Legitimate Dinner

Monday, September 30, 1985 - 4:30 PM

Maddie kicked a small rock off to the side as she navigated the dusty dirt path that led from the payphone back to the car. Then, as she opened the door and bent down to sit, that was when she noticed it... a scuff mark on the side of her shoe.

'Ugh! Darn it!' she groaned with the faintest hint of a whine in her voice. 'My shoe is ruined!' Frustrated, she reached for the handle and pulled the car door shut.

'Maddie, Maddie, Maddie... take it easy, babe, the sky isn't falling,' David said, trying to reassure her as he looked down at her beige pumps. 'And your shoe's not ruined... dirty, maybe... a little spit-shine and it'll come right off...'

She looked over at him and rolled her eyes. 'Are you a cobbler or a detective?'

'Blueberry,' he grinned, 'peach is definitely not my color.' He was rewarded for his humor when she gave him a warm smile.

David turned the key in the ignition and pulled out onto the road. 'So, how'd that go back there?' he asked, knowing that what was bothering her was the case and not the footwear.

'Back there?' She was flustered, still fixated on her shoe.

'Yeah, how'd Barbara Wylie take the news?' He asked again, more eagerly this time.

'How did Barbara Wylie take the news.' She restated his question, then shook her head. She was not quite sure how she felt about the answer. 'Well, for starters, she was very happy... thrilled beyond belief that we found him... the monster who scarred her...' Her voice trailed off. Then she looked up at the sky and felt bad about what she'd just said. 'Not a monster... I guess... maybe... I don't know...' She pressed back into her seat and shrugged. 'Frank Harbert wasn't what I expected.'

'People change... maybe he changed,' David commented. 'He certainly seemed repentant.'

'Yes, he did.'

'I still think we did the right thing.' He drove for a minute in silence, and then he glanced over at her. 'So, what else did she say?'

'Huh?'

'You said, "for starters". Usually when someone says, "for starters", there's more. The appetizer, the meal, then the...'

'Right... she wants us to cash the $5,000 check.'

'There it is... the dessert, baby.' David smiled and waggled his eyes at her.

Maddie went on. 'She said that we earned every penny.' His words finally registered with her, and she did a double take. 'The what? What did you just say?'

'The dessert, Maddie, the reason we do what we do. The sprinkles on the sundae... the icing on the cake...'

'Hungry, are we?'

'Very, now that you mention it. Even those tumbleweeds out there are starting to look appetizing.'

'Why are you so hungry? When I came in this morning, there was an enormous spread of pastries and muffins... that ended up on the floor. But didn't you at least eat breakfast?'

'Sure, if you call a swig of chocolate milk breakfast. And then I missed brunch, and then... I missed lunch...'

She looked at him with a shocked expression on her face.

He shrugged. 'What? Who'd a thunk we'd have a client walk in? An actual real-life client... with a "legitimate" case, as you called it.'

'Hmmm... 'bout time...' She looked at him, with her eyebrows raised and a subtle smile on her lips. After all, it had been almost seven months since he'd convinced her they could make this partnership work. After a quiet moment passed, she gazed out the window. 'I guess I'm getting a little hungry, too.'

6:15PM
 
The BMW made a sharp turn down Wilshire Boulevard and swiftly pulled into a parking space on the side of the road. 'How convenient is this?' David asked the rhetorical question. 'Couldn't ask for a better spot.'

She eyed him suspiciously. 'David, I thought when you asked me to have dinner with you, that you meant we'd grab something quick at the sandwich shop back at the office. What is this place? Where are we? What are you cooking up over there?'

'Dinner. You said it yourself. This is our first legitimate case, and we solved it. Doesn't that call for a little celebrating? I mean... doesn't it?' He gave her a flirty grin.

Her better judgement told her to turn him down. 'David, I... no, I... I don't think I'm up for that tonight... after spending all afternoon driving through no-man's-land. Plus, you know me... I have to be in bed by 9:30.'

Hopeful, he pleaded with her. 'I'm talkin' dinner here, Maddie, not partyin' hardy into the wee hours of the morn.'

