A/N: Ok. Quite a bit more prose + script. Realized to get where I intend to go, it is a necessary evil. Bear w/ me! Don't own script! No copyright infringement intended/desired!


November 8, 2006

Priestly ducked into the grill with Trucker in tow, both of them still shaking their heads over what had just happened. When he'd pulled his Nova in beside the Causemobile, Trucker was in the back fiddling with the engine.

"Hey, what's wrong with the Causemobile?" he'd asked. Priestly got behind the wheel to turn the ignition at Trucker's request.

"Okay, try it!" Trucker called.

"I've got nothing," Priestly said unnecessarily as the engine sputtered and failed. Trucker fiddled some more.

"Okay, once more," Trucker ordered.

He turned the key again. Still no go.

"Cut it off, man," Trucker said, adjusting again.

Priestly glanced across the street and saw Zo heading up Nelson on her way to her shop. Distantly, he heard Trucker say, "Alright, go again." He turned the key, still watching Zo. Drenched in sunlight and mystery, she seemed to feel him watching her. She looked his way, her gentle smile blooming as she blinked lazily at him. At the exact same moment, the stubborn engine which had shown no sign that it would cooperate suddenly caught and roared to life. Priestly glanced in the side mirror, saw Trucker straighten with a baffled look, then saw him notice Zo.

Priestly watched Zo disappear out of sight past the corner of the building. Trucker voice beside him sounded a little dazed.

"That was weird, right?" Trucker asked.

"That was weird," he'd agreed.

He was glad to enter the grill and step out of the Twilight Zone into the ordinary rhythm of the grill: teasing Jen about Fuzzzy_22, for instance. The speculation over Fuzzzy's handle entered hilarious territory as Piper suggested that rather than being a cop, he was a peach farmer in Georgia, to which Lucille replied,

"Oh, Jen, you don't want to move to Georgia!"

As always, Jen was amused by their ponderings but also a little embarrassed. Priestly suggested that perhaps the last 22 years had been a little fuzzy for him.

Jen's grin widened. "I like that one," she said, laughing a little.

The door opened, and two guys strutted in. Cocky and confident, Priestly thought, glancing at them. Especially the dark haired one in front. He really thought he was the shit. Tish apparently thought he was, too, because she bumped Piper out of the way in order to wait on him.

"What can I do for you two?" Tish asked sweetly, cocking her head in that 'ooh, I'm so sexy, aren't I?' way of hers. He got annoyed with himself for agreeing that, yes, she was. Life would be a hell of a lot simpler if he didn't agree with seemingly every other male on the planet that she was good looking. Especially since she clearly had no interest whatsoever in him.

"We phoned it in," the dark haired one replied. "Two Spicy Italian subs." The day's special, Priestly recalled just then. Two subs at the rate of $1 per inch, which meant 2 6-inch for $6, 2 8-inch for $8, and so on.

"How big?" Tish asked, starting the innuendo volley. Priestly couldn't see her expression, but he saw the guy assess Tish. Apparently liking what he saw, he decided to play her game. Of course. Who wouldn't? He sighed inwardly.

"Ten inches," the guy answered in a way that Priestly supposed a woman might find sexy.

Tish's voice took on a teasing but also sultry tone. "Total?"

I'm-the-shit guy's mouth twitched. "Each, of course," he answered. The blonde guy behind him smirked. Silent Bob, Priestly dubbed him. Tish sighed, oblivious to the fact that Piper was holding the subs out, waiting for her to take them. I'm-the-shit glanced at Piper, so Tish did, too. Grabbing the sandwiches, she held them out and offered,

"I'm Tish."

I'm-the-shit tossed a twenty on the counter and took the sandwiches. Without waiting for change, he backed toward the door. He didn't offer his name, but he gave her a wink so that she sighed heavily again.

"Oh, my God," she said, watching him go. Silent Bob gave her a look and followed his friend.

