A/N: As always, enjoy and let me know what you think.

Chapter 8

It had been a few days since Randi's lunch with Angel and her subsequent lunch with her lawyer, Paul "Paulie" Kent. Randi and Paul had gone over the two contracts and had noticed Stewarts "personal services" fee, a whooping fifteen percent added to the final amount of the contract fees. She had assured Paul that she had not discussed any such fees with Stewart. He got paid by the hour, just as she did.

Over the next few days, Stewart had tried to get three more such contracts signed by Randi and all three had landed on Paul's desk. Only one she had been okayed to sign after it had been red-penned, an appraisal that had taken her away from the NYPD for less than a day. That was the only reason she'd agreed to it.

The end result of the last few days was that she was tired and badly stressed out and desperately wanting to talk to someone but not knowing who she could talk to about such matters. She didn't get along well enough with her parents to really talk to them without them literally trying to take over the situation and making her feel very inadequate. Angel was okay but the girl had enough on her mind as it was and the last thing Randi felt she needed to hear was her boss's worries. So she had clammed up and tried to work things out herself.

It was a lovely day outside and today Randi had brought Fabio with her, feeling a bit guilty about the amount of time she hadn't been able to spend with him. So she had put him on an extra long extendable leash that allowed him to wander while she worked, keeping him secure but happy.

Now she was trying to go for lunch, emphasis on the words trying to. Unfortunately Hodges, who was still trying to work his way into her supposed good graces, had waylaid her just before she could leave the building. Now, amid various cops and detectives going about their business, he was trying to worm his way into an invitation with her to the Filbreg society party next week, an event she had no intention of going to and had already had Angel send back the appropriate response.

"Mr. Hodges-" she began.

"Please, call me Jason," he said.

"Jason, unfortunately, I have a lot on my plate at the moment, so I was forced to decline the invitation of the Filbregs. If the event matters to you that much, I can always talk to them about extending you an invitation," she continued.

"Now, now, that's really not necessary, especially if you have no plans to attend. Perhaps you and I can do dinner some night," he said suggestively.

Randi's insides curdled at the thought but she pasted a polite smile on her face and said carefully, "Unfortunately I'm afraid that won't be possible any time soon. I'm booked solid for quite some time. Now, I hate to say this but I'm going to be late for my lunch appointment." And with that, she called to Fabio. "Fab, food!"

While Randi had been talking to Hodges, Fabio had been meandering about the room, visiting with the various detectives who knew him. As it was, his leash became well and truly woven around various chairs and stationary objects.

When Randi suddenly called to Fabio, he took off running straight for her. And chaos ensued.

As Randi watched in horror, the leash yanked several chairs to the floor, chairs with people in them. The leash then went straight up and caught some poor fellow in the groin. Then, as if things couldn't possibly get any worse, they did. The handle of the leash was yanked out of Randi's hand and began to rapidly wind the leash back up, literally retracing Fabio's steps and hitting a few unsuspecting people along the way.

Finally, the handle caught up to Fabio, who was now sitting patiently at Randi's feet. The force of the recoil of the leash snapped it past Fabio's head and square into Hodge's groin, dropping the man instantly.

Tears forming in her eyes and her hands over her mouth, Randi could only stare in horror at the scene of chaos before her. Several officers were groaning in pain while several others, including Flack, were howling with laughter while trying to help their fellow officers.

"Lunch time," came Mac's gentle voice in her ear as he put an arm around her shoulder and gently lead her out of the area and outside. He, Stella, and Lindsey had entered the area just in time to see the end result and the look on Randi's face. Now Stella picked up Fabio's leash and the dog trotted beside her as if nothing chaotic had just happened.

"Good idea," Lindsey said. "You go with Mac and we'll take Fabio for some all-girl pampering."

Both Mac and Stella nodded in agreement.

"Okay," Randi finally said. Seeing that Stella had Fabio's leash, she nodded again. "Just don't let him have either garlic, cheese, or onions, no matter how much he begs."

