CHAPTER 17

Calleigh walked out to Ryan's car to retrieve his spare clothes. Opening the trunk, she placed a duffel bag of her own clothes to use at Ryan's for the night over. While she was outside, Ryan finished his reservation with Lombardi's and made another call. The voice on the other line was full of sleep. "Delko." "Eric? It's Ryan. Did I wake you?" "Yeah, man. I didn't get home until 4am." Eric looked at the time and let out a small groan. "Oh, I'm sorry to bother you this early." Ryan answered as he looked around the corner to see if Calleigh was back inside. "It's ok." Eric wiped the sleep from his eyes. "What do you want?" "Um, you know that dance hall your friend Jerry works at?" Ryan kept his eyes on the door. "Yeah, what about it?" Eric replied. "Can I get the address from you?" Ryan reached for a pad of paper to write it down. He quickly wrote the address down, hoping that Calleigh wouldn't be walking through the door anytime soon. "Thanks, Eric. See you later." "You want to tell me what this is all about, Ryan?" Eric was now curious at why Ryan wanted the address. "Sorry, I don't have the time to tell you right now. I'll tell you on Monday. Thanks again." "Sure. Anytime." Eric hung up and switched his ringtone to 'vibrate' before throwing the phone onto the table and going back to sleep. Ryan hung up and ripped the address off of the pad and stuck it in his wallet as Calleigh walked in. "Here are your clothes." Calleigh set the clothes on the table in front of Ryan and handed him his keys. "I already put my clothes in the trunk for tonight." Ryan reached around Calleigh's waist with his arm and pulled her close to him. "Make sure you bring an evening dress with you tonight." Ryan whispered in her ear before bending down to kiss her. "I already have one hanging in the back of your car." Calleigh answered before she placed her lips against his. "We better get going." The two kissed and left her apartment to head to work.

As they stopped at a light, Ryan looked over at Calleigh. She was dressed in all white, with her hair tied back into a ponytail. "My angel." He thought to himself. He reached over and took her hand into his. His touch turned her attention away from the side window. She looked at him, her eyes filled with love. Her face lit up into a huge smile that seemed to be a secret smile that was just for him and no one else. He smiled himself and leaned over to kiss her. Their kiss was interrupted by the sound of a car horn honking behind them. Ryan quickly realized that he was now blocking the traffic on a green light. "Oops." Ryan mumbled as he shifted back into his seat and drove off. Calleigh let out a little chuckle. Ryan sighed, and then spoke. "I can't believe that we have to go into work." Calleigh turned her head to face him. "It won't be too bad, Ryan. H. said that it would be only a couple of hours." "Oh, yeah. H." Ryan replied as he looked forward, putting a tighter grip on the steering wheel. Calleigh noticed his body language. "What about H?" "It always seems like that he's busting my chops over something, then playing it off because he wasn't serious in the first place." Ryan said in response to Calleigh's question, while he still looked forward. Calleigh placed her hand on Ryan's leg. "Ryan, he's always like that to the youngest member of the team. Horatio likes you very much. He wouldn't joke with you if he didn't." "But Cal, I'm getting tired of walking on eggshells around him because I can't tell when he's joking." Ryan glanced over at Calleigh. She removed her hand from Ryan's lap and placed it on the side of his head, running her fingers through his hair. "Don't worry about it." Ryan let out a little smile. He looked over at Calleigh. "By the way...when you were talking to him this morning, what were you thanking him about? I seriously doubt you were thanking him for making us come in on a Saturday." Calleigh broke into a grin. "Well...he asked if I was ok and if you were treating me well. Then he said that he was happy for me and wished nothing but the best for the two of us." "He did, huh?" Said Ryan, as he started to blush. Calleigh looked at him closer. "Are you blushing?" "No!" Ryan half-shouted, now feeling a little embarrassed. Calleigh could not help but tease Ryan. "Yes you are! Looks like you're getting a sunburn." Ryan playfully pretended to swat Calleigh away like an annoying bug. "Stop it." She laughed.

