Author's Note: I was thinking about this story when an epiphany struck me. I mentioned in the first chapter that this story was conceptualized in June this year but due to hesitance on my part, I just started writing it and finally published it in September. I am not really confident of my writing style and I am just really thankful that many of you still appreciated it. I know some of you really wanted more interaction between Bo and Lauren. I know the feeling guys since I'm a huge Doccubus/BoLo fan. I just wanted to assure you that after this chapter, more BoLo interactions will be written in the story. Most of my time now (when I'm not working or sleeping) are spent on thinking about this story. I feel that I'm actually living in this world sometimes, that I'm outside looking in. I just wanted you to know that the epiphany that I'm talking about really pushed me into thinking that this story was meant to be told here. Sorry for ranting but I'm doing this to encourage myself to write. I will share the epiphany once an important part of the story was told.
Disclaimer: I don't own Lost Girl and the characters. I just used them for my story.
LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG
Chapter Six
Vex and Lauren hurriedly went to the living room and sat on the couch.
"In the local news, the New Haven Police Department received a dispatch from a 911 operator yesterday evening due to a call by a concerned citizen and reported a possible aggravated assault somewhere in Fair Haven Heights. The victim was a Yale resident doctor, Dr. Nadia Woods. The authorities confirmed that she was still alive but was badly injured and fighting for her life in the Yale New Haven Hospital as of this morning. The suspect was caught on the same location and was now in the custody of the police. It was also reported that the suspect was a lawyer and was secretly married to the victim. The police is still in the process in confirming these information. Once confirmed, it is possible that the case will be leveled up to domestic abuse and will result into the suspect's disbarment from the bar and will no longer have the right to practice law. The identity of the suspect and witness will remain anonymous until such time the police divulge the information to the public."
"Huh, good thing the identity of the concerned citizen or the witness has remained anonymous." Ciara said.
"I don't think the police should release that information unless it's necessary. There's no need to expose the witness." Vex pointed out.
Lauren remained silent.
Vex turned to her and asked, "What do you think Lo?"
"I don't know. How long am I going to be protected from all of these? And also you Vex, you are also a witness."
"Lo, Bo and Hale promised us remember? And I think their sergeant was also an honorable man. They won't feed us to the lions. We won't be exposed unless there's a dire need to do it, like if the case will go to court? But today, no one's going to be exposed." Vex smiled. "Bo won't let them. She's already protective of you."
Lauren smiled. "Okay, I believe you. And right now, I don't want to think about it. But I need to know what is in store for us today. First, I will be baking pies... "
"Pies... as in plural." Ciara raised her eyebrows. "What kind of pies are you going to make?"
"Cinnamon crumble apple and pumpkin custard pies."
"Yum! But wait, I can sense a little bit of tension. And you were baking pies. You baked pies whenever you're stressed or anxious. Was playing the violin not enough?" Vex stared at Lauren. "I heard it when I woke up. It was very good Lo. You are really a very good violinist. I was sad when you stopped your recitals. You can be the next Itzhak Perlman. What's the name of the piece?" Vex asked.
"It's The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams. I rarely play it. I'm not even in the tenth of what Itzhak Perlman and the other great violinists can do. And besides, it's just a hobby. It's like cooking and baking for me." Lauren smiled.
"You have so many hobbies, I can't count them with my fingers. What about you being a triathlete? Did you already throw that out of the window?" Ciara asked.
"No, I'm actually thinking more seriously about it. But in order for me to enter an event, I need to train for 12 weeks. And right now, I don't have the time for that. So I'm postponing it."
"See? Too many hobbies. You're such an overachiever." Ciara quipped.
"So back with baking pies. I love those pies that you are making. Do you have enough ingredients?" Vex asked.
"Yes I have enough. I already checked. After I baked the pies, we need to go to the supermarket. I should have been gone there yesterday but you know what happened. So today, it should be done. Care to accompany me later?" Lauren asked Vex. Vex nodded. "What about you?" She turned to Ciara.
"Sure. I need to get out. I mean, I cooped up myself in the house yesterday because Dyson and I were talking nonstop. He called again after I woke up so..."
"That's the beauty of a long distance relationship." Vex grinned. He sighed when he saw Ciara's face. "Okay, sorry about that. I know it's hard."
"We are actually planning to get together sometime soon so..."
"Where, here or there in California?" Lauren asked.
"Well, he said he's going to talk with you two."
"You are being mysterious." Vex observed.
"I just don't want to be preempted. He will talk to the two of you, personally."
"He will be here next month?" Lauren smiled. "I missed Dyson."
"Yeah he really missed you. And even you." Ciara looked at Vex.
