Chapter 4 Preparation

Hi guys,

Yeah I know. This story has been on hiatus for a while, but I found a way to access the internet in the town where I stay in Ghana. I´m still not able to update regularly because I´m just too busy, but I´ll try…
I had a hard time imagining where they would go to on their date… Until my best friend (she doesn't even know the Mentalist) gave me the perfect idea. Oh and as we speak, my beta is roaming around the world, so any mistakes... will be mine. Sorry.

Yeah, so, have fun reading!

Teresa checked her watch for the first time that evening.

Right. Who was she even kidding? It was probably the six hundredth time that she glanced down to see how the second-hand was ticking way too slowly.

It was already ten past four. That officially made him late. Two minutes late could mean he was just making his way to her table, three minutes late could mean he was just leaving his jacket, five minutes could mean he was held up in traffic, eight minutes could mean he bumped into someone, but ten minutes made him, without a doubt, late.

Late!

Jerk.

One more excruciatingly slow minute passed as she finished her drink.
Exactly sixty seconds later she decided that she wasn't the kind of woman that would wait for hours for a guy that probably wouldn't even apologize anyway. Maybe, she realized with a sharp pang in her chest, he had never been serious about this. This could all have been some kind of joke to him and she had been stupid enough to believe it.

That thought actually hurt. She grabbed her bag and was just about to leave the bar when someone abruptly placed two hands over her eyes and effectively made her freeze her movements.

"Guess who?"

"Hm.. let's see… I guess it's my late consultant who makes a habit out of annoying me," Lisbon told him, secretly feeling really relieved.

"Aww," Jane said, using the opportunity to press her against his chest. Despite herself, Lisbon shivered "You don't mean that."

"Like hell I do," Lisbon responded, but she couldn't make it sound convincing anymore. She could almost hear him grin and that actually pissed her off. "You can let me go now," she added, trying to remove his hands that were still covering her eyes.

"But where's the fun in that?" he whispered in her ear.
It was time for harsh measures.

"Well, I could always kick you in the groin," Lisbon told him with a satisfied smile. The hands disappeared with the speed of lightning.

Ha.

"You weren't thinking about leaving were you, now?" Jane asked when he noticed her empty glass. "I'm afraid you're stuck with me for the rest of the day."

"Yeah, yeah." She brushed a few strands behind her ear and pretended to look offended. She took her time to observe him as he made a gesture to one of the waiters. He was looking a little different from usual, but she couldn't quit put her finger on it. He was wearing his three piece suit, but without the jacket and his hair was just slightly disheveled. That was not it, though. Maybe it was something about his face…
Teresa suddenly realized that the strain that had covered this face for so long that it almost had become a permanent feature actually was gone. Gone.
How… How could it be gone? What happened to him?

"You…" She started, but the waiter interrupted her by asking what she wanted to order. Jane, however, was faster and smoothly ordered a cup of tea for himself and a strawberry smoothie for her.
Him, ordering for her annoyed her so much that she temporarily forgot about his face looking so carefree.

"Feeling so superior are we? What if I wanted to order something different?"

"Did you?" She hesitated for a moment.

"Well no… but that's not the point!"
They kept bickering until the waiter brought them their drinks and hastily excused himself again.

"I think you're scaring the employees with your feministic ideas about women ordering for themselves, too, dear. How about you give it a rest and drink your smoothie?" He pushed her glass a bit closer to emphasize the words and she figured she was tired of it anyway.

"Fine. But don't you think I'll forget." The guy might be a mentalist, but she sure as hell could make her own decisions.

"I wouldn't dare," Jane told her in a smooth voice and took a sip of his tea. After a moment he seemed to have an internal debate if the hot drink would suffice, and after a moment he put the cup down, disproval all over his face. Teresa chuckled.

"Don't like it?"

"They don't make it the way it should be," he answered, raising his hands in a gesture that said 'I have no idea how this is possible'. Which the young woman thought was ridiculous, since he always had such high demands on how his tea should be prepared.

"Maybe next time you should make it yourself, than, if it's never good enough anyways." Teresa teased. She took another sip and accidentally dropped one of the napkins that laid on the table.

She stooped to pick it up, but when she put it back on the table, she found that his face was suddenly very close to hers. His voice was almost inaudible when he whispered:
"It's always fine when you prepare it."

It took her a moment to restore from that one, but she managed to raise one eyebrow and push him away. No need for him to know how his proximity was affecting her.

"Yeah, right, that's why you always complain so much about it." Did he notice the slight wavering in her voice?

"I do not." Guess not.

"Yes you do."

"I do not!"

Xxx

Jane was not pleased. This date was not really going the way he wanted it to be. They were supposed to be getting to know each other better, not fighting all the time. Then again, this is what they were and it felt… familiar, soothing. But not enough. Not anymore.
After Jane payed the bill, he took her hand and led her outside to his grey Citroën that was parked right out front of the restaurant. He felt how Lisbon wanted to free her hand and walk over to her own car, but he effectively prevented that by pressing her against the side of his car with his body.

"No no no, the date is not over yet. Get in, you are going with me."

"But… My car…"

"Leave it." Without listening to her complaints, he so much as forced her into his car and cheerfully closed the door behind her. After which he quickly got in too and started the engine. He definitely didn't want her to escape yet, not when the best part of the day had yet to come.

"So when are you gonna tell me where we're going?" She asked, faking offense. He could see through her all too well. Instead of letting her know this, however, he pretended to believe it. He certainly didn't want to give away the fact that she gave away so much more than she thought she did by the way she talked or moved.
So instead, he said:
"Oh, please don't be mad, Teresa. I just want this day to be special, you know… If you want to go, that's fine too." He watched her eyes soften.

"No, no, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that." Now he made her feel guilty, also not part of the plan. Quick, his mind was telling him. Fix it!

"Soo I was thinking about going to the hot tub first, and maybe we could spent the rest of the night in a motel room together…"

"Jane! You are just messing with me, are you?" He gave her a side glance and was pleased to notice that her fighting spirit had returned.

"Yup."

"So where are we going?" She pressed, nudging him in the side.

"Not saying."

"Come on. Please?"

"Nope."

"Pleaseee?" She gave him a pleading look, which only whidened his grin.

"You can ride that smile all the way to the bank, my dear."

"Jane! I'll get out of the car!"

"Do try."

"Oh, go to hell."