Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist.

Chapter 1: New Year's Eve

Teresa Lisbon smiled as she opened the luxurious box on her bed. She had spent the whole morning waiting for the courier to deliver the package and now that it had finally arrived Teresa couldn't wait to open it. She had worried over the amount of money she had spent on it and had begun to regret her decision, but as she unwrapped the beautiful tissue paper she smiled and almost held her breath. It was beautiful, so exquisitely designed and the fabric felt so soft and silky in her hands.

She carefully pulled it out of the box, wary of creasing it, and held it against herself as she walked towards the full length mirror on the outside of her closet door. "It's beautiful!" She breathed as she admired the lilac satin dress before her and she told herself that it was well worth the money, while simultaneously attempting to squash down a pang of guilt she felt creep up into her mind.

She stood there for a moment caught up in her fantasy about a life she could only dream of and knew she would probably never attain, when a thought suddenly occurred to her. What if it doesn't fit? She decided to try it on, mentally berating herself for leaving it till the last minute. If the dress didn't fit she would have to rush down to the store to exchange it. She had gotten so caught up with the excitement of the New Year's Eve party her boyfriend had invited her to that she forgot she didn't have a suitable outfit to wear. She had panicked, trying to find something in her closet but nothing seemed good enough. She knew the kind of high class crowd that he associated with and in her haste, she had gone and bought an $800 dress. Teresa was not normally the type of woman who would spend her money so recklessly but she knew that Marcus' family would be there too and she wanted to make a good first impression. She had only known him for nine months but she really liked him and thought that things were going well.

Teresa finally put the dress on and took another look in the mirror. She beamed at the way it enhanced her figure, skimming her body in all the right ways. It was a perfect fit, she thought. Just then the door bell rang and Teresa cursed under her breath. It had slipped her mind that her friends were coming over. She hurriedly tried to unfasten the zipper on the back of the dress but it got caught to a lock of her hair on its way down. "Son of a bitch!" She swore as it pulled on her scalp. The doorbell rang again. "Just a minute!" she shouted at the door, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice. She carefully untangled her hair and cautiously stepped out of the dress. Fortunately she still had her pants on, so she just pulled on the sweater she had thrown on the bed and quickly made her way to the door. She greeted her old friend Wayne and invited him in. "Where's Grace?" She asked as they made their way into the living room.

"She couldn't make it. Poor thing's sick with the flu. Think she got it from the kids."

"Oh no, I know you two had plans for tonight."

"Yeah, well it looks like a nice evening in this New Year's Eve. It won't be so bad, we have plenty of snacks."

Teresa smiled. They sat down on the couch and it was then that Teresa noticed that Wayne kept looking at her in an odd way, a strange, amused smile on his face. " What?" She asked.

"Huh?" He said, not sure what she meant.

"You keep giving me that weird look. What is it?"

A little chuckle fell from his lips then, "it's just…well I was wondering if you were trying to fix that dodgy electrical outlet again."

Teresa gave him a confused look. "Why?" She asked.

Wayne laughed and then gestured towards her hair. Teresa self-consciously put her hand up to her head and ran her hair along her chestnut locks. Something didn't feel right. Sighing, she walked towards the hallway mirror and realised that in her rush to get changed her hair had gotten messed up, looking a little like she had just woken up. She had to laugh at that. After she had sorted out her unruly hair she went back into the living room and sat down on an armchair opposite her friend. "Sorry about that. I was trying on my dress for tonight when you rang the bell." She explained.

"You mean that $800 one Grace told me about?" He asked. Teresa nodded. "I don't know why you bothered for those idiots. You know the kind of people they are. Bunch of pretentious snobs-the lot of them."

"Wayne Rigsby, that's not like you." Teresa told him but he just huffed.

"Remember the last event we went to with Marcus? The charity dinner?"

"Yeah." She said.

"One of those bastards tried to hit on Grace. Then when he found out she was a just a kindergarten teacher he backed off immediately. Looked down his nose at her the whole night."

"I thought you'd be glad he backed off, I mean, she is your wife."

"I was, but you know what I mean. The whole lot of them are so arrogant and patronising. I don't know why you want to go to this party Teresa."