Priestly rolled his eyes. More like a shit. He just snorted as Tish sighed,

"Did that work for anybody else?"

Priestly watched her ring in the sale and tuck the large tip in their communal tip jar. "That tip worked for me," he agreed. "If you show him more of your boobs next time we might get the whole twenty."

She elbowed him.

He glanced over Piper's shoulder. Since they were slow for the time being, she was working on her latest assignment for the Art Institute. Her semester project was a series on children, and as she had been doing, she was sketching a picture of the little girl she'd said she thought might be her daughter, Julia. Only this time there was a man in the picture, and the little girl and the man were flying a kite on the beach.

"Julia again?" he asked.

She looked up at him guiltily. Jen glanced over at them as she said, "I met them. Yesterday after my shift ended, I was riding my bike to the beach to work on my art project, you know, because there are usually lots of kids playing there. I saw them turn out of their house on their bikes."

Tish, who'd just finished bussing a couple tables in the dining area, put the dishpan down on the counter and looked at her drawing as Piper continued.

"Julia was sitting in the sand drawing the cliffs, so I started to draw her drawing the cliffs," she explained. "The wind grabbed her picture and she came running right toward me after it. I caught it for her." Piper looked pained. "And then her father came up behind her and saw my drawing of her and…" she sighed.

"And?" Priestly asked.

She covered her face. "I offered him the picture I drew and he accepted it. I asked her name like I didn't already know it, and he introduced himself as if I didn't already know his name, too, and now I really, really feel like this total crazy stalker."

"Well," Jen said, "now you know them, right? That's a good thing, isn't it?"

"Yes, but it gets worse." She looked at them with her big baby blues full of angst. "I told him my name was Anna."

Priestly winced. She nodded at him.

"Right?" she winced back. "I opened my mouth to say Piper, and I panicked. I thought he might remember the name, you know, from the adoption papers? And I panicked." When none of them knew what to say and didn't answer, she added, "Anna's my middle name. So–"

Jen sat up straighter on her stool as Tish said, "If you keep running into each other you could just tell him you were trying for a fresh start. Fresh start, fresh name…"

"That could work," Jen agreed. "But he might get a little freaked and wonder why you needed a fresh start."

Priestly was grateful when the laptop signaled an order for both hot and cold subs and two patrons came up to the front counter to order. He was glad for the excuse to turn to the grill as Jen cheerfully greeted the folks at the counter and Piper worked on filling the drink orders. He didn't know what the best thing to do would be. He totally understood Piper wanting to find her kid and all, but the games she was playing, whether she meant to or not…they were bad news. If he were a dad and someone wiggled their way into his life only to come out later with the fact that she was his kid's biological mother... Priestly shook his head again. Bad news.


November 15, 2006

"Oh, crap!" Jen moaned, rising from her place at the laptop to run after a customer who'd just left. She called after the guy, but he'd been talking to someone on the phone through a headset and Priestly figured by her defeated expression she'd been unsuccessful. "I think he ordered a 12-inch," she winced. He'd fixed and wrapped a 6 inch, because that's what she'd told him the order was.

In the next instant, her screen double beeped, signaling not an order but a reply from Fuzzzy, who'd been messaging her off and on all morning. Priestly turned to finish the table orders he was working on and didn't think much else of it until he heard an irritated voice.

"Hellooo? Excuse me, helloooo?"

"Oh! I'm sorry," Jen began. "I–″

Priestly glanced back and saw the guy Jen had tried chasing earlier back at the counter.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he mocked, waving his hands around. "I ordered a, uh, 12 inch veggie sub. This look like 12 inches to you?" Priestly stood up a little straighter, glaring at him.

"No," she agreed apologetically. "I–"

The guy shook his head and opened his mouth to continue mocking her. Priestly nearly stepped over to get in the guy's face, but instead Tish slid over next to Jen and turned on the charm.