"Well I'm irresistible." Vex laughed. "Is Ryan tagging along?"
"That I don't know. Your friend is unpredictable. But he may tag along." She looked at Lauren.
"That's okay with me. I haven't seen Ryan for quite a while now."
"No "I missed Ryan' statement?" Vex smirked.
"Okay I missed him too. Happy?" Lauren rolled her eyes.
"He will surely jump for joy if he hear you say that." Ciara laughed.
"I know. Good thing he's not here. So, eat your breakfast while I make the pies. Then we'll go to the supermarket. Is it okay if we eat lunch outside?"
"Yeah that's okay. It's the weekend, we need to maximize our time outside. It was so rare having free time these days." Ciara sighed.
"I agree. It's rare that we three have this time right now. Why aren't you two in the hospital? Especially you Ciara. I thought that with your specialty, you will be spending all of your hours there." Vex said.
"Well this morning, our department head texted me. He said I'll be on call today until tomorrow. That's weird right? I mean this never happened before. Don't tell me it has something to do with what happened to Nadia." Ciara stated.
"Did you ask your department head the reason why?" Vex asked.
"I didn't actually realize it until now that you asked us. And you, why are you here?" She looked at Lauren.
"I already finished my residency in 2005. But that's only one subspecialty. I can actually start my fellowship but since I was not board certified yet, I can't. I already had one year on the laboratory side. I needed another year to finish it." Lauren blushed and saw the look Vex was giving her. "From now on, my weekends will be free unless I'll need to spend my time reviewing for the boards."
"Well of course, you are already finished. Why am I not surprised?" Ciara giggled. "So are you going to submit your application for the board certification next year? They shouldn't make you take the exam. It's just formality for you. You'll ace it."
"Yes I will. Deadline is on November 1 but I already submitted my application. How about you? This is your last year of your residency. Are you going to submit your application?" Lauren asked.
"I'm actually thinking if I'm going to. Dyson and I were talking about it. But he said he'll support me whatever I decide."
"Wow Dyson has grown up! Good for you Ciara. I think you did the impossible. You tamed the dawg!" Vex cackled.
Ciara wanted to be pissed at Vex for his dig on Dyson but she knew that he was just telling the truth so she relented. "Thank you Vex." She smirked.
"Have you two finished your breakfast?" Lauren asked. Vex and Ciara nodded. "Okay. Just leave your plates in the sink and I'll load the dishwasher. I need go to my room and get my cellphone."
She went up the stairs and entered her room. She saw her cellphone and opened it. There's one message unopened. It was from Bo and it was sent to her at 3 in the morning. She raised an eyebrow and opened the message. The message was:
Q: What did the judge say to the dentist?
A: Do you swear to pull the tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth?
Q: Have you heard the joke about the butter?
A: I better not tell you, it might spread.
She laughed out loud until she was out of breath. She suddenly stopped and was curious as what prompted Bo to send her jokes like that. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit." She mumbled. She went to her sent messages and found out that she sent two messages to Bo and they were all jokes. She felt a headache was building up fast. "Vex, can you come up to my room please?" She texted.
After a while, she heard someone walking up the stairs and opened her door. "Was there anything wrong Lo?" It was Vex.
"I just realized that I sent some silly jokes to Bo. She may think that I'm weird or something."
"Well you are weird sometimes." He snickered. He stopped when she glared at him. "You really are sometimes, but you're so loveable we let it pass. News flash Lo, she thought your jokes were funny."
"How did you know that?"
"I'm kinda drunk, well we both were, so I called her before I slept."
"And?"
"She told me she laughed at your jokes and she thought they were funny."
"Really?"
"Yeah. You both have a weird sense of humor. She's the only one who laughed at your 'After Hours Lauren' jokes."
"You're not kidding? You're not pulling my leg?"
"No. Ask her next time you saw each other if you don't believe me."
"Yes I will." She stopped for a while and became serious. "She really is something special, isn't she?"
"She is." He saw the sparkle in Lauren's eyes. "You are too, Lo." He smiled. "Did you see what I did there?"
Lauren laughed. "Yeah. Thank you Vex. You truly are my best friend." She winked. "So, do you want to talk about what's bothering you since last night?"
Vex's face became grim. He sighed. "Sure. Maybe while you bake the pies? I actually wanted to ask you something. About finishing your residency..."
"Yes, what about it?"
"You said you will be very busy but you already finished your residency."
"What I've told you and Ciara was true. I already finished my residency but it's only one subspecialty. Once I finished that, I started with the lab side."
"So you're not really busy..." He raised an eyebrow.
