Taylor stepped into her apartment and headed straight for her bedroom. Maybe a night out was exactly what she needed – she could drink herself into a state of not remembering – a couple of shots of tequila should be enough.
She headed to her closet and pulled out her outfit of choice: long black boots, black skirt, and a turquoise, black and white patterned halter-neck, laying it out on the bed. She had a quick shower and got dried and dressed. She was done with her hair and make-up in record time, and grabbing her purse and a jacket, she was back out of the door and hailing a taxi in just over half an hour.
Taylor paid the driver and went inside the bar, and not spotting Lindsay, she headed straight to the bar. Lindsay arrived just as the barman came over. “Hey, what do you want?” she asked her.
“A bottle of Budweiser, please,” Lindsay told her and the barman.
“And I’ll have a Smirnoff Ice, please,” Taylor paid for the drinks and the two headed for a booth in the back. “Anyone would think we were trying to hide from Danny.”
“Chance would be a fine thing,” grumbled Lindsay.
“Is there something I should know about?” Taylor asked her, raising her eyebrows suggestively as she took a mouthful of drink.
“Not very stiff, is it?”
Taylor nearly choked on her drink. “What? Danny?”
Lindsay, who had just taken a large mouthful, ended up spraying a large part of it over the floor. “I meant the drink!”
The two looked at each other and burst out laughing. “Is this the direction the night’s heading? Because at this rate, we are going to be hopelessly drunk by the time Danny gets here, and he’s not going to know what hit him,” said Taylor, wiping away a tear that was streaking down her face.
“I think that’s the intention,” gasped Lindsay, who was in a similar state. “So how are you dealing with this case?”
Taylor quickly sobered up. “In all honesty, not too good. It was a child, Lindsay. I still can’t get past that. And her mother was so blasé about killing her own daughter – like the girl deserved it.”
“Cases with children are officially the worst,” Lindsay agreed. “But I don’t get why you’re working it, Taylor. It’s not your job.”
“Not my paid one,” Taylor muttered, taking a swig of her drink. Lindsay sighed. “Don’t worry about it, Linds. I know you don’t believe, and that’s alright. It’s a strange thing to get your head around, and I don’t want to end up arguing with you like I do Flack.”
“What’s the deal with you and Flack then?” asked Lindsay, raising her eyebrows suggestively.
“Oh, please,” scoffed Taylor. “There’s as much chance of something happening between us two, as there is between you and Danny.”
Lindsay went red and looked away. “So what is the deal with you and Flack? Why don’t you like him?”
“Oh, no you don’t,” cried Taylor. “I saw that look! You’re not getting out of this one. You like Danny!” she accused, using the bottle neck to point at Lindsay.
“No!” she objected. “He’s as annoying as hell, and if he calls me Montana one more time, I swear I’m going to stick him in my trunk, drive him there and abandon him.” She sighed, picking at the label on her bottle. “But, I will say he’s a little easy on the eye.”
Taylor laughed. “I knew it. You can cut the sexual tension between you with a knife. Actually, forget that, you could beat it with a large stick. But I will give you that, he is good looking.”
Lindsay nodded. “The problem is he knows it.”
“Oh, I saw him working the lab assistants earlier.” Taylor took another large mouthful of her drink. “Although, if you think about it, your whole team looks like they stepped off the front page of GQ magazine. Hell, you’re a bit of a looker yourself, Lindsay.”
Lindsay clinked her bottle against Taylor’s. “You’re not so bad yourself.” The two fell about laughing again.
“So, you and Danny, eh?” Taylor said, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Erm, no,” Lindsay scoffed. “He winds me up something chronic.”
“He’s a male,” Taylor shrugged. “His mental age never got past fourteen. You know, boys pick on girls they like.”
“Don’t be stupid. He’s a grown man,” Lindsay retorted, pulling a face.
“A grown man who calls you Montana,” Taylor said, dryly.
“I kind of like it, actually. But,” added Lindsay, as Taylor burst out laughing again. “Don’t tell him that!”
Taylor shook her head. “Okay, hold that thought. I’m going to the bar.”
