That day was longer than any day Nigel had experienced. It was full of mourning, damage control, and dirty looks (the latter being from Bug). Half way through the day, he received a call from Alexis, who jokingly accused him of walking out on her, and invited him to dinner in her hotel's dining room so they could plan Monday's rendezvous. Of course, he accepted.

The rest of the day his mind was only half on his work. He had talked to Dr Macy about the case, and so had gotten Monday off. Nigel had also talked to detective Seely about the plan, (Woody being on a mental health leave) and had gotten an assurance that Matt would come quickly if they called him with an emergency.

'Done, done, and done,' Nigel quipped, checking off at the end of his shift.

'Date?' Jordan asked, trailing him down the hall.

'Dinner,' he replied, grabbing his coat and helmet from his desk.

'Date. With the lovely Miss Alexis Edwards?'

'Persistent, aren't you?'

'You'd think after all our time together, Nige, you'd know that,' Jordan replied, following him to the service elevator. 'Any reason you're going James Bond on me?'

'What are you talking about?' he asked, pressing the call button and looking around warily.

'Not taking the main elevator… looking back like someone's about to deck you…?'

'You don't think I could take Bug on?' he replied, stepping into the elevator and reaching for the handle.

'You've got at least a foot height-wise on him. You could take him.'

'Thanks, Jordan. See you later.'

Before he could close the door completely, he heard her laugh out, 'Now that's a fight I'd pay to see.'

Nigel arrived at Alexis's hotel by six o'clock (after changing from yesterday's clothing into something more flattering), and made his way to the bar. When he spotted her, his face broke into a huge grin. She was the woman every man in the room wanted to buy a drink: indeed, there were a few that were sitting only a few seats away looking rather rejected. And now, another one of them was sliding down towards her.

'Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?' the man said, sitting down beside her.

'No,' she replied sweetly, 'did it hurt when they kicked you out of hell?'

Coming up behind them, Nigel slid in on the other side of Alexis and held out his hand. ''Scuse me, but I never sleep with strangers – my name's Nigel.'

'Alexis, let's go,' she replied, taking his hand.

As the other man looked on in amazement, Nigel shot him an apologetic smile and said, 'It's the accent, mate. Gets 'em every time.'

'Thanks, I owe you one,' Alexis said as they wove their way to their reserved table.

'I never have found a need for pickup lines,' Nigel told her, smiling.

'Like you said, it's the accent – it's terribly effective.'

'Does that mean you're using me for my voice?' he asked, pulling out Alexis's chair for her.

'Of course not, though it is a fringe benefit.'

'How many guys actually tried talking to you back there?' Nigel asked, sitting opposite her.

'I do believe I heard every line in the book,' she replied, laughing. 'I can't believe those actually work.'

'I don't think that's the point of a pickup line, luv. They're there for the entertainment of women everywhere.'

'Entertainment? Some guy asked me if I wanted to fuck like bunnies!'

'Don't tell me you didn't laugh at that one.'

'… okay, that was a little cute. But, I mean, do they really expect to get laid with lines like that?'

'Possibly. But men are positive creatures. They don't think.'

'This is true.'

'But you've been to clubs before – you've had to have heard some good ones… and had some good comebacks?'

Laughing, she replied, 'Yes, actually. One guy told me he would die for me – I told him to prove it… really withered his libido.'

'I'm sure that's not the only thing it withered,' he said, laughing.

'Indeed,' she replied, raising her eyebrow dubiously.

'So, about tomorrow,' Nigel started, 'how do you want to play this?'

'What do you mean, how do I want to play this?' Alexis countered, sipping her wine.

'Well, tomorrow we're going to the diner to wait for Jessica, yes?'

'Of course.'

'Well, are we going to sit at the counter and wait for her to order so we can chat her up… or go undercover…?'

'What, you be my pimp?'

'Or a John – you get the idea. But you don't want her to recognize you, right? And if we look like cops, then she wouldn't come in.'

Pensive, she replied, 'I see what you mean… hmm. Well, I suppose I could dress up like a whore… maybe she would talk to me?' Then, because Nigel didn't reply immediately, she said, 'Stop thinking about me dressed like a whore.'

'Sorry, luv, couldn't help myself.'

'Well, do, because I have nothing that a whore would wear… we'd have to go shopping… like, now, because the stores'll be closing quite soon.'

