Author's notes: In case I haven't said it enough times already, L&O:CI characters don't belong to me. So, no suing, okay? Thank you. Any mistakes made are my own. Read and enjoy :o)
Bobby stepped out of the shower and dried himself off. He put on his robe and headed into his bedroom. He changed into a white t-
shirt that had "NYPD" emblazoned across the front in black letters and gray shorts. He sat down on the bed, then laid back to stare at
the ceiling, his hands intertwined behind his head. "I must be crazy," he thought. "Angel even didn't tell me she had moved up
here. Maybe she doesn't want to see me anymore." A knock on the door interrupted Bobby's thoughts. "Dinner's ready, Bobby,"
Rob said. Bobby sat up and pushed himself off the bed. Rob put his hand on Bobby's chest to stop him. "You okay?" he asked.
Yeah, I'm fine." Rob narrowed his eyes at him before moving out of the way to head towards the kitchen. "Yeah, right. Tell that lie
to somebody who doesn't know you," Rob thought to himself. When Rob and Bobby walked in, Lewis was already sitting at the
table, eating a heaping plate of Cesar salad and spaghetti and meatballs. "Uh, Lewis," Rob said, "is it good?" Lewis smiled with his
mouth full and gave him the thumbs up sign and kept stuffing his face. Rob chuckled. "My folks taught me well then." Bobby and Rob
fixed their plates and joined Lewis at the table.
It was a little after 8:00 p.m. when the guys had finished eating dinner. Bobby and Lewis went into the living room area while Rob
stayed in the kitchen to get dessert ready. He walked out with 3 bowls of peach pie with vanilla ice cream. "Oh, man, we get dessert,
too!" Lewis exclaimed as he took the bowl from Rob. "Rob, you are going to make some woman an excellent wife one day." Rob
rolled his eyes as he sat on the opposite end of the couch from Bobby. He lightly kicked at Lewis. "Here you go, Bobby," Robsaid as
he held out a bowl to him. Bobby was staring at the muted TV, so absorbed in his own thoughts he didn't hear Rob. "BOBBY!"
"Huh? What?" Rob held the bowl up in front of Bobby's face before placing it in his hands. "Oh. Thanks," he said quietly. "What's
wrong with you?" Rob asked. "Yeah, man," Lewis piped in, "you've been too quiet." Bobby shook his head as he took a bite of his
dessert. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just thinking."
"Would you mind letting the rest of us know what's running through that genius mind of yours?" Rob said. Bobby opened his mouth to
say something, but changed his mind. He placed his dessert on the table, got up and went into his bedroom. When he came back out,
he had a small picture album in his hand. He handed it to Rob and sat back down on the couch. Rob opened the album. The first
picture he saw was of Bobby and Angel, standing in front of his apartment building with their arms wrapped around each other.
"Who's this?" "Angelica Marie Pierson-St. John. I saw her today," Bobby said. Lewis leaned over to look at the picture. "Oh, that's
Angel. I remember her. She was cool as hell," he said. Rob asked, "How did you get to meet her?" "Mr. Workaholic here actually
took a week off from work to hang out with her. He brought her by the shop." "Is this the Southern belle you were crushing on a
couple of years back?" Rob asked Bobby. "Yep. That's her," Bobby replied. Rob continued looking through the photo album as he
asked, "How did you get to see her today?" Bobby cleared his throat. "The victim of the case Alex and I caught today was a friend of
hers." Rob looked away from the album. "Oh, man. That sucks. She handle the news well?" Bobby nodded. "What is it about this
pretty lady that has you so lost in thought?"
Feeling a sudden burst of pent-up energy, Bobby stood up, stepped over the coffee table and started pacing. "Angelica…Angel is one
of the most incredible women I have ever met or dated," he said. Bobby started moving his arms wildly as he talked and paced.
