Mystery Man Episode 10 |
** "I'm fine, just stay out of San Francisco for a little while longer." Beth Collins looked across the room at Nash sleeping on the couch as she spoke into her phone in hushed tones. "No, no one knows anything." "When should I come to town?" the deep, raspy voice on the other end inquires. "I'll let you know. Right now, the best thing for you to do is stay out of here. The cops don't suspect a thing." "Beth, I love you." That was all she needed to hear to assure her that they had done the right thing. "I know, and we'll be together soon. I'm in touch with that coroner, Miller, and making sure Insp. McCabe keeps her nose..." Beth hung up the phone immediately as she saw Nash sitting up on the couch and stretching. "Beth?" Nash looked around for her, she walked from the windows across the room towards him and took a seat. "There you are..." ** "Where did you ever find these?" Harvey looked at the pictures of Beth Collins, on the arm of Preston Matthews, who was Van Guard's chief competitor. "I have my ways." Rachel gave him her mischevious grin that completely enchanted him, who knew what she had to do to get the pictures and who cared. He looked up at her and smiled. She was sitting on his desk and searching through the stack for another picture. "I'm sure you do. What else do you have in there?" He strained his neck and tried to peer inside the large manila envelope, reaching his hand in. Rachel yanked the envelope away. "Hands off, buddy." He didn't initially realize their precarious positions, as he leaned over her while wrestling for the envelope. Joe looked over and laughed. Rachel quickly slid off the desk, "they're mine now." She looked up at him and laughed. "If I only knew you then. You sexy thing." "Give me that." Rachel was holding a picture in her hands behind her back as Harvey went chasing after her. "Come on, now." She held out a moment longer and then flashed the picture, Harvey was decked out in full Deadhead attire with long curly hair and hippie glasses. How did she ever drag this up? Before he could take a second glance, she was backed up against the wall with the picture behind her. "Rachel, give it up." "No way... it's mine now." He struggled to release her arms from behind her back. Harvey threw his arms around her and kept her pinned up against the wall, certainly putting on a show for all who were around them. "I might have to tell John you're coming onto me." Harvey smiled, he had gotten her there. "You'd never." She looked up to him with her big, brown eyes and smiled. She knew he'd never tell John --- there was nothing to tell. Harvey couldn't help but break out in laughter, realizing just how suspicious they must look standing there. Joe came over, looking serious and a bit cross. "Hey, get a room." Joe waited a moment, they both turned to look at him with guilty grins. He shook his finger in disgust, waiting for Harvey to move away from Rachel, releasing her from against the wall. "Back to work, you two." Joe smiled, believing there might be a chance for those two after all. ** "Beth Collins, what can I do for you?" John looked up from his desk as the Beth made her typical grand entrance. She looked just as elegant as ever and definitely came in on a mission. John smiled, he hadn't been so happy to be doing a little work on the side in a long time. "Well, for starters you can tell me how McCabe was able to figure out that my ex-husband's death wasn't a suicide." Beth had known there was sometime of slip up the minute that Nash had suspected their was foul play involved. She didn't mean to accuse John, but he was the only one she knew had been with McCabe around the body. "She's a good detective, she's doing her job." John had to admit that Rachel did know what she was doing when it came to her work, he couldn't deny her that. "But, not that good. Rachel won't be on to us, she has other things on her mind." "Why am I having a problem believing that John? It's your job to distract her." Beth came over and sat on his desk, he was completely in her power... just like Nash was. He had been an easy target, a man unhappy in his marriage and job looking to make a little extra money on the side. "How can I distract her when I am being distracted by you?" John smiled as he pulled her in for a kiss. She moved in closer and began to unbutton his shirt. "Tell me, do I get you when this is all over and done with?" "If you don't do it right, you go back to the job and life you hate and the wife you despise." Beth got up off the desk and rearranged her blouse, "Now, call me once you get somewhere with McCabe. Keep her out of this, I don't care what it takes." John sat there a moment as Beth walked out of his office, he picked up the phone and dialed. "Inspector McCabe, please." ** "You find anything else out after staying with Beth?" Rachel looked at Nash hopefully as they stood together looking out on the water. "Not a thing. I mean...if she had anything to do with his death, she's doing a wonderful job playing the distraught ex-wife." Nash was trying his best not to let his personal interest shadow his work. Beth had him interested, she was needy yet appeared to be a strong woman. She wasn't