She sighed. "I'm just reasoning out. But still... I will be busy. Trust me. With the last year of laboratory training and the board certification, I will be."
"Alright, alright. I won't push you." He shook his head. "I'll just take a shower and then I'll go to the kitchen as soon as possible."
"Okay. Where's Ciara?"
"Ciara already loaded and started the dishwasher." He stopped her protestations. "Lo, you already cooked breakfast. Go ahead and bake the pies."
She walked down the stairs and went straight to the kitchen. "Ci, where are you?"
"I'm in here in the pantry Lo."
"What you are doing there?"
"I'm checking if we still have enough ingredients for another pie. You told me Dyson's favorite was blueberry pie right?"
"Yeah it is. He really loves it. He can actually eat one whole pie. His favorite was my grandmother's blueberry pie and she taught me how to do it."
"Really? Was it your grandmother Lewis?"
"Yes. Our grandmother Thornwood was very good in finances but not in baking." Lauren laughed.
"Oh okay. Uhm, since we are both free today, can you teach me how to do it? I really wanted to know how to bake blueberry pie. If there's a pie that I can bake, it would be it."
"Because of Dy." She nodded. "That's very sweet. Of course, I can teach you. But we need to buy fresh blueberries. That's the only way we can do it, all fresh ingredients. We'll do it after lunch?"
"Yeah, that will do. We have enough flour I think. What were the other ingredients?"
"Salt, shortening, sugar, lemon juice, butter, fresh blueberries. Cinnamon is optional. Hey, I remembered. Dyson also loved blueberry cheesecake. We will do that some other time if you want. He really loved blueberries."
"Yeah I want. Let's do that next time." Ciara smiled.
Lauren looked at Ciara. "Do I need to know something?"
"Hey, you are being perceptive. That's new."
"That's not new. I am a perceptive person. But you being avoidy, that is new. So spill."
"You had hits and misses in the past. And there's no such word. Avoidy is not in the dictionary." Ciara pointed out and laughed.
Lauren shook her head and grinned. "It's Vex's word. So tell me, what's up with you and Dyson?"
Ciara sighed. "I told you I don't want to preempt anything but you being perceptive is refreshing so okay, I'll give you a hint." She smiled. "He's willing to uproot himself from California and live here in New Haven."
Lauren was caught off guard. "What, really?"
"Lo, we're both tired of long distance relationship. Seeing each other four times a year was not healthy for the relationship so we decided one must sacrifice. As much as I want to, I can't be that one because I still have one year on my residency. He said he will do it. He said he already told your parents and his parents and they agreed."
"Wow, that's huge. I mean, Dy will be here for good? That's amazing. I'm really happy for the both of you." She hugged Ciara.
"Thank you Lauren. The other reason why he wanted to be here was because he missed you terribly. That's why he said he wanted to speak to you and Vex."
"I missed him too, especially when he was in Serbia and Afghanistan. Good thing he was only there for three years." Lauren smiled.
'Well this means Ryan will just drop by anytime he wants." Ciara grinned. "Is that okay with you?"
"Ci, if Ryan really wants to come here, he doesn't need Dyson for that. He can come anytime he wants." She sighed. "I can't do anything about him. He's stubborn."
"Lo, Ci where are you?" Vex shouted.
"We're in the pantry. You don't have to shout." Ciara hollered.
"What are you doing here? I thought you already gathered your ingredients."
"We were looking if we have enough ingredients for another pie. Ci wanted me to teach her how to bake a blueberry pie for Dyson." Lauren smiled.
"Oh my God. That man can eat a whole blueberry pie. Maybe we can just turn our garden into a blueberry garden since he will be staying here for good." Vex grinned.
"How did you..." Ciara stammered.
"I've been observing you for the last couple of months. You were frustrated. Before, you were satisfied if he called you once a day. But now, he needed to call you three times a day. I don't know but what else would you be talking about? I bet you were already planning about your future. Long distance won't cut it for sure."
Ciara snorted. "How did you know that? I'm not always here."
Vex laughed. "I was just guessing but your reaction confirmed it."
Ciara laughed. "Okay, I was being clingy. But it's Dyson. I love him." She looked at the clock. "Wait, maybe he's calling. I need to get my phone. Excuse me."
Lauren whispered, "How do you do that?"
"Lo, it was a calculated guess. Most of the couples that were in a long distance relationship tend to be frustrated in the long run. There will come a time that one of them should sacrifice just to be near with their significant other. I read a study wherein it said that the most successful relationships were those couples that were living near to each other. It was easy, given their situation. But Ciara couldn't be the one who will sacrifice because she still have one year left on her residency. So it must be Dyson." Vex shrugged.
