How rumours start and friendships begin: Part Two
"And you know that
I'll be at your side, no need to worry
Together we'll survive through the haste and the hurry
I'll be at your side
if you feel like you're alone, and you've nowhere to turn
I'll be at your side."
-At Your Side, The Corrs
Samantha pushed her way through the noisy crowded bar. Making her way in the direction of the auburn haired beauty standing on her chair at table at the far back and waving both arms over her head.
It was a quarter to ten and the little Irish pub on 75th and Broadway was all ready hopping. Beer steins clinked together as harried bartenders poured pint after pint. Waitresses shimmied their way through the crush of people, orders being shouted at them and tips thrown on their trays as they went. Near the back at the pool tables, balls cracked together noisily and the players talked and laughed heartily. Music blasted from the in house DJ while a handful of dancers put on a show on the postage stamp sized dance floor.
"I wasn't sure if you were going to make it." Carmen spoke loudly over the din. "When I just got your voice mail I got a little nervous you might not get the message."
"Sorry. Its this damn department phone." Sam unclipped the Blackberry from her pocket and tossed it on the table. "I can't figure out how to work it." She slipped out of her denim jacket and dropped it on the bench before sliding into the booth across from her new friend. "I'm glad you called." she said. "Congratulations on getting the job. I knew you'd get it as soon as we talked. And you were right, I could use a drink after the weird twenty four hours I've had."
"Well, I just thought seeing as we're both the new girls, we should get together and find out what makes each other tick."
"I love your thought process!" Sam laughed and Carmen waved a waitress over. Sam ordered an Electric Popsicle. Carmen went with a rye and coke.
"Electric Popsicle?" Carmen asked curiously.
"Its amazing. The best one I've ever tasted is made at Boston Pizza. They taste just like those Popsicles with the three colors. Couple ounces of melon liqueur, couple of Blue Curacao, fill it up with Seven up... amazing. I have to confess I used to over do it on them back in Arizona. So if I get too drunk, please don't leave me in an alley or in a gutter somewhere."
Carmen laughed. "I won't." she promised. "Long day?"
"Not so much long as it was strange. The last two days have been really bizarre to say the least. Work wise, personal wise. Its been something else."
"Boyfriend problems?"
"Jesus, I've got ex boyfriend issues and issues with this incredible guy I just met. I don't even know what to call him. Its just been real, real surreal. And we had this case..." Sam shook her head. "It was a winner. Mind you, my first case this morning was solved in less than an hour."
"Get outta here." Carmen said and smiled her thanks at the waitress as she sat the drink on the table.
"Thank you." Sam said to the young frazzled waitress and took a long sip of her drink. "Anyway, yeah. Solved in an hour. Gas station hold up. The perp dropped his wallet at the scene and when the detective went to talk to him, he was still wearing the same clothes witnesses had described him in and the money and cigarettes he stole were sitting on the table in plain site."
"Dumb ass." Carmen chuckled. "Don't you wish they could all be like that?"
"Make this job a whole lot easier." Sam declared and slid her drink across the table. "Give it a try." she told Carmen. "Trust me, your taste buds will thank you."
Carmen took a sip. It was delicious and went down smooth. And sure enough, it tasted exactly like the Rocket tri-flavored Popsicle. "You're right," she said. "that is good!"
"I'm slightly addicted." Sam reluctantly admitted. "But I'm sure the department has counsellors who can help me with my dependency."
Carmen laughed. She couldn't stop laughing. This girl was off the cuff and sarcastically witty. She reminded Carmen of herself. And she could tell immediately this was the beginning of a great friendship to last the ages. "How about your other case?" she asked curiously.
"That one was a killer. Pardon the pun. And I'm not even tipsy yet. So, yeah, our second scene. We get called to this poshy condo building on the upper east side. Inside one of the apartments, there's this beautiful young woman dead, in a pool of blood on her living room floor. Stabbed, in the carotid artery by what we would later discover is a fountain pen. No word of a lie. An eighty dollar fountain pen. To make a long story short, the boyfriend's alibi checks out, we find out she's pregnant, go back to the murder scene and find the weapon, dust it, swab it, the whole nine.Turns out the woman was having a thing with a co-worker."