"You know how girls are no good with measurements," she said coyly. "My last boyfriend told me that this was twelve inches," she added, holding another six inch veggie up as she thrust out her chest. As it happened, she was showing more cleavage that day than was even normal for her, and mocking guy ate it right up. "So, go figure."

Mocking guy got so flustered by Tish's display that he fumbled all over himself with the cord to his headset, dropping the bag that held his other six inches as he tried to make it out the door with any sort of dignity left.

"Alright, Jen, what's up?" Tish asked, turning to look at her. "You never screw up an order."

"Yeah, what happened?" Priestly asked, realizing it was true. The last time a customer came in yelling, he was the one to goof. "Fuzzzy's mother finally take his computer away?" he guessed, suspecting it had something to do with her online friend.

"No, actually," Jen said, glancing back at the screen nervously. "He wants to meet." Her eyes were filled with nothing short of terror.

Priestly was just about to suggest maybe they should when Tish shook her head.

"Don't do it, Jen, you don't know anything about him."

Priestly frowned. "Wait a minute," he said, moving up behind her. "Why does this freak you out so bad? You go home with anybody who gives you lip service."

Turning to him with a narrow look, Tish retorted, "I talk to them first, jerk. Besides, I can take care of myself. This is Jen we're talking about."

Jen opened her mouth to object, a hurt expression crossing her face. Truth be told, Tish had a point. Jen was…sweet. Shy. Trusting. She always saw the best in people, tried to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Like when the homeless guys came in. She was friendly with them. More than that, where anyone else would be just a little wary, she was wide open and completely at ease. That sort of trust could, in fact, be dangerous.

"Okay," Piper interjected before Jen could reply. "Reality check here, guys. This guy could live in Madegascar."

"Yeah," Priestly agreed. "Or Schenectady."

"He lives down near L.A.," Jen replied softly. "He told me."

Tish leaned closer to her. "Did you tell him you were in Santa Cruz?" she asked, concern lacing her voice. Priestly was surprised. He'd sort of assumed Tish was too self absorbed to care much about what anyone else was doing. When Jen glanced back at the computer screen, Tish's exasperation exploded out with her words. "Jesus, Jen! Tell me you didn't tell him your real name."

"No," Jen assured her. "He only knows me as Ladybugger."

Piper stepped forward and gave Jen a sympathetic look. She knew all about secrets, after all. "So what now, Ladybugger?" she asked.

Jen looked conflicted. She glanced back at the laptop screen, and when she turned to look at Tish, Piper, and Priestly, he saw the conflict all over her face. He peered closer at the screen and saw a new order for 2 Spicy Italian subs, cold. He turned to start them, but he thought about the look on Jen's face. She wanted to take a chance. He'd seen that look on her face many times on their bar nights. Wanting to gather the courage to talk to guys, wanting to dance…but being afraid to take that first step.

"I'm going to think about it," she admitted.

Tish was about to say something to her when the door opened. Priestly saw who it was at the same time Tish saw.

"Ohh, Christ," he muttered darkly, turning back to the cold station to finish the sandwiches as I'm-the-shit and Silent Bob approached, the latter with some sort of lollypop in his mouth.

"Tish, right?" I'm-the-shit said more than asked.

With a smile in her voice, Tish replied, "Mystery man, right?"

"Tadd," I'm-the-shit replied.

"Another Spicy Italian sub, Tadd? Just one?" she asked as Priestly was already wrapping them.

"One for Brad, too."

Okay, so it was Silent Brad and I'm-the-shit Tadd, then. Turning, Priestly plopped the subs on the counter and slid them across with both hands, smirking at Tadd, who sneered back at him. Lifting his eyebrows derisively, he said,

"Nice hair."

Priestly sneered back. "Thanks, Taddalie," he said, batting his eyelashes at him before turning back to the grill dismissively.

"Hmmm," Tish sighed in irritation.

"I'll see you around, Tish," Tadd said.

"Okay," she answered softly.

