Charlie sat patiently in the passenger seat. They were on the way to the home address of a suspect in order to keep tabs on him. Strictly speaking, he was Reese's suspect, Charlie just thought the guy was misunderstood. But Dani maintained that he was a sociopath, so they were on their way to another stakeout. He could think of worse ways of spending his afternoon, maybe the evening too, than in a car alone with her. She had parked up and was getting the snacks. They couldn't be sure how long this would take so fuel was essential, especially if Reese expected Charlie to concentrate and sit still for at least a couple of hours. She knew that she sure couldn't tolerate him in full flow in a confined space on an empty stomach. Charlie had wanted to get out and go to the store with her but Reese was wise to him, the last time she had let him do this she spent and hour trailing around behind him while he sourced the best fruit, squeezed mangoes, juggled oranges and commissioned a bespoke banana and lychee smoothie.
"Um, I'd like a pineapple.", he said decisively when she had asked him for his order.
Dani frowned. She knew without asking that he meant a whole, fresh, pineapple, not plastic-wrapped pineapple chunks. "A pineapple. You're going to eat a pineapple in the car on a stakeout? Could you not ask for something a little more...appropriate..? Portable, even? You'll get juice everywhere. Are you sure you don't want some regular lunch? Like a sandwich? Sushi?" She tried to persuade him to be a little less ridiculous but he was like a wilful four year old who was adamant that he wanted to wear his galoshes and mittens on a steaming summer's day.
"Okay, a sandwich.", Charlie relented and saw Dani look relieved. "And a pineapple. And wet wipes." He grinned at her. He liked messing with her these days, just as he had enjoyed pulling the hair of the girl he liked in the schoolyard when he was a little kid. If he couldn't have what he really wanted, he'd settle for her attention at the very least.
"Jesus." Dani slammed the car door and stomped across the street.
When Dani returned fifteen minutes later, she hopped into the car and practically threw his damn pineapple at him, as well as a sandwich, chips, candy and some obscure-looking Japanese apples she had seen. He had better not start up about food miles. It was much more than he had asked for, but he invariably ate his snacks and then wound up eating hers too and she was hungry herself today.
"Aww, Reese, you brought me the pineapple! I didn't think you would.", he shot her a soppy grin like he was touched.
She didn't know why but this embarrassed her slightly. Like he had been deliberately testing her affections for him with his stupid requests and she had revealed something profound by trying to keep him happy. She reached into her inside pocket and flung a small packet of wet wipes at him, hitting him in the chest. She put her bag containing her food and two big bottles of water in the backseat and prepared to drive off, irritated that all this was taking so long.
Charlie sat there squeezing and sniffing his pineapple, pleased that she had picked him out a good one.