"Messy."
"To say the least. We found out that he was so in love with her, obsessed is more like it if you ask me, that he sold his apartment to her at way less than market value, stayed in a motel until he could buy another place in the same building, then started harassing her. She played him. Its the only way to say it. She played him and told him she loved him and that she'd leave her boyfriend, blah, blah, blah. Only she doesn't love the boyfriend and these two get into a huge thing and the rest is history."
"Sounds like you had a hell of a day." Carmen said.
"Tell me about it. Which is why, a few of these..." she nodded at her drink and took a sip. "will go so good right now."
"Guy problems too, huh?"
"When isn't there guy problems? Seriously. They're the 'cause of all the problems in the world."
"Amen to that." Carmen said and held a loft her glass. They toasted to it.
"And to top it all of, I got into a little altercation with Monroe. You know, the one that was so rude to you today? I found out that she was talking all this shit about me and started a rumor that me and Danny are seeing each other just 'cause we're hanging out this weekend. She's his girlfriend in some strange, obscure way. All I know is that this girl has issues. And any one with more issues than me is in big trouble."
"You mess her up?" Carmen asked.
"Should have. And I so wanted to. But I didn't want to loose my job on the first day. But if I ever see her out on the street... let's just say she doesn't want to see me out on the street. Enough about work. Let's talk about you. What kind of day did you have?"
"Other than getting the job? Pretty uneventful. I'm in the midst of looking for an apartment. Something closer to work.
"Let me know if you find one. Not that I have anything against Queens. The area we're in isn't that bad. But living with my brother in a one bedroom apartment, in Queens, is just too much. Living with Adam is like having a little kid to look after. And I'm not exactly a kid person. Cute enough when they're someone else's."
"I hear you. I am more than slightly inept with babies." Carmen said. "You ever want kids?"
"It would have to be one hell of a special guy to make me want kids. Like say, David Beckham knocking on my door. Then I'd seriously consider it. But seeing as that isn't going to happen any time soon..."
Carmen stirred the ice in her drink with her straw. "What about this guy you're interested in? He father material?"
"He's amazing, mind blowing sex material if that counts for anything."
Carmen laughed. "It helps."
"Honestly? I have no clue about the father material thing. I have no clue about a lot of things when it comes to him. Which is why it is way too bizarre to be liking him as much as I do when I barely know him."
"Hey, the best part of being with someone new is finding out all the little things that make them who they are." Carmen told her.
"You should have been a relationship coach." Sam laughed. "Saying stuff like that."
Carmen laughed as well and finished off her drink. "I am the last person who should be handing out advice in the love department. Trust me."
"So what about you?" Sam asked, finishing her drink as well. "Boyfriend? Husband?"
"No boyfriend." Carmen replied. "But I do have an ex-husband. A nut job of one at that. Let's just say that in the end, it got really, really bad and things took a nasty turn. I've pretty much lost faith in the male species."
Samantha wasn't going to push for a detailed account. She could tell it bothered Carmen and didn't want to upset her any further. "That's too bad. I'm sorry." she said sincerely.
"What about you?" Carmen asked. "Have you ever been married?"
"I came close.Very, very close. The night before the wedding close."
The waitress came to clear the table. The two girls ordered two drinks a piece and started a tab.
"That must have been tough." Carmen said. "What happened if you don't mind me asking?"
Sam helped herself to a handful of pretzels in a small basket on the table. "He's a state trooper and I found out that he was letting women off for traffic violations if they gave him favors."
'What a fucking dirt bag." Carmen declared.