"She's smart, funny, beautiful, shy, and sexy. She has a great smile and a beautiful laugh. Not one of those 'tee hee' girly laughs. I'm
talking about one of those laughs that starts in your gut and comes out and is heard above the crowd. She …she can sing and loves
todance and speaks Spanish fluently. She …she likes to travel and has a sense of adventure and goes to church. She loves her family
and friends. Do you know she was married to her husband for 10 years before he died?" Bobby had stopped pacing and looked at
Lewis, then Rob. When they didn't say anything, he started pacing and moving his arms again. "Being partners with Alex is the longest
committed relationship I've been in! Angel is…is kind and gentle and a good listener."
"When she smiles at you, her smile actually reaches her beautiful gray eyes," Bobby continued. She's got …got a wonderful sense of
humor, loves to read and play video games. She's got this air of cool class and elegance about her. She's down to earth and humble
and friendly and 34 years old. Angel is very different from other women I have been with." When Bobby had paused to catch his
breath, Rob said very calmly, "It sounds like Angel is a wonderful woman. So, what are you stressing about? Her age?" Bobby
stopped pacing and ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm not stressing about her age. It's just…Angel has been living here since January
and she didn't even bother to tell me that in her last e-mail. I'm just trying to figure out if I should even bother wasting my time asking
her out on a date!" Rob turned to a page in the album, turning it around to show to Bobby. It was a close up shot of Angel wearing the
locket. "Did she have this necklace on when you saw her today?" he asked. Bobby sighed and replied, "Yeah, she had it on." "Well,
then the answer to your question is 'Yes, you should call her.'" Lewis asked, "What makes you say that?" as Bobby went to sit down
on the couch again. "It's obvious, Lewis," Rob said. "Anyone who holds onto any kind of object from a past relationship is trying to
hold onto memories from that relationship." "She's been living here in New York City for at least 7 months and didn't ever bother to
tell Bobby. It's obvious, Rob, that she doesn't want anything to do with him!" "I have to agree with Lewis on that one."
Rob sighed as he put the photo album on the table. He put his elbows on his knees, his hands covering his face as he shook his head.
"Don't take this the wrong way," Rob said, still shaking his head, "but I love you guys like my own brother, but sometimes you both
can be complete idiots." He stood up and stepped over the coffee table like Bobby had done. He turned around and looked at
Bobby. "Asking this woman for a date is not what you're stressing about. What you're really stressing about is making a choice."
Bobby and Lewis both opened their mouths to say something, but Rob held up his hand to stop them. "Hear me out on this. On the
one hand," he said, holding up his left hand, "you have Alannah. She's this fiery and voluptuous Amazon with a sex drive that's
cranked up to 11." Rob held up his right hand. "On this hand, you have Angel. She's the girl-next-door type. You have to decide
which one you want: the once a year mind blowing sex woman or the settle down and grow old with woman. Am I right?" Bobby
stared at Rob for 30 seconds before looking away at the TV. "Yeah, you are," he said softly. Lewis looked at Rob in wonder. "How
the hell did you come up with that?" "Listen and learn, Grasshopper. One of these days you'll grow up to be just like me," Rob replied
with a smile.
Turning his attention back to Bobby, Rob said, "Let me ask you something. In the 4, 5 years you've known Alannah, have you seen
her any other time besides on your birthday?" "Including my birthday, I saw her 4 times last year." "You told Angel about Alannah,
didn't you?" Rob stated more than asked. Bobby nodded, wondering how he knew. "Okay. I'm about to make a WAG here," Rob
said. "Wait! Time out!" Lewis said. "WAG? What's that?" "Wild ass guess," the Roberts said simultaneously. "Oh. A military term.
Gotcha. Carry on." "As I was about to say," Rob said, "Alannah sees you as her readily available "friend with benefits." Rob made
quotation marks in the air with the index and middle finger on each hand. "She can get with you at any time with no strings attached.
