Jim didn't speak to her on the ride back to the station. He wouldn't even look at her. Melanie knew he was still furious. She just hoped she hadn't totally blown it. She was trying to figure out how to fix things with him. But what if he wouldn't listen? After all, he had banned her from even talking.
Once the car was parked, he got out and walked away, just leaving her there. He had been a perfect gentleman before…well, almost perfect. She knew he resented all along having to baby her, but now it was something more. Her actions had put him at risk. She knew she had messed up.
Meekly she followed him into the station and into his office. Quietly she sat on the end of his couch, waiting to see what he would do. His demeanor frightened her, in a way. He took his suit jacket off and threw it over the back of a chair. Abruptly he sat in his chair behind his desk. His eyes darted towards her briefly, a scowl crossing his face before he sighed deeply, rubbed the back of his neck, and then picked up the phone to make a call.
She watched intently for signs that he was about to toss her out. But he didn't. After a brief conversation on the phone, he pulled a file from his drawer and began leafing through it. He settled back into his chair as he began reading the file. The motion of his chest moving up and down beneath his shirt captivated her. Again, images of her hands working their way inside his shirt filled her mind. She had expected to be drawn to the man, just not in this way. Was she just feeling hero worship or was he really that exciting to her?
She was so busy watching the rise and fall of his chest that she didn't notice his surreptitious glances at her. He was trying to figure her out. She had picked him out specifically and he didn't have a clue as to why. But she had gone to a lot of trouble to research him on the internet. He didn't even know there was that much about him out there. He made a mental note to google himself and find out.
Just then, Melanie saw a slender blonde standing in his office doorway. The way she was looking at Jim…there was something going on there. Melanie looked a little closer. The woman appeared to be in her late 30's, had long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. She wore an expression that hinted at amusement. Melanie liked her instantly; she couldn't explain why, but she did.
"Jim?" the woman spoke quietly.
Jim Brass looked up to see Sofia Curtis standing in his doorway. Melanie noted that his expression immediately softened. Yep, definitely something going on there. "Sofie," he answered cheerfully.
"Are you busy…if this is a bad time…?"
"No…come on in." Jim said as he stood up to greet her. He introduced the two women, explaining to each who the other was. Sofia's eyes travelled up and down Melanie's body, appraising. To Melanie's satisfaction, Sofia seemed to find competition in her. She smiled inwardly at the thought; if only Sofia knew how angry Jim was with her.
"So, Sofia…you here for any special reason or did you just come in to make my day," smiled Jim.
Oh he's smooth, thought Melanie. The twinkle in his eye was not lost on her. I wonder just how involved they are, she pondered.
"Ah…need to talk to you about the Perkins case…." The two detectives walked to Jim's desk. Sofia handed him the file and began to explain what she had found. He sat back in his chair as she slid onto the corner of his desk. It was obvious that this was normal between them.
Melanie hadn't moved from her spot. And as involved as they were with the case and with each other, it was apparent that both cops had forgotten her presence in the room. That was okay with Melanie though because it gave her a perfect opportunity to observe Jim in his normal mode; if having a young blonde perched on his desk hanging on his every word was normal. One thing became clear to Melanie as she watched them, however. Whatever they felt for one another, they had not acted on it. There was an invisible line between them that neither seemed willing to cross. She wondered how much longer that would last.
Finally their conversation seemed to wind down. "So Jim, you pulling another double or do you get to go home on time?" asked the blonde.
Jim smiled up at her. "No double….and there's a really good hockey game on tonight."
"Let me guess….the Devils and….anybody." smirked the younger woman.
Jim chuckled. "You know me too well."
Melanie decided to remind them that she was there. "Hey, I have an idea," she chirped.
Two faces turned toward her; both looked stunned that she was there. "Oh?" asked Jim.
"Yeah…I, um…sort of owe you after the mess a made this afternoon. And you said that there were other detectives that could give me perspective; I'm assuming that Sofia is one of them. Why don't we all go to dinner….my treat. I promise, we'll be finished in time for you to get home for the game, Jim."
Sofia turned and looked questionably at Jim. He shrugged after hesitating. "Okay with me…you Sofie?"
Sofia shrugged also. "Yeah, just give me few minutes to wrap things up at my desk. Meet you two back here?"
"Sure," he smiled at her.
Jim drove the three of them to The Bellagio. He decided that if this was Melanie's treat, he was going to make it hurt. After all, she'd been a pain in the ass all day long.
