by Hopkin, Ben
This was puzzling to Darc. “I am ready.”
“You’re… what? You’re ready?” Trey asked, his pitch raising several notches. “You mean you’re going like that?”
Darc looked down at himself. He was wearing a white shirt and tie, as well as slacks. There appeared to be nothing wrong with his attire. His tie was straight. His shoes were tied. Even his fly was done up properly.
“Yes. I am.”
“No, no, no, no, no,” Trey responded. “Okay, we’ll deal with that in a minute. But first tell me that you at least have a plan for tonight.”
“Of course.”
“Okay, good,” he said, letting out a huge breath. Then his eyes narrowed. “Wait. What is your plan?”
“I will pick her up at 7:30,” Darc replied. This whole conversation made no sense to him. Trey appeared to be either very concerned or having a psychotic break. Another topic he could discuss with Mala.
Trey waited a long moment before saying anything. “That’s it? That’s all? What are you going to do?”
“I had planned to ask Mala where she would like to—”
“Okay, okay. Stop right there. You will not… I repeat, not… be asking Mala where you will be going to dinner. That’s a total cop out, man. You’ll choose a restaurant, get a reservation, pick her up and take her there.”
“But that will not allow her to—” Darc began.
“Dude,” Trey said. “Seriously. Listen to me. You’re taking her on a date. She’s a total catch and you’re going to treat her like it.” He ran his hand through his hair, making it stand up straight. That was an indicator with which Darc was familiar. His partner was stressed out.
That seemed odd. Why would Trey be stressed out about Darc’s date? He opened up his mouth to ask the question, only to be interrupted once more.
“Okay, okay… we can fix this. I got a buddy who’s a chef over at Nishino. He can get you a reservation.”
“But I—”
Trey held up a hand. “As for the rest of it, I kinda thought this might happen, so…” He pulled out a laminated card and handed it to Darc.
Looking over the plastic rectangle, Darc saw that it seemed to be a list. A checklist, to be precise. One for preparing to go out with a woman, although Darc noted that Trey had left the gender nonspecific for some reason. There were fifteen items noted on the bulleted agenda.
“This seems excessive,” Darc observed.
“Are you kidding me? I took that list down from twenty-five. Mostly because I knew you’d never do them all.” He pointed over Darc’s shoulder at a section of the tally. “Now, items seven through nine are all about body hair grooming. Totally optional, but I gotta tell you, man, they’re gold.”
Darc took the card and slipped it into his back pocket. It appeared that if he were to follow everything Trey had detailed for him, he would barely have time to finish before he had to pick up Mala. He stood, ready to head home to begin his preparations.
“Hold on,” Trey said. He held out a small device in the palm of his flat hand. A tiny earpiece. “Got this from my buddy Bill Harris, the PI. I took the liberty of syncing this sucker up to your phone. You’re welcome.”
The heavy sensation Darc felt in his midsection, which had been growing stronger all day, seemed to diminish with that reminder. Trey would be with him throughout the dinner. Everything would be fine.
Everything would be more than fine.
* * *
Trey got home to find Maggie dressed to the nines in a stunning deep red dress. Actually, when Maggie dressed up, it was more like to the tens or elevens. She looked absolutely fantastic.
Crap.
“Hey, babe,” he said. “What’s up?”
“Um… date night? Remember?” she said, her eyebrows arching. That expression of Maggie’s was one that Trey was never sure what to do with. It made her look so sexy when she did it, but it always meant that he was on dangerous ground.
Forgetting about date night put him in the red zone. Missing date night because Trey needed to feed lines to Darc during his date could very well be grounds for divorce.
“Listen, Maggie…” Trey began.
Her eyebrows scrunched together. Now that Trey was thinking about it, so much of what Maggie communicated with him was done by those two strips of hair over her eyes. This was not a good sign.
“What is it?” she asked. “Did you forget again?”
“No, no, no,” he answered. “Well… yes.” He held up a hand before she could explode. “But listen, it’s for a couple of really good reasons.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m listening.”
“Right. So… the first thing is that we’re chasing a serial killer.” Maybe if he softened her up with the whole hero thing first…
“Explain to me how that makes today different than any other day over the last two months,” she responded.
Okay, so that hadn’t worked so well. Maybe add a little bit of fear into the equation?
“This looks like it might be Satan worshippers doing ritual killings. Gruesome stuff.”
Maggie snorted. “Please. Can’t be worse than Father what’s-his-face with the church from hell down in the Underground.”
True, that. Trey resolved to stop talking about his cases with Maggie from here on out. The woman forgot nothing.
Right. It was time to just come clean. Trey took a deep breath, swallowed once to get rid of the extra juices stirred up by his fear and launched in.
“Here’s the deal. Darc’s going on his first date with Mala tonight.”
Maggie went still. “What?”
“Darc. Date. With Mala.”
“He’s going out on a date?” she murmured under her breath. She stayed there with a puzzled look on her face for a moment, then shook her head. “Okay, he’s dating. But what does that have to do with you?”
“Well, that’s the thing. If you think about it for a second, you might even think it’s funny.” Trey took another deep breath and continued. “I agreed to talk him through his date. On Bluetooth.”