Shocked, Nigel asked, 'So… you're actually going to dress like… a whore?'

'Don't get so excited, and wipe that smile off your face. We're going shopping… how far is Macy's from here?'

'You'll be the best dressed escort in Boston.'

Smiling audaciously, she waved over the maître d.

'How's this one look?' Alexis asked, coming out of the change room.

'Completely inappropriate for a woman of your political and economical standing – it's perfect.' Indeed, the mini skirt and V-neck spaghetti strap camisole were perfect for what they were trying to do – that is, make her look like a convincing street walker.

'Good… and now I'm getting dressed, because people are starting to stare.'

'Hey, um, so how are we going to get there? Do you want me to pick you up early tomorrow?' Nigel asked, standing awkwardly outside the women's change rooms.

'Well,' she called over the wall, 'you could always just stay the night on the couch again. Then we could leave really early.'

'Sounds good…' Nigel replied, trying to find somewhere to look other than the display racks.

'Do you think we should get shoes, too? Like, those really big boots? Or is that a little cliché?'

'Well, luv, I don't normally pick up street girls, so I don't know what they dress like.' He was getting odd looks from the other customers now.

'Yeah, but when they die they come to the morgue, yes?'

'Yeah, sure.'

'And you never see what they dress like?'

'I'm more in the crime fighting end of things, not the bodies as much…'

'Ahh, okay.'

'Are you done yet? Not to be hasty, but I'm not exactly fitting in out here.'

As she walked out the change room, she told him, 'I actually was done changing a minute ago – I was just getting you back for standing me up last night.'

Nigel gave her a look of utter disbelief as he followed her out to the checkout.

'So, you want a nightcap?' Alexis asked as they entered the hotel room.

'Sure,' Nigel replied, setting down the shopping bags and throwing his keys down onto the coffee table.

'Make yourself at home, and I'll make us something special,' Alexis called from the kitchenette.

'Alright,' he called, removing his coat, and straitening up the blankets and pillows.

After a few minutes, a sweet and spicy aroma came wafting from the kitchen, and Alexis came into the living room carrying a pair of steaming mugs.

'What is this?' Nigel asked taking the cup Alexis handed him.

'This is mulled wine,' she replied, sitting down beside him and taking a small sip from her drink. 'Mmm… I just love it. It's very Christmas-y, but not so much that it can't be had any other time of the year.' She paused, and started slowly, 'You know, Nigel… the moment you first walked into that conference room I knew I would like you. Your sense of humour, and how at ease you were with your boss – it was just so intriguing.'

'That's odd, because the moment I saw you, I thought that you looked absolutely amazing in the ensemble you were wearing.'

'Is that so?'

'Of course! You looked absolutely stunning, all sweet and innocent and ball breaking. It was terribly attractive.'

'Well, thank you, I guess… especially the ball-breaking part. It's what every girl wants to hear.'

'But it is a compliment! It means you were so intimidating-ly confident I was almost scared of you.'

'Almost? Well, then, I suppose I need to step it up a notch,' she countered, grinning over her mug.

'What? It's a bad thing I wasn't scared of you?' Nigel laughed, grinning back.

'Maybe…' she replied, her voice dropping down to a near whisper.

'Alexis, what's wrong?' he asked, moving in closer.

She seemed to search her mug for an answer, and when she didn't find one, she started searching his eyes. 'I still don't know if I can trust you, Nigel. I mean, we banter back and forth, and we have interesting dialogue, and we've had fun together… but… I dunno… I'm so sorry for being… touchy, but…'

'Hey, hey, hey… Alexis, it takes time to trust someone. Don't expect it to happen over night.' He was running his finger down her jaw line and tilting her face upwards so she would continue to look at him.

'The thing is, Nigel, I, um, wasn't completely honest with you before,' she muttered, trying to break eye contact.

'You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, luv, don't feel you have to,' he told her, though he was positively bursting with curiosity. With those words, he could make Bug proud (or at the very least, swallow his words).

'I want to tell you, really, but I don't know if I should… if I can trust you.'

'What can I do to make you trust me?' Nigel asked, grasping her free hand in her lap.

She looked down at their hands entwined, and set down her drink. Meeting his eyes, she asked, 'Didn't you wonder how I knew Mahesh?'