AD part 11

Ah, man the sun feels good. The weather was turning cold but it was noon and a clear day. Danny closed his eyes and soaked in the warmth. He loved the sun. He knew he spent too much time out in it and never bothered to use sunscreen. Stella was forever scolding him for that, pointing out that he was going to get wrinkles on his pretty face.

"Stell, I'm gonna get wrinkles anyway. It's called aging?"

"Maybe, but I bet you'd rather not end up with skin cancer."

"I'll take a chance. That stuff makes me break out." She'd just shaken her head at him and walked away.

He smiled at the memory. He opened his eyes and scanned the street. He was waiting for Don to show up with Angie. They were going to have lunch together. Danny was finally going to meet Don's girlfriend. 'Bout friggin' time. He'd begun to wonder if Don was ever going to let him meet her. He'd been seeing her for almost 2 months. Danny wanted to get a feel for who this woman was, and whether he thought she was good enough for Don.

Holy shit, like I'm Don's Dad or somethin'. He knew that Don valued his opinion. He also knew that his opinion would be somewhat skewed by his love for his friend and his wish to see him happy. Just try ta keep an open mind, Messer.

He saw Don's car pull up down the street; saw Don get out and go around to the passenger door. Danny watched him open the door and saw Angie emerge. Danny's eyebrows went up. Damn, Don wasn't exaggeratin'. She's beautiful. He watched them walk up to the patio together. Don, tall and slim, with his sky-blue eyes, fair skin and dark hair. Angie, short, built alot like Lindsay, olive-skinned and dark eyed, with long dark hair. They look good together.

"There he is." Danny said as they climbed the three steps up to the patio. "You made it." Don grinned at him.

"Hey pal. Angie, this is my best friend Danny Messer. Danny, Angie Watson."

"Hey Danny. Nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise. I was beginnin' to wonder if this guy was ever gonna introduce us."

Angie smiled at Danny. "I've been bugging him about it since he first mentioned you." she said. "Especially after he told me you were a computer geek."

"Did I say he was a geek? Oh shit. Well, I guess you are, aren't you?"

"Nice. You guys wanna sit out here or go inside? I was just enjoyin' the sunshine."

Don looked at Angie.

"Let's sit out here. It's not that cold." she said.

As they progressed through sandwiches, cheesecake and coffee, Don sat back and let Danny and Angie get to know each other. Danny knew that Don was trying to keep up with the conversation about computers, but when he started talking about Airport and Bluetooth, he knew he'd left Don in the dust. Don knew about processor speed, RAM, and that...at least as far as I'm concerned... a Mac computer was better than a PC, but he didn't even try to keep up with Danny's knowledge of such things. Why should he? That's what he's got me for. But Don seemed glad to see that they were hitting it off and finding things in common besides him.

"If we can ever find the time, we can all go shopping together." Danny said. "I'd love an excuse to do that. I've been thinkin' about a Mac with an Intel chip, but I'm not sure about it yet. It wouldn't hurt to do some hands-on testing, see if it's really that much faster than the processors they've been using."

"Well I've been out of the loop for a long time, so it will all be new for me." Angie said. "The computers we had in the lab at school were running Windows, but I've been hearing that Mac is better."

"Macs are great." Danny replied. "There aren't any compatibility problems anymore, they don't get viruses... well they do but very rarely. None of the viruses that are aimed at a Windows OS are gonna hit a Mac. They're easier to use... I just like 'em better."

Danny looked at Don. He didn't want Don to feel like he wasn't part of the conversation.

"Hey, don't look at me. I only understood about half of what you just said." Don looked at Angie. "I don't need to; I just ask him and he handles it for me."

They all chuckled at that. Danny looked at his watch. "Well, this has been fun, but I've gotta get back to work." They all got up and after a brief debate over who was paying for lunch (Danny won), he looked at Angie and said, "It was great to meet you Angie."

"You too Danny."

"You headin' back to the lab?" Don asked him.

"Yeah. I was lucky to get out of there."

"I'll probably see you later. After I drop her off I've got paperwork waitin' for me."

"That sounds exciting." Danny said.

"Oh yeah, highlight of my day." Don said as he and Angie were walking away.

"I'll see you later." Danny called. Well that seemed to go well. He knew he'd hear from Don later. Don would want to know if Danny approved of her. Danny smiled. Yeah, I think I do.

csinycsinycsiny

Don looked up to see Danny approaching his desk. "You escaped," Don said.

"Yeah, finally. I can't believe your still doin' paperwork."

"Oh I got sidetracked from the paperwork. I finally got back here and I think I'm about done."

Danny looked at the folders spread across Don's desk. "Doesn't look like your done."

"Well, put it this way. I'm done for tonight. If Mac can leave paperwork till tomorrow, so can I. You wanna go get a beer?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Danny said with a grin.

They didn't go to Sullivans. There was another place they went to together where they could get something to eat along with the beer. Nothing fancy, just burgers and fries, but it was decent food and there were booths where they could sort of hide out and talk. The plates had been cleared and they were into their third round. Don took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It felt good to have a full stomach. He leaned back a bit and looked at Danny sitting across from him. Danny had a similarly satisfied look on his face and when Don met his gaze he smiled.

"So I know you want to know what I thought of Angie." he said.

Don didn't say anything, he just looked at Danny. He didn't just want to know. He needed to know. He was still feeling mixed up about the whole situation, and he really needed a viewpoint other than his own, the viewpoint of someone who he trusted to tell him the truth.

"She seems like a nice girl. I mean, genuinely nice. I would never've had any idea of her past if you hadn't told me."

"It's almost unbelievable, isn't it?" Don replied. "That's why I've been kinda stirred up over it. I mean, could she really have changed that much? I've been worried that I'm not seein' things clearly, like I said. You know I was actually afraid to let you meet her?"

Danny frowned at Don. "Why were you afraid to let me meet her?"

"I don't know. Stupid stuff, like I was afraid she might hit it off with you better than me."

"What the fuck? You don't seriously think I'd move in on your girl?"

"No, hell no, of course not. I wasn't worried about you. But you know, you have stuff in common with her that I don't have, and I kept thinkin' what if she likes him better than me... like I said. Stupid."

"Don, a blind man could see that she's crazy about you."

"Well that's how it seems to me, but you know, a guy can be blind to stuff when he's in love." Oh shit, did I just say that? Yeah, I did and I can't take it back. But it doesn't matter 'cause it's the truth.

Danny's eyebrows went up. "What did you just say? You're in love?"

"Oh shit," Don said. "Is that what they mean by Freudian slip?"

"Well I don't know shit about that psychology stuff but Don, are you sure about this?"

Don looked at the table. Then he looked at Danny. "Yeah, I'm sure." He dropped his head to his hand and rubbed his forehead. "Jesus, Danny. I'm doomed."

"Whaddaya mean by that?"

"I did not want to fall in love, with anyone. Least of all an ex-con. What the fuck is wrong with me?"

"Oh I don't know, Don, maybe it's ah, you know, that your human?"

"That's no excuse. I should know better."

Danny chuckled. "Tell that to your heart. Love doesn't work that way Don. It doesn't check in with you to see if the person is suitable or appropriate."

Don rubbed his eyes. Oh jesus, I'm fucked. I'm in too deep to back out now.

Danny's voice cut through the turmoil in his head. "Hey, you wanna get outta here?"

"... yeah, let's go."