Author's Notes:

Skinny Double Dirty Chai

Chapter 9

This is the double date from hell.

By the time the first round of drinks arrive, the conversation has already come to a stilted halt. Paige knows this is going to be a long night. So when Abby asks Paige about herself, instead of following Mike's advice and keeping quiet, she starts to babble to fill the agonizing silence.

"...Actually I moved here to become a punk singer but apparently nobody's really looking for a female Iggy pop. Surprising. At least as a spin instructor I still get to yell at people."

"You can yell at me anytime you want." Vince leans in, and Paige feels his hand on her ass.

"Down boy." Paige laughs nervously, feeling self conscious in front of Mike.

Normally flirting for her job comes naturally to her, but she can feel Mike's eyes on her. Judging her. She doesn't like it.

"Um, Abby so what do you do?" Paige asks, directing the attention away from Vance.

"I've been a student mainly, but last summer I worked for a Senator." Abby says sweetly, smiling up at Mike with doe-eyes.

So basically the girl had never worked, lived a sheltered privileged life in schools her parents paid for, and had played intern shuffling papers in an office for a few months before going on an all expense paid summer vacation. She had all the makings of a purebred socialite trophy wife, with an expensive wasted education.

"Impressive." Paige says politely. Paige is nice, god dammit.

"My dad pulled a few strings."

With Abby's modest confession, Paige can see Mike's whole future laid out for him. The one he's always dreamed about. Move to DC, and with Abby's daddy to vouch for him, he'd move straight up the ranks.

"Looks like you might need a fancier job, Mr. Pilot."

Paige turns to Mike with a grin, now that she feels she had figured out Mike's angle. He was more ruthless than she gave him credit for. Move back to DC, marry the girl. Hell, forget about FBI director, he could be President by age 40 with Abby's connections.

"I don't know. There's nothing quite like the thrill of flying."

He gives her a secret smile, and for a moment she sees the Mike she knows. The one who is learning to love the thrill of being in the field as much as she does. She smiles back, comforted that she won't lose him to DC anytime soon. The moment is interrupted by Vance.

"Tell me about it, I used to fly sentinels."

This is new information to Paige.

"No way, really?" Abby asks, sounding impressed.

"Well a buddy of mine he had a net jet membership. We'd go up to the cockpit and have a couple beers." Vance says.

Paige sighs. He'd be so much prettier if he kept his mouth shut.

"So you guys didn't actually pilot the plane." Mike challenges Vance.

Paige doesn't know why Mike is acting all self-righteous. It's not like Mike's ever piloted a plane either.

"Vance here is a DJ." Paige interjects quickly, trying to stop a fight from breaking out.

"I'm guessing you haven't heard of a club downtown called Primotology?" Vance asks, and Paige prays that they haven't.

"No way, that is my girlfriend's favorite club. Oh my God, what night are you on?"

Of course Abby would have heard about it and act all impressed.

"No, he mainly does private events and things like that..." Paige tries to rush in and cover before Vance can say anything stupid, but it's too late because he's talking again.

"I'm usually there on Tuesdays, but here. Here's my card. Give me a call I'll show you the full VIP treatment."

Paige chokes back a laugh. She doubts little Miss Perfect is Vance's ideal customer.

Mike is glaring at Paige accusingly, and Paige avoids his eye contact, sipping her beer innocently.

"On Tuesday?" Abby asked skeptically.

"Damn right."

"Is that how you guys met?" Mike finally turns his glare away from Paige to Vance.

Why is it, everything Mike says tonight sounds like he wants to start a fight?

"Kind of." Oh god, Vance was telling this story. "I was walking down town one night and this super hot chick she runs up to me and she notices my shirt." He starts to unzip his hoodie.

"I'm kind of his first groupie, so..." Paige quickly interjects before Vance can keep talking.

Vance kisses her shoulder, and she watches Mike's fist tighten around the neck of his beer bottle.

"You know what? For some reason I think she won't be your last." Mike says with a huge sarcastic smile.

For once Paige is thankful Vance is so dumb, because he doesn't seem to catch the insult.

"Thanks Mike. Thanks." Paige says sarcastically.

God he's being such a dick tonight. She doesn't know what Mike's problem is. He's the bastard that dragged her into this situation.

"Hey Paige, can I talk to you for a second?" Mike asks with a forced grin.

It's really not so much a question as an order. He looks like he's ready to strangle her, but that would be a welcome change in comparison to this conversation. This is the most uncomfortable Paige has felt since high school. Between Vance's stupidity, and Abby's saccharine sweetness, Mike could never do enough chores to make up for this.

"Absolutely."

Paige ducks away from Vance to follow Mike across the bar. Maybe they can just call this night a disaster and devise a strategy to leave.

"So you brought your case on our date." Mike seethes.

Paige doesn't see what the big deal is. Sure Vance is dumb as bricks, but he's not that bad. It's not like she brought the entire Mexican drug cartel. So what if she brought some work with her? He brought Abby.

"Relax, Mike he's just a dealer."

Mike always seems to get this way with Paige's 'dates'. She always feels like she's defending her methods to Mike. He's not her caretaker. He has no right to judge her for innocent flirting that gets the job done.

"Great. He's perfect."

Sarcasm. Lovely. Judgmental prick.

"Look around. Most people in here are dealers." Paige defends herself, but Mike won't even look at her.

What the fuck is his problem? Is he jealous? Men. She sighs, but decides to take a different tactic and reassure Mike that Vance is no threat to him.

"He's just my way into an ecstasy ring, and he's not even worth flipping." She assures him.

"Paige, Abby thinks this is a real date." His response is a surprise to Paige, and she grinds her jaw.

Of course Mike's looking out for his precious Abby. He doesn't even care how rude he's being to Paige. She didn't want to come tonight. What was he expecting would happen. That Abby and Paige would be best friends and braid each other's hair? Did he know Paige at all?

God why did men become such pricks to their friends every time they got a new girlfriend? Mike shouldn't even be dating this woman. He should know better.

"Is it?" She challenges him.

He makes a face at her she can't decipher. He's clearly at a loss for words, but she's pissed now and doesn't wait for him to speak.

"I mean you're pretending that you can have a real relationship, and if you were being honest with yourself, you'd know that isn't possible. Not with what we do."

She knows she's being harsh, but he's being naive and she's sick of it. How can someone so smart be so stupid? Put a pretty girl in front of him, and he loses all common sense. He is the most infuriating man she knows!

"Ok look," Paige tries to keep her temper in check, while still getting her point across. "The only way you should continue dating, is if she starts committing crimes."

She hopes her words are sinking in. All she wants, more than anything right now, is to lose the two outsiders, so her and Mike can go drink beer and watch bad tv together at home.

He looks like he might say something, but then something across the bar catches his eye. She follows his gaze, looking for what's going on. She hopes Vance isn't doing anything too stupid.

"I think she just stole the salt."

Most. Infuriating. Man. Ever.