"Uh, sure," Lennie said, following her to her office, closing the door behind him.
"Lennie could you teach me to play pool?" Anita asked.
Lennie didn't know what he was expecting her to say but that sure wasn't it.
"I guess I could," Lennie answered shrugging slightly. "Mind if I ask why you want to learn.
Anita sighed. "I have this girlfriend from college, Bunny Hutchinson-" she began.
"Bunny?" Lennie inquired incredulously.
"Yeah, you know Bunny as in rabbit," Anita explained. When Lennie still looked unconvinced, Anita continued the explanation. "Don't you get it, her last name is Hutchinson, and a Rabbit cage could be called a bunny hutch?"
"Oh I get it, I just didn't think there were very many women alive today who would be OK being called Bunny," Lennie said with a grin and Anita just shrugged.
"Bunny moved to DC about ten years ago, she comes up here occasionally on business or sometimes just to visit. Anyway, when she's here, she almost always has some new sport or activity she tries to get me involved in, and well it's usually not something I've ever tried before, so she whips my butt at it. She called last night and said she'd be up this weekend, she wants to play pool at Chelsea Billiards," Anita told Lennie.
"So I have until the weekend to make you into a pool shark, huh?" Lennie asked rubbing his chin and looking at Anita in an appraising sort of way.
"Think you can manage it?" Anita asked.
"Well, I love a challenge. When can we start?" Lennie asked.
"You're the teacher, you tell me," Anita replied.
"Well, I wasn't planning on doing anything this evening, but I suppose you've got to get home and cook dinner for your husband and son," Lennie speculated.
"It's the twenty-first century, Lennie. I don't have to be a bad-assed cop and a domestic goddess. Just wait a second while I call my kid and tell him he's on his own for dinner," she replied.
Lennie lounged against the wall near Anita's office door as she made her call.
"Stefan, it's Mom. You're on your own for dinner," she told her son, then listened to his protest.
"Look, if you don't want to eat alone, why don't you call up your Dad and see if the two of you can't get together. Maybe you can go to that egg place you've been talking about," Anita suggested. She listened again for a while to something her son said.
"Well, maybe it's time you met her," Anita said.
"Suit yourself. I won't be out too late, I have to work tomorrow," she added.
"Love you too," she said as she hung up.
"Ok let's go, 'teach'," Anita said as she pulled her purse out of her desk drawer and stashed her gun and badge in it.
Lennie was still processing the half of a phone conversation he'd heard.
"Well, come on," she said impatiently.
"Oh yeah, I was just thinking of where to go. There's this pool hall I know that's across the street from a diner, let's grab a bite to eat and I'll start turning you into a pool hustler," Lennie said to cover his distraction.
During dinner Lennie burned with curiosity about the status of Anita's marriage, but he just couldn't bring himself to ask about it.
"You're dying to know why I'd suggested to my son that he call his Dad to get together with him, and who it was I thought he ought to meet, aren't you?" she asked with a smile.
"Yeah, I guess I am. What's going on?" Lennie finally asked.
"Our marriage has been rocky for years. We married young, and then grew up and apart. Don got tired of competing with my job for attention, and then he had a mid-life crisis and decided to trade me in for a newer model," she explained.
"What an idiot!" Lennie declared.
"Oh, and like you were never guilty of something similar?" Anita accused.
"Hey, my wives cheated on me, " Lennie protested, and then added with a self-deprecating laugh, "Well, at least they cheated first," he amended.
"You know, the thing is, when I found out, I really wasn't all that upset. I certainly wasn't jealous. I think, I was relieved. I could divorce him and get on with my life," Anita said as the waitress approached them.
"How about some coffee and dessert? We've got a great chocolate cake," she suggested.
Before Anita could protest Lennie ordered two decafs and one slice of cake. They shared the cake and some gentle laughter before paying the bill.
The pool hall was kitty-cornered from the diner on a busy street, so Lennie took Anita's hand and said, "OK, let's do it," as they made a mad dash across the street.
A handsome, dark-haired man with a mustache, Mediterranean features and a small athletic build greeted Lennie by name as they entered Artemis' Pool Hall.
"Hey Chris, where's your Dad?" Lennie responded.
"Dad's not been feeling very good lately, so I've been watching the hall for him. You and your lady want a table?" Chris asked.
"Uh, yeah," Lennie answered deciding not to correct the younger man's assumption about his relationship to Anita and only then noticing that her hand was still in his.