“You… agreed… to talk… Is there something wrong with you?”
“It was more of me suggesting it, actually, but yeah, probably.”
Maggie stood there staring at him for a long beat. Then she heaved a huge sigh.
“Fine.”
“Fine?”
“I said fine,” she said, her tone pleasant. She then turned on her heel and headed off to the bedroom.
Yikes. When Maggie was irritated and she started sounding like that, Trey had learned to tread lightly. It had only taken once or twice on the wrong end of that kind of exchange for him to figure things out. He might be a slow learner, but when actual pain was involved, the learning curve got steep real fast.
But for the moment, he wasn’t really sure what to do. Follow her in? Try to goad her into expressing what was really going on in her head? Instinctively, neither seemed like such a good idea.
So instead, Trey began setting up for his phone conversation with his partner. Phone plugged in so the battery wouldn’t die on him in the middle. A Bluetooth of Trey’s own so he would be able to roam around. He always thought better on his feet. And he might need a snack in the middle. Didn’t want to be tied down to a plugged in cell phone.
He was in the middle of rearranging the cushions on the sofa for maximum comfort when Maggie came back in through the kitchen. Her hair, which had been down and loose before, was tied up in a ponytail. The sexy red dress had been exchanged for a t-shirt and sweatpants. She scooped up a bottle of red wine and two glasses.
“What are you doing?” Trey asked.
“Helping. It’s Darc; you’re going to need all the assistance you can get.” She chuckled, then sobered. “Darc taking someone on a date is a big deal. He’s probably scared out of his gourd.”
“He’s accepting help from me,” Trey said. “So I’d say that yeah, he’s terrified.”
Maggie threw herself down on the sofa, messing up Trey�
��s meticulously arranged pillows. He decided he wouldn’t say anything about it.
“All right. How are we going to work this?” she asked.
Trey settled in next to his lady. He had to admit, it might not be a date night, but having her here and working with him was going to make this evening so much better.
CHAPTER 4
Mala put the finishing touches on her make up. She never wore much, part of the benefit of having darker skin and hair. Her eyelashes were plenty thick and visible without any mascara or eyeliner, and her need for foundation was minimal.
As she put down the lip-gloss, she found that her hand was trembling. Ridiculous. It wasn’t like she was going out with someone she had never met. Darc had been her colleague now for going on two months, and the kind of interaction they’d had was of the most intense type imaginable. They’d gotten to know one another in extremis.
Which was part of the problem, of course. She had no idea how they would be able to interact on a social level. Especially considering Darc’s Asperger’s. The feelings she had developed for Darc were ones that had not been tested in any kind of a normal setting. And if they couldn’t translate well into the real world, it seemed unlikely that a relationship between them could flourish.
She stepped out of her room and into the living room, where the babysitter was waiting. The girl was sixteen and had spent a week shadowing Mala a couple of hours a day after school as part of a project she had been working on. Mala had found her to be a responsible student, highly prepared and motivated.
So when it came time to find a babysitter, Pyper was her first choice. The girl hadn’t balked for a second, even when she found out that Janey had been silent since her parent’s death. She’d just nodded and asked what day she’d be needed.
“Janey’s in bed asleep, so shouldn’t give you any trouble,” Mala told her. “If she gets up, you can let her watch TV for a while, but don’t tell her I told you so.”
Pyper grinned. “I won’t.”
“My cell number’s right here,” Mala said, tapping a list she’d made out. “As well as my date’s and some emergency ones. Help yourself to anything in the fridge, and don’t hesitate to call if there’s any problems.”
“Okay. But I’m sure there won’t be.” Pyper turned around in a circle once. “The restroom?”
“Oh, sorry. Right down the hallway.”
“Great. Thanks. Just for possible future reference.” The girl made her way over to one of the overstuffed chairs and plopped down.
The bell rang, and Mala glanced at her watch. It was 7:29. Nope. No it wasn’t. It had just changed over to 7:30. Talk about punctuality. Mala supposed that was a good sign, although that virtue had never really been the highest on her list.
She stepped to the door to open it. There, waiting in the hallway of the apartment complex, was Darc, his head looking freshly shaven and his beard trimmed and groomed. There was a spot of toilet paper just under his jawline, where it appeared he had cut himself while shaving his neck.
He was dressed in an un-tucked button down shirt that was such a dark blue it almost appeared black. The shirt was paired with dark blue jeans that hugged his form. Mala had never seen Darc in clothes like these. They suited him quite well.
“Darc, you look great,” she said.
There was a pause, during which Darc appeared to be assessing her. He cocked his head to the side.
“You do as well,” he replied. “I like your blouse. Its pattern is very… symmetrical and pleasing.”
Okay. A bit strange, but Mala was shocked that he’d even made the attempt. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think that someone with Asperger’s wouldn’t have made any comment whatsoever.
“Are you ready to go?” Darc asked, once again after a brief moment. Mala couldn’t be sure, but it seemed that Darc was thinking through every single part of their social interaction. The fact that he would go to those lengths in order to take her out for a simple dinner was actually more than a little flattering to her.
