Dating and mating habits
"We were strangers on a crazy adventure
Never dreaming, how our dreams would come true
Now here we stand, unafraid of the future
At the beginning with you
And life is a road that I wanna keep on going
Love is a river, I wanna keep on flowing
Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey
I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you."
- At The Beginning, Richard Marx
Thanks to my Montana for her ever present musical genius and to the other me over in England for her constant support and encouragement.
And of course, to all of you who continue to read and review. You guys are the reason I do this!
By early Saturday evening the stormy weather had long past, but had left a definite bite in the air. The Indian summer that had been predicted by many a forecaster had never materialized and New York City was slipping further and further into an early fall. Leaves on the trees were already beginning to change and would soon be ablaze in stunning displays of vivid orange, red and yellow and Central Park would be awash in colour. The days of shorts and t-shirts were long past and people were already sporting heavy fall coats over long sleeve tops and pants. Over night it had dropped to a just above freezing and Flack had had to get up in the middle of the night and turn on the apartment's heating system. Not to mention it took nearly fifteen minutes to scrap a thin layer of frost off of the SUV's windshield and windows.
Sam had even brought along a blanket to wrap around herself during the ride to the lab. She'd been allowed back to work after a Friday visit to the doctor had proclaimed her well enough to be allowed out into the general public, and Mac had brought her in on the weekend to help out the ever overburdened trace lab. Her fever had long subsided and the chest infection impressively clearing up and her ears unplugged thanks to antibiotic ear drops. Although her throat was still sore and talking difficult, a situation she remedied by sucking on a constant supply of ice cubes or throat lozenges.
Mac had allowed her back but with two strict orders. Take as many sit down breaks as she felt she needed, and make sure she kept fluids in her and ate proper foods. Everyone knew her propensity for not taking a proper break or eating too much junk. It was amazing to them all how she had manage to only gain ten pounds so far. She was getting quite the noticeable bump that wasn't so easy to hide anymore. In fact, she was a week shy of four months but some days looked nearly six. Though no one had the heart to tell her that. Flack had mentioned that maybe it was time they bought her some more maternity clothes. She couldn't get through the next five months on only two pairs of pants, a dress and three tops. She'd given him a hurt, wounded look and asked if he was suggesting she was getting fat. Pregnant, he had corrected, trying to diffuse a volatile situation. Not fat. There's a big difference.
God, he couldn't wait for her hormones to get back in order. The extreme ups and downs and the laughing one minute and the bawling the next was getting to be too much to handle
Flack was yawning as he stepped off the elevator onto the thirty-fifth floor. He'd worked a marathon eighty hours that week and was looking forward to his first Sunday off in nearly three months. A chance to be lazy and stay in bed all day if that's what he felt like. Although every time he said that, he always did the complete opposite. There was laundry that desperately needed to be done and Sam was in dire need of clothes that fit and there was more packing that could be done. There truly was no rest for the weary.
Gus Broussard was waiting by the trace lab. Leaning against the wall across from it actually. In a pair of well fitting jeans and a simple black mock turtleneck and a light suede jacket. Her blond hair loose and flowing and slight makeup gracing her smooth, pretty face. She was an insanely attractive woman. With the brains and body to go with it. And Flack would have had to be completely blind not to have noticed her that day Mac introduced them two years ago when Gus had made an unannounced visit to her 'uncle'. He'd almost called her a few times to ask her out, but something always seemed to come up and he never got the chance. Now he realized that if he had have pursued something with Gus, maybe something would have never happened between him and Sam. And that thought was nearly terrifying. Because he just couldn't imagine his life without Sam in it. In fact, he wondered how he'd ever gotten along without her all these years.
God worked in mysterious ways to say the least.
But Gus Broussard in the crime lab? Flack couldn't find a reasonable explanation for that. Unless she and Sam had made some kind of plans and he'd forgotten all about it. He knew they were planning on meeting for coffee sometime, but he was pretty sure he'd remember something like that had Sam mentioned it.
"So what brings you up the land of the geeks?" Flack asked Gus playfully.
"Same thing that brings you up here, I'm sure. Picking someone up."
