She walked back out to the car and got inside, buckling herself in and starting the engine before putting the coffee in the cup holder. She laid her phone down on the front seat for a moment and then dialed as she was about to put the car into drive.
"Goren."
"It's me."
"So where are you headed?"
She resisted the urge to look over at him like she would if he were in the car.
"Well our friend Bambi was pretty helpful. She said she overheard our guys say that they were going to meet up at the party."
"Party, hmm? I wonder who's having the party?"
"My money's on Jun-Thai. But we can keep tabs on both of them and see who goes where. I'll head over to Jun-Thai's office and see if I can find out any information about this party."
"Ok. I'm still following John Doe here. We're headed back into the city."
"I'll call you as soon as I turn up anything."
"Sounds good. Bye."
"Bye."
Alex drove back into the city and made her way to Jun-Thai's headquarters which were situated in the middle of downtown Manhattan. After giving up on finding a nearby parking space she settled on a parking garage a few blocks away. It was just cold enough that she needed to tie up the belt on her leather coat and hasten her stride a bit more than she normally would.
When she got to the building she walked right over to the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor. They knew Jun-Thai had a penchant for penthouses and spectacular views in his personal life and his professional one was no different. When the elevator reached the top Alex wasted no time and went straight to the bathroom. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a small compact and a tube of lipstick and set them down on the counter. Brushing a few stray wisps of hair out of her face she set about putting on the make up. Once she was finished she stood in front of the mirror until a couple of women came in. Upon seeing the door start to open Alex picked up the lipstick in one hand. She smiled at the women as they came in and reapplied her lipstick as one of them moved to stand next to her and fix her own makeup.
"It sucks being here on a Saturday, huh?" Alex commented. The woman nodded at Alex and she continued.
"So how's business today?" she asked as she opened the compact and dusted her nose with another fine coating of powder.
"Busy as always," the woman replied and smiled at Alex in the mirror.
"I hear you. I am looking forward to hitting that party tonight and actually enjoying a few hours of my weekend."
The other woman exited the stall and came over to wash her hands.
"What party?" she asked. Alex looked over at the first woman who thankfully responded to the question.
"Oh Sheila, remember the big party tonight down on 36? I told you about it last week I'm sure of it."
"Right, right. I remember."
"Well I hope you gals have a great day and maybe I'll see you tonight," Alex said as she gathered her things and made her way to the door.
"Bye," the women chorused together.
She walked back to the elevator and swiftly exited the building and walked even quicker back to her car. Once inside she cranked up the heat and called into work, to see if Russ had managed to find anything. Once she received his negative response she called Bobby.
"Goren."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Eames."
"Cute. So how's it going?"
"Okay. I have a couple of updates and I'll give you the bad news first. No luck turning anything up on our mystery guy I'm afraid. Russ said it might take a while, especially if the priors he has are old ones. And that's assuming he has any at all."
"So what's the good news?"
"Good news is there's a party tonight in the ballroom on the 36th floor of Jun-Thai's office building."
"That was fast work, Alex."
"Well I am a professional. So what's new on your end?"
"Well our mystery man has just been running simple errands so far. He may be waiting for his next move at this party."
"I'll sit on the sketch; see if I can't get an ID."
"Ok. If we don't get any breaking news within the next hour, hour and a half, what do you say we stop for lunch?"
"I say I'm already hungry so that's a good plan by me."
"All right. I'll call you unless you hear from Russ."
"Ok. Talk to you soon, bye."
"Bye."
Another hour passed and there was still no word from Russ so Alex arranged to meet Bobby for lunch at an Italian restaurant situated between their two locations. When she pulled up she was not at all surprised to see that Bobby had made it there before her and had already gotten them a table. He stood up when she entered the restaurant and held her chair for her and signaled for the waiter before resuming his seat. He noticed that she seemed oblivious to the appreciative glances she received from some of the male patrons.
"Hi there," she greeted him after the waiter had taken their drink orders.
"Long time no see," he teased.
"It feels like forever I know," she taunted back.
"So how did you get the information on the party so quickly?" he asked.
She briefly recounted her tale and couldn't help the smile that formed when she noticed Goren's impressed gaze. She would have said something but the waiter came back with their drinks so she settled for shaking her head and consulting her menu.
"So what do you think you're going to order?" he asked her a short time later when she raised her eyes from the menu.
"Chicken tetrazzini for me. What about you?"
"That sounds good. I think I'm going to have stromboli."
"Mmm. I debated having that but I have a taste for pasta."
"Well we can always switch halfway through."
Which is exactly what they ended up doing. Alex knew that anyone who witnessed this particular ritual always assumed that she and Bobby were a couple but didn't let it bother her. It's not as if he were feeding her off of his fork or anything ultra couple-like in behavior. They just had similar tastes in food and this way it felt like they got two dishes out of the meal.
As she stood up to leave Alex noticed a man checking her out. His eyes were nowhere near her face so he missed the scowl that darkened her features at his overt display. She twisted to the side and pulled her suit coat back for a moment so her gun was plainly visible, resting her hand on it for a second for good measure. She slowly rotated back to face him and was pleased to note that he appeared to have gotten the message. When Bobby returned from paying the bill he noticed the direction of Alex's gaze and her self-satisfied smirk.
"What did you do?" he asked without preamble. She lifted her eyes to meet his and tried to look innocent.
"Who? Me? Nothing." Bobby bent down and tilted his head to the side so he could assess Alex's features. After barely a second he shook his head and turned away with a slight smirk. Alex grinned and gave him a playful shove in the shoulder to get him moving out the door.
"That was fantastic, Bobby. Thank you."
"Thank you for letting me take you to lunch."
"It is a rare privilege reserved for the truly special people in the world."
He clasped his hands to his heart and bowed to her.
"Well then I consider myself humbled that I have managed to make it onto what is undoubtedly a short list."
"This groveling thing you're doing?" she gestured between them as she spoke. "I like it."
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Disclaimer: With the New Year comes a new disclaimer: Should old acquaintance be forgot I am indeed the author of this piece and of its plot. Yet sadly I cannot claim ownership of the characters within.
Author's Note: Well I can hardly believe that so much time has passed since my last update and yet there is the calendar mocking me about it. So Happy New Year everyone, and I hope you enjoy this installment. I'm moving in the next two weeks so I do not anticipate another update before then but who knows? My New Year's resolution is to try and not go more than a month between updates *fingers crossed*. Thank you's are below and are as heartfelt as can be imagined.
inner-storm—No, I have not stopped writing. Thank you for the encouragement!
Kira6—I'm always glad to read a review like yours! Thank you!
Chloe6—While I will not say that my work is to be compared to a piece of such historical significance as the Bill of Rights I *will* say that your reviews are at least that significant to me, if not more so!
cookie24—And every review from you puts a (giant) smile on my face so thank you for that!
crazy-dreams—Sorry about the lack of action. I almost hate posting parts like this but if I am to move the plot along at all I must. My first response to your review was a big grin too so thanks!
RivErStaR—Man your review was the nicest holiday gift I could have asked for…thanks! I appreciate the time you put into it and the fact that you care enough to do so makes my day. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
BlueAngel8341—Happy Happy Day for me, too! Seeing your review left me grinning, thanks!
Kahliaa—Thank you for not leaving me alone in the laughter. Eames is such fun to write and I'm so glad you enjoy her one-liners. Thanks for your support and encouragement!