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| VOYEURS BY BEESA |
CHAPTER 8 |
The next morning
Téa adds more pancakes to the pile and places the lid to her wok over them to keep them warm, as she continues to make more. She grins as she listens to Todd snore. The apartment’s floor plan is an open one, so she can see the livingroom from the kitchen. She glances over at him on the couch, lying on his stomach, with one arm hanging over the couch and the side of his face squished into the pillow.
She hates to disturb him, but Del will be here soon, and she wants to give Todd the chance to wake up and shower before facing her brother. She fixes him a cup of coffee, just the way he likes it, and she holds it under his nose. He stops snoring after a few seconds, and he opens his eyes. Once he has the cup in focus, he looks up into Téa’s beautiful face. She smiles at him. "Good morning, sleepyhead. Are you hungry?"
He blinks slowly a few times and sits up, taking the coffee that she is offering him with one hand, while running his fingers through his hair with the other. "Hey," he mumbles in a very groggy voice. "Hungry?," he repeats, taking a moment to focus his mind on her question. "Um, yeah, yeah, I’m hungry."
"Oh, you look so sleepy," she says, sympathetically. "I’m sorry I woke you up. You were sleeping so soundly, but I thought you’d prefer to be up and ready when Del gets here."
"Del’s coming over?"
"Yes. We have breakfast together every morning. Kind of like a business meeting. We figure out the game plan for the day, that sort of thing."
"Oh, and you make him breakfast every day?," he asks in disbelief.
"No," she laughs. "Actually, Del usually gets bagels and coffee from that little bakery on the corner, but today is my turn, and I thought I’d put a little extra effort into it for you. Consider it your ‘Welcome to D&D Investigations’ breakfast."
Todd looks at her, obviously touched. "Thanks," he says, quietly.
"Whoa! Don’t thank me yet. Dammit! I forgot I’ve got stuff on the stove."
Téa hurries to the stove and flips the burned pancakes. Todd gets up and follows her, grinning at the blackened pancakes and sipping his coffee. He leans against the counter, and Téa glances at him. "Hey, mister!," she declares, wielding her spatula in one hand and a pot holder in the other. "You wipe that smirk off your face right now! I’ll have you know that I have an entire stack of absolutely perfect pancakes under that lid over there. The only reason I burned these is because I left the area and, and..."
"...and forgot you were still cooking. You’re a regular Martha Freaking Stewart, Delgado," he teases. Téa playfully smacks him with her pot holder. She looks back at the burned pancakes and picks up the pan, carrying them over to a window and opening it. She tosses the pancakes out the window. She turns around to find Todd watching her with raised eyebrows. "The neighborhood pigeons love me," she declares.
"Doesn’t everybody?," he asks.
She hesitates for a moment, but she brushes off his remark and returns to pancake duty. "Hey, you’d better go next door and get ready. Del will be here any minute, and breakfast is pretty much ready."
"Yeah, okay. Um, you did want me to come back afterward, right?"
Téa looks at him and feels sad that he would even feel he had to ask such a question. She flips the pancakes and walks over to him. As he looks at her, awaiting her answer, she wraps her arms around him and pulls him into a hug. Even though he has no idea why she is holding him, he doesn’t waste any time and embraces her. She rubs his back and slightly sways. He closes his eyes and breathes in her scent.
"Of course, I want you to come back. Of course, I do. You’re part of our team now. You, me and Del."
"Kind of like a dysfunctional Three Musketeers, huh?"
Téa laughs, and Todd squeezes her tighter in his arms, drawing strength from her presence. Feeling that he is becoming overwhelmed by everything, he pulls away. "You did it again, Martha," he states. He lets go of her and walks over to the stove. He gives her a smirk and picks up the pan, walking over to the still open window and tossing the burned pancakes outside. He turns toward Téa. "Now, the pigeons will love me, too."
"Doesn’t everybody?," she asks.
They stare at each other for several moments, both becoming uncomfortable with the sudden closeness after so much time apart.
"Yeah, well, I should go hit the shower," Todd says, breaking the tense silence.
"Yeah."
"Okay...and, I will come back."
"I’ll set a place for you at the table."
He glances quickly at the table full of photographs and grins. "That would be great, Delgado. I’ll see you in a few minutes."
~~~
Ten minutes later
Todd knocks on Téa’s door. Just as she is opening it, they both hear Del coming down the hallway. He is coughing and walking slowly, holding his fingers at his temples. He walks past Todd and Téa and mutters one word. "Aspirin."