“I haven’t finished this one yet,” Lindsay pointed out. “Neither have you.”
Taylor grabbed her bottle and finished off the remaining half. “Now I have, and I expect yours finished when I return,” she told Lindsay, who was gaping at her. She returned a short while later carrying a tray with several shots, limes, and a few more bottles each.
“What on earth have you got there?” Lindsay asked, eyeing the tray warily.
“Two shots of tequila, two Alabama Slammers, and you have a bottle of Bud, and I have two Smirnoff Ices.”
“Taylor, I have work tomorrow,” Lindsay told her, pulling a face.
“I know, that’s why I only bought you one beer,” Taylor said, setting the bottles down on the table. “But just remember, you were the one who was adamant that we were going out tonight.
“Taylor!” Lindsay exclaimed.
“Lindsay, I have had one really hard day, and I intend on getting so drunk that it’s not going to haunt my dreams tonight. And I know full well that you don’t have to be in until 2, tomorrow. Besides, Danny will be here in half an hour, and you aren’t nearly drunk enough.”
Lindsay glanced at her watch and downed the two shots before Taylor had even taken them off the tray. After screwing up her face, and sucking on the lime, she downed the remains of her first beer. “You have some catching up to do.”
Taylor rubbed her hands together mischievously. “We have to go out with Maddy sometime – she’ll love your drinking abilities.” And then she did her own shots.
As Taylor was busy pulling a face at the tequila, Lindsay gave her a coy smile. “What is the deal with you and Flack.”
Taylor pulled a face. “Let’s just say we have a few creative issues when it comes to ghosts.”
“So do we,” Lindsay pointed out.
“Yeah, but… I don’t know,” Taylor shrugged. “We just can’t seem to be in a room without arguing.”
“Well, you know, boys pick on girls they like,” Lindsay informed her with a grin.
“Touché,” laughed Taylor. “So where’s your eye candy?” she asked, changing the subject.
Lindsay glanced at her watch. “Maybe he’s not coming.”
“Is that disappointment I hear?” Taylor asked.
“Disappointment about what?”
Taylor looked up to find Danny standing over them, she turned to look at Lindsay and the two of them burst out laughing again. “That you hadn’t arrived here yet,” said Taylor, whilst Lindsay said, “That you weren’t bringing someone else with you.”
The two looked at each other, and on their way to being quite drunk, laughed a little harder. “That you hadn’t got here yet,” said Lindsay.
“That you didn’t bring a friend along,” said Taylor at the same time. The two laughed even harder. Taylor leant over the table, sending a shot glass flying in the process, and clamped her hand over Lindsay’s mouth. “That you weren’t here yet, and you hadn’t bought someone else along for us to torment.” Lindsay spluttered from underneath Taylor’s hand, making Taylor remove it and slump back into the booth chair.
Danny was looking at the two women with a mixture of bewilderment, amusement, and horror. “Shove up, Montana, and let me sit down.”
As Danny pushed Lindsay over, Taylor stopped laughing long enough to pout at him and say. “Aw, is there a reason why you won’t sit next to me?”
“Yeah,” smirked Danny. “The fact that Lindsay seems a little more sober than you do.” He leant over and picked the shot glass off the floor and placed it on the table, as if to prove a point. “So, you were getting upset ’cause you didn’t think I’d show?”
“Where’s your drink?” asked Lindsay. “Or… you called me Lindsay!”
Danny shrugged. “That’s some quick observation skills you’ve got going. The barman is gonna bring it over. Although I asked him to repeat the round you just had. He may take a while by the looks of things. Explains the look on his face when I asked.”
“Aw, bless. But we’ll let you do the shots, so you can catch up,” Taylor assured him.
“And going back to the unanswered question, you guys were getting upset I wasn’t going to show?”
“No,” said Taylor, noticing Lindsay’s cheeks getting redder. “I was getting upset.”
Danny smirked again. “Is there something you want to tell me, Drew?”
“Your drinks are here,” she told him nonchalantly, indicating the barman who was just reaching the table.
Danny looked at the drinks in front of him. “This was one round?”
“She’s like a goldfish,” Lindsay nodded.