Priestly turned back to watch him leave. Tadd gave him a dirty look, and Silent Brad echoed it, smirking around his lollypop as he followed Tadd out the door.

Leaning on his elbows next to Tish, he said, "Tadd and Brad. Well, isn't that…gay."

Tish turned to look at him. He looked back with a satisfied grin as he realized she was searching for a comeback. "You're gay," she retorted lamely.

"Hardly," he snorted. "You can take me in the back room and show me how you earned your crown any time, Tish." After he said it, he whipped around and started scraping the grill to hide the fact that his face just went beet red. He couldn't believe he'd just said that. Tish laughed behind him, clearly recalling the challenge she'd issued Trucker the other day when he'd made the claim that beautiful women were lazy in bed….a claim she'd taken great offense to.

"You wish," she said, snapping his ass with a bar towel.

He didn't answer. He was still too red in the face. When she disappeared into the dining room, he leaned backwards on his elbows next to Jen. "For what it's worth," he said, "I think you should give it a shot. I mean, you've been talking to each other this long, right? Most guys wouldn't have that kind of patience unless they really were interested. I wouldn't," he shrugged, thinking of Jude and his own impatience and his reaction to that impatience. He wondered again if he should read the emails. He'd just gotten another one the other day, in fact. He'd tucked it in the folder in his email account with the others.

"I don't know," she replied hesitantly.

"Jen, you deserve to be happy," he said seriously, lightly punching her shoulder so that one corner of her mouth lifted. "You're never going to know unless you stretch that neck out."

"I might get my head chopped off if I do that," she answered.

"Maybe. Or maybe when you stretch that neck out, you might stretch far enough so you end up getting kissed by someone on the other end."

She smiled at the thought. He saw Tish coming out of the corner of his eye and stood up. "Think about it," he said, squeezing her shoulder.

At just a few minutes to closing, Priestly looked up from the table he was cleaning to see Tadd swagger in. Twice in one day. Fuck. He knew what it meant.

Tish was at the register counter to meet him almost before he got there. He didn't hear their conversation, but he heard Jen release a sigh.

"Sorry," she said. "Just living vicariously," she explained. "Ignore me."

The next part he caught. Tish started in on her whole, "I've never had an orgasm" spiel, but Tadd cut her off with a derisive look.

"Does that work on stupid guys?"

Taken aback, Tish admitted, "Yeah, usually."

"You ready to go, then?" Tadd asked, closing the discussion.

Priestly, Trucker and Jen watched Tadd head out of the shop, leaving the door to slam in Tish's face. She stopped short for a second, then just pushed the door open as if it hadn't happened, and disappeared into the night behind him.

"Huh," Priestly snorted. "It's nice how he holds the door for her." He flipped his spray bottle, shaking his head. He and Trucker exchanged a glance that asked, "Why does she go out with these idiots?" Aloud, Priestly added, "What a gentleman. He's a giver. I can tell." Not understanding why she continually dated losers, he muttered sarcastically, "Definitely a keeper."


November 16, 2006

The next morning, all four of them were scheduled to open because the annual O'Dell Kooks and Kahunas Rally was in town and Trucker was going to be there until late in the afternoon. October held the O'Neill Cold Water Classic, a serious annual surf competition. Sometime in the 80's a guy named O'Dell started the Kooks and Kahunas Rally when he got laughed off the beach after entering and placing last in the Classic. It was a goof contest that poked fun at the Classic, and it was growing to a point that it was almost more popular than the O'Neill event. Surfers of all ages and ability levels came out to surf the main beach as well as Steamer Lane and were awarded funny prizes like "Best Biffer", "Lull Master", and "Wax Eater".

Priestly found Piper and Jen already inside. Trucker had given him and Jen each a key a few months ago. Even though he'd lied about not knowing the combination to the safe, he did know it, and he got out the cash drawer and put it in the register while Piper set up the cold station and Jen started lumping ingredients into the soup pots for the day's selections.