Lauren smiled. "Okay, so enough Dyson and Ciara. We need to focus on you right now. So what do you want to tell me that made you wait for me yesterday night?"
"Can we move to the kitchen?"
She gathered the ingredients for the crumble apple pie and started measuring the flour. "Vaughn, don't wait for me to say please."
He sighed. "Mother and I talked about the family business and she wanted to know my plans for the next five years. She wanted to know how much I wanted to be involved in terms of managing it. I told her that I can do it from here. Our sales from the time I managed it from here up to now were skyrocketing. She said it's just the trend for the manufacturing industry in California right now. So she's saying I didn't have anything to do with it. She said wanted to transfer the reins to Rox because she's there and it's time for to use her Economics degree from Stanford." He tilted his head. "Don't get me wrong Lo, I'm happy for Rox. She's my baby sister. But what about me? I managed the business for four years when I was there. Then another two years when I was here."
"What did you tell her about your plans for the next five years?"
"To be perfectly honest with you Lo, the family business was all I have now. Well I still have my trust fund." He shrugged. "I already have some savings. And I told you about the house I bought in Malibu." He smiled. "I also wanted to buy a house here. And you know that I really wanted my freedom – especially freedom from her. She's still the domineering parent that she ever was. But when she told me about Rox taking over the business, I really felt sad. It was like I was dumped by a girlfriend. It was worse because she's my mother. She even told me that since I'm still in the board of directors and part of the family, I will still be receiving money from her. That's a low blow and she knew it. So what are my plans for the next five years? I need to change them now."
Lauren stopped kneading the dough and looked at Vex. "I really hope that I could tell you that I understand what you're going through Vaughn. But I can't. From the time we graduated high school, I literally got away from my family and the family business. And I left Vincent by himself to deal with mom and dad. That's why I chose Yale because it's far away from California."
"I know. It's just that I was suddenly grasping straws here."
"Why not study again and get a master's degree? You must visit Yale as soon as possible." He cringed at her suggestion. Lauren saw the look in Vex's face. She smiled. "I know you don't really want to go back to school, but please try. You may like it. That's one option." She wrapped the dough balls into plastic and refrigerated them. "Or you may start your own business here, in New York or in Boston."
"Well yeah, I liked those options. I may take up your suggestion of visiting Yale soon."
"But Vaughn, was your mother's decision already final?"
"Unfortunately yes. It's either I go back to California and manage the business from there or Rox will take over. So I yielded."
"And when will Roxanne take the reins from you?"
"It will be official on the first day of January next year."
"I'm so sorry Vaughn." Lauren hugged Vex. "I know you're doing this so that no one get hurt especially Roxanne. You're a good son and big brother." She kissed him on the cheek.
"Thank you Lauren. I love you. You really are my best friend in the whole wide world."
"I love you too." She laughed. "Now, take a bath because you stink."
"Oh what a charmer you are Lo." Vex laughed. "Okay, I'll take a bath. I'll go down as soon as possible."
She winked at him. She waited for him to go up the stairs until he was gone. She retrieved her cellphone and typed a message to Bo. She thought for a while and smiled. She read her message and sent it when she's okay with it. It's time to make her fillings for the pies.
LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG
Downtown, New Haven
Waking up in the morning was a ritual for Bo. She was not a morning person so every time she was assigned to the morning shift, it really took up a lot of effort on her part to look alive. She would usually get up with her eyes still closed while her digital alarm clock was buzzing furiously. She went through lots of alarm clocks in her life. Most of them were damaged being thrown off the wall.
But when someone was knocking at her door and it's her grandfather's voice on the other side, Bo can't help but wake up suddenly. She looked at the clock and saw that it's only nine o'clock in the morning. She sighed. She wouldn't be getting any more sleep now that her grandfather was personally waking her up.
"Ysabeau, were you already up?" Trick asked.
"I'm already up Pops. You can come in." Bo said.
The door opened and Trick entered her granddaughter's room. "I'm still in awe of what you have done to your room Ysabeau. It's very homey and livable despite of the abundance of your stuff. And I like your couch." He smiled.
"I had some help from Tamsin. I told her to use her skills in interior design. And she delivered. It was her first project, excluding her own room."
"Right. Maybe Kenzi should also ask some help from Tamsin. Her room was suffocating, too much stuff. So I rarely go there now." He sat at Bo's couch.
"Tamsin already offered Pops and she refused. She said she could do it on her own. I also told her to bring down the piano. We have space in the living room. She won't budge. Maybe she still doesn't want that piano to be separated from her." Bo stood up and sat down beside her grandfather.
Trick nodded. "I think so too. It's the last gift that her parents gave to her before they died. Well, enough of that stuff."