“Did you know goldfish don’t actually drink alcohol… or anything, really, as they’re fish,” Taylor paused with a frown. “And, actually, even if they did, they wouldn’t drink much considering they’re so small.”
Lindsay and Danny stared at her, and Lindsay started laughing again. “Let me at those shots,” groaned Danny, grabbing the two tequilas and drinking them, without the lime, and then polished off the other two shots. He turned to Lindsay who was clutching at her sides, “So, if Taylor is wanting me, does that mean you were wanting someone else here?”
Lindsay’s laughing turned to coughing, and again Taylor jumped in. “No, that was me too.”
“You were wanting me, and someone else?” he asked incredulously.
Taylor looked at Lindsay, mouth flapping open and shut. “She’s not exactly sober enough to be thinking straight, is she,” Lindsay bailed her out.
Danny looked between the two women, then shrugged. “Whatever,” he said, grabbing a beer. “I guess it’s a good thing I asked a friend to come along later, then.”
“Good,” said Taylor. “Because I didn’t want to end up spending the evening feeling like a spare leg.” She leaned over, grabbed Danny’s face with both hands and planted a kiss on his forehead. “Come on, Lindsay, let’s go dance.” She grabbed one of her bottles, downed the entire contents, and headed off to the small, almost empty, dance floor, without even waiting.
She was joined by Lindsay, a few minutes later, “Danny thinks you’re crazy, by the way,” she was told, as the two danced to the funky RnB music that was playing. “And less of the spare leg comments.”
Taylor just smiled, and the two remained on the dance floor for a few songs. “Do you think we left Danny alone too long?” asked Lindsay, as another song kicked in.
“Missing him already?” Taylor teased.
“No, just concerned we left our purses with him.”
Taylor pulled a face. “Okay, I guess, but we’re dragging him up here later!” she shouted back over the music.
“You think he can dance?”
“I don’t know, but we’ll either be pleasantly surprised, or very amused,” she told her, as they headed back. “I’m going to the bathroom first, I’ll see you there,” she wiggled her eyebrows again, and dodged Lindsay’s swipe as she veered off in the other direction.
She manoeuvred her way back a few minutes later. Danny was sat facing her, trapped on the inside of the booth by Lindsay who was laughing at something he’d said, whilst opposite Danny, with his back to her, was Danny’s ‘friend’.
“Oh, please don’t be,” she muttered, seeing a familiar head of hair. It was. “Flack,” she offered, by way of greeting, as she sat down.
“Taylor?” he returned, before looking over at Danny, who shrugged.
“What? I asked if you wanted to come for a few drinks with some guys from work.”
“I thought you meant Mac, or Stella. You know, someone who actually worked with us?” Flack told him.
“You expected Mac and Stella here?” asked Lindsay in surprise.
“Let’s play a game,” declared Taylor, moving off the topic.
“What game?” asked Lindsay, suspiciously.
“Something simple to start with,” said Taylor. “I know, we each say two things, one true, one false, you know that one?”
The three nodded. “What’s the catch?” asked Danny.
“For every person that guesses which statement is true, the person who said it must do a shot. And each person who guesses the false statement, they’ve got to do a shot too.”
“I don’t know,” said Flack, warily.
“You chicken?” Danny taunted him.
Flack glared at him, before wafting his arm. “Whatever.”
“Great,” said Taylor, “I’ll go get some alcohol.” She bounded off to the bar and returned a short time later with a full bottle of tequila, and a pot full of limes.
“How much are you expecting us to drink?” exclaimed Lindsay.
“Did you just buy a bottle of tequila?” asked Flack, staring at the bottle in disbelief.
Taylor shrugged. “It depends how good at the game you are, as to how much you drink, and I made a deal with Kyle.”
“Who’s Kyle?” Lindsay asked suspiciously.
“Oh, he’s the barman,” Taylor responded lightly.
“Oh yeah?” leered Danny.
“Danny Messer, for that assumption you have to drink a penalty shot,” she told him, pouring out a generous shot and pushing it his direction. “No, the deal was, I’d pay him for what we drank after we drank it,” she explained as Danny took the shot.
“How did you manage that?” asked Lindsay.
