Chapter Ten: Locked Inside My Heart
Author's Note: So this chapter is a little different, because it's taking place with Gwen and Jordan having a girl's night and the guy's having a sports night and the two don't interact with each other. As always, I don't own The Night Shift or any of its characters. The chapter title comes from Eye of the Needle by Sia.
"Have you gotten used to having a guard outside your place at all times?" Gwen asked Jordan around a month later.
Jordan rolled her eyes and glanced at the door. "I mean, there's worse things that could be happening, but it's not my favorite thing in the world. I wish he'd leave sometimes. Or at least be a little personable." She grabbed a bag of popcorn from one of the cupboards in the kitchen and unwrapped the plastic. "Why don't you pick out a movie and put it in. I'll be in with the bowl of popcorn when it's ready."
"Do you officially have all of your movies back from your brief stints in random places all over San Antonio?" Gwen asked, looking at the selection on one of the shelves in the living room.
"Hopefully. I think I might have left a few of them at T's place, but I can get them back anytime, really." She heard her phone beep and looked at it, feeling a smile start to creep across her face when she saw who sent it. She set the popcorn in the microwave and started it, grabbing her phone to respond.
"What's that look?" Gwen asked, leaning against the wall.
"None of your concern. Did you pick a movie?"
"The quintessential chick flick, The Notebook," Gwen said, holding up the DVD case. "But really, who's texting you and giving you that girly smile on your face?"
"It's none of your concern." She put her phone in the pocket of her sweatpants and stared at the microwave, waiting for the time to run out. "How are things with you and Kenny?"
"Nice deflection there, Jor."
"I'm just curious."
"Things with Kenny and I are just fine. We've got a date Friday night. He's taking me to one of the concerts in the park and then we're getting drinks at that new club that opened downtown."
"Sounds fun." She took the popcorn out of the microwave, shook the bag and dumped it into the bowl. "Have you told him about…" Jordan asked, trailing off.
"Nope. All he knows is that I got divorced last summer before I moved down here. And that's all he needs to know about until I'm ready to tell him."
"My lips are sealed," Jordan said, laying a hand over top of her best friend's. "You grab the popcorn and I'll grab the wine," she said.
-X-
"Once the game starts," Topher said as he started shuffling the deck of cards, "Phones go away and no one leaves the table except to go to the bathroom or refill the chips and pretzel bowls. I ordered pizza and it should be here in 20 minutes." He began dealing the cards to the guys and sat back in his chair. "Callahan, I said no phones at the table."
TC looked up from the message he was trying to send with a sheepish look on his face. "Sorry, Toph. Just trying to take care of some last minute things. My attention is fully on the game." He looked at his cards, then looked around the table to see if anyone was giving anything away about the hand they'd been dealt. "I have another rule to add to this game. No talk about work."
"I second that rule," Kenny said, looking up from his cards. "We get enough of that at the station. This is time for relaxation and forgetting about everything that's been happening at the station."
The four of them nodded their heads. Ever since Jordan's case had been taken over by the police department, they'd been kept out of the loop of almost everything. The only time they'd get any information was when they told Jordan what was going on. And as much as they'd hoped that there would be lots of incoming information, there wasn't as much as they were hoping for.
"Alright, here's the first three cards," Topher said, taking them off the top of the pile and laid them out on the table. An ace of diamonds, nine of clubs and the queen of spades stared back at them.
TC started at his cards, trying to figure out what he wanted to do next. He still had a fairly decent hand, but the guys around the table had gotten a lot better at hiding their emotions, unlike when they'd first started doing poker night.
"So, who do we think is going to win the game tonight? San Antonio's been on a hot streak lately," Drew said, putting down one of his cards. "I'll take one."
"Yeah, but so has Los Angeles. I think it's going to be a good matchup," Kenny said.
"You act like you know so much about basketball when we all know you're a football guy through and through," Topher said, taking two new cards for himself. "It's probably a good idea to stick to the sport you know best."
"Toph's got a point there, Kenny. You creamed us in the football pool we had at the station," TC said, anteing up.
"But Jordan won the pool. Based on the highly scientific process of picking the teams with the better colors."
"Hey, whatever works," Topher said, matching TC's bet.
"Toph, where's Janet and the kids tonight? They didn't want to sit around and watch the game with us?"
"No, not after the last time that Lynn heard TC start swearing and thought it would be cool to imitate him. So instead, the four of them are getting dinner with her sister and her kids and going to the movies. Hopefully by the time they get back, the kids will be tired enough to not hear anything from us watching the game."
-X-
"So, does it bother you that the guys are over at Topher's place and you weren't invited?" Gwen asked, turning her attention away from the movie.
Jordan looked up from her phone with her nose crinkled. "I was invited over. But playing poker, watching a basketball game and drinking beer is not how I want to spend my Saturday night. It's a mutual understanding that the guys invite me over and I always politely decline."
"Well, as long as there's that understanding." Gwen turned her attention back to the movie but got distracted by a faint light coming from where Jordan was sitting. "Pay attention to the movie."
"I've seen this movie a thousand times, Gwen. I know what's going to happen. I really don't want to cry at this part."
