Another short one, Bo's POV, kind of a hang out chapter.
Also, fun fact - I am a criminal prosecutor, and the cases Bo talks about in this chapter are actual ones I had. I wish I was kidding.
Enjoy.
Bo dropped the report she was reading onto her desk and rubbed her hands down her face. She needed to focus. She looked at the time – 4:17p. She wasn't supposed to meet her friends for another three hours. Alright, here we go, she said to herself. Focus on this report, get through it, power through the next couple of hours and you get to leave and give your brain a rest.
She rolled her shoulders and took a deep breath. Okay, time to focus. And maybe time for some more coffee. She momentarily contemplated getting another cup and heard Lauren's voice chastising her in her head. Shrugging it off, she stood from her chair and made her way to the coffeepot.
Three hours. Just three more hours until the weekend, until dinner with her friends, until she got to see Lauren. Who is also my friend, she corrected herself. Yes, three hours until she saw all of her friends, which included but was not limited to, Lauren.
Just friends. They were just friends. Part of Bo wished they were more, but honestly a bigger part of her knew Lauren had been right – they both did need to be single for a while. After the mess that had been Rainer, she needed to reset. This was good. This was healthy.
But being just friends didn't mean that she didn't occasionally think about Lauren in a decidedly 'not-just-friends' context. Often these thoughts came to her when – like now – she walked into her office and looked at the desk, her mind immediately dragging itself back to Halloween when she had held Lauren, smelled Lauren, kissed Lauren, been drunk on Lauren…
She took a deep breath to dispel the memory, took a sip of her coffee, and sat down. Out of habit she grabbed her phone and hit the home button to check for messages. Nothing appeared on the screen, but as she went to put it down in buzzed in her hand with an incoming text.
Lauren, in the group message. Hey everyone, don't think I can come out tonight. Have a good time.
Bo felt herself deflate. Well, this was a disappointing turn of events.
Vex: Unacceptable.
Ciara: Everything alright?
Lauren: Yeah, just can't make it tonight. Sorry.
Bo opened a new message to Lauren. Hey, what's up?
Lauren texted back. Long day.
Before Bo could answer, Lauren texted again. How's your day going?
Case prep, reading reports, nothing exciting.
Any good cases?
I have a report about a man ejaculating onto his ex-girlfriend's screen door. Also one about a man ejaculating onto his ex-girlfriend's car. And, no, it is not the same man in both cases.
Classy.
Quite. So you really aren't up for a night out?
I just don't know that I would be great company tonight.
I always enjoy your company. After pressing send, Bo wondered if that comment was a step too far. The second between pressing send and Lauren's answer seemed to stretch longer than normal.
I like seeing you, too. But I'm not up for the whole party vibe tonight.
Bo contemplated her next message before deciding, screw it, the worst she'll say is no. I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I'm amazing at ordering Chinese food. Would you be in the mood to watch a bad movie?
You have plans tonight.
I have plans to spend time with my friends. We're friends.
Are you sure?
Bo smiled to herself. Can you come over around 8?
"So, let me see if I have this right. You aren't coming out with us tonight," Kenzi said, standing in Bo's bedroom doorway. "Instead, you're going to Netflix and chill with Lauren."
"It's not Netflix and chill. It's Netflix and…relax."
"Have you kids updated that expression already?"
"We're just friends, Kenzi, I told you that."
"Right. You're just friends."
"Exactly," Bo said, tossing a shirt onto her bed. "She had a bad day, so I'm doing what a friend does and just chilling out with her for a night."
"Netflix and chilling," Kenzi mumbled.
"Kenz. Seriously."
Kenzi put her hands up. "Alright, whatever, you know what you're doing, I guess. I'm just saying that you might be saying you're just friends, but this? This thing where you drop your plans because she's too tired to go out? That's what you do with a girlfriend."
"We aren't dating."
"Sure."
Bo stopped going through her clothes and turned to Kenzi. "We aren't dating. But…I don't know, we are friends, and I was looking forward to seeing her, and I've had a long week, too, so a night in just seemed nice. Can we just leave it?"
Kenzi sighed. "Alright, alright, fine. You're right. You're just friends."
"Exactly."
"Just like I'm just friends with Nate."
"Kenzi…"
"Naked friends."
"Alright, get out," Bo said.
"So he just shows up and masturbates onto her door?"
"I guess he thought it was the best way to communicate how he felt about her," Bo answered with a laugh.
Bo took a sip of the wine Lauren had brought with her and sat the glass back down on the end table to her left. Lauren was reclined at the other end of the couch, her legs across Bo's lap, and Bo was laying with her feet on the coffee table next to the mostly empty Chinese takeout containers. The movie continued to play, ignored.
"So what happened today?" Bo asked.
Lauren sighed and took a drink of her wine. "I had a patient die today. She was in her 90s, her health has been declining for a while now so it wasn't a surprise, but…I don't know, it just got to me."
Bo nodded, listening. "Why do you think that is?"
"I don't know. I guess it was just because…she was alone, you know? No one was with her. The nurses weren't in her room when it happened, no family has been there to see her. She was just…alone."
Bo took in this thought quietly, her hand unconsciously trailing over Lauren's shin.
"In weird way, I'm used to it, I guess. People die. Usually I'm fine with it. I mean, not fine, but I can deal with it, you know?"
Bo nodded. "I get that."
Lauren nodded. "Yeah, you do. It's like what you do – you get used to the worst case scenario. People die, or people are victims, and, you know, you just handle it. But some days it's just hard to handle."
Bo smiled. "So she was your Greg today?"
Lauren smiled back. "Yeah, I guess so. She was my Greg today." Lauren was quiet for a few moments. "Hey."
Bo looked over at Lauren. "Yeah?"
"Thank you."
Bo smiled. "For what?"
"For…this. For doing all this, for cancelling your plans, for spending your whole Friday night with bad Chinese food and –"
"Hey, I liked the food – sure, Golden Garden may have a health inspector rating of D –"
"Wait, what?"
"—but it's my absolute favorite Chinese place!"
"Go back to the health inspector thing?"
"I mean, did you even try the egg rolls?"
"Are we about to get sick? Do I need to make myself throw up?"
"I think the rating might be a D+ if that helps you."
"Yeah, I'm definitely going to throw up…"
Bo laughed and held her hands against Lauren's legs to prevent her from standing up. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding."
Lauren looked relieved. "Thank God."
"They got an F."
Lauren was off the couch before Bo could stop her, leaving Bo laughing in the living room.
When Kenzi and Nate walked into the apartment it was dark aside from the glow of the TV reflecting on Bo and Lauren, who were both asleep on the couch. Kenzi looked at the pair and shook her head. Lauren was angled with her legs tucked under her, falling off to the side against Bo, who had her legs on top of the coffee table and her face turned toward the top of Lauren's head, which was against Bo's shoulder.
"Friends my ass," Kenzi whispered.
"At least they're both still wearing pants," Nate commented.
Kenzi walked over and grabbed the blanket that was folded across the back of the chair beside the couch and spread it over Bo and Lauren.
"They do make a cute couple," Nate said, walking up behind Kenzi and wrapping his arms around her waist.
Kenzi shook her head. "I see another intervention looming on the horizon," Kenzi answered.
Nate kissed the back of Kenzi's head. "Before you do that, can we go be 'just friends' upstairs?"
Kenzi smiled, turning in Nate's arms, and gave him a firm kiss. "Absolutely," she answered.
"To be clear, I wasn't planning on wearing pants."
Kenzi laughed, clapping her hand over her mouth to be quiet as she and Nate went upstairs to bed.
I welcome your thoughts
