Author's note: Wow, that last chapter was a doozy, huh? Heather's tirade was based off some real-life stuff for me. My husband and I did get married on 9/9/01 and he is a firefighter. We don't live anywhere near NYC, but after the attacks, I started to have frequent nightmares that what happened to Brian in the story actually happened to my husband. Those nightmares brought up a lot of really hard feelings for me and I used that for her. I can't even imagine what I would do if that actually did happen to him. Those nightmares went away for the most part eventually, but as a fire-wife, I still occasionally worry about him. I'll probably never stop worrying about his safety, but I know the guys and gals he works with and the high level of training, so that knowledge does help a lot. Plus, as a volunteer EMT myself, I know that my responsibilities place me at increased risk sometimes too, so life is what it is. With that in mind, today's special thank you is to all the first responders out there. Paid or volunteer, I'm proud to be part of the brother/sisterhood. Now let's crawl out of our warm, safe, comfy beds at 3 in the morning to save a life with a big smile on our faces because you know deep down we live for this stuff. *Kittypawswrites asked a question that I thought I had covered, but I might have missed so I'll answer it here. Sebastian and Heather met in Afghanistan in 2008. He was still in the Army and she was an independent contractor hired to provide trauma care. I know that that isn't how it actually works, but my story, my rules. I apologize if I missed writing this detail. Thank you for asking. *
Chapter 12
Suddenly the air was filled with the sounds of cows mooing. Heather grabbed her phone out of her purse. "Oh, Jim, I need to take this call. I'll be back in a minute." She walked off.
"Where's Heather going," asked Sebastian.
"Said she had to take a call. She should only be a minute. Let's spend that time talking. So, how long have you been in love with her, Sebastian?"
"What? I'm not in love with her, Boss. We're just friends. She said she loves you. She's all yours, not mine. You know I would never get between you and a girl" sputtered Sebastian.
"Cut the crap, Moran. You love her. It's obvious to everyone, except her. I understand. How could you not love her, but you missed your chance. So, the question is, what are we going to do about this problem? I can't have you mooning over her."
"Well, what do you want to do? Are you firing me? Do you want me to leave the firm? Stop being her friend? What? I really have no idea what to do here. I never saw this coming. How was I supposed to?"
"Aw, so you do love her? I knew it. Well, I can't fire you and no one leaves the company alive, you know that better than anyone else. Like it or not, you're too damn good at your job to replace you or send you somewhere else long term. I think it might devastate her if you cut off your friendship. I can't have that. I'll have to think of something. She said that you talk about me sometimes. What have you told her? How much have you told her about our business? My business? Who else have you been talking to? Holmes? Scotland Yard? Who?"
Sebastian had the good sense to look terrified as Jim's eyes grew darker, "No one, boss! I swear. She's smart and knows what I'm capable of so when I started working for you, I told her that I was doing private security. She didn't believe me. Kept saying that it was way beneath me to be some 'rent-a-cop.' I told her there was more to it than that, but she kept pushing me to find something more fitting my skills. One day, she called me right in the middle of a job. The target was taking forever to get in the right position, so I sat on the phone with and chitchat with her while I waited. Suddenly, I had the perfect shot, so I took it and she heard it in the background and asked me what had happened. I tried to lie to her, but she's not stupid, so I finally had to admit to her what I did. She took it remarkably well. She said that, while she wasn't happy that I was murdering people, she was happy that I had found a job that fit my unique skill set. That night, we had a long talk over FaceTime and I showed her my weapons and the apartment and told her how happy and fulfilled I was. Like I said, she took it beautifully. She is an amazing girl. Said she was just glad that I was happy and being useful. She was worried that I was wasting my life away in self-imposed prison. Over the years, yeah, I've talked about you a little. Just little snippets here and there. Like, 'Oh, Jim's being cranky today because he had to wait an extra 30 seconds for his coffee this morning, so I had to kill the barista's family this afternoon' or 'I'm not going to be available for a few days because Jim's decided we have to fly to Egypt right this minute.' She talks about her work too. Just friend stuff. Never confidential business stuff. If there's something I can't tell her, I just tell her that she would be safer not knowing. She accepts that without a problem. I swear!"
Heather walked up at that moment. "Hey, I see some serious faces over here. What's going on? Did I hear some business talk going on? This is vacation, not a business meeting, so no business talk. Only fun talk! Speaking of fun talk, Bash, do you remember me telling you about Jack Johnson from St. Bart's. Well, I called him this morning and he just returned my call. They are very interested in talking to me so I'm coming to London in two weeks to interview there. My interview is set up for Friday the 17th. When we get home, I need to book plane tickets and a hotel. Oh, I need to make arrangements for the cats too."
"How long are you going to be in London," asked Jim. "You can stay with me. I insist. After all, I owe you for putting up with me for a few days."