Angel, on the other hand, probably thinks she has no place in your life if you've got "friends with benefits" running in and out of your
life. So, the necklace to her is a nice reminder of the time she spent with you. If you two keep in touch every now and then, her not
telling you she moved up here is no big deal because she probably thinks you've already got someone and that you wouldn't care that
she's here in New York. But you're not going to know the real reason why she didn't mention her moving up here unless you call her
and ask." Having said all that, Rob picked up Lewis' empty bowl and walked off to the kitchen. Bobby and Lewis both sat there
dumbfounded. "Damn, he's good," Lewis said. All Bobby could do was nod in agreement.
Monday, August 14
Bobby's Apartment, 9:55 p.m.
Lewis had left around 9:00 because he had 2 deliveries and 3 pick ups to make before 11:00 a.m. Rob was cleaning up whatever little
mess he had made in the kitchen. Bobby was in his bedroom, sitting on the bed. He was leaning against the headboard, staring at the
cordless phone he was holding. He was debating whether or not he was going to call Angel. "Come in," he said to the sound of the
knock on the closed door. Rob opened it and leaned against the doorframe, arms folded across his chest. "You want me to make you
breakfast in the morning?" Rob asked. Bobby shook his head no. "Alex is picking me up a little early tomorrow. We're gonna try this
new diner that's 3 blocks from 1PP." "Oh. Okay. I'm not going to be here tomorrow night. I'm gonna spend the night with Lizzie and
Courtney." "Won't Lizette's boyfriend get upset that you're spending the night?" Rob shrugged. "Don't know and really don't give a
damn. I'm going to see my daughter and my ex-wife is kind and gracious enough to let me stay on her sofa overnight." Bobby
chuckled at his friend's attitude. "Anyway, there's some lasagna in the freezer you can take out for tomorrow night's dinner. Of
course, you're gonna have to share with Lewis." "You know, I can cook for myself." "Yes, Bobby-Boy, I am perfectly aware that you
can cook. But I figured since you're letting me stay here for free, the least I can do is cook to say thank you."
Rob pointed at the phone in Bobby's hands. "You gonna call her?" It was Bobby's turn to shrug. "I'm thinking about it. I think I may
be too late. I may have lost her." "Why do you say that?" Bobby shrugged again, not sure how to explain himself. "You're not going
to know unless you call her. So, call already." "Don't rush me! I gotta think about what to say." Rob chuckled. "Robert Goren at a
loss for words when it comes to talking to a female? I'm shocked. Well, if you do call her, tell the bonita senorita I said 'hola.' I'm
heading to bed. Night, Bobby-Boy." "Night, Robby-Boy." Rob turned and closed the door behind him. Bobby started staring at the
phone again and thinking about Angel.
Two years ago
2nd Wednesday in April
"You can wait in here, Mr. Goren," the nurse said as she held the waiting room door open for Bobby to walk through. He was
the only person in there. "Thanks," he said as headed towards the set of chairs closest to the TV. The nurse, whose name was
Abby, had told him that Wednesdays and Thursdays were usually the slow surgical days so he'd probably be by himself in the
room the whole entire day. His mom's surgery had been scheduled to start at 9:00 a.m., but they had to get to the hospital a
couple of hours beforehand to get Frances Goren checked in, prepped and other things. Bobby sat down and watched the TV,
sipping on the remainder of his coffee.
20 minutes had passed when the waiting room door opened again. It was Gabriella, one of the nurses Bobby had seen at the
registration desk. "Hi, Mr. Goren," she said, flashing him a wide smile. "Hi, Gabriella." She was leaning against the open
door, looking down the hallway. "Waiting for a ghost to come in?" Bobby asked jokingly. Gabriella laughed. "No. I'm
waiting for our other surgery patient's friend." As soon as she had said that, in walked a tall, caramel skinned black woman.
