A Week Later

Emily looked up from her notes to find Lee standing there in front of her again. He'd stopped in a few times since the Brooks wedding. She could tell something was going on between him and Lacy because he kept his answers about her clipped and short. She wondered if Lacy's job had started to affect their relationship. She imagined it had. Why else would he look like Oscar the Grouch?

"What can I help you with today?" she asked, looking back down at her notes. Nell Hodgins's wedding was coming up fast. She had to make sure everything was perfect to make up for the fact her parents weren't coming.

"I was hoping we could deal with the food piece today," he said.

"I have you scheduled for tomorrow."

"I'm here now," he insisted. Emily sucked her teeth as she bit down her reply. He definitely did not like to play by the rules, and clearly he thought she was a pushover.

"You were the kid all the teachers hated, weren't you?" she asked after a moment. He chuckled.

"I kept them on their toes," he answered.

"Come back tomorrow, and we'll do it then," Emily promised. Instead of leaving, he sat down. She held back her growl of annoyance.

"What are you doing today?" he asked. "Looks like you're just sitting here."

"I'm working on the Hodgins wedding, if you must know," she retorted. He pulled some of the notes and clippings toward himself so he could see them. Emily reached to swat his hand and pull them back. He was unfazed.

"What are you doing for her today?" he asked.

"I am trying to track down a photographer since the one we had in place decided to run off to Antarctica to photograph some penguins for National Geographic," Emily sighed. "I don't suppose you're secretly a photographer too?"

"Unfortunately not," he answered. "Sorry."

"Ugh, it's fine. I'll figure it out. I'm going to go see Harold Rowan. I'm hoping he will be available," she said, getting up and putting on her coat.

"Can I come?" Lee asked. He didn't want to be alone. He and Lacy had gotten over their last fight, but a new one was on the horizon. She was working herself to death, and she didn't seem to notice. When he pointed it out, she bit his head off. He knew he had to keep pressing the issue, but he knew that meant more fighting.

"You seriously want to?" Emily questioned, sounding surprised.

"Sure. Maybe he'll do my wedding too," Lee reasoned.

"All right. Two birds, one stone," Emily said. "Let's go." They walked out together and found Andrea shaking off her umbrella.

"Quite the weather out there," she told them.

"Great," Emily sighed. "I hope a cab comes quickly."

"We can just go in my truck," Lee offered. Andrea raised a brow at the two of them, but she didn't say anything. Emily was pretty sure she was going to go gossip to Jane about it. The two of them seemed to think that Lee was not going to make it down the aisle because he was secretly crazy about her (Alison had a big mouth and told her). It was ridiculous.

"Okay," Emily agreed. They hurried outside, and he opened the passenger door for her. She got in and shook her wet hair, clipping her seatbelt on. Lee got in and did the same before starting it up. The wipers squeaked against the glass as they drove. She was pulling her hair back with her left hand while checking her phone to make sure no one was wanting her right now. She didn't get much time to herself.

"What do you know about Miranda Priestly?" Lee asked her out of the blue when they were halfway to their destination.

"Oh, um..." Emily trailed off. What could she say? The woman was the devil? The pay was cheap for the amount of labor? Get Lacy the hell out of there?

"I just feel like this woman is taking advantage of Lacy," Lee went on without waiting for a proper answer. "I've never seen someone with Lacy's job description work such crazy hours."

"It's hard on a relationship," Emily noted.

"Hard? It's impossible! I barely see her. We barely talk, and the worst thing is..." he stopped himself before continuing, as if he had caught himself venting about his fiancee to his wedding planner, which he was indeed doing.

"She's not having an affair," Emily assured him. He looked at her, surprised.

"How did you...?"

"I was Miranda's second assistant for a long time and then her first assistant," Emily told him. "I was run ragged by the time I left. Crazy hours, lack of sleep, barely ate...you name it. Nigel and I decided to just leave and start a wedding business. We originally wanted to do a bridal magazine, but he got into the whole wedding planning thing, and I didn't have the heart to stop him since he'd had his dreams crushed repeatedly by Miranda."

"You worked for this woman?" Lee repeated.

"Yes. Andrea too, actually."

"Wow."

It was quiet for a bit. Emily resisted asking if Lacy had stopped eating, but it seemed he was on a roll with reading her mind.

"I'm worried about Lace. She's stopped eating. She's getting so thin. I feel like she is going to get very sick very soon if this keeps up," he finished as he pulled into the parking lot of the photographer's place. The rain was pouring now, pounding off the roof and the windshield. The wipers couldn't keep up with the amount of water.

"You won't be able to force her to quit," Emily said softly. "It has to be her idea."