"Because Marcus will be there. He's not like them Wayne. You know that."

He nodded. "Granted. So is he going to introduce you to his family tonight? I hear a lot of them will be there."

"Only his sisters and it's not like that Wayne." She said, suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable.

Wayne tilted his head to one side at that, intrigued. "Not like what?" He teased. "I thought you and him were getting serious and…"

Teresa cut him off. "No, it's not like that. It's a New Year's Eve party Wayne, off course they're going to be there. It's not like we're moving in together, or getting married." Her voice grew slightly quieter on the last two words and she felt the temperature in the room jump a couple of degrees.

Wayne could see the change in her mood and decided to drop the subject. "Nah, off course not, I was just messing with you."

Teresa sighed. "I guess I'm just nervous that's all."

"Well I have the perfect solution. Let me buy you lunch." He smiled and Teresa smiled back. Wayne and his food, she thought, amused. "That sounds great."

...

Teresa arrived at the New Year's Eve part a little after 10pm that evening. Marcus had picked her up at her apartment and they were driven to a classy hotel in Sacramento. All the while in the car Teresa noticed Marcus looking at her admiringly. The party was in full swing around 11.30pm and Teresa had finally begun to relax a little. She had managed to make small talk with a few of the guests, most of them either close friends of Marcus or his colleagues. She didn't really have much in common with a lot of them but at least they didn't completely shun her when she revealed to them that she was a cop. Marcus found her sitting by herself at the bar and came over to her with another man in tow. Teresa sighed inwardly, she was beginning to wonder how long she could keep up the inane chatter.

"Teresa," Marcus said brightly as he walked up to her, "I want to introduce another business associate of mine."

Great. She thought but put on her best fake smile.

"This is Patrick," he began, "he's a senior partner. Patrick, this is my girlfriend Teresa."

"Ah, so this is the lovely woman you've been talking about." He held his hand out to her and she shook it politely. "Pleasure to finally meet you Teresa." He smiled a dazzling smile at her and she couldn't help but smile back.

"Nice to meet you Patrick," she said. She looked at the man and immediately noticed that although he looked like a million dollars in the Armani suit he was wearing, there was something about his demeanour that seemed out of place amongst the rest of the somewhat dull crowd. "So, Marcus has been talking about me has he? What has he been saying?" She eyed her boyfriend teasingly.

"Oh nothing bad, I assure you. On the contrary he…"

"Okay Patrick, let's not go giving everything away." Marcus told him and he turned his attention back to Teresa who was now smiling broadly.

"Oh come on Marcus," she coaxed.

Marcus was about to say something when he was interrupted by a female voice. "Marcus," she greeted him with two kisses on each cheek. "There you are, we've been looking all over for you."

"Lilly, Peyton, glad you could come. I wasn't sure you were going to make it. Mother said…"

"Mother says a lot of things, you know how she like to make mountains out of molehills." The elder woman, Lilly said.

"Teresa, these are my sisters, Lilly and Peyton." Marcus introduced, then looked over the shoulder of the younger woman, Peyton, at a man who was gesturing for him to go over to him. "Forgive me, but duty calls." Marcus said to the four of them and then walked towards his colleague.

"Nice to meet you Lilly and Peyton. I've been looking forward to meeting some of Marcus' family." She lied.

"It's Lillian, dear." The elder woman corrected, "Only my friends call me Lilly."

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds and Teresa felt her cheeks begin to flush.

"Can I get you ladies a drink?" Patrick asked, noticing the uncomfortable mood.

"Patrick Jane!" Peyton exclaimed. "How long has it been? A year?"

"Two," he corrected, "how are you Peyton?"

"All the better for seeing you again darling, shall we dance? For old time's sake?"

Patrick gave Teresa a questioning look, not sure if it was a good idea to leave her alone with Lilly, but before Teresa could respond, Peyton was dragging him by the hand onto the dance floor.

Once the two of them had left, Lilly gave Teresa a pointed look. "So, you must be the girl Marcus is seeing now. Teresa, is it?"

"Yes, that's right." Teresa said, her discomfort growing.