"Hope it's not the same person. You and Sam didn't have plans I didn't know about did you?"
"Actually," Gus said, shrugging her purse up onto her shoulder. "I'm here to pick up Adam."
Flack frowned. "Adam?"
Gus nodded. "Adam. As in Adam Ross. You know, AV and computer whiz? Lab tech extraordinaire? Your soon to be brother in law?"
"I know who he is. I just...Adam? And you? Are you serious?"
"We're going to dinner and then bowling." Gus said.
"Bowling?" Flack looked perplexed.
"Are you okay?" Gus asked. "Is there something wrong with your hearing?"
"Just Adam? And bowling? In one night?"
"You've never gone bowling?"
"Sure. I just don't make it a habit. And bowling with Adam?"
Gus nodded.
"Why?" Flack asked.
"Because he asked me out and I like him." Gus explained.
"Adam. As in Adam Ross. My brother in law."
"Jesus, Flack. Are you on drugs or something?" Gus asked. "Is it such a shock I have a date?"
"No." he replied. "It's a shock that Adam has a date. With you."
"Funny, I thought the same thing when I found out Samantha was with you. I thought, what is a nice, sweet girl doing with Don Flack?"
"You wound me Gus. You really do."
She grinned. "Turns out you were corrupting her."
Flack laughed. "Trust me, it's the other way around."
"How you coping with future parenthood?" Gus asked.
Flack shrugged. "Okay...we've got some tests we need to have in a few weeks and we start those birthing/parenting classes or whatever in December. You know, breathing exercises, the labor experience, all that crap."
"You're actually going to those?" Gus sounded, and looked, surprised.
"Yeah...why?"
"Just doesn't seem like something you'd do."
"Never had a kid before." Flack reasoned. "Figure more I know about the entire thing, the better off I'll be. And the more likely it is that Sam might not kill me while she's in labor."
"And the tests?"
Flack tried to shrug it off, although deep down it hurt like a sonofabitch to think about it. He was always convincing himself that it didn't matter if his kid had something wrong with them. That he'd love them no matter what. And it was true. But at the same time, when and if the realization hit that there was a problem, he'd be devastated.
"Just some follow up stuff. Bad results on her triple screen test. They want to check some things out."
"How are you guys doing with that?" Gus asked gently.
"This considered a session?" Flack teased.
"Consider it a friend asking a friend." Gus told him.
"We're doing okay." Flack said. "First time we heard it, it hit us pretty hard. But we're coping and decided what's done is done and if there's anything to be concerned about, we'll deal with it as it comes."
"Still a shock though." Gus reasoned. "Even if you are preparing yourself for it."
Flack nodded. "We're trying to be positive. Not always easy."
"No." Gus sighed. "It's not. And Sam? How is she doing?"
"Well..." Flack said with a shrug of his shoulders, and didn't get to continue as Sam was stepping out of the locker room a hundred yards down the hall. He smiled brightly at her, thinking how damn beautiful she was in a simple pair of black dress pants and a deep purple blouse that tied at the small of her back, accentuating that tiny bit of a belly.
"Hey, Gus." Sam greeted, slipping into her sweater coat. "Here to take my brother out and whip his ass at bowling are you?"
"To keep his masculinity in tact, I will say he is taking me out." Gus said with a grin. "But yes, I plan on schooling him."
"They all need that from time to time." Sam agreed.
"Look at you!" Gus exclaimed, reaching out and laying a gentle hand on Sam's stomach. "Showing all ready huh?"
"Unfortunately." Sam sighed. "I thought for sure nothing would be noticeable until at least five months."
"You look amazing." Gus assured her. "Pregnancy suits you."
Sam laughed. "Don't give Don any ideas. He had his way I'd be popping kids out left right and centre."
"I never said that." Flack corrected her. "I said one every one and half, two years."
"You wish." Sam said. "The day you can physically carry a child is the day you can bring as many as your little heart desires into the world. Until then, you're on my schedule."
Adam came rushing out of the lab, pulling on a baggy denim coat as he came and attempting to smooth down his unruly hair. "Hi..." he said to Gus. "Sorry that took so long. Someone labelled all the samples from Danny's case wrong and I had to go through everything and re-label and re-categorize them and then send them back through GC/MS..." he took a deep breath and let it out quickly. "It was just a big old mess." he concluded.