"You keep on using the word 'stuff'. It's not so 'you'." Bo laughed.
Trick laughed. "Oh I just heard it from Kenzi and Nate. You know that I wanted to learn these new words that youths like you utter nowadays." He suddenly became serious. "Ysabeau, the reason why I sought you out this morning was I wanted to speak to you about some important matters."
"That sounded so serious Pops. What's going on? Are you okay?" Bo suddenly panicked.
Trick suddenly felt guilty. He reached out to Bo's hand and held it. "No, no Ysabeau. It's not about me. Don't panic. It's about the business."
Bo let out a huge breath. "Okay, I thought there's something wrong with you. You know that I would do anything just to be sure you're okay."
"I know that Ysabeau." He softly tapped her hand. "So can we talk about it over breakfast? I cooked waffles, lots of bacon, pancakes and cheese omelets."
"Wow, I'm suddenly hungry." Bo smiled. "Okay Pops, I'll just do my morning routine and I'll go down as soon as possible."
"Okay, I'll wait downstairs."
Bo went to her bathroom and pulled off her clothes. She realized she hadn't take a shower before she slept so she went ahead and did that. While she was putting back her clothes, she realized she haven't eaten anything since the Dunkin Donut dinner in the station.
She went downstairs to the smell of fried bacon. She smiled at her grandfather. "Thanks Pops for cooking breakfast. I just realized that the last meal that I had was almost 12 hours ago."
"Okay so eat while we talk. I also made coffee." He looked at Bo. "Ysabeau, since we were the only adults here in the family we need to make some decisions with the bar. You were aware that lots of new establishments were turning up here, especially around the New Haven Green. So I'm thinking about expanding the business. Throughout the years, The Dal Riata had attracted different kinds of clientele. They were very loyal and made the business prosper among other establishments. But we need to inject some new things into ours."
"Like what Pops?"
"Well for one, I don't want it to be just a bar where everyone or anyone can drink anything they want. I want it to be a place where friends or colleagues can meet any time, either for business meetings or social gatherings."
Bo thought for a while. "I think we need to offer some kind of entertainment. DJ booth? Bands? And we need to offer food Pops. So you wanted it to be a restaurant and bar with entertainment?"
The old man nodded. "That's the only way to go. The place was huge and all but we haven't use the second floor that much. We just store the boxes, kegs and other supplies there and nothing else."
"So if we are going to make the second floor as the dining area, where will the boxes, kegs and other supplies go?"
"I'll give up my room in the basement, but not the office. I'll start sleeping in my room again here in the house." Trick smiled.
"That's doable. But the real challenge here Pops are the people we need to take on – cooks, waiters/servers, DJs, bands, dishwashers, etc. And we need to renovate the second floor. Of course, since we are adding a restaurant to our establishment, we need to buy everything from the cooking wares, plates, etc. Wait, are we okay financially?" Bo started arranging her food into her plate.
"That's the part where we won't encounter any problem Ysabeau. I already called our lawyer and accountant just to be sure. Mr. Burns, our accountant, specifically told me that financially we can do the expansion." Trick winked.
"Then we're good. When are we going to start the renovation?"
"As soon as we have the design for the restaurant. I think while the renovation is going on, we will start the hiring process. The cooks, waiters/servers, dishwashers, etc. – you can leave them to me. But the DJs, bands, etc. – I don't know anything about them so can you please ask Kenzi and Tamsin's help regarding those? And maybe Nate and Hale also. Surely you know something about them."
"Yeah sure Pops, no problem." Bo nodded. "Maybe we can have Tamsin do a design for the restaurant. It is the right time for her to gain experience, isn't it?"
"I agree. We can also compensate her for it."
"Good idea. I'll let her know. Hmm these are good," she said while munching on the bacon. "If the two other occupants of this house don't wake up in 30 minutes or so, I'll be eating all of these."
Trick laughed. "I'm surprised they didn't wake up while..." They heard two pairs of feet trudging down the stairs. "Oh there you are! Come sit and eat breakfast." He saw the bruise on Tamsin's chin. "Tamsin, what happened?"
"Oh hi Trick, I didn't know you're here. Well I just got in between spats of ex and current boyfriends, no big deal."
Trick shook his head. "But there's Bruce and Steve!"
"It happened so fast and it was near my station so..."
"... you blocked your face? Not a wise move Tam Tam." Kenzi said while munching on a large piece of bacon.
"Hey, don't speak while you're eating." Trick admonished. Tamsin stuck her tongue out at Kenzi.
"Sorry Pops, I'm just so so hungry." Kenzi whined. "But I'm still a little bit sleepy."