The elder woman looked her over once, as if appraising her worth and all Teresa wanted to do was run away and hide. "Hmm, well I must say at least you clean up better than his last one. What is it you do exactly?"

Teresa cleared her throat. "I'm the special agent in charge of the major crimes unit at the CBI."

Lillian stared at her blankly.

"The California Bureau of Investigation." She clarified.

"A policewoman?" She asked, though Teresa didn't know whether she was addressing her or herself.

"Yes." Teresa confirmed and Lillian laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh come on dear, you're making a joke aren't you." She said, "Marcus will never take up with a cop!"

"Well, he has." Teresa told her, "Here I am."

Lillian studied her attire and then looked at her face in understanding. "Oh, I see."

Another awkward silence ensued until Lillian took two glasses of champagne from a tray that a passing waiter was carrying. "You must try the champagne, it's a fine vintage." She offered Teresa a glass, which she took.

"Thank you." Teresa said, trying her best to remain polite.

"So how did the two of you meet?"

"In one of his restaurants." Teresa replied, sipping at her drink.

Another laugh was elicited from Lillian. "They don't do donuts there dear," Lillian said and Teresa found herself scowling now. "I'm sorry dear, I couldn't resist, you are so easy to tease. It's just that you don't seem his type. No offence, but he usually has more, refined tastes."

The anger inside her had begun to boil and she couldn't hold her tongue any longer, "Well I guess you don't know him that well, because he seems to like me just fine."

"He's a man, they are known for their lapses in good judgement."

"That's a pretty harsh thing to say, are you always this condescending?" She asked, her face growing hotter.

Lillian gave her a look of complete disdain and Teresa felt that she was obviously not someone who was used to being spoken to in such a manner. "Look here Teresa," she leaned closer to her and her voice had grown colder. "If you know what's good for you, you'll break up with him before he humiliates you by finding someone in his league.

"Marcus.." Teresa was interrupted by a passing man who jostled her, trying to get passed her in the crowd. "Marcus is better than that and I…ahh!" She stopped speaking as she felt something cold and wet soak through the top of her dress. She looked down at the soaked patch near her left breast and then back up at Lillian.

"Oh no! I'm sorry, there's such a crowd here tonight." She made a clicking sound with her tongue. "And champagne is going to leave a stain I'm afraid. Would you like me to get you a napkin?"

She frowned, "No thanks, I'll get one myself." Then she turned her back on Lillian and walked off to the bathroom.

About ten minutes later Teresa was sitting by herself again in a darkened corner of the room when Marcus walked up to her once more. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Got champagne on my dress and I don't have anything to cover it with." She told him, indicating the spill.

Marcus took his jacket off and put it around her. "There you go, no one will even notice now." He smiled. "Come on, it's almost midnight. Let's have one more dance for the year." He held out his hand and Teresa hesitantly took it. She had had a crappy evening and she just wanted to go home, but because it was almost New Year she relented. Maybe things will be different next year? She thought to herself as he led her onto the dance floor and they started to sway to a slow romantic ballad.

After about a minute in his arms she felt herself relax once more. "I don't think Lillian likes me very much?" She told him.

"What makes you say that."

"She as much as told me so." She said.

Marcus laughed quietly. "I'm sure you misunderstood. Lilly is like that with all my girlfriends at first. She's kind of protective of her little brother. She'll like you once she gets to know you."

Teresa was skeptical. "I don't know Marcus, I don't think your family approves of me. They think you're slumming it or something."

He pulled back from her then as the song came to an end and the countdown to midnight had begun.

Twenty nine, twenty eight, twenty seven… the people chanted.

"I sincerely hope you're wrong Teresa," he gently held her chin with his fingers and looked into her eyes.

Twenty, nineteen, eighteen…

"Cos, I intend to see a lot more of you. I think that we're really good together and you know when something's right."

Twelve, eleven..

Marcus took a deep breath, "I guess what I'm trying to say is…"

Five, four, three..

"Will you marry me, Teresa?"

Two, one. Happy New Year! The crowd chanted and then cheered.

And then the world finally collapsed around Teresa Lisbon.