Chapter Three: The New Girl
"You know, I think the storm is starting to die down," I said, shifting Noah out of my lap and onto his pillow. The little boy let out a sigh in his sleep.
"Wait, you can't just leave it like that!" Leala whined. "I want to hear what happens next. What about those people that you worked with? What happened to them?"
I rubbed my temple and took a swig from my water bottle. "They all lived happily ever after," I said sarcastically. Baron and Eva didn't let me off the hook though.
"Oh come on Mom," Eva said with attitude, "You can't just tell me that life was peachy for you up there. I want to hear what you did! Come on; please tell us some more stories. You've got to have some interesting ones."
"Yeah Mom, please?" Baron asked with a puppy dog pout. I rolled my eyes and looked accusingly at Greg—he taught him how to do that.
"Why not, Anna? What have you got to lose?" Greg asked from across the room.
"My voice," I said simply. "Alright, I will tell you some more stories. But Baron, you may not like some of them because they may contain mushy romance stuff," I added with that little disclaimer. Baron made a disgusted face, but didn't pick his game back up.
"And you," I said with a finger pointed at my husband. "have to tell them about what happened the night I met you. Deal?"
Greg nodded. "Deal. Now start the story-telling, Anna."
"Alright, here goes nothing…"
……………………………………………………………………………………………………...
"I don't care what you say Messer, but musicals are amazing," I argued, stuffing my iPod into my locker. It was the end of my first week as a CSI, but already I was bonding with my team members. Even Danny. Apparantly though, he didn't share my love of musicals.
"Come on Price, you don't actually think that any real men can love musicals," he retorted, leaning up against the locker next to mine. I studied him for a moment.Apart from the fact that he had taken the initiative every day that past week to make me the butt of jokes;Danny Messerreally was a nice guy.
"Any real, sane, straight man could fall in love with a musical if you gave him the tracks to Les Miserables or Wicked or Jekyll and Hyde," I said with determination. Danny studied me too for a moment. I believe that he initially mistook me for a soft, innocent, naïve girl fresh out of college. And now? Well, I believe that now he must have known that when it comes to my personal opinion, I could hold out just as long as Lindsay or Stella could in an argument.
"Our vic was obsessed with these musicals, Broadway, that kinda stuff," Danny said thoughtfully, "and you're telling me that a straight guy could totally be into that kinda stuff?"
"Yep," I said closing my locker. I paused at the locker room door and tossed a CD over my shoulder to Danny. "You should give it a try sometime," I said with a wink. Flack had bet me that Danny wouldn't listen to any of the Broadway tracks that I gave him on the CD, but I fully intended to win my ten dollars.
I walked out the door and nearly collided with Lindsay, who looked like she was in the twilight zone. I waved a hand in front of her face.
"Hello? Earth to Lindsay," I said with concern. Lindsay looked up from the pile of folders that she had her nose buried in.
"Oh. Hi Anna," she said, void of enthusiasm. Lately, for some reason, Lindsay had been consumed with her work. And even though I didn't know her all that well, I decided to offer her a break. She shook her head, auburn hair falling into her face.
"No, really, that's nice of you Anna, but I've got so much work to do…" she trailed off. I frowned, and was about to open my mouth when a voice from behind me answered:
"Montana, when someone offers you dinner, it's not polite to decline."
I turned my head around to see Danny—devoid of any CD, to my dismay—looking at Lindsay with sympathy in his eyes. I looked back and forth from the two of them. Lindsay opened her mouth to protest, and Danny silenced her yet again.
"We three are going out, and there's nothin' that you can say that will make us change out minds. Right, Anna?"
I nodded my head and crossed my arms in front of my chest. "We're not letting you work until you come out to dinner with us. The papers aren't gonna grow legs and walk out while we're gone." I said with a smirk. I raised my eyebrows and studied her face for a moment. "Well? You coming, or is Danny going to have to physically carry you out of here?" I asked. Danny was grinning now too. I suppose it was at the thought of a kicking and screaming Lindsay being drug fireman style out of the lab.
In the end, Lindsay agreed. As if she had any choice, I thought with a smirk.
We ended up settling on a pizza place a few blocks from the lab. I realized that she had a right to her own privacy sometimes, but still, throughout dinner Lindsay was unceremoniously quiet. I wondered what was circling through her mind lately. She seemed so detached from life, and Danny must have noticed this too.
"Hey, Montana. What's wrong with ya lately? You've been quiet"
I took a bite out of my pizza and studied the two. (I think Danny was beginning to influence me).Danny was the kind of boy that your parents always warned you about. He had a reputation for being quite the ladies man, and his life was not perfect, of course. And then there was Lindsay: she was the kind of girl that your mom always wanted you to be like. She was smart, and dedicated to what she did, and she had the kindest heart. Cocking my head to the side, I wondered why two people so completely opposite could have such chemistry together—no pun intended, of course.
"Nothing," she mumbled, glancing out the dirty window. I knew what she was doing, of course. All girls, when they are in the presence of someone that they don't want to cry in front of, look out windows. It was normal female behavior, and I looked to Danny to make the next move. No way was I going to get involved quite yet.
"Hey, hey, Montana, look at me," he said with concern: his New York charm. When she wouldn't turn her head to face him, he reached out his hand and merely cupped it under her chin to see her face. I was seated next to Lindsay, and Danny, being across the table from us, could see the tears in her eyes. Crying would scare off most guys, I thought to myself, but not Danny for some reason. And he doesn't think he is sensitive.
"What's wrong? And don't lie to me; I can see right through it," he asks gently. Lindsay looks at him from behind sad eyes, before she finally decides to break her façade.
"The job is just getting to me, I guess. I keep looking at people, women, children, men, people who didn't know that it was their day to die. And I think: what if I was her? What if tomorrow was my day to go? What if the woman in that building was my mother? I miss them. They're in Montana, for God's sake. I can't even see them! I can't get thosedead facesout of my mind…" she said, beginning to cry harder. I put a comforting hand on her shoulder and rubbed soothing circles.
I spoke before Danny had a chance to. "I know how you feel Lindsay," I said, my eyes beginning to glisten with my own tears. "I once thought that if I had agreed to go with my mother to the store one night, instead of going to my friend's, that maybe it would feel better to be dead with her, to be gone. Every time I see a mother dead, all I can think of is what her children must be feeling. I know what it is like to lose someone you love, and I know that it hurts to be apart from those we love, but you can't mask your pain in your work."
Lindsay wipes her eyes on her sleeve. Danny's hand was no longer under her chin. He was sitting back in his seat, studying her face. It seemed to be his habit, or maybe it was just spilled over from his job. Whatever the case, Danny reached over and gave Lindsay's hand a reassuring squeeze. She locked eyes with him, and for a moment, I thought that time had frozen. I swear to God, that I thought it had. Looking between the two of them, you would never know that they were friends...they seemed, at that moment, to have this cosmic connection.
"Thank you," Lindsay said, turning to me. I nodded at her and smiled, then reached over to embrace her.
"If you ever need anything, you know where to find me," I said into her hair. I could feel her nod against my shoulder. I looked over at Danny, his eyes full of compassion. Or, was I misreading his eyes? For I swear that in the light of that pizza place, I saw love in the eyes of Danny Messer.