'I know that...'

'We... you and I... partners, associates, comrades... we just solved our first real case together. We deserve this. It's on me. I'd like to make this my treat.'

She looked out the window and sighed. She really wasn't in the mood, but he looked so damn adorable sitting there. She couldn't resist and gave in. 'Okay, but no treating. This is a business dinner... a business expense.'

'Okay. Agreed. No treating. Tonight, we eat on the company dime.'

After Maddie got up and out of the car, she turned and looked at David. 'Well, Addison, we're here. Did you have a particular restaurant in mind?' She stood there... arms crossed, waiting to hear if he actually had a plan.

And he did, but now he was feeling the pressure. God, she was beautiful, and even though she stood there... impatiently tapping her foot on the sidewalk, he did everything in his power not to show this woman that he was nervous. 'I did, I mean, I do have a plan.' And with that, he nodded in the direction of the restaurant across the street.

Maddie turned, and seeing the only restaurant around, she said aloud... sort of quizzically, 'The Olde Shire Tavern?'

'Ye, Maddie,' David corrected her as he walked to her side. 'Ye Olde Shire Tavern.'

'Ye, huh?'

'Ye, uh-huh. A buddy of mine told me about this place so I wanted to try it. C'mon,' he placed his hand on the small of her back to get her to start walking. 'Let's go get a table.'

She stopped suddenly. 'Wait, you've never eaten here before?' she asked, a little taken aback. 'It looks like a bar. Please, I do not want to go sit at a bar with you.'

He reacted like she'd just hit him in the chest with an arrow. 'You wound me.'

'Oh, David, I didn't mean it like that. I just want to eat at a nice place, that's all.'

'It just so happens that my friend said the food here was excellent. And unlike a Neanderthal like me, he actually uses a fork and knife to cut his food. So, I trust his judgement.' David stood there with her for a moment. He could tell she was still teetering. 'C'mon, Maddie... it's not just a bar, I promise.'

'Oh, alright,' she began to move again, 'but a place like this had better have hush puppies on the menu!'

'Okay,' David chuckled at Maddie's odd request for the deep-fried side dish. 'Better have 'em... otherwise, we're outta here.'

*****

Ye Olde Shire Tavern, as its name would suggest, might have been better situated in the town square of a quaint New England village. But here in LA, the restaurant occupied a small space on Wilshire between a cutting-edge retailer and a five-story parking garage. There was a blue neon OPEN sign in the window and a chalkboard out on the sidewalk with the daily specials handwritten in cursive. It looked like a place Maddie might pass by on her way home from work... and a place David might stop for a beer.

The interior decor was elegant in a rustic way with dark wood paneling and stained-glass light fixtures that made the place feel warm and inviting. A British fish & chips type place, it was very nice, but also casual. It was a little bit Maddie and a little bit David. It was the perfect place... for a business dinner for two.

To get to the dining room, Maddie and David had to pass through the bar, where the sound of people talking and laughing created a joyful sort of hum. David stopped to put a quarter in the jukebox. 'You wanna hear somethin'?' he asked Maddie.

'No,' she told him, as she peeked over his shoulder, 'you can choose...'

He flipped through the selections and pushed B-2 for "Up on the Roof" by The Drifters, and when the lyrics started, he sang along... 'When this old world starts getting me down...' Maddie gave him a funny look. 'What? I like to sing, Maddie... these are the classics.' She chuckled and moved on. He kept on singing.

Though it was David's idea to be there in the first place, Maddie led the way to the hostess stand, where they were greeted by a friendly, heavy-set older woman. 'How many for dinner tonight?' she asked.

'It's just us,' Maddie replied.

'How wonderful, a romantic dinner for two...'

Maddie suddenly stammered. 'No, no... not wonderful... not romantic...'

David shook his head and laughed at her knee-jerk reaction. But to spare her any further embarrassment, he made no comment.

'Alright, Miss... let me take you to your table.'

'This is really nice,' Maddie remarked, as she looked all around and sat down.

