Work Before Play

Thursday, March 28, 1985 - Evening

David Addison was on Cloud Nine. He and Maddie had just solved their third case together, and compared to the previous two, this one felt different. Different in a good way... no, in the best way. Sure, jumping off the roof of a mansion and into a large swimming pool was thrilling, but what made this case so meaningful was that this was the first time the client brought the case to them. They didn't just stumble upon it in a hotel lobby or go running after it in the building across the street. And it didn't matter to David that the client, Vivian Baker, was Maddie's former competition in the modeling world turned friend. Besides, wasn't that his plan in the first place? To leverage Maddie's fame in order to bring in new clients? And now, his ingenious idea was working. Does this man deserve a pat on the back or what?

To celebrate, David decided to head out to The First Mate, a pub in North Hollywood that was one of his favorite places to hang out after work. He had a feeling he'd run into some of the guys he knew from the neighborhood. And maybe, he thought, he could convince at least one of 'em to stay late and check out a midnight showing of a couple of Three Stooges shorts, Punch Drunk and Hoi Polloi. The films were playing across the street at the old run-down theater, where the floors were sticky, but the sodas were cheap, and the popcorn was fresh.

When he got to the bar, he saw two of his bowling buddies, Lou and Gus, sitting at a high-top, watching a basketball game. Before joining them, he went to the bar to grab a beer. Standing there, he was suddenly startled when he felt two hands grab his shoulders and give him a shake.

'Buddeeee,' said a friendly voice coming from behind him.

David turned around. 'Hey, B.Z.!' It was his good old friend, Benny Zampella. 'How ya doin?' When David put his hand out to greet him, Benny clutched onto it and pulled him in for a quick hug.

'I'm good!' Benny said. 'And you? We missed you last weekend.'

'Yeah, I've been busy, but I'm good!' David reached for his beer from the bartender and then suggested they go watch the game.

'Hey, you got a minute first?' Benny asked. 'I wanna tell you somethin' important.'

'Yeah, man, what's up?'

Benny pulled David over to an empty booth, sat down and looked him straight in the eye. 'I found her, Dave.'

'Now wait a minute. Who's the detective here? I'm the one who finds people. You see, it's in my job description.' David was messing with him.

Benny chuckled, but before he could respond, four attractive women walked in. Obviously quite comfortable having all eyes on them, their attire, expressions, and movements did nothing to discourage the attention. They seemingly went out of their way through a crowd that parted around them, and one of the women in particular smiled at David and brushed against his leg 'accidentally' as they passed by more closely than was necessary en route to the bar.

Benny was impressed but unsurprised.

David craned his neck to get a better rear view. He liked what he saw. 'Whaddya say to a little divide and conquer, Benny? Two of 'em for each of us?'

Benny pursed his lips and shook his head. 'Nah, Dave. I think I may just be a one-woman man from here on out.'

'Yeah, you're right. You pick one, and I'll take the other three.'

Benny chuckled again. 'That's not what I mean.'

'Huh? What are you talking about?'

'I'm talking about the woman I found, Dave.'

David turned his gaze from the four women back to his friend. 'Oh, yeah. You were saying?'

Benny took a deep breath, and in all seriousness, said, 'She's the one.'

'The one. Really? The one?'

'The one, Dave. I found her. Her name's Angela, but she likes to be called Angie.'

'Okay. Well.' David seemed skeptical. 'Tell me about her. What makes you think she's the one? Where'd you meet this Angela?'

'Angie. She came into the dealership a couple weeks ago... not to buy a car or anything... just cause she needed help fixin' a flat tire that she got a half-a-mile up the road. I swear it had to be fate that day. God musta put that nail in the road just so she and I'd meet, ya know?'

David smiled and nodded his head. He hadn't seen his friend this happy in months.

'Angie's pretty… and so sexy... long brown hair, great figure. She's smart... you know, like street-smart and feisty, but she's a real sweetheart. She's everything I've ever wanted. She's the woman I'm gonna marry.'

Pretty... sexy... smart... feisty... all words that David would use to describe Maddie Hayes, a woman whom he'd only just met a few weeks ago, too. But clearly, Benny moved much faster than David, who was still stuck on trying to decide whether or not he'd use the words "sweetheart" and "Maddie Hayes" in the same sentence. The bruise on his shin from where she'd kicked him a few days ago made him think not.

'Okay, okay. So, you think you know this woman... what color are her eyes?'

'Hazel.'

'Where's she from?'

'San Fran.'

'When's her birthday?'

'June 24th.'

'She have a job?'

'Assistant manager at a grocery store.'

'Sleep with her?'

'Yes, Dave.'

'You meet the future in-laws?'

'Yeah, sorta.'

'Whatever that means. And you think you're ready to commit... to one woman... for the rest of your life?'

'Yes.'

David didn't know what to say. He looked at his friend with his signature lop-sided grin.

'There is one thing I wanna tell ya, though,' Benny said, with a nervous kind of excitement written all over his face. 'Angie's nineteen.'

