A true friend is someone who sees the pain in your eyes while everyone else believes the smile on your face
"Are you OK?" Emil asked me, sliding his arm around my bare shoulders. We were standing in some fancy restaurant at an event centered around the DA, Jack McCoy. Emil knew Jack and had consulted for the DAs office for quite some time. I had occasion to meet Jack several times across the past few years. I respected his no nonsense manner; you always knew where you stood with Jack McCoy. Though, I wondered if that would still be the case now that he had assumed a political office.
"Maybe, a little cold." I answered Emil's question. I was wearing a strappy dark crimson dress, so dark it was almost black, and the restaurant was a little cold. Or maybe, even though I had been wearing my coat at the time, I was still cold from the short walk from the cab to the restaurant entrance.
I was somewhat surprised that Emil had placed his arm around me. He was not one for many public displays of affection, or even public displays of association. His hand felt warm on my upper arm, and I kind of yielded into his body, soaking up additional warmth, and maybe simply soaking up his affection.
A few days had passed by and I had not mentioned to Emil my run in with Cassandra Wayne. I thought about what Annie had said. Cassandra could have come by that information several different ways.
"You look lovely tonight." Emil said softly in my ear, and kissed me gently on my cheek. I could not help but smile a little. In truth, I felt lovely tonight. I had treated myself to a manicure. In my 20s it was a financial treat to have a manicure or a pedicure; nowadays it was more of a treat of allowing myself to take the time. Either way, I loved the pampered feeling of nicely manicured nails. While at the salon, my hair stylist realized I was going out tonight, and she convinced me to allow her to set my hair. So, instead of wild spirals, I had thick gentle waves. I liked the effect, the dark dress, the set waves in my hair, the dark nails, I felt very 1940s.
"Thank you." I replied to Emil. "And Jack McCoy looks very lovely tonight as well." I smiled as I noticed Jack talking with two other men across the room. Jack had never been one to be particularly concerned with his appearance. But tonight, his excellently tailored suit and fresh hair cut and shave had him looking rather handsome.
"Should I be jealous?" Emil kidded with me. Jack McCoy had a reputation for having an eye for pretty women, in fact pretty brunettes.
"Not of Jack." I said, looking up at Emil, and to my absolute shock, he kissed me very softly on the lips.
"I'm glad you came with me." Emil said, moving his arm from around me to stand next to me with his finger tips slightly touching mine. It was turning out that I was glad that I had come as well. Normally, I would not attend this type of thing with Emil. To Emil, this was kind of work related, and if it was work related, even if there was a social element, he did not always feel compelled to bring me along.
"Something from the bar?" Emil asked me. "Club soda?" He said, knowing my usual. I nodded, watching him walk across the crowded room. I did not really know many people, but my eyes caught on a particular blonde. I could not believe she was here, Cassandra Wayne. The petty part of me thought that perhaps she was here on the off chance Emil would attend. She looked to be playing the part of well-coiffed arm candy to an older VIP looking man. I could see her watching Emil walk toward the bar. If Emil knew she was here, he was not letting on.
"Lucy?" A voice brought my attention around.
"Bobby." I said, with surprise in my voice. If I was surprised to see Cassandra Wayne, I was floored to see Bobby. He was standing in his dark overcoat, his portfolio in hand. I looked past him and could see Alex Eames talking with Captain Ross. I guessed Bobby and Eames were here updating Captain Ross on something.
"Is that Elizabeth Rodgers?" I noticed the Medical Examiner standing with Captain Ross, wearing a very sexy sparkly type dress. I was just getting over the shock of Bobby appearing beside me, I couldn't even begin to process what Rodgers was doing here with Ross.
"You look nice," Bobby said to me. "Your hair looks different." He observed, kind of slowly scanning each inch of me.
"It's my best party dress." I replied.
"It's nice." Bobby had finished his study of me. "Are you OK?" He asked.
"Yes, I'm a little cold I guess." I allowed, thinking back to a few moments ago, when Emil had asked something similar.
"No, that's not what I meant, when I walked up, you looked, well, you looked not-OK." He said, and I realized that he of course saw through me.
"I was just thinking, as big as New York is, it really is rather small." I replied, looking in the direction of Cassandra. Bobby followed my gaze and nodded, knowingly.
"Official business?" I asked, looking at the portfolio he held in front of himself.
"You could say that. The Captain, he's hands on." Bobby allowed, noticing that Eames seemed to be wrapping things up.
"Captain Ross requested an update on a case?" I asked. Bobby quirked an eyebrow at me and smiled a bit. "Educated guess." I said, making a little fun of myself for stating the obvious.
"Must be all that education you have." Bobby said, teasing me a bit.
"Must be." I allowed, watching Alex Eames walk in our direction. Actually she was stalking over in our direction. I looked at Bobby, a bit more carefully than I had initially.
"Are you OK?" I asked.
"Your turn to ask the questions?" He replied, trying to deflect me.
"Difficult case." I said. "Having you been acting difficult?" My tone was light, but my question had weight.
"Perhaps." He answered me just as Eames joined us.
"Goren," Alex caught his attention, "ready?" She asked, or actually kind of stated in such a way as to say we're out of here. For such a petite person, she packed a lot of strength in her frame, in her voice.
"You remember Lucy Jones." Bobby said, a bit awkwardly. I knew Alex Eames, and Bobby knew that I knew her. I thought this was Bobby's not-so-smooth way of slowing Alex down a bit.
"Of course," Alex smiled. "Nice to see you." She stated. "Ready?" She again said to Bobby. I was thinking Alex had just received an earful about the case, and perhaps an earful about something Bobby had done or not done.
"Nice to see you." I replied to Eames.
"I'm ready." Bobby said, and gave me a nod before he turned and followed Eames out of the restaurant.
