A/N: The Garage Restaurant and Cafe is a real place. I've never been there but it sounds like just the sort of place our intrepid two would love to hang out.
Researching why people throw salt over their shoulder turned out to be a tall order. Whether Bobby is warding of evil spirits or throwing salt in the devil's eye, I thought it was something his mother may have taught him to do and make for some comic relief.
The Skirball Center and Anne Carson's Stacks and Bracko are real but I have no way of knowing if it was playing there during this time line.
The cologne I imagine Dante wearing is Carolina Herrera's Collection for Men. In keeping with my belief that Bobby isn't rolling in dough, I though something clean and classic like Drakkar Noir fit his style. My curiosity is insatiable the name means Black Ship.
Everyone has special ringtones for the friends and family. I thought this one was perfect on Alex's phone for Bobby.
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Chapter 5: Squabbles and Salt
Bobby was talking to Deakins when Alex got off the elevator. She had agreed to meet Dante after work so she had taken care with her appearance. A little make up, a nice blouse and a good hair day, for once.
"Carver wants the two of you in his office this morning to go over the charges and evidence on the Alan Pemberton case," the Captain told them. "Take care of him and then get back here after lunch," he picked up a file off Goren's desk, "these reports aren't going to finish themselves."
Alex exchanged an amused look with Bobby and then noticed the package on her desk. "What's that? It's not my birthday?" She assumed it was from her partner, maybe something to smooth over their rough patch from the day before.
"I don't know? It arrived for you after you left yesterday." Bobby said, rifling through the papers on his desk, not looking at her.
Alex felt a small thrill of anticipation. She opened the envelope and read the enclosed card.
Alexandra,
The Empress Alexandra was fond of wearing a gold cross, she was a woman of strong opinions and beliefs, as are you. I wanted to give you something that you could wear as a symbol of the strengths you have. I know we haven't known each other long but this really is just a small token of the esteem in which I hold you.
You are in my thoughts,
Dante
Nestled in the cotton of the box was a tiny, elegant cross on a fine gold chain. It was unpretentious and, as she had never been one for gaudy jewelry, it appealed to her.
She glanced over at her partner who was no longer pretending to work, he had his hands folded neatly on his desk, looking at her expectantly. She was at a loss for words. She didn't really want to tell him about Dante but she knew that her bulldog of a partner was probably not going to take silence for an answer.
"It's from a friend." She said guardedly.
"A friend? A new friend? It's a cross. Is your friend a priest?"
"No, don't be ridiculous. I am allowed to make friends, Bobby"
"Oh sure, you know, it happens all the time, making friends who send you flowers, and jewelry." She knew this tone in his voice. He used this tone to distinct advantage in the interrogation room. That particular tone implied that everything she was saying was a lie.
"Don't interrogate me," she said with a warning expression.
"Who's interrogating you?" Bobby looked at her innocently. "You get jewelry today, flowers the other day but you don't see fit to say a word about what's going on with you."
Great, he was laying on the guilt. "Bobby, you don't give me blow by blow descriptions of your dates, no pun intended," she said being deliberately crude. "I haven't made up my mind about this guy, so there is nothing to tell you yet." She thought that sounded reasonable.
"Oh, well you'll be sure to let me know when there's something to tell, right? Cuz, there's just no way you would ever not let me know the minute there was something to tell." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.
"Wait just a goddam minut…."
Bobby had picked up his binder. "Come on, Carver's waiting."
Alex slipped the box into her bag and pushed rudely past her partner. They got in the elevator, both silently staring up at the numbers of the floors as they passed.
"Your being unreasonable." Alex told him.
"And your being secretive, which means you feel you have something to hide."
"Jerk." Alex called him but realized the truth to his statement.
Bobby just nodded and remained silent.
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The time spent with Carver was long, boring and uncomfortable.
"Did you two have a falling out?" Mr. Carver asked as they continued to interrupt one another and glare balefully when the other one was speaking.
"No," Alex said.
"Yes," said Bobby at the same time.
Mr. Carver looked at both of them sharply. "This is why I never became a Divorce attorney."
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Once done at the DA's office, they got back in the SUV with Alex at the wheel.
"This isn't the way back to One PP," Bobby said.
"We are not going back yet, we are going to lunch," said Alex, not taking her eyes from the road. She pulled up at one of their favorite places to eat, the Garage Restaurant and Café. She watched Bobby raise his eyebrows but he made no comment.
She waited until they had gotten a booth and had given their orders before she spoke. "Your right, I'm sorry."
Bobby elegantly waved her apology away with one hand. "I shouldn't have pried." Not revealing, of course, the extent of his prying.
"I met Dante that night after the trial," she looked pointedly at Bobby to make sure he understood which trial she meant. "I went to the Lock Down after I left the courthouse to drown my guilt in Vodka and pretzels. He asked me out and I went." She shrugged to make light of her words. "We are going out again tonight."
"Have you checked him out?" He asked playing with the salt shaker and spilling some on the table.
"You mean is he married like the last two?" Alex laughed.
"Well, you do have a track record." Bobby teased her.
"Ha ha," Alex said flatly. "I checked him out in the system, he seems on the up and up." She shrugged. "No tan line, he didn't pay in cash for dinner, he answers his phone when I call."
Her partner nodded, throwing some of the salt over his shoulder, he didn't see it land in the hair of the guy in the booth behind him. Alex laughed and covered it with a cough, putting her hand to her mouth. Whether he meant to or not, Bobby always found a way to make her laugh.
"So what's he like?" Their food had just arrived and Bobby took a bite of his Sirloin burger, the house special.
"He's a professor of Russian Literature, believe it or not. Me, I'm not even sure what Tolstoy wrote let alone having read any of it."
