I finally have a review! You're the bomb, Nutmeg9cat! I mean, there's something to be said for spilling your guts and knowing someone is listening/reading, but it's gratifying to get some sort of response besides, "Oh, sorry, what did you say?" I'm glad you're enjoying it and I hope to hear from you again.

Chapter Five: Night At the Ball

"So, when are you moving in?" I asked Fraser in my apartment the next day.

"Well, it's not exactly set in stone," he said, taking a seat on my second-hand sofa. "I ought to at least look at a couple of other options."

"But you'd be living next to me. And you said yourself that you and Dief are used to roughing it, so what's the problem?"

"There are pros and cons to living next to you, you know."

"Such as?"

"Well, on the pro side, if I thought of something in the middle of the night that would shed light on a case, I could just step across the hall and tell you."

"In the middle of the night?"

"Yes. Epiphanies sometimes come to me in my dreams."

"...Isn't that a con?"

"Oh, no. It ensures that sleep won't cause me to forget what I thought of before I get the chance to tell you. On the con side, if your landlady could hear your dance practice in the apartment below yours, it stands to reason that I might be able to hear it in the one across from you."

I frowned. "She never said anything. And I doubt you'd hear it... It would have to go through two walls, not just one floor. And... I haven't danced for a while." I missed it. But it made me miss Stella.

"Perhaps not, but it's something to consider. On the other hand, it would make for convenient carpooling."

"Yeah, exactly."

"But Diefenbaker would probably start 'hounding' you for treats whenever you're home and I'm not."

Dief made a "Row" sound that seemed to say, "How dare you?"

"Eh... we'd figure it out." I petted Dief's head and went to sit by Fraser. "Where else are you looking?"

"Closer to my old neighborhood."

"That was not a good neighborhood. Drug dealers are scared to stay in that neighborhood, and my snitches won't go near it."

"I think you're exaggerating. I got to know the people there."

"You miss 'em?"

"I feel I did some good there."

"Will you stop being a saint and do something selfish for a change?"

"I'm just considering various possibilities."

"Fine, let me be selfish for once."

He glanced at me. "I'm sorry, Ray. I didn't know it was so important to you."

Great. Now he was making me sound pathetic. "Well, I don't want you to live here if you won't like it," I said defensively. "So go check out your other options."

"All right."

Awkward silence.

"Well, I should go if I want to tour another building this afternoon."

"You want to get lunch?"

"No, that's all right. Come on, Diefenbaker." Fraser headed for the door.

I grabbed Dief as he was getting up off the floor and mouthed at him, "Get him to live here." I doubted he understood me at all, or that he would try to influence Fraser even if he could understand me, but it made me feel a little better that Dief gave what could be mistaken for a little canine nod. Maybe it was just a mini sneeze. The floor was a little dusty.

I had a sandwich for lunch and then Welsh called me about some report I'd forgotten to file, or filed incorrectly or something. I didn't have anything to do other than feel sorry for myself about not going bowling that night, so I went down to the precinct.

I was surprised to find Francesca there, but I saw that she was on the phone, and I figured she probably liked to use the phone there to gossip where her family wouldn't overhear or yell at her to let someone else have a turn.

I quickly found the file Welsh had overlooked in my desk and took it to his office.

He met me at the door and yelled, "Francesca, you'd better be on a local call." She waved at him and kept talking. He looked at me. "Oh, you got it."

"Yeah, I filed it under violent crimes."

"Why can't you do everything alphabetically like the rest of us?"

"I do... Violent starts with a V."

For a moment, he looked like he was going to get violent, himself. "Eesh... you sound like her," he said, nodding at Franny. He took the file. "That's it. You can go."

"Yes, sir." I walked back toward my desk, kind of out of habit, and as I passed Franny, I heard her talking.

"Hey, so guess what! I blew off my date for tonight, and I can go bowling with you guys after all." After a short pause, she shook her head, smiling. "Now, Fraze, don't worry about a thing. I'm sure Ray will be fine with it... Trust me, he will... Well, I wanna go. Do you not want me to go? ...Oh, come on, what's so terrible about a bowling alley? Which one are you going to? ...Fine. You know what? I'll just go with someone else, then. Or call that guy back, which is kind of humiliating, so thanks a lot... Yeah... yeah, I know... okay. Seeya."

I had sat at my desk, and when she hung up I pretended to be engrossed in the clutter at one side of it. Then I heard her give a tiny sigh, like maybe she was almost crying. I bit my lip. She wouldn't want me bugging her now. But I really wanted to help—that had to count for something, right?

I got up and went over to her workstation. "Hey... you okay?" I asked softly, not wanting to put her on the defensive.

She spared me a glance, and there were definitely tears in her eyes. "Oh... yeah, it's fine."

"No, come on. You can tell me."

She put her elbows on her desk and sighed into her hands. "That jerk I was going out with... I called him to cancel, and before I could say anything, he... he said he'd made other plans. Said he got a better offer. What the hell does that mean, 'got a better offer'?"

I knew, but I wasn't about to tell her, that it meant one of two things: Either the other girl was prettier, or the other girl was willing to jump in bed after the first date. "I'm sorry," I said. "Want me to go beat him up?"