"Oh, Jim, that's so sweet. Um … yeah, ok, thanks! I am curious to see casa de Moriarty. Oh, yeah, I also have to rent a car. I almost forgot. Ok, place to stay, plane tickets, cats, car, what am I forgetting?"
"You don't have to rent a car. I have plenty that you can borrow, and I'll pick you up from the airport. Do you want to go shopping for something to wear? My treat. We need to celebrate!"
"JIM, you are too sweet! I have plenty of stuff at home to wear. We don't need to go shopping. I know that would bore you guys to tears, anyway. Let's go tour that boat. Ready?" She took Jim's hand and the trio walked towards the frigate.
After a few minutes, Heather turned towards Sebastian. "Bash, you're being uncharacteristically mute lately. What's up, Buttercup? I thought you would be more excited. Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, I'm good. I'm trying to take everything in. Hey! Congrats on the interview. That's really great. So, you might be moving to London? Cool."
"You don't sound so sure about your excitement there, sweetie. When we talked last night, it sounded like you kind of wanted me to move to London. I mean, we'll be able to see each other more, especially since Jim and I are together. That's what you wanted … right? I'm picking up some mixed messages here," Heather smiled tentatively. "If you changed your mind … uh … oh … oh … okay? I'm just a little confused now."
"No, Heather. I am excited. I would love to see you more often. It would be great, but you know you should only move if it's what is best for you, not because someone else is telling you to. I mean, you do have a great life here. You love your job. You have a great house with plenty of land. Most of your friends are here. All of your volunteer work is here. Your family, even though they drive you nuts, are here. Yeah, London has me and your Dad, but we both know how to use the phone and get on a plane. I just don't want you to uproot your entire life for no good reason."
Heather smiled, "You forgot the one thing that London has that Baltimore will never have. Jim. Jim lives in London. It's where he works. I can't ask him to move everything here. My job is a lot more moveable than his. Plus, maybe I need to uproot my life some. You know me. I can't stay in one place for too long. I need to travel and live and experience new things. Everything is getting too easy and settled for me. I need to shake things up some. And, my dad isn't getting any younger, and I miss him sometimes. He's never going to retire, you know that. He's going to die at his desk and probably come back to haunt his successor just to be spiteful. Maybe if I move there, he and I can spend some time together and we can get closer. Maybe I can even make him proud of me. If he sees me more often, he'll see something to be proud of me for. He'll see how hard I work and the difference I make in people's lives. Right, I mean that could happen?" Heather twisted her hands and bit her lip. "Plus, I miss you. FaceTime just isn't nearly as good as seeing you in person. We can go shooting together and go out to pubs and stuff. It'll be great!"
Jim sauntered over, "What are we talking about over here, ladies?" He picked up Heather's hand and kissed the knuckles. "Oh, Bash and I are talking about me maybe moving to London. He's just worrying himself silly about me, like usual. Silly man! But, hey, that's why I love him. He helps keep me at least somewhat attached to reality. You know, I'm so glad that you two know each other so well. I always worried about how I would introduce Bash to a future love interest. Most guys would get incredibly jealous and think that Bashie was in love with me. Like a straight guy and a straight girl can't just be friends! Isn't that the most ridiculous thing ever? Not everything is about sex! Like I know that I could be totally naked in front of Bash and it wouldn't phase him in the least. He'd probably just complain about me blocking the tv screen. I'm so lucky my two favorite guys are friends. It just makes my life so much easier." She gave Jim a kiss on the lips and Sebastian a quick kiss on the cheek. Jim shot Sebastian a thunderous look.
They finished the tour of the boat and exited the plankway. "Whew, guys I need to sit down for a minute," exclaimed Heather. She reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet. "Could someone go get me a bottle of water. I'm so thirsty. You get something for yourself too."
Jim pulled out some cash out of his wallet and thrust it into Sebastian's hands. "Go get all three of us something to drink, Sebby. I'll stay her with Heather." Jim smiled a grin that failed to reach his cold, black eyes. Sebastian turned and began the walk to the nearest street vendor. "Are you having a good time, love? Not too tired? We can go home if you are," cooed Jim to his beloved.
Heather turned her back towards Jim and leaned into his chest. "No, honey. I'm a little tired and definitely thirsty, but I'll be fine. I am having a good time being out here with you two. I was thinking for dinner we would go to this place called Dave and Buster's. It's kind of a zoo, but it's fun. It's family dining, but they also have an arcade and stuff. It's fun. Does that sound okay? It's about a block that way."
Jim wrapped his arms around her. "Yeah, ok. That wasn't what I had in mind, but we'll give it a try. Now tomorrow night, I'm taking you out. Just the two of us. Somewhere very nice. We are going to have a proper date night. How does that sound?"
