Enjoy this new chapter! I'm not too sure when the next update will be because college has started again and although it's online I've still been insanely busy... Let me know in the comments how you feel about this chapter and where the story is going!
After the GPS directions landed her at Kamekona's, Juliet had found herself frozen in her car seat.
What am I doing? She scolded herself. This could be a complete disaster.
Higgins could only see part of the shrimp truck from where she was parked, so it was hard to tell if Magnum was even there or not. Steeling her nerves, she plucked up the courage to get out of her black car and walk towards the truck and surrounding picnic tables.
She had taken about ten steps before she spotted him sitting at a table with what appeared to be an assortment of shrimp.
Thomas had been checking his phone, but when he looked up and saw her, the brightest smile appeared across his face. He immediately waved to her and beckoned her over.
"Hi Juliet!" he called over from the table.
Higgins' nerves flared up in full force as she approached him, finally reaching the table and saying nothing as she just sort of looked at him.
"Are you alright?" Thomas laughed. "I hope you're not nervous. There's really no reason to be. I'm so happy that you decided to come."
"Yes- yes, I am fine," she stuttered. "Just a little surprised with myself, I suppose."
Thomas grinned, "Well, I'm not surprised that you're here. I can be very charming."
Just as Juliet was about to make a retort about how self-absorbed he was, Magnum continued, "Please, have a seat! I ordered a little bit of everything because I wasn't too sure what you liked. We have some spicy garlic, coconut lime, teriyaki, and crispy sweet chili. Trust me; they are the best tasting shrimp on the island."
Slowly, Juliet took a seat and laid a napkin across her lap.
"Thank you for the impressive spread, Mr. Magnum, I would like to cover a share of the food myself."
Thomas waved that off, "First off, please call me Thomas, hearing Mr. Magnum all the time just sounds weird. Friends don't call each other Mr. And Ms.! And secondly, don't worry about the food! Kamekona and I are buddies. I told him that I was meeting a new friend here tonight and that she had never tried his famous shrimp. This was all on the house!"
Juliet gave him a little smile, "That's very kind of him. Will you relay my thanks to him please?"
"For sure," Thomas replied, beginning to dig into the shrimp. "How was work today? I hope you didn't have to chase down anyone too crazy."
Juliet laughed a little, "No, no; a lot of my job is just desk work and filling out reports. Police work is not as glamorous as films and television would have people believe."
"Oh, I would agree with that," Magnum replied. "Neither is the Navy, especially when most people in the military aren't even aware of your missions."
"I must admit, one of the main reasons I agreed to meet you here was because I'm quite curious about your military background. I'd like to know more about what you did with them."
Thomas smiled, pleased that Juliet appeared to have some interest in getting to know him. "All in good time, Higgy! Let's just say that my crew and I took down some pretty bad people and stopped them from potentially killing millions."
Juliet's face scrunched up at his use of that nickname again, but she didn't comment on it, choosing to try some of the coconut lime shrimp instead.
"There's one question I've been dying to ask you, though," said Thomas.
"What's that?"
"How did you end up in Hawaii? You're the only British person I've met since I moved here. There's got to be a reason as to why you're so far from home."
Juliet froze a little as she ate, but figured that she should at least give him part of the story.
"That's a complex question with a long story, but the main takeaway is that I came to Hawaii for a fresh start after leaving my job with MI6. I wanted to get as far away from England as I could when I first left, and I thought a tropical paradise would be a nice place to start over."
Thomas looked impressed, "Wow! I can totally believe that you were a spy though. You have a mysterious aura. What an interesting job that must've been! I'm sure you've been on your share of dangerous missions as well."
"I have," she agreed. "Some dangerous, some tedious, but it was an amazing career while it lasted. I'm extremely grateful that I got to travel to some places in the world that I would have never gone to otherwise."
"That's awesome. While military and intelligence jobs do have their downsides, travel to some fascinating places can be a perk. Although, sometimes those places can be pretty scary. I spent the last three years of my final deployment in Afghanistan. My friends Rick, TC, Nuzo, and I were all POWs for about 18 months after the Taliban kidnapped us."
"Oh my God!" she exclaimed. "That must've been absolutely horrible! I can't even imagine what that was like for you. How did you get out?"
Thinking twice about that question, Juliet caught herself.