Tying his apron, Priestly asked, "What's new, ladies? Any major developments since last night?"

Both girls looked at him. Piper laughed. Priestly grinned back at her, knowing she was noticing his brand new kilt. Well, new to him. He'd picked it up at a local thrift store a couple months ago but wasn't sure whether he had the nerve to wear it until now. In honor of the O'Dell Rally, he'd chosen a black t-shirt to go with it which read, Surf Naked.

"Nice," she nodded. He shrugged.

Once the soup was cooking and the cold station was prepped, he checked his pocket watch. "Oh, crap!" he said, hustling to the front door. Five minutes late opening. Not a big deal, but not great. Thankfully, no one was waiting. Trucker had wanted them fully staffed just in case, but in reality, the rush likely wouldn't come until around one or two o'clock as the first wave of Rally contestants and spectators left and the second wave came in.

"So, where's the mother?" Jen was asking as she lifted her coffee mug. From the context, Priestly guessed she was referring to Julia's adoptive mother.

"I don't know," Piper replied, still working on darkening the penciled sketch of the shoreline depicted in her mural on the back wall.

"You didn't ask?" Priestly frowned.

"No," Piper answered, looking at him like he was from another planet. "I mean, as far as they know I'm just some college student. It would be weird if I asked…"

A full half hour later, the only customers were Mr. Julius, Lucille, and Bam Bam. If you could count Bams as a customer, anyway. They were continuing to hash out the situation with the Millers when Tish walked in, late.

"Oh, look," Priestly said, annoyed, "it lives."

Piper teased, "Barely!"

Tish was grinning too widely to care. Jen slid her coffee mug over to Tish and said, "Here, start with this. I'll make the IV drip."

"I'm in love," Tish sighed.

"No, you're in heat," he retorted, glancing down at the rest of the breakfast sandwich he'd brought in that morning. He lost his appetite.

"Oh, look," she shot back, "a man pretending to acknowledge the difference." She sneered at him. He made a face at her.

"Finally found an eleven, huh?" Jen asked.

"Mmmm," Tish said, swallowing her coffee, "twelve. I did things with Tadd I've never done before."

"Oh, really?" he goaded, "like what? Wait for the second date?"

Trucker came in, surprising him. "Well, the surf sucked!" He complained. That explained why he was there hours before he was expected. "What did I miss at our staff meeting?"

Priestly grinned to himself at Trucker's subtle way of asking why they were all just lounging around instead of working. Though if he looked around the room, he'd realize it was because they were dead except for Mr. Julius and Lucille and Bam Bam.

"Well," Jen began with a nod, "Tish is in love. Or lust, depending on who you're talking to." Trucker, having come up behind Tish, hi-fived her. If the look on his face contradicted his words, well, Tish didn't notice, anyway. Priestly knew Trucker wasn't crazy about Tadd. They exchanged a quick look as Jen continued, advising that Piper was continuing to deceive the Millers about who she really was, to which Trucker jokingly replied,

"Good. Nice to see that our company tradition of making the worst possible decisions in any situation has been passed on to the next generation of employee."

"Priestly's gotten in touch with his feminine side," Jen continued.

He grinned and held up his hands. "I love my kilt," he agreed.

"And," she finished, "I have reached a decision on meeting Fuzzzy."

Priestly stopped rubbing the water spots off of the glasses they'd done a half-assed job drying the night before and looked at her curiously.

"And?" Piper prompted as they all leaned a little closer, eager for her answer.

"Well," she shook her head, "we have all the same interests, he makes me laugh all the time, and I tell him everything. It's a no brainer. We have to meet," she said resolutely.

Priestly broke into a wide grin. "Right on," he nodded approvingly. He was a little irked as the others began asking what-ifs as if to try to deter Jen from her decision. Everyone seemed sure she had failed to give it enough consideration. He kept it light, joking back when Piper asked what if he was a woman, "Ooh…if that happens, can I watch?" And when Tish asked what if he was fourteen, Priestly jumped in with, "Ooh, if that happens, can I videotape?" He pretended the glass he was holding was a video lens. Jen shot him an appreciative look.

