2
"Finally see you are naturally / the one to make it so easy /
when you show me the truth."
- Joshua Radin (I'd Rather Be With You)
It's a couple hours later before she even thinks about her phone again, too busy taking down a suspect in the most stereotypical NYC alleyway she could have imagined.
It buzzes in her pocket as she settles at her desk to start paperwork, and she smiles at the name on the screen.
It's only when she opens the message from Jay that she sees the earlier one she'd ignored in the morning meeting, and through coffee with Erin.
Looks like the beauty sleep worked.
You're busy being important in a suit, so I won't tell you that Ruze, Kev, and I just demolished some deep dish.
The second message just makes her roll her eyes and crave real pizza.
The first one, though. She pushes back from her desk for a moment and just stares at the ceiling tiles over her head. Somehow, Jay always has a way of surprising her, sneaky little compliments and promises to follow where she goes, comments that she carries with her on the bad days or the days where he's 800 miles away.
It's a lot. It's too much for the middle of a workday, and probably too much for 800 miles of distance. But she's only human, so she lets herself think about him seeing her picture and smiling, and the slow way his smiles seem to creep into big grins.
The elevator dings open nearby and shakes her out of her distraction. She takes a moment to text him back, and then gets back to work.
Rude, honestly. Tell Kev and Adam they owe me pizza. You owe me pizza AND beer now, because you should have known better. Talk later?
—
"Later" turns out to be as she's walking back to the hotel that night. It's just past dark, and the city is alive with a new kind of energy, people moving in every direction. She has music flowing through her earbuds, but she's barely listening, too caught up in people watching.
She almost doesn't hear her phone ring, even though it's in her hand, it's so loud around her. When she sees his name on the screen, she smiles automatically, which is apparently now a thing, but something in her stomach sours at what she knows she has to tell him.
She pulls her earbuds out and answers, his voice coming over the line immediately, like he wasn't expecting her to pick up so quickly.
"It's Hailey," she hears him tell someone on the other end of the line, and then, "shut up, bro, go home."
She clears her throat so he knows she's there, and his voice is closer now, but still not close enough.
"Sorry," he laughs. "Ruze was… being Ruze," he says, and it's a pretty good explanation, really. "Are you at work? It's loud."
"Just left," she says. "I'm walking back to the hotel."
He's quiet for a moment, and she imagines he's nodding. "So, how was it being a Fed today? Get any compliments on your suit?"
She smiles, because not counting his text, no one had said a thing about her outfit, and she hadn't expected or wanted them to. "Just one, from this guy I know back home."
It's quiet for a moment, like he's not positive she's talking about him. She's about to let him off the hook when his voice finds her again.
"Well, you know what they say about those hometown guys." In the background, she can hear the familiar sounds of the locker room at the district. She'd assumed he was on his way out to his truck, but the realization that he's still in the building, but on the phone with her already makes her miss him in a rush that takes her by surprise.
"I don't, actually," she says.
"I wasn't actually expecting you to call me on that one," he laughs. "It's something about them being dangerous."
She laughs. "Okay, Jay. Pretty sure I can handle him," she tells him, and the little laugh that gets her feels private, just hers, even surrounded by the crowd of people on the street.
"You're still at work, right?" She's not sure how to have this next conversation, except that she's pretty sure she doesn't want him driving a motor vehicle while it happens.
"Yeah," he says, "Why? Miss your desk, want a pic?"
She laughs. She does miss her desk, and the person who sits across from her. But that's a topic for another time. She sidesteps a couple on the sidewalk and crosses over to the hotel.
"Hang out there for a sec, okay? I have to tell you something."
"Okay," he says, and she can hear the hesitation in his voice. "Leaving me for the Feds, Hailey?"
"You're not getting that lucky, bud," she says, pressing the up button for the elevator. "Listen. I ran into Erin today."
There's a pause, and then, "Lindsay?"
"Yeah," she says as the elevator arrives. "Hang on, I'm getting on the elevator."