"Well, I will feel a little bad about leaving Bash alone, but I suppose I could make him the lasagna during the day tomorrow. I'm sure he'll understand. I really am glad that you two get along so well. I couldn't imagine my life without him and most guys just wouldn't understand how important he is to me. They would make me choose between them and him and I can't do that. Actually, I guess I could. I would choose him. He's my best friend and I need him. He was the first guy I trusted to get close to me after Brian died and he knows my demons and likes me despite all of them. I'm so lucky to have him in my life. I know his demons too. I know what he does for you and while, I don't completely approve, I do understand and appreciate that his job is almost perfect for him. Thanks for that. He needs that in his life. When he first told me that he was doing private security, I wasn't happy, but once I found out exactly what this version of 'private security' was, I knew that he would be okay. I do worry about him getting hurt or even killed, but I know he's happy and doing what he loves, so que sera sera."
Sebastian came back with three bottles of water. He handed two of them over and gave Jim his change. Heather cracked hers open and took a long drink off of it. "Aww, that tastes good. Thanks honey. Hey, Bash, um Jim and I were talking and we're going to go out to dinner just the two of us tomorrow night if that's okay with you. I'll make you the lasagna tomorrow and you can eat it for dinner. Is that okay?"
Sebastian glanced at Jim. "Oh, yeah. Lasagna sounds great. Tomorrow I'll just hang with the cats. We'll give each mani-pedis and talk about boys and stuff. It'll be great."
"Really? I totally understand if you don't want to spend the night alone. I know it wasn't exactly what we had planned, but …"
"No, it's cool. It's just dinner, right? You guys should only be gone for like 2 hours or so. I'll manage."
"Thank you so much, Bash. I owe you big time."
"Well, now that that is settled, what should we do next? Shopping? Another museum? What would you like to do, Kitten," asked Jim.
"Well, do you mind if we go do a little shopping? I promise we won't do it for long. I know guys hate shopping, but there are some cool boutiques around. One is this huge two-story candy store that has like every candy known to man in it. Not really a boutique, but I love going there and going a little wild." Heather blushed.
"Every candy known to man? Well, lead the way, love. This I have to see," teased Jim.
Heather led them to the four-story shopping plaza. Over the next three hours, they visited every store, and, by the end, Sebastian's arms ached from carrying all of the bags they had picked up. Jim had been truly impressed by the candy story and spent close to $300 there alone. They had visited a kitchenware store and Jim had insisted on buying almost everything that had caught Heather's eye there. Most of what had been bought would be delivered to her house the next day thanks to some healthy monetary encouragement towards the staff by Jim. Sebastian had his "kid in a candy store moment" when they came to the army surplus store. Heather stood back and watched as her best friend practically danced around the store, picking things up and showing them to her like a proud puppy. She just smiled and laughed at his sheer joy. His eyes were glowing and the smile on his face stretched from ear to ear. "He gets so excited when we come here," she whispered to Jim. "It's like Christmas, his birthday, and the aftermath of a bloody massacre all rolled into one for him. I love seeing him like this. All excited and smiley! Just look at the grin! It's like he took out a big nest of hostiles single-handedly while drinking a beer and getting laid. He's so happy! It warms my heart to see him like this. God, I'm excited for him!"
"Heather, Heather," Sebastian came rushing up to her. "They have a sale on fatigue pants and a bunch in my size. They never have my size. This is so AWESOME!"
"Oh, honey. That's great! You should get some. But don't get too much stuff. You want to make sure that you'll have room in your luggage to take it all home, okay?" She turned to Jim, "See, how excited he gets here."
"Sebastian, put the pants down. You know how I feel about your wardrobe choices. Fatigues are NOT an appropriate fashion choice. You have a ton of very expensive suits at home. We do not wear fatigues," seethed Jim.
Sebastian's face fell. "Jim, let him have 1 or 2 pairs. Look how happy they make him. What if he just wore them to bed and around the house for casual time. They make him so happy. They would be okay for sleepwear, right? Certainly, you don't expect him to wear a suit to bed. C'mon," pleaded Heather.
Jim pursed his lips. "Alright, one pair, but you DO NOT wear them to work. Sleep or relaxing around the house only!"
"Thank you, Jim. Thanks Kitten!"
"You're welcome, sweetie. What else do you have there? Is that a new knife? Can you show it to me?"
Jim rolled his eyes. "I am too soft for my own good. But this does give me an idea of what to do with Moran when we get back," Jim thought to himself. "Sebby, I see they have some nice coats over here. You should take a look at them. You never know when we have to jet off somewhere down right Arctic," Jim called out to his lieutenant.
Eventually, Sebastian had covered the entire store and completed his purchase. They exited the store and proceeded to the next one, and on and on until they reached the last one.
