C6Adonia

The wind was blowing hard when Evan got into the office that morning. He was unusually happy, and his devilish grin let everyone know he had something up his sleeve. Walking over to his desk he patted his partner on the back and then sat down propping his feet up on the corner of the desk.

“What’s got you in such a pleasant mood this morning Ev?”

“I had the most amazing night Harvey. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Looking down at his desk, Evan started to fiddle with a piece of paper. Harvey stared at him waiting for him to continue.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“Are you gonna tell me or do I have to guess?” As the grin grew on his partner’s face, Harvey settled into his chair to hear the details of Evan’s latest encounter. Before he could even get started Nash and Joe entered the barge and motioned for the inspectors to join them.

“I am going to apologize for this ahead of time.” Nash began as the three men curiously looked in his direction. “Harvey, you are going to hate me the most for this.”

“What is it boss? It can’t be that bad can it?” Harvey’s expression changed when Nash continued to speak.

“Last night there was an accident with the van and half the equipment was destroyed. We we’re able to get the equipment replaced, but we need it up and running by tonight. I need you to set it up while Joe and I follow up on a lead.”

“Nash I was supposed to cut out of here early today. I’ve got Jerry all afternoon.”

“I’m sorry Harv, but you’re the only one who can put this together by tonight. I promise we’ll make it up to you.”

“How did it get destroyed anyway?”

“It was sort of my fault...I kinda spilled some coffee and then there were some sparks. I tried to fix it, but before I knew it the whole thing was beeping and screeching at me. Then it just died.” Joe said with an apologetic look on his face. Harvey hung his head and muttered to himself. He had spent nearly seven hours the day before putting the equipment in the van and setting it up only to have Joe wreck it all with a stupid cup of coffee. Now he was going to have to call Anna and tell her that he couldn’t take Jerry. Trying to hide the anger on his face Harvey turned and walked away.

“So did you get the room?” Evan asked when he saw that Harvey was completely out of sight.

“It’s done Evan. With what we did to the van, he’ll be working on it all day. Everything is going just fine.” Nash said as he picked up some papers on his desk.

“So what else do you what us to do?” Joe asked.

“Nothing, just show up tonight at 7:00.”

Moments later Harvey walked back inside and shot Joe a look of utter contempt after having seen the state the van was left in.

“That was one hell of a cup of coffee Joe!”

“I swear it was a total accident man. I’m really sorry.”

Harvey grabbed the phone and tried to make a call to Anna, but he wasn’t able to get through. It was obvious that Harvey was beyond angry, but he grabbed a few things and headed back out to start his work. The others continued with their own work, and went about their day. Around noon, Evan walked out to the van with a bag of Chinese food. The aroma of the food had Harvey nearly drooling as he pulled his head out from under the console he was working on.

“Oh brother, you have impeccable timing. I was dying in here.” Harvey smiled at his partner as he sat up.

“Come on man, let’s have some lunch. I got all your favorites.” As he handed him a fork and a box of food they both grinned and happily dug into them.

“So how’s it coming?” Evan asked as he dropped a forkful of rice onto his shirt. “Damn, I can’t believe I did that.” Harvey chuckled a bit and handed him a napkin.

“Not too bad. I just hate being the only one that seems to be able to fix this damn thing whenever it breaks down.” Evan could see the genuinely hurt look on his partner’s face as he continued. “Don’t get me wrong, but it just seems like there should be someone else here that can do this. I really wanted to be with Jerry tonight, and I can’t even get a hold of Anna to tell her I won’t be able to pick him up.”

“I’m sorry man. Maybe I can try to get in touch with her.”

“Oh yeah, just what I need. My partner to give her a call and tell her that I won’t be there to pick up our son today, then she’ll really have my butt for lunch. Thanks but no thanks bro. I’ll get a hold of her eventually. Hopefully before 4:00.”

“Well, I gotta get back to my desk. I’ll be back out here to check on you later.” Harvey watched as Evan walked out of the van and went back to finishing his lunch.

It was almost 5:00 when Harvey made his way back inside. His face looked exhausted, and he was covering his left hand. He had accidentally singed it when he tried to reconnect some wires that sparked. Evan saw the weary look in his partner’s eyes and began to feel a little bad. He had only wanted for Nash to occupy him for a few hours so that he could finish getting his surprise party ready. He had not intended to get his partner that exhausted.

“Hey partner what happened to you?” Harvey looked up and muttered something that Evan was sure had been a few curse words and walked away to his desk. A stack of files had been left there along with a message from Anna telling him he had better pick up Jerry or it would be a while before he ever saw him again. Again Harvey began to grumble, as he crumpled up the note and reached for the phone. He dialed Anna’s number, and got no answer. ‘Well damn.’ he thought to himself. He had really wanted to give her a piece of his mind, but perhaps at the moment he was not in the best state of mind to do that.

“All right people. It’s six o’clock. Everyone get the heck outta here.” Nash said as he headed back from the fantail. That means you too Harv. You’ve been here all day. Go out have some fun. Evan take your partner out and show him a good time. That’s an order bubba.” With that Nash and Joe walked out the door. Evan look at Harvey and smiled.

“Well Harv, you heard the man. Let’s go do something.”

“I don’t really feel like it man. Working on the van all day, I’m really beat. I think I’m just gonna go home and sleep.”

“Now you can’t do that. How about we go get dinner and then you can go home and sleep?” Reluctantly Harvey gave in and followed Evan to his truck.

“So where are we headed?” Harvey asked once Evan had started to drive.

“I was thinking about that new Italian place over near Fisherman’s Wharf, that ok with you?” Harvey shook his head and closed his eyes for a moment hoping to catch a few winks before they got to the restaurant. When he opened them again Evan was tapping him on the shoulder to wake him up. Groggily he walked inside with Evan and was surprised to see the place was rather empty for 7:00 on a Friday night. The host led them to the back room, and Harvey was stunned when he saw the large banner that read Happy Birthday Harvey, and even more surprised to see that half the station had showed up to celebrate. He looked over at Evan and gave him a confused look.

“What man? We just wanted to celebrate your birthday.” Again Harvey stared at him utterly confused.

“Sorry about the van, but we needed something to keep you occupied while we or rather Evan got all this ready.” Nash said as he patted Harvey on the back.

“This is really nice man, but my birthday isn’t until next Friday.” The room got silent, and Evan smiled at his partner.

“Your birthday is the 25th right?” Harvey shook his head. “Look at your watch bro.” Harvey looked down at his watch and pressed the top button. A slightly reddish tinge took over his face as he saw that it was indeed the 25th.

“Man I am really gettin’ old.” Harvey said in total embarrassment as the room erupted into laugher.

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