#5 – Under the Rain
"I don't think this is gonna let up anytime soon."
Mia looked up at the dark skies and could only agree with Diego. Sighing in defeat, she sat back into the car seat.
Her boyfriend gave her a questing glance from the corner of his eye. He had his arms crossed over the steering wheel, and his chin resting upon them. They had waited for the unpredicted and violent downpour to stop for ten minutes now, and it didn't look like they would get an occasion to cross the parking lot to their office without getting wet. And it didn't help that Mia broke their only umbrella the previous week.
"Can't you park somewhere closer?" Mia asked.
"For the third time, kitten, I can't. This was the only available spot. Although it might sound childish of me, I would like to point out that this wouldn't have happened if we had left sooner; say... before that twenty-minute shower you took this morning."
Mia blinked, and growled, though it was barely audible with the sound of enormous drops of water hitting the windscreen. "That nerve! I took a shower because I just couldn't go to work in the state I was in this morning! Do you think I want people to be able to tell, with a single glance, what we've been doing in that bed since six am?" Mia's cheeks turned a nice shade of scarlet. "That would be indecent!"
"Would be hot." Diego chuckled when Mia swatted at him. "Come on, kitten, take a joke."
"You insufferable man."
"I love you too." The smirking man leaned over and gave her cheek a kiss.
Mia huffed and fought the smile that was threatening to take over her features, to no avail. Diego Armando had that kind of effect on her; she couldn't stay mad at him, even though he could get really annoying. Oh, well, she wouldn't have him any other way, after all.
Diego took another look at the dark clouds, as if the situation could have possibly changed in five minutes, and thought for a few seconds. "Come on," he said then, a boyish grin on his face. "Let's get a move on."
"What do you mean?" Mia's eyes widened when she saw him open his car door. "Diego, it's raining elephants out there! You'll be soaked before you cross the street!"
"We'll use my coat as an umbrella. Unless you want to spend the entire day holed up in my car." He left her no room to speak as he grabbed his dark red coat and draped it over his head, slipping outside and under the wall of water.
Mia groaned as his door slammed shut; she had no choice, now, had she? She couldn't exactly leave Diego waiting for her in the rain. She reluctantly pushed her own door open and fought not to gasp at the water that assaulted her hand.
Relax.
Breathe in. Slowly.
Go! Mia sprang from her seat and closed her door the second she was out of the car. She ran to Diego, who was already holding out part of his coat for her to take shelter under.
"Run!" she yelled to cover the sound of water hitting the ground all around them.
The couple ran as fast as was humanly possible in this kind of weather. Diego made sure his coat was covering them as much as it could, though the wind gave him a hard time. He easily jumped over puddles, while Mia strained to keep up with him. Her heels were not designed for this.
"Diego, slow down!" she whined, tugging at his sleeve, and the other attorney laughed loudly. She took a look at him; part of his mane of brown hair was wet, clinging to his face, while the still dry strands whipped around with the wind. Water was rolling down his face, dripping from his chin, as rain splattered against his joyful features. Mia couldn't help but laugh too at her carefree lover.
"You look like a wet dog!" she guffawed, avoiding a big puddle near a tree.
"Wait until you take a good look at yourself!" Diego grinned. "It was a great idea, wearing that white shirt today, kitten!"
Mia didn't hear the last part, or at any rate, she didn't care, because she just laughed harder. She grabbed one corner of the coat and tugged it over her head more; Diego took the opportunity to wrap one arm around her waist, holding her tight against his side as they engaged in a fierce bout of tug-o'-war with the coat.
As they stopped before they crossed the street to make sure no car was coming, Mia snuggled up to Diego's chest for warmth, giggling. She was having way too much fun for it to be healthy.
The tanned attorney pressed a wet kiss to her hair as they waited for a car to drive past, and they made a final run for it, the Grossberg Law Office being right on the other side of the road.