"It's okay." Gus assured him, touching his arm softly.
Adam blushed a million different shades of red at the simple gesture. "We, uh, we should get going...the lane is booked for eight and its all ready twenty after seven and if we want to grab a bite before we start..."
"We should get a move on." Gus agreed. "Nice seeing you again, Flack."
"You, too." he said.
"Samantha, I'll call you for that coffee." Gus told her as she and Adam started down the hall.
"Anytime." Sam called after her. "You two be good. Adam, don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"That doesn't leave much." he teased. "Is there anything you won't do?"
"Very goddamn funny!" Sam yelled after him. "Peanut!"
Adam glared at her over his shoulder at the use of his childhood nickname infront of Gus.
"What?" Sam asked Flack, noticing he was staring at her.
"You knew and didn't tell me?" he looked offended.
"Tell you what?"
"Your brother and Gus. Why didn't you tell me?"
"What's the big deal? They're going out on a date. They like each other. So?"
"So? This is Adam. And Gus. She's so..." Flack searched for an appropriate word. "And he's so..."
"Be nice." Sam scolded him. "That's my brother."
"I'm just saying that they're two totally different people. She's so attractive and intelligent and he's so...so Adam."
Sam frowned. "You are not winning any Brownie points with me right now. He's my little brother. And you know how protective I am of my little brother."
"I don't mean it that way. I'm just...surprised. They're complete opposites. That's all." he laid a hand on the small of her back and bent down to give her a soft kiss. "I didn't mean anything against your brother. And tell me this, if you guys are related, how come he's the sane one?"
Sam elbowed him in the stomach. "You promised me you wouldn't say stuff like that anymore!"
"I'm just joking. You know that."
"You are so not getting laid tonight." she huffed and stalked off down the hall.
He quickly fell in step beside her and took her hand. "Yes I am." he said with a grin. "'Cause you know you'd be suffering just as much as I would."
She fought back a smile as she pressed the down button for the elevator. "So where are we going tonight?" she asked.
"Home. Why?"
"Thought you said you were taking me out tonight."
"Changed my mind."
She shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. "It's 'cause you think I'm fat, don't you." she stated.
"What? No. That's not it. I don't think you're fat."
"You don't want to take me out 'cause you find me fat and unattractive." she continued. The hurt evident in her voice.
"No. That's not it."
"Don't lie. It only makes it worse when you lie. So just admit it. You don't take me anywhere 'cause you think I'm fat and ugly and this is just a sex thing for you."
"Samantha..." he stepped in front of her and laid his hands on her shoulders. "I don't think you're fat and unattractive. I find you amazingly beautiful and sexy and I love you and you're having our equally as beautiful baby. You need to knock this irrational, hormonal stuff off. Okay?"
"But you said..."
"That I was taking you out. I know. And I was just trying to have some fun with you. Which lately, I haven't been able to do without hitting the wrong nerve and sending you off into a temper tantrum. Look..." he reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out two slips of paper. "I even went to buy the tickets early. Nine thirty showing of that Colin Farrell movie you want to see so bad. And I even made us reservations at that little Italian place you like for eight."
"Oh." she said, a sheepish look crossing her face as she looked at the tickets. "Sorry. I guess I over-reacted."
"You think? You really need to start taking it easy, Samantha. And start having a little more faith in me."
"I know." she said, embarrassed. "I'm sorry."
He kissed her softly. "You can make it up to me later." he said with a grin.
"I've decided something." Samantha suddenly announced as they pulled into the parking lot of the quaint Italian restaurant three blocks from the lab.
It was a small red brick building with black canopies over the two front windows and front entrance and white lights twinkling in the shrubs that lined the wall under each window. That evening's specials written in chalk and mounted on a black board next to the front door. It was family owned and had been there for over half a century, yet neither of them had set foot in it or even noticed it until two months ago when Stella and Mac came into work talking about how great the food and service was and how romantic of a setting it was in. Someone just had to say the word romance within a hundred feet of Samantha and she was all over it. She was always after Flack to be more romantic. He tried. He wasn't the hearts and flowers and love poems kind of guy. She accepted that. But at least he gave it some sort of valiant effort and she appreciated it.