"But why?"

"Because the job is intoxicating. It promises all these things that never come, but you keep hanging in there because you're so sure that your time has finally come for a reward for all your hard work. When it doesn't come, you try harder and harder until you're half dead and have lost all your friends and family and no one speaks to you anymore because you neglected them for so long."

"Is that what happened to you?" he asked her.

"Pretty much," she answered. She didn't have friends. She had Nigel. Andrea and Jane were likeable. They sometimes had a drink after work, but she wouldn't call them friends. Not yet. Maybe one day. If she could let herself have friends, or anybody for that matter, get close enough to be vulnerable with.

"I gotta get her out of there," Lee said. "Somehow. Can you tell her all of this? Tell her how bad it is?"

"She won't listen," Emily replied. "I know because I've been in her shoes. I'm sorry, Lee, but it is what it is until she figures it out for herself." He groaned and banged his head against the head rest.

"All right," he conceded. "Thanks anyway."

"You ready to go in now?"

"Sure."

They got out, and Emily ran for the doors. Lee walked casually, not caring that he was getting drenched. The receptionist jumped to her feet when they walked in.

"You're dripping!" she exclaimed.

"Yes well, it is raining outside," Emily pointed out.

"Just...stand over there," the woman said, gesturing. She caught sight of Lee then. "You too!"

"Alright," Lee said, stepping over to the side.

"What are you here for today?" the woman asked, irritated.

"I'm Emily Charlton, a wedding planner. I want to hire Mr. Rowan for a wedding that's happening in five days."

"Five days?! Are you insane?!"

"I know! My original guy bailed, so I'm desperate," Emily said.

"He's not here," the woman told them.

"Hey, Harold," Lee said. Emily turned to see that Lee had poked his head into an office that was slightly down the hall. She almost burst out laughing. Harold gave some sort of response, to which Lee replied with "we've got money." This seemed to get Harold's attention, and he came ambling out.

"You need a photographer?" he asked Emily.

"No, I just hit my head, got amnesia, and suddenly had the desire to come in here for absolutely no reason at all. Of course I need a photographer!" Emily said loudly, making him flinch. She heard Lee swallow a snort. She knew it was unprofessional, but she was a bit grouchy now, especially with the secretary now dabbing at her with Kleenex in an attempt to dry her off. She batted the woman away.

"When?" Harold asked.

"This Saturday."

"No can do."

"Is this your calendar?" Lee asked, pointing to the whiteboard on the wall.

"Get away from there," Harold snapped.

"It doesn't have a single thing on it for Saturday," Lee went on, tapping it with his finger.

"Harold," Emily said. "I need a photographer. You need something to do this Saturday. I think we can make a deal here."

"I do portraits, not weddings," Harold insisted.

"Think of it as you're doing a portrait of a married couple at various locations, one being a church," Emily said. "Come on. Don't let this woman down. Her parents already aren't coming."

"That's harsh," Harold said. "I still say no. Please go now."

Emily was breathing a bit hard. Lee seemed to sense that she was about to blow up, which led him to take her by the elbow and steer her out before she did just that.

"Asshole!" she shouted once they were outside. "Uuuuugggghhhhh!" She didn't care about getting soaked at this point. She wanted to go back in there and rip Harold's face off with her bare hands.

"Come on," Lee said, gently pushing her towards the truck now. Once they were back inside of it, she put her face into her hands.

"I'm screwed," she moaned.

"Hey, now," he said. "You've got some time left."

"Nell is going to be so upset with me. She's already having a hard time with her parents. The baby is about ready to come. I just wanted this day to be nice for her, you know?"

"Why aren't her parents coming?"

"They don't like the groom."

"Ah."

"God, I'm soaked," Emily groaned, dropping her hands on her legs.

"Want to nip home to change first?" Lee offered.

"It's okay. You've got things to do."

"I really don't mind, and the only thing I have to do is sit at home and stew about Lacy, so I'd rather do this."

"Okay."

He drove in silence after she gave him directions to her place. She wondered if it was clean or if she'd been lazy that week and left it a mess with the promise of cleaning it on the weekend. She hoped it was clean.

...

Lacy looked up when a coffee was set down in front of her. She glanced at it before looking at the person standing there. He was smiling.

"Hi," she said.

"Hey," he said back.

"Is this for me?" she asked, gesturing to the coffee.

"Yea," he answered. "I thought you could use one. I've been watching you. I mean, not in a creepy, stalker way. I've just seen you around the office. You seem very busy, so I thought I'd save you time later and bring you a coffee now." He was rambling slightly, blushing.

"Well, thank you. That's sweet of you," Lacy commented, taking it and giving it a sip.