like any of the others he had dated, there was a mystery left to her. "She's got you, doesn't she?" Rachel knew Nash well enought to know that Beth Collins had gotten to him, he just couldn't admit it. "Rachel, I'm still fully capable of doing my job." Nash hated that Rachel knew him so well. "Are you?" They had this argument before when Nash thought Rachel was getting to involved in a case that had some type of personal tie, but this was different. Nash was being used, and Rachel didn't want to see him get hurt again. That was the last thing he needed. "Don't you worry about me. I'll do my job and you do yours." He smiled at her and gently touched his hand on her shoulder. When they had split, Nash feared he would've lost her friendship, but it was apparent now that he hadn't. "Let's get inside and see what else you've got. Maybe there's a bit more to this than I'm seeing." ** "Here, keep the change." Harvey handed the cashier a twenty and looked around the room. "I'll be right back, sir." Harvey waited as the cashier went to retrieve his take out. He wasn't really in the mood for Chinese, but it was Antwon's night to chose their dining fair. His eyes roamed across the room, watching the various people eat their meals. All of a sudden, someone caught his eye. It was John. Harvey tried to inconspicuously take a step forward, to be sure it was him. The closer he got, he was sure. Harvey tried to stay out of John's viewpoint. "Well, I'll be damned." John wasn't alone, but sat across from a woman and two children. Harvey assumed that they were John's wife and kids. He had known there was something about him that wasn't right, and this definately wasn't right. As he stared, the cashier returned. "Here you go sir, thank you." The cashier turned back towards the kitchen and Harvey glanced back at John. "I can't believe this man." Harvey walked out to leave and headed towards his PT Cruiser. While walking towards his car, he considered calling Rachel. Harvey took the phone out of his pocket and began to dial. A moment later, John was standing next to him. "Leek, I thought that was you I saw. How are you?" John tried to keep the peace with Harvey since he knew that he was a good friend of Rachel's. He never liked Leek much himself, and that certainly wasn't going to change over a woman. "Hey, John." Okay, that was as sociable as Harvey was going to get. Harvey couldn't figure it out, he had just seen him with another woman and now he wanted to talk about it. "Listen, I'm running a little late. If you talk to Rachel, can you let her know I'll be by as soon as I wrap things up at the office?" The last thing he needed was Leek telling Rachel he saw him with someone else, he had to think of something. "I have to drop my sister and her kids off." "Yeah, sure." Harvey really didn't want to give Rachel any message of the sort. This guy was two-timing her and his wife, plain and simple. How stupid did John think he was? The kids called him 'daddy.' "I'll tell her, John." "Thanks, I'll see you around." John walked off to his car and Harvey sat there in disgust, wondering how John could do this. Rachel had to know, he just didn't know how to tell her. ** "Antwon, what would you do if you knew someone was being cheated on?" Harvey tried to concentrate on eating and not what he had seen earlier, but it wasn't worth the effort. The fact that John was married and still pursuing Rachel really bothered him, and he knew Rachel wasn't the type of woman to steal a married man. "WHAT?" Antwon looked at Harvey over his computer screen, he had no idea where this had come from. "I thought Nash and Rachel were finished?" "This isn't about Nash and Rachel, but --- hypothetically speaking, what would you do?" Harvey didn't really want to tell Antwon what was going on. It wasn't that he didn't trust Antwon, because he did, it was just that he didn't want him to tell anyone else. "I don't know, do you know for real if the person is being cheated on?" Antwon was trying to figure out who it could be, if it wasn't about Nash and Rachel since Beth Collins entered the picture. "Yeah, I saw the guy with another woman... presumably his wife, and some kids." Harvey didn't want to give away too much information; with what little Antwon knew of John, he shouldn't be able to guess this was him. "Ever think it might be his sister?" Antwon was trying to be logical and possibly save this couple from unnecessary grief. Harvey of course had considered this option, hell, it was what John had told him. "This isn't the type of situation where you can just assume." "Yea, I thought of that. But why would a sister's kids call John 'daddy'?" Harvey didn't mean to do that, he just gave himself away. "Oh. I see." Antwon had figured it out, Harvey was still after Rachel and a little jealous John had beat him to her. "You're talking about John and Rachel. I didn't know they were that serious." "He had the nerve to claim that woman was his sister." Harvey was still infuriated, even 20 minutes later. "You're sure you're not making a big deal out of nothing?" Antwon assumed Harvey knew what he saw, but given his interest in Rachel, the situation was questionnable. "Or that Rachel doesn't already