LINES OF COMMUNICATION
(...Are Sometimes Tangled)
At Bobby's Apartment
Bobby awoke with a start. It took him a few seconds to get his bearings and realize that he was in his living room -that he'd dozed off on the couch. He glanced quickly at the VCR clock-8:44 p.m.-and patted his hand on the coffee table until he found the source of the shrill ringing that had disrupted his dream-haunted sleep.
As he grabbed the receiver, he shifted himself to a sitting position and ran a hand through his hair and over his still bleary eyes.
"Goren."
"I know who I called, asshole," Lewis' voice laughed.
Bobby let out a sigh. He was relieved that it wasn't the Captain calling him back in to work, and disappointed that it wasn't Alex. Obviously, he knew he had no right or expectation that he would receive a call from her, but a tiny piece of his foolish heart never gave up hope.
"You there, man?" Lewis asked, after a few seconds of dead air.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm here. I, um, I fell asleep on the couch -you just woke me up," Bobby managed to say through a long yawn.
"You comin' to Q's tonight? I told the guys you were."
"Aw, I don't know, Lewis. I'm kinda beat."
"C'mon Bobby! You've been telling me for the past three weeks you're comin' out with us guys. All right? We're meeting at ten. Dave's gonna' get there earlier and make sure we get a table."
Bobby gave it some thought. He knew it would do him good to get out and spend some time with the fellas. At a minimum, it might take his mind off his troubles -even if only for a few hours.
"Okay," Bobby muttered.
"Great man! See ya there!" Lewis said cheerily.
" 'Kay...see ya at ten."
Bobby hung up the phone and switched on the lamp on the end table to his left. His eye caught the wad of crumpled paper napkins that had fallen to the floor during his sleep. It provided an instant reminder of his lonely, pathetic self-pleasuring earlier in the evening and his morale sank to a new low. Scooping up the tissue, he headed for the bathroom, tossed it in the garbage can and turned on the shower.
At Alex's House
Alex sat on her couch, one leg tucked underneath her, and surfed through the channels. She looked at her coffee table and, after a few seconds' self debate, reached for her glass of wine and left the now cold, only half-eaten French bread pizza lying on the plate.
"I wonder what Bobby's doing," she asked herself. "Or, maybe I'm better off not knowing what he's doing," she muttered to herself sarcastically, trying to force the image of Dee-Dee out of her mind. It had been eight Friday nights ago that Alex had ventured over to Bobby's apartment in the middle of the night and saw them together for the first time. She gulped the remaining contents of her glass and pushed the thought from her head.
She picked up her cell phone -just to check the time. Hell could freeze over before I ever hit #2 speed dial again-at least while not on duty.
As she laid her phone back on the table, it began to ring and, just as unexpectedly, that foolish glimmer of hope flashed through her head and heart. "Could it be Bobby?"
She checked the caller ID: Meg. Her heart sank.
"Hello," she answered, sounding close to annoyed.
"Geez, Alex - you're still grumpy," her sister's too-happy voice greeted.
"I'm not grumpy -just tired."
"Oh, you're tired every time I call you! C'mon! It's Friday night. The girls and I are going out. You in?"
"Oh, I don't think so, Meg. Thanks for asking, though."
"C'mon Alex. You say 'no' every time I invite you," Meg whined.
"I do not," Alex denied. "I said 'yes' two months ago and look what happened."
"What happened? We had a great time!," Meg insisted.
"Yeah, well, if your idea of a great time is being pawed and slobbered on by 'the octopus' man, you be my guest. I've had enough of that scene for a while."
"Oh, so one guy was gross! What do you expect? They all can't be as perfect as Bobby!" her sister said with a teasing giggle in her voice.
The comment struck Alex right in the gut. She wanted to get off the phone -now.
"Really, Meg. Thanks, but no thanks. I'm uh, I'm gonna go -my dryer just went off and I don't want my stuff to get wrinkled." Alex said in a rush.