"You're Lacy, right?"

"Yea, and you are?"

"Hutch," he answered.

"As in Starsky and Hutch?" she asked, laughing a little.

"A little, but I find myself more like Starsky than Hutch," he joked. Lacy laughed again. He seemed very nice. He had dark hair with blue eyes. He was just under six feet and broad, stocky. She could tell he worked out.

"How long have you worked here?" she asked.

"Long enough," he replied.

"Meaning?"

"Two years," he answered.

"And what do you do?"

"Photography," he answered. "I do the shoots mostly."

"That's neat," Lacy said. "Hey! We need a photographer for our wedding!"

"Excuse me?" Hutch asked, raising a brow.

"Not 'our' as in you and me," she corrected. "My fiance and I." His eyes moved to the ruby ring on her finger then. She noticed disappointment in his face now.

"Right," he said. "I should have known. All the pretty girls are taken."

Lacy felt a flush at this, and something swooped in her stomach. It wasn't that she didn't love Lee, she just missed the newness of a relationship sometimes. The flirting, the accidental touching, the sideways glances...all of it.

"Would you be interested? In doing our wedding photos?" she asked.

"I have a fee."

"That's fine."

"You want to discuss the particulars over break?" he suggested.

"Yea, okay. I've got one in about an hour."

"Perfect. I'll wait by the front doors."

Lacy smiled and nodded, and he tapped her desk before walking away. Judith came back and cast a look over her shoulder at Hutch's receding back before looking at Lacy.

"Watch out for him," she warned.

"Oh?"

"He's a womanizer."

"I can tell," Lacy answered, sipping her coffee again. "Did you get the scarves?"

"Did I get the-...please, woman," Judith sighed, holding up the bag. "Look who you're talking to."

"Judith!" Miranda called. Lacy gave a sigh and got up. After all this time, Miranda still couldn't be bothered to call her by her real name. It was getting annoying. She hustled into Miranda's office and braced herself for whatever ridiculous task her boss was going to give her this time.

...

Lee was looking around while Emily got changed. She had given him a towel to dry off with. He could feel the dampness starting to settle into his bones. The liberties of getting old. It sucked.

He spied some photos on the wall and went to investigate. They were of different things. Some had people. Others had animals. He tilted his head. Whoever had taken them had a very good eye. His favorite was of a young girl laughing, her head tilted back and her eyes closed. It was contagious, just looking at it.

"Are you sure you don't want to throw your clothes into the dryer for a bit?" Emily asked, returning. He turned to face her.

"I'm fine," he promised. He raised a finger to point at the photos. "Who took these?"

He watched her cheeks start to get a flush to them before she cleared her throat.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because they're bloody brilliant," he answered. "Go on, then. Who took them? Some famous person I don't know about?"

"I did," she said softly. He stared at her.

"You did," he repeated dumbly.

"Yea."

"Wow," he said, looking at them again. "Em, you have a really good eye for this."

"Thank you," she said. "It was...it was from a different time in my life."

"Please tell me you still take pictures," he said.

"I have to get back to the office," she interrupted. "I have a lot to do today." The way she was looking at him, he knew she was silently begging him to let the topic of photos go. He couldn't do it, however.

"You should take the pictures for the Hodgins wedding," he insisted. "You have the talent."

"No," she said firmly.

"Would you do my wedding photos?" he tried. "Cos after seeing these, I don't want any other crackpot doing them. I want someone who knows what they're doing."

"No," she said again, more sharply this time. Lee surveyed her face. He saw the hurt there in her eyes. He figured that whoever had hurt her was also linked to the time in her life where she took pictures.

"I'll change your mind yet," he dismissed, waving his hand. "You ready?"

"Long time ago," she replied a little sarcastically. He rolled his eyes as she stalked off towards the door ahead of him.

"No cat or anything?" he asked, giving the place one last look before exiting to the hallway.

"Don't need one."

"Don't you get lonely?" he questioned. She yanked the door shut and locked it, giving him a sharp look in return.

"Stop poking into my personal life," she ordered. "I'm your wedding planner, not your friend."

"I think you could be both if you really wanted to," he insisted. "It's not like you're my doctor or therapist. Now that would be unethical."

"I don't want to!" she snapped. "Okay? I'm quite happy with how things are in my life, thank you very much." She was disgruntled now. He could tell. He had brought up something for her that she didn't want to think about. He could see she put on the tough exterior but had an interior that was still bruised from a past event.

He opened the passenger door for her, and she didn't even look at him as she climbed in. He shut it and sighed. He'd pushed too far. He started to drive when he slammed on the brakes, making Emily shriek as she jerked forward.