"I called off the wedding and the next day," Sam continued " and he decided to use our pre-paid honeymoon to take a couple of his buddies for some R and R in Cabo. Nice huh?" Sam gave a rueful laugh. "He was real choked up about it. I got my revenge. When I saw the posting for here, I applied and packed everything up I could take with me and when it came time, emptied the bank accounts and here I am."
"I'm sorry you had to go through all of that." Carmen shook her head in disbelief. "But I'm glad you taught him a lesson."
"It was meant to happen. For me to find out. He was... what's the best word? He was mean. Physically and verbally. You know, its weird. In our job, we have these women who are being bashed around telling us they stay because they loved these men, and these men love them and can be saved. And we think these women are nuts. That there is no way we'd ever let any man do that to us. And then it happens and you get sucked in and you become one of those women. A victim."
"You are no victim girl." Carmen said sternly. "Listening to you talk, I can tell you are no victim and that you refuse to be one. That guy was a fucking bastard and there's a lot like that out there unfortunately. But you are no victim and don't ever let anyone tell you are."
"Guys like that? They always find me." Sam lamented. "And I always seem to find them. Because of all these past experiences, with this and with things that happened during my childhood, I seem to be drawn to the bullies. I keep holding out hope that there's some nice, decent guy out there."
"Maybe you'e already found him. This guy you're talking about. A cop, I assume?"
"Detective. Homicide. I can't stay away from the badge and the gun. I swear I have some kind of cop fetish. I can't seem to stay way from them. But he's a decent guy. I haven't trusted a man in a long time and I'm finding myself trusting him. And it doesn't hurt that he's tall, dark and handsome. Astonishingly handsome. Wait until you meet him, Carmen. You'll see what I mean."
"But? I sense a but coming on."
"I'm a major pessimist when it comes to men. If something seems to good to be true, its usually because it is."
"That's just the trust thing kicking in." Carmen assured her. "I'm the same way. Over analyse everything. But then the job also makes you that way. What about the ex? Have you heard from him?"
"Oh that's the best part of all of it. He's on his way to New York. To work things out. Yeah. Like that's going to happen."
"Well I can tell you one thing." Carmen said. "If he thinks he can get away with acting like a prick here, he's gonna have some big tough New York City boys on his ass. And they'll teach him a lesson he'll never forget."
They stayed until well after midnight. Talking and giggling like old friends. Chatting about everything from their favorite things to childhood memories to unforgettable cases they had been involved in. The basic getting to know you stuff. They both found they had a lot in common and had formed a quick, easy bond like one they'd never formed with any friend before.
It was a cool, refreshing night as they headed, arms linked, bodies swaying slightly from the effects of the alcohol, to the nearest subway station. Stars sparkled in a black velvet sky. Eight a.m. came early and they had lost count of the drinks after half a dozen a piece and were surprised when the bill came to just over a hundred bucks. It wouldn't be the first time either of them worked with a hang over. Although doing so in the first few days of a new job wasn't a familiar experience.
"Carmen," Sam said, words a little slurred. "I have a confession to make and I need to make it."
"Okay... what is it?"
"You're gonna think I'm really, really crazy."
"Try me." Carmen said.
"I am in love with a man I just met. Yesterday. What the fuck is that? That can not happen. Being in love that quick. It can't, right? I'm just crazy is all."
"Do you feel crazy?" Carmen inquired.
"No... but it's impossible for it to happen this quick. Isn't it?"
"There's no set rule when for when it's the right time to fall in love with someone." Carmen told her. "It just happens. And if it feels right, then it probably is.'
"But someone I work with? I can't be in love with someone I work with ."
"You have a strange set of rules for yourself girl." Carmen informed her. "Tell him how you feel."
"What?" Sam exclaimed. "Are you nuts? I can't do that! I'll scare him away. He'll think I'm nuts."
"He may be feeling the same way." Carmen reasoned.