"Suit yourself, Sis. I'll see you tomorrow at mom and dad's?
"Yeah, I'll be there. I bring the bagels," Alex told her.
"Okay, bye."
"G'bye, Meg. Have fun -and be careful."
Alex hung up the phone and let out a sigh. "Perfect as Bobby," she repeated her sister's words. "Ha! What do you know?"
She sank back down against the sofa and laughed at the irony. "Seven weeks ago, I thought he was the perfect man for me, too."
X X X
At Q's Bar & Billiards
Bobby was looking over the crowd at Q's, trying to find his buddies. His height gave him a great advantage and he quickly spotted Lewis, Dave and Johnny at the far end of the bar. He made his way through the crowd and -with his cop's instincts and powers of observation, immediately noticed the huge discrepancy in the female-to-male ratio of the patrons. He also wasn't oblivious to the women -of all ages, who checked him out as he passed by.
It did wonders for his self esteem and he silently congratulated himself for wearing his choice of jeans and shirt -one of Alex's favorites outfits. He knew because they had shopped together and she picked it out.
"Bobby! Glad you finally made it, man!" Johnny shouted over the crowd noise and grabbed him in a man-type hug.
Lewis and Dave followed suit, as Johnny quickly got the bartender's attention so Bobby could place his order.
Once all the guys had their drinks, they made their way over to their reserved pool table and chose sides.
They played a couple of games, ordering more drinks and appetizers to share along the way.
"So, Bobby - can you believe all the chicks here? I think that blonde on table 16 with the double D's has been checkin' you out all night" Lewis said enthusiastically.
Bobby nodded a pretend "yeah, right" and gave Lewis a look of annoyance. He knew his best buddy was just trying to distract him from making the game-winning shot.
"Nice try, Lewis," Bobby said, as his stick sent to the cue ball speeding across the table to sink the "8" ball into the corner pocket.
"Looks like you're buying the next round, Louie!" Dave laughed, taunting his friend.
As Johnny racked the balls, Lewis grabbed his wallet and headed for the bar. A petite, reddish-blonde woman caught his eye.
Lewis nudged Bobby with his elbow. "Hey man -is that Detective Alex?"
Bobby's heart leapt as his head twisted to follow the direction Lewis' finger was pointing. He finally caught site of the woman -her back was to them--and observed her for a few seconds. He'd know Alex's figure anywhere -but that wasn't it.
It was, however, her sister.
X X X
"I'm uh, I'm gonna go say 'hi.' You guys can start without me," Bobby said, grabbing his beer bottle and heading towards the group of female players.
Meg's back was still towards Bobby, so she didn't see him approach. He stood behind her, waiting for her to turn.
She was still oblivious to the tall, handsome man behind her, but her companions weren't. They began smiling and trying to discreetly signal Meg that a sexy hunk was hovering. She finally read their expressions and got the hint.
When she spun and saw Bobby, she was surprised -and a bit disappointed. This particular hunk would never go for her -he 'belonged' to her sister.
Meg's girlfriends stood by watching and smiling, and were quite surprised to see her and the sexy man step towards one another, hug and kiss each other's cheeks.
"Bobby! What are you doing here?" Meg smiled. "I mean, I know what you're doing here...you're playing pool -I just meant..."
"I know," Bobby smiled. He threw a thumb back over his shoulder, pointing to his friends. "I'm just here with a few buddies." He wanted Meg to look and see that his companions were, in fact, all men. He knew Meg would definitely be talking to Alex over the weekend. He wanted to make sure she repeated the story of their encounter accurately -so that Alex would know he wasn't out with another women. It mattered to him -and he hoped it mattered to her.
Meg touched Bobby's arm, making sure she had his attention over the noise of the crowd. "Alex is gonna be so bummed when she hears you were here!"
"Sh-she is?" Bobby asked.