"I'm sorry, that was awfully forward of me. You don't have to talk about that if it makes you uncomfortable. This must be a very touchy subject for you."
"No, no, it's ok," he assured her. "I wouldn't have brought it up if I didn't want to let you know. Everyone who knows me well knows about my time there to some extent, and now that we're friends, I figured I should tell you about this upfront since it had such a big impact on my life. Especially since I still have some PTSD from it."
Juliet's heart swelled for him. She could have never guessed that Thomas had been through such an awful experience, and the fact that he had been willing to share this with her so soon after meeting her made her care for him even more.
A small part of Juliet's mind was pressing her to question the validity of what he was telling her, but she quickly pushed those thoughts away. From the moment she met Magnum, she had felt that he was being genuine with her. He had done nothing to make her believe otherwise.
"My friends and I escaped," he told her. "There wasn't that much planning involved in it either. We saw an opportunity to escape, and we took it."
"Wow," Juliet replied. "I'm so incredibly sorry that you had to endure one of those camps. I've heard about POW camps in that region; horrible things. It's amazing that you survived after that long."
"There's no way I would've made it out of there if it wasn't for those guys. That's why we are all so close now. We'll be brothers forever because of everything we've been through together. Unfortunately, Nuzo was in a huge car accident shortly after we moved here. Losing him was extremely hard on Rick, TC, and I."
Juliet felt horrible for him. She felt as if all of the things Thomas had been through in the last five years alone were enough to make her hardships look like speed bumps by comparison.
"Thomas— I- I don't know what to say. I'm so, so, sorry for everything that you've been through. But, I am glad that you lived through it all and are trying to turn your life around," Higgins sighed.
"I'm also glad that we met, despite the circumstances, and that I overcame my nerves to meet you here tonight," she added, smiling slightly at her feet.
Thomas gave her a small smile of his own, "You haven't really had any friends before, have you?"
Juliet's head snapped up, and a protest was about to fly out of her mouth before Thomas quickly re-evaluated what he was trying to say.
"I didn't mean to offend you when I said that! And I could be totally wrong too. You just seem like you haven't had a lot of people in your life that you could trust; which is why you're so nervous to get to know me."
Juliet let out a deep breath. "You're not wrong," she told him. "I haven't had many friends throughout my life. And I could probably count the number of people I've been able to confide in on one hand. But, I am hoping to change that. And tonight is kind of that first step for me. I am tired of not having friends and people that I can talk to. That's why I am nervous; I don't want to share things about myself only to be laughed at or ignored later on. Unfortunately, a good number of people that I thought were my friends at one point have done that to me."
Thomas locked eyes with her, "That's incredibly brave of you, Juliet. And just for the record, I think you are doing a pretty great job. Those people who treated you badly in the past were idiots. They couldn't see what a wonderful person you are," he smiled.
Juliet blushed a little, "Thank you, Thomas. That's very kind."
"Well," he laughed, "This conversation has certainly gotten pretty heavy for the first time that we've ever had a meal together."
"I suppose it has," Higgins agreed, ready for their conversation to head in a lighter direction. "So, where are those famous friends of yours who paid your bail? I would've thought you would be out celebrating with them!"
Thomas laughed and shook his head, "Just because we're best friends, it doesn't mean that they weren't furious with me over the fact that I got arrested for an art heist. I have a lot of explaining to do and even more stress coming up with these pending charges."
"Well, hopefully, the DA will want to make a deal with you for the information that you have on Ivan and your knowledge of his operations. Usually, in situations like this, they'll want to go after the biggest fish they can, and they could use you to do it." Juliet encouraged.
Thomas looked at his feet, "You know that I don't have much on this guy, Higgy. I'll definitely give them what I can, but who knows if they'll think it will be enough."
He let out a big sigh before pivoting back to a happier topic, "Anyways, are you enjoying the shrimp? I told you it's the best in Hawaii!"
Just as Juliet was about to answer him, she saw someone out of the corner of her eye that made her freeze mid-sentence.
Strolling up to Kamekona's shrimp truck was none other than Officer Tani Rey from the robbery task force. And if that wasn't bad enough, her partner, Officer Reigns, was also tagging along.
