I watch from outside the office as, inside, Faith follows Jelly around his desk, trying to convince him to let her bring James in for questioning. He doesn't seem to be listening to her, busying himself with other tasks as she speaks. She however is oblivious to his lack of interest and persists in showing the files and notes we took from speaking with Kaci. After what seems like a long while, he turns to her and simply nods, as if all her tactics of persuasion had gone to waste, because he was going to agree to take James in anyway.

She looks rather confused, glancing out at me and then back at Jelly. Eventually she too nods and backs out of the office, reluctant to take her eyes away from him in case he's trying to play some sort of practical joke on her. She exits quietly, standing in the doorway, biting down on her lip.

I approach her, hands on my hips. "So?" I ask. As if I need to.

"Yeah…um…he agreed." She's still frowning though.

"So what's wrong?" I ask.

"Nothing I guess…it's just Jelly usually requires a lot more than just another kids word before he starts bringing people in…" she drags off, squinting at the floor.

"Maybe he trusts you and your judgement," I suggest. She snorts, letting out a chuckle.

"Maybe," she echoes, her eyebrows arched.

"So we gonna bring him in tonight?" I ask. She looks startled by my suggestion and her jaw hangs open as she searches for a reply.

"I uh…" she stutters, "Um, it's kinda late don't ya think?"

I glance down at my watch and frown when I realise it's only seven thirty.

"Come on Yokas, we've worked a lot later than this before," I chuckle. She shifts on the balls of her feet, glancing nervously to the side.

"Yeah, but you know it's late to be callin' in a suspect…" she drags off staring at the floor. It's then it hits me. She doesn't want to stay here any longer. She wants to leave. Immediately I think it's my fault. She wants rid of me. She can't stand to be around me any longer. I can't say I'm surprised. Today was exactly all fun and candy.

"You got somewhere you need to be Yokas?" I ask, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. She shrugs and then shakes her head.

"No…not really…just thought we could go home early. Rest up for tomorrow. It'll be a long day." She's lying straight through her teeth and she knows I know it.

"I suppose I could go for a swim, work off some of the extra tension," I say, too tired to find out the truth. And plus I actually want to go swimming. The cold water might do me some good…

She scowls, rolling her eyes. "You know you can't go on your own. What if you were to get a cramp?"

"Stop worryin' about me Mommy," I tease, "I'll be fine."

Before she can respond someone calls her name, and for some reason she closes her eyes, refusing to turn around. A middle-aged guy sprints up the steps to where we stand. He's of reasonable build, a bit taller than me, with fading hair. She turns to him and smiles.

"Hey John," she says. John? John who?

"Hey, just checkin' we're still on for tonight?" he says, panting a little. She doesn't reply, just turns to me and then looks back at him.

"Hi," he says, nodding in my direction. I return the acknowledgment, with my own 'manly' head nod.

"Oh, ah, Bosco, this is John Miller, John this is Maurice Boscorelli," she introduces us. We shake hands and I evaluate him from a distance. For some reason I consider this guy a threat and put up my defensive. No smiles for him, no eye contact for her.

"Bosco, of course," he says looking down at her, "I've heard a lot about you."

"Weird…I haven't heard anything about you," I reply, faking a smile. I'm not sure how either of them takes it. He looks mildly offended, while she just looks plain angry.

"You've gotta excuse Bosco. He's like a bear with a sore head when he doesn't get to have dinner," she explains. Both laugh and I stare at him. To be honest I hadn't even realised I'd missed dinner. Time seemed to go pretty fast today.

"So I'll pick you up at nine?" he asks her. She nods, grinning. "Ok, see you later then. It was nice meeting you Bosco."

Again I feign another quick smile as he backs away from her, smiling like the frickin' cat whose got the cream. She watches him go, maintaining eye contact the entire time. She must forget I'm still here because she waits until he's out the doors before slowly turning back to me, swooning like a sixteen year old.

She meets my gaze and her brow furrows. "Couldn't you have made more of an effort there? Did you have to be yourself?" she snaps. I stand back, shocked by her accusation that I didn't try. I was trying. So hard it was killing me.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry I'm not good enough to meet your detective boyfriend!" I chuckle, incredulously. She shakes her head.