Mia wasted no time in unlocking the door and they hurried inside, shutting out the sounds of rain, their merry laughter echoing in the empty hall. While Mia's hair had known better days, it wasn't so bad given the circumstances, the lawyer decided as she checked her reflection in the window. Diego's, on the other hand, was soaked and clung to his skull, hanging limply. He ran a hand through it to rid his eyes of the wet strands, and they flipped back with a "plop", which sent Mia in another row of giggles.
"Wet dog!" she chided.
There was some kind of promise in Diego's grin. "Oh yeah? Well, don't wet dogs tend to do... this?" Before Mia could jump away, he energetically shook his head in her direction, much like a dog would its body, sending a barrage of droplets her way.
Mia laughed as she ran away from the mini tempest. "Stop, you are getting water all over the floor!"
"We both are, kitten." Diego hung his thoroughly soaked coat on a rack next to the main door, pushing the old trashcan they stored umbrellas in under the dripping garment. He untied his black tie and wrung the water out, wincing at the distorted piece of cloth.
"What are we going to do? We can't just walk around dripping water everywhere." Luckily, Grossberg hadn't arrived yet. They would have gotten a sound trashing for the mess they had just made, and mumbles of "when I was young, I'd never blah blah..." But fortunately, even on sunny days, the man was always late to work.
"I keep some towels in my office, just in case," Diego said as he unbuttoned his vest and hung it next to his coat. "Come on, I'll clean that up later."
Mia meekly followed the older attorney into his office, watching as he opened a small closet and took out two blue towels, one of which he gave her. They tried to dry up as best as they could; Diego vigorously ran the towel over his hair to stop the persistent dripping as Mia merely wrapped it around herself and looked on with a smile on her face.
Diego noticed she was staring and offered her a wicked smirk. "Like what you see, kitten?" he asked slyly, his head tilted to one side.
Although they had been dating for a month now, Mia blushed slightly. She had hoped that now that they were together, the man would be less of a smooth-talker. Fat chance. "Well, I think your ego is already big enough as it is, so I won't answer that question," she mumbled.
It only made him grin wider. "Ha...!" he barked; he really looked like a wet dog now. "This answer suits me just as well. But I won't beat around the bush, kitten: I, for one, like the sight you're offering right now."
Mia gave him a puzzled look, and the male attorney made a gesture with his bearded chin in the general direction of her upper body. When she looked down at herself, she gasped; her nice white shirt was completely soaked... and completely see-through! What the... I can't go to work like this! she fretted inwardly.
"I knew you liked the red one too," he chuckled, but pouted when Mia crossed her arms over her chest and he was denied the sight of her scarlet undergarment. "You're no fun."
"This is no time for jokes, Diego! I... I can't work like this! Oh my god, I have a client coming in half an hour, what am I going to do?" Out the window went her earlier happiness when she remembered the uptight, stern-looking man she was supposed to meet that morning.
"I'm not sure he would voice any complain." Diego raised his hands and chuckled when Mia opened her mouth for what he could only assume would be a harsh retort. "All right, all right. Don't you still have that spare shirt somewhere? You know, the one with-"
"The one with the cat on the back," Mia sighed. "Yes, I do believe it's in my office, but... I think it's hardly suited for such an occasion."
"Kitten, I think that right now, anything would do. Except going topless, that is."
Mia could only agree; when she made her way to the closed door, though, there was a distinct click from the main office and she stopped. Don't tell me that...
Her eyes widened when Grossberg's very recognizable voice spoke up. Her jaw dropped when a second, grave voice she identified as her client's answered gruffly. And her heart stopped when Jake Marshall's unmistakable deep laugh filled the main office.
She was brought back to Earth when Diego brushed past her; she promptly stopped the tanned hand that was about to open the door, and give the three men in the hall a clear view of her... predicament.
"What is it?" he inquired, frowning. "Jake is here, can't I say hello?"
"I am not crossing the hall while three men are standing there," she hissed between her teeth, softly so it wouldn't be heard from outside the office. "It's already bad enough that you saw-"
"Not like I've never seen it before, but well..."