"I doubt it." Sam said with a sigh. "No one can fall in love with someone this fast. I don't know. I am so confused. I want to be with him yet I've got all this drama and baggage hanging around and I need to get rid of it and at the same time I want to act on my feelings. Maybe all of this is 'cause I need to get laid and he looks like he'd be more than up to the task. I am so fucking messed up! Literally. You must think I'm a drunk. A crazy drunk."
"I think you're a really nice girl whose been through way more than she ever deserved to go through and you're just finding a way to survive."
"See! See! You should be a counsellor! And you're right. I am surviving. Barely sometimes. But I'm doing it and that counts for something. And this guy... he's so amazing and I need him so bad. In every sense of the word."
"Call him. Tell him where you are and to come and get you."
"I'm not calling him at twelve thirty in the morning looking for a booty call. As great as that sounds... I'm starving. Are you starving?"
"Yeah." Carmen said, realizing her stomach was growling. "And I have an idea."
They sat in Carmen's living room, on the hard wood floor in front of the couch, in flannel pyjamas and drinking glasses of milk and eating pink sprinkle donuts. Carmen had bought an entire dozen and they'd already eaten half. She'd also lent Samantha a pair of pyjamas to wear. Sam was way too drunk to be left alone on a subway all the way to Queens and be trusted to find her way home from there. She'd spend the night and shower in the morning and change at work into a spare outfit she'd left in her locker.
"Best idea ever." Sam declared, around a mouthful of donut.
"You decide what to do about your detective?" Carmen asked, swallowing some milk.
"For one, I have decided for now to keep my mouth shut."
"That is not the answer I wanted to hear." Carmen said. "Seize the day, girl!" She decided to take matters in her own hands and grabbed Sam's phone off the coffee table. "Got his number in this thing?" she asked.
"I think its the second last number dialled. Why?"
Carmen checked the phone. "Detective Flack?"
"That's him. Why? What are you doing?"
"Just relax." Carmen said. "I'm taking charge of things." she pressed send.
Sam lunged at her friend, reaching for the phone. "Don't!" she screamed. "Don't do it! He's probably sleeping!"
Carmen aggressively fought the smaller girl off. "You're a tough little shit I'll give you that, Ross... yeah? hello?" she said into the phone. "Look, my name's Carmen Devine and I'm the new CSI starting tomorrow. I'm here with Samantha and she's trashed and..."
"Carmen!" Sam shrieked. "Hang up! Hang up!"
"And she wants to talk to you... hang on..." she tackled Samantha onto her back, straddled her stomach and used one hand to pin her wrists above her head and the other to hold the phone to her ear. "Talk to the man!" she demanded.
"Carmen! I am going to kick your ass!" Sam yelled.
"Tell him! Tell him what you told me! Tell him!"
"You're fucking crazy! I'm not saying a goddamn word!"
"Fine! Be a little bitch about it!" Carmen put the phone back to her own ear. "Look, she's in love with you all right!"
"Carmen!" Sam freaked. "I am going to kill you!"
"She's just being a stubborn little bitch is all." Carmen said into the phone. "Okay... I'll tell her that.. sorry to wake you up... nice meeting you kinda... bye." she hung up and tossed the phone onto the couch.
"Carmen Devine you are so fucking dead!" Sam bellowed and turned the tables on Carmen and flattened her onto her back.
"He told me to tell you to sober up and see if you feel the same way in the morning." Carmen said, grunting. It was unreal how a woman that little could be so goddamn strong.
"I can't believe you did that!"
"Relax, Ross. He also told me to say he felt the same way and that he's sober and saying it. And I'll tell ya one thing, if he's as hot as his voice makes him sound, you got damn good taste!"
Samantha had woken up with the worst head ache known to man and a vague recollection of the incidents of the night before. All she knew was that she was in a pair of pyjamas that didn't belong to her, face down on Carmen Devine's couch. She groaned in agony and rolled onto her back and looked around. There was an almost completely empty box of a dozen donuts on the floor and her cell phone was now digging into her ass. She had a temporary outline of the device on her stomach from falling asleep on it.
Her cell phone. One very drunk phone call to...
