Ideas keep comin' faster than I can write them down, these days... so here we go again:
VI.
When Lilly returned after her telephone conversation with Scotty she was still angry. But not the anger was longer directed at Taylor; more at herself. She had actually planned to handle this professionally. Not arguing and probably pissing her new co-worker off to the point where real collaborating would probably now be almost impossible.
Yet, she had to admit, that Taylor hadn't looked that pissed off by the time she'd left him. He had seemed more surprised than anything. Thinking about it she felt embarrassed. She had behaved herself like a damn child.
However, she couldn't change what had happened, but what she could do was to apologize and give him a real chance to explain himself.
But Taylor wasn't where she'd expected him to be; at his desk. She turned around, her eyes scanning over the busy open-plan office, but she couldn't detect the tall, dark-haired figure anywhere.
"Excuse me, can I help you?"
Lilly was looking into the eyes of a small African-American woman who was looking back at her, curiously.
Not knowing what to say, Lilly settled for: "I was looking for Special Agent Taylor. You… uh… know him?"
Now the other woman smiled. "Sure. I'm Special Agent Vivian Johnson. I'm his usual partner. Are you Detective Rush?"
"Yes. – Have you seen him?"
"Yeah, he was here a moment ago. Said he was going to be back in a few minutes."
"Did he say where he was going?"
"No."
"Oh."
Johnson obviously detected her confusion. "Don't worry. If he says he'll back soon he will. That hasn't changed."
"What do you mean, that hasn't changed?" Lilly was even more confused. Everything here was confusing!
"So he didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
Johnson just pulled a face. "Of course he hasn't. Why would I think he would?"
"Agent Johnson I can't follow you."
The dark-skinned woman cleared her throat, then spoke, hesitantly. "Well, actually I don't feel comfortable telling you about that, behind his back. But since he's not here now and I guess, you may have wondered about his behaviour… – a deep sigh – …let's go and get a coffee, okay?"
………………
Angela Del Pierro may have had an Italian name, but when asked about it she would say that there was blood of so many different nationalities running through her veins, she couldn't tell where her origins really were, and therefore she had settled with calling herself American. That, maybe, was the reason, why her little Restaurant wasn't a typical Italian Restaurant although it served all sorts of Italian food. Technically it wasn't even a real restaurant at all. It was more like a shop; you could buy sweets and tobacco or sit at one of the small tables and order some food.
Angela was running the shop by herself with a little help from two assistants who came to help out on busy evenings. She had just turned sixty-five two months ago and she could hear her husband George nagging every day about selling the shop. But it was her life and she loved the work; especially the visits from her regulars; they always provided an interesting chat and sometimes new customers would join them. Angela was a sociable person and nothing could make her swap this life for another one where she would sit at home alone, bored.
So Angela had made her point about keeping the shop as long as she could still walk. Considering how tough she was that would be another long time.
Mornings were never too busy, especially not around ten a.m., since most people were at work. When Danny Taylor entered the shop that morning he was the only customer. Angela could see from the very first moment that he wasn't doing well; he looked tired and worn out. But it was something she was used to; Danny didn't come here often and in most cases he came when he was either down or very exhausted after long days of hard work.
Angela didn't mind, though. He was a sweet guy and he never got on her nerves by venting his problems on her – like other people did. They would usually have a light, superficial conversation, in most cases about sports, mainly baseball; and she liked to mother him a bit until he was better. Another positive thing about him was that he never drank, either.
This morning he walked straight over to the counter where Angela stood, waiting and watching him.
He gave her one of his cute smiles. "Morning Angie."
"Good Morning to you, too. You alright?" She would always ask him although she already knew the answer.
"Yeah, just need coffee and some food", he replied. He would always answer her question with yes, although they both knew it wasn't the truth.
Eyeing him critically she agreed. "You sure do. Sit down, I'll get you the coffee, first."
Two minutes she placed the coffee in front of him at the table he'd chosen. She took the chair opposite him, sat down and waited. When he didn't say anything she finally asked: "Not chosen anything, yet?"
"Huh?"
"The food; have you chosen anything yet?"
"What? – Oh no, I can't decide. Just get me something."
Angela nodded. Knowing Danny she decided to just make him some toast with cheese and tomatoes. When she placed the plate in front of him, he was still the only customer in the shop and so she sat down opposite him again. He ate quickly – not minding her watching him – and the food was soon gone.