He doesn't say anything for the 10 floors the elevator travels, and she just listens to his even breathing on the phone. She steps off at her floor and shoulders the phone to pull out her keycard.
"Jay?"
"Yeah," he says, but he sounds distracted.
"You okay? I didn't want to upset you, but I wasn't going to keep it from you."
"I'm glad you told me. I'm just surprised."
She shoulders the door open and drops her stuff by the door, kicking off her shoes. "I know."
"Did she- how did…" He trails off and she frowns. It's the most personal conversation they've ever had over the phone, and she wants to see his face, which always gives away the emotions his words might not let out.
She pulls the phone away from her ear as she settles on the bed and taps a few buttons, changing over to a FaceTime call. His face fills the screen a moment later and she smiles.
"Sorry," she says, lounging back against the pillows. "I just needed to make sure you were telling me the truth."
He smiles slowly, and yeah, she made the right choice.
"How'd she seem?" He asks, and the words sound like they come easier when he's looking at her.
"Busy. It was just a quick thing. But she seemed good. She loves her job."
He nods, and she watches him glance away for a second. When he glances back, he gives her a half-hearted smile. "Good. That's good, she should be happy."
"She asked about everyone, and you specifically."
"Yeah?"
"Mhmm. I told her you were good."
He smiles again, and she feels a little more at ease with this one. "Man, small world."
She nods, propping the phone on the pillow next to her to take the hair tie out of her hair, shaking it loose. She looks back up at the phone to find Jay watching her quietly.
"Hailey," he says quietly. "I don't have feelings for Erin."
She pauses, watching his face as closely as the small screen will allow. "I didn't think you did."
"Good. It surprised me, that's all." He stops, and she watches his mouth figure out the shape of his words. "But she's not the one I want to come home from New York."
She almost regrets the FaceTime call now, because there's no way to hide her reaction, how she's pretty sure her mouth drops open just slightly.
"Yeah, well," she recovers, "that's good, because I don't think she's planning on it. But I'm counting down the days."
"Oh, Hailey, I'm sorry. I was talking about my other partner. She's in the city too, you'll probably run into her soon."
She rolls her eyes, but he just smiles that really sweet, genuine Jay smile that's gotten him out of trouble with her more than once.
"Whatever," she says, but the slamming of a locker in the background on his end interrupts anything else she was going to say.
He glances behind him, and then back to her quickly. "I guess I should go, try to beat the traffic."
He sounds reluctant though, and it makes her smile. She doesn't really want to hang up, either. Something about seeing his face makes her a little less homesick and a little more excited about the opportunity she has here. Home isn't going anywhere, she knows.
"Okay. I'm going to go find some dinner, anyway. Drive safe."
"Walk or subway or taxi safe," he grins. He gives her a little wave and then the call ends.
—
He ends the FaceTime call with Hailey and gathers his stuff, tossing a goodnight over his shoulder to the patrolmen coming off duty into the locker room. He's headed out toward his truck when he stops and reverses direction back toward the stairs.
He buzzes in and makes his way to Hailey's desk, pulling out her chair and sitting down, tossing his feet up on the desk. She'd yell at him and push his feet off the desk if she was here, and the thought makes him smile as he pulls out his phone to take a picture. He pulls up his messages with Hailey and scrolls back up to her earlier photo for a moment before attaching his own and typing a message.
In case you actually do miss your desk. (I'm counting down the days, too.)
—
Her phone vibrates as she's trying to figure out dinner a couple minutes after she and Jay hang up.
She swipes open the message and groans. His dirty, heavy steel-toed boots are on her nice, neat desk, and she can't see his face in the picture, but she knows he's smirking.
You better Lysol my desk. Indian or Thai food for dinner?
His response is quick, and she smiles. There's something intimate about the way a partner learns your food preferences so thoroughly.
Thai, You always end up giving me your leftover Indian food, and I'm too far for that.
He has a point.
True. Go home, Jay.
She pockets her phone and grabs her jacket, slips into her shoes and heads out the door.
She's waiting for the elevator again when her phone buzzes in her pocket.
Come home, Hailey.
—