Chapter 3

Rick wrote through the morning and into the afternoon, the words pouring out of him like they hadn't in weeks. Alexis had woken him before she'd headed off to school, his thank you nothing but a groan of displeasure in realizing the day was upon him: Friday, blind date day. He was still stewing over the whole thing- over his ex-wife's shameless blackmail orchestrated for her own benefit, over his own cowardly inability to refuse to take part, over the fact that had he been able to type all of that day's words onto the damn page a week ago as he was supposed to, he wouldn't be forced to don a tie in a few hours for Missee. Yes, that was Missee with two [e]s. She'd spelled it out for him. Seriously.

But clearly the frustration and irritation he felt worked as grease in his creative wheels. The closer Rick got to his unwanted date, the more productive he became. Derrick Storm was in fine ass-kicking form all day leaving no evil plot uncovered, no clue undiscovered, no fight unfinished. Maybe that was Gina's plan all along. Maybe she just knew him that well, knew how he'd react, knew he'd sit and sulk in front of his laptop, taking out his resentment on the innocent letters of his keyboard- once again, to her benefit.

He found it sort of amusing, actually. They'd divorced because it seemed they didn't know each other at all. Gina: one. Rick: zero.

He emailed the pages to her just before 4PM with a "Hope you're happy" sign-off, the sarcasm buzzing on the page like a giant neon sign. His phone rang not three minutes later, her voice buttery with self-satisfaction.

"Good boy, Richard," she taunted. "I'd tell you I knew you could do it, but I doubt it'd sound convincing."

He gritted his teeth and slapped his laptop shut. "You know, I always love these little chats of ours, Gina. Is there anything else? I'm sure your broomstick must be waiting for you out front."

She exhaled a laugh and it ran through him like nails on a chalkboard. "Careful, Richard, you turn on charm that thick tonight and you might make a love connection, and I know how much you hate actual feelings."

"Oh, come on, Gina, you know that's not true. I'm feeling a whole laundry list of things about you at the moment. Would you like to hear some of them? Because I can-"

"Just make sure you show her a good time tonight, Richard," she interrupted sternly. "It's important for my career. And you owe me."

Rick had no idea at all what she meant by that, but in the interest of saving the remainder of his sanity for later that evening when he knew he'd probably need it, he let it pass. He owed her nothing. Surely his exorbitant alimony checks more than covered it.

"Where are you taking her?"

"If you must know, we're meeting at Le Bernardin. She's a pescetarian. Imagine that." He shook his head. Gina never made anything easy. "And before you ask, yes, we're meeting there because she has a reading at 7PM and she didn't want to go all the way back across town to her father's penthouse afterward. I was scared to ask what a reading was, so I didn't."

"Well, send Eric my best, please. You know how much I adore his langoustine."

Her voice softened, as did his. "I will." Le Bernardin was a dining fixture during their marriage. Times weren't all bad.

"And whatever you do," she barked, her severe tone once again in place, "don't sleep with her, Richard."

"I'm hanging up now, Mom."

He pressed the button on his phone and abruptly ended the call, his head suddenly beginning to pound. With his fingers pressed against his eyelids, he leaned back in his chair, the first time he'd done so in hours, and the muscles of his back immediately thanked him for it.

"Are you fighting with Gram?"

The soft voice jolted him upright so quickly, he almost tumbled over with the chair. He had no idea he wasn't alone.

"Alexis, hey. When did you get home? I didn't hear you come in." He didn't know why, but he'd asked as though he'd been caught red handed at something.

"I just got here. Did you just hang up on Gram?"

Clearly she'd overheard the end of his conversation. "Oh, no, sweetie. That was just Gina. It was-it's-" He closed his eyes firmly, wished away the ache. "Don't worry about it. It's not important. How was your day?"

Alexis dropped into one of the leather chairs across the way. "Better than yours, I guess. You don't look any better than you did when I woke you up this morning. You haven't even changed your clothes."

Rick looked down at his open robe and wrinkled tee. He was the actual visual manifestation of his mood. "No, I guess I didn't. I, uh, I ended up writing all day, surprisingly." It made him warm with pride for a moment. He'd written- and written well- for hours without doubt or boredom and it felt good, the more he let it sink in.

"That's great, Dad. Hopefully it'll keep Gina off your back for a while."

Yeah, right.

"I hope so too, sweetie. Thanks."

Alexis pushed herself from the chair and straightened out her uniform skirt. "Well, I'm going to go upstairs and start my homework. You have that blind date tonight, right?"

Don't remind me.

His daughter was doing homework on a Friday afternoon. He admired no one more. "I do, yeah. I'm meeting her in a few hours," he told her with no discernible hint of excitement whatsoever.

"Okay, well, if you need help deciding what to wear, let me know. Just, whatever you do, make sure it's not that blue tie. That thing looks like something Gram would wear."

Rick chuckled. He hadn't considered wearing it, but now he was, especially if it repelled other women as it did his daughter. "I'll call you down in a bit, sweetie. I'm sure I'll need your expertise, as always."

Alexis smiled and was gone.

Only three hours and forty-eight minutes of freedom to go.

xxxx

"Girl, you look hot!" Lanie looked Kate up and down as she walked proudly in a circle around her. "If I was a fine, fine man, I'd be all over that."

Kate looked at her best friend with an expression of semi-horror. That was the last thing she wanted to convey to Josh the Stranger tonight. "Lanie, please," she sighed, begging only with her eyes for a serious opinion- one that didn't spark images of her having to pull out her pepper spray to defend herself by the end of the evening.

"Kate," Lanie replied, in the tone she understood her favorite detective needed, "you look great. Really."

She felt kind of great, actually. Kate could barely remember the last time she put on a dress that wasn't a part of some undercover sting, and that didn't even really count. It was a uniform then, work. She'd tried on three others before Lanie told her this was the one. Thankfully she did. It was probably the last one in her closet.

It was charcoal grey, soft, short- the kind of short that inspired just the right amount of imagination and highlighted just the right amount of leg. It made the green in her eyes pop and her posture enviable, and, most of all, it made her feel like the woman she knew she was- the one who spent the majority of her days hidden beneath the shield of the NYPD.

The corners of Kate's mouth turned up just enough to be called a smile. "Thanks for your help, Lanie. Thanks for being here."

"Are you serious? Please. There isn't anywhere I'd rather be." She reached for Kate and pulled her in for a hug. "Now, where's your purse. I want to make sure you have condoms. Safety first, young lady."

"Lanie! Get-" Kate pushed her away. "No one's going to need condoms tonight. This is a dinner date. I don't even know this guy."

"Mmm, but wait until you see him. Oh, girl, he could be one delicious dessert after this dinner of yours."

Kate said nothing because her look said it all for her.

"Fine, fine. You're no fun, Detective Stuck-In-the-Mud. You go and have your fancy lobster or whatever and I'll just wait for the juicy stories about how nice the silverware was." She headed for the door without looking back.

"I love you, ya know."

"You too! Call me later. Don't care what time," Lanie hollered, raising her hand in a wave before the door clicked shut behind her.

Kate hoped she'd still feel the same in a few hours when all of this was over.