Ryan pulled into the parking lot at work. They both got out and went inside. Horatio was waiting for them by the front desk. He turned to face Calleigh. "Calleigh, you are needed in Conference Room 1A. Ryan-come with me." Ryan shot Calleigh a puzzled look. Calleigh shrugged her shoulders and left for the conference room. Ryan and Horatio walked away in the other direction. The two of them went up to Horatio's office. "Have a seat, Ryan." Horatio gestured at an empty chair as he went around his desk. Ryan sat down. "Um, H...shouldn't I be waiting downstairs for the deposition?" "The agent who you'll be talking to doesn't need you for another 30 minutes," answered Horatio. "I thought that we could have a little talk first about you and Calleigh." "No respect Horatio, but I think that it's none of your business." Ryan folded his arms across his chest; anticipating what Horatio was going to say in response. Horatio leaned forward in his chair. "Ryan-when two of my employees get involved in an inter-office relationship, it is my business. I have to look out for what's best for the team. I don't need any conflicts should relations between the two of you go south." "I don't think that's going to happen." Ryan tried hard to stay calm, but he felt himself getting angrier by the minute. He felt that the conversation would turn into a shouting match if he didn't get up and leave the room. He started to get up. "Sit down, Wolfe." The tone in Horatio's voice convinced Ryan otherwise and he lowered himself back down into his seat. Horatio crossed his fingers and looked down at his desk. "What I have to say is between you and me. Calleigh is a close friend of mine. She in fact, thinks of me as a father figure, which leads her to tell me about her problems and deepest fears. None of them that I'm going to share with you." Ryan sat there quietly as Horatio stood up. He walked over and sat down in the chair next to Ryan. He continued to speak. "I don't know how much she has told you about her past relationships and it's none of my business to tell you myself, but she has been hurt. And I don't like seeing Calleigh hurt." Ryan shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Horatio...I would never do anything to upset or hurt Calleigh. You should know that by now. She means too much to me. I'm thankful to have someone like her in my life." Horatio let a small smile form on his lips. "That's all I needed to hear, Ryan. If Calleigh thinks the world of you, then so do I. You've already done more than enough to prove yourself around here. I may not say it or act it at times, but I've always appreciated what you've done for the team." "Thanks." Ryan mumbled as he looked down at the floor, still uncomfortable to be in the room talking with Horatio. Inside, he was somewhat happy that H. gave him a compliment, but his nerves were getting the better of him. The phone on Horatio's desk started ringing. Horatio went back over to his desk and answered it. "Caine. Yes, he's still here. I'll send him right down. Thank you." Horatio looked at Ryan. "They're ready for you downstairs in Conference Room 1B."

Ryan left Horatio's office and headed back downstairs. As he made his way to the conference room, he passed the room Calleigh was in. He looked through the window. Calleigh was sitting at the table, looking at the agent who was recording her deposition. As she was talking, she slightly turned her head and looked toward the window that Ryan was at. Making sure that the agent wouldn't see her expression, she winked at Ryan. He quickly smiled and gave a brief wave before continuing down the hall. Entering the room, he was instructed by his agent to sit down at the table. For the next hour, Ryan spoke about the case at hand, yet felt somewhat distracted due to thinking about Calleigh. He finished his deposition and went back out to the front desk. Not seeing Calleigh anywhere, he walked over to Ballistics to see if she was waiting for him there. Not finding her there either, he went back up to the receptionist. "Excuse me," he asked the woman behind the desk. "Do you know where Officer Duquesne is?" "She's upstairs with Lt. Caine." She answered. "Oh, that's just great." Ryan thought to himself. As he approached the stairs, he wondered what Calleigh and Horatio could be talking about. Who was he kidding, he thought to himself. Chances are they were talking about him. When he reached Horatio's office, the door was closed. Ryan thought for a second about turning around and just wait for Calleigh back downstairs. Then he heard laughter coming from inside the room. Calleigh's laughter. "The hell with it." Ryan muttered. He knocked on the door.

to be continued…