"Bad results?" Stella asked.

"Last time Fabio had garlic, the gas company showed up looking for the reported gas leak, police showed up due to reports of small explosions coming from my place after I'd given the dog some cheese, and the last guy who got too close to Fabio after he'd had a couple of onion rings, passed out when Fabio suddenly burped," Randi explained. All three CSIs looked at her incredulously. "I have the vet bill for the charcoal and the ambulance bill for the poor sod to prove it," she said calmly. "I also have the dry cleaning and upholstery cleaning bills."

"Okay, no garlic, cheese, or onions," Lindsey said. "Now, stop worrying and go have some fun!"

At the restaurant Mac noticed Randi was picking at her meal, not really eating and not really saying a whole heck of a lot. Something was wrong as he had also noticed she'd lost her glow, she was smiling less, and there seemed to be dark circles under her eyes. Her clothing had also been affected and her outfits of the last few days had been less than Randish. In fact, today she was wearing a men's stripped dress shirt in light and dark blue, paired with basic black pants, dark blue waistcoat, and gold and black ballet slippers. Her hair had even been pulled back in a low, very basic ponytail and her earrings were simple gold hoops.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked her gently.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm sorry, Mac. I know I'm not being very good company right now. Just a lot of things on my mind right now and I'm really worked about things," she explained apologetically.

Mac studied her for a moment, then threw a couple of bills on the table and gently tugged her out of her chair. "Come on. Let's go for a walk."

Tucking her arm in his, Mac deliberately set an easy pace. Eventually they made their way to a quiet park with a nice view of the water.

"Anything I can do to help? Even if it's only to listen?" he asked as they walked.

It took Randi a moment but, finally, she started talking.

She told him about her concerns about Stewart and the contract fiascos. Every time she threw a contract out or red-penned it, Stewart would get hostile and over-bearing. He had begun accusing her of having absolutely no business sense and was beginning to make subtle hints about making things even more difficult if she didn't start seeing things his way.

To top it off, her older sister, Catherine, was coming to New York in about a week and had practically insisted on staying with Randi, even though Randi had tried to suggest other accommodations.

"I take it you and your sister don't get along too well?" Mac asked.

"Let's just say that Catherine and I are polar opposites. She's very much 'out there' when it comes to the Wilcox name and everything that goes with it, and is very beautiful. Men flock to her like flies to honey and she knows it."

"What makes you think you're not beautiful?"

Randi snorted. "Mac," she said exasperatedly, "compared to Catherine, I'm a damn wall flower. Accidents happen either around me or because of me, like with you and Fabio, especially the latest incident. My sense of style is completely off the wall, I've got a Goth-Wicca secretary…"

"You've got a kind, generous heart, a smile that's like sunshine, you've got even the toughest cop on the beat eating out of your hand," Mac cut in. They had stopped walking and now he faced her, cupping her face in his hands. "You're beautiful, Randi, more than you realize. Just look at the number of people who count you as a friend. Yeah, crazy things seem to happen around you and I'm sure as heck not going to be lending you my cell any time soon, but so what? That doesn't change who you are," he said. "And you are a very beautiful, very desirable woman with a very beautiful heart."

Randi had absolutely no idea what to say. Her grandparents had been one of the last people to ever honestly call her beautiful. Now she found herself slowly getting lost in Mac's blue eyes. His thumb gently brushed over her bottom lip, causing her to shiver and her lips to part. Then her eyes slid shut as Mac, sweet, gentle, prince-in-her-dreams Mac, gave her the sweetest kiss she'd ever known.

"Things will be okay, Randi," he said softly as he gently pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her in an embrace that was both comforting and softly sensual at the same time. "Just hold on to me for a while."

"I can do that," she said, wrapping her arms around him and laying her head down on his shoulder. Sighing in contentment, Randi felt herself relaxing for the first time in several days and it was all because of one cop who could see right through her and straight into her heart.