be a
very guilty man right now.”
Lapointe snorted. “I really don’t think that’s
it, Alex is expensive, but he never bills unfairly, and we’ve been using him
for years now.”
“Some guys just don’t like it when other
people get to save the day,” said MacLean. “I always thought it was
important that the day got saved, but you know,” he shrugged.
“That’s why we like you, you’re
sensible,” said Julian. “Well, and you’ve got good taste in
pizza.”
“Does he?” asked Lapointe, interested.
“Oh, yeah, we visited that one time and he
ordered from this local place around the corner and it was so good, you have to
come along next time we invade his flat,” said Julian.
“As I recall, last time there was rugby
involved,” said Lapointe, making a face. “I’m not sure there’s any
pizza worth that.”
“I was thinking maybe a movie, I’ve never seen
a lot of popular things,” said Julian, feeling a bit shy. “Thomas had
a lot of stuff at his house, I mean, if you’d be willing?”
Thomas grinned. “I’d love to, if you can get
your anti-everything boyfriend to agree. I was surprised he consented to the
rugby.”
They got settled in their usual booth, and the
waitress came over. “You’re missing your mage,” she said cheerfully;
she’d been disappointed to realise Alex was unavailable, but her service never
wavered. Julian thought it helped that Jones kept trying to ask her out, even
if she’d yet to say yes.
“He’s at home working,” said Julian,
pulling out his phone, “though I ought to text him and see if he’s willing
to be dragged over to Thomas’ flat sometime soon.”
“You’re welcome any time, though I don’t have
any house-fairies, so the place is a bit of a mess right now,” said
Thomas, his face saying that ‘a bit’ meant ‘really a lot so not right now
please.’
Julian chuckled. “I’ll just suggest we ought
to do it soon,” he teased, finding he already had a text from Alex asking
if he needed rescuing. He smiled fondly as he replied that Agent MacLean had
done the honours and wanted them to drag Murielle over for movies, and also
needed some lessons from Alex on how to actually ask out the person they liked.
A few seconds later, Thomas’ phone pinged, and he blushed red when he read the
text.
“From a girl?” asked Murielle teasingly.
“No,” said Thomas. “I’ll have a
coffee and some of your banoffee pie, please.”
“Ah, an order!” said the waitress,
writing it down. “Anyone else want actual food?”
“I’ll have tea and a cinnamon roll,
please,” said Julian, and Murielle ordered her usual coffee and bagel.
Once she’d left, they managed between texts and all
of them consulting their phone calendars to decide on Saturday afternoon for
their movies and pizza, case willing, which gave Thomas two days to clean up
enough to impress Murielle. Alex kept sending him texts that made him squirm,
which got Murielle curious and made Julian determined to give Alex a proper
reward when he got home. The handsome agent might be a little young for
Lapointe, but he’d held onto his torch long enough it didn’t seem like it was
just a crush anymore.
Even if Alex did liken him to a puppy.
“All right, now that you’ve forced Alex to
have a life outside your flat,” said Murielle, amused, “I wanted to
ask you again about what you felt when you walked the nursery with Alex.”
“We didn’t do the whole thing together, mostly
just the, um, the site, and the special greenhouse where we kept the
virgin-pure plants before sale,” said Julian, sitting back and sipping his
tea, thinking of the things he’d felt. “The plants were all really sad, I
would’ve expected angry but they were just hurt and sad and dying.”
“All of them?” asked Lapointe, making
notes in her little flip-top notebook. Julian always thought she used them just
to feel more like a proper police officer, but he thought perhaps that was just
the
very guilty man right now.”
Lapointe snorted. “I really don’t think that’s
it, Alex is expensive, but he never bills unfairly, and we’ve been using him
for years now.”
“Some guys just don’t like it when other
people get to save the day,” said MacLean. “I always thought it was
important that the day got saved, but you know,” he shrugged.
“That’s why we like you, you’re
sensible,” said Julian. “Well, and you’ve got good taste in
pizza.”
“Does he?” asked Lapointe, interested.
“Oh, yeah, we visited that one time and he
ordered from this local place around the corner and it was so good, you have to
come along next time we invade his flat,” said Julian.
“As I recall, last time there was rugby
involved,” said Lapointe, making a face. “I’m not sure there’s any
pizza worth that.”
“I was thinking maybe a movie, I’ve never seen
a lot of popular things,” said Julian, feeling a bit shy. “Thomas had
a lot of stuff at his house, I mean, if you’d be willing?”
Thomas grinned. “I’d love to, if you can get
your anti-everything boyfriend to agree. I was surprised he consented to the
rugby.”
They got settled in their usual booth, and the
waitress came over. “You’re missing your mage,” she said cheerfully;
she’d been disappointed to realise Alex was unavailable, but her service never
wavered. Julian thought it helped that Jones kept trying to ask her out, even
if she’d yet to say yes.
“He’s at home working,” said Julian,
pulling out his phone, “though I ought to text him and see if he’s willing
to be dragged over to Thomas’ flat sometime soon.”
“You’re welcome any time, though I don’t have
any house-fairies, so the place is a bit of a mess right now,” said
Thomas, his face saying that ‘a bit’ meant ‘really a lot so not right now
please.’
Julian chuckled. “I’ll just suggest we ought
to do it soon,” he teased, finding he already had a text from Alex asking
if he needed rescuing. He smiled fondly as he replied that Agent MacLean had
done the honours and wanted them to drag Murielle over for movies, and also
needed some lessons from Alex on how to actually ask out the person they liked.
A few seconds later, Thomas’ phone pinged, and he blushed red when he read the
text.
“From a girl?” asked Murielle teasingly.
“No,” said Thomas. “I’ll have a
coffee and some of your banoffee pie, please.”
“Ah, an order!” said the waitress,
writing it down. “Anyone else want actual food?”
“I’ll have tea and a cinnamon roll,
please,” said Julian, and Murielle ordered her usual coffee and bagel.
Once she’d left, they managed between texts and all
of them consulting their phone calendars to decide on Saturday afternoon for
their movies and pizza, case willing, which gave Thomas two days to clean up
enough to impress Murielle. Alex kept sending him texts that made him squirm,
which got Murielle curious and made Julian determined to give Alex a proper
reward when he got home. The handsome agent might be a little young for
Lapointe, but he’d held onto his torch long enough it didn’t seem like it was
just a crush anymore.
Even if Alex did liken him to a puppy.
“All right, now that you’ve forced Alex to
have a life outside your flat,” said Murielle, amused, “I wanted to
ask you again about what you felt when you walked the nursery with Alex.”
“We didn’t do the whole thing together, mostly
just the, um, the site, and the special greenhouse where we kept the
virgin-pure plants before sale,” said Julian, sitting back and sipping his
tea, thinking of the things he’d felt. “The plants were all really sad, I
would’ve expected angry but they were just hurt and sad and dying.”
“All of them?” asked Lapointe, making
notes in her little flip-top notebook. Julian always thought she used them just
to feel more like a proper police officer, but he thought perhaps that was just
the
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