Blind I

The door opened.

"It's me!" Meg shouted. I heard my cookie jar clink and her weight settle on the couch next to me. "Aww, whosocutewhenshe'ssleepin', huhn?" I feigned a confused expression. "Not you, Nakita." At her name, Kita yawned and started to paw at my neck.

"No, Kita, down!" I attempted to save my jugular. She obeyed. "What do you want, Meg?"

"Cori, Cori, Cori, Cori," She drew out my name, "do you seriously believe that I came here to train Nakita?"

"But you-"

"Called to hang out. You've been at the office all week. You need some you time."

"Okay…Wait, what?" She exhaled audibly.

"You know, R and R, fun, maybe a night on the town…" She elaborated. I leaned back, pulling Kita back to my lap.

"I dunno, Meg, I just heard a sad story, and I dunno, the night life ain't for someone like me…"

"Come on! I'll be your chauffer, and I'll make sure you don't get drunk or anything…"

"We are not going drinking!"

"Fine… Have you ever been speed dating?"

"No, and I'm happy being single!" It was true; I've been single for three years. Not even a boyfriend or crazy one night thing.

"Cori, happily single doesn't mean the funnest thing you do is listen to the radio and paint." It was true. I spent almost every night doing just that. Paintings by a blind artist sell for a lot on the internet.

"Yes-"

"Get dressed. Something fancy, but not ritzy…" I groaned and stood up, tossing a sleeping Nakita to the floor. She growled in displeasure.

[x]-[x]

"OH. EM. GEE. Cori, you look…"

"Stupid? Out of place?"

"Fabulous!" I nervously picked at my dress. It was just a simple strapless dress.

"I don't know, Meg, why would I want to?"

"So you don't grow old alone!" My mind drifted to Paris and Claire. I wouldn't want to be like them. "Good call on the dress, black is so your color!"

"I would know that how?"

"Whatever. Come here." I obeyed. She started pinning my hair back in the oddest of places. "Perfect." I rolled my eyes.

"Let's get this over with." I slipped my darkened glasses on and picked up my cane.

[x]-[x]

"Hi! I'm Max Norman!" A bouncy young man shook my hand.

"Cori LaVey." I replied in a flat, monotone voice.

"Like the famous Detective!"

"I am Detective LaVey, yes."

"Wow! What are you working on right now?"

"I can't discuss that outside the office…"

"Aw, but, you can tell me…!"

"No I really can't…"

"Did everyone ever tell you that you're really hot?" I stared at him. I waited out the silence until I heard the bell.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Norman…"

"Nice to meet you too, Cori!" I leaned my head back, then took a sip of water. I heard someone sit across from me.

"Axel Walker," He snapped his fingers.

"You work with the blind?" I asked, accepting his handshake.

"My friend does a lot of therapy for them. I'm a pilot for the local hospital's AirVac helicopter."

"Cori LaVey, I'm a detective for the Mesa Police, Consultant to the Phoenix FBI."

"That's pretty cool. A blind detective. I would've taken you for a telemarketer, but, two things threw me off. One, your blind, and two you are stunningly attractive." I smiled.

"Thanks. So, have you had any weird hospital calls recently?"

"Uh, yeah, actually. We had a man get stuck in his Hot tub. He was a bigger guy, and it was a smaller tub. We had to cut the side of the tub to get him out. What about you?"

"Well, I shouldn't say this, but we're working on a serial killer case."

"Really? That's cool! A couple of the guys at work convinced me I needed to get out. It's hard to find someone that understands working three days nonstop."

"I get that. I hardly left the office this week." The bell rung.

"I hope we can talk sometime again, Cori."

"I'll see to that, Axel."

The rest of the night was uneventful. I had four more dates; one with an Alien finder, one with a chef, one with an organic food retailer, and one with a college grad student. I elected to give my phone number to Axel and the organic food dude. I only got Axel's back.

Meg came to escort me back to the car. I could've found it but she wanted the details of my 'night on the town'.

"I scored! I got this one guy; he was amazingly attractive aaaaaand he can cook! And this other really funny dude, he hunts aliens. Isn't that hilarious? And one other, he really likes murder mysteries, and he has the coolest name: Norman!"

"That's nice…Wait. Norman? Ugh, that guy called me hot…"

"That's a compliment," Meg pointed out.

"Not coming from him. I only got one guy: Axel, he works at the hospital."

"Ah, I remember him. I gave him my number, didn't get his back, though."

"Come on, I gotta get home, gotta be in the office by eight."

[x]-[x]

"Time magazine: 'Marvels of Modern Forensics: Detective LaVey':

Excerpt from LaVey's autobiography "Blind I"

"My love life? Well, basic information includes that I've never been married, I have had only three- Y'know what? You don't need to know any of this. It's really personal. Especially since the next thing on the list my publisher gave me is very Personal, so, no, you aren't getting any more from that." Ever tenacious, that LaVey.