As they left the mall, Heather heard her stomach growl. She looked at her watch and saw that it was 5 pm. "I'm pretty hungry. Let's take the bags to the car and then go to get something to eat. I'll call ahead for a reservation." She called and made the earliest reservation they had at 5:45. The trio walked to the car and deposited the bags in the trunk. Locking the car and setting the alarm from her keychain as they walked away, Heather looked at her watch again. "Okay, we have about 30 more minutes and it should take us about 15 minutes to walk there."
Jim took Heather's hand and they walked side-by-side along the sidewalk. Sebastian trailed behind. It pained him some to see his love walking hand-in-hand with another guy, but he knew he would just have to get over it. She was happy and, after all she had been through with Brian's death, he guessed she deserved that much. He still worried about the long term with Jim. "He better treasure her. He's won the golden ticket of girls and he damn well better never forget it," Seb thought to himself. After a bit, they arrived at the restaurant. Heather gave the host her name and reservation time. He handed her a flashing pager. "This will light up and ping when your table is ready. It should only be 5-10 more minutes." Heather smiled and nodded.
She returned to the boys and relayed the information. Three minutes later, the pager came alive. "Guess we're ready." The group weaved their way up to the host stand and handed in the pager. The host led them back through the dining room to their table. Heather and Jim sat on one side of the booth and Sebastian the opposite. They picked up their menus.
"Everything here is amazing. Bash loves their teriyaki sirloin steak. I think I'm going to go with my old favorite of bacon-wrapped shrimp with lobster sauce and fire-grilled salmon. See anything you like, Jim or do you want some suggestions? The fish and chips are good. So is the chicken Parmesan alfredo."
"Actually, I was looking at the Bang Bang Chicken with Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles. Have you tried that?"
"No, I haven't. I'm allergic to pineapple and coconut and the sauce has pineapple in it, so that's a no go for me. It looks good, but I don't want to die so I steer clear."
"Oh, well then so will I. What about the Baked Chicken and Shrimp Alfredo?"
"That's really good. I've had it a few times. I normally get it without the mushrooms, though. Not a mushroom fan at all."
"Perfect. That's what I'll get then. Without the mushrooms."
Sebastian murmured, "I'm getting the steak if any cares."
"Sebastian, I care. I was just trying to help Jim since he's never been here before. I thought he might like some suggestions. Sebastian, would you like to pick out an appetizer for the table?"
"Sorry. How about the spinach dip? Does that sound okay to you guys?"
"Yeah, that sounds good to me. How about you Jim?"
"Sounds fine with me."
"Hey guys, I'm Tabitha. I'm going to be your waitress tonight. What can I get you started with?
"Hi, Tabitha. I'll have a glass of water and a Watermelon Adult Snow Cone to drink. Then we are going to start with the spinach dip and I'll have the Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp with Lobster Sauce and Fire-Grilled Salmon. Thanks!"
Jim ordered next, followed by Sebastian. They handed the menus to Tabitha. "Oh, before I forget, tonight we have karaoke starting at 6:30 upstairs," mentioned the server.
Heather got a big grin on her face and Sebastian sighed. Heather loved karaoke and always dragged him into it. "Bashie, you know what we're doing after dinner! KARAOKE!"
"Kitten, no! Not karaoke. You know I hate it. Please! Anything, but karaoke! Anything," groaned Sebastian.
"Yes, Bash, karaoke. You have a great voice. I love hearing you sing. I'll help you pick out your songs if you want. Please! For me! For your sweet, innocent, baby kitten," Heather whined and shot him the fluttery eyes look she knew he couldn't resist. The look she had perfected on so many guys over the years. The look that she knew could open any door, especially when combined with the wobbly chin and the pouty lip.
"Sebastian, I never knew you could sing. You never sing around the flat. I would love to hear you up on stage. You have to do it. You wouldn't turn down the request of your boss and a beautiful woman, now would you," needled Jim.
Sebastian rolled his eyes, but saw that he was trapped. "Ok, ok. I'll do it. One song. With you Heather. No solos. I'm going to need more alcohol."
"Of course, I'll buy you all of the drinks you want. Thanks, Bashie! I can't wait! This is going to be so great! Jim, how about you? What song do you want to sing? If you're not sure, I'll help you pick one out."
It was Sebastian's turn to get back at his boss and he took full advantage. "Yeah, Jim, you have to sing. Heather's really good at picking out just the right song for people. What do you think he should sing Heather?" Sebastian had a full shit-eating grin on his face and was enjoying every moment of this tasty morsel of a moment.
Tabitha arrived with the drinks just at that moment. "Bash, did you want to order something more to drink," asked Heather.
Sebastian smirked and said, "No, on second thought, I'm good with what I have here. Could I also get a glass of water? Thanks." The thought of hearing and seeing Jim sing was going to be intoxicating enough for the blonde. He covertly checked that his phone battery was still charged enough to record the upcoming show. The gauge read 75%. "More than enough. Perfect," he thought.
