Author's Notes: I sit here at 12:30 in the AM knowing I have Intro to Criminal Justice in the morning and yet I can't help but feel the urge to write something. So I reckon I'll write me a one-shot. As I write this I don't even know what series I'll write it for, let alone the story, so bear with any randomness!
Mr.
Monk and Ms. Teeger
Chapter
One – At the Davenport's
The tiniest hint of a frown pulled at Adrian's lips as he attempted to use the wipe in his hand to diminish the scuff mark on the shiny red ball.
"Mr. Monk," Natalie Teeger's voice was soft yet insistent and demanding as she scolded him quietly as a parent might scold their child in the middle of a busy supermarket.
He questioningly half-turned towards her, his wipe-laden hand still holding the polished orb.
"Stop touching things," she whispered incessantly, "Please."
He swallowed hard and turned begrudgingly from the offending ornament, placing the wipe pointedly in Natalie's offered hand. He shrugged his head to the side and straightened his coat, "Can we leave now?"
"I wish," Natalie sympathized under her breath as she eyed the throngs of visitors in the rooms surrounding them. She turned and glared at the older woman who was chatting animatedly yet graciously with one of the fashionably dressed guests, "Hurry up already!"
Adrian absent-mindedly tapped the devious bauble beside him as it dangled from the towering evergreen in the foyer of the Davenport estate as they waited oh-so-impatiently for Natalie's mother to bother to address them. He wiped his hand jerkily against his suit and stared across the way at a photo of Julie Teeger hanging across the hall. The crooked photo. He cringed and forced himself to look back at a rather impatient Natalie as Mrs. Davenport at last approached the pair.
"Mother," Natalie's greeting was strained, as was her happy expression, as the hostess of this lavish cocktail party approached.
"Natalie," Mrs. Davenport's smile seemed just as fake as the one she'd worn for the guests she'd been conversing with, "I wasn't expecting to see you here," She looked her daughter and Adrian up and down appraisingly, the look of displeasure still showing through her wry grin, "You're not exactly dressed for the occasion, are you?"
Adrian looked down at the usual suit he wore and to Natalie who, though certainly not dressed for the white-tie affair that they were in the midst of, looked definitely presentable by his standards. And that's pretty damn presentable. Her green scarf had a bit of a wrinkle in it, though. If he could just . . .
"Mr. Monk," Natalie snapped at him as he pulled his hand away from her neck as if bitten. She turned back to the elderly woman, "We're not staying. I just came to pick up Julie's present."
"Of course, of course," the woman looked around at the fine tables and dressers as though she'd misplaced the festively wrapped box near her elbow, "Ah, here it is!" she grasped the box and handed it to Natalie, who took it and shoved it under her arm.
"Thank you," she smiled and kissed her mother lightly on the cheek who did the same in tandem, "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Natalie," she patted Natalie's cheek as she wandered towards another grouping of guests.
"Okay, we can go, Mr. Monk . . . Mr. Monk!"
Adrian turned away from the now-straightened frame to look back at his perturbed looking assistant before straightening his jacket uncomfortably and striding back towards her stiffly.
She turned for the door and stepped out into the cold San Francisco air, clutching her coat tighter around her and trying to keep Julie's present in her grip, "Finally. Last thing I want to spend my time doing is hanging out at one of my parents annual holiday cocktail parties. They're unbearable!"
"Yes, it was awful," Adrian commiserated as he attempted to avoid the cracks in the walk in the semi-darkness.
"We were only in there five minutes."
"And they were awful," he responded matter-of-factly as he pulled the car-door open with his foot and climbed in.
Natalie set the box in the back seat of the SUV and clambered in beside him, sighing as she closed the door, "I hate Christmas," she groaned, closing her eyes.
"Why?" Adrian only seemed half-interested as he set all of the volume and air conditioning dials to point upwards.
"Oh, I don't know," she rolled her head up and jammed her key into the ignition, "Loneliness, I guess," she looked over at him a bit before adding quietly, "You know?"
He fidgeted a bit and looked out at the gates as they moved out into the street, "Yes."
Author's Notes: Okay so I lied, it won't be a one-shot:P Gotta have me a Christmas fic of some sort to keep me busy! As you can probably guess a bit, AdrianNatalie fic. This isn't a hostage fic but I do love getting reviews so please leave some! Sorry for the short chapter, just trying to get the ball rolling and what-not.