Oh my fucking God.
How in the hell am I going to face him today? she thought and rubbed at her temples and her weary eyes. Talk about making a total ass out out of yourself! It wasn't that the things weren't true that had been said. She just hadn't wanted to say them so soon. She wanted to time to purge the old hurts and old memories out of her system before committing into anything serious. Time to lick her wounds a little and learn to love herself before allowing anyone else to love her. Because how could she give all of herself to someone when her heart hadn't been whole to start out with. The timing had completely sucked. And the matter in which she'd let him know her feelings sucked even worse. She had made an ass out of herself and another party had helped her along the way.
It took all she had not to leap up and strangle the shit out of Carmen when the new CSI appeared by the arm of the couch and smiled brighlty and greeted her with an ear piercing: "Time to get up, sleepin' beauty!"
And she would have strangled her if it wasn't for the crippling pain in her head and the fact that as soon as she sat up, she felt the overwhelming urge to vomit and went running for the bathroom.
Both ailments had made the trip to work on the subway excruciating. All she wanted to do was put her head down somewhere and go back to sleep. All the way into mid town her eyes kept drifting closed and her head snapping back and then dropping forward again while Carmen attempted to force some green tea into her. It had been a long time since Samantha had gotten that drunk where she could barely function the next morning. While drinking until her feet and her nose felt numb and she was just starting to wobble or slur her speech was a fairly common occurrence, getting to the point where she had to crash on someones couch and throwing up everything she'd eaten in the last two days was rare.
But at least she'd had a hell of a good time. And made a hell of a good friend. The last real friend she had had, was the two faced bitch back at the Pheonix lab who had been scheduled to be in her wedding party, only to find out that she had been screwing around with Zack too. The guy had been a regular player and Sam had been none the wiser until it was almost too late. It was what happened when you invested more time in your work than you did in your relationships.
Carmen was different. She was witty and intelligent and Sam could tell even after the short time they'd known each other, that she was fiercely loyal. And that she could be trusted. Trust for Sam went way beyond the members of the opposite sex. Your friends were the ones who were suppose to be the ones there to help pick up the pieces when the opposite sex did you wrong. Not revel in your suffering and misery. And she knew Carmen would never do that.The compassion and understanding in Carmen's voice when she told her about Zack had been proof enough for Sam.
And now two hours later, after Carmen had been introduced to the members of the team and was on her customary tour of the facilities with Stella, Sam, nursing her aching head and foul stomach, was in the bull pen trying to concentrate on the employee information forms Mac wanted ASAP. All she could concentrate on was the hammering in her temples and between her eyes and the constant nausea that washed over her in waves. And the fact she'd made a fool out of herself the night before with Flack. She was still trying to figure out how to play it cool when he eventually showed up to the labs.
It was a relatively slow morning. Hawkes and Lindsay were out in the field on a simple burglary call -Sam couldn't wait to see what, if anything, Lindsay told Hawkes about their incident in the locker room yesterday- and Mac was in his office hard at work as usual while Danny was lending a helping hand to the trace lab. Sam had her arm on the table top and her forehead resting in the crook of her elbow, eyes closed and feeling sorry for the state she found herself in and vowing never to drink that much again, when she felt the presence of someone standing over her. Followed by the sound of something being placed on the table.
She raised her head and opened her eyes and there was Flack, grinning down at her with this huge grin on his face that showed off his temples. How in the hell could one man be that good looking and smell so damn good? On the table in front of her was an extra large tea, bottle of water and a plain croissant.
"Morning, sunshine." he greeted. "Feelin' pretty good this morning, huh? Your new best friend told me you and Jose Cuervo are on a first name basis after last night."
"Do you have to be so cheerful?" she asked grumpily. "I have a raging tsunami in my head."
"I don't feel the least bit sorry for you." he told her.
"Yes you do." she said.
"Here..." he held out three extra strength Tylenol.