know?" "She wouldn't go after a married man, Antwon." He knew Rachel well enough to say that, it wasn't her style. Harvey looked back down at the Chinese, feeling too disgusted to eat. "What should I do?" "Try talking to John." Antwon knew Harvey wouldn't like this option, but it was worth a shot to suggest it. "Lotta good that would do, it is his sister after all." Harvey gave a sarcastic smile and looked back upon his computer screen, he had to tell Rachel. ** Nash sat up at his counter reviewing the files and information that Rachel had given him. He carefully looked at each picture, studying Beth's appearance and who she was with. It was all beginning to make sense to him now as he glanced again at the shot of her with Matthews, she wanted Van Guard out of her life completely all he had to do was find out how and why. He set down his glass of wine and went to get his phone. Nash dialed the SIU, hoping that Harvey and Antwon would still be around. Harvey answered after three rings. "Hey, it's me. I want a meeting tomarrow morning, we might be onto something with Collins. I'm going to get it out of her... somehow." "Sure thing boss, I'll let everyone know." ** "Rachel?" John waited for her reply as he stood outside his back door. He had realized the late hour, hoping she wouldn't be angry. "McCabe speaking," she paused a moment, "John?" She looked down at her watch, it was well after ten and he was just calling. John had said he'd be there by 8:30. "I'm sorry its so late, my son got sick --- otherwise I would've called earlier." That had been a bit of a lie, he had just left Beth's apartment and only needed to check in with his sons at home for a moment. He had to see Beth so they could plan the next move. "Oh, that's fine. I understand." The truth was she didn't, why hadn't he called her earlier to let her know he wasn't coming. Rachel had to be sympathetic to his problem, she'd want the same respect. "I miss you, Rachel. I wish I didn't have to do do this." Olivia walked outside onto the porch as John was talking to Rachel, having heard almost every word of his side of conversation. "John?" John was silent as Rachel began to reply, Olivia walked up next to him with a look of extreme anger and hurt in her eyes. "So, you spend your evening with your new little tramp and then have to call her when you get home? Nice John, I am sure you son would understand your reasoning for missing his soccer game." Olivia stood there as the tears began to well up in her eyes. "Listen Rachel, I've got to go." John hung up and stood there in silence, waiting for Olivia to speak her mind. "I thought you said the affairs were over John, that we were going to try and make this work for the boys." ** "Good morning. You sure got here early." It was Friday morning, Harvey would've expected her to stumble in a little later and look a little less perky. "I know, I figured I'd get some of this work done now so maybe I could get out of here a little earlier tonight." So that's what it was, she came early so she could leave early. She must have a date with the two-timing jerk himself. "How's old, old... what's his name, John?" Harvey smiled at her, not really caring about John --- just about her and how she was with the relationship. He wanted to see exactly what she knew about him. "I don't know. It's weird." Rachel didn't know exactly how to define their relationship, if that's even what it could be called. "What's weird?" Harvey didn't really know where she was going with this, but he certainly was going to find out. Rachel wasn't dumb, she surely had to suspect something. "Everything. I mean, John's wonderful and so is the relationship --- it's just weird." "How do you mean?" If everything was so wonderful, how could things still be weird, it just didn't make sense to Harvey. The only problem that stuck out to Harvey was that John was married. "It's hard to explain. He always calls me, I only see him on certain nights --- he works more than I do." "Oh, that kind of weird. I see" No, he really didn't, but he was just making conversation. What Harvey wanted to do was just come out and tell her what he saw. The whole situation suddenly sounded very suspicious to him, and he wondered why Rachel couldn't see the disaster ahead for herself. "Harvey, am I wrong about this or do I have reason to worry? You're a guy, help me." She looked up at him, desperate for answers. "Rache, I don't know what's going on with this guy. Why don't you ask him?" Dr. Ruth he was not, neither a relationship counselor nor an expert on male behavior. Harvey just wanted to help. Harvey could tell that she obviously didn't know about Olivia, John's wife. "Thanks for the help." Rachel set down the coffee pot and slowly walked back downstairs, pondering her situation with John. Harvey stood at the counter holding his cup, wondering if he should tell her now or let her find out for herself. ** "So what should we do? Follow Rachel's hunch?" Joe had been thinking along the same lines; but with Nash's new involvement in the case, he didn't want to overstep his bounds. "You mean, see what part Beth had in all of this?" Nash was torn, he wanted to solve the case but he didn't want to unnecessarily hurt