Garret turned his wrist and stared down at his watch with a sigh. He had promised himself he was going to be out of the office by six o'clock today. He had missed his goal by a long shot. It was nearing nine o'clock and he still had a mountain of paperwork to do. His goal that day had been to blast through it and finally get himself caught up. Instead he had been called out to a homicide scene almost as soon as he got to his office. A high profile attorney and his mistress had been killed the night before and Garret spent most of the morning at the hotel where the bodies had been found. In the afternoon, back in his office, he was interrupted by the phone every time he tried to get any work done. He was tired. He'd been tired for weeks but accepted it as part of his job. He looked down at his watch one more time and decided to call it a night. Starting with his computer he worked through his office, flipping every switch that needed to be flipped for the night. Before he could make it to the door, Jordan popped her head in from around the corner.
"Hey, a few of us are meeting at O'Malley's. Come on out with us," she invited. He moved through the door and shut it behind him with a click. When he walked past her, Jordan hooked her arm through his.
"I don't think so, Jordan," Garret replied finally, "not tonight."
"Oh c'mon," she pushed, "don't be such an old fart." Garret laughed and pushed the elevator button.
"Excuse me?" he asked, not sure if he should take offense to the 'old fart' comment.
"Just one drink," she reasoned, "you're gunna burn yourself out if you keep working as hard as you have been." The elevator dinged open and they stepped inside. Garret quickly pressed the button for the first floor and sighed. He didn't especially want a drink or a crowd tonight, but going home to empty apartment was a much less enticing option.
"One drink," he relented finally as the elevator doors slid open again.
x x x x x
Garret pulled into the parking lot of O'Malley's a few seconds after Jordan. They walked into the pub together and were greeted by Audrey and Nigel who sat hunched together in a booth in the back. After picking up a round of drinks at the bar, Garret made his way to the table where the others sat. His colleagues snatched their drinks before he had a chance to slide into his seat beside Jordan. After a quick pull on his beer, Nigel jumped right back into conversation.
"Why would you want to leave New York for Boston?" he asked as if anyone who made such a move was out of their mind. Audrey smiled politely and explained.
"My sister Casey moved out here a few years ago," she said, "she's got four kids under six and her husband drives a truck so he isn't around much." Jordan nodded and finished Audrey's idea for her.
"So you followed her to Boston to help her out," she said.
"Yeah," Audrey sighed, as if somehow the thought made her tired, "my husband just startedworking nights, so now I'm with Casey and the kids almost every night."
"No kids of your own then?" Nigel asked casually. Garret noticed Audrey's shoulder's slump just a little at the mention of children of her own. She shook her head no. She told them that children had never been high on her list of priorities, but the careful way she chose her words and the slow manner in which she spoke them convinced Garret otherwise. He could sense that there was something more to her explanation and was curious what it might be, but it was neither the time nor the place to push the issue.
"What does your husband do?" he asked instead. Audrey's smile glowed a little brighter at the mention of her husband.
"Rodger?" she asked as if there were another husband to whom Garret could be referring, "he's a police officer here in Boston," she said proudly. Garret stared down into his glass for a moment and felt something twitch in his stomach. He recognized the feeling immediately as jealously and mentally scolded himself for allowing his body to react to an emotion his head knew he shouldn't be feeling about the woman on the other side of the table.
One or two drinks later Jordan and Nigel had pulled just as much history out of Audrey as they were going to get. As he watched them chatting Garret could see that he had made the right choice in hiring Audrey. She was getting along famously with Nigel and Jordan and, given time, she would have the same effect on the rest of the staff. Garret stayed relatively quiet for most of the night, nursing his scotch and interjecting a comment when the topic moved him. He hadn't been lying when he told Jordan he was tired and by the time eleven thirty rolled around, he was more than ready to go home. He stood and slipped into his jacket, offering a ride home to anyone who needed one. When all three of the others turned him down he wished them a good night and drove to his apartment alone.