"Thanks." she said and took them and swallowed them with some of the water. "Bringing me tea and croissants for breakfasts? Aren't you just a gentleman. What are you in such a good mood for?"
Flack sat down in the chair beside her, their knees touching under the table. Neither made an attempt to move. "I should be pissed considering two drunk women woke me up at two thirty in the morning." he said.
"Being woke up by two drunk women is usually some perverted fantasy for most guys." she retorted.
"Maybe if you had have woke me up by showing up in person at my place it would have been."
She felt herself blush. "That's sexual harassment." she informed him teasingly.
"That Carmen is something else, huh? She reminds me of you. Same personality. Not to mention sarcastic as all hell. You'd swear you two were sisters. You guys hit it off pretty quick."
"She's an amazing girl." Sam reasoned. "And I'm sorry we woke you up."
"So you actually remember making that phone call. That's a relief."
"I didn't make it." Sam corrected him. "Carmen did. She held me against my will." She sipped the tea and grimaced. "Are you trying to kill me? What the hell is in this?"
"Three tea bags. Nice and strong. To sober you up. More caffeine the better. Drink up. And make sure you eat something."
"Should I be calling you Doctor Flack from now on?" she asked light heartedly and bit into the croissant.
He just smiled. "You remember anything you said last night?" he asked.
"I didn't say it. Carmen did. And yeah. I remember."
"Was it true? Did you mean it?"
She chewed slowly on the croissant and then sipped some tea as she contemplated what to say. She nodded at last. "Did you?" she asked.
He nodded as well.
"This is insane." she declared. "We're both insane. We have to be. Feeling like this so soon. It can't be normal. Can it?"
"Why don't you just stop doubting it and yourself so much and over analysing everything and just go with how you feel. How we both feel. And then we'll just see where everything goes from there."
"I think that's a good idea." she said. "And I don't think we should tell anyone. About us."
"There's an us?" he asked.
"I don't know." she replied. "Is there?"
"I want there to be." he admitted.
"So do I. But don't you think it's going to be a little weird having a relationship and working together? You know, considering your little rule about not dating people you work with 'cause it blurs the lines."
He frowned. "Who told you about that?"
"Danny."
"I am so gonna beat his ass from one end of the lab to the other. I did say that. Once. A long time ago. And deep down, it was probably because I never worked with anyone I liked enough to date and put up with the office gossip and bull shit that comes with it."
"You just have all the right answers this morning." she said with a smile.
"I also think that we're both adults and we should be able to deal with having a workplace thing. But I do agree with you on not telling any one right now. There's already enough crazy ass shit going on around here without adding to it. We don't want to turn into another Danny and Lindsay. Get other people involved and talkin' too much and that's exactly what will happen. Only person I am going to tell is Danny. He's my best friend and he can keep a secret."
"Please! You just want him to know so he won't try anything with me on Saturday." she said.
Flack smiled. "You know me so well." he said. "I also came here to deliver a bit of news."
"Uh-oh."
"Your ex got spotted on the FDR this morning. Around..." Flack checked his watch. "seven thirty. Three hours ago. So he's in the city."
"Wonderful."she sighed. "And he's not my ex."
"Really? 'Cause that's not what your boss back in Atlanta told me."
Sam stared at him. Swallowed a mouthful of tea and tried to remain calm "You actually talked to my boss in Atlanta? Why?"
"I wanted the whole deal on the guy. And something told me you weren't exactly telling me the entire truth. So I did a little detective work. I'm a detective. I detect. Its what I do."
"Look, I didn't mean to lie about it. I just wanted to..."
"Protect yourself." Flack interrupted her gently. "I get it. And I'm not pissed or anything. Honestly, I don't think I would have told someone I just met all of that either. But you could have at least told me you and this guy were together. You almost married him."
"He's still a crazy bastard regardless if I was with him or not." Sam pointed out.
"I think you need to tell me the whole story, Samantha. Like why you dumped him the night before the wedding and the complaints you filled against him."