"I called her -practically begged her to come out with us, but she said she didn't feel like it," Meg frowned.
"I'm pretty tired, too. Can't say I blame her," Bobby said and took a drink from his bottle. "We, um, we had a rough week."
"Yeah, well, at least your buddies coaxed you out. She says 'no' every time I ask her." A worried look overtook Meg's expression. Her voiced sounded serious. "I'm really beginning to wonder about her."
That got Bobby's attention.
"Why, what's wrong?" he asked, fixing his dark brown eyes on hers.
"God, my sister must be crazy for not going for this guy...I could look into those eyes every second of every day."
"She's just -I don't know...not herself, I guess. She's moody -and she seems down all the time. Like something really big is on her mind. She keeps saying she's fine -but you know Alex."
Bobby merely nodded in concurrence.
"Anyway, ya can't beat the deal here on Friday nights. Ladies' drinks are half price and we play free until midnight!"
"Oh, so that's it. We were wondering why so many women were here," Bobby smiled. "Well, it was good seeing you, Meg! I'd better get back to my friends."
"You too, Bobby," she smiled, then reached up to hug him and give him a peck on the cheek. "Smells great, too."
The smile lingered on her face, as she watched Bobby -and his fantastic ass, make his way back to his table.
X X X
Saturday The Eames' House
"Hi Mom, Hi Dad!" Alex smiled as she made her way through the door carrying a dozen, fresh-hot bagels and a grocery bag of OJ, cream cheese, butter and jelly.
"Hi Honey," they each greeted her with a kiss.
Mrs. Eames took the bags from Alex and brought them to the kitchen table.
Meg was already seated at the table, having just poured a refill of coffee.
" 'Bout time you're here. We're starving!" she over-dramatized.
"Traffic," was all Alex mumbled.
Once everyone was seated at the table, selecting and cutting their bagels, Meg announced, "I told you you should've come out with us last night, Alex!" She was grinning, waiting for Alex to ask the obligatory "Why?"
Alex wouldn't give her the satisfaction of a simple "why?" -she had to add her own snark.
"Why? Were they having a two for one special?"
"Two drinks for the price of one?" Alex's mom innocently asked.
Meg and Alex looked at each other and smiled.
"No, Mom," Alex said. "Two married, lying men for every one gullible woman there," she cynically explained.
Mrs. Eames shook her head. "Oh, Alex."
"No, Miss Cynical," Meg quipped. "Now ask me 'why?' nicely, or I won't tell you."
Alex rolled her eyes at her sister's juvenile game. However, being a curious detective, she couldn't resist.
"Okay. Why?" She asked, and grew even more curious as Meg's smile grew.
"Because your partner, Bobby, was there."
Alex felt her stomach flutter. Her heart began to race. But, doing her best to appear aloof, she merely said, "Oh" as she reached for the cream cheese.
"Oh? That's all you can say is 'oh'?"
"Bobby is such a nice man," Mrs. Eames said, smiling.
Meg watched across the table for more reaction from her sister. There was none. But Meg wasn't the type to let things go that easily. She planned on pressing on, until her sister gave her the reaction she was looking for.
"Yeah, well -it was ladies' night last night -the place was packed with women."
Still, no reaction from across the table.
"And I guarantee you, all those women were saying more than "oh" when they saw him! More like, Oh my God, what a hunk! And mom, you should've seen the way he looked in these jeans he had on -and this bluish/gray shirt. My God, it matched his hair perfectly -and he had that sexy five o'clock shadow... totally delicious!" Meg smiled, wiggling her eyebrows.
Alex knew the outfit well. As a matter of fact, he had worn it to Sunday brunch two months earlier, the day of their big blowout. She felt her eyes getting glassy with tears at the memory.
"Can you pass the orange juice, dad?" was all Alex said.
"And he smelled great, too!" Meg had to add.