"What time did you sleep last night?" Trick asked.
"Well uhm..." Kenzi both looked at Bo and Tamsin. Both just shrugged. When help was not coming, she started apologizing to Trick. "I'm so sorry Pops. I went to sleep around 4 o'clock in the morning."
"Pops let me explain." Bo intervened. "I went home at about 2 o'clock in the morning. Then Tamsin shouldn't be home by then but because of what happened, Bruce let her off. When I got here, Kenzi was still up and the three of us went to my room. I looked at Tamsin's bruise and we talked for a while."
"But you went out early yesterday morning, didn't you?"
"Hale and I got a huge case Pops. We were ready to go home when a 911 call was dispatched to the station and we were assigned to respond."
Trick shook his head. "What's the case?"
Bo told Trick about the case.
The old man nodded. "You were right Ysabeau. The suspect will be disbarred as soon as the authorities proved that he and the victim were married. Actually, even if they were not married his license to practice law will be revoked because aggravated assault is a type of felony." He thought for a while. "And your case can be decided on circumstantial evidences unless the victim will pull out of her unconsciousness. And pray that she will not succumb to coma."
"Pops I agree but did jurisprudence teach us that for circumstantial evidence to be sufficient to support a conviction, all circumstances must be consistent with each other, consistent with the hypothesis that the accused is guilty, and at the same time inconsistent with the hypothesis that he is innocent?"
Trick smiled. "That's correct. Take note that sometimes, circumstantial evidence is more powerful than a direct evidence. Circumstantial evidence based on a witness' testimony, forensic evidence like the fingerprints, etc. are powerful enough to close a case but should be consistent. So Ysabeau, you and Hale must protect your witnesses at all cost. It won't be beneficial for the police and the witnesses to be exposed when there's no need to bring them out into the open."
"Ugh lawyerly talks gave me headaches. Don't worry Pops, Bo is already very protective of the witness." Kenzi smiled wickedly. Tamsin snickered.
Bo gave them the stink eyes.
"Oh, how well did you know the witness?" Trick asked.
Bo cleared her throat. "I met her a year ago. And then last night, coincidentally she was the 911 caller."
"Were you dating the witness Ysabeau?" Her grandfather asked.
She was caught off guard by the question. "What? No Pops. Geesh. How can I date her when we didn't see each other for a year?!"
"But Trick, she really wanted to. She really liked her." Tamsin pointed out.
"Okay, hold on. I can't understand. Can someone explain it to me?" Trick asked. "Kenzi?"
"Here it goes Pops. Bo and the witness met a year ago when she and Hale were in another case. The first meet-up was so short they haven't had the time to introduce themselves to each other. Then moving forward last night, they met again. And the sparks flew." Kenzi explained.
Trick looked at Bo strangely.
"Pops, why are you looking at me like that? I've done nothing wrong." Bo asked defensively.
The old man frowned and raised an eyebrow. "When can I meet her?"
"What? Why should you meet her?" Bo was flustered with Trick's questions regarding Lauren. "She may think other things."
"What things Ysabeau? You were acting strangely once I asked you about her. What's her name?"
"Why? Why do you need to know her name Pops?"
"Because I wanted to know the name of the woman who was the cause of your strange reactions."
Kenzi raised her hand. "Pops I can give you the name!"
"Shhh Kenzi, I want it to come from Ysabeau." Trick looked at Bo. "The name?"
Bo whispered Lauren's name.
"I'm kind of deaf right now. Louder please."
Bo sighed. "It's Dr. Lauren Lewis."
"Wow, a doctor? Wait, Lauren Lewis? The name sounds familiar to me."
"How Pops? When? Why?"
Trick laughed. "Ysabeau, calm down. I won't remember it if you will ask me so many questions."
Tamsin and Kenzi were laughing at the police officer.
"Oh my God Bo, I've never seen you like this. You're like a love struck teenager. You're worse than Kenzi and..." Tamsin stopped when Kenzi glared at her.
"It will come to me." Trick frowned. "So just eat your breakfast, the three of you." He drank his coffee. "I need to attend to some matters Ysabeau. Explain what we have talked about to Kenzi and Tamsin."
"But Pops..."
"I can't think now. But as soon as I remember, I will tell you okay? Your Pops' memory was not as sharp as before. Will you be here later at dinner?"
"I'm not sure. Hale will pick me up after lunch. We'll be going to the hospital and check on the victim. We will conduct other interviews as well. Then we'll report at the station."
"Okay, be careful. See you tomorrow. And Ysabeau, you know your heart. It will tell you what you want to know. Always." Trick winked.
