"Smiling, H," Tim Speedle was eyeing Horatio with a look of disbelief. "I haven´t even brought you the good news yet."
Horatio was sitting behind his desk, quite content with life.
"You could make the smile even bigger, Speed, by answering a question for me."
"Okay, H. First the question, or the good news?" Horatio raised his eyebrows. "Right, right. Try me. What d´you want to know?"
"What is ´The Sun´?" he sank back into his chair.
"A little café. Quite cute. Sells the normal stuff, but has it´s own uniqueness. The inkeep makes the ice-cream herself."
"Thanks. Now the good news."
"One of the witnesses, a Mrs..." Speedle took a quick look at the file in his hands. "Sandra Parker..." he looked back at Horatio "...sais that, she remembers seeing a man that fits to the discription of our suspect, was going into one of the backrooms while she was getting her treatment."
"And why is Mrs. Parker telling us this today?" Horatio got up from his seat and came around the corner, leaving the office. Speed quickly followed him.
"Because she had had temporary memory-loss after colliding with a wall when the bomb exploded."
"Alright. Where is she?"
"At home."
"I want to talk to her. Where does she live," he was already going in the direction of the elevator.
"But, it´s all written in here?"
"Anyway. Where does she live, Speed?" Horatio pressed the elevator button.
"Close to the parlor. 10th Huntington St." The elevator doors opened.
"Thank you Speed. You made my day."
Cathrine was just cleaning one of the tables for the next customer as Dana came through the doors of ´The Sun´.
"Hi Cathy!"
"Hi...already finished with school for today," Cathrine came over and hugged her friend.
"Yep. Mrs. Parker is sick or something. Dunno really what´s wrong with her, so we got off early," Dana threw her school-bag into a corner and seated herself at the table Cathrine had just wiped clean.
"Not going home first?" she gave Dana a questioning look.
"No. My friends are coming any minute."
"What can I get you then?"
"An ice chocolate, with extra chocolate."
"Wow! Trying to drown your troubles?"
"No. Not at all. Rather the opposite," a huge grin appeared on Dana´s face.
"Oh. News from Mark?"
Mark was Dana´s new crush. "Mmmmmm...may be."
Cathrine went to ask Carol if she could take some minutes off.
Horatio was on his way back from his talk with Mrs. Parker. He hadn´t learned anything that he hadn´t read in the report that Tim had given him. Sandra Parker had just seen the man go into one of the rooms, and come back out a few minutes later. After around ten or fifteen minutes later, too little time to set up a bomb of that size.
Horatio suddenly realized that he was driving along the street on which he had met this ´Cathrine´ the night before. He remembered that she had told him she not only lived on this street, but worked on it as well. So now he was looking out for a café , as Speed had told him, with the name ´The Sun´.
A few moments later it crossed his vision.
Cathrine and Dana were sitting at a table in the far back of the café, both had ice chocolate in front of them and Dana was immersed in her story about Mark; her hands were moving in all directions as she told Cathrine about thier current situation.
"...And then he said that he wants to meet me at this club tonight, to go dancing. I didn´t think that he´d invite me right out on a real date...I thought it would be for a quick drink or something." Dana looked up at Cathrine with her sparkling, exited eyes.
"Well, that´s better for you then, isn´t it? I haven´t gone out dancing for ages...I haven´t gone out on a date for ages either."
"Oh Cathy...what should I wear! I haven´t got anything appropriate."
"No worries. I bet you´ll find something."
" Will you come over to my place and help me decide? Pleeeease!"
"Sure. If you tell me all aboutyour datetomorrow."
"Of course!"
"All right darlin´. I have to go back to work. And...I thought your friends were about to come any minute?"
"They were supposed to. I don´t know why they aren´t here yet." That moment a bunch of teens spilled through the doors. "When you speak of the devil."
"Right...enjoy the other part of your day as well, otherwise you´ll hear people complain about a friend of their´s that has forgotten about them completely. And do your homework before you go out! Alright!"
"Yeah, yeah..."
"Dana!"
Dana was already on her way over to meet her friends, and just waved a hand at Cathrine. "I will...I will. Promise."