"-but I'm not going out there like... like this."
Diego watched her for a few seconds; his kitten wasn't going to change her mind. He sighed and ran a hand through his unruly dark hair. "What are you going to do, then? Stay holed up in my office all day?" She shook her head. "Didn't think so. So, now what?"
"I'm on it." Mia's face scrunched up a little as she thought intently; Armando couldn't help but think she looked extremely cute when she focused on something. "You could... you could distract them, or something, so I can reach my office."
One of the male attorney's eyebrows rose, skeptical. "Distract them?"
"Yes, distract them! Run around without your pants and try to do back flips in the hall, tell Grossberg you love him, dance with Jake, anything!" Mia was getting a bit desperate; the men would soon come knocking on Diego's door searching for them, that was unavoidable, and she couldn't let that happen.
"Kitten... I love you. Very much. But I'm not doing any of those things."
Jake Marshall tried to listen to the two older men's conversation but he had lost interest a long time ago. From under his soaked cowboy hat, chocolate brown eyes were inspecting the hall and the closed office doors; obviously, Diego and Mia weren't there, otherwise they would have come and greeted him.
He couldn't remember well how the three of them had become friends in the first place. He had worked on a case with Diego four months before – he wasn't supposed to, of course, but the prosecutor on that case was withholding information and Jake only felt that it was only fair that the defense attorney knew as much as the lawyer on the other side of the courtroom – and had instantly liked the character. It wasn't long before he was introduced to Mia, a rookie attorney and Diego's pupil – and also, though he only discovered it later, his girlfriend.
Jake wouldn't mind working with defense attorneys for a change; prosecutors were just so annoying. I hope Neil won't be that bad...
A door creaked open and Jake whirled around; he smiled warmly upon seeing Diego Armando walk out of his office. So the old coyote was here after all...
"Howdy hey," Jake greeted, tipping his sodden hat at the lawyer. "Sure took your sweet time comin' out to see us, old boy."
"Ha...! I wasn't ignoring you, there was something I needed to finish," Diego smiled, nodding to the two older men. "Mr. Grossberg, Mr. Flinch." Both of them nodded back at him but immersed themselves in their conversation again.
"Bambina not here yet?" Jake asked, taking off his hat and hanging it next to Diego's coat for it to dry. His long chestnut hair was damp and clung to his shoulders a bit.
"No, she's not available right now, but she'll soon be. She won't miss an opportunity to see you, it's been two weeks since the last time you dropped by, you know." Diego smiled and patted the detective's shoulder, the wet poncho emitting a squishing noise. "By the way, Mia named your cactus Billy, is that alright with you?"
Jake laughed. "That's great. I'll gallop over and pick him up tonight, around nine. I can't thank you enough for taking care of him while I was away."
"It was no trouble, really. Now, tell me, how is your brother doing?"
Jake's younger brother, Neil Marshall, had chosen to study criminal law at a very young age. He had initially wanted to follow in his big brother's footsteps, but somewhere along his studies, the courtroom appealed to him and he found himself ditching gun practice for law bookshops. Jake was a bit disappointed that he wouldn't get to teach his baby brother the fine art of pursuing criminals in a more literal sense, but if Neil was happy, then it was sufficient.
"Fine, I'd say. Gringo passed the bar exam last week, without breaking a sweat or so I was told. Won his first case yesterday, too, that dog, and still hasn't told me the details." Jake shook his head, but there was pride in his eyes, and in his grin.
Diego grinned back. "I hope one day we'll exchange shouts from opposite sides of a courtroom, new challenges are always... Dear god, what is this?"
The three older men watched with a puzzled expression as Diego ran to the window, obviously searching for something through the massive curtain of rain. "Er, Diego, is everything alright?" Grossberg asked.
"Have you seen that?"
"What exactly is "that", amigo?" Jake said as he stepped closer to the window.
"I think... I think it was Payne."
Grossberg tilted his chubby head to one side. "Payne? Winston Payne?"
