Angie returned to her apartment. She had almost walked right by her place, her mind preoccupied with the answer she was going to give Paul tonight. There were other things pushing their way into her thoughts, but she quickly pushed them away. She didn't want to think of dark, hurtful things.
She had butterflies in her stomach now as she showered and changed. She put on a black sleeveless chemise and blow-dried her hair. As she finished putting the finishing touches of makeup on her face her phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Angie. Hi sweetie. I'm glad I caught you....running a bit late, huh?" Paul teased.
‘Just a bit," Angie sighed. Paul was always needling her about time. He was always so punctual; "I'm about to head out the door now...."
"That's why I'm calling. Listen, something's come up and I have to fly to Washington tonight. So, we have to postpone our little dinner and the important answer you were going to give me."
"Well! You certainly are becoming Mr. Business man-of-the-year," Angie teased.
Paul laughed, when he had met Angie he had been so unsure of himself handing his father's business.
"I know, I know. Hey! I've got an idea. You could come with me. We could have a late dinner in Washington, a romantic stroll along the Potomac. And you could give me your answer," Paul sensed Angie's hesitation, "You don't want to come to Washington with me?"
"Paul, you know I can't just up and go like you can. I have work to do and I'm afraid I've already let Rollie down by not pulling my weight on this picture."
"Alright, alright," Paul sighed, "I tried. But hey, you could tell me your answer now, no use making me wait for the answer right?"
Angie laughed, "If it's all the same to you Mr.Richter, I would prefer to wait until you get back and tell you my answer in person."
"I guess I will have to be patient then," Paul sighed. "I should be back in a day or two. I'll call you when I get back, luv you."
"Right back at you," Angie said, "Take care."
They hung up and Angie wondered why she stiffened when Paul said in the casual way he always did, "luv you," she knew he meant it....but she couldn't bring herself to rubber band it right back to him. She tried saying it out loud then, alone in her living room.
"Luv you."
"Luv you, Paul."
‘I love you Paul."
"Hey, luv you Paul," she said while winking and holding her hands up mimicking handguns and clicking her tongue. "Ugh! This is pathetic! You are pathetic Angie Ramirez!" This isn't exactly how she thought she would be spending her evening. And with thoughts of Loubar still at the back of her mind, she didn't exactly want to be alone right now. Angie plopped down on the couch and realized she was dressed to nice to stay at home all by herself so she picked up the phone and called Mira.
"Mira, hey it's Angie."
"Hi Angie. What's up?"
"Oh nothing. I just got stood up, so I was wondering if you want to go somewhere with me and break a few hearts?"
Mira laughed "Ooh....I would love to but I am working on a case right now. In fact I'm at Tyler's getting his input on it. But listen, keep that invitation open because I will definitely take you up on that."
"Okay, deal. Hey Mira, is this something I can help with too?"
Mira looked over at Rollie, "Umm....sure, I guess. I'm sure Rollie wouldn't mind your help in the van tomorrow," Mira said, ignoring the look Rollie gave her.
"Thanks Mira. I'll see you tomorrow then."
"What the hell was that?" Rollie demanded.
"That...." Mira answered coolly, "Was your partner, Angie."
"I know that was Angie on the phone Mira. I meant, why did you say she could come on the stakeout tomorrow?"
"She asked, Tyler! It's never been a problem before," Mira said shaking her head, "What is your problem anyhow?"
Rollie was working on a small object, so small he had to look at it under a lighted magnifying glass; he had a screwdriver in his hand. Rollie shook his head at her, as if to say why bother.
"What?" Mira demanded.
"I just think that you should have asked me whether it was okay first," He replied angrily. "And in the future....keep that in mind as well."
"I don't get this. Why are you trying to lock Angie out? Did you two have a fight, or something?"
"It's nothing like that," Rollie yelled, getting angrier, "Would you just respect what I asked?"
"No. Not unless you tell me what is going on. You two are partners. You have both been a big help to the NYPD, and obviously Angie still wants to help...."
Rollie didn't say anything. He just continued to work on the small circuitry in his hand.
"I am not going to be used to come between you two," Mira stated flatly, "You two work this out between yourselves. Only then will I respect both of your wishes." she told him finally.
"Damn it!" Rollie yelled as he threw a small piece of electronics across the room, surprising Mira.
"Look, it's just that after everything Angie has been through, she's finally getting her life together," Rollie tried explaining in a calmer voice. "She has a real chance at happiness Mira. I don't think she should jeopardize it by being involved in unofficial police business. She's already been hurt enough." Rollie's head lowered, "Besides, I don't think her fiancé would appreciate her putting herself in danger."
"What? What?" Mira asked, completely taken by surprise "I had no idea that Angie was that serious about this guy."
Rollie twirled the screwdriver around in his hand "Yeah, well....she is. Now do you understand?"
Mira held her chin in deep thought. "Well, I understand better. But it still doesn't make sense."
"What doesn't?"
"Angie offered Rollie. I didn't ask her," the detective replied, although that wasn't really what she was thinking didn't make sense. She wasn't about to tell Rollie what that was however. "I know that Angie hasn't been too keen on you working with the police before but I don't know, maybe Loubar changed all that. It's just a thought."
Rollie was about to reply when the object of their conversation walked through the door.
"Hey!" Angie called to Mira and Rollie.
Rollie caught his eyes lingering on Angie's body. She was still dressed in the sleeveless chemise, which hugged her body in all the right places. Mira caught his eyes on her too, and smiled.
Rollie cleared his throat, "Ange? What are you doing here? I thought you had an important date?"
"Well that's a nice how do you do?" Angie laughed, "For your information I was stood up. Paul got called to Washington on business. Anyway, I was bored at home so I thought I'd come here and be bored instead. Besides, I thought I could help with the setup for tomorrow night."
Mira took that as her cue to leave but before she did she went up to Angie and gave her a hug, taking Angie by surprise. "Let me be one of the first to offer you my congratulations Angie. I hope you'll both be very happy."
Angie looked at Mira stunned. Her eyes darted to Rollie, still at his worktable, and she did a slow burn. Angie left Mira and came to stand in front of Rollie, her arms folded across her chest.
"You told her?" she said accusingly.
"Ange....I," Rollie stammered, "It just....just came out. I'm sorry."
"Sorry? Sorry?" she yelled, her arms more animated now, "Who else have you told?"
"No one," Rollie stood up, "What's the big deal anyway?"
Oh oh, Mira thought.
Angie hit Rollie on the arm, hard enough for him to yell "Ouch!"
"You had no right! Where do you come off telling people that I'm engaged? That's not any of your business. It's private and personal and.....and....you had no right!"
"You already said that," Rollie replied coolly.
Angie hit him on the arm again.
"Ouch!" Rollie yelled, "Stop doing that!"
Mira decided now was a good time to leave. "Angie....I gotta run. Rollie can fill you in on the details for tomorrow night. See you then."
Neither one of them noticed Mira leaving. She left them still yelling at each other and as Mira turned one last time before she closed the door, she saw that Angie had thrown a sofa pillow at Rollie and he had ducked, which sent some equipment off his table crashing to the floor. "Bloody hell!" was the last thing she heard as she closed the door. Mira chuckled to herself.