"Jesus..." Flack said, cutting the ignition. "This better now be another I'm going to Arizona announcements. 'Cause this time, I'll pack your bags for you."
"Don't be silly." she scolded him. "All I was going to say was that I decided I wanted to start planning for the baby. You know, look around at stuff we're going to need to buy, how we're going to do the whole birth thing. What we're going to name him or her."
"You just decided that now?" he asked. "Out of the blue?"
"I've been thinking about it for a couple days." she replied. "Just now that we've come to a definite decision about the tough stuff, I feel more ready to do other things. Happier things. Especially now that I'm almost out of the first trimester."
He was relieved to hear her say all of that. Because he was starting to get a little concerned that she wasn't too excited about the prospect of being a mother. That she just kind of accepted it because it was so unexpected and sudden and wouldn't ever think of doing anything to get rid of it. That maybe she was just doing it out of some feeling of obligation to him. That, God forbid, she didn't really want the baby. He'd secretly called the doctor about his concerns, and she put his mind at ease saying that some women suffered from pre-partum depression. And that not all mothers felt that instant bond with their unborn child. And to just give Samantha some time and she'd come around on her own.
And it looked as though the doctor had been right.
"You had me a little worried there for a while." Flack said.
"Why's that?"
"You just haven't seem too thrilled lately about the entire baby thing." he told her. "It was freaking me out a bit."
"It's not that I wasn't thrilled." she said. "More that I was scared about there being something wrong and whether we'd be able to cope if there was. And I had this inane fear that if we do things too early we'll somehow jinx it. The miscarriage rate in the first trimester is high for first time pregnancies and I just didn't want us doing all this stuff and getting too attached and having our hearts broken."
He smiled at her. "I think that's the most you've opened up to me in the entire six months we've been together." he said.
"You know I don't open up that easily." she reminded him.
"I know. But I wish you would."
"I know you do. Just give me time. Okay? Just a little time."
"Just figured we're getting married and having a baby, you should feel you can open up to me about anything." Flack said.
"Don, you know I love you. More than anything. And I know you love me..."
"More than anything." he tossed in.
"But we both know that this is still a pretty new relationship and we're still practically getting to know each other completely. Hell, people who are married for years sometimes don't even know each other completely for a long time. I think both of us need to give each other some time on a few things. There's things you don't open up to me about."
"Like?"
"The bombing for one. You've just told me the basics. You've never gone into detail about anything."
"Just don't see the reason." Flack said. "That part of my life is long gone."
"It was only two years ago." she pointed out. "And you still won't tell me about this Gavin Moran I keep hearing about."
He sighed. "Good point. And I told you, when I'm ready to tell you, I will."
"Just like when I'm ready to tell you certain things, I will." she told him.
He smirked and shook his head. "I can never win with you. You always have to have the last word. Get one up on me."
"I am way too quick for you, Detective Flack." she laughed and leaned across the seat to kiss him. "Now how about you feed me and your monster of a child?"
He smiled and kissed her back and laid a hand on her stomach. "I think you're amazing and you're insanely beautiful and I thank god every day for the day you were born." he said, his voice quiet, sincere, looking deep into those golden eyes.
Tears shone in her eyes. "That is the most incredible thing anyone has ever said to me." she told him, and kissed him softly.
"And I can't wait to marry you and for our baby to be born. For us to be a family."
"We are a family." she said, holding his hand to her stomach and resting her forehead on his. "A little one, but a family nonetheless."
"I don't know what I'd ever do without you." he told her.
She gave a small smile. "You'd figure it out." she said.
Gus couldn't remember the last time she had laughed as much as she had been for the last two hours. In fact, she didn't think she'd ever laughed that much period. She'd been on several casual dates in the past years since the disastrous end to an equally, if not more, disastrous relationship, yet none of them men had appealed to her enough to accept offers of coffee or night caps afterwards or agree to second dates. It was hard trusting a man with her heart again, and found she judged them all before she ever really gave them a chance. Her own worst enemy really, because truth to be told, the majority were stunningly attractive and well educated and would have made ideal relationship material. Yet they just seemed to damn boring sometimes.
