Disclaimer: I still don't own The Mentalist. Shocking, I know, but true.
A/N: To those of you whom I couldn't respond personally to: thank you so much for your kind reviews!
Chapter Two: The Second Day
Friday, December 14, 2012
Jane was sitting on his couch and sipping a cup of tea. A cup of suspiciously familiar-smelling tea. In fact, was it –
Lisbon took another sniff inconspicuously.
– yes, it was. It was a cup of her new pear tea. Jane was drinking a cup of her pear tea without having asked whether he could have any.
(What? It was the principle of the thing.)
"And here I thought you'd given up your thieving ways," Lisbon told him, rounding the corner.
"Good morning, Lisbon," Jane said, entirely unabashed at being caught. "You should try some of this; it's really quite good."
He waved the teacup temptingly in front of her.
Only Jane would be impudent enough to offer her some of her own tea; tea that he'd stolen from her, for that matter.
"Oh, stolen sounds so harsh," Jane said, plucking the words right out of her mind. She hated when he did that. "Let's call it liberated, shall we? I liberated your tea because you weren't going to touch it."
"Excuse me?" Lisbon said indignantly.
She hadn't been planning on drinking any of the tea this morning, but that hardly meant that she was never going to try it.
"You know I'm right," Jane told her in a sing-song voice.
Scowling, Lisbon snatched the teacup from where he'd perched it on his knee and gulped the remainder of its contents down.
"Happy?" she asked, handing him back the now-empty cup.
"Ecstatic," he assured her with a bland smile.
Right. She probably should have expected that response.
After unlocking her office door, she opened it and stepped on through. Turning on the lights yielded a surprise of sorts: a red envelope propped up on her desk.
"Jane?" Lisbon called. "Did you see anyone come in here this morning?"
Stepping into her office, he replied, "Does it matter if I did?"
"Considering this envelope wasn't here when I left last night, I should say it does," Lisbon informed him. "We have a potential security breach."
"Teresa, Teresa, Teresa," Jane said with a sigh. "I've been telling you for years that that lock is easily picked."
"And you've been demonstrating it for years too," Lisbon told him, eyes narrowed.
"Yes, well, practical sorts like you always respond best to concrete demonstrations," Jane told her.
Lisbon felt her lips quirk upwards against her will.
"So that's why you've been breaking into my office all this time?" she asked amusedly. "It's all been a selfless attempt to help improve the CBI's security?"
"Of course," Jane assured her in a carefully innocent tone. His eyes, however, were dancing wickedly.
Lisbon snorted feelingly.
"So," she said. "This morning…"
Jane shrugged.
"Jane…" Lisbon said.
"Why not just go with the holiday spirit, Teresa?" Jane asked. "Let your little admirer remain anonymous as he so obviously wants to."
"Because – because –" Lisbon sputtered. "– He could be dangerous!"
Jane dismissed her entirely valid concerns with a wave of a hand.
"Now are you going to open your present or will I have to do it for you?" he asked. "I have to admit, I'm a bit curious."
Sighing, Lisbon tore open the envelope. Inside, there was a card with the words 'Merry second day of Christmas from your secret admirer' written on its front. When she opened the card, another card fell out.
"Twenty 'Dove' dollars have been donated in your name to the Dove Peace for Children Foundation," Jane read aloud from over her shoulder. "Well that's nice."
Lisbon was still looking at the inside of the original card, where two smiling turtles were drawn in colored pencil.
"I guess that's where the turtle part of the Turtle Doves comes in," she murmured at last.
Jane raised an eyebrow, looking reluctantly impressed.
"Apparently your secret admirer is artistic," he said.
"Apparently," Lisbon agreed, setting the card back down on her desk with a small frown of concentration.
On the second day of Christmas, someone gave to me… two turtles and two 'Doves.'
She had a list of suspects to write up.