Beth if he could avoid it. She had already been through so much. Nash sat there, rubbing his chin and considering his options. "Rachel has to have something to back this up, right?" Joe had seen her reasoning behind the accusation, but he knew Nash would want more concrete proof before he'd even consider making another move. "Well, even if Beth had the motive. I don't see her pulling the trigger." Beth Collins just didn't seem the type who'd kill someone out of revenge after years of being away from him. "Neither do I. Let's see if she's got anything else though..." Joe had to give Rachel the benefit of the doubt. It was rare that she was wrong when she followed her intuition... ** "Looks like somebody is sure getting a lot of attention." Harvey pointed to the flowers in his hand, already assuming they were from John without having seen the card. They had been delivered upfront, and since he was headed back towards Rachel's desk, he just assumed bring them to her. "For me?" Rachel was a little surprised. She hadn't been expecting anything, but figured this was John's way of apologizing for last night. "Who else?" Harvey laughed, this was the fourth floral arrangement John had sent since he asked her out. He couldn't help but wonder if he was sending his wife flowers as well. He set them down on her desk and waited to see if she opened the card, curiousity certainly had gotten the better of him. Rachel looked up from her computer screen and reached for the card, reading "Sorry about last night. I'll make it up to you, meet me at L'Ecole at 7:30. Love, John." Harvey smiled at her, "not bad. But are you going to go? Remember --- he did stand you up last night." He wouldn't blame her if she didn't, John didn't deserve a second chance. "What do you think I should do?" Rachel was unsure about whether or not she wanted to go, she certainly didn't want to be in a relationship where she would always be second guessing his lateness or absences. She had been there and done that one two many times already. Harvey thought for a moment, he certainly didn't want to appear to be informed. "Try asking him about it and see what he says." Rachel laughs, "I guess that means I'm going." Harvey was sure at that point that Rachel knew nothing about John's wife or kids. She had to know soon, but he didn't feel it was his place to come right out and tell her. ** "I can't make heads or tails of this, Bubba. I can't find reason to believe that Beth would want any further involvement with Van Guard. As far as I know, she wanted nothing more to do with him after their divorce." Nash didn't want to admit that his personal interest in Beth Collins, afraid others might think it shadowed his work. "Maybe that's just it, I mean --- she didn't want him in her life, so she killed him?" Antwon didn't want to jump to conclusions, but suspicion was building and Beth certainly seemed to be a good solution. "Why would she kill him though? She had all the money she wanted, and he was out of her life. It doesn't add up." Nash couldn't believe Beth would go as far as killing Van Guard to get him out of her life in such a permanent way. He was a fairly good judge of people after all these years, and she certainly didn't seem the type. "Okay, maybe it wasn't her alone?" Antwon was pulling at straws here, she had something to do with Van Guard's death... he just didn't know exactly what role she played. "Take Harvey and look into it, let me know what you find." Nash found this a bit more plausible. He'd have to see how much more information Beth was willing to offer. ** "Hey, Thatcher." Harvey walked through the mainbranch of the SFPD on Central and Main, waving to the guard at the front desk. "Is Miranda in? I need the file on an employee?" "She's in back Harvey, I'll let her know you're here." Thatcher waved Harvey past and he continued to walk back to the office where the personnel files were kept. He found Miranda, a woman in her late fifties with graying hair, busily typing away. "Well, well. Inspector Leek, what a pleasant surprise." She always liked when Harvey came down to see her, he was so personnable and nice to talk to. "Hi, Miranda. I'm looking for an employee file, think you can help me out?" He knew she would help him, no questions asked. She never once considered Harvey would have shady purposes for looking up another SFPD employee. He was one of the good guys, and his findings were always used for the good of others. "Come on back Harvey, they're alphabetized. I've only got the current ones up here thou." Harvey walked past her desk and into the small room behind. He opened up one of the immense gray file cabinets, under the letter 'M'. His fingers quickly passed over the other files, briefly stopping upon Rachel's. Harvey is tempted to look, but that's not what he came for. He finds the name 'Miller' and searches through for John's. "Bingo." Harvey reaches in and pulls out the folder with the name 'Miller, John C.' across the corner. He walks back out towards Miranda. "Did you find what you needed?" she asks inquisitively. "Sure did. Thanks, Miranda." Harvey walked down the hall and past Thatcher, deciding it would be better to wait until he got to the parking