She wanted someone that wasn't afraid to let their hair down and throw caution to the wind and wouldn't care about people laughing at them, or with them. Someone with an easy going, affable personality that didn't get too worked up or frazzled, who just rolled with the punches and took things as they came. Someone with good manners and a sharp wit and gentle yet passionate disposition.
Someone like Adam Ross.
He had a great personality once he got over his initial bumbling, awkward way. He was light hearted and fun yet had the most gentlemanly way about him. Always opening doors and insisting on paying for everything and letting her go first whenever they tried talking at the same time or when they went to do an activity in unison. And he was insanely intelligent and could carry on a conversation better than anyone she had ever come across. He knew a little bit about everything and a whole lot about his job and anything that had to do with science, science fiction, or computers. And it was quite evident he was very close to his sister. And thought very, very highly of her. He steered away from talking about his childhood in New York City, safe for some memories he had of him and Sam playing in the park and plotting how they would escape their lives. He stuck to talk about their later years in Arizona and how their mother turned her life around, and theirs, and how much Clint had meant to them. He was disappointed with the way his father was acting but didn't elaborate and Gus didn't push it.
He was an avid, patient listener. And he asked a lot of questions and showed a lot of interest in her life. She steered clear of past relationship talk. Not only did she not feel comfortable talking about that with a guy on a first date (God, she was hoping he was just as into her and wanted more than one date), she also knew it was potential relationship suicide. And she really wanted this to turn into more than dinner and bowling.
It was frightening to feel that way about someone so soon, yet welcoming at the same time. Anything that felt that good could go one of two ways. Either it was too good to be true, or it was way too good to be wrong. She hoped it was the latter. Because a guy as genuine and sweet and down to earth as Adam Ross was a once in a life time deal.
And as she sat there beside him in that noisy, crowded bowling alley, watching as he tallied up their scores from the last seven games they had spent more time goofing off and talking through then actual bowling, she was thinking all these things and more. About how adorable he was with his lovely turquoise eyes and his impossibly long lashes and smooth skin and his lazy, boyish smile. That unruly hair she was desperately wanted to rake her fingers through. And those lips...she wondered what those lips would feel like against her own. And his hands. Big, strong looking hands that she imagined would feel so soft and could do some amazing things.
She felt herself flush from head to toe and looked away from him, taking a sip of her bottled water in order to cool herself down a bit.
"You won." Adam announced as he finished adding their scores.
"I what?"
"Won. The prove is right here. And you won by a pretty good spread, too. Five games out of seven at that. Thought you said you weren't much of a bowler."
"I'm not. Maybe this is just my lucky night." she teased and leaned into him.
"Maybe." he said with that boyish grin.
"Could be your lucky night too." she boldly commented.
He looked perplexed. "What do you..."
She decided to just take the bull by the horns and took his face in her hands and kissed him. A long, toe curling kind of kiss that left them both breathless. And wanting more.
"How far away do you live from here?" Gus asked.
"I...uh...I ..." Adam couldn't form a proper thought, never mind a sentence. His mind was reeling from what was possibly the most amazing kiss he'd ever received. "I live...about...ten minutes from here."
"Good. I'm about twenty." Gus yanked off her bowling shoes and shoved her feet into her shoes and jumped up and grabbed her coat and her purse. "Are you coming?" she asked.
"Where?" he responded, starry eyed.
"To your place. You know, to see just how lucky your night might turn out."
"You mean..."
"I ain't talking about video games either." Gus told him.
"So you mean, me and you..."
"That's exactly what I mean."
Adam Ross had never moved so quick in his entire life.
"I can't believe it." Speed said as he approached the familiar face at the snack counter at the multiplex in mid-town. "You two do actually leave the bedroom."
"Miracles never cease to exist." Flack laughed. "There is more to life you know. We do go out on dates when and if we ever manage to have some time off on the same days."
"Remember," Speed said seriously. "No sex in the theatre. Okay?"