"Anna Karenina and War and Peace."
Alex gave him the look she always gave him when he was being a know-it-all. "I suppose you've read them?"
"Uh, yeah?"
Alex gave an exasperated sigh. "He's interested in the Last Tsar Nicholas something and his wife."
"It was a fascinating time in Russian history. Did you know that Rasput…"
"Please, I will get enough of that tonight, believe me." Alex laughed and tucked into her Sirloin Salad.
They passed the rest of lunch in pleasant conversation but there was still an element of strain between them. She did her best to be nice and Bobby was trying his hardest to make her laugh. Alex wondered why their friendship seemed so hard to maintain these days.
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Six pm and quitting time rolled around eventually. It was Friday night and everyone who wasn't scheduled to stay was evacuating the building. They had made a large dent in the paperwork littering their desks.
"You going to see your Mom tomorrow?" Alex asked, knowing he went every Saturday.
"Yeah, she had a tough time this week."
"Tell her Hi for me." Alex grabbed her bag and coat and waved good bye to him.
On the way down in the elevator, she took the small gold chain and fastened it around her neck.
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"It would have been nice if you would have told me we were coming to the Skirball Center. I feel hopelessly underdressed." Alex chided her date.
"Nonsense, you look absolutely perfect. I have to admit, when Anne invited me, I wasn't aware it was quite such a big deal. We have been friends since college but except for teaching at the same University our interests and our careers have gone in different directions." Dante took hold of her elbow and escorted them to their seats.
"Well, this must be a big deal, even I've heard about this production. My sister has been talking my ear off about wanting to go. She's going to hit the roof when I tell her about this." Alex smiled brightly, not aware of the effect it had on her companion.
Dante reached forward to touch the cross nestled in the hollow of her throat. "I'm so glad you chose to wear it."
"Yes, thank you," Alex reached up to touch the object, her fingers meeting with his. "It's a lovely gift."
The performance they were to see was Anne Carson's Stacks and Bracko. The dancing was entertaining and although Alex didn't always understand the exact meaning of each piece, she was greatly moved by the clear emotions that both the poetry and the dance wove together. At the end of the evening, she joined everyone else as they leapt to their feet in thunderous applause.
"Are you hungry?" Dante asked, turning to see why she had slowed down. They were walking away from the Performance Hall and Alex had stopped to take her phone out of her purse. "What are you doing?"
"I'm texting my sister, she's going to be so jealous." Alex said mischievously. Dante laughed and waited for her to be done. "I'm not really very hungry. I had a big lunch with my partner today."
"You've never said very much about him, what's he like? Should I be jealous?" He asked taking her hand in his.
Had they progressed to the holding hands stage? Alex wondered but she left her hand in his. "Who Bobby? He's methodical but in a unconventional way. We work well as a team, our skills compliment each other."
"He's a lucky guy, getting to spend every day with you." Dante said rubbing his thumb across the tips of her fingers which caused her to shiver slightly.
"Actually, I think, I'm the lucky one. He really is an amazing detective. He's so loyal both to his family and to me. I trust him with my life." So why don't I trust him with my heart?
Alex didn't notice the sharp look that crossed her date's features. He stopped under the awning of an appliance repair shop and pulled Alex into his embrace. "Well, I feel lucky to have you here with me tonight."
His lips touched lightly on hers and Alex's senses came alive. She could smell his aftershave, it was woodsy with oriental notes, different from the fresh clean scent of citrus and sandalwood that her partner wore. His mouth was more demanding this time. She felt his tongue brush her lips seeking an invitation from her. She opened her mouth to him. He groaned and pulled her tighter to him.
Her fingers played with the hair at the nape of his neck. It was fine and silky. She wound one finger around a curl, her mind immediately thinking of what another set of curls might feel like under her fingertips. She gasped and pulled away. Why am I thinking of Bobby at a time like this?
When she pulled her mouth from his, Dante had allowed his lips to move to her ear, placing small kisses along her jaw line. "Alexandra, let's go to my place, please."
She felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her head. She wasn't ready to carry things that far yet. She wasn't even sure she wanted to carry things that far at all. Her cell started to play Lou Bega's - Mambo Number Five, it was her ring tone for Bobby. She had chosen it as a joke after watching him dance the mambo while they were investigating Marion Whitney for murdering her husband.
"Bobby, what's up?" Alex answered the call, stepping away from Dante. They spoke for a few minutes while Dante busied himself reading the signs in the shop window.
"We've been called to a case. I have to go." She told Dante after she hung up.
"I could go with you and watch you work. Maybe it won't take that long?" Dante said hopefully.
Alex chuckled softly. "I'm afraid processing a murder scene takes a lot of time. She reached forward and touched his cheek. "You would be grossed out and bored."
"I want to see you again." He said earnestly, capturing her hand as it lay against his face.
Alex nodded silently. "I think that can be arranged."
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Alex arrived at the subway station where the body of Aiden Grant had been flattened by a suspiciously mobile snack machine. Her partner was already bent over the body when she arrived.
Bobby looked her over when she walked up. "Sorry if I disrupted your evening."
Alex waved his concern away. She looked back up the flight of stairs the victim had been on. "If he had been going up the stairs he would have seen the machine, he was coming down." She said logically.
Bobby was busy cataloguing the items in the man's pockets. Alex found the phone number to a girl the victim knew in his pants pocket. "Got a cell phone number for Gisella, girl's love a handy man."
Bobby nodded, they spent the next hour and half conferring with the CSI team and directing the handling of the crime scene. It was three in the morning before she got to bed. She and Bobby had agreed to go interview the girl in the morning before he left for Carmel Ridge. He planned to spend a couple of hours with his mom and then back to the case. Murder never allowed for clear cut days off.