She had on a gray t-shirt with the words "Middle Tennessee" on it, stonewashed jeans and white Reebok tennis shoes. She
had a lightweight jacket tied around her waist, her backpack purse slung over her shoulder, carrying a clipboard. Her hair
was done in a simple cornrow style, pulled into a ponytail, the ends of her hair were loose and curly. Bobby noticed she had a
tribal band tattoo around her upper right arm.
"Sorry," she said to Gabriella, pointing to the cell phone in her hand, "Everyone wants to make sure T.J.'s okay." "That's
alright. Mr. Goren thought I was waiting for a ghost." The gray t-shirt woman smiled and said hi. Bobby smiled back.
"She's pretty," he thought before turning his attention back to the TV. She followed Gabriella to some chairs away from the
TV and sat down. They went over the paperwork that was attached to the clipboard for a few minutes before the nurse
took it away from her. Gray t-shirt woman got up and followed Gabriella out the door.
"I brought you some more coffee," Gray t-shirt woman said softly to Bobby. Bobby looked away from the TV. She was
holding a steaming cup of coffee in her hand. He stood up, taking the proffered cup from her. "Uh, thank…thank you," he
said, "that's very kind." "You're welcome." She held out her hand. "I'm Angel." "I'm Bobby." Bobby clasped her hand and
smiled at her. As he was shaking her hand, he noticed that her eyes were sparkling and gray. Angel blushed and cast her eyes
downward at the attention Bobby was giving her. Bobby let her hand go and apologized. "Bad habit," he said. She chuckled.
"It's okay. May I sit next to you?" Bobby nodded and pointed to the chair next to his chair. Bobby asked Angel about her
accent to get the small talk started. She told him she was from Nashville, TN by way of Madrid, Spain. Her parents had had
a wealthy benefactor who paid for them to study overseas in Spain. Her four older brothers had been born in Barcelona; she
in Madrid. They had moved back to the States when she was four.
The more Bobby talked to Angel, the more he was amazed by her. He found her easy-going and funny. She asked him
questions about his police work and what he liked about living in New York. They had so much to talk about they didn't
realize time had passed them by until Gabriella came in and told Bobby that his mom was out of surgery. Bobby and Angel
both stood up and shook hands. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Angel." "Same here, Bobby. I hope your mom gets well."
Angel blushed again at Bobby's stare. He chuckled nervously and blushed as well, running his hand through his hair. "I'm
sorry about the staring. It's just you are a…a beautiful and interesting young woman." Angel blushed again. "Thank you."
Bobby nodded at her and followed Gabriella out the door.
Later that afternoon, Bobby was sitting in his mom's room when Gabriella entered, followed by a delivery guy carrying a big
bouquet of flowers. "Here's the flowers you ordered for your mom, Mr. Goren," Gabriella said as she cleared a space on the
bedside table. She patted the empty space and the delivery guy put the flowers down. Bobby stood up, hiding his surprise.
"Uh, thank you." He reached into his wallet and pulled out a ten dollar bill, handing it to the delivery guy. He thanked Bobby
and followed Gabriella out the door. Bobby pulled the card out of the flowers and read it. It said, "Best wishes for a speedy
recovery. Signed, Angelica Pierson- St. John." He smiled to himself at Angel's ingenious plan to keep in touch with him. He
put the card in his pocket and sat down, still smiling. He now had a way to find his Angel.
Bobby took a couple of deep breaths and dialed Angel's number.
"Hello," Angel said.
"Hey, Angel. It's Bobby."
Angel perked up. "Hey, Handsome. How are you?"
Bobby chuckled at that. Angel always started her e-mails to him with 'Hey, Handsome.' "I'm fine," he said. "I bet you say that to all the guys."
"Only to native New Yorker males over six feet tall," she said teasingly. "Well, then I guess Garvin and Drew must have heard it a lot."
"I'll have you know that Garvin was only six feet tall and was born and raised in New Jersey. While Drew is 6 foot 1, he was born in
Saint Louis and lived there until he was 8. So, I guess that leaves you, Mr. Detective."