Alex knew that scent. He had smelled absolutely delicious -especially when they danced -and kissed. She felt more tears accumulate. She refused to blink, for fear they'd spill down her cheeks.
Meg watched her sister across the table. "Uh-oh...are her eyes getting red? Are those tears? Oh my God...whatever I said must've hit a nerve...I didn't mean to make you cry, Ally," she thought to herself as mild panic for her sister set in. She didn't know what to do or say to make her feel better. So she blurted the first thing she could think of.
"He was with a group of guys. Lewis was one of 'em. I recognized him from the Memorial Day bar-b-que."
She hoped her sister picked up on the message that he wasn't with another girl.
It seemed to work -at least a little. Alex took a bite of her bagel and a sip of her coffee. Meg didn't see any tears fall.
At least now she had a clue as to what might be bothering her sister for the past several weeks.
X X X
Saturday morning Bobby's Apartment
Bobby had gotten up at ten, made some coffee and was on the couch. He'd already sorted through his mail from the week and was skimming through the newspaper, just to pass the time.
He got up and went to the kitchen to pour more coffee -which was mildly helping in the sobering-up process. The sound of his phone caused his headache to throb, so he grabbed the kitchen wall phone as quickly as he could, so as not to endure another shrill ring.
"Hello," he said groggily.
"Hi, it's me."
"Dee-Dee? Is something wrong?"
"No, I - I just wanted to call you -I know in my business it's usually the other way around," she tried to joke, with a small laugh.
She heard his little breathy chuckle on the other end of the line. She'd grown to love his laugh -as infrequent as it was to hear.
"I just wanted to make sure you're all right. You sounded pretty down last night."
Bobby was touched. He was flattered -and worried. "She actually cares enough about me to call and check on me - it's real concern -it's not for money. On the other hand, she shouldn't be calling me."
"I'm okay -just -a rough week, I guess," he lied.
"That's why you canceled the past two weeks? You're just tired?" She wanted to know the answer -but really didn't. She remembered her gut feeling the previous night.
The silence of his response was deafening.
After a few seconds, she decided to put him out of his misery and do the dirty work for him.
"I'm not going to be seeing you anymore, am I?"
"I -I'm -I'm sorry. I don't think it's good for me. I'm sorry."
"Shhh, you don't have to be sorry, honey. It's okay. It's just that - I'll miss you. We had some wonderful nights. I mean, our conversations over dinner -you treated me -you talked to me like a real person. I just want you to know -you're not just some -customer to me. You're a special man, Bobby. I hope you work it out with Alex and find all the happiness you deserve."
Bobby hoped she wouldn't be able to detect the lump in his throat; he was glad he was on the phone so she couldn't see the tears that glassed his eyes. Her words had touched him.
"I'll miss you too, Dierdre. Promise you'll take care of yourself -and be careful," he managed to speak, before his breath gave a telltale hitch.
"I promise. Good-bye, Bobby."
His voice cracked as he whispered "Good-bye."
He hung up the phone and walked back to the sofa. But he didn't feel like sitting. He was feeling restless, so he paced the perimeter of the living room, stopping to peek out the window at the activity on the street below.
It seemed that everywhere he looked he saw couples -walking arm-in-arm; holding hands; stealing a quick kiss; smiling -enjoying their happy lives with their loving partners. He was jealous.
He paced towards the bookshelf that held the photo he loved. He picked up the frame and looked at the image: Bobby and Alex. Smiling, happy, arms around each other.
"What happened?" he sighed.
It made him feel emptier. He didn't have Alex -hell, he didn't even have Dee-Dee anymore. He was alone.
He pondered the question of how 'emptiness' could make him feel so full? He laughed at the paradox and wondered why his overactive mind always taunted him with such riddles: emptiness filled him with sadness, anguish, despair -everything bad.
And he knew there was only one cure. And standing there, with tears in his eyes and her photo clutched against his wounded heart, he vowed to himself that he'd get her back.
END Chapter 11.