Lori arrived at the BLACK & BLUE bar 15 minutes after Nick calls. This is Lori's first time at BLACK & BLUE. She knows where it is since she passes the bar everyday she drives home. She has always wanted to go there but she just never find a chance. Now, here she is, at BLACK & BLUE, looking for Nick.
After about 2 minutes, she saw Nick, sitting at the table in the corner, drinking his 9th bottle of beer. Lori quietly sit herself down next to Nick and took away the bottle from his hand.
"Nick, what's wrong? Stop drinking that much!"
"Give it to me Lori, please."
"Nick, you are making a fool out of yourself. Getting drunk certainly cannot solve a problem."
"But what else can I do? I cannot do anything to help AJ!"
"You mean FBI Agent McLean? You know him?"
"He's my best friend since high school. Remember the phone call I got this morning? His mom called me and tell me about it. I knew about an injured FBI agent earlier this morning, but I've never thought that it was AJ. He got shot and I cannot even help. Last night we talked on the phone, everything was fine, and he was joking around as usual; and now, he was lying there in the hospital, unconscious. I promised AJ I'm gonna take those bastards down. But instead, I'm losing control so badly that I nearly lose my chance of keeping my promise to AJ!"
"Nick, you gotta calm yourself down! I came here not because I just wanna see you getting so drunk. And I don't think that's the reason you call me here, right? Talk to me if you want. You'll feel way better afterwards. You're just putting too much pressure on yourself. I think Agent McLean will like to see you still being the best cop in LA and has taken those guys down for him when he wakes up! So cheer up Nick!"
"Everything is just coming at me so badly. It's not only because of AJ, Lori..."
"What else is bothering you?"
"I read the file this morning and found out my ex-girlfriend might be involved in this drug dealership. She might be one of those in charged."
"Nick, things are never gonna be bad all the way til the end. Look, maybe in the present time, all the situations in front of you are all sucky and bad, it's not gonna stay this way all the time. See, I've been through a really bad time in my life, and I've learn from it. The only thing you should do now is to cheer up, and find out the truth. If your ex-girlfriend is really involved, you gotta be the one arresting her and give Agent McLean a fair reason for getting hurt during the operation. And I'm sure he is gonna be okay since he's the good guy, right?"
"Lori, thank you very much. I never know you are such a helpful friend. May I ask you something personal?"
"Sure... about what?"
"About yourself, Lori. I think part of the reason people didn't quite get along with you is because you are not letting them know your true-self. See, after you talked to me tonight, you didn't turn out to be the kind of person everybody thinks you are. You're not trying to act cool or anything, you're actually a very nice person. You could be a really great friend too, you know?"
"You won't understand, Nick."
"How would you know I won't? You didn't even tell me yet?"
Lori thought for a while and decide to tell Nick. Somehow, there's a voice from her heart that tells her she could totally trust the guy in front of her. "I'm the only child in the family. We used to be such an ideal family. Unfortunately, dad's business failed. He started to change. Changing to an entirely different person. He always get drunk and just getting bad-tempered everyday. The worse thing is, for some reason, he hates cops, and he just keeps hating me more and more since I worked at LAPD. He used to be the one I inspired, he's such a loving husband and father and he took care of the family so well. But since he changed, I'm the one picking up all the responsibilities on my shoulders, and take care of the whole family."
"So you think even the one you trust the most is not trust worthy. You don't think there's anybody around that you can trust now, am I right?"
"Yea... I guess so." But actually Nick had seen through her mind. He's so right.
"Tell you something, Lori. There's always someone in the world you can trust."
"Who?"
"Me! Let me introduce myself once again. I'm Nick Carter." Nick has his hand out.
"But we knew each other already."
"Not really. It is from this moment on, that I know the real Lori and you know the real Nick."
"Okay! I'm Lori Lee. Nice to meet you." They shake hands.
Nick has great confidence that this friendship is going to work out. Now, he's going to listen to Lori, calm himself down and take those drug dealers down no matter who they are!