Bobby smiled. "Touché, Ms. Pierson-St. John. Are you okay?"
Angel sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine, I guess. Just trying not to think about DeMarco."
Bobby heard a beeping noise in the background. "Are you cooking something?" "Oh, no. I'm setting the alarm, locking up the house
for the night." Bobby glanced at his bedside clock. It was 10:23 p.m. "Geez. I'm sorry. I didn't realize how late it was. I'll call you
back later."
"No, no, no. That's okay. I'm too wired to fall asleep yet. Hold on a sec while I finish locking up." "Okay."
Angel was going down her hallway, turning off lights. She went into her bedroom and turned on her nightstand lamp, then headed into
her bathroom to turn on the night light. She came back out and got in her bed, sitting up, leaning against the headboard. "I'm back,"
she said into the phone. "Welcome back. May I ask where we are?"
Angel giggled. "WE are in my bedroom. Welcome to it." Bobby loved her giggle. "Hmmm. Not a bad place to be."
"Okay, just so you know. If you ask me what I'm wearing, I'm hanging up. Knowing you like I do, that's a prelude to phone sex."
"Phone sex? Now that sounds like a wonderful idea, but we've only been talking for a couple of minutes. Give me a chance to work up to it."
Angel laughed loudly. "Bobby G, you're soooooo silly!" "I'll take that as a compliment. Besides, you know I'd do anything to make sure you're okay."
"I know you would. Thank you." "Seriously," Bobby said. "Are you okay?"
Angel got quiet for a minute before sighing heavily. "I'm okay. It's just…I feel like I should have done something to keep him safe."
"Short of turning in him for drug dealing, what could you have done, Angel? DeMarco chose that life on his own, not you."
"I know, but still…"
"But nothing, Angel. You can't hold yourself responsible for his actions."
Angel sighed. "I needed to hear that. Thanks."
"Well, here goes nothing," Bobby thought to himself. He took a deep breath and said, "May I ask what has brought a Southern belle
such as yourself to the Big Apple?" He mentally crossed his fingers that Angel wouldn't get upset at the question.
Angel chuckled softly. "I was wondering when you'd ask me that. Well, if you must know, 2 things brought me here to your wonderful city."
"Really? What 2 things?"
"Well, Janelle and Drew found out their bookkeeper was skimming money from them. They weren't the only ones who had money
stolen from them. Anyway, Drew called me up and asked me if I would come and be their bookkeeper. They'd make me an equal
partner in Computer City if I came up here. I told him I'd think about it. A couple of days after that, this girl I went to MTSU with
named Leandra came down to Nashville to visit her family and to look me up because she found out I was working for one of the
city's prestigious accounting firms. She had told her bosses at Martin, Baker and Martin that I passed the CPA exam on the first go
round. They were interested in having me at their firm."
"Hmmm, I see. So what did they offer you to get you here?"
"I have 3 major clients to deal with. I work from home. Or in this case from Computer City and home. I have to actually go into the
office once a month for a full week. They paid my moving expenses and the closing costs on my house. With all that, I decided I could
come up here and be partners with my best friends."
Bobby was quiet for a moment as he digested all this information before he asked the all important question, "Why didn't you tell me
you moved up here?" Angel didn't say anything right away. Finally, she softly answered, "I didn't want you to think I was assuming
we'd pick up where we left off 2 years ago."
"You could have told me anyway. I would have been happy to see you ."
"I know you would have. It's just that I know you have your mom and her issues and your job to deal with. And there's Alannah, too.
I…I just didn't want to complicate your life any more than necessary."
Bobby shook his head. He mentally cursed at himself for telling Angel about Alannah and cursed at Rob for being right. He finally
found his voice and said, "I'm already complicated as it is. You wouldn't have added any more complications. Please…please know
that." "I know, Bobby. I know."
After a few minutes of heavy silence, Angel decided to try to lighten the mood. "Your birthday's this Sunday," she said.