She sighed. "Its complicated." she said. "Complicated and long."
"Hey, I'm here, aren't I? I've got all the time in the world, sunshine."
He listened to her intently and understandingly as she, in great detail, chronicled the events that led to the break up of her relationship and her subsequent departure for New York. It was painful for her. He could see it in her eyes and all over her face that it was difficult to talk about. Yet her voice showed little or no emotion. A coping mechanism. He used it himself all the time when he heard something or saw something that cut him deep. Listening to her, he realized just how strong and resilient she was for being able to deal with it all and still come out with her sanity.
"That guy is a fucking prick." Flack said when she finally stopped talking and there was a long, silent pause in the conversation. The abuse part was what bothered him the most. Any guy that slapped around a woman deserved it back ten fold.
Some time during the conversation, he'd unknowingly laid his hand over hers on the table and now their fingers were entwined, clasped tightly.
"You see why I came back to New York?" she asked. "Why I'm as screwed up as I am?"
"You're not screwed up." he assured her. "And if you'd feel better talking to someone, Mac has a niece that's a department psychologist that's damn good. If you talk to him, he could probably get you in to see her."
"I don't need a therapist." she said harshly and yanked her hand out of his.
He regarded her skeptically.
"Okay. Maybe I do. Maybe I have huge issues that I need help dealing with. But it was hard enough telling you, never mind telling a complete stranger. When I'm ready, if I'm ready, I'll talk to Mac."
"I just think it would help is all." Flack reasoned. "We all need help sometime, right?"
"Have you ever been to the staff psychologist?" she inquired.
"Tons of times." he admitted.
"For?"
"Killin' people in the line of duty, roughin' up a suspect a little too much, getting mouthy with Gerrard and Sinclair, my anger management issues. Its a long list." He wasn't ready to tell her about the bombing yet. She had enough shit on her plate without adding his baggage to it.
"So you're not as fragile and boyscout as you seem." she teased.
"You're real comedienne, you know that? And if you want to look on the bright side of all this crazy stuff with your ex, you did come to New York, back home where you belong, and you did meet me. That's the brightest part."
Sam laughed. "You are so goddamn cocky." she said.
"Confident." he corrected her. "There's a big difference. And admit it. Its what you like best about me.'
"Yeah... that's it. It has nothing to do with your eyes.'
Flack sighed. "The eyes." he said. "It's always the eyes."
"You have very pretty eyes." she informed him.
"Please don't use pretty and my eyes in the same sentence." he said.
"Well they are. They're trusting, soulful eyes. A little sad, too."
"Now whose being a therapist." he said. "Are you really that scared of this guy?"
Sam nodded. "He's nuts. Trust me. You have no idea what he's capable of."
"You want me to post a couple of uniforms at your place in case he turns up there?" Flack offered.
"How will you arrange that? Don't you have to clear those things with brass?"
"Brass owes me." he said. "Huge. Would that make you feel better?"
"It would."
"Consider it done. Someone will be around here and out in the field so that's not an issue. Would he honestly have the stones to show up here?"
"Absolutely."
"I'm sorry." Flack said. "That you had to go through all of that. That's why you're so reluctantly about getting involved with anyone."
"Its a trust thing." she told him. "Its what it comes down to. Trusting myself and someone else."
"You can trust me, Samantha." he assured her. "I'm not in this to hurt you."
"I know. But its going to take me a while. Throwing myself completely into us. You know, intimacy wise."
"Hey, I am in no hurry." he promised. "Whenever it happens, it happens. No pressure, no expectations. Okay?"
She nodded. "Okay."
"But you can't call me a perv or slap me out for thinking about it or even trying."
"I promise I won't." she said.
Flack's pager went off and he checked it. "Dispatch." he said with a heavy sigh. "I guess it is time for me to actually get off my ass and do some actual police work. DB in Times Square." he stood and yawned noisily and stretched into his back and his knees cracked.