"Well, that was fast", Angela commented.
"Yeah, gotta get back to work", he said reaching for the coffee mug. "I just had a little time and I couldn't concentrate, you know. So I figured I could use a few calories and some caffeine."
"From the looks of it you could use a bit of sleep as well", she said.
Danny swallowed a mouthful of coffee and grinned. "Nah, I'm okay. But I could use some advice, though."
"Sure. What's up, honey?"
He sighed, obviously a little embarrassed about whatever there was on his mind. "There's this person I gotta work with. And she… well…" he paused looking at her.
"Spill it!" she could hardly hide her amusement.
Danny still hesitated but then sudden he started speaking quickly: "Okay, for God's sakes, I've embarrassed myself already, anyways. Thing is, there's this woman, and it seems that she hates me. I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm the most stupid, incapable agent, no: person in the world."
"So?"
"So what?"
"That's what I'm asking you."
Danny shrugged. "I just don't know how to get along with her. I simply don't."
Now Angela grinned and reached out to lightly touch his arm. "Oh c'mon, Danny, can't tell me that. I'd say you're just not used to women not falling prey to your charm the very first minute."
Danny gave a scornful snort. "If it were just that…"
"Is it possible that you've fallen prey to her charm?"
Another snort, louder this time. "Her charm? Nah, she's pretty I'll give her that, but that girl has the charm of a rhinoceros, believe me."
Angela didn't believe a word of that but she simply asked: "Then why do you bother?"
"Because I'm supposed to work with her."
Padding his arm, Angela could hardly hold back laughter. "So, then that's what you should do, Danny. Why care about what she thinks about you personally? Just do your job."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right." He sighed and pushed the empty plate away. "How much do I owe you?" Getting up from his seat Danny fished some money from his pocket and put on the table. When Angela saw it she shook her head.
"Not that much", she said but knew it was senseless.
"It's okay. You can take it as thanks for the advice, or as hush money for not telling anybody about this conversation", he said as he turned to go. When he was almost out the door he turned around once more. "Thanks, Angie."
"Hey, I'm just doing my job." She watched as he left and kept staring at the door for another while. A smile spread over her face, and when the next customer entered the shop she still hadn't forgotten about the conversation with Danny.
………………
Lilly and Agent Johnson were sitting in the small break-room, door wide open, sipping coffee. None of them had said a word in a while, but Lilly was getting impatient.
"So… what's it you wanted to tell me?"
Putting the coffee cup back on the table Johnson began: "Five weeks ago, one of our agents –good friend of Danny's – was almost shot to death in an ambush while he was transporting a terrorist. I know, it may sound not that bad, now, especially since it's been five weeks ago and he survived and doctors say he is gonna be okay, but it's still bothering Danny."
Letting the words sink in, Lilly tried to imagine what it would feel like. How she would feel if had happened to Scotty. To any of her co-workers. Bad, sure, she would feel bad. But for so long? Five weeks… it sounded like a long time.
But then again, she wasn't particularly close to the guys she worked with. They got along, but were they really friends?
"Especially since Danny was in the car with him", Johnson continued.
"In the car? You mean, he watched it?"
"Yeah, I guess you could say so. I'm not too sure about what really happened, but I'm pretty sure he's blaming himself for not keeping Martin from getting shot."
"Martin? That his name?"
"Yes."
"And he almost died?"
"Yes."
"And Danny?" Lilly asked, not realising that for the first time she was using Taylor's first name.
"Physically he got out of it with nothing more than a scratch. But mentally… that's what nobody knows…"
Knitting her brows Lilly asked: "What d'you mean, nobody knows?"
"The problem is he doesn't talk about it. So it's almost impossible to figure out what state of mind he's in. But judging from his behaviour lately…" Johnson's voice trailed off, but ending the sentence wasn't necessary, anyway.
Lilly nodded. "Well, that explains a lot." There were a few minutes of silence before Lilly turned to Agent Johnson again: "You're quite fond of him, aren't you?"
Johnson smiled. "He can be the sweetest guy in the world. Once you gained his friendship."
"So, I guess I should make the effort to get to know him better", Lilly said, smiling back.
"Yeah. And you can start right now." Following the direction Johnson was looking Lilly saw Taylor who was hurrying down the corridor towards them.
