Two Broken Toys, Chapter 2
A Law and Order CI FanFiction
Note: The characters in Law and Order CI are the copyright of Dick Wolf; all others are of my imagination
The next time Bobby saw Annie was at a hot dog cart on a corner in the Village. She was with a friend, and they were laughing and chattering like two little birds, one not even waiting for the other to stop talking. He walked up and leaned over, whispering in her ear.
"Well, at least now I know you're not a vegan."
Annie closed her eyes and smiled. She knew immediately who it was—Bobby Goren, the big, gorgeous cop she met last week. She swallowed the bit e so she could talk. "Big guy cop. It's you again. And no, I'm not a vegan, just a part-time vegetarian." She smiled broadly.
He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and gently wiped the area below her lower lip. "Mustard." Truth is, Bobby had to find a reason to not seem creepy about staring at her full rosy lips. No lipstick and they were still amazing.
"Oh Bobby—meet my friend Wendy," Annie exclaimed, suddenly remembering her manners. "Bobby Goren, this is Wendy Stoner. Wendy, this is Bobby."
They shook hands and exchanged greetings; all the while Wendy wore a mischievous smile on her face, like a little girl who knows a secret.
"So nice to meet you, Bobby," Wendy said smiling, 'I've heard a lot about-"
WHOMP! Annie kicked her on the back of Wendy's ankle to shut her up.
"Ow! That hurt! Sorry for making small talk." Bobby smirked, and there was just a hint of blush on his cheek. Annie, however, looked like all the blood supply in her body had rushed to her face.
"Well, I gotta get back to work. See ya, Ann. Nice meeting you!" Wendy waved and walked to the left from the corner.
Annie looked at Bobby sheepishly. "Sorry about that."
"About what"
"That I talked to Wendy about you and that SHE CAN'T KEEP HER BIG MOUTH SHUT!" Annie yelled down thesidewalk. Wendy was about half a block away. She waved flirtatiously without even turning around.
"Why should you be sorry? It's nice to know you talked about me. Besides, I mentioned you to my partner a few times. Well, more than a few times." He smiled, and her embarrassment instantly went away. There was something about this big, strong man that made her feel safe.
"You don't have to go back to work, right away, do you?" Bobby asked hopefully.
"Nope. In fact, that's why I met Wendy here. She lives here in the Village and works at a boutique. It's my day off, so I took the subway to see her for a little while."
"How far away do you live, Annie?"
"Oh, I have a studio on the Upper West Side. "
"Can I give you a ride? I'm parked just a block away."
Annie scoffed. "There's no way you're parked anywhere in this neighborhood. It's ridiculous around here."
Bobby laughed and opened his coat. "it's ridiculous what a badge can do."
She shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, why not?"
They made small talk on the way to the vehicle, mostly about her job in copy editing/graphic design for SCRIPT , a brand-new magazine covering movies past and present, their stars, directors, etc.
"Needless to say, I'm crazy about movies," Annie exclaimed, rubbing her hands together gleefully, "especially the classics—the 30s, 40s, 50s—now that was the golden age of movies . The women always looked beautiful and wore beautiful clothes, the men were always sharply dressed, everybody smoked—but they knew how to smoke, you know what I mean?—the made the smoke like a character in the film—silky and dreamy. Most of the scripts were well-written and had great dialogue- God, I've got to shut up. I'm talking too much. "
"No," Bobby said, gesturing to the huge, black SUV parked at the curb. "I love to hear you talk. It's southern without being—what's the word?—stereotypical"
"That comes from living half my early life in Michigan, and a couple of years in Toledo, mixed with a lot of years in Tennessee. A southern mongrel mix. That's me!" She held out both sides of her blue-flowered dress and dark blue jack as though they were suspenders. The dress made her eyes bluer, and made her curly, auburn hair glisten in the sunlight
Bobby opened the passenger door for Annie, and to her it looked like a 50-foot climb into that seat. "Lord have mercy! Okay, here we go! "She hiked her dress up a bit with her left hand, giving a view of more leg which Bobby definitely appreciated, put her right foot on the step, grabbed the door with her right hand and slung up in the seat. "Whoo! That was kind of fun!"
Bobby shut the door and walked around to get in. "You did it. I'm impressed. And with no help from me."