"What happened?!" she exclaimed. Lee didn't answer as he parked and got out, leaving his door open and the truck running. He was already soaked, so it didn't matter. He rushed and scooped up the sopping wet bundle on the pavement and carried it back to the truck.

"What is that?" Emily asked, recoiling as he moved to set the animal down on the seat between them. In response, the wet pile of calico fur meowed.

"A cat," Lee answered, reaching behind his seat to pull out a hoodie. She watched him start using it to dry off the cat, who was meowing very loudly in protest by this point. It looked very homely and sad.

"What are you going to do with it?" she asked when he stopped. The cat's fur was sticking straight up, and its claws were sunken into the fabric of the seat, tail erect.

"I don't know yet," he answered, checking the cats neck. "No collar."

"Lots of strays around here," she noted.

"Could be your new buddy," he said to her.

"Absolutely not," Emily retorted. The cat gave her a look that said it would rather go back out in the storm than live with her either.

"I guess take her to the animal shelter," Lee said. "You mind if we swing by there first?"

"I guess so. Wait, how do you know it's a she?"

"Calico cats are usually always female," Lee answered, turning the wheel in his hands and checking before pulling out into traffic. "I also noticed she's missing something."

"Right."

The drive was quiet, save for the meowing cat. When they arrived, Lee picked it up and tucked it against him before walking quickly inside. He found the receptionist easily enough and approached her.

"Hey," he said.

"Hello," she said back, smiling. "How can I help?"

"I found this little gal just now," he said, setting the cat on the counter. The cat simply stood and stared, unmoving. "I'm not sure what to do with her. There's no collar or anything."

"We get a lot of strays around here," the woman said, nodding. "Come here, sweetie." She picked up the cat gently. Lee watched her face change as she touched the cat's belly.

"What?" he asked.

"She feels pregnant," the woman said with a small sigh.

"Oh."

"Thanks for bringing her in," the woman told him. She stood with the cat in her arms.

"What's gonna happen to her?" Lee asked, having a bad feeling.

"Well, we can only keep so many for so long. It's unfortunate but..." the woman trailed off.

"You're gonna put her down," he said.

"Not right away, but if no one adopts her or comes for her, then most likely."

Lee stood there looking at this cat and knowing Lacy hated cats with a passion but was unable to live with himself with the knowledge that he'd basically handed her over to a death sentence. The cat was staring at him, making this fact very clear to him and making him feel worse about it.

"She's mine," he blurted out.

"Excuse me?" the woman asked, confused.

"Yea. I made up the whole story about finding her. I just...my fiancee hates her, but I can't give her up knowing she's gonna get killed, so too bad for my fiancee. I'm keeping her."

"Um..."

The cat wriggled out of the woman's grasp at this point, sensing it was about to get rescued, and Lee bent to pick her up when she ran over to him.

"Sorry for the confusion," he said, backing away.

"Sir..."

Lee didn't even wait. He booted the door open and rushed back to his truck. Emily looked at him in surprise upon seeing the cat returning.

"They wouldn't take it?" she asked.

"They're gonna kill her," he said, setting the cat down again. She curled up tight on the seat in the middle, eyes blinking up at him.

"You're keeping it?"

"Her," Lee corrected. "I'm keeping her, and she's having kittens. And yes, I'm aware that I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Okaaaay."

Lee gave a curt nod to signal the end of the conversation as he started the truck again. He felt the cat press a paw into his leg as he drove, and he knew without words that the cat was grateful he'd changed his mind.

He was too.

...

Jane had her fingers against her temples pushing her skin up in wrinkles as she stared at the computer monitor. She felt like she was going crazy.

"Andy?!" she called, not tearing her gaze away from the screen. She heard footsteps shortly after, and Andrea appeared.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Can you tell me the difference between these two?" Jane asked. Andrea moved behind her to look at the screen. A moment went by. Then another.

"Why do I feel like this is a test I'm going to fail?" she asked.

"Right?!" Jane exclaimed, flinging her right hand towards the screen. "They are exactly the same! Exactly!"

"Tina sent you these?" Andrea asked, noticing the sender on the email.

"I don't know which one to eliminate when both are the same," Jane said, frustrated.

"What are the same?" Emily asked, poking her head into the office. Jane noticed she was wearing a different set of clothes. She also caught sight of Lee Hendricks hovering behind Emily and holding a cat. What was going on here?

"These dresses," Jane said. Emily came to look, and to Jane's surprise, so did Lee. While Emily's brow was furrowed as she examined it, Lee gave a slight snort.

"This one has a knot at the side while that one has a bow," he commented, pointing. Jane felt like an idiot. How had she missed that? She watched Emily turn to look at Lee in shock. Even Andrea was impressed.