lot to read it. He hurried back to the PT Cruiser and sat down, anxiously opening up the folder. There it was, dead in front of him, proof that he was married with children. "If she won't believe me, at least I'll have this." He closed the folder and tossed it onto the seat next to him, as he started the engine. ** "Joe, get me McCabe." Nash was looking at the pictures Rachel had placed upon his desk. He had to admit, when she wanted something --- she found it. Nash wanted her to get more, she had taken the case this far. "Are those what I think they are?" Joe smiled from ear to ear, "Collins and Matthews." "You bet, Bubba. Let's get Rachel up here and see what we can hammer out." Nash smiled, they were on to something. Van Guard's death was meant to look like a suicide, but whoever did it didn't do such a good job. Nash continued to peruse the pictures until Joe appeared at the top of the stairs with Rachel. "Impressive work, McCabe. I want more." Rachel glanced down at the photos, "I guess a picture really does say a thousand words." "So if Matthews and Collins were together, are they still?" Joe was inquisitive, that part of the equation wasn't working out right. "Matthews has been smart enough to stay away for this long." Rachel had assumed things were over between the two of them, but she wasn't so sure do to Matthews' absence. "Has Beth mentioned him?" "Not to me, when is that picture from?" Nash was trying to construct a sequence of events, it wasn't adding up. They couldn't try to pin Van Guard's murder on someone like Matthews' if he was no longer involved in Van Guard's life, or was he. "April 1999." Rachel had searched, but nothing more recent had come up. "Almost two and a half years ago. Okay, this is good... but we can do better. Rachel, go see what you can find out about Matthews' current whereabouts. Joe, come with me. We're going to pay a visit to Van Guard's warehouse." ** "Man, where have you been?" Antwon looked down at Harvey hacking away at his computer. "I've been trying to find you all afternoon." Harvey smiled and picked up a folder from the pile on his desk, "check this out." "What's this?" Antwon had wondered if the folder was the information they needed to link Beth Collins to Van Guard's death. He opened it and took a look, "this is Miller's personal file." "I know, take a look." Harvey gets up from his chair and points to the section about marital status. "Proof. " "Well done, but what about Van Guard?" Antwon laughed at Harvey's investigative skills as he passed the folder back to Harvey. "Think it was the wife?" "Rachel had the hunch, but I don't know. Maybe there's a third party?" "That's my guess too." ** "So, you never said. Were you ever married before?" John looked up from the table straight into Rachel's eyes. Rachel had been a little disappointed that he didn't show the night before, but she'd never tell him that. He had chosen a very elegant French restaurant for dinner, in order to try and make-up for it, but Rachel sensed there was a little more to the story than him running late last night. "No. Came close, but never actually got married." Rachel didn't think he needed to know anything about Scott or even Cecilia, at least not now. "What about you?" John definately had her interested, he was doing a fine job of 'dangling the mystery.' "Divorced." John didn't want Rachel to know about Olivia or the state of their marriage. By the time they'd be close enough to making any type of commitment, he was hoping Olivia would be long out of the picture. "Oh. Any kids?" She thought for sure that if he had children, he would've brought them up already --- unless of course things had ended on a bad note for them and he didn't have any type of custody. Rachel didn't want to bring up anything that might upset him, but she had a nagging curiousity. "Three. All boys." John didn't see any harm or anything suspicious about letting her know about his sons. She'd have to meet them eventually, once he and Olivia got things settled. "Really?" Rachel asked inquisitively, but at this point, she was too shocked to really care. She was surprised he hadn't yet brought them up. "My oldest, Peter, just got his driver's license. Max just turned twelve, and Kyle is four." John smiled proudly as he took out his wallet to display their pictures. Knowing that question would be asked sooner or later, he had made sure any pictures of his wife were out of the wallet. "Wow. That's quite a handful." The thought of one child boggled Rachel, let alone three boys. "Do you get to see them often?" She took a drink of her wine, wondering to what extent the boys would be in their life if they pursued a long-term relationship. "When their mother lets me." John knew this was a lie, he saw the boys more than Olivia did since she started working again. But, to make sure his story was belivable, he had to change a few things. "She won custody in the divorce." He didn't want to scare her off and tell her that when he and Olivia divorce, he'd probably get the boys. He thought it would be best to cross that bridge when they got there. "What about you? No kids?" "No, I never got married and I don't have kids. I never settled down long enough for the