John Bates exited his car, already hearing chatter and music coming from the Crawley's backyard. The front door opened before he was even half way down the front walkway.
"Bates!" A slightly tipsy Chief Crawley bellowed out the front door. "You made it!"
Mr. Bates shook his hand when he made it to the front door. "Thank you for inviting me."
"Of course, of course! Come on in, we're all outside, Well except for the Birthday girl," he chuckled, "Mary loves to make her entrances. Anna is up there helping her get ready."
John was lead into the backyard where there were table spreads of cheese and crackers, mimosas, beautiful bouquets of colorful flowers. This may have been "a small party" but the Crawleys spared no expense. There were mostly familiar faces of people he hadn't seen in years. He hardly recognized Sybil, the youngest of Robert's daughters, when she came running towards him.
"Mr. Bates!" She gave him a warm hug and a sweet, genuine smile. "It's so good to see you!"
"Sybil, I hardly even recognized you, you've grown up so fast!"
"Well I'm a college girl now, Mr. Bates." With her astute eye, she could tell that Mr. Bates felt a bit out of place, so she kindly took him by the arm and led him further into the center of the lively gathering. "Come and say hello to everyone else, they'll be thrilled to see you."
God bless Sybil Crawley, Mr. Bates thought. She was right though. Everyone seemed pleasantly surprised to see him. Even Edith, who is usually rather shy, gave him a warm hug. He was just about to say hello to old Grandmother Mrs. Crawley when a familiar voice from behind stopped him.
"Ladies and gentleman," He heard a sweet but clear voice announce. He turned around to find the most lovely sight before him. Anna stood in a gorgeous, green floor length dress, and her long blonde hair was down and out of it's usual tight bun. She was purely stunning. He took her breath away, "May I present to you, the birthday girl herself: Mary Crawley!" She smiled and stood out of the doorway to let Mary enter while the small crowd began to clap and sing "Happy Birthday" together. Mr. Bates tried to sing along but he couldn't stop staring at Anna. She finally caught his eye, and smiled even larger, seeing that he had made it to the party. He looked away, embarrassed that she saw him staring, but little did he know that she was blushing right back.
Once the sun went down, it had begun rain slightly so the party was moved indoors. Everyone was having such a marvelous time that no one had even noticed when the rain had stopped. In one corner of the living room there was a lively game of charades occurring, in another there was a very loud and very bad person singing karaoke. Anna was so wrapped up in keeping Mary happy that she hadn't had the chance to slip away and say hello to Detective Bates. And she so desperately wanted to. Partially because she felt bad for him. He had revealed to her the first week they met that he wasn't very good at small talk, and she good see that was true just from the few times she had glanced over to him.
The other reason she didn't quite want to admit to herself but…he looked rather dashing in his button down shirt and pressed slacks. Anna liked a man who could dress himself well. A loud shout from Mary caused her attention spring back to the present. Apparently she was accusing Edith of cheating.
"Oh Mary, come on don't be a sore loser!" Edith shouted.
"I'm not sore! I just hate it when people think they can bend the rules!" Mary barked back.
Usually Anna was the one who mediated this situation but it seemed like Mrs. Crawley had it under control and Anna realized she was beginning to have a migraine. She slipped away from the fighting and stepped out into the early autumn air.
The air smelled of rain, which made her smile. It made her think of her father who used to love dashing outside anytime it rained.
"What are people so afraid of!" He would shout. "It's just God watering his plants!" He would laugh like a child then tilt his head back and stick his tongue out. He had died when Anna was fourteen, and there wasn't a week when she didn't think about him at least once.
"Looks like someone had the same idea." Anna turned to see Mr. Bates entering the quart yard with a smirk on his face.
"Great minds think alike." She smiled back.
"Are you alright?" He asked. Anna was touched and surprised at his concern for her well being.
She nodded. "I am. Thank you for asking. It was just getting a bit loud in there."
"I know what you mean."
"Mary's always trying to make me go to more social gatherings, but since it was her birthday I couldn't say no."
Mr. Bates gave her a quizzical look. "Do you not social very much, Miss Smith?"
Anna laughed at that. "It's not that…it's just well..the less people the better I suppose. I guess you could say I'm more of an introvert."
"You don't need to tell me. I'm probably worse than you."
"Oh I don't know Detective, you seemed to be doing better in there than you think." She said sarcastically.
"Please, call me John."
"Only if you call me Anna."
He smiled. "Fair enough. Let's shake on it." He held out his hand and she slid her hand perfectly into his. Neither one said a word, but the look in each other's eyes said it all: it felt like a perfect fit.
Sorry for the delay in chapters, I've had a bit of writer's block! Please review!