"Ok, let's get you a stick," Lennie said. Crossing to the rack he took down one for himself and one for Anita, hers a bit shorter than his because of her shorter arms. He frowned for a moment.
"Which is your dominant eye?" Lennie asked.
"My right eye," she answered without hesitation. Lennie looked at her a bit surprised.
"That's got to be annoying when you have to try to qualify," Lennie said.
"Yeah, especially since my firearms instructor at the academy, never bothered to explain about how cross dominance affects aiming, but then again, since he made it clear he thought I'd never do anything but write parking tickets, I'm sure he figured it didn't matter," Anita replied.
"Sexist son of bitch," Lennie commented as he racked the balls and placed the cue ball in a good position.
"Hey, without him I'd have never done so well in hand-to-hand combat. Every time we learned a new attack, I'd imagine using it on Sergeant Snow," Anita said with an evil grin.
"Jim Snow?" Lennie asked as he took Anita's stick from her and chalked the tip, then returned it to her.
"Yeah, I think that was his first name," Anita responded.
"Wonder how that jerk ever ended up teaching at the academy," Lennie remarked. Before Anita could ask him how he knew Sergeant Snow, Lennie had dropped into full professor of billiards mode.
"OK, since your right eyed anyhow, I'm gonna have you play like you were right handed, your aim will be a lot truer that way. Watch me. Use basically the same stance you use at the pistol range. Now see how I place my left hand on the table? That's the bridge; you need your bridge to be very steady so you support the cue well, if you put too much of your weight on your hand, it won't be steady. There are a couple of different ways to place your hand, but for a beginner, I think the open bridge will work best. OK, you grasp the butt of the cue with your right hand, laying the upper part of the shaft on your bridge hand, keep your wrist straight, bring your arm up so you've got a 90-degree angle, then just move the arm at the elbow. Take a few practice swings to make sure it feels right and sight down the cue at the middle of the cue ball," Lennie instructed Anita. "Go ahead try it," he said stepping aside.
Anita did what Lennie told her to, at least she thought she had, but although she made contact with the cue ball pretty well, she didn't have much power behind the shot, so the break wasn't really much of a break. None of the balls were pocketed and the requisite minimum of four balls hadn't made it to the rails.
"Oh, uh, that's OK. I kind of forgot something, and it's kind of hard to teach. Let's see," Lennie scratched his head thinking. "You're going to need to put more of your body behind the shot to generate some speed and power, so I've got to teach you how to shift your weight as you're shooting, without messing up your aim," he said as he re-racked the balls.
"Look go ahead and get ready for the break and I'm going stand behind you and try and help you get the hang of it," Lennie said.
Lennie wrapped his arms around Anita and placed his hands over hers. He stood close enough to her that he could influence the motion of her body with his. This time the break was a very good one with several balls being pocketed.
Anita was thrilled and she turned her head to smile at Lennie. Their lips were bare centimeters apart. They stared into each other's eyes for a second or two or three or four. Finally Lennie broke the tableau by pulling away from her and saying, "Yeah that's it, you're a natural."
They spent the next couple of hours with Lennie helping Anita learn the basics. He found himself helping her out by wrapping his arms around her more times than he probably really needed to, just because it felt so good to him, too good if he were honest with himself, but she didn't seem to mind. Around ten o'clock Lennie said he thought he should give her a lift home.
"No need, I'll just call a cab," she said.
"Yeah right, at this hour of the night, from the city out to the suburbs," Lennie said shaking his head.
"Come on, my car is just back across the street at the diner's parking lot. I'll drive you home," he insisted.
They chatted as they drove, and flirted a little as they made the trip out to the suburb Anita lived in. Lennie walked her up to her front door, and then he stood there like a nervous teenager.
"Uh, Goodnight Anita," he finally managed.
"Yeah, thanks for the lesson," she said.
"Look, you could probably stand a few more lessons before you play Bunny, you want to do it again tomorrow night?" Lennie asked.
"Sure," Anita answered quickly and with a broad smile.
"OK, see you tomorrow at work," Lennie said almost stumbling as he went down the porch.
