Changes in the Wind
Miscues
"So basically we just wasted an entire day, have absolutely no suspect and practically have to start over from the beginning," Eric half grumbled, half moaned in frustration as he rested his head on the table in the interrogation room.
"Well, I wouldn't call it a complete waste," Tim offered, trying to lighten the mood, although it wasn't an easy proposition since he was feeling the same frustration as his coworker. This day was turning out to be a disaster. They'd examined all the evidence they had on their case and thought, really thought, that the suspect they'd spent the last three hours with was exactly who they wanted in a double homicide. All the loose ends seems to be tying themselves up in a neat little bow, which in itself should've been a big tip off for Tim, since he didn't believe much in life came neatly wrapped in a ribbon. The hours spent in interrogation, plus following up on another lead, checking the evidence again and further questioning of the suspect, led them to a far different conclusion. This new one meant they'd be starting over at square one, hence the wasted day in Eric's eyes and his too, if he were being honest.
"Oh? And why is that?" Eric asked with interest, picking his head up and leaning back in his chair.
"We ruled this guy out as a suspect so we won't have to waste any more time on him. That's something," Tim said in mock seriousness, earning a laugh from his friend.
"You know having Calleigh for a girlfriend has had a positive effect on your personality. Now you're always able to see the bright side and point it out for those of us less fortunate. I'll have to thank her next time I see her," Eric said, still laughing.
"You do that. She'll be happy to hear her hard work on me is paying off," he answered smugly.
"Well, I'm glad your good humor is intact because we may be relying on it when we're stuck here tonight trying to make sense of this disaster of a case. Tonight, of all nights, what luck," Eric said in disgust, shaking his head.
"Why, what's so special about tonight?" Tim asked, his confusion evident in his eyes and furrowed brow.
"You're kidding, right? I mean it's not possible that you don't know what today is, is it? And you, who has a live in girlfriend, who you better hope is in a forgiving mood, that's all I can say," Eric chided with a smirk.
"Well are you going to tell me or keep talking nonsense?" Tim asked with growing frustration as he tried to wrack his brain for clues.
"Today's Valentine's Day, have you heard of it?"
"Oh that," he said dismissively and began jotting down some notes for the pile of paperwork on this case that would soon be growing even larger. "I thought maybe it was some anniversary or something that I was supposed to have remembered and forgot," he replied looking up. "And I actually know when that is, which is kind of a scary thought in itself," Tim said, mainly to himself and quirking a brow questionably, before returning to his note taking.
"So you don't care that today is Valentine's Day? You didn't get Calleigh flowers, chocolate, lingerie? Okay, wait. Don't answer that last one. That, I really don't want to know. Somehow the image of you buying lingerie is just not one I want to have burned into my brain."
"Delko, you about done?" Tim asked with irritation. "Cause we gotta figure out our next move."
"Seriously, not even a card? Come on, you can't be that much of a dumbass that you would forget your girlfriend on Valentine's Day, can you?" Eric asked, unable to mask the combination of humor and disbelief on his face.
"Is this something we really need to be discussing? I never thought about it to be honest with you. It's not like it's her birthday or something important. It's a made up day. It's not a big deal," he answered, unable to stop the tiny doubt beginning to form in the back of his mind. He'd never really gotten the point of Valentine's Day; it seemed unnecessary in his mind. Besides they'd be celebrating her birthday in a couple weeks and that was far more important than Valentine's Day.
"Yeah, but it's a made up holiday that girls happen to be big on. And Calleigh is a girl, even though she has a thing for firearms and has a better shot than most of the guys I know," Eric pointed out in complete seriousness.
"Yes Delko, I am well aware of that fact."
"So are you saying you really have no special plans tonight?"
"Nothing that I'm aware of. I'm sure if Calleigh wanted to do something she would've mentioned it," Tim replied with an exasperated sigh. Eric snorted at his response. "Are you implying that you do have plans tonight?" he continued ignoring Eric's laughter.
"Hell yeah," Eric responded without hesitation. "And so should you. You know you still have a lot to learn about women, or at least about the one you're living with," he chastised.
"Let me guess, that girl your sister set you up with? What was her name, Annabelle or something?" Tim asked, hoping to deflect the attention off him.
"God no," Eric sputtered with a wide-eyed stricken look, causing Tim to laugh at his dramatic reaction. "Never is as soon as I'd like to see her again."
"C'mon, it couldn't have been that bad, it's not like your sister doesn't know you or know the kind of women you favor," Tim remarked, laughing, grateful to be discussing Delko's love life rather than his own.
"That bad is an understatement. One date and she was practically writing her name with mine and having towels monogrammed," Eric complained with flair.
"Now I know you're exaggerating," Tim replied, wondering just what it would take for Eric to settle down with one girl. This time it was his turn to shake his head as he realized the likelihood of that day ever arriving.