'It is,' David concurred... finally feeling some sense of relief. 'I'll have to thank my friend, Benny, for the recommendation the next time I see him,' he mumbled to himself. Above them on the wall were paintings of lighthouses and ships at sea, on the table... a flickering candle and all around them... a little dinner music.

'Can I get you a drink from the bar?' the older woman asked, as she poured them each a glass of ice water.

David deferred to Maddie. 'I'd like a Tab, if you have it.'

The woman smiled and nodded her head, yes. 'And you, sir?'

'Make it two.'

Before the woman had a chance to return with their sodas, David raised his glass of water. 'I'd like to make a toast to... legitimate cases... to murder train mysteries, stolen diamonds, love triangles... to soothsayers, idiot brothers and all the nefarious types... to waitresses who wear French maid uniforms...and to you, Maddie Hayes, for not giving up on me... us... this, Blue Moon, I mean...'

Maddie smiled and blushed ever so slightly, and then she raised her glass to clink against David's. 'Cheers,' she said, 'so... we're celebrating...'

'Sure thing we are... it's been... what? Seven months now since we started working together.'

'That's right... seven months since my entire life changed.'

'Hasn't been so bad, has it?'

She sat back and for the second time that evening, she crossed her arms and stared at him.

'Well?' he pressed her to answer.

'Not so bad, no... different though, very different...'

'How so?' He asked.

'Well, for one thing, I didn't have to wake up at 7 a.m. every day. And, I didn't have somebody with me all the time.'

'You mean like a partner?' He smirked.

'Somebody who challenges me... who riles me up from the moment I walk in the door...'

'Gotta test your mettle...'

'Somebody who doesn't take life too seriously, but still manages to command respect...'

'Sounds like a great guy...'

'I don't know how you do it. Addison.'

'How I do what?'

'How you get the respect of everyone in the office. I walked in there this morning and there's a brawl going on right in front of me, and nobody cares that I'm there. Me... the boss.'

'They were just really focused. You remember when you were a kid at school and there was a fight. Nobody noticed the cafeteria lady standing right there...'

'It's because you're fun. Fun begets respect, it seems, and I'm not fun.'

'That's not true, Maddie, I think you're fun... loads of fun. And I respect you.'

'What were those two fighting about this morning, anyway? Agnes said something was brewing between them...'

'Lewis and Simmons?'

'What were they fighting about?'

'Waste-basketball.'

'Waste-basketball?'

'Yeah, Simmons knocked Lewis out of the office playoffs. Lewis... and half the staff... think Simmons cheated!'

As if she somehow knew to rescue Maddie from all this ridiculousness, the waitress returned to the table with their two glasses of Tab. 'Have you folks decided what you'd like to order?' she asked.

*****

Sometime later, after their food had been served, David sat there... marveling at the way Maddie used her fork to cut her hush puppies in half and then eat them. The woman's fingers did not get a lick of grease on them. 'You're amazing,' he said, gazing up at her with a sweet smile on his face.

'Why?'

'Oh.' He had to think fast and come up with something better than the way she eats fried foods. 'Just the way you've changed careers... world-famous model to successful P.I. Superman couldn't have done it better.'

'One solved case does not a successful career make,' she challenged him.

'One solved... legitimate case...' he pointed out.

'Is that right? One honest case?'

'That's all it takes.'

'Do tell, David. What was your first legitimate case? The one that made you feel like you could actually be good at this.'

'Well,' he said, feeling he was in the spotlight. He cleared his throat and lowered his voice to a more serious tone. 'If you're interested...'

'I am."

'Okay. In all honesty, City of Angels was not a success. You know that. I know that. But during those three years, there were a handful of cases... this one in particular...'

She leaned forward, her eyes locked on his... giving him her undivided attention. With her elbows on the table, she gently rested her chin on her interlaced fingers. 'Tell me...'

He felt touched any time she showed any amount of interest in him, and this time... tonight, she seemed so genuine. He couldn't help but feel excited.

'I remember it was a Friday, and I was getting ready to leave work. This woman walks in with a kid, and I'm thinkin'... the kid's gonna have to wait with Agnes while his mother sits down and talks to me. Only thing is... she's not his mother, and it's the kid who wants to see me. And he's young, like nine... ten years old. And he wants to talk to me alone.