Later that night, Lennie laid back on his bed with his hands laced behind his head staring at the ceiling, thinking about the evening. He remembered the feel of Anita in his arms, her scent, and the look in her eyes. Her lips had been so close to his, only the slightest movement would have changed his world. He could still feel his heart hammering in his chest; feel the blood pounding in his ears, the heat flushing his cheeks. He wondered if she noticed that several times that evening when he'd held her in his arms to guide her hands on the cue stick, her mere presence so close to him had aroused him. God, he'd felt like an adolescent boy standing there on her porch tonight, and he'd nearly tripped down the stairs when he'd turned to leave. He was being a total fool to even be thinking of her in this way. She was his boss for crying out loud, and she was a good 15 or 16 years younger than him, and to top all that off, she was still married. But she was beautiful and sexy and smart - and man he had to stop thinking about her this way. He reached over to turn out the lights, and then gave his pillow a good hard whack and tried not to think about how it felt to hold her against his body.
Anita paused as she undressed and ran a hand down her arm, she swore she could still feel Lennie's arms pressed against hers, feel his chest against her back, smell his aftershave still lingering on her skin, she remembered the look in his eyes when she'd turned to look at him. His lips had been so close to hers; if she'd only had the courage to close that gap she'd have known the sweetness of his kiss. She wondered if he knew what his closeness did to her. What was it they used to say when she was a girl in high school? 'He made me cream my jeans'. Of course she knew what she did to him; she could feel his arousal, as he pressed close behind her to guide her in a shot. She supposed it might thrill her to know she could still elicit such a response from any man, but she knew it meant more to her coming from this man. She knew she was being a fool. She was his boss and he was a good deal older than her and the survivor of not one failed marriage but two. She'd heard his cynical views on marriage often enough. But there was something about him that was so attractive, so damn charming and sexy. She sighed, turned out the lights, turned her pillow over to find a cooler surface and tried not to dwell on how wonderful it had felt to have him hold her in his arms.
The next day at the 2-7's detective squad the air seemed charged with electricity and several people wondered what was up. Lennie and Ed had caught a high profile homicide and were taking Anita to lunch to discuss the facts of the case. As Lennie passed a piece of the cheese pizza they were having for lunch to Anita his hand touched hers and a jolt went through him. He made up his mind that instant that if he were to continue her pool lessons he was going to have to take someone along as a 'chaperone', otherwise he was going to be tempted to do something unwise.
"Hey Ed, you still interested in getting some pointers on your pool game?" Lennie asked.
Anita's head snapped up immediately. She couldn't believe Lennie was going to ask Ed to join them.
"Yeah man, you offering to give lessons?" Ed asked with a big smile.
"Well, I'm giving the Lieu some lessons and I thought you might join us. That is if you don't mind?" Lennie asked Anita.
"No, why would I mind?" Anita said trying not to let her disappointment show.
"Great, so we're on for after work at Artemis' Pool hall?" Lennie asked.
They all agreed and went back to eating lunch and discussing the case. They worked leads on the case all afternoon and then the three of them headed out for the little diner across from the pool hall. After a quick dinner, Lennie and Ed headed off to the pool hall while Anita made a quick phone call to her son to make sure he was OK with her being out two nights in a row, but like most teenaged boys he could really care less as long as he didn't think his mother was out on a date.
Shortly after Anita Van Buren arrived in the pool hall, Ed Green realized why he was there, his partner Lennie Briscoe was a fool; the man had recognized the growing attraction between himself and the lieutenant and had invited Ed as a buffer. Ed shook his head. Dang, it might be against the regulations, but hell Lennie'd done it before and gotten away with it from what Ed had heard, well at least he'd gotten away with it for a while. The lieu, she was a damn fine looking woman and a really special lady. Ed was sticking with his first appraisal, his partner was a fool. If the woman in question was OK with it Lennie ought to just go for it. Of course if Lennie hurt the Lieu, Ed would be all over him, partner or not. Ed smiled to himself when he realized he'd already assumed his partner and the Lieu getting together was a foregone conclusion.
Lennie set up a game of Eight ball between Ed and Anita and acted as coach to both of them, although Ed noticed that Lennie never wrapped his arms around him to show him the correct way to hold the cue stick, and he never leaned his body against Ed's body to help demonstrate how to transfer his body weight to give more power to a shot. After Ed and Anita had each won a game, Anita excused herself to the lady's room.
When Anita got out of earshot, Ed said in a slightly irritated tone, "Man, why don't you just give it up, admit it?"
"Admit what?" Lennie asked.
"You've got a crush on her," Ed accused him.
"Yeah, right," Lennie said dismissively.