"Seriously, that girl was intense." Eric shuddered as if exorcising the memory. "But tonight I have a date with a girl I met a couple weeks ago, someone I really like, someone who's not rushing to pick out invitations. That is, I had a date till our suspect turned out not to be," he said with disappointment.
"Look, we both don't have to stay. You can still go out, I can handle things here," Tim offered.
"Thanks, but I can't do that to you on Valentine's Day, Calleigh will be furious with both of us, but especially you. Then you'll be in a foul mood for days, Calleigh will be back to glaring at me, while pretending she's not pissed, Horatio will know something's up and naturally assume I'm to blame and coming to work will suck. But thanks anyway."
"Funny. You're really very funny," Tim said dryly. "Do you want to go out tonight or not?" he asked, despite a lingering doubt in his mind about whether it was the right thing to do without checking first with Calleigh. But seeing the relief on his buddy's face, when he realized the offer was sincere, made the doubt disappear. This wasn't something Tim minded doing, after all, he knew Delko would do the same for him and had jumped at the opportunity to switch weekends for him, so that he and Calleigh could go away together. It was the right thing to do and Calleigh would understand.
"You sure you don't want to check with her first?" Eric asked, to which Tim shook his head. "Thanks buddy. I owe you. Anytime I can do the same," he responded as he got up and clasped Tim's shoulder at the same time their pagers sounded.
Tim looked down at the screen and groaned, before taking in a deep audible breath. "No problem," he said without looking up. "You better get going if you ever want to get out of here. Looks like Tripp's got a live one for us. Hey," he said turning to face his friend, " have fun tonight. Stay out of trouble."
"Thanks, I intend to, have fun, that is. I don't know about the trouble part," Eric said with a laugh. "And you, make sure you call her. There's still time to stop somewhere and pick her up something nice. She deserves it for putting up with you," he continued as Tim waved him off with his hand. "See ya. Call me if you need to, but please don't." With that he was gone, leaving Tim with two questions: would the next few hours break this case or leave them further in the dark and should he have done something for Valentine's day? And above all, he needed to remember to call Calleigh. He should let her know he'd be late; probably very late the way this day was shaping up.
It was close to midnight and he was whipped when he finally emerged from that small room he felt like he had spent his entire day in. He was ready himself to confess to something, just to get the hell out of there. Fortunately though, they got exactly what and whom they needed this time, saving him from having to go through this again, at least for this particular case. Tomorrow would be more of the same, just different. He shook his head wondering if his own thoughts even made sense any more. Scrubbing his face with his hands, he slumped against the wall as he tried to decide how much paperwork needed to be dealt with now and how much he could safely put off till morning. All he really wanted was to crawl into bed for a few hours. It was getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open, despite all the caffeine he'd consumed in one form or another.
"Shit," he said aloud to no one, as he stood upright and slammed the folder he was carrying against his thigh. Calleigh. He never called Calleigh back and worse, he'd completely forgotten she'd ever called in the first place. Feeling a lot more wide awake now than he did a few minutes ago, he remembered the terse conversation he'd had with her just before he headed back into the interrogation room with likely suspect #2. In a foul mood, he'd done no more than tell her he'd call her back before hanging up. Not only did he never call back, he never thought to let her know he'd be late. He'd become completely consumed with this case, sending everything else to the back burner, including his girlfriend.
"Shit," he said again, clenching his jaw tightly. Grabbing his phone, he started to dial home, before checking his watch and thinking better of that idea. It was late and she was probably already asleep since she had first call out in the morning. Besides, what good would it do to call her now? He'd already blown it. Still staring at the phone in his hand, he wondered if he ought to retrieve his messages, but decided against it. One was from Delko, he saw as he shifted his weight from one foot to the next and with his luck it was probably to remind him to call Calleigh, he thought with a sarcastic chuckle. The other was from Calleigh, who apparently had tried reaching him a second time. He wished now he had taken the calls when they came in, but at the time, he hadn't deemed them important enough to interrupt the interrogation. Heaving a heavy sigh, he decided to file his report and get the hell out of there. She'd be annoyed for sure, but hopefully nothing more than that.
The house was dark, save for a small table lamp in the living room and the light over the stove that he could see coming from the kitchen. As expected, Calleigh was nowhere to be found and was probably asleep, which was a relief, since he didn't want to get into anything with her tonight. He'd just have to explain in the morning that he'd gotten wrapped up in his case and hadn't gotten a chance to call. Quietly, he made his way to the lamp to switch it off. A vase filled with fragrant, pale peach roses next to the lamp caught his attention and made him stop short. They weren't from him; he knew that, causing him to wonder just where they had come from.