"Right," Jane said slowly. "Thank you, Mr. Hendricks."

"Call me Lee," he insisted. "I feel old when you call me mister."

"Okay. Well, thank you for the help, Lee," Jane said. She eyed the cat, who was avidly looking around the room now.

"Thank you for the ride," Emily said to him now, rather bluntly. "I will see you tomorrow for your scheduled appointment to go over the catering."

"Okay," Lee said reluctantly. If Jane didn't know any better, she thought Lee wanted to stick around longer. She watched him watch Emily as Emily walked past him and out the door. He looked back at Jane, and a slight bit of color flared on his cheeks before he cleared his throat and walked out as well.

"Did you-?" Jane started.

"Totally saw it," Andrea answered, still staring at the space where Lee had been standing. "I told you!"

"So what do we do?"

"I don't think we can do anything. He's one of our clients. I don't think we can break up the wedding."

"We can if he's marrying the wrong person," Jane insisted. "You said it yourself: he doesn't look happy."

"Yea, but...wait, are you speaking from experience?" Andrea asked, looking at her with a surprised look. Jane blushed a little.

"Well," she said. "All I did was expose the truth. They called it off, but they're engaged again, so it worked out for the best."

"Damn," Andrea commented. "Don't mess with Jane Doyle."

"It was my sister," Jane said defensively. "I didn't want her to live a lie."

"Your sister?!"

"It's a long story," Jane dismissed.

"Whatever you're planning, I don't want to be a part of it," Andrea told her, holding her hands up. Jane just smiled as Andrea turned and walked out. She tapped her pen against her her fingers, thinking.

She also was wondering why the hell he'd been holding a cat.

...

Barney aimed, squeezing his left eye shut before pulling the trigger. The bottle across from him smashed into pieces. He opened his left eye and smiled at his handiwork.

He still had it.

"Do you mind not doing that while we're talking?" Lee asked irritably over the phone. Barney had him on speaker and had set it on the ledge in front of him. The wind was ruffling his hair; birds chirped again once the silence lasted.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is it interrupting the engaging conversation we were having?"

"Silence is part of a conversation."

"How so?"

"It makes the other person bloody well talk," Lee said rationally. Barney gave a loud snort at this and shook his head. Only Christmas would say something like that.

"I've got nothing to say," he replied. "Not much going on around here."

"I see."

"How's the FLOP planner?" Barney asked, reloading his pistol. He reached to grab his cigar from the ash tray and jammed it into his mouth, taking a few puffs.

"She would die if she knew you were still calling it that," Lee said.

"You care about her?"

"No..."

"Sounds like you do."

"I don't."

"Don't lie to me," Barney warned.

"Not every woman I interact with is going to be my wife," Lee shot at him. "Lacy is going to be my wife. That's final."

"For now."

Barney heard Lee growl and mutter things under his breath. He set his cigar back down and aimed again. Fired. Three shots in a row this time. Three more bottles shattered.

"What is it gonna take for you to accept what I'm doing here?" Lee asked after a moment.

"I'm never going to accept it, so you might as well give up trying to make me," Barney answered. He fired a few more rounds, and he decided to call it a day. He missed having contests with Lee to see which was faster: bullets or knives.

"I gotta go," Lee said now. "I have to feed this cat."

"Fi-...cat?" Barney asked, switching words midsentence. "You have a cat?"

"I rescued it, and yes, I know I'm an idiot."

"Because you rescued a cat?"

"I know you're thinking it," Lee reasoned. Barney chuckled. He wasn't entirely wrong. Since when did Lee snuggle with kittens?

"New York is changing you."

"Don't I know it."

They hung up, and Barney exhaled long and loud. He put out his cigar and holstered his pistol, heading back up the hill towards Tool's cabin. He had come there to clear his head, but it wasn't working. He was still worried about Lee. After a moment, he pulled out his phone and dialed.

"Tool," he said after a moment. "It's me."

...

Lacy got home late and tiptoed around. She found Lee sleeping in bed already, and she changed into her pajamas after brushing her teeth and doing her nightly skin routine. She crawled into bed, and Lee's arm instinctively went around her waist. He was still breathing deeply, so she knew he was asleep. She did her best to get comfortable. Her mind was racing, though. There was so much going on at work that it was hard to stop and think about anything else. She knew Lee was working on their wedding with Emily. She felt good about that. Things would progress there. Once her work calmed down, she could invest more time into it too.

Things were falling into place. She was a lucky woman. She knew that.

Why, then, couldn't she stop seeing Hutch every time she closed her eyes? And why couldn't she stop sneezing?