Conversation was awkward at first. Jim was still miffed with Melanie. Melanie was still trying to sort out what she felt about Jim. And Jim and Sofia were all moonie eyed over each other but not willing to admit it. Sofia was wondering what was going on with Melanie.
"So Melanie, you in Vegas for long?" Sofia asked.
"Probably only another day or two. Doing research for my book but I think I have most of what I need." Jim grunted as he sipped his drink.
"What's your book going to be about?" asked Sofia.
"Well, I am a mystery writer…so, a murder mystery. It revolves around a murder at a casino….and the cop that investigates it." She looked at Jim, who just rolled his eyes. "Jim was telling me some good stories at lunch. What about you Sofia? You have any good stories?"
Sofia eyed the woman intently. "Well, let me think a minute….." She paused as her mind wandered back over her time as a detective and at CSI. "Well, if it is casino oriented, there was that one with Charlie Macklin's daughter…you remember Jim, the prom night?"
Jim smiled. "Yeah, that was the night you were messing with Gil's head," he chuckled. "I'll never forget his expression as we were talking about the case and you were changing into overalls there on the balcony. It took him a long time to figure out how to respond to you."
"Gil?" asked Melanie. "Gil Grissom at CSI?"
"Yeah," answered Jim. "He..um, he doesn't do people very well. He watches and understands but doesn't know how to respond. Or he responds in totally the wrong way." Jim chuckled. "But Sofie had him really going that night. Lady Heather is the only woman that I've seen throw him more off balance." Jim paused a minute. "But that's another story…"
Melanie turned back to Sofia. "So what were you doing to him?"
Sofia began her story. "We were at the dinner for Conrad Ecklie….the night his promotion to A.D. became official. Gil was supposed to make a speech when he was paged. So was I. I thought Catherine was going to kill him when he told her to do his speech. Later she showed me the napkin with his speech on it. It said, 'what can I say about Conrad Ecklie?"
Jim laughed, as did Melanie. "Oh, Catherine must have been really pissed at him," commented Jim.
"Oh yeah!" stated Sofia. "Anyway, Gil didn't recognize me in the elevator at first and was totally awkward about it, so I decided to have a little fun at his expense. I talked even more than usual at the scene and was friendly but obnoxious. Changing in front of him like that was just too good of an opportunity. You should have seen him after you left the balcony Jim. I think I said something about still wearing underwear…at least as far as he knew."
Jim laughed at that. "You told me that before but I had forgotten. I wish I had been there to see that."
"Anyway…. The initial investigation was the death of Nicole Jensen. Her father was once the right hand to one of the mob bosses in the early Vegas days. But this looked like drugs and stupid teenager stuff. We started looking for the girl that had the suite, Janelle Macklin, and couldn't find her…." Sofia went onto describe the search for the missing teenager. Jim added his take on the father's attitude and the two fell into an easy retelling of events, one picking up where the other left off. Sofia described her ire when it was discovered that Janelle had set the whole thing up and nothing else was being done to locate the girl. Then she was found dead in the trunk of her car.
"And in the end," concluded Jim, "Macklin had lost his daughter because all the time she had been crying out for attention he the dumbass wouldn't listen. I still don't think he got it, even in the end."
Melanie noted the sadness on both faces as they recalled the senseless death. True, the girl had done it to herself, but still… The trio sat in silence for a moment
"What's the craziest case you've ever worked?" asked Melanie. The two detectives looked at one another. Finally Jim spoke, "Happy Morales."
Sofia chuckled. "It was your case, Jim. You have to tell the story."
Jim launched into his storytelling mode, explaining the various wounds and afflictions visited on the boxer in one night at the Sugar Cane Ranch. "It was the damndest thing," he commented. "I'd just be getting a suspect to confess and Doc Robbins would call and tell me they couldn't have done it because whatever they had done to Happy wasn't the COD. Gil surprised me on that one though. He had us listening to a conversation between Binky and Doris. They were talking in a room that was wired for surveillance. Gil convinced me that it would be admissible in courts since they could have no expectation of privacy."
"That sounds more like your kind of reasoning than his, Jim," commented Sofia. "You must be rubbing off on him."
Jim smirked, "yeah…maybe."
The conversation continued for a few more minutes and then Melanie excused herself to go to the ladies room. She wanted to give Jim and Sofia a few minutes to themselves.
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So, we have Jim with two ladies...Hum, wonder what happens next? Reviews and suggestons are always welcome.