Title: Trouble comes in Twos - Part 3
There's a saying that goes, "Some days it doesn't pay to wake up." Or something like that.
Today I agree with the notion wholeheartedly.
I can't excuse my behavior at the Cat's Meow. I don't do pick-ups. I don't. But even now, I swear it was Nora I was dancing with, Nora I dragged out into the courtyard, and Nora I was kissing.
God. Even the memory, half-drunk as I was, is so clear. I can still feel her skin under my fingertips and her lips against mine.
When I finally slipped home and into bed I was still thinking about her. Not the random blonde, but the woman I wanted her to be.
When I wake up only a few hours later, I try to get back to sleep, get back to those tempting dreams with silky skin and green eyes but it's futile. My head is screaming and stomach nauseated from my hangover. I have the day off and I'm willing to use it, but since I can't sleep...
Work. That's what I need.
I take a long shower and get ready to go. I'm grabbing my keys and about to head out, when I stop stock still for a moment in shock.
My car.
My phone.
Thankfully I have a home phone and call Darius. I could use the companionship and I hope he doesn't mind taking me around.
"Hey hon, what's up?" he answers groggily.
Sometimes I'm such a selfish bitch.
"Nevermind, Darius. Go back to sleep," I answer back reluctantly.
"No, I'm up. I can survive on coffee and four hours of sleep. I'm still young, unlike some people. Why ya up alread?" he asks. I can hear the sounds of him getting out of bed in the background and I feel like even more of a heel.
"I was going to go to work and try to whittle down the stack of paperwork for the case. See if they found Simon Martins or not yet. Check on my car."
"Give me ten minutes? I'll be right over," Darius tells me. Not offering. Telling me.
I don't deserve him. Well, I do pay for it with the teasing he always gives me.
"You really don't have to," I say lamely. Really wanting to talk to him now. I have to get some of what happened last night off my chest.
"Just be ready when I get there. I don't want to wait two hours while you do all that beautifying that you do," he quips and hangs up before I can reply.
It doesn't take me two hours. One maybe.
The phone store was first on the list. Thirty minutes later, we're on the way to the precinct and I'm the proud owner of a piece of high technology that will probably be stomped on next week by a perp.
So, this is the perfect time for Darius to bring up THE subject that I've been dreading.
"So, I take it we're not going over to Nora's for lunch," Darius observes.
"She's fine," I answer, keeping my voice as calm as I'm able.
He chuckles, and I can see him shaking his head out of the corner of my eye. "That's not what I asked, but since you offered, how is she? You wouldn't let me to see her, when I came by. You tore out of there like your biscuits were burning."
"Darius..."
"Come on, hon... I know you. I know something's up," he argues.
I sigh heavily.
"I wanted to kiss Nora."
There, I've said it.
After Darius gets the car back under control and makes sure my heart is still beating from the near-miss of him swerving and almost side-swiping a parked car, he continues, "OK. This is new. I thought you said you don't date cops?"
"I don't. Which is why I didn't kiss her," I explain a bit testily. It seemed to be obvious to me.
"OK... what aren't you telling me?"
That I not only wanted to kiss her, I wanted to kiss every single piece of her body again and again until I pass out from hunger or lack of breath, whichever came first.
Damn it. This is not helping.
Oh yeah, there are things I'm not telling Darius.
"I think she wanted me too," I answer as blithely as I can.
"So this happened when? Last night?"
"When she asked me to help her undress."
OK. New rule. Stop surprising Darius when he's driving me around.
"You were undressing her?! Go, Nikki!" he cheers me after he gets back into his own lane.
I reach out and smack him on the arm as hard as I can. "Darius! She was hurt. She couldn't lift her arms to take off her shirt."
"Is that what they're calling it now?" he laughs for a minute than turns to look at me. His laugh dies away after he sees how unamused I am.
"Oh hon... don't tell me you're falling for her?"
I can't answer him one way or another so I just keep silent for the rest of the trip.
Dan wasn't happy to see me in this morning, but I'm adamant.
Evidence. Files. Reports. Hours of constant work only interrupted by the moments that I look across the desk and see where Nora should be.
I need a vacation.
Standing up, I throw my last report in the out box and walk up to Dan's office.
Leaning against the doorjamb I ask, "Got a minute, Lieutenant?"
"It's Dan. Remember?" He smiles charmingly. I see what women like about him and I still wonder if she's...
I have to stop thinking about Nora.
Returning his smile I walk up to his desk and have a seat. "I want to take a couple days off."
