Like a… Person
Present Day
… still Santa Barbara
Normally, Juliet O'Hara didn't mind a visit from Shawn Spencer. He was funny and energetic, and though she didn't like to admit it out loud… the psychic was very easy on the eyes. But right now, with Interim Chief Vick on the warpath, he was a less than welcome sight. And the fact that the man was eating something that looked very messy and sitting cross-legged on her desk (and therefore on her paperwork) did not help her mood.
Rushing over to her desk, the harried blonde looked from Shawn to his partner Gus. Thankfully the other man had had the common sense to sit in the chair next to her desk instead of on it. "Guys, this really isn't-"
"Pineapple, Jules?" Totally ignoring the detective's exasperated look, the man offered up the plastic container he'd been holding. The acidic scent from the freshly cut fruit wafted towards the woman before him. "I sliced this baby up this morning. I sensed you-"
"Mr. Spencer. Mr. Guster. We don't need you today. You may leave." Karen Vick had just stuck her head out of her office, the heavy bags under her eyes indicating that it was not a good time to mess with her. The older woman looked from Shawn to Gus and then to Juliet without saying a word.
As Vick disappeared behind her door once again, Juliet considered the plastic container in Shawn's hand. The moment he caught the direction of her gaze, the psychic waved the pineapple temptingly. "Come on, Jules, you know you're longing for some tropical-y goodness."
A resigned smile crossed the young woman's face as she reached into the blue Tupperware container. "Oh all right, just one piece." Placing the chunk of juicy yellow fruit between her teeth, Juliet bit it in half. But as the tangy juices hit her tongue, Shawn's face fell, and a growl came from behind her.
"O'Hara. In my office. Now." A loud slam followed the command, and no one breathed for a few seconds. The moment they were sure she was gone, there was a collective exhale of relief. Quickly popping the rest of the pineapple into her mouth, Juliet all but ran to the Chief's office without as much as a thank you or goodbye.
Shawn and Gus exchanged a quick glance and shoulder shrug before looking at the door Juliet had just disappeared behind. Dropping his eyes to what remained of the fruit, Shawn muttered to himself, "Bye, Jules." Even Gus didn't catch the sadness at her departure in his voice.
"Well, Shawn, if there's no case, I have a route to start and ultimately finish. Today." Relieved to be able leave the police station unscathed, Gus stood up and waited for his friend to follow.
"Ooh, Gus, check this out." Shawn had swung his legs over the edge of the desk and was surprised to see what had been resting under his left foot. The loss of Juliet was forgotten by his find.
Juliet's day planner.
Licking the sticky juice off of his fingers, the man picked up the small book. "It's Jules's calendar. Look at this; it's so cute what with all the doodles and colorful ink she used for different notes. Oooh! She's even got a little present sticker on Wednesday!"
In all the years they had known each other, Gus had never lost his amazement at how much Shawn could get out in one breath. That, however, didn't change the fact that he did not approve of his friend going through other people's planners. "Shawn. Put that down. You shou-"
"That's not my birthday. I wonder who…" The planner was ripped from Shawn's hands while he'd been deep in thought. "Hey! Gus!" And now, instead of gaining more information on the blonde for future "psychic" episodes, he was left staring at a sour-faced pharmaceutical rep.
"We're leaving now." Still clutched in his hand, Gus refused to set down the planner until Shawn was far away from Juliet's desk.
"Oh all right, Mr. Fun Time Spoiler. Just one second…" Hopping off of the detective's desk, Shawn scribbled a quick note on a yellow post-it, which he stuck to the front of the Tupperware container. "Ok, let's go."
"Thank you." Satisfied that his friend was ready to leave, Gus placed the small planner back on Juliet's desk.
"We need to stop by my dad's place though." His voice was full of spunk and expectation as if he hadn't heard a single word about Gus's route.
"What? Why?" Gus sounded completely flustered and slightly irritated. They had no case and therefore, needed no help. Normally that was the only way Shawn would set foot inside his dad's place.
"We have a case, Gus! We need to find out what May 13th means to Jules!" Shawn really had fine-tuned the art of making something out of nothing. Gus was convinced that if he ever concentrated all of his energy on one thing, he would be positively dangerous.