Bo sighed. "See you tomorrow Pops. I love you. Thanks for cooking breakfast." She kissed her grandfather's cheek.
"I love you too Ysabeau."
"Thanks Trick." "Thanks Pops." Kenzi and Tamsin hollered.
"You're welcome my dears."
She looked at the back of her grandfather retreating to the back door. She turned to Tamsin and Kenzi. "So, let's talk about what Pops and I were talking about this morning." She popped a piece of bacon into her mouth. "The Dal Riata will expand into a bar and restaurant. The second floor will be converted into a dining area. The stuff that were normally stored there will be transferred to the basement. Pops' basement room will be converted into the storage area as well but his office will remain.
"So he will now sleep here in his room?" Kenzi asked.
"Yeah. And Tam, Pops would also like to have you design the restaurant. He said he will compensate you for it."
"There's no need for that Bo. I will do it for free."
"Tam, no. You went to school to finish your degree. You earned it so might as well start making money out of it. Do it on your free time." Bo insisted.
"Okay I will. Thanks." Tamsin smiled.
"Then of course, we need to think of the entertainment. I told Pops we'll need DJs, bands, etc. What do you think?"
"Both were good ideas. We need to put ads. And then have them go to the bar and audition. We can watch, be the judge ourselves. I think we need to carefully choose the ones that will cater to our needs." Kenzi pointed out.
"I agree. Hey I remember you said that Nate has his own band? Why don't you tell him about it? He may be interested." Bo asked Kenzi.
"Yeah I will ask him." Kenzi nodded. "Looks like we are all going to be busy before the year ends huh?"
"Yeah looks like it." Bo agreed. "Hey how's our birthday surprise on Sunday? Are we good or the two of you need anything else from me?"
Kenzi shook her head. "We nailed it Bo. You have nothing to worry about. We already planned it for a long time."
"Okay, just checking. Thank you to the both of you. I hope Pops will love our surprise." She looked at her watch.
Tamsin looked at Bo. "What time will Hale pick you up?"
"Well we need to be at the police station at one 'clock in the afternoon. So maybe after lunch. I need to text him just to be sure. Why did you ask?"
"It's only 10 o'clock. Still have so much time to spare. So tell us what you forgot to talk about last night."
Bo was incredulous. "What are you talking about? The two of you were being nosey." She put out her cellphone and texted Hale. "I already told about everything last night so I have nothing to tell you now. And besides, why am I the only who had to share?" She looked at Tamsin. "You, tell us about your..." She realized what she's asking about. "No, never mind."
"That's ewwww Bo!" Kenzi frowned. "And the reason why we are bugging you is because you've been searching for Lauren for over a year and then suddenly you found her. We just wanted to check if both your mind and heart are okay, that you are not freaking out."
"I am freaking out, especially here." Bo tapped the area where her heart is. "I'm just not dwelling on it. Because if I do, I'll be a mess. And I don't want to be a mess especially when I'm in her presence."
"Awwwww. So this means you really like her?"
"Isn't it obvious? I really really really like her."
Kenzi sighed and looked at Tamsin.
"We heard it loud and clear Bo." Tamsin winked. "So echoing Trick's question, when can we meet her?"
Bo rolled her eyes. "I don't know. Maybe one of these days..."
"I have an idea!" Kenzi quipped. "If we are going to push through the expansion, there will be auditions right? Why not invite her and Vex? It will be fun."
"It depends on her schedule."
"We will find time for her. Don't tell me you don't want to see her more. Or invite them tomorrow for Pops' birthday, so he can finally meet her you know."
"Fine. I'll ask her." Her phone beeped. "Wait, this may be Hale." She opened her phone and read the message. Her heart beat faster when she saw who sent her the text. She can't fight the smile that suddenly appeared on her face. The text message was:
Hi Bo! Good morning. I was about to say sorry about the drunken text jokes but Vex told me that you found them funny. I wasn't expecting that. And I also didn't expect the jokes that you sent me. I found them funny as well. Thank you for making me laugh. It was weird knowing that we have the same sense of humor but grateful that I'm not alone. See you soon Bo. Take care. ;)
"Who was it?"
Bo cleared her throat. "It was Hale. He said that he was already awake and he will text me if he's on his way."
Kenzi raised her eyebrow. "Then why are you smiling like that?"
"The possibility of seeing Lauren later made me smile." Suddenly, her phone alerted her that someone was calling. It was Hale. "Hey, why are you calling? I just received your text."
"What are you talking about? I just woke up and saw your text. Listen Bo, I'll pick you up after lunch."
"Exactly Hale. And we are going to see Vex and Lauren later right?"
"How did you know that? You are making my head hurt."
