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By the time they returned from taking the Congressman to Central Booking, Edie and Jamie’s tour was over. Before heading to the locker room, Jamie suggested, “Burgers and beers at Shields?”
Edie hesitated. She really wasn’t in the mood for a cop bar but they did make a good burger so she agreed. “Alright but don’t take forever in there,” she gestured toward the men’s locker room where Jamie was known to preen. “If you’re not out in 20, I’m going somewhere else, without you.”
Unsure of where this recalcitrance was coming from, Jamie agreed to the blonde’s terms. “20 minutes. Right here, partner.”
Scowling, Edie’s facial expression indicated that she didn’t believe Jamie would be ready on time. Without saying another word, she headed toward the women’s locker room.
“When have I ever let you down?” Jamie asked innocently.
“Nineteen minutes,” was Edie’s only response.
Although his hair was still damp, Jamie beat Edie back to the hallway. He hadn’t really thought she’d blow him off like she had threatened. Usually she just barged into the men’s locker room when she knew Jamie was likely the last one in there. However, this time something about her tone told Jamie not to risk it. Having beaten her to their designated rendezvous spot, Jamie was able to watch Edie emerge from the women’s locker room. She had on a pink t-shirt which hugged all her curves, skinny jeans and some kind of wedge open toe sandal. With her hair flowing and her summer tan fading, she looked like a carefree coed rather than a seasoned New York City cop.
Once at the bar which wasn’t as crowded as either officer had expected, the pair claimed a high top near the back. After ordering a pitcher of beer and two deluxe bacon cheese burgers with fries and onion rings, Jamie didn’t beat around the bush. “What’d you mean when you said ‘not in this partnership’ the other day?”
Edie didn’t know how to respond. She knew exactly what she meant. She just hadn’t meant to say it out loud. She sighed and blew out a breath, silently praying Jamie would let this go. “I didn’t mean anything. I was joking. Forget I said anything.”
“I know when you’re joking,” Jamie countered. “You weren’t joking. I said ‘I am a people pleaser. I do things to make other people happy. I know that about myself.’ Then you said, ‘not in this partnership.’ I wanna know what you meant by that. We eat where you want. We go to Happy Hour where you want. We run where you want. How can you say that I don’t work to make you happy in this partnership?”
“You wanna know what I want?” Edie responded. “I don’t wanna have this conversation.”
With that answer, Jamie knew it hit a nerve. “What did I do? If I did something to upset you, you gotta tell me.”
“You didn’t do anything,” Edie was quick to reply hoping to end this topic and move on to something else. “Do you think we’re gonna catch flak for arresting the Congressman?”
“Don’t change the subject,” Jamie instructed.
“I’m not having this conversation,” Edie stated.
Jamie wasn’t having it. He knew there was more to his partner’s seemingly off-handed gripe and wanted to know what.
Across the table, Edie was drinking her beer and looking anywhere but at him. Her whole body screamed “no” but he wasn’t going to let that deter him. Before he could figure out how to crack her shell, their burgers arrived. Edie immediately busied herself putting ketchup on her burger, continuing to studiously avoid Jamie.
They ate in relative silence but Jamie studied his partner. There was an air of tension and something else that wasn’t quite right. Jamie didn’t know what it was although he was determined to find out. Whatever was off had to be fixed so they could continue with their partnership. Edie was too important for him to lose her over a misunderstanding.
As their plates were being cleared, Jamie tried again. “You have to tell me what’s going on or I can’t fix it.”
“That’s just it,” Edie retorted. “You can’t fix it so leave it alone. There’s nothing wrong.”
“How do you know I can’t fix it if you don’t tell me what it is?” Jamie reasoned.
“How many times do I have to tell you to leave it alone before you get it through that thick Irish head of yours?”
Jamie knew he was being stubborn but something told him this was too important to let it go. “Not gonna happen. You might as well just tell me.”
Something about the look in his eye told Edie that Jamie was never going to let this go. She resigned herself to the fact that one way or the other she was going to lose him. “Fine. But not here.” If she was going to end up in tears she wasn't going to cry in a cop bar.
Jamie hadn’t expected her to give in so quickly. Now he was worried. “Lemme pay the check and then we’re outta here.”
Edie scowled. Now that she had agreed to talk, she resented the further delay. Sliding off her barstool, she stood and watched as Jamie pulled some bills out of his wallet to slide into the fake leather check binder. As soon as the folder was in the waitress’s hand Edie headed for the door with Jamie trailing behind her.
A few steps from Shields Edie tried again to dissuade Jamie. “It really would be better if you just let this go.”
“You know that’s not gonna happen,” he assured his partner. “Whatever it is, we can fix it. You just gotta let me in.”
“That’s the problem,” Edie muttered under her breath, aloud but not so Jamie could understand her. She looked upwards and sighed. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“At the beginning,” Jamie suggested.
“If I knew where that was perhaps I could have . . . I don’t know . . . prevented this,” Edie lamented.
“Prevented what?” Jamie asked. “I really don’t understand.”
By now they had reached a small park with a few benches. Edie eased herself onto one and Jamie sat on the other side, a few feet separating the pair, as is befitting platonic friends. In a darker corner a couple occupied another bench, sharing the same space and close talking as if the rest of the world didn’t exist. Edie looked longingly at them.