She laughed a little, and a tear ran down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly. "Nah. That's too good for him."

"You're right. That was probably his end game all along. Guys are dying to get beat up by me."

She snorted. "I don't think you're trying to imply what you seem to be implying."

"I don't even know what I'm implying—I just wanna see you smile."

She made her mouth tight for a second to get herself under control and then looked up with a little smile. "Thanks."

"That's more like it. Hey, uh..." I hesitated. Maybe I shouldn't press my luck. But maybe this was the best chance I'd get. "Why don't you and I go see a flick tonight? I'm not doing anything."

"Mm..."

"They didn't invite me, either."

"Hmm." The little smile was back. "Guess I sounded kinda desperate."

"I don't mind being second choice." Or is it third? "We can make it really informal. I can get you after dinner, and we'll see the movie and that's it. Whatever's playing."

"You don't mind seeing a romantic suspense thingy?"

I leaned toward her like I was about to reveal a deep, dark secret. "I'm a closet romantic suspense thingy fanatic."

She giggled. "Okay, you're on. But can you park up the road a little? I don't want Ray to see you pick me up. He'd be a pain about it."

"No problem. What time?"

"Seven-thirty?"

"I'll be there."

I could hardly believe I had a date with Franny. I kept telling myself I needed to keep it low-key, because I had said the word "informal" to her. We weren't having dinner first. We weren't having drinks after. No dancing, no walk in the moonlight... just the movie. And furthermore, I was supposed to be cheering her up, not making her rethink our relationship.

I was right on time to pick her up, and she didn't keep me waiting more than a couple of minutes.

She was wearing a cute little suit dress with a skirt that ended mid-thigh. Her neckline was more modest than usual, but still a focal point, and a wide belt accentuated her hips. She carried a light jacket over one arm and a purse hung from her shoulder. "Am I late?" she asked.

"You're fine," I said, easily choosing discretion. And a double-meaning. She was hella fine. I felt a little under-dressed in my jeans, maroon T-shirt and button-down shirt. At least they were my good jeans.

"I was trying to avoid Ma; she's been asking questions about my date all day."

"Got it."

We didn't talk much on our way to the theater. Franny started to open her purse when we got to the ticket counter, but I patted her hands away.

"No, I got this," I said.

"You sure?"

"Absolutely."

She smiled and waited for me to pay. "Thanks," she said when I handed her ticket to her.

"Wanna get popcorn?"

She looked up at me. "Okay."

"Let's get a big one and share it."

"Okay." She didn't hesitate. Maybe it was because I was still kind of like family, but it definitely meant she wasn't afraid of getting cooties from me, so I was glad.

I don't remember a lot of details about the movie—who was in it, what the main plot points were—but there was a decent car chase, and some interesting twists, and a good kiss at the end... a real textbook romantic suspense thingy.

I do remember our hands brushing a couple of times over the popcorn bowl. The first time it happened, she whispered "Sorry" and pulled her hand back.

"Go ahead," I said, holding out the bowl for her to grab a handful.

The next time it happened, neither of us said anything. We just moved on. That was nice. No pressure.

When the leading man said something stupid to the leading lady, Franny grabbed a handful of popcorn and threw it at the screen, yelling, "Come on!"

I laughed with a few other audience members, but some of them loudly hissed, "Shhh!"

When he said something else lame later, I grabbed a handful of popcorn, held the bowl (which was getting low at this point) out to Franny so she could get some, and then we both threw them toward the screen.

"Idiot,"I said.

"Moron!" yelled Franny.

A young guy two rows in front of us got showered with it, but he was one of the ones laughing.

"Will you cut it out?" said a woman behind us.

"Keep it down, or I'll get an usher to take you out," threatened the guy with her.

"Try it," I muttered, checking to make sure I'd brought my badge and pulling it out of my pocket just far enough for Franny to see what it was.

She put a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh.

But we were quiet for the last fifteen minutes or so, and the guy didn't make good on his threat.

"That was really fun," Franny said on the way back to the car.

"Yeah, it was."

"Boy, that guy didn't know how to smooth-talk his girl."

"Seriously. Even Fraser does better than that." I wished I hadn't said it as soon as I did, because I didn't want to make her think about him when we were out trying to forget how he and Ray ditched us.

She didn't seem bothered, though. "Even the deaf wolf does better!"

"Ha, yeah." I opened the passenger door for her and she got into the car.

"Hey, um... have you ever had gelato?" she asked when I got into the driver's seat.

"Gelato? That's Italian ice cream, right?"

"Pretty much. It's really good. I know this little place I think is open late. Want to check it out?"

I wanted to say yes right away, but I knew it would be smarter to put it off for another time. I might get a second date out of it. "I don't know... it's already nine-thirty. If we go there it'll be after ten by the time you get home. Is that okay?"

"Sure. It's not like I have a curfew."

"Okay, if you're sure."

So, maybe this would be our one and only date... Cinderella's trip to the ball. Then it was back to the kitchen to do more dishes. Or whatever Cinderella did before she married the prince.

The gelato turned out to be super good, though. And Franny looked really cute eating it.

Leaving you on a fluffy note this time... It doesn't get much better than that. Let me know what you think! ~Ray K.