"Why do you think we're planning on sitting in the very back?" Flack asked with a grin.
"Totally just stole my idea for me and Carmen." Speed complained, giving his snack and drink order to the bubbly high school age girl behind the counter.
"Are you stalking me Speedle or is this just a weird coincidence?" Flack asked, handing forty bucks over to the cashier to pay for the unbelievably large amount of junk food spread out on the counter.
"I was about to ask you the same thing. Which movie you guys going to see?"
"Some damn cop movie with Colin Farrel that Sam only wants to go to because she thinks he's cute. As if I don't get enough of the job in real life, I have to see a movie with it too? Bad enough she watches those damn DEA and Crimescene 360 shows. You think she'd get tired of stuff like that."
"Probably the cop fetish." Speed reasoned. "You know she's only with you 'cause of the gun and cuffs right?"
"And the kevlar. Don't forget that. She has a strange obsession with the bullet proof vest."
"Carmen and her are way too much alike." Speed declared. "It's frightening. She's making me see the same damn movie all 'cause she thinks this guy is cute."
"Same way we only watch certain things 'cause of the women in it?" Flack asked.
"Yeah. But we don't come right out and admit it. These two are just open and honest about it."
"Sam is brutally honest sometimes." Flack admitted, pocketing the change the cashier handed to him. "But I just keep going back for more."
"It's like a damn drug." Speed complained. "Bad crack. We really have to start saying no more often."
"Yeah, right." Flack chuckled. "Sam doesn't take no for an answer. Trust me."
"Which is why she's four months pregnant."
"Exactly. And making me go bankrupt with the amount of food she can eat."
"Well she is eating for two." Carmen reasoned, catching the tail end of the conversation as she and Sam, who'd met up in the bathroom, joined them.
"Or three." Speed said. "Or four. Or five."
"No way in hell." Sam declared. "One at a time is enough for me. And if this," she pointed to her stomach. "all ready looks like this with one, imagine what two would look like."
"I think you're adorable." Carmen said, and gently rubbed her friend's stomach. "I think you're both adorable." she said in a high pitched, baby voice.
"Oh God," Speed complained. "Here she goes again. Every time she rubs the stomach she talks like that."
"Wait until she's really showing." Carmen told him. "Then I'll really go to town."
"It's okay." Sam said. "Don talks to it like it can talk back."
"I do not." he argued, handing her a drink of cherry kool-aid to carry.
"Don't lie. Last night you were giving play by play of the Mets versus Cardinals."
"Might be a baseball fan." Flack reasoned.
"Might also be a girl." Carmen added.
"Hey, it's a boy all right." Flack told her. "I just know it is. Trust me. My first born is going to be a boy. Only boys give women this hard of a time."
"Exactly." Sam agreed, helping herself to some of his popcorn.
"You said you wanted nachos and cheese." Flack said.
"I do. But you can share your popcorn, too."
"See what I put up with?" Flack asked Carmen and Speed. "She's eating me out of house and home. And it's all crap, too."
"Here." Carmen opened her purse and pulled out a gigantic bag of skittles. "Sit next to me and we'll eat ourselves silly."
"Skittles!" Sam exclaimed like a kid on Christmas morning unwrapping the toy she so desperately wanted all year round. "My favorite!"
"Fuck, Carmen," Flack complained. "Don't encourage her. Especially with the junk food. The doctor's all ready given her the gestational diabetes lecture. I'm trying to get her to eat at least some good food. She's all ready been cut off pop and chocolate."
"Ooops." Carmen said. "Guess you didn't hear about the huge thing of Chunky Monkey the two of us polished up at your place the other night."
Flack stared at Samantha, an eyebrow arched.
"I couldn't help it!" Sam wailed. "It's my weakness."
"Is that what you'll be saying when the kid arrives two months earlier cause you've been poisoning him with crap?"
"Don't be so dramatic." she complained and sipped his Coke.
"Do you mind?" he asked. "Seriously. Don't be so damn difficult."
"You knocked me up, deal with." Sam told him, then she and Carmen linked arms and headed for the theatre.
"You're life is never gonna be the same, Flack." Speed commented. "She's either gonna make ya or break ya."