Diego nodded. "Yes, but... he had no pants on! He's running around in the rain like... Ha...! There he goes again!"
To the coffee lover's relief, the three men huddled together in front of the window, hoping to catch even a glimpse of the prosecutor's skinny legs and get a good laugh out of it. Among mumbles of "I can't see anything" or "Is that him? No, that's a tree..." Diego's ears picked on the sound of light and rapid footfalls coming from the general direction of his office; he grinned. She didn't miss a beat.
After a few minutes of intense spying, the three men gave up on searching for the prancing prosecutor. Grossberg coughed into his hand. "Hum, well, yes, Winston must be... well, I mean, with everything he went through recently... it's no wonder that... well..." The pudgy man cleared his throat, muttering that this was exactly why he avoided overwork and stress.
"I don't think it would be wise of us to mention this to him," Diego said, biting back a smirk. "He doesn't need further embarrassment... Now, gentlemen, can I offer a warm cup of arabica in my office? You must be chilled to the bone."
"Why, if Mr. Flinch has no objection, I'll take you up on that offer, Diego," Grossberg answered, turning to Mia's client. The man nodded absently, still glancing at the window as though Winston Payne would come running again.
Diego watched as the two older men chatted their way to his office, when a hand clasped his shoulder. The dark-haired attorney turned his head and came across Jake's smiling face. "What is it you find so funny, amigo?"
"I can't believe you thought I would fall for it. Your little trick with the window, I mean." Jake laughed when Diego gave him a puzzled look. "You do play well, amigo! But I'm a detective, remember? Is it your bambina who crossed the hall while we were looking outside?"
Armando decided to drop the act and gave the cowboy wannabe a sheepish smile. "Yeah. Are all detectives that omniscient?"
"Well we try!" And Jake's face fell. "Except that new guy. He got promoted not long ago and was transferred to our ranch. Gumshoo, or something. I don't think everything's workin' quite well in there," he said in a lower tone as he poked his temple.
Diego had half a mind to tell his friend that his fellow detectives must think the same about him every time he walked into his office in his cowboy attire, and talked about ranches and horses all day, but he kept silent. Jake Marshall was just fine the way he was.
Before Diego could speak again, the theme song of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly filled the small hall; the attorney wasn't surprised when Jake fished his cell phone from under his poncho and brought it to his ear. "Howdy there... At the Grossberg Law Office, why?" There was a pause as Jake mindlessly scratched his stubble, waiting for whoever called him to stop talking. "Yeah, got that right, I'll be there as soon as I can. See you then, bambina."
"Who was that? A pretty cowgirl?" Diego joked, a smirk on his tanned face.
"Nope, just Lana, she's got a job for me. Kidnapping, she said."
"That's what I said: a pretty cowgirl." When Jake shot him a dark look, the attorney chuckled. He should know better than joke about Lana Skye in front of the detective. "You really should ask her out."
"Maybe I will... in due time." Jake snatched his still soaked hat from the coat rack and draped it over his head. "I'll drop by your place tonight to pick up Billy. Want to hit the saloon at the end of the week, with Neil?"
Diego nodded. "I would love to. Do you really have to go now? I'm sure Mia wants to say hello."
"I'll see her tonight, partner. And I'll tell her I love the red bra." When Armando's jaw dropped, Jake barked out a laugh. "Seriously, amigo, next time you want to have my entire attention, do something more drastic. Like proposin' to Grossberg."
"I'll... keep that in mind." Diego had a hard time figuring out whether he was more disturbed by Jake's ability to see Mia while he was looking the other way, the fact that his friend had seen his lover's undergarments, or the thought of getting down on one knee in front of Grossberg.
Jake tipped his hat at him and opened the main door. The rain hadn't let up and was pounding against the concrete harder than ever. "Well, see you tonight old boy. But before I go, I need to ask... Why Payne?"
Diego thought for a few seconds; but there was only one good, decisive reason.
"Because... I can't stand that guy."