"You've had your arms wrapped 'round her half the evening," Ed said with a knowing grin.
"And don't go trying to use that tired old excuse about just teaching her a shot, you didn't have to wrap yourself all up and around her all those times, you just did it 'cause you could and 'cause you liked how it felt," Ed said jabbing at Lennie with his finger like he was a perp he was charging with a felony.
Lennie grinned because he knew he was busted.
"Ok, so maybe I do. Why the hell did you think I asked you to come along tonight?" Lennie asked.
"Actually, I got no idea. I mean looks to me like I'm in the way here," Ed said.
"Are you kidding?" Lennie said.
"No, I mean, I think you'd make better time if I was out of here," Ed replied.
"I don't want to make better time. You're our chaperone and don't you dare leave us alone," Lennie said.
"I don't think I get this," Ed said.
"Ed, she's my boss. I can't get involved with her. No matter how beautiful or how sexy she is, she's off limits. And God, don't think that doesn't make me want her twice as much," Lennie said with a sigh.
Just then Anita came out of the restroom and began walking towards the guys. She'd made some subtle changes to the clothes and makeup she'd worn to the pool hall and the guys, especially Lennie definitely noticed. The dress she was wearing was a stretchy knit and she'd definitely stretched it a bit in the lady's room. The hem was a bit shorter now and the neckline was a good bit lower, showing off Anita's ample cleavage.
She racked the balls for another game making sure Lennie got a good view while she was leaning over. Then she called him over to her asking for help in setting up the break just right. When he wrapped his arms around her, he could smell that she'd put more perfume on and he felt intoxicated by her scent. The break was a good one but just after it Lennie excused himself.
"Maybe I better go check on him," Ed offered.
Ed found Lennie in the men's room splashing cold water on his face.
"You OK, man?" Ed asked him with a grin that threatened to become a laugh.
"That woman is gonna be the death of me," Lennie said.
"She sure is playing you, Lennie," Ed said with another grin.
Lennie nodded grimly.
"Maybe you ought teach her another kind of lesson," Ed suggested.
"Maybe, maybe I should," Lennie said, suddenly sounding as though he'd changed his mind about department regulations and what was and wasn't a good idea.
With that said, Lennie and Ed rejoined Anita and they played a few more games, the sexual tension between Lennie and Anita continued to simmer. They practiced a few more evenings that week and then finally the end of the week and Bunny both arrived. Anita dropped by Ed and Lennie's desks Friday afternoon.
"Gentlemen, how would you two like to join me and my friend Bunny Hutchinson at Chelsea Billiards this evening?" Anita asked.
Ed Green and Lennie Briscoe turned their most charming smiles on Anita Van Buren and answered in almost perfect synchrony that they would be delighted.
Anita had agreed to meet Bunny at the pool hall at 7 and had told her she was bringing a couple of friends from work. Bunny knew that Anita and Don had recently split up and Bunny was recently divorced herself, so she had made a comment about hoping Anita was bring a couple of good looking members of New York's finest with her. Anita told Bunny she'd have to judge for herself.
"There she is," Anita said loudly, grabbing Lennie's arm to make sure she had his attention before she strode off in Bunny's direction. Lennie grabbed hold of Ed and towed him along in Anita's wake too. The men surmised the attractive 40 something strawberry blonde Anita was making a beeline for had to be Bunny.
"Anita", "Bunny" the two women said, before they did that age-old women's greeting thing that bewildered men folk.
"Bunny Hutchinson, these are Detectives Ed Green and Lennie Briscoe," Anita made the introductions. After the introductions were made, and Bunny surreptitiously gave Anita the thumbs up regarding the men, they tried to decide who should shoot pool with whom.
"Bunny and Lennie? I don't think so, I think you better stick with Anita and I'll stick with Ed, what do you say?" Bunny suggested to Lennie.
"Don't mind if I do," Lennie said in his sexiest voice as he held Anita pinned liked a butterfly with his eyes.
Bunny shot Anita a slightly jealous look.
"Ah, but can he shoot pool?" Bunny asked trying to salvage her pride.
Anita and Ed began to laugh until tears actually came to their eyes.
"What's so funny?" she asked a bit bewildered.
"Just wait and see," Ed Green told her.
"Well, Anita shall we have a little wager?" Bunny asked and rubbed her hands together in anticipation of again beating her college friend.
"Well I don't know," Anita began.