"It's way too late for that." he said. "It happened a long time ago."
The movie ended at quarter to midnight. The entire two plus hours had been the girls exchanging comments about how hot and sexy Colin Farrel looked in a uniform and Flack and Speed critiquing the so called police maneuvers and interrogation and arresting techniques. It happened every time either of them watched crime shows at home, too. They would spend the entire show picking out all the inaccuracies and offering up opinions and suggestions on how thing should have gone and what questions should have been asked and things are not as easy as the shows make it seem. Which was why Sam refused to watch any crime show with Flack in the room. She was able to turn off her cop side and just watch things for pure entertainment sake. It was impossible for him to completely turn off his cop side. He'd been doing it, and devoted to it, for just too long.
They decided to take a short walk to the next block and grab a coffee at the Starbucks. None of the group was schduled to work the next day and no one was in a hurry for the night to end. Not to mention Carmen and Sam had expressed extreme interest in having something for dessert. The two girls walked ahead, chatting and window shopping, while Flack and Speed walked dutifully behind, trying hard not to talk about work and failing miserably.
The small group had just rounded the corner to the coffee shop when two familiar faces, hand in hand, stepping up onto the curb.
"Hey guys." Stella greeted cheerfully as the couples met in the middle of the sidewalk. "Where are you all heading from?"
"We went and saw that new Colin Farrell movie." Sam explained. "And when we ran into Carmen and Tim there. What are you guys up to?"
"Mac and I went to a late showing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and then out to dinner." Stella said "You know, this is weird seeing all you guys here. Because we saw Danny and Erica as we were getting off the subway earlier and they were heading home from the Yankees game and then when we were at the restaurant, we saw Hawkes leaving with Angell."
"Hawkes?" Carmen asked.
"And Angell?" Sam sounded mortified.
"Apparently they were on a date." Mac said.
"Together?" Sam couldn't get her head around that one.
"That's just plain disturbing." Speed said. "Nice, decent guy with someone like her. Did he seem into her?"
"Not really." Stella admitted. "She seemed into her, though."
Flack snorted. "Why am I not surprised. You think that's weird, guess who else is on a date tonight."
"Gus and Adam?" Mac guessed. "I saw Gus come into the lab and she told me all about it."
"Now there's a unique couple." Stella commented. "Kinda opposites."
"Hey, as long as their happy, it's all good," Speed reasoned. "And you know, I have seem stranger things happen. I mean, shit, Sam and Flack for instance."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Flack asked.
"It means she's so Sam and you're so Flack." Mac replied.
"Just say it, Mac." Speed said. "Don't try and spare his feelings. Just say, she's so sweet and cute and you're just a big asshole."
"Well, I was going to be a little more diplomatic." Mac laughed.
"You guys are all a bunch of goddamn comediennes." Flack said. "I'm the best thing that's ever happened to her."
"I wouldn't go that far." Sam teased him. "You're in my top ten."
"Yeah," Speed added. "Like at number nine."
"I actually had him more around five." Sam said.
"You're way too generous." Speed told her.
Everybody laughed and then settled into a comfortable silence.
"You all want to join us for coffee?" Mac asked. "My treat?"
"Dessert too?" Sam asked hopefully.
Flack was shaking his head over top of her.
"Sure." Stella ignored him, wrapping one arm around Sam, the other around Carmen, and leading them towards the shop. "Biggest piece of cheesecake I can find you."
Flack sighed and shook his head and followed behind.
"She has so broken you." Speed laughed.
"It's okay, Flack." Mac chuckled. "It's not as painful as that seems. You get used to it. Trust me."
"What was that?" Stella asked over her shoulder.
"I didn't say a word." Mac replied.
"That's what I thought." Stella said and winked at him.
"We are so screwed." Speed declared.
Please keep R and R ing, I greatly appreciate it. Keep it up.
Today's plugs:
Aphina: Devine Intervention and Finding Kate (over in Miami land)
EvaFlack001: For Kate's Sake
Madison Bellows: What it Means, Positive
hope4sall: Behind the Scenes
laplandgurl: A Magnet for Trouble
Forest Angel: Coming Home