"Who have you been texting this entire night? I know something's going on."
Jordan sighed and tucked her phone away. "I've been talking to this guy the last few weeks—"
"Oh my god! Is that who you were with when I called you a few nights ago and you ignored my call?"
"I didn't ignore your call. I was a little busy," Jordan said, ducking her head so Gwen wouldn't see the blush rising in her cheeks. "But yeah, that's who I was with."
"Jordan, this is big, this is huge! Who is it? Is it someone I know?"
"Gwen, I'm not telling you anything else. I don't want to jinx anything that might happen in the future. I don't exactly have the best luck when it comes to dating."
"Fine, fine. I won't pry that much right now." She turned back to the movie and paid attention to it for a few minutes before turning back to Jordan. "Is the sex any good?"
"Way to be blunt," Jordan said, grabbing one of the pillows on the couch to throw at her. "I'm not telling you anything else. I've already said too much." She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Besides, I don't want certain people finding out."
"Your stalker isn't going to go after the guy you're dating," Gwen said.
Jordan thought back to the pictures that she was emailed after her and TC slept together at the charity ball. "You never know that."
"Jordan, nothing's going to happen. Besides, there's tons of people who are here to make sure nothing happens to you. And they're working around the clock. Sooner or later, there's going to be a break in the case and everything is going to work itself out. Stop worrying and enjoy the fact that you're finally getting laid."
Jordan rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the movie. "Sometimes I wonder why I've put up with you all these years."
"It's because you know I speak the truth," Gwen said, throwing the pillow back at Jordan.
Jordan watched Gwen out of the corner of her eye, made sure her attention was on the movie before pulling out her phone to send another text to the guy.
"Am I going to have to take your phone away from you?" Gwen said, not taking her eyes off the screen.
"Sorry. Last one for now, I promise." She hit send on the message and put it on the armrest of the couch.
-X-
"That must be the pizza," Topher said when the doorbell rang. After they quickly finished the first two pizzas he ordered, they decided to order a few more for when the game started. "Does anyone have some money for the tip?" The guys reached for their wallets, each of them taking out a single. They handed him the money and he went to the door.
TC took the opportunity to check his phone, which he'd been feeling going off for a while now. He looked at them closely, making sure there was a frantic message from Landry. Ever since the baby had started kicking, he'd been getting messages from her, telling him how freaked out she was.
"Phone away!" Topher said.
"Sorry, Toph," TC said, sliding the phone back in his pocket. "Just wanted to make everything with Landry and the baby were okay."
"Have things between the two of you settled down any?" Drew asked.
"Define settled down. We're civil. I guess that's what matters," TC said, rubbing his neck. "I just wish she wanted to find out the sex of the baby. It's driving me crazy not knowing. I don't understand someone who needs to be in control of everything like Landry does can stand not knowing."
"We didn't find out the sex of the kids when Janet was pregnant," Topher said. "We both wanted to be surprised. Which isn't as big of a deal as people make it out to be. The pain is trying to get outfits. There's only so much yellow you can buy before you go insane."
"Who even decided that yellow was the neutral color? Shouldn't it just be white or black?" Kenny asked.
"No one would want to dress their kid in all white or in all black. Yellow's a nice neutral color because it's a happy color," Topher said. He turned towards TC. "So, are you and Landry going to get back together?"
"I don't think so. I mean, we were both kind of miserable when we were together. Plus, I think she's still with that Pete guy or whatever. Besides, if Landry and I got back together, the kid would look at how much of a fucked up relationship its parents have and be screwed up for years to come. I don't want that to happen."
"I think that may be the most grown up thing I've ever heard you say," Drew said, clapping him on the back. "You're finally growing up."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," TC said, thinking back to the messages on his phone. "Toph, is the bathroom down here still getting work done on it?"
"Nope, feel free to use it. We'll have the game on when you come out," he said, opening the pizza boxes and setting them on the coffee table.
TC nodded and walked to the bathroom, locking the door to get a chance to read through the messages on his phone.
-X-
"Are you sure you don't want to stay overnight?" Jordan asked when the movie finished. "We can stay up all night and do each other's hair and nails. It'll be like college all over again."
"As tempting as that sounds, I have to be up early tomorrow morning. Being the Chief Medical Examiner means I have much longer hours to work now. And I don't want to be late for my first official shift."
"Okay. Have a great first day of being the boss," Jordan said, giving her a hug. "We'll have to do this again sometime. And I promise I won't be as distracted as I was tonight."
"No, you're fine. You're in the beginning stages of love. I won't deny you the right to text the guy over and over again."
"Oh thanks, you're so kind," Jordan said, rolling her eyes. "I'll see you around."
"See you. Have a fun night with the rest of that bottle of wine. You deserve to drink the rest of it." Gwen winked at her and left.
Jordan let out a content sigh when Gwen left. She picked up her phone, dialed a number and waited for the person on the other line to pick up. "Hey, Gwen just left so I thought I'd give you a call and I wanted to know if you wanted to get breakfast tomorrow. Let me know." She hung up the phone, sat back down on the couch and decided to listen to what Gwen had said.
She was going to finish the bottle of wine and not feel bad about it.