"Look, I've got this great idea, The concierge at my hotel promised he could get me four tickets to one of the really hot Broadway musicals. How about the loser pays for the tickets and dinner, deal?" Bunny asked.
"Deal," Anita said figuring there was no way with Lennie playing for her side that she could lose.
"Great, win or lose we get to see a fabulous Broadway musical and have the companionship of two very handsome men. Oh Anita, how do they look in tuxedos?" Bunny prattled on for awhile Making comments about how difficult it must be to work with such charming, sexy men so close to hand.
Eventually Bunny wound down and Lennie broke for the first game, he of course ran the table. Well, actually that was an understatement he didn't just run the table, he was showing off for Anita's sake. He hit combinations, multiple rail shots, impossible looking masse shots and he made it all look like a cakewalk. In the second game, it was Ed's turn to break, when he missed a shot it was Anita's turn, and she nearly ran out but missed a tough shot, so it was up to Bunny, but it was clear of the four player's she was the weakest, when she missed, Lennie finished up the game. So it was two games to zero.
In the third game it was Anita's turn to break, this was the first time she broke without Lennie's helping her, she did fine and looked like she would run out until Lennie moved to where he was in her line of sight when she was trying to line up a shot. She totally blew it, as she suddenly realized that just beyond the cue ball, object ball and pocket was Lennie's crotch, her shot had no semblance of going where she meant it to and she was very lucky not to scratch.
"Lennie, you're suppose to be on my side, you're not suppose to be distracting me," she said.
"I distracted you?" Lennie said, sounding like he was accusing her of something.
"Hey, you two going to play pool or argue?" Bunny asked.
Lennie whirled around. "Who's up?" he asked.
"You are," Ed answered, and then realized he probably should have kept his mouth shut.
Lennie quickly cleared the table of their balls and the eight ball, making it three games to zero. It was Bunny's turn to rack but she asked to take a break to talk to Anita for a second. The two of them found the corridor that led to the restrooms to have a little talk.
"Anita honey, why don't you take a little break and take your boyfriend somewhere and fix whatever is wrong between the two of you. Then you can come back, and the four of us can have a lot more fun?" Bunny suggested.
"Bunny, he's not my boyfriend and there's nothing wrong between us," Anita explained.
"Oh, honey if he's not your boyfriend, then that's the problem right there," Bunny said.
"Bunny!" Anita scolded.
"What? He's cute and you two really have a kind of chemistry together. Don't fight it. Besides, you told me you and Don are splitting up, right?" Anita nodded. "So why not experiment a little. Good grief girl, you've been getting the same old thing night after night for over twenty years, find out what your missing," Bunny suggested.
"Yeah, and what if I find out what I had was terrific?" Anita said, sounding a bit like a scared girl.
"Well, at least you'll know for sure," Bunny told her. "And look, this guy Lennie, he seems kind of nice. I bet he wouldn't hurt you for anything in the world," she added.
Bunny left Anita to think for a moment. Anita was sure the last thing Bunny said was true. Before she'd made up her mind what to do, Lennie found her. He didn't say anything; he just took her face in his hands and kissed her, gently at first but then as she began to respond to him, the kisses became more passionate and more urgent. He backed her into the wall of the corridor and thrust his left thigh between her legs to open her up to him. He moved his mouth away from hers and began placing small kisses along her jaw and neck. He sucked her earlobe and gently bit her throat marking her as his. She made soft sounds that spurred him on to hold her closer, to touch more of her, even if through layers of clothes.His hand found her breasts and kneaded them through her dress. Finally he found his voice, though it was husky with desire.
"Let's get out of here," he implored her.
"All right, but I've got to say goodnight to Bunny," she insisted.
"OK," Lennie said willing to do whatever she wanted, as long as she would agree to leave with him. Anita could tell Lennie felt embarrassed to see Bunny and Ed, but she knew he'd endure it for her sake.
"Bunny, I think I'm going to have to forfeit the match, my partner and I need to go have a long discussion. Guess the tickets and dinner are going to be on me after all," she said all the while holding on to Lennie's hand..
"OK, I understand about your needing to go, and we'll talk about the tickets later tomorrow," Bunny said. She looked at the couple in front of her and added. "Much later."
After Anita and Lennie had left, Bunny turned to Ed Green and lifted her drink, "here's to the happiest losers I've ever seen."
"Nope," Ed said as he lifted his glass to meet Bunny's,"here's to the winners of a totally different game."