"Yeah, it is."
Even though she knew who and what he'd be doing on his birthday, Angel asked, "Any big plans to celebrate this milestone?"
"I'm actually going to have a birthday party. Alex and her family is throwing it for me. Would you like to come?" Angel was caught off
guard more by the fact that Bobby was having a party than by his question. "Uh, uh, I'm not sure. Can I get back to you later?"
"Sure."
"I'd like to take you to lunch sometime next week to celebrate your birthday."
A sexually suggestive thought crossed Bobby's mind. He smiled as he said, "Lunch sounds good, but I was thinking of something else."
"Okay," Angel said cautiously. "What were you thinking of?" "Something to do with dinner and nudity."
Angel chuckled. "Ah, I see. Is this the part of the conversation where we have phone sex?"
"Yes, it is. Besides you owe me."
Angel pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. That's one thing she liked about Bobby: his ability to switch gears in the middle
of a conversation. He definitely kept her on her toes. "Pray tell, Bobby G. What do I owe you?"
"The mentioning of a sexual turn-on aloud." Angel snorted. "Excuse me? You're the one who pointed out I was biting my lip." "True,
but you were the one who said, aloud I might add, it was a sexual turn-on for me. Therefore, you owe me."
Angel giggled. "Okay. I'm game."
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
"Why, yes. I do have a B.O.B. His name is Wee Jimmy."
"Wee Jimmy? Why do you call him 'Wee Jimmy'?"
"Because whenever I take him out for a ride, I always go 'Whee!'" "If you took a ride on me, would you go 'whee?'" Angel gasped
for air. "Oh my God!" she muttered to herself.
Bobby laughed. He knew she was trying to think of something to top that statement. He also knew Angel didn't get too easily offended
by what he said, just slightly shocked.
"Gee whiz, Batman! Thank you for the lovely visual!" Angel finally said, laughing. "Damn, Robert! You go straight for the main event.
Forget the foreplay!"
"Well, true. But you haven't answered my question."
Angel thought for a moment. Then she said in her best, low sexy voice, "Si, Papi Chulo. I'd ride you like the stallion you are."
Bobby was more turned on than shocked by what Angel said. "Be careful of what you agree to," he said in a husky voice, "I may
make you prove that statement."
"Oh, really?"
"Really."
"Well, I'm still waiting to hear the laundry list of my sexual turn-ons."
Bobby glanced at the clock again and realized they had been talking for almost 45 minutes. He sighed heavily. As much as he was
enjoying talking with and teasing Angel, Bobby knew he had better practice some form of self control and end this conversation now
before he did what his body was telling him to do. "I tell you what. How about I tell you in person over lunch next week?"
"Cool."
"Or better still, at my birthday party on Sunday."
Angel hesitated before answering. "Maybe." Bobby mentally kicked himself for pushing the party on her again.
"I guess I'd better try to get some sleep," Angel said. "I have to go into MBM tomorrow for a client luncheon."
"Yeah, me too. Alex is picking me up early so that we can try out this new diner for breakfast."
"It was great to see you again, Bobby."
"Same here, Angel."
"Just let me know when you'd like to do lunch next week, okay?"
"I will. Question: is doing you considered lunch?"
Angel laughed. "God, you are such a freak! It's a good thing I like you or I would be really offended." Bobby just laughed.
"Good night, Bobby G."
"Um, before I say good night, I have a poem I'd like to tell you."
"Okay."
Bobby cleared his throat. "Roses are red, violets are blue, Heaven must be missing an angel because I know I miss you."
Angel smiled. In the very first e-mail Bobby had written to her after she had gone back home to Nashville, he wrote that at the very
end. She still had that e-mail. "Thank you, Bobby. I've missed you, too."
"Good night, Angel."
"Good night, Bobby G."
Pretty tame phone sex I know. But hey, you've got to build up to these things. Chapter 6 is on its way. :o)