Normally the pharmaceutical rep would try to argue with his best friend's insanity, but some days... it just wasn't worth it. And so, he followed Shawn outside. He would just have to work on his route tomorrow.
oooooooooo
"No, Shawn. No way." Henry Spencer stomped through his living room totally put out by his son's latest plea for help. "I'm not doing it."
"Oh come on. It's easy. Just call up one of your buddies-" Shawn had followed his father out of the living room exaggerating his gestures in an effort to emphasize his frustration.
"You know how I feel about what you do, and then you insult my time on the force with Ithis/I?" The older Spencer shot his son's friend a pleading look to which he received a resigned shrug in return. Frustrated at Gus's refusal, Henry turned back to Shawn. "No, Shawn. You can figure this out by yourself."
"How am I insulting…" Giving his father's logic up as a lost cause, Shawn waved off the comment. "I just need you to figure out the significance of May 13th to Detective Juliet O'Hara." The young man threw his arms up in the air as if it were the most reasonable request in the world.
His father, however, seemed to think otherwise. "No, Shawn, not this time. You can figure this one out yourself. Why not check her… her MySpace or whatever it is you kids call it?" Turning to head back to the kitchen, Henry didn't bother to wait for a response. There was no way he was helping his son snoop on someone when he'd proved his skills at that long ago.
With his father back in the kitchen, Shawn and Gus shared a significant look as the younger Spencer mouthed 'MySpace?' in confused amazement. When his best friend simply nodded, the psychic threw his arms up in the air again before storming out of his father's house.
oooooooooo
Juliet knew that Interim Chief Vick was stressed out. Juliet also knew that she may have found a nanny, but that didn't mean the stress of a new baby on top of a high power job was any less. But the blonde still didn't think it was fair for the older woman to take out her frustrations on her.
Finally free of the Chief's office, Juliet made her way to her desk and promptly plopped down into her chair. A little worse for wear, the young detective smoothed the palms of her hands over her messy hair as she heaved a very deep sigh. It wasn't until she opened her eyes that she noticed the small blue container Shawn had been eating out of earlier sitting on her desk with a note attached.
As her eyes scanned the note, the woman popped one of the juicy chunks of fruit in her mouth. Reading over the post-it one more time before sticking it into her planner, Juliet let out a little laugh. Her first one all day. Dear Jules, My astral senses told me that you would be needing this more that I would. Enjoy! H and K's, Shawn.
oooooooooo
Later that day, Shawn and Gus made their way back to the station. The importance of May 13th was still eating at the psychic's overactive imagination, and he was hoping to 'sense' the truth out of someone.
Completely lost in his thoughts, the psychic ran directly into Buzz McNab who sent a pile of papers flying everywhere. As the tall man stooped to retrieve his work, an idea flashed inside Shawn's head like an eighty-watt light bulb. Shooting Gus a knowing look, Shawn dropped to his knees to 'help' the young cop. "Hey, Buzz."
"Hi, Shawn. Sorry about that." McNab sounded truly apologetic as if he believed the collision really were all his fault and not Shawn's.
"Oh, Buzz, it's ok. I was just lost on the spirit plane." Shawn put on his best misty psychic voice and squinted his eyes for the benefit of Buzz who was nodding along knowingly. "I don't suppose you know of any connections between Detective O'Hara and May 13th? I seem to be working with partial reception today."
Buzz's face screwed up in concentration before it lit up as if a light switch had been flipped on. "Oh, that's her birthday!" McNab's smile grew as he saw the pleased look on the psychic's face. "Well, thanks for your help, Shawn."
With all of the papers back in their file, Buzz stood up and made his way down the hall, leaving Shawn and Gus alone for a well placed, one person crouching, one person standing fist bump.
Squeeka Cuomo's Notes
- Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. To everyone who has reviewed, you've been amazing and that was only the first chapter! Again, thank you! Your kind words make me happier than I can say.
- Katie: My beta, you truly are amazing. I don't know anyone else who could go from beta-ing ID to this and still be sane. Thank you so much! :D
- Reviews are love.