"Sorry, the bar was crowded." Emil finally found his way back to me. He handed me the club soda, I took a sip, looking around the increasingly crowded room. I no longer could see Cassandra Wayne. During my exchange with Bobby, I had lost track of Emil, and I wondered if he had seen her.
"Looking for someone?" He asked me, but it was clear to me the question was rhetorical. He had seen Cassandra, and he knew that I had as well.
"How can the city be so big, and circles of people be so small." I spoke my mind. Emil placed his arm around me, kissing me on my temple.
"We don't have to stay long." He said.
But we did; that is, we did stay a while longer. In as much as Cassandra was there, we never even came close to talking with her. Emil knew many of the people in the room, none of which seemed to have anything in common with the group of people Cassandra was with. So, in as much as we were sharing the same space, we never found ourselves in the same conversation.
The evening really was rather incredible. It was a nice intersection of people, some of which it turned out I knew, or knew me. I found myself engaged in several nice conversations. But, best of all, Emil was very loving toward me all night. He could have easily left me to fend for myself, I was quite capable of holding my own, but he didn't. And, that was nice.
We were just getting ready to go, when there was a commotion at the back of the restaurant. It caught everyone's attention in a matter of moments, and word spread quickly through the crowd, packed with DAs office personnel and NYPD senior officers, that a woman had been assaulted in the alley behind the restaurant. Then within moments, we were told, much to my horror, that it was none other than Cassandra Wayne.
"Go, go ahead." I said to Emil, his expression making it clear to me that he wanted to get a closer check on things. I couldn't really deny him that. At some point, you have to take a leap, a leap of faith and trust. I wanted to trust him with this, and I should trust him with this. He had never been dishonest with me about his relationships when we were not exclusively seeing one another.
He looked at me for a moment, then squeezed my hand quickly, and made his way through the crowd. In a few moments I could hear ambulance sirens, and then I noticed Mike Logan and his reddish haired partner talking with Captain Ross. So, I knew that Major Case Squad had responded to the assault. Even though assault is exactly a major case, the high profile nature of things pushed it into Captain Ross's purview.
I couldn't see Emil, and I hadn't seen Cassandra. So, I made my way toward the back of the restaurant. I stood on the fringe of people that knew Cassandra, and could see Emil sitting with her. She was leaning against him, crying, but I couldn't help but notice her make-up remained perfect, as did her hair. If possible, she even looked perfect even after being assaulted and while she was crying. Emil looked a little stiff sitting with her, but he did not pull away. However, I was not certain that he could pull away, Cassandra was so glued to him she probably would have fallen over.
The EMTs were examining her, some injuries on her hands, some bruises on her arms, a small laceration on her collar bone that had barely produced any blood. As I was looking on, I hadn't realized, but I had crossed my arms tightly around myself, and was rubbing my upper arms with my warm palms. I wasn't certain if I was cold, or upset, or both. I think when a woman is assaulted, that every woman in the room, on some level feels a bit vulnerable.
"Lucy." I jumped at the sound of Bobby's voice behind me, knocking backward into him. He easily caught me and steadied me on my feet.
"Goren." Captain Ross growled his name.
"I'll be right back." Bobby said quietly to me, and I watched him walk over to Captain Ross.
"What're you doing here?" Captain Ross asked, shooting daggers at Bobby. "You clocked out, has the case moved?" Ross asked, making it clear that the only business Bobby had here better be related to his case, not the assault of Cassandra Wayne.
"I'm here to take a friend home." Bobby replied, his tone neutral. Captain Ross clearly had not expected that as a reply, because he backed off a bit. "As long as you're here, did you talk with Logan?" Captain Ross asked.
"Yeah." Bobby answered, without really answering, because Captain Ross was clearly asking for Bobby's opinion.
"And?" Ross asked.
Emil motioned to me that he was going to accompany Cassandra in the ambulance and signaled that he would call me. I nodded, numbly, giving Emil the OK, and I even managed an encouraging smile. It was the thing to do, to help a person.
"And, the injuries do not seem consistent with Ms. Wayne's statement." Bobby replied. My stomach twisted. Some small dark part of me remembered what Cassandra had said to me. She had said that Emil was with me because I was ill, that he belonged with her. Well, he certainly was with her now, and I wondered, and I felt horrible for wondering, if she had somehow set this whole thing in motion. I mean, what kind of woman goes out back of a restaurant into an alley alone? I had heard that she had said she stepped outside to smoke. But even so, who in their right mind would even do that? Plus, the evening was freezing, and if she was to do that, where was her coat? Wouldn't she have at least grabbed her coat?
"Lucy, let me take you home." Bobby said, touching my arms.
"I'm OK, I can catch a cab." I replied, turning to face him.
"Let me take you home." He repeated, standing in front of me, but no longer touching me. I blinked, trying to take a deep breath, finding I couldn't. When I blinked again, I could feel tears in my eyes. I felt horrified over my terrible thoughts about Cassandra. I felt awful that such a nice evening had come to such a violent end. I told myself I wasn't going to cry, why would I cry, I was fine.
"Please." Bobby said, ducking his head down to catch my eyes, looking at me softly, imploring me. All I could do was nod, accepting his offer. He knew I wasn't fine, just one look into my eyes, and he knew I wasn't fine. He took off his large black overcoat and placed it around my shoulders. I almost fell down from the heavy weight of the wool. I realized it was his way of protecting me, sheltering me, without actually putting his arm around me. I followed him, and let Bobby take me home.
A/N: Thanks for reading, and thanks for taking the time to drop me a review. When I post what I write, I love to read the reviews - they change my thinking and as they change my mood, they often change the direction of the next chapter. So, please, drop me a review and let me know what you think.