Taylor smiled. “My little secret. So who’s going first?”
She headed to her closet and pulled out her outfit of choice: long black boots, black skirt, and a turquoise, black and white patterned halter-neck, laying it out on the bed. She had a quick shower and got dried and dressed. She was done with her hair and make-up in record time, and grabbing her purse and a jacket, she was back out of the door and hailing a taxi in just over half an hour.
Taylor paid the driver and went inside the bar, and not spotting Lindsay, she headed straight to the bar. Lindsay arrived just as the barman came over. “Hey, what do you want?” she asked her.
“A bottle of Budweiser, please,” Lindsay told her and the barman.
“And I’ll have a Smirnoff Ice, please,” Taylor paid for the drinks and the two headed for a booth in the back. “Anyone would think we were trying to hide from Danny.”
“Chance would be a fine thing,” grumbled Lindsay.
“Is there something I should know about?” Taylor asked her, raising her eyebrows suggestively as she took a mouthful of drink.
“Not very stiff, is it?”
Taylor nearly choked on her drink. “What? Danny?”
Lindsay, who had just taken a large mouthful, ended up spraying a large part of it over the floor. “I meant the drink!”
The two looked at each other and burst out laughing. “Is this the direction the night’s heading? Because at this rate, we are going to be hopelessly drunk by the time Danny gets here, and he’s not going to know what hit him,” said Taylor, wiping away a tear that was streaking down her face.
“I think that’s the intention,” gasped Lindsay, who was in a similar state. “So how are you dealing with this case?”
Taylor quickly sobered up. “In all honesty, not too good. It was a child, Lindsay. I still can’t get past that. And her mother was so blasé about killing her own daughter – like the girl deserved it.”
“Cases with children are officially the worst,” Lindsay agreed. “But I don’t get why you’re working it, Taylor. It’s not your job.”
“Not my paid one,” Taylor muttered, taking a swig of her drink. Lindsay sighed. “Don’t worry about it, Linds. I know you don’t believe, and that’s alright. It’s a strange thing to get your head around, and I don’t want to end up arguing with you like I do Flack.”
“What’s the deal with you and Flack then?” asked Lindsay, raising her eyebrows suggestively.
“Oh, please,” scoffed Taylor. “There’s as much chance of something happening between us two, as there is between you and Danny.”
Lindsay went red and looked away. “So what is the deal with you and Flack? Why don’t you like him?”
“Oh, no you don’t,” cried Taylor. “I saw that look! You’re not getting out of this one. You like Danny!” she accused, using the bottle neck to point at Lindsay.
“No!” she objected. “He’s as annoying as hell, and if he calls me Montana one more time, I swear I’m going to stick him in my trunk, drive him there and abandon him.” She sighed, picking at the label on her bottle. “But, I will say he’s a little easy on the eye.”
Taylor laughed. “I knew it. You can cut the sexual tension between you with a knife. Actually, forget that, you could beat it with a large stick. But I will give you that, he is good looking.”
Lindsay nodded. “The problem is he knows it.”
“Oh, I saw him working the lab assistants earlier.” Taylor took another large mouthful of her drink. “Although, if you think about it, your whole team looks like they stepped off the front page of GQ magazine. Hell, you’re a bit of a looker yourself, Lindsay.”
Lindsay clinked her bottle against Taylor’s. “You’re not so bad yourself.” The two fell about laughing again.
“So, you and Danny, eh?” Taylor said, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Erm, no,” Lindsay scoffed. “He winds me up something chronic.”
“He’s a male,” Taylor shrugged. “His mental age never got past fourteen. You know, boys pick on girls they like.”
“Don’t be stupid. He’s a grown man,” Lindsay retorted, pulling a face.
“A grown man who calls you Montana,” Taylor said, dryly.
“I kind of like it, actually. But,” added Lindsay, as Taylor burst out laughing again. “Don’t tell him that!”
Taylor shook her head. “Okay, hold that thought. I’m going to the bar.”
“I haven’t finished this one yet,” Lindsay pointed out. “Neither have you.”
