Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't sue. Still broke. Gimme money if you want:-)
Before you can say, "I like you,"
You've got to know people a while.
Kemo watched Rick with perplexity. Despite being left alone last night to get a good night's sleep, Rick walked around the room like he was half-asleep, and every once in a while he'd wince and rub his lower back. When one of the regulars slapped Rick on the back, Rick winced violently.
Stumbling over to the bar, Rick started reading some of his paperwork.
Finally, Kemo raised the courage to ask, "Is everything ok, Rick?"
"Huh?" Rick looked up. "Oh, yeah. I just fell asleep on my couch last night, that's all."
"That old thing? No wonder you didn't sleep well! Go back and take a nap; I'll let you know if Higgins comes in." Kemo walked around the bar and started to escort Rick downstairs.
"No!" Rick blurted out. Rick knew if Kemo went down there, Julie would still be resting. This would place her in a bad light and confuse and embarrass Kemo. And if Thomas heard about this… Magnum was already furious that his sister had somehow disappeared last night.
At Kemo's confused look, Rick's conscience pricked him. He tried to smile, to assure his employee. "Listen, it's not that, I have an appointment coming in-"
"Right now."
Watch their little tricks, listen to their talk,
See the way they walk and how they smile,
That's a rule that's tried and true
Kemo and Rick turned to see Julie leaning against the end of the bar, arm crossed and her now-wet hair falling loosely down her back in an attempt to air-dry.
Julie stood there, looking surprisingly crisp and fresh for someone who slept in their clothes. She had knotted her shirt at the waist and apparently used Rick's shower to clean up. She smiled warmly at Kemo then looked at Rick with a raised eyebrow. "Trying to escape?" she inquired.
Smiling, Rick offered her an arm. "Not in the least."
As they walked to the table, Rick asked, "Did you steal any of my shampoo?"
"Whatever would give you that idea?"
A rule that you're the one exception to.
When he had woken up, Rick made sure to order a batch of pancakes along with coffee, tea, eggs, bacon, and whatever else he thought might appease Julie's hunger. She did not strike him as a picky eater, but he still requested that the chefs do their best for his guest. He now escorted her to the patio and helped her into her seat.
At their table, a vase held some tuberose blossoms. Julie reached over and picked one out, inhaling the scent deeply. "This is one of my favorite parts of Hawaii," she informed him, cradling the blossom against her cheek.
"Me, too," he admitted. "They're too expensive to put at each of the tables; otherwise, I'd have a bouquet at each one."
"Then why are they at ours?" Julie asked.
"Well, not every guest is as special as you." Rick winked at her.
She giggled and dug in to her food with healthy zest.
"By the way, I called Thomas about half an hour ago," Rick informed her. "He's not exactly thrilled with you at the moment, but he's fine now that he knows where you are."
At Julie's disbelieving look, he started laughing. True, that was an understatement. Magnum had been livid; he had woken up to find Julie gone, gotten anxious when she failed to be in any part of the guest house and frantically woken Higgins. Both men alert now, Magnum sent Higgins and the dogs on a desperate search of the grounds while he called TC, the 5-0, and the coast guard. After about an hour of panic, Rick's phone call came in. Higgins and Magnum both yelled at him on the phone for not calling earlier and demanded to talk to Julie. Rick's explanation that she was still asleep escalated their fury.
Magnum accused Rick of seducing his sister until Rick explained Julie's midnight drive over to the club and the sleeping arrangements. As soon as Magnum heard that she had spent the night in Rick's quarters… Rick's ears still throbbed at the memory.
"So how angry was Tom?" Julie asked with a knowing look.
"Scale of one to ten?" Rick asked. She nodded. "Eleven."
Her laughter caused a few heads to turn, but they only smiled at the young couple who seemed to be enjoying a romantic breakfast together.
Kemo looked up from his place at the bar and grinned. Mr. Rick needed someone to take care of him, the staff believed as a whole, and all of them approved of Julie. She could keep him on his toes.
To see you is to love you,
And I see you everywhere-
In the sunrise, in the moon glow-
Any place I look, you're there.
"So how long are you planning on staying in Hawaii?" Rick asked. When Julie looked surprised, he explained, "After those two goons give up and this whole matter is settled, I didn't think you'd stay around."
"Oh, no! I love Hawaii!" Julie protested. "Besides, my BA is pointless; it hasn't helped me at all. Besides, money isn't the issue."
"What is?" Rick asked.
Julie paused. "Tom won't say it, but he misses me. I can tell."
Rick nodded. "And you miss him."
Her response was a quick doe-in-headlights, but then she nodded. "It's not practical for me to travel and see him all the time. And I can have one of my friends ship me the rest of my stuff."
"Sounds good." Rick was interrupted by one of the boys walking up with the club's financial statement. He frowned when he saw the expenses.
"Problems?" He looked up at Julie's inquiry.
"Lots of boring paperwork that I don't want to deal with," Rick answered.
"Can I see?" When Rick looked at her with surprise, she said, "I used to help Dad with some of his work. I don't think this would be any different." Rick shrugged and handed it over to her.
"Hmm… It looks like you're wasting a lot of money on…" she continued, with Rick explaining or inserting comments to her suggestions. Julie listened to him talk about the club and the adventures he had with Magnum. While talking, she nibbled away at her food until she was stuffed.
Finally, Julie pushed back her plate and smiled winningly at him. "This was incredible, Rick. I can't eat another bite."
"Glad you enjoyed it." He smiled and lifted her hand to kiss it.
She ducked her head shyly at that, but then looked seriously at him. "There's a reason I wanted to meet with you," she said hesitantly.
To see you is to want you
And I see you all the time-
On a sidewalk, in a doorway,
On the lonely stairs I climb.