family life, I've been pursuing my careers." Cecilia wasn't in her life, so there was no reason he had to know about her. Unlike his children, who were still a large part of his life, she never got to see her daughter. It wasn't till she herself said it that Rachel realized how much of her life was engulfed by her work. "Had to ask, in this day and age, certainly not everyone who has kids is married." John laughs softly, not noticing he had struck the wrong cord with Rachel. Thoughts of her daughter ran through her head as she sat there focusing on what he just said. "People shouldn't have sex if they can't deal with the consequences and take responsibility for the situation. It's ludacrious how many unwed mothers, abortions and adoptions there are nowadays." Rachel was infuriated, he had no reason to say something like that. "Well, now that I know how you feel about that... is there anything else before I leave?" Rachel certainly wouldn't bring up her own past with John, knowing he'd probably scorn her for it. John noticed she was upset by his comment, and wasn't sure exactly how he had overstepped the limits. Rachel got up from her chair and pushed it in. "Rachel, listen. I'm sorry about what I said, I didn't know you felt so strongly about the issue. Please don't leave." He looked up at her and reached for her hand, hoping she'd decide to stay. John wondered what he said that would cause such an adverse reaction. Rachel considered maybe she had overreacted, the comment wasn't pointed directly towards her anyways. John was merely speaking his mind, which he had every right to do. "Okay." Rachel sat back down next to him, still thinking about Cecilia. She thought of her everyday, but this had brought it all back as if it had happened yesterday. "I'm sorry I went off on you like that, John. I don't know what has gotten into me lately. This case is driving me off the wall." "I can see that. ** "What aren't you telling me, Beth?" The warm look that Nash's eyes displayed minutes before was gone, and coldness filled the air as he watched Beth pace around the room. "I already told you everything, Nash. There's nothing more. Van Guard is dead, the case is over. Can't we get past this?" Beth looked over to Nash, who was seated on the couch. Nash was depending on Rachel's hunch here, he was trying to back Beth into a corner. There was something mysterious about her and Matthews, and her faulty alibi didn't help. "Listen, if you want the SIU to help --- you have to be honest with me. I can't back you up if you are lying." This wasn't going to be easy, there was always a question of proof. Motive wasn't enough. "If it hadn't been for your nosy investigators, you would never be questionning me like this. They are trying to keep us apart, Nash, especially McCabe." Nash had admitted a few days before that they had been together, though it was nothing serious. "Rachel?" Nash laughed at the thought, "what benefit would she have in keeping us apart?" He knew Rachel better than that, she wouldn't put her personal interest in Nash before her work. "I'm telling you, she wants me out of the picture." Beth was desperately pulling for straws here, she had to keep Rachel from finding anything else out that could be used against her. "You're crazy." Nash smiled at her, not believing for a minute that he had gotten the full story. Beth moved from the window and sat down next to Nash, "maybe I am. But who wouldn't be?" Beth paused for a moment and forced tears began run down her cheek, "I just want to get away from here, and all of this. I need you Nash." ** "Can I come in?" John looks at her inquisitively as he moved in closer, while Rachel fidgeted with the lock. He hoped her answer would be 'yes' so he wouldn't have to sulk home at this late hour. "Not tonight, John. I've got an early morning and some paperwork to take care of before I turn in." Way to procrastinate. She really didn't have all that much to take care of, but she was unbelievably tired and wanted to crawl into bed... alone. "Raincheck?" John smiled at her, disappointed by her reply but hopeful for nights in the future. "Maybe." Rachel gave her mischevious grin and continued, "we'll see how things go." She lightly kissed him and opened her door, pulling herself away from him. "I'll call you tomarrow, Rachel." Rachel watched him as he took his jacket that draped over his arm and put it on. "Will you?" Rachel looked at him inquisitively, noticing the late hour on her watch and wondering how she'd ever wake up on time the next morning. He leans in and gently sets his hands upon her face before he kisses her, "you know I will." "They all say that," Rachel mentions sarcastically as he pulls away and walks towards the door. "But the difference between me and them is that I will," he pauses a moment, "or I could always send more flowers." He smiles at her, opens the door and leaves. "Yeah right." Rachel stood by her apartment door for a moment, thinking about John. He was already appearing too good to be true. Guys like him just can't truly be that perfect. Tall, blonde hair, blue eyes, impossibly attractive and seemingly sensitive and sweet --- too many good qualities for one man to possess. * * * |