Taylor grabbed her bottle and finished off the remaining half. “Now I have, and I expect yours finished when I return,” she told Lindsay, who was gaping at her. She returned a short while later carrying a tray with several shots, limes, and a few more bottles each.
“What on earth have you got there?” Lindsay asked, eyeing the tray warily.
“Two shots of tequila, two Alabama Slammers, and you have a bottle of Bud, and I have two Smirnoff Ices.”
“Taylor, I have work tomorrow,” Lindsay told her, pulling a face.
“I know, that’s why I only bought you one beer,” Taylor said, setting the bottles down on the table. “But just remember, you were the one who was adamant that we were going out tonight.
“Taylor!” Lindsay exclaimed.
“Lindsay, I have had one really hard day, and I intend on getting so drunk that it’s not going to haunt my dreams tonight. And I know full well that you don’t have to be in until 2, tomorrow. Besides, Danny will be here in half an hour, and you aren’t nearly drunk enough.”
Lindsay glanced at her watch and downed the two shots before Taylor had even taken them off the tray. After screwing up her face, and sucking on the lime, she downed the remains of her first beer. “You have some catching up to do.”
Taylor rubbed her hands together mischievously. “We have to go out with Maddy sometime – she’ll love your drinking abilities.” And then she did her own shots.
As Taylor was busy pulling a face at the tequila, Lindsay gave her a coy smile. “What is the deal with you and Flack.”
Taylor pulled a face. “Let’s just say we have a few creative issues when it comes to ghosts.”
“So do we,” Lindsay pointed out.
“Yeah, but… I don’t know,” Taylor shrugged. “We just can’t seem to be in a room without arguing.”
“Well, you know, boys pick on girls they like,” Lindsay informed her with a grin.
“Touché,” laughed Taylor. “So where’s your eye candy?” she asked, changing the subject.
Lindsay glanced at her watch. “Maybe he’s not coming.”
“Is that disappointment I hear?” Taylor asked.
“Disappointment about what?”
Taylor looked up to find Danny standing over them, she turned to look at Lindsay and the two of them burst out laughing again. “That you hadn’t arrived here yet,” said Taylor, whilst Lindsay said, “That you weren’t bringing someone else with you.”
The two looked at each other, and on their way to being quite drunk, laughed a little harder. “That you hadn’t got here yet,” said Lindsay.
“That you didn’t bring a friend along,” said Taylor at the same time. The two laughed even harder. Taylor leant over the table, sending a shot glass flying in the process, and clamped her hand over Lindsay’s mouth. “That you weren’t here yet, and you hadn’t bought someone else along for us to torment.” Lindsay spluttered from underneath Taylor’s hand, making Taylor remove it and slump back into the booth chair.
Danny was looking at the two women with a mixture of bewilderment, amusement, and horror. “Shove up, Montana, and let me sit down.”
As Danny pushed Lindsay over, Taylor stopped laughing long enough to pout at him and say. “Aw, is there a reason why you won’t sit next to me?”
“Yeah,” smirked Danny. “The fact that Lindsay seems a little more sober than you do.” He leant over and picked the shot glass off the floor and placed it on the table, as if to prove a point. “So, you were getting upset ’cause you didn’t think I’d show?”
“Where’s your drink?” asked Lindsay. “Or… you called me Lindsay!”
Danny shrugged. “That’s some quick observation skills you’ve got going. The barman is gonna bring it over. Although I asked him to repeat the round you just had. He may take a while by the looks of things. Explains the look on his face when I asked.”
“Aw, bless. But we’ll let you do the shots, so you can catch up,” Taylor assured him.
“And going back to the unanswered question, you guys were getting upset I wasn’t going to show?”
“No,” said Taylor, noticing Lindsay’s cheeks getting redder. “I was getting upset.”
Danny smirked again. “Is there something you want to tell me, Drew?”
“Your drinks are here,” she told him nonchalantly, indicating the barman who was just reaching the table.
Danny looked at the drinks in front of him. “This was one round?”
“She’s like a goldfish,” Lindsay nodded.
“Did you know goldfish don’t actually drink alcohol… or anything, really, as they’re fish,” Taylor paused with a frown. “And, actually, even if they did, they wouldn’t drink much considering they’re so small.”
