I'll marry you, if you'll still have me….
Malinowski thoughtfully turned the remark over in her mind for what seemed like the thousandth time, as she went through the pile that was stacked in the 'in' tray on her desk.
At first, she wasn't sure if she'd heard him correctly. She wasn't sure until she looked in his eyes; eyes that flickered with the tenderness that usually followed their lovemaking…eyes that seemed to have widened in what? In surprise?
"Damnit Jack, I didn't know there was any doubt…,"she muttered as she let the file drop from her hands and wearily rubbing her eyes.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Jake Cohen said with an amused smirk, as he entered her office."Shouldn't you be sleeping off the jet lag before trying to handle matters of law and order, life and death, right and..."
"Enough," Malinowski commanded as she reached into a desk drawer and tossed a wrapped box towards her former assistant. "Stop it or I'll take your present back to Russia."
"With or without love," Cohen deadpanned as he caught the package.
"Listen, Sean. I've been gone two weeks, plus the time I was gone with that whole mess in Canada. I'm not about to make Michael question his generosity or his decision to give me the EADA spot."
Cohen nodded as he looked curiously at the package and then back at Malinowski.
"Should I open it now or wait?"
"Your choice. I know you and your significant other are mad about chess, so I brought you a hand carved miniature set you two can take on those romantic weekend getaways. You know, something to do in front of the fireplace besides what you normally do in front the fireplace," she said smugly, while ignoring his outstretched tongue."I also picked up another reproduction for your Faberage egg collection. Now am I a good friend or what?"
"If you were a good friend, you'd have found away to pack one of those hot Russians in the furry hats into your suitcase for me," he said playfully."But, you did remember me, so I guess I can't complain…too much."
"Just like a man…never satisfied with what he has. When I left you had a man, so I saw no reason to bring you another one."
"Yeah, well, that was then and this is now," Cohen said with a shrug."I'm back on the market."
"Aw damn, Jake. What happened?"
"I won't bore you with the details," he said as he took a seat on the edge of the desk."Let's just say I found out Will wasn't the man I thought he was. "
"An affair," she asked not bothering to hide her disgust. When Cohen nodded she added,"Bastard. Lousy bastard politician. You know Jake; we just put way that hit man from the Estrada crime family. I can offer the guy early parole if he's willing to take out that son of a bitch..."
Cohen smiled weakly at his friend's attempt to cheer him up. Patting her hand, he shook his head.
"As much fun as that would be, I think we need to keep the psycho-killer types behind bars and not put them back out on the street to do our dirty work for us. But thanks Brooke. It means a lot to me that you'd offer."
"You know I'd do it too," she said with seriousness that made him laugh."Now that I'm an EADA I can do that kind of stuff, so just say the word. Especially with a politician that probably lied to the voters, the same way he lied to you."
"You know, I hate to bring this up, but aren't you forgetting something? Before we murder all the politicians, remember Jack is one of those hated political types now."
"Trivial detail," she shot back more sharply than she intended.
Cohen raised an eyebrow and waited. Finally, Malinowski sighed and rested her chin in her hands.
"I'd tell you if I knew, Jake. Right now, it's just a feeling.'
"And what is 'it'?"
"It's a feeling that something's going on with Jack," she admitted thoughtfully.
"I thought you two were back on track before you went away. I mean, that whole waterfall thing wasn't just thoughtful. Doing it in Central Park in broad daylight is one of the most erotic things I've heard of in a longtime. Until you told me, I never realized what exhibitionists you two are."
Malinowski reached out with one hand and smacked his forearm, as the other hand ran through her hair.
"Knock it off or I'll bring up the taffy machine incident with that delivery guy," she warned.
Malinowski giggled, as Cohen's face turned bright red. He glared at her with annoyance at first and then, as he thought about the incident, he began to laugh as well.
"You know that only happened because we used too much corn syrup…," he gasped as he tried to catch his breath.
"It happened because sex and taffy pulling are a dangerous combination," she countered, slamming a palm down on the desk as she forced herself to take a long breath.
"About this Jack thing," Cohen started a few minutes later."Was it ...well … was it a performance thing? I mean, you know a rape can affect the victim's partner…"
Malinowski shook her head as she wiped her eyes.
"Just the opposite. Last night he was more aggressive, even more passionate than he was than day in the park," she said automatically lowering her voice and glancing to be sure her office door was firmly closed."I mean, Jack is usually all about foreplay, which is great. But last night he got right to the main event. Very intense and that is no complaint. In fact..."
"Enough," Cohen said holding up a hand."I've got it or should I say I haven't got it, for the last two weeks."
"Sorry," Malinowski said as her face brightened."The point is, it's not a sex thing. But he's preoccupied with something."
"Maybe a case? You know, we're supposed to be sending Manhattan the Vito Morelli case. Five hundred yard rule and all that. Maybe that's what's bothering him. It's going to be a very high profile case and..."
"I don't think so. I mean, he was at the office until almost midnight, but then he didn't want to talk about it. Nothing about the office. Except some nonsense about Cutter being overzealous, but he just used that to avoid…"
"To avoid?"
"To avoid talking about what's really bothering him," she said more to herself than to Cohen.
"Brooke, is it a case of cold feet? I mean, this will be the guy's third marriage..."
"No," she said as she shook her head. "No, in fact he asked me again, last night…he said he'd marry me if I'd still have him. We hadn't been fighting. He said it right after we made love. Just out of the blue…"
Cohen bit his lip as he pondered her words, a natural explanation presenting itself, much to his regret.
"It sounds like guilt to me, Brooke,"he said without a trace of his previous humor.
Malinowski nodded.
"I know. The question is how do I get him to tell me what he has to feel guilty about?"
Cohen gave her a sheepish look as he began to smile.
"Think about it. What did you do that time when Sam was planning your surprise birthday party and you thought he was hiding some deep dark secret from you," he asked, as he ran a finger slowly across his throat.