Squinting in the dim light, he searched for a card, but saw none, leaving the identity of the sender a mystery. Her father, he wondered? Were these flowers a next day apology for hauling him out of some bar? He hated the fact that Calleigh was stuck constantly cleaning up her father's messes, but it was a sore subject for her and one he didn't push, yet. Gritting his teeth just thinking about it, he wasn't sure what pissed him off more, that she'd had to rescue her father once again, or that she hadn't told him about it, before he remembered that Duke's apology flowers of choice were tulips, always tulips. It was amazing how the roses stirred up a feeling of jealousy in him, one that he hadn't felt in a few months. There was nothing like ending a particularly shitty day with that punched in the gut feeling, he thought sarcastically. But what was he getting bent out of shape for? They were just flowers. Calleigh loved flowers, she probably bought them herself, he considered as he flicked off the lamp, probably because her lousy boyfriend never remembered to anymore.
The realization hit him the moment his eyes swept over the dimly lit kitchen and his nose was assaulted by an array of fragrances. Today had been Valentine's Day and judging from the looks of things here in the kitchen, Calleigh had had every intention of celebrating this 'made-up holiday' with him. Not only did she plan on celebrating, but it also appeared that she had gone to a good bit of trouble. The scent of rosemary was very strong as he waked closer to the stove and he knew that meant one thing, she had made his favorite meal: baked chicken, flavored with rosemary and, he was almost certain, there was homemade macaroni and cheese to go with it. The powerful aroma made his mouth water, reminding him his own meal had been a vending machine tuna sandwich and a lousy one at that.
Walking to the fridge, he opened the door, finding a wrapped plate of food thoughtfully left for him and as he expected, it included homemade macaroni and cheese. For a moment, he thought about picking at it, but decided against it and closed the door at the same time his stomach began rumbling. A chocolate cake on the counter further tested his willpower and he almost gave in after a closer look made his mouth water, but guilt prevented him from partaking in something he didn't feel worthy of.
She had indeed made his favorite meal, right down to the chocolate cake with the dark chocolate frosting, decorated with candy hearts and he could not have felt worse at that moment if he had tried. Except that he could feel worse, and indeed he did, the minute he turned to look at the still set kitchen table. Wandering over, he pulled out the chair and slumped in it with a heavy, remorse filled sigh. A vase containing even more pale peach roses centered the linen cloth covered table, flanked by twin candlesticks, the candles having burned down to small stubs. All this trouble she had gone to, just for him. Roughly he raked his hands through his hair as he berated himself for never thinking to send her flowers today or doing anything at all. How could he have totally ignored the day, no matter how stupid he thought it was? She bought her own flowers, how sad was that? He didn't think it could get worse, but it did as soon as his eyes took in the card and beautifully wrapped gift that lay on the edge of the table.
"Shit," he said softly and heaved another heavy sigh. He had truly blown it and of all people, Delko had been right on the mark when he said Tim didn't know much about women, especially his own girlfriend. For several long moments he just sat and stared at the tableau, wondering what he could do to make up for completely screwing up Valentine's Day, especially since his plans for a romantic weekend no longer existed. At least in a couple weeks his gift for her birthday would be ready, there was at least that to look forward to, not that that would help right now, he thought as he slumped further in his chair and felt the fatigue overtake him. Focused on celebrating their relationship and her upcoming birthday, he'd chosen to overlook Valentine's Day, but perhaps when she saw the birthday gift he'd picked, she'd see he wasn't a complete loser in the romance department. Briefly, he wondered why she hadn't said anything to him, but remembered that the morning had been a bit chaotic with his early call out and the two had scarcely seen each other after that.
Getting up slowly, he wondered, would it be better to get this over with tonight or wait till morning? Hitting the bathroom first, he quickly and quietly got ready for bed and even more quietly, slipped into the warm bed. She was asleep on her side facing him and there was enough light streaming in the window from the moon, that he was able to see her features clearly. As usual, the sight of her took his breath away and he knew in that moment that he loved her more than he thought he'd ever be capable of loving anyone.
In sleep, at least, she didn't look angry and he was grateful for that. Of course, as he well knew, looks could be deceiving. He couldn't resist pushing a fallen lock of hair off her cheek and letting his fingers gently caress the impossibly soft skin of her cheek. Her sleepy eyes fluttered open in response to his touch. Without thinking, he pulled his hand away quickly, as if he had no right to be touching her.
"Tim," she said in a sleepy voice. He waited, but she said no more, instead waited for him to say something. Her expression gave nothing away, except the fact that she had just woken.
"Hey," he said, "sorry I woke you."
"S'okay," she returned softly.
"Calleigh," he began, dropping his gaze, "I'm really sorry about tonight. I should've called you back. I should've let you know how late I was gonna be. I just let the time get away from me," he said, voice trailing.