Fear coursed through Higgins. She knew that being recognized by a colleague she had just met a few days prior while investigating a case that her dinner-mate was directly involved in would be a recipe for disaster.
"Shit," she whispered.
Magnum looked puzzled, "What's going on, Juliet? Is everything ok?"
"We need to get out of here right now," she hissed.
"But we haven't even finished our shrimp yet! If something's wrong, please tell me. I really didn't mean to offend you with that friends comment earlier I—"
"It's not that!" She whispered fiercely, "Some of the officers who helped arrest you at Candler's penthouse are heading towards the truck! Use your imagination as to why it would be a bad idea for us to be seen together right now!"
Thankfully, Tani and her partner hadn't seemed to have spotted them yet as they had been far too busy talking and laughing with each other.
"Ohhhh," said Thomas, catching on. "How are we supposed to get up without them seeing us? Wait, I've got an idea. You leave the table first and walk down to that bench further down the beach over there. I'll get up a couple of minutes later and meet you down there. There's no way they'll be able to recognize us from that far away."
Since there was no time to think of anything else, Juliet quickly nodded and stood up from the table, making sure to walk towards the bench while doing her best to stay concealed behind some palm trees.
When she made it to the bench, she glanced back towards the truck. It was a little hard to see from the angle of where she was seated, but she supposed that was a good thing. Thomas was still sitting at the table, his back facing the pair of partners who were in line for food, still engrossed in a conversation.
A minute later, she spotted Thomas making his way towards her.
"You brought the shrimp?" She asked, seeing him with the food boxes in tow.
"Of course I did! We're not wasting this stuff! I think we're in the clear from your cop friends. They're paying way more attention to each other than anything else right now," Magnum laughed.
"Yes, that appears to be our saving grace." Higgins sighed in relief.
They finished their food in comfortable silence for a few minutes. When they were done, Juliet spoke up.
"Look, Thomas, something like what happened earlier was one of the many reasons why I was hesitant to meet you here. I could get in real trouble with my superiors if I appear to be helping you. I-I- just think it would be best for the both of us if we went our separate ways. You seem like a good man and I believe you would be a loyal friend but… I think the risks may be too high."
Thomas looked like a kicked puppy. "Hey, hey wait! I know almost running into them wasn't ideal, but there is a way that we can still be friends! I really enjoyed tonight and I'd like to keep getting to know you. Here, how about I give you my number, and when this case is all over and done with you can give me a call. That way, you won't get jammed up at work. They can't punish you for speaking with me after the case has been closed right?"
"No, they cannot," she replied quietly. Higgins looked at Thomas, his eyes were pleading with her to give him a chance.
"I mean, if you don't want to be friends I won't hold it against you and of course we don't have to talk anymore, but if you are still open to it, I'd really like to become friends."
"You have to understand Thomas; this case could drag on for months. And if they don't find the stolen art it could drag on even longer."
"I will wait," he said earnestly, "You are worth it."
Thomas gave her a small smile, then waited for her response.
"Ok," she sighed, "Ok, you may give me your number, but know that I will only contact you after I know for a fact I will be in the clear to do so."
"That's fine. I understand," he said, taking her phone and adding his number with his name along with a little smiley face emoji.
Juliet chuckled when she saw that. "Ok then. Well, I guess I will talk to you… hopefully soon," she told him.
"I'm looking forward to it. And just know that I'm willing to do what I can to help HPD solve this case and catch Ivan. We both know he's involved in some much more dangerous projects than art thefts."
Juliet smiled, "I'm glad to hear that. In the meantime, start looking for a job. A legal one that won't get you arrested!"
"Yes ma'am," Thomas assured her. "The next time you talk with me I promise I'll have something going. And that it will be stable."
Juliet stood up from the bench and outstretched a hand for him to shake.
Magnum stood up as well and took her hand. "Thank you again for meeting me here, Juliet. I had a fantastic evening with you."
Then, he flashed her that charming smile that made butterflies flutter around in her stomach. His hand felt so wonderful holding hers; something about it just felt right.
She gave him a smile of her own before pulling her hand away, realizing that their 'handshake' had lasted a bit too long for normal standards.
"Bye for now, Thomas," she said, giving him a little wave that he returned. Then, her feet were carrying her back towards her car, and Juliet felt like a giddy teenager for the first time in years.