Téa looks at Todd with raised eyebrows, and they both shrug.
They sit at the table and begin breakfast. They have a pleasant meal together, casually discussing business and life in general. Although no one says anything about it, each person is amazed at how well they get along. Once breakfast is finished, Del pushes away from the table and stands.
"Well, I’m going to go do some checking on this Michael Barker guy. Check into his past, his business dealings, that sort of thing. You two get everything squared away from the paperwork standpoint for getting Manning up and running, okay?"
"Yeah, that sounds like a plan," says Téa.
"Sure," says Todd.
"Okay. Manning, can I talk to you for a second? Alone," says Del.
Todd looks at Téa and shrugs. "Yeah, sure, I guess."
The two men walk to the door, while Téa stays seated. Her elbows are on the table, her hands are clasped together and her chin rests upon them, as she watches her brother and her ex-husband move away from her.
Del is about to speak, when he notices Téa watching them. He nods his head toward the door, and they go out into the hallway, closing the door behind them.
Téa is pissed at her brother’s typical dismissal of the female in the room, just like her father always did. She rolls her eyes and sighs, knowing it will do no good to complain about his behavior. She stands up and begins clearing the table.
Out in the hallway, Del stares down Todd. He leans his back against the wall and crosses his arms in front of his chest. "Just so we understand each other," he begins, "I was a little drunk last night, but I know I agreed to let you stay here and work with Téa and me. Now, I’m a man of my word, so I won’t go back on what I said last night, but let’s just say that the cold light of day brought with it some serious reservations about having you anywhere near my baby sister, professionally or otherwise...especially otherwise. I don’t for one second think your intentions toward Téa are pure or honorable. One look at you tells me that you’ve still got it bad for her. That concerns me. I know Téa is a grown woman, but she’s still my kid sister, and I swear to you, Manning, if you hurt her in any way, I will kick your ass. I mean it. I will hurt you worse than you can imagine. So, consider this your one and only warning. I will not tell you twice. You may want to reconsider working here or even living here, now that you know I will cut you no slack whatsoever. I’ll give you until noon to decide." Del turns to leave.
"I’m staying," Todd declares only a moment later.
Del turns back to face him. "You should maybe take a few hours to think about it."
"No. I don’t need any time to think about it. I’m staying," Todd confidently replies.
Del regards him for several moments. "Okay, it’s settled. Get your paperwork taken care of, then I want you to write down everything you can remember about this Vickers character. Everything, Manning. Every last detail. This case is turning out to be a giant pain in the ass, and I don’t want any more surprises, got it?"
"Got it," Todd says.
"Later," Del says, before making his way to the stairs and leaving the building.
When he is certain that Del is gone, Todd finally allows himself to take a deep breath. He returns to Téa’s apartment and finds her angrily doing the dishes.
"Is everything okay?," he asks.
"Just peachy, why do you ask?"
Todd doesn’t say anything, but he walks over to her and picks up a dish towel. He starts drying a plate. "Where do these go?"
"Up there," she says, pointing to a cupboard near Todd. He puts the plate away and picks up the next one.
Téa tosses the dish cloth into the water. "It’s just that he pisses me off sometimes, you know? He treats me like a child, and I hate that. I mean, why couldn’t he talk to you in front of me, huh? Why did he have to go out into the hallway?"
"Because, Delgado. He was trying to put the fear of God into me, okay? It was just a guy thing. Don’t take it personally."
"What are you talking about...the fear of God?"
"It’s just an expression."
"Yes, I know that, what I’m asking is what did he say and why?"
"He basically told me to keep my hands to myself."
"What?"
"He warned me not to hurt you, okay?"
"He had no business doing that!"
"Yes, he did. He’s your big brother. It’s his job to be protective of you, to save you from the assholes of the world, like me."
"You’re not an asshole, Todd."
"Yes, I am. But, that’s okay. You dig me anyway, right?," he asks. He grins at her bewildered expression. "Don’t be mad at him, he was just doing his guy thing, like I said. I totally expected it. He did it, it’s over, no big deal."
"Men! You’re all so freaking weird! Every last one of you. No exceptions!"
"Hey, at least I didn’t walk away and leave you to do the dishes alone. That should count for something," he teases.
Téa looks at him and shakes her head, sighing and laughing at the same time. They finish up the dishes and head downstairs together to the D&D Investigations office, to process the necessary paperwork to make Todd an investigator.
To be continued...