“It’s nothing you did,” she opened.
“It must have been something I didn’t do then because you said I’m not pleasing you in our partnership. I had to have done . . . or not done something,” he offered earnestly. “Tell me what it is so I can stop . . or start or whatever I need to do to make you happy in this partnership.”
“That’s just it,” Edie groaned.
“What?” Jamie was confused.
“The partnership,” Edie explained without making anything clearer.
“You want a new partner?” Jamie recoiled in shock. This was worse than he thought. She had already rejected the idea of a relationship with her. He consoled himself with their partnership. At least for 8 hours a day she was all his. Now it seemed she wanted him out of our her life altogether.
“No,” Edie interjected sharply. “Yes. . I told you it can’t be fixed.”
Jamie slid a little closer to Edie. His arm was stretched across the back of the bench, angling his body toward the blonde. A slight breeze was teasing a few wisps of her hair. Jamie longed to tuck them behind her ear. “You’re not making any sense.”
“I can’t have what I want and I know that so . . . it’s just frustrating. Please can’t you just let it go? Forget I said anything,” she begged. After he rejected her, Edie resigned herself to just being Jamie's partner. Some part of him was better then nothing.
“You haven’t said anything,” Jamie reminded her. “If it’s in my power, you know I’d do anything for you.”
“Not this,” Edie replied.
“You can’t know that until you tell me what it is,” Jamie assured her. “Do you want to drive more? Lower the AC? Change the radio station?”
Edie scowled at him. Men could be so dense. “No. It’s nothing that trivial.”
Reaching out to put his hand on her shoulder, Jamie pleaded, “Just tell me.”
Titling her head, Edie rested her cheek on Jamie’s hand. He was so tender. She wished not for the first time that she could have physical comfort from him all the time. Lifting her head back up, she blew out a calming breath and disconnected their flesh before standing. On her feet facing Jamie then looking away, she confessed, “That’s the problem.”
Jamie blinked a few times and tried to make sense of what Edie was saying. Suddenly he was horrified. He recoiled toward the far side of the bench. “Me touching you? I was crowding you. I was making you uncomfortable. Oh God, Ed. I’m so sorry. I would never . . . . You have to know I’d never hurt you!”
Edie looked at him quizzically. “Of course you’d never hurt me, or anyone else. You’re not that kind of guy. You are truly one of the good guys, Reagan.”
“Sit back down,” Jamie entreated. “Help me understand.”
Edie purposefully sat close to Jamie but there was still space between them. When she didn’t speak Jamie continued to probe. “If you know I won’t hurt you, why does it bother you when I touch you?”
“Because you stop,” she answered bluntly.
“Because I stop touching you?”
“I don’t want you to stop but I know you have to. We can’t be partners if we . . . “ Edie gestured between them without saying the words ‘have a romantic relationship’. “And you already said you don’t want that.”
The pieces finally clicked into place. For the first time in a long time Jamie had hope. “I never said I didn’t want that, want you.”
“Yes you did. You said . . . “ Edie looked away as if gathering her courage. ‘You said, it was something you ‘got out of your system’. It was one time thing, never to be repeated.”
“I was giving you an out,” Jamie explained. “I wasn’t going to force myself on you if that is not what you wanted. You’re the one who lumped me in as another in a long line of bad choices you made when it came to men. I thought you didn't want this so I figured I could just go on being your partner, because at least then you'd be in my life.”
Edie was floored by what Jamie was saying. “No, I said 'bad or unavailable’ and as my partner you were certainly unavailable. NYPD rules. We can’t date and ride together.”
“No we can’t,” Jamie agreed. “I love having you as my partner but . . . . if . . . if this is something you want . . . I mean. . .” Jamie was almost bashful as he was talking. “Um. . . this. I mean . . . I think we could really have something here.”
Edie was astounded by what she was hearing. This was not how she thought tonight would go. She thought he’d let her down easy and then ask for a transfer first thing on their next shift to avoid awkwardness. This – Jamie’s seeming willingness to try, to see where a relationship could lead – was more then she ever hoped for. Yet, the sassy girl in her couldn’t make it easy. “What are you saying Reagan? I would think a Harvard educated lawyer would be a bit more articulate.”
“I’ll show you articulate,” Jamie threatened, pulling her closer and leaning in, with a predatory glint in his eye. Nose to nose, Jamie stared into Edie’s eyes confirming that she wanted this too before claiming her lips in a sultry kiss which escalated into a full make out session. The world around them disappeared. They were only aware of each other.
About 20 minutes later, they broke apart. Jamie grinned, “Satisfied?”
“Not yet,” Edie replied with a lecherous gleam in her eye but I’m sure I will be soon.
“You’re bad,” Jamie taunted.
“No, I’m very, very good,” she assured him, eliciting a chuckle from the man who still hadn't released her from the embrace of his strong arms.
“My apartment isn’t too far from here,” Jamie offered.
“Then let’s get out of here,” Edie suggested standing and holding out her hand. Their work partnership may have ended but their life partnership was just beginning and she couldn’t wait.