"I am not. So I'll see you later okay? Bye, drive safely."
"You'll explain this later. Can we take your truck? Mine went straight to a tree near our house. I need to bring it to repair shop. There's a slight kink on the right side of the bumper."
"When did this happen Hale? Are you okay?"
"Just this morning after I dropped you off. I might have slept while driving. I am okay Bo. I was just shaken off. I stopped the car before it slammed hard to the tree. No one saw what happened."
"Thank God nothing bad happened to you. See you later partner."
Bo sighed.
Kenzi was slightly agitated. "Bo what happened to Hale?"
"After he dropped me off, he might have slept while driving so his car went straight to a tree. He was just shaken off and the right side bumper of his car had a slight kink. He's okay."
"I need to check with him. Bummer, my phone was upstairs. Be right back." Kenzi hurriedly went to her room.
Tamsin looked at Bo. "Was Hale really okay? Kenzi may be overreacting."
Bo nodded. "He sounded okay. And Hale won't lie to me." She looked down and frowned. She looked at Tamsin again and asked, "Was the thing between her and Nate serious?"
Tamsin shrugged. "Well from what I saw, they were very sweet."
"How sweet? Holding hands? Standing near to each other?"
"No, tonsil hockey."
Bo smacked Tamsin at the back of her head. "What?! So you are telling me this now?"
"Ouch Bo! Can you lower your voice? Of course I won't tell you in front of Kenzi."
"Where did this happen? In front of all the people at the bar?"
"Of course not! It was outside, near the stairs leading up to the second floor."
"So it was not serious."
"What? How did you know that?"
Bo shook her head. "Who would do that to a person you are serious with? Making out at the back alley?"
"I'm not the best person to answer your questions Bo."
"When was this?"
"It was two days ago."
"So the relationship was fairly new?"
"I think so."
"How was Nate? I didn't know him well."
"He's a good guy Bo. I've been working with him for two years and Trick trusts him. I think what's happening between him and Kenzi was intense, mainly because the relationship is new."
"And you know this because?"
"Well I read it somewhere?"
Bo laughed. "You're not sure?" Tamsin didn't answer so she didn't push. "Alright. I'm just concerned because you know Hale liked Kenzi very much. And I just can't tell him about this thing between Nate and Kenzi."
"I know. Hale's a good guy. You've been working with him for two years and you trust him implicitly. Sounds familiar?" Tamsin laughed.
"So you think Kenzi already chose Nate over Hale?"
"Did Hale tell Kenzi about his feelings?"
"I don't think so."
"There you go."
"So how can you explain Kenzi's reaction to Hale's accident?"
"Not a clue Bo. I told you I'm not the best person to answer your questions Bo." Tamsin shrugged. "You need to ask Kenzi."
"I don't need that conversation now." Bo frowned.
"Talk to Kenzi. I'll clean up here and you talk to her. Go!"
"There's no time like the present. Okay I'll talk to her. Thanks for cleaning up." Bo walked up the stairs until she stood in front of Kenzi's room. She knocked on the door and heard Kenzi's permission for her to enter.
"What's up Bo?"
"I wanted to ask you about your relationship with Nate, Kenzi. Is it serious?"
"Wow asking the most difficult question first! Is this an interrogation?"
"No. I'm just concerned Kenzi. You are like my little sister, you and Tamsin."
Kenzi sighed. "All I know was that we are starting a relationship. It being serious will depend on the two of us. He asked my permission to date him and I said yes. So if we are going to label our relationship, we can say that we are dating."
"Exclusively?"
"Yes we are exclusively dating."
"Good. I thought this would be a difficult conversation."
"Bo, I have nothing to hide."
"Okay Kenzi. Thank you for being very open with me. Let's maintain this kind of open communication." Bo wanted to ask about her reaction to Hale's accident but she changed her mind. She won't push Kenzi.
"No problem Bo. Just don't forget my Lauren updates okay?" Kenzi wiggled her eyebrows.
Bo snorted. "Of course you will say that." Her phone suddenly rang. She looked at the screen and saw Sergeant Smith is calling. "Kenzi, I need to take this. Talk to you again very soon okay?" She answered the phone.
"Hi Sergeant Smith sir, good morning."
"Good morning Officer Dennis. I need you and Officer Santiago now! We are going to conduct a briefing about the case. We receive a call from the hospital. Dr. Nadia Woods is now awake and conscious. You and Santiago need to go the hospital immediately after the briefing."
"Okay sir. I will call Santiago immediately and we'll be there as soon as possible."
"See you Officer Dennis."
LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG=LG
Author's Note: Please read and review. Thank you. I'm on Twitter.
Twitter Name: WonderChaser