David's chin fell to the table. He had to process that for a moment. 'That's in dog years, right? Or is it cat years? Turtle years? Gotta be one of those...'

'No, Dave,' Benny wasn't joking. 'She's twelve years younger than me.'

David wasn't quite sure what to make of that. It wasn't so much the 12-year age gap that concerned him. 'Are you sure Benny? I mean... nineteen?'

'Hey hypocrite, you're one to talk. Didn't you tell me once...' Benny was getting frustrated. 'Didn't you find the one when you were... what... eighteen? Nineteen, maybe? Just outta high school?'

'She and I were both eighteen, Benny... the same age... and I never said she was "the one." It wasn't about that, and in case you missed the newsflash: It didn't work out.'

'Way to be negative, man.' Benny expressed his disappointment.

David leaned in closer to him. 'Look, I'm not trying to be negative. I'm just imparting a little hard-earned wisdom… if you wanna call it that. I just think you should be careful... be cautious... that's all. Get to know her better. But listen, if she makes you happy, then by all means, go for it. I'm with you 100%. Can't wait to meet her.' David nodded his head. He meant every word he said.

'So, tell me,' Benny cleared his throat and changed the subject. 'How are things with you? How's it goin' workin' in such close proximity to the stunning Ms. Madolyn Hayes? She cramping your style much?'

'What? You mean her bein' my boss?'

'That's exactly what I mean. She tighten the purse strings? Take the fun out of funding your miscellaneous spending?'

'Nah, nah, not at all...' Truth be told, David was having more fun working with Maddie than he'd had working with anyone… ever.

'Oh, c'mon, Dave, it's nothin' like you thought it would be. Hot as she is, I bet she can be a real icy cold broad.'

'Would you stop it...'

'Probably thought you could work that Addison charm on her and bed the boss, eh? C'mon, admit it... you regret convincing her to work with you.'

'Benny, if you were a planet and the truth was the Sun, you'd be cold as Pluto... just a hop, skip and a jump from the only slightly warmer, Uranus. You couldn't be further from the truth, man. Maddie's a terrific boss... most of the time. I think she's even starting to like being a detective... some of the time. She's smart and she's beautiful... all of the time, and we work pretty damn well together. She's stubborn as all hell, though.' David's eyes stared off dreamily into the distance. 'She looks amazing in purple lingerie...'

'Come again?' Benny's interest was piqued.

'Never mind,' David said. 'So, what do you say… you and I go sit with Dim and Wit over there? They're watchin' the game and already several beers in.'

David and Benny took their half-full mugs of lager and went over to sit with the guys. The guys were Gus and Lou, a present-day version of Laurel and Hardy if there ever was one. Along with David and Benny, the four of them made up the Harem Scarem Carpet Cleaners bowling team. But they weren't avoiding the gutter and knocking down the pins tonight. Nope, they were there to cheer on the Clippers and relax.

'Oh, no,' Lou said, as he pointed directly at David. 'You! Over there.' He moved his arm and directed David to sit where Benny was seated. 'And you,' he pointed to Benny. 'You need to switch with him.'

'Why?' Benny put up a little resistance just for fun.

'Because, stupid, we don't wanna do anything to sabotage the game.' The alcohol was flowing and so began the name-calling. 'Don't you fools remember?'

'Remember what, Lou?' Benny asked, after he downed the rest of his beer.

'Remember where you were sitting the night the Clippers beat Indiana after an eleven-game losing streak!'

'Oh yeah,' Benny remembered. 'That was a great game! You remember that game, Dave-o?' He got no answer. 'Yo, Dave... you hear me?'

David looked like he was a million miles away when he mumbled to himself, 'Who sabotaged the gun?'

Gus, the quiet one in the group, spoke up. 'What'd you say, Dave?'

'Who sabotaged the laser gun?!'

'Oh, I don't know nothin' about lasers.'

David stood and addressed the group. 'Listen guys, I hate to put a damper on the festivities, but I gotta make a phone call.' He turned and walked away, just to return to the table two seconds later. 'Hey, anybody got a dime? Ma Bell don't work for free.'

Benny reached into his pocket and tossed David a quarter. 'I'm gonna want my change back... plus interest... ya beggah...' Benny loved busting David's chops.

'You got it, man. Thanks.'

David rushed to the payphone at the back of the bar. He slid the quarter in the slot, and dialed Maddie's number, which he now knew by heart. The phone rang and rang until...

'Hello... hello...' She sounded like she was drunk, or just woken out of a sound sleep. He knew her well enough by now... it was the latter.

'Who sabotaged the gun?' He had to speak over the sound of the crowded bar.

'David, where are you?'

'We shouldn't have closed the book on this case.'

'...it's the middle of the night...' She whined.

'It's ten-fifteen, Maddie. They haven't even served dessert yet. Get up... get dressed. I'm comin' right over.'

David hung up the phone, asked the bartender to call for a cab and waved so long to his friends from across the room. As he walked out the front door, he thought… work before play is what they say. But with Maddie as his partner, work wasn't so bad. He could definitely do this for a living.