Cathrine just gave a sigh and put her apron back on to begin work. She was on her way to the bar as she realized that someone was waiting there. Emberrassed that no one else had taken care of the new customer, she hurried up behind the bar.
"I´m sorry. What can I bring..." she had looked up and realized who the person in front of her was and stopped apruptly to put the glasses, that were standing around the sink, back in order. "Oh, I see you´ve found out where I work."
"If I wouldn´t have I think I would do pretty bad at my job." Horatio Caine was standing contently before the bar, hand on his hips and looking her strait in the eye. He took off his sun glasses and put them in his breast pocket.
Cathrine gave him a smile, "I guess you´re right there, Mr. Caine."
"Horatio."
"Horatio. So, what can I bring you?"
"I only have a limited time available for lunch, but I think it´s enough for a small cup of coffee."
"A coffee then it is."
Cathrine turned around and went to work on the coffee straight away, while Horatio took a look around the place. ´The Sun´ had a rural feeling to it, quite nice for a café situated in such a big city, it gave the place something special. It was not just like any of the other modern, typical places around Miami. All the furniture was made of mahogany and the tapestry held in pastels and it was also smaller than usual, but that was what gave the café it´s cozyness.
Cathrine wasen´t able to concentrate on making the coffee at all. She was only conscious of Horatio´s precence behind her and so she poured it all over the saucer, ("Shit!"). The coffee had just been enough for one last cup, but she didn´t want to pour the little bit that did land in the cup into another one, so she started to make a fresh pot. She quickly turned around to see if he was watching her, but he was checking out the café instead. ("Ah, Shit!"), she had taken the cinnamon instead of the coffee powder, and therefore had to change the filter and let the wasted one dissapear. Now she prayed that he wasen´t watching her. Finally, after about 3 minutes she came back with his cup of fresh brewed coffee.
"Here you go."
Horatio turned to face her, "Thank you."
"Would you like to pay now, or later."
"Now, if that´s okay."
"Sure," Cathrine took out her large purse, "That makes 2,80."
Horatio gave her 3, "Keep the change."
She put the 3 into the purse, "Thank you for stopping by. Hope you like the coffee."
"Sure I will."
She gave him a little nod as a good bye and left, with shaking knees, to attend to the bunch of teens.
Cathirne hadn´t noticed him leaving, and as she cleaned up his coffe a few minutes later she found that he had left his card behind. ´Why would he do that?´ she thought, but put it in her purse anyway.
The group of teens were about to leave as well, and Dana came over to say good bye and remind Cathrine that she´d promised to come over before Dana would leave for her date.
"...and Cathy, who was the guy up at the bar?"
"Why do you ask."
"Well...who was he?"
"Oh, just someone I met yesterday." Cathrine felt herself becoming red in the face.
"Ahh, that´s why."
"What!"
"He was watching you the entire time."
"Really!" that response had come too fast, and Cathrine turend around qickly so Dana wouldn´t hear her swear at herself for it, and pretended to clean off the table which was already specless.
"So I see there´s interest on the other side as well."
"No there isn´t."
"Sure there is. I saw the way you flirted with him when he gave his order...and you took your time to make his coffee ´speccially good. Freshly brewed."
"Don´t be rediculus, Dana. I don´t even know the guy."
"Just because I´m younger than you are, doesn´t mean I don´t have experience in these things...and I guess I do have quite a bit more experience, since you said you haven´t had a date in a long time and I´m having one tonight. You have any idea where he lives?"
"He left behind his card." Cathrine took it out of her purse again and showed it to Dana, who snapped the card out of her fingers.
"Ha, you see! He´s devinitely interested," she took a good look at it. "Horatio Caine. Crime Scene Investigation. A cop. Exiting...no address, but a phone number. Which is even better. You would look stupid, suddenly appearing at his door. So...you gonna call him?"
"I don´t know."
"Can I call him then? I think he´s cute."
"And way too old for yourslef, Missi! Anyway, you have your own date to go to, so you better get home. When I get to your place and I see you haven´t done your homework, I´m gonna call Mark and tell him your date is off."
"Alright, alright. I´m going. I wasen´t really going to call him anyway, Jealous!"
"Dana!"
"I´m already gone." she took her schoolbag and was out the door within seconds.
