~ At BLACK & BLUE bar -- 2:00 am ~
Nick and Lori had been in the bar for more than 2 hours. They were in conversation most of the time. Lori take a look at her watch.
"It's kinda late now, Nick, I think we gotta go. But the thing is, I don't think you should drive. Come on, I'll give you a ride home."
They arrived at Nick's house front door. "Thanks Lori!"
"Hold on Nick! I think I better go in with you so you won't fall in the center of a street. That will be embarrassing... nah... I'm just kidding. Come on now."
"No, I'm okay, really..." But Lori had grab his arm already.
Mrs. Carter heard a noise and opened the door. "Nick, where have you been? We were so worried about you! And this is..."
"Oh, you must be Mrs. Carter. Hi... my name is Lori. I'm Nick's working partner. He drank quite a lot just now so I guess it would be better for me to get him home. It's safer."
"Thank you very much! Would you like to come in?"
"No thank you Mrs. Carter. It's kinda late now, so I guess I have to go home. And Nick, your car is still in the bar parking lot, how about I'll come pick you up at eight tomorrow morning so you can go get your car?"
"Okay, thanks a lot! See you tomorrow then!"
"k... and good night Mrs. Carter."
Nick went back up to his room, took a shower and lie on his bed. He totally changed his point of view towards Lori. He has a strong feeling that they will eventually become really good friends.
The next morning, Lori arrived right on time.
"Good morning Lori!"
"Good morning Nick! You look way better now. Hey, here you go, this is for you!" And she hand Nick a CD.
"What is this?"
"I remember you saying that you like the song 'I Need You Tonight' right?!? This is a CD single with a very nice orchestral version of the song. I've got two copies at home, so I'll give you one. Remember??? As a beginning of our 'friendship'."
They went McDonald's together. Nick calls back to the headquarter and asks if anybody wants anything.
~ LAPD Headquarter -- 8:30 am ~
"Hey people, breakfast is here!"
"Wow... thanks Nick and Lori. Wait, you guys went to get it together?"
"Yea... Lori lives on the same street as I do."
After breakfast, Nick makes a call to AJ's mom and is so happy to find out that AJ is fine. The doctor said AJ had a strong body and will fully recover in a pretty short time. Mandy is about to ask Nick about AJ when she sees Nick dragging Lori to the coffee room. She followed them quietly.
"Sup Nick?"
"Lori, you know what? AJ woke up! He's fine!"
"Oh my god, you for real? Congrats Nick! See, I told you good guys never fell!"
"Thanks to you Lori. For helping me out last night. You wanna go visit AJ with me this afternoon? He would be more than willing to meet you."
"Oh sure. No prob!"
"And Lori, SMILE in front of everybody or they're gona think that you're trying to be cool again... smile!" Nick put his hand on Lori's face, trying to make a smily face out of it.
"I just get used to it... I will try my best! And by the way, get your hands off Nick, it hurts!" They laugh.
Mandy is all depress and quiet the rest of the day. Things are just happening too fast. She and Nick have been working together for almost 2 years and she didn't even get as close to Nick as Lori did in just about a month. Brian was right. Nick has been happier than ever since Lori came.
It's 5:00 pm and everybody is starting to leave. The next think she sees is Nick and Lori walking side by side to the parking lot. She grabs her bag and runs right up to Nick.
'Nick, hold on... hmm... i'm just wondering if you're gonna go visit AJ coz I wanna go too."
"Yea... we are."
'We? You mean Lori is going too? But she don't even know AJ!"
"That's okay. I'm sure AJ would like to meet her. Let's go. We'll just drive one car there. I'll drive, k?! Come on, get in the car."
Nick opens the doors for the ladies. He naturally opens the front door for Lori... and of course, the back door for Mandy. Nick started the car, and start playing the CD Lori gave him that morning. They smile at each other. Throughout the way, Nick and Lori are talking as if they've known each other for years. Mandy don't even has a chance to join in the conversation. She felt out of place.