"Well, that's the smartest thing I've heard all day. I didn't want you to come in to begin with," Dan sits back in his chair. He seems like a man that takes care of his people. I know he's new at the job, but he seems like he's handling it well.
"Actually, I want to leave town, which is why I'm telling you this. There's a place in the country I go to sometimes," I explain, trying to keep it simple. He doesn't need to know what's going on between Nora and I, it's not his business. I need to get control of myself before I come back. De-stress. Get her out of my system.
"OK. Not a problem. How long will you be gone for?"
"I should be back Monday. If I need more time?" I ask politely.
Dan looks at me piercingly, "Is there something going on I should be aware of?"
Yes, Dan. I want to see Nora naked. Will that be an issue?
"No. I just want to take the time off. Since I have plenty of vacation time coming, I figured now would be a good time. If it's about the Dupont case and the paperwork..." I trail off. I really hope he's not going to tank my request.
"It's fine. I'm sure Nora will come in tomorrow," he smirks. "She's notorious for ignoring doctors advice. Besides, Mr. Simon Martins is still missing. They sent divers down last night but his car was empty. Rescue is going to start dredging the bottom of the canal and follow the currents to see if he'll pop up. So paperwork can wait a few days in hopes he's found."
"Which is yet another reason why I don't eat crawfish. The Mississippi has seen three hundred years worth of dead disappear down into its muddy bottom... what do you think they eat?" I shudder at the thought. "He's just another dish on the local menu now."
"Pleasant thought," Dan grimaces and pauses a moment before asking the one question everyone has been asking, or a version of it. "How's Nora?"
"She's fine. I left last night and called Bobby to come and keep an eye on her," I leave it at that.
"OK. Get out of here. And stay out... I don't want you sneaking back in town over the weekend to come into the precinct," he warns me with the sound of humor in his voice. "Have a good weekend."
I'm halfway out the door when I remember something. Something very important.
"Lieutenant... Dan. About my car. Have they fished it out yet?"
He chuckles and ignores my glare, "Nora sure did a number on it, didn't she."
"Yes, she did. My car?" I ask again pointedly.
Clearing his throat first to try to get his amusement under control, he answers. "They should be pulling it out now. They'll be taking it to the CSI impound lot. Standard procedure."
Damn. What isn't going to be ruined by submersion is going to rust because it's going to sit out in the lot. My baby'll be ruined.
Yep. I wish I had been able to fall back asleep.
"Thanks," I shoot back as I finally leave his office. Grabbing my coat on the way out, I called a cab.
Contacting a car rental business is a lesson in futility.
"Would a Saturn be OK?" asks the overly cheerful voice over the phone. Normally, good customer phone service is a rare commodity today, but I can't stand it right now. I just want a good car.
Apparently, good cars are also a rare commodity.
No, I don't want a Saturn.
No, I don't want a Honda.
No, I don't want a Toyota.
By the time I hang up, sans a rental I actually am willing to drive, I'm frustrated and still waiting for a cab. After another twenty minutes I give up and call Darius.
"Now why am I not surprised to be hearing your lovely voice again today?" he greets me.
"Darius... I want to go to the country house. Do you want to go with me?"
Maybe it's the tone of my voice, but he doesn't give me grief and just replies softly, "Sure, hon. Where are you?"
"Outside the precinct. I can't find a car I want to rent and... the stupid cab is late... and..." I'm having trouble breathing. I feel like everything is starting to crash down around me. Nora. My stupid car. That damn river. The woman at the bar. My hangover. The late cab. Overly cheery car rental reps that can't give me what I want. Nora. Nora. Nora. Nora.
"I have got to get out of this city for a couple days, Darius," I barely am able to get the words out. I realize that it's not a hangover my head is fit to bursting from. It's not because of a hangover that I'm feeling nauseated.
It's Nora.
Damn it.
"Darius. Please..." I'm begging now.
"Just hang on. I'll pick you up, we'll go back to your place, have your neighbor take care of your cat since I can't, and pack a bag or two and get outta this town, OK? Just hang on." His voice is soft, soothing, but it isn't helping.
"Hurry," I ask before I hang up.
Three hours before we finally arrived at my Mama's little country house. A half hour later and Darius hands me my first whiskey of the night. Another half hour passes and I break down and cry in Darius' arms. Three hours later and Darius puts me to bed and goes to find his own in the guest room. Fifteen minutes and I hear something in the yard, pull my gun out of the drawer next to my bed. Ten and I'm checking the grounds in the dark.
One minute ago I found a man, dead from a gunshot wound about twenty yards from the back door.
It's not even midnight, making this one of the worst forty-eight hours of my life so far.
TBC