So, he comes into my office and he's real anxious... can't sit still. Tells me that his father recently got engaged to the woman who brought him here... and the kid, he really likes this woman. Says she used to be his favorite teacher, and now she was going to be his mom. But he's worried that his dad is cheating on her. He's afraid to say anything to the woman because she might up and leave... and what if he's wrong. So, he asks me if I would follow his father for a few days. Tells me his dad's name is Tom Smith.'

David could tell by her silence and the look on her face that he had Maddie on the edge of her seat with this story, and so he continued.

'I agree, and I start tailin' the guy around town. And he's up to somethin' alright. I'm just not sure what it is. He's leavin' work early, meeting up with people in strange places... behind restaurants, in alleyways... getting phone calls at all hours of the night. I could see why the kid thought he was foolin' around, but I wasn't convinced.'

'So, what happened?' Maddie asked.

'I never found any evidence of cheating. So, about a week later, the kid returned to the office, and I told him that.'

'And then what happened?'

'He wanted to pay me the $100 bill he got for his birthday, and I wouldn't take it.'

'I don't mean that! Did they all live happily ever after?'

'Yeah, as far as I know... for about two months. One night, I see the man's photo on the cover of the late edition. And get this, Tom Smith was an alias. The man's real name was Timothy Reid. FBI busted him.'

'The FBI...' Maddie gasped. 'Why?'

'Turns out that when Timothy Reid was twenty years-old, his friend robbed a small-town bank in Idaho and shot two people. Timothy Reid drove the getaway car.'

'That's horrible...'

'Yeah, a cop friend of mine at the time told me that Reid hid out in Canada for a while, met a woman there and they had a kid. She took off and left 'em both, so he took his son and moved down here to LA. Fresh start, changed his name... his appearance... cleaned up his act. Put his kid in school. Then he fell in love with the kid's schoolteacher. Fairytale ending, right?'

Maddie's interest was piqued, and her eyes widened. 'How did they find him?'

'Reid's partner in crime was arrested in Mexico the year before. It was just a matter of time before law enforcement put the puzzle pieces together and caught up with him. I think he knew it, too... that the Feds were onto him. His son thought he was cheating on his fiancé, but I think all that strange behavior... was just a nervous guy waitin' for the hammer to come down.'

'You wanna know what I think, David? I think Timothy Reid knew he was headed to prison, and he wanted his young son to have a mother. So, he asked the woman... his son's teacher... to marry him, and she said yes. Some detectives might have blown off a little boy's concerns like that, but you were kind to help him... and you were very intuitive...'

'Yeah, went with my gut, too.' He shrugged. 'Eh, no big deal... I know you woulda done the same.'

Before Maddie could respond, the waitress came to the table. 'Can I get you two anything else?' she offered.

'Yes,' Maddie looked over at David, 'the check would be good.'

'And a couple of Tab refills...' David added.

She winked at him, and said, 'I'll be right back with the check and two sodas.'

*****

After toasting one more time to a successful day, Maddie paid the bill, and they headed out. David, feeling a whimsical, natural sort of high, was in a lighthearted and jovial mood. 'So, the Blue Moon Shampoo Girl thinks I'm kind, intuitive... how 'bout funny? You think I'm funny? I've got this great joke, Maddie, you wanna hear it?'

Maddie, half-dreading what she might be setting herself up for, but in the spirit of the wonderful evening they just shared, threw caution to the wind. Somewhat impulsively, she answered him. 'Sure. Why not?'

He felt delighted, and his cheeks blushed the color of red at the prospect of telling Maddie even the tamest of dirty jokes. 'Okay, so here goes. There's this traveling salesman whose car breaks down in the middle of the night and in the middle of nowhere. He remembers passing a farmhouse about a mile back, so he sets out on foot to see if he can get some help from the farmer. When he gets there, the old man farmer tells the salesman, 'It's getting late, son... you should spend the night...'

"Up on the Roof" by The Platters