"Jesus." Sam said. "How old are you, Don? Fifty? All that grey hair and now aching bones, too?"
"Cute." he snorted. "Gotta go. Save the world, one bastard criminal at a time."
"Something tells me I better not get too comfortable. That Danny or Stella are going to come hunting for me any minute."
"I'll see you in a while." he said and couldn't resist reaching out and brushing her cheek softly with his knuckles. "Its gonna be okay." he gave her a reassuring smile. "Its all good. I promise."
She just smiled and watched him leave. God I hope you're right, she thought. For both of our sakes.
He sat behind the wheel of a rental car with tinted windows across the street from the crime lab. He'd had a sneaky suspicion that the little bitch had gone and given a description of his car and of him and his license plate number when she found out he was on his way. She was too good of a cop not to cover all the angles. Its why he left his own car at the hotel and rented another. There was no way that her over protective step dad wouldn't have called her and told her everything he knew. He'd planned it that way. To give her something to think about while living her new life in New York City. Something to keep her up at night and make her look over her shoulder when she walked down the street. Something to make her re-consider the stupid, selfish choices she had made.
Who the hell did she think she was? Leaving him. Taking their money. His money. She was nothing until he came along. Just some troubled, tough as nails Brooklyn chick looking for someone to love her. And he loved her. With everything he was and everything he had. He loved her in a way no other man could possibly love her. Ever. He was the best damn thing that ever happened to her. Her existence was shit until he came along. And this is how she repaid him? By humiliating him in front of all of their family and friends? By taking off without so much as a goodbye or an I'll see you later? He wasn't going to go out like that. He wasn't going to let her go that easy. No woman treated him like that. Especially her. Did she think she was perfect and that she never made mistakes? Did things to hurt the people closest to her? She'd burned a lot of bridges way beyond repair. Yet she had the nerve to walk around like she was goddamn perfect.
He'd been sitting there for over two hours. He'd seen her go into work. He hadn't seen her leave. His eyes were riveted on the front doors. Scanning every face that came out. None of them were her. He couldn't let her see him. Not yet. He wanted her to live in fear for a little while longer. Too wonder when the other shoe was going to drop. Play a little game with her before finishing up what he came to do. And he would finish it. If it killed him.
Then he saw her. The red high lights in her hair sparkling in the glorious sunshine. Laughing and talking with another cop as they left the building. A guy. Short and athletically built with spiky blond hair and glasses. Carrying two evidence collecting kits. A gentleman. He saw the way this guy looked at her and vice versa. There was something there. On both their parts. She'd already moved on the dirty little whore. He felt rage built inside of him. His hands tightening on the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. Heart pounding in his chest and sweat across his brow. The way they were laughing and smiling was disgusting. Walking towards a black pick up by the curb. A woman with curly hair behind the wheel.
How could she move on so quickly? Be so happy? And who the hell did that guy think he was taking another guy's woman. His property.
He'd pay too. That cop with the glasses. They'd both pay.
He opened up the glove compartment and stared at the Glock semi-automatic handgun sitting in there. Bullet already in the chamber and a full cartridge ready to go. She wasn't going to get away with it. She was going back to Arizona with him. Alive or dead, it didn't matter.
But she would pay. She would hurt and she would pay and she'd live, or die, to regret the day she ever left him.
Aphina: I'm glad you liked the way she handled Lindsay and gave her what she had coming. And I just couldn't let poor Flack suffer. Major feelings and major sexual chemistry between those two. Unfortunately, he's going to have to wait a little while longer. Its truly evil what we do to that man! LOL! P.S.: It was time for the sprinkle donuts and a little tough love from Carmen!
Madison Bellows: lol! You're right! She does need to work on the anger. And a lot of other things. Gus is on the way!
Bluehaven 4220: I loved the Lindsay dressing down part, too! And you're right: us Ontario-ans are cool like that! We got our own way of talking and thinking and loving.
Anyone else reading this? If you are, please review!! PLEASE??