The rest of Shawn's words seemed to kick in, and his face soured. "So we're not getting hired."
"Of course we're getting hired!" Shawn brought both hands to his head, crying out; "Gus, Gus! Something's happening! Something big – nay, gargantuan – something that will change the course of human history!" He flung himself up from his chair, eyes closed tightly. "Gus!" He exclaimed, tripping over his own feet and landing on top of the couple in the corner.
"Oh my god!" The woman screamed, as her entire meal was thrown on her lap.
Shawn opened his eyes wide; "Sorry" he said breathily, before putting one hand on the man's shoulder. His other ring finger twitched, inching forward until it was hitting the stranger's nose. "I hope you didn't buy the ring yet." He said, head tilted to the side. "It wouldn't end well." He looked at the man sympathetically, before his face went blank.
Shawn spun around to the center of the room, twirling around and screaming Gus's name. "It burns, it burns – Oh, Gus, the wife is missing! Gus, she's all alone! Oh God -" He stopped right by the bar, and peered into Ralph's glass. "You." He said.
Shawn thought quickly. The man's iphone sat next to him, showing a profile of a woman – presumably the wife. Her last name was different than the one on the file, so she kept her maiden name. Another woman with the same name was listed too – must be the sister. He smirked slightly before turning to the man, his best serious face on.
The man sat stock-still. "Me?"
"You." Shawn paused a moment. "Your wife is alive."
"How did you-"
"I'm a psychic. But don't worry. The sister is to blame."
Ralph nodded. "She never liked me."
"She never liked you. Naturally, she would want to-"
Ralph cut him off. "Claire! Dammit, I knew she'd try to mess it up for me! Thank you, guy, I've been so worried. What do I do?"
Shawn looked back at Gus, who had stood up at some point. "Well, my friend Ralph, this is where we come in."