The questions continued with Mr. Julius wondering what would happen if he was paralyzed and Lucille wondering if he was, as she put it, "ugly as a Rhino's ass?" Jen had a quick response for them all. Priestly gave up, figuring if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, and asked,

"What if he's got, like, crazy hair and more artificial holes in his head than real ones?"

Jen smiled fondly at him and replied, "Well, I could never be that lucky."

He smiled back, pleased with her response. He glanced at Tish then looked back at Piper as she asked when and where. Jen explained they'd meet the Saturday evening after Thanksgiving at a club in Morro Bay, which was basically halfway between L.A. and Santa Cruz. Then she winced a little and asked Trucker if she could borrow the Causemobile so she could just camp out before returning the next day. Trucker readily agreed.

Piper and Tish volunteered to go with her, which he knew was for both safety and support. Jen accepted gratefully. Priestly waited a beat. When no invitation came, he said,

"Yep, count me in."

He was a little hurt when Jen joined the girls, chorusing, "Forget it!" His face fell.

Trucker clapped his hands. "Can we get to work now?" he chided. Priestly knew he was only half serious, so he looked back at the girls.

"I'll drive," he offered.

"No," Piper said.

He looked at them in disbelief. "I'll buy the beer," he tried again.

Jen breathed a laugh and shook her head. He slammed down his bar towel and grabbed the tray of freshly shined glasses, now spot free, and complained under his breath, "I never get to do anything fun!"

The reality of it was that someone had to stay and help Trucker run the shop, and it was decided that that was going to be Priestly. Trucker was on the fence about the three girls going together, anyway, because it would leave them very short handed, but Priestly knew he also had a soft spot for Jen. Finally, he and Jen compromised. The girls would all come in and work Saturday until four. She was supposed to meet Fuzzzy at the club at nine p.m. They'd cut it close. It was a three hour drive to Morro Bay. That left them two hours for pit stops, checking into the campground, and, as Tish put it, getting Jen ready for the big meeting. Jen tried using how shorthanded Trucker and Priestly would be as a way to back out, but Priestly and Trucker shut her down. Both of them agreed Jen should meet Fuzzzy once and for all, and Trucker approved of the idea of her not going alone.

"Zo said he's good," Priestly reminded Tish when she expressed more concerns about the guy being an axe murderer or some other type of predator.

"Everyone thinks serial killers are good until someone uncovers the bodies," Tish reasoned.

He couldn't really argue with that. She had a point. Still, he didn't want Jen to back out. "Well," he mocked, "You can take care of yourself, remember? And, hey, if he turns out to be a weirdo you can just turn on the charm, have your way with him, and be back on the road by sunrise, right?"

There it was again, that look that freaked him out. The one that said he'd gone too far, cut too deep. But before he could apologize, Tish glared up at him and snarled,

"I would never sleep with someone a friend of mine was interested in, even if it didn't work out between them. Dick!"

"Hey," he said softly, grabbing her arm as she started to storm away. She looked at him, pursing her lips. "Look," he sighed, "I didn't mean that. I was just kidding. That's what we do, right?" He shrugged. "I sort of like how we joke back and forth, that's all. I didn't mean anything by it."

She softened a little. But then she just gave him a look, shrugged free, and said, "Whatever."

He knew she forgave him, though, when Trucker asked him to go on a supply run. He agreed only to have Jen announce they were out of tampons in the ladies room. Tish laughed at the look on his face. As he took off his apron and headed for the door, Tish took pity on him.

"Hey, Renaissance Man," she said, stopping beside him on her way to deliver food to a table, "if you need help, call me." She gave his hand a squeeze. Something in her face seemed less… He wasn't sure exactly. But she looked at him differently than she ever had before, even under the teasing look.

He tried to figure that look out all the way to the store.