"It might have been nice to know you weren't going to be here for dinner. You could've mentioned it," she said passively and he wasn't sure if it was because she was half asleep or because she wasn't going to let him know how she really felt. He looked up and met her now more awake gaze, but her expression still gave nothing away.
"Yeah, about the dinner," he started before she interrupted.
"I left you a plate, if you're hungry you can just warm it up or have it tomorrow, if you'd prefer," she said, dropping her eyes and shifting in the bed, keeping a small amount of space between them which was as telling as anything she might or might not say.
"Thank you. It looked and smelled delicious. You made all my favorite things," he said, remembering the container of baby carrots, probably flavored with Maple syrup that he saw in the fridge. "I'll have it tomorrow, I'm really not hungry now, it's kind of late, but thanks for going to the trouble," he said, stalling.
"It's late. We should get some sleep," she said drowsily, from her prone position.
For a moment, he considered taking the out and maybe then they wouldn't have to discuss this at all, especially since she was most likely going to pretend that she wasn't bothered or upset, but that wasn't how he wanted things to work between them. Calleigh had perfected the art of pretense when it came to revealing her feelings and he felt she was probably pretending now. Fueled by growing up in the family that she did, it had become second nature to her, but he wished she didn't have to hide her feelings from him. She turned to face him then, began to lean in as if to offer a perfunctory goodnight kiss, but he placed his hand on her shoulder to stop her, then traced it down her arm, coming to rest by her elbow.
"Wait. Cal, about tonight, I really screwed this up. It was Valentine's Day and I completely ignored it. You went to all this trouble for me," he paused, sighing deeply before continuing, "and I did nothing. I don't know what I can say except, I'm sorry Calleigh, really sorry. I didn't know you were planning anything. Well, I should've known, I mean I look at the calendar, but I guess I just wasn't thinking about the day in relation to us," he stammered, hoping she would know how sincere he was.
"It's fine Tim. It was just dinner. No big deal. Just maybe call next time and I won't wait on you," she said keeping the emotion out of her voice.
"Calleigh don't do this," he pleaded.
"Do what?" she asked sounding perturbed, which was an improvement over expressionless.
"Pretend you're not mad at me. Pretend you're not disappointed, that I didn't disappoint you," he challenged and felt her body stiffen.
"I was disappointed. I made a nice dinner. It's over. It's not that big a deal. Now I'm tired. We're both tired, why don't we just go to sleep? I'm not mad at you, if that's what you're worried about," she returned, keeping any further emotion out of her voice.
"I'm still sorry. You deserved a nicer Valentine's Day, certainly better than the one I gave you, which was nothing," he said, taking in a deep breath, feeling the knot twisting in his stomach, as he considered coming clean with her. "It's not a day I've ever really, you know, made any kind of deal about," he said haltingly, having decided to tell her the truth. "Not that that's an excuse, but honestly there's never been anyone to share it with and it's just not something I was used to thinking about. So I kind of blew it off and you deserved so much more than that," he said, wondering what the hell was wrong with him that he could screw things up so easily and end up hurting the one person he never wanted to hurt.
"Really? Never? Not even when you were a kid? You've never celebrated Valentine's Day with someone special?" she asked with disbelief in her voice. Their eyes met and his relief was palpable when he saw nothing but warmth there.
"Nope. Never. Pretty pathetic, don't you think?" he asked with a self depreciating tone and earning a soft laugh from her.
"Maybe just a little," she answered with a grin.
"I'm sure, though that you have had some memorable Valentine's Days," he hinted as he studied her face. If he weren't somewhat prone to bouts of paranoia, he would've sworn her eyes took on a glazed far-away, wistful look as she perhaps relived a past Valentine's Day memory.
"Yeah, I've had some nice ones," she said with a smile, but volunteered nothing else, leaving him wondering who she celebrated these memorable Valentine's Days with, as that punched in the gut feeling briefly resurfaced. "It's okay Tim. Don't worry about it, really," she implored, seemingly recognizing the stricken look he had tried to keep off his face. "We can have a nice evening tomorrow. It'll be leftovers, but there is a nice bottle of wine to go with them," she offered brightly.
"I love you, Cal. I'm so sorry I disappointed you," he said in an emotionally laden voice, wondering as he usually did on a daily basis, why exactly she put up with him.
"I know. I love you, too," she said, moving closer to him for the first time since he climbed into the bed and wrapping her arms around him. "Now we need to get some sleep."
"Yeah, sleep," he retuned, feeling suddenly exhausted. Pulling her closer, he found her lips and kissed her softly, grateful to feel the heat in her response. She was right, though, it was late and they both had to be up early, so Valentine's Day would have to end with simply a kiss. But at least she was back in his arms. He hadn't completely blown it, that had to count.
TBC