“Yes, I’m ready,” she responded. “Where are you taking me?”
“Nishino,” he answered, his tone flat. A moment later, he smiled at her. It was a bit stiff, but again, she appreciated the effort. He added, “I hope you like Japanese.”
“Oh, I love sushi.”
Then without another word he turned around and began walking down the hallway. It took Mala a second to realize that he was leaving without her, so she waved to Pyper, who appeared to be doing what she could not to laugh.
That was a pretty appropriate response, Mala couldn’t help but think. She pulled the door shut behind her, checking to make sure she had locked it, then rushed after Darc’s retreating back. She was almost caught up when Darc stopped without warning. She had to windmill her arms a bit to keep her balance, but she managed to keep from running into him.
Darc turned around and seemed somehow both gratified and irritated to find her there. What an odd response. Not that Darc behaving oddly should be that big of a surprise. Honestly, the fact that he was showing any emotional response at all was a win in her book. Another pause and he spoke again.
“I apologize for not waiting. I thought you had said you were ready to leave.”
Mala nodded. “I can see where the confusion might have come in.”
They continued down the hall side by side, Darc staring straight ahead of him as they walked. And this was the very difficulty that Mala had anticipated. It was both better and worse than she thought that it would be. Better in the sense that he was clearly trying. Worse only because Mala was making the realization that Darc would always be trying.
The fact that he was working at it was endearing. Charming even, in a strange way. But it would be a continual struggle for him. How would that make her feel over the long haul? Could she handle being with someone that had to fight to show even the most basic of courtesies to her?
She wasn’t proud of the fact that she had no idea what the answer was.
One thing, however, seemed relatively certain. Tonight was going to be an interesting experience.
* * *
Fooling Mala hadn’t been that hard.
Janey had dressed in her pajamas and gone to bed when Mala told her to. Mala had read her a chapter out of Anne of Green Gables. It was written kind of funny… old fashioned with lots of big words… but she loved Anne, who had red hair and talked a lot. And having Mala read to her made Janey feel safe.
Then, after the chapter, Mala had told her the babysitter would be here soon and that Janey needed to go stay asleep in her bed. She’d snuggled down with Popeye… even though he kept complaining about her squeezing him too tight… and had pretended to go to sleep.
Then, when Mala was in the shower, she’d gotten dressed, grabbed her darkest blanket and her bear and gone out the front door of the apartment. There was a tree in a planter just down the hall in a little recess along the wall where she sat down and waited.
It wasn’t too long before the babysitter got there. When Janey saw her, she almost changed her mind. She was so pretty, with dark hair that was cut super short, almost like a boy’s. And she had a backpack that said Girls Rule, Boys Drool on it. She seemed like she would be a really fun sitter, better than the old lady that smelled like cats that Mommy and Daddy used to get to babysit her.
Then Popeye reminded her that they hadn’t seen Darc in forever and that this was their chance. He was right, which didn’t happen all that much. Popeye said that was rude and he wasn’t talking to her any more. Stink head.
Mala kept saying that they’d see him soon and that it hadn’t been that long. Only a few days, and that was only because they had lots of stuff they had to do. School clothes and supplies. Going to the school to talk to Janey’s teachers. Tons of things.
But none of it mattered to Janey. She wanted to be spending time helping Darc and Trey catch bad guys. She was good at it. She knew she was. And if she could help catch bad guys, then maybe other kids like her wouldn’
t have to miss their mommies and daddies and cry into their pillows at night because it hurt so much.
Janey was happy with Mala. She really, really was. But sometimes she missed how her Daddy smelled after he shaved, or how his stubble would tickle her neck at the end of the day when he would tuck her in. She also missed how her Mommy could braid her hair in that special way that only mommies could. That was hard.
He never would have read her Anne of Green Gables, but he would read her Dr. Seuss, with different voices for all the people in them. Mala didn’t really do voices. Only a little bit of change for Anne and Marilla and Matthew.
When she saw Darc coming down the hall, she knew it was time. She had listened close to make sure that no one noticed that she was gone, but now she had to make it down to Darc’s car before they got there.
She grabbed Popeye by the ear, listening to him complain about how much it hurt and would she kindly knock it off. Then he seemed to remember that they weren’t talking and the complaining ended.
Moving around the corner, Janey got to the stairwell that led downstairs. She was pretty sure that Darc and Mala would take the elevator, so she should be able to get to the parking garage before them. Then she’d just have to hope that the door to Darc’s car wasn’t locked.
She rushed down the stairs, almost running into an old woman who lived down the hall from them. The woman grinned at her and waved and Janey waved back, putting her finger up to her lips to let her know it was a secret. The lady cackled the kind of laugh that was almost scary but not really.
When she got down to the garage, Janey was scared for a second that she wasn’t going to be able to find the car. But then she spotted it and ran over to the side opposite from the elevator door. She didn’t want to get caught at the last second while she was getting into the car. Then she reached out to grab at the door handle and found that it was locked.
This was not good.
Popeye started in right away, telling her that it was all her fault and he was going to get in trouble now and would probably end up going through the washer and the dryer as punishment. She tried to block him out while she thought of what to do.