Rick's heart started pounding, but he nodded and asked casually, "What?"
"How big is Tom's tab here?"
The question threw him for a loop. "How big is… What? Why?"
Julie bit her lip nervously. "Well, I know that Tom can't afford to pay it back; at least, he can't while he's a private investigator. But if he used Dad's money…"
"He'll never take a cent from your dad, and you know it," Rick said sharply.
"I know that." Julie fiddled with her purse. "But I can."
"What?"
"He doesn't have to know about it!" Julie pleaded. "All you have to do is keep putting his bills on a tab and let me know how much it is. I'll pay for it, and Tom will never need to know!"
"And you think this is a good idea?" Rick asked skeptically.
"As long as Thomas doesn't find out, we're fine. Please, Rick?"
He stared at her thoughtfully. She had started to pout a tiny bit, with her heart in her eyes. To emphasize her gravity, she had grabbed one of her hands and held it tightly.
Some day let me show you
How happy and mixed up
You'll find how well I know you
Slowly, Rick answered. "I could do it, but I'm Thomas's friend."
"And as Tom's friend, you can help him from being in debt! Please, Rick?"
Rick looked down for a moment, then looked her in the eye. "If I say yes, you have to agree to something." His countenance was serious, but his eyes sparkled slightly. Julie nodded, not knowing what he was asking. But she knew it couldn't be anything wrong.
"You have to have dinner with me tonight."
'Cause to know you at all
Is to know you by heart
Julie's eyes widened. Rick felt like someone had dumped a handful of ice cubes down his back. "I'm sorry, that was a stupid-"
"Yes."
He froze. "What?"
Looking down at her feet, Julie swallowed and looked up at him, her eyes sparkling. "I said yes."
"Oh." Rick leaned back, stunned. "O…kay."
To see you is to love you
And you're never out of sight
At the entrance to the club, Julie and Rick paused, Julie's toes brushed back and forth. "So I'll see you tonight?" she asked shyly.
"Uh, yeah! Yeah, definitely." Rick cleared his throat, annoyed at how his voice had cracked with eagerness. He hesitantly reached over and took her hand, holding up to his lips. "I'm looking forward to it."
"Formal or casual dress?" Her smile relaxed him and he grinned back.
The Ferrari showed up, and Rick watched with amusement as Julie slid a huge tip into the valet's hand, giving him a flirty smile before she slid in. Rick waved as she drove off, a huge grin on his face.
He turned to see both the valet and maitre de smiling at him.
"Get back to work!" Rick felt his face flush as both turned away, laughter shaking their shoulders.
And I love you, and I'll see you
In the same old dream tonight.
"What?" Magnum roared. Julie rolled her eyes at him as she passed him, going down the stairs to where Higgins stood in shellshock at the kitchen. "You're going on a date with Rick? Why?"
Julie hesitated. "He seems like a nice guy." Well, that much was true.
"A nice guy? Julie, I was in 'Nam with this guy. I've seen him work. He's a player!"
Arching an eyebrow, Julie crossed her arms over her chest. "Kettle?"
Magnum started to argue, but Higgins interrupted him. "She does have a point." Zeus and Apollo barked their affirmation.
After glaring at Higgins and the dogs, Magnum turned back to his sister. "Julie, the guys on the base coined an expression. It's 'pull a Wright.' Want to know why?"
The look in her eyes when I said that almost killed me. But I didn't want to see her get hurt, and I didn't want a reason to kill Rick.
"Tom, why can't you accept that he's not Ja-"
"Julie!" Higgins looked confused; Julie's eyes widened at his tone, and Magnum suddenly realized the tone he had used. "Julz, I…"
She held up a hand. To his alarm, tears were glistening in her eyes.
"I'm going in there," she pointed to the bedroom, "I'm going to shower, and I'm getting ready for my date tonight." She headed to the room, then paused at the doorframe. She refused to look back at him. "And I don't want to talk to you."
The door slammed behind her.
Magnum dropped his head before turning it to see Higgins's look of disapproval. "And when I thought you couldn't use any less tact."
"You asked Thomas's sister on a date? Are you insane?" Rick held the phone away from his ear.
"It's just dinner, I didn't propose matrimony!" he retorted, annoyed.
He grimaced at TC's knowing snort. "Not yet; I know you, Orville. You haven't looked at a girl like that in ever! You've been trailing after her like a puppy since she bat those baby blues at you!"
"They're brown, not blue," Rick corrected in a grumbling tone.
TC's smug voice came over the receiver. "I know."
"Rick has a date?" Hoki let out a shout and pumped a fist in the air. "It's Magnum's sister, isn't it? He has a date with Julie!"
"And get this: they're not eating here; he's making her dinner!" the waitress whispered, giggling. "He's been either writing out business slips or slaving over his stove all day!"
"Don't you two have work to do?"
Both looked up sharply to find Rick, with an annoyed expression on his face, glaring at them. Hoki scampered off to wipe the glasses at his bar, and the waitress ducked into the ladies' room.
Biting back a smile, Rick walked back towards his rooms.
"You tried to grab her in the middle of the day, on a busy beach, with 5-0 only five minutes away?"
Tony held the phone away from his ear, wincing. He finally put it back on his shoulder. "So we made a little mistake, it won't happen aga-"
"It better not! If you two get caught, and she goes to the cops…"
Carlos banged on the phone booth. "C'mon, I'm starving!"
"What did you say?"
"Nothing, Mr. Romo!" Tony glared at his brother, gesturing for his to get lost. "Sir, we will get her this time. I swear it, by the Virgin."
Author's Note: To See You is To Love You, Bing Crosby. Review!