"You know that's not what that was about."

"Isn't it? Why didn't you tell me about your date with him? Why'd you lie about goin' home early?"

"Because…I thought…after everything…" she stammers, averting her gaze to the wall behind me.

"Bullshit Faith. You thought I wasn't good enough to meet him. You thought I'd embarrass you by sayin' or doin' somethin' stupid! Well news flash little-miss-I-love myself! I couldn't care less if you were dating the devil himself. So you don't have to worry about me meetin' the guys you see. 'Cause I won't be meetin' anymore of them."

And with that lovely parting goodbye, I'm storming out the doors, not giving her much time to catch her breath, let alone respond. I let out a loud groan as I escape into the night air, running my fingers through my hair, pulling at the roots. She is the only woman in the world who has this effect on me. And momentarily I wonder why.

I'm so angry with her I can't see straight. I want to shake her, I want to hurt her, I want to scream at her.

Suddenly I see John by, what I presume is his car, struggling with the keys and files. I see an opportunity to cause trouble and I take it.

"Hey Miller! You need some help man?" I ask, trotting towards him. He looks confused by my offer, and I don't give him time to refuse my help as I take the files out of his grasp.

"Uh, thanks," he says, obviously baffled. He unlocks the car and I throw the files into the passenger seat. "I got the feelin' you didn't like me very much in the house."

I look at him and shrug.

"Were you just being protective of Faith?" he asks. I grin inwardly, the little devil on my shoulder out talking my angel.

"Well…um…to be honest John I was shocked to see her going out again you know…after all the rest of them…"

He looks perplexed and I stop. "I shouldn't be telling you this…maybe she's changed…"

"Why? What's up with the last men she dated?"

Bingo.

"Nothin'. It's just…. well after Fred and her split up she kinda went a bit off the rails. She's dated nearly every single man in the precinct including the fire-fighters…it's like she's a woman on a mission…makin' up for lost time…"

I trail off, glancing up to see if it's working. He's now staring into space listening to my elaborate stories.

"Well in the end up she was made see a sex therapist or somethin' for her addiction…I'm sure she's fine now though."

"I didn't hear any of this from the guys at the house," he states, doubting me. I try my best to look offended.

"You wouldn't would ya? We've all been told not to talk about the…incident…ever again. After she tried it on with Lieu…"

"Swersky? She tried it on with him?" he asks, disbelieving.

"Yeah…it was awful. It was like some sorta post divorce thing. Poor Faith…"

"But she seems really normal. In fact it took me ages to persuade her to go out with me," he says, narrowing his eyes.

"Of course it did. She's afraid to be de-railed now she's doin' so well…I'm sorry, I shouldn't be tellin' ya all this."

"No it's ok man. Did she…uh…did you and her…." He looks up awkwardly and I fake innocence.

"Did we?"

"You know…sleep together?"

I stifle a laugh. This is too good even for me. And it's totally lost on me how a man as intelligent as Miller would buy into this so easily. Especially after meeting good old level headed Faith.

"No. Not for lack of tryin' on her part though. As soon I was out of that coma she was like a dog in heat… all over me in that hospital bed…lets just say she'd make an interesting nurse, with her own special way of getting ya better if you know what I mean."

He looks like he's about to choke on something and it's taking all my willpower not to laugh. Suddenly a noise from the other side of the street catches his attention and we both look over. Faith stands on the sidewalk and upon noting John's presence puts on her best butter-wouldn't-melt smile and waves sweetly. He can barely respond sticking his hand up in some sort of lame gesture. I press my lips together suppressing the smile that's threatening to form.

She however is none the wiser and climbs into a waiting cab. He turns back to me as if still assessing my claims. I merely shrug.

"She seems to like you best man."

He's literally speechless, mumbling a goodbye as he too disappears into his car, pulling away sharply from the sidewalk.

I grin rubbing my hands together. Satisfied by my own evil doings I head off to the pool to let off any remaining steam.