"Honey, the only help you could have given me would be a big ol' shove on my butt, and we don't know each other well enough for that, "Annie laughed. Suddenly, she became very serious. "Oh gosh, were you working on something? Were you inspecting a body? Interrogating an axe murderer?"
"Actually, I had just finished asking questions on a case we're working on. I came out of the building and there you were just a few steps away."
"Kismet, darlin' it's Kismet"
Bobby rolled his eyes. "You don't believe in that stuff, do you?"
Annie shook her head, "No, I just love saying the word. Kismet, Kismet, Kismet." It's one of my favorite words I love to say.
"Really? Give me some others."
"Persephone, ostentatious, aurora borealis, moist, crème Brule, oh, it goes on and on.
Bobby couldn't stop watching her lips. He couldn't help it. God, he wanted to kiss this woman. Too soon, too soon, he kept telling himself. She called him honey. But don't all southern women do that? It probably meant nothing. God, she had good legs.
"Sorry, got of track. So what's going on? A murder? Is it a secret, or can you talk about it?" She had leaned over and was whispering in his ear. He fumbled with the keys, almost dropping them on the floorboard.
"Um, nothing to talk about, really. Just making sure a couple of alibis were solid."
"Oh, cool! Just like Sam Spade, or Sherlock Holmes! Now, just head out to the right and I'll show you where to drop me off. So what did the people need alibis for?"
Bobby replied,"Well, I work with the major case squad—we cover murders, major burglaries, fraud, and all sorts of things." He talked a little about what his job entailed. "This one happened to be a murder."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"It's all part of the job."
"Dealing with someone's death is always a major thing; but, I guess you have to toughen up or you'd lose your mind. Oh jeez, you go to therapy—I shouldn't have said that. Or am I allowed to because I go to therapy too? Anyway my cat Kitty Puss, he was run over when I was a little girl. I know you're thinking "Who would name their boy cat kitty Puss? Well, when I was little someone told me boy cats would kill you in your sleep, and the cat wandered up in the yard and my mama didn't have the heart to tell me he was a he so I thought he was a girl and named him Kitty Puss. I was gonna name him Pussarella and my mama talked me out of it. Can you imagine? The poor cat would have to have therapy itself. Anyway, when he died I cried and cried forever. Then there was my mama…" Annie became quiet and looked out the side window.
"I lost my mom too, and my brother," Bobby said softly.
"Oh, Bobby I'm so sorry." For some reason, this apology from this almost-stranger of a woman touched him more than any he had received after the death of his mother and brother. He could tell she meant it. He FELT that she meant it.
Before he knew it he was reaching over and taking her hand. She did not stop him, and ran her thumb along the edge of his finger, Bobby whispered, "It's really rough, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I felt like I was never going to learn to be happy again."
"Yeah, well, I still haven't learned. Don't think I've ever known."
"Oh dear Bobby, you will be happy one day—it just takes time. Here's me. This one with the red door."
He pulled to the side, turned on the emergency flashers, and turned to meet her gaze. "Can I see you again?"
"You mean like a date?"
"Yes, like a date." He chuckled at her somewhat child-like energy.
"Sure. When is good for you?"
"Is Saturday okay?" Bobby asked cautiously, "or do you have plans?"
"Honey, if I had them, I'd break them." Damn, Annie thought to herself, nothing like sounding too eager, girl. Truth was, she was using every ounce of self-control she had to not come across to his side of the seat- she wanted to hug him, run her fingers through his hair, kiss him, chew on that lower lip…there was no doubt, The Lord was having a good day when he made Bobby Goren.
"Great! Pick you up at eight?"
"Sounds wonderful," Annie smiled. She took a pen off the dashboard, reached for his left hand, and wrote her number on his palm. "In case you have a situation and need to cancel."
Bobby got out. "Let me walk you to the door." He came around and opened her door. She turned her knees out, trying to make a lady-like exit; she tried to slip down gracefully like a doe. Well, slip down she did—almost flat on her butt, if Bobby hadn't caught her. Annie wound up with her arms around his neck, and his arms were around her waist. Annie reached up and kissed Bobby on the cheek. "Thank you," Annie murmured, her lips still nearhis cheek. He turned and brushed his lips against hers and whispered, "You're welcome." She took his hand and led him up the steps to the door, leaving him on the next-to-the top step. She let go of his hand, turned to unlock her door, turned back and gave a little wave. In a heartbeat she was gone.
Bobby sighed. It was going to be a long time until Saturday.