Lindsay and Danny stared at her, and Lindsay started laughing again. “Let me at those shots,” groaned Danny, grabbing the two tequilas and drinking them, without the lime, and then polished off the other two shots. He turned to Lindsay who was clutching at her sides, “So, if Taylor is wanting me, does that mean you were wanting someone else here?”
Lindsay’s laughing turned to coughing, and again Taylor jumped in. “No, that was me too.”
“You were wanting me, and someone else?” he asked incredulously.
Taylor looked at Lindsay, mouth flapping open and shut. “She’s not exactly sober enough to be thinking straight, is she,” Lindsay bailed her out.
Danny looked between the two women, then shrugged. “Whatever,” he said, grabbing a beer. “I guess it’s a good thing I asked a friend to come along later, then.”
“Good,” said Taylor. “Because I didn’t want to end up spending the evening feeling like a spare leg.” She leaned over, grabbed Danny’s face with both hands and planted a kiss on his forehead. “Come on, Lindsay, let’s go dance.” She grabbed one of her bottles, downed the entire contents, and headed off to the small, almost empty, dance floor, without even waiting.
She was joined by Lindsay, a few minutes later, “Danny thinks you’re crazy, by the way,” she was told, as the two danced to the funky RnB music that was playing. “And less of the spare leg comments.”
Taylor just smiled, and the two remained on the dance floor for a few songs. “Do you think we left Danny alone too long?” asked Lindsay, as another song kicked in.
“Missing him already?” Taylor teased.
“No, just concerned we left our purses with him.”
Taylor pulled a face. “Okay, I guess, but we’re dragging him up here later!” she shouted back over the music.
“You think he can dance?”
“I don’t know, but we’ll either be pleasantly surprised, or very amused,” she told her, as they headed back. “I’m going to the bathroom first, I’ll see you there,” she wiggled her eyebrows again, and dodged Lindsay’s swipe as she veered off in the other direction.
She manoeuvred her way back a few minutes later. Danny was sat facing her, trapped on the inside of the booth by Lindsay who was laughing at something he’d said, whilst opposite Danny, with his back to her, was Danny’s ‘friend’.
“Oh, please don’t be,” she muttered, seeing a familiar head of hair. It was. “Flack,” she offered, by way of greeting, as she sat down.
“Taylor?” he returned, before looking over at Danny, who shrugged.
“What? I asked if you wanted to come for a few drinks with some guys from work.”
“I thought you meant Mac, or Stella. You know, someone who actually worked with us?” Flack told him.
“You expected Mac and Stella here?” asked Lindsay in surprise.
“Let’s play a game,” declared Taylor, moving off the topic.
“What game?” asked Lindsay, suspiciously.
“Something simple to start with,” said Taylor. “I know, we each say two things, one true, one false, you know that one?”
The three nodded. “What’s the catch?” asked Danny.
“For every person that guesses which statement is true, the person who said it must do a shot. And each person who guesses the false statement, they’ve got to do a shot too.”
“I don’t know,” said Flack, warily.
“You chicken?” Danny taunted him.
Flack glared at him, before wafting his arm. “Whatever.”
“Great,” said Taylor, “I’ll go get some alcohol.” She bounded off to the bar and returned a short time later with a full bottle of tequila, and a pot full of limes.
“How much are you expecting us to drink?” exclaimed Lindsay.
“Did you just buy a bottle of tequila?” asked Flack, staring at the bottle in disbelief.
Taylor shrugged. “It depends how good at the game you are, as to how much you drink, and I made a deal with Kyle.”
“Who’s Kyle?” Lindsay asked suspiciously.
“Oh, he’s the barman,” Taylor responded lightly.
“Oh yeah?” leered Danny.
“Danny Messer, for that assumption you have to drink a penalty shot,” she told him, pouring out a generous shot and pushing it his direction. “No, the deal was, I’d pay him for what we drank after we drank it,” she explained as Danny took the shot.
“How did you manage that?” asked Lindsay.
Taylor smiled. “My little secret. So who’s going first?”
Orignally posted: 04/06/2006