What's the one thing that could ruin a good evening? Well, besides your boss calling you to come into work while you're on a date. My guess? Finding your boss slumped over in her chair, dead.

Yeah, that could be a problem.

I'm a writer that is completely devoted to her craft.  A writer who gets stimulation from everywhere, but when your column and soon to be novel is about relationships and you're not in one, that's kinda hard to pull off. I haven't been in one of those in months, let alone a date. I've been busy working (don't judge me). So much in fact, I hardly have time to talk to my mother and best friend, who never let me forget, mind you. So I don't have time for dates, social calls, hell booty calls. Nor do I have time to find dead bodies. But all that changed today. Just today.

"Maxie Baker?" I was nose deep into working on my daily column, "The Grind" for the Chicago Day Times, when a man's voice interrupted my thoughts.  I looked up and saw a tall, handsome Latin man standing in front of me.  He was gorgeous, with dark hair, honey brown eyes and the cutest smile I have ever seen. Who is this? The only person I know that would call me Maxie is...

"Chris? Chris Martinez? Oh my God!" I shot out of my seat and gave him a huge hug. "What are you doing here?" And when did you get so muscular?

"I just moved back from San Antonio. I was working for an entertainment magazine down there and I had to get out. I put some feelers out to see where I could go; the Day Times offered me a gig and while I was doing some research, guess whose name came up. You're looking good girl. What's it been, 10 years?"

Chris and I go back to college when we were journalism majors at Columbia. But he did not look like this the last time I saw him. Time has been very good to him.

"So what's going on with you Baker? I read your column. Still mad at the world, huh?" I laughed as he continued. "And I hear your writing a book. Is it out yet?"

"Not yet; the kinks are still being worked out.  But I can't believe you are in Chicago, let alone working at my paper.  Hey, you remember Theresa Lee?"

"Yeah, the Jay to your Silent Bob. How's she doing?"

"She's doing well. Right now, she's in real estate, selling abnormally large homes to the filthy rich and making more than I've seen in a year." Chris and I continue talking until I noticed our editor in chief, Claudia Ellis, storm out of her office. I hoped she wasn't heading over here; please be getting ready to hop on your broom and fly out of here. We watched her stomp by and head into our sports editor, Angelo Diaz's office. I could tell all kinds of hell was about to break loose (especially today. It's Tuesday and usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Claudia is the biggest bitch on the planet. Don't know why those days; that's just how she rolls).

As soon as she closed his office door, the bullpen got silent to listen to the shouting match.

"Why would you do that?! Do you know how that would make me look?!"

"Like I give a shit how you look. You work for me and I will do whatever the hell I please. Nobody asked you to do what you did, or did they? I wonder what you're wife would think of that?"

"BITCH I WILL KILL YOU! YOU DON'T EVER MENTION MY WIFE, YOU HEAR ME? You even try and contact my family..."

"Don't worry, Angelo. You keep doing what you're doing for me and she'll never know. And you will do as you're told."

Claudia stormed out as everyone tried to make it look like they weren't eavesdropping. She almost made it past me, but she glanced over and saw Chris sitting there. Her whole demeanor suddenly changed once she laid eyes on him.

"Chris! I have been looking all over for you!" I'm sure. She then realized who he was sitting with and acknowledged me as she always does; with complete disdain. She looked at me like I was the hired help, but I will not stoop to her level.

"Hey Claudia!" I said with the sweetest, phony smile I could muster. She rolled her eyes.

"Baker." Claudia then turned her attention back to Chris, "Why don't you come into my office so we can discuss your future here." She grabbed his arm and he mouthed ‘help' while she had her back turned. All I could do was shrug my shoulders.

I shouldn't hate my boss. As a matter of fact, I don't. Sure, I can't stand the woman, but I don't hate her. She, on the other hand, hates my guts. I can tell when she looks at me. Just because she's short, round (and not in a jolly way), wears clothes for a 13 year old girl that clearly don't fit her fat, tiny body, has bad frizzy 80s hair and a chip on her shoulder the size of Alaska gives her no right to hate me. Like I said, I don't hate her; but there are quite a few people that do. Besides Angelo, Monica Clarke, our resident gossip columnist, probably does because Claudia goes through each of her columns and chops them to practically nothing, claiming that it (and she) is completely unnecessary. David Neumann, the editor of our Entertainment section, hates her (or he should) because of the utterly embarrassing way she outed him at last year's Holiday party. I don't want to get into specifics, but let's just say personal photo slide show and RuPaul's ‘Supermodel' playing in the background.  Even Betty Morgan, the nicest woman on the planet, hates her and she doesn't hate anything or anyone (that I know of. Who knows what the woman does on her weekends). She our researcher, administrator, all around does everything kind of job and has been doing it longer than I've been alive. Betty makes the smallest mistake in her 30-plus year tenure and Claudia flipped the fuck out. She yelled and berated her in front of everyone like a child. But if I had to single out the one person that totally and honestly hates this woman, I would have to say Eric Davis, our assistant editor in chief.  Eric is smart, compassionate, easy going, loves to listen to people, loves to sit with you and laugh and can still get his work done. But because of something Claudia did or said, not only did he not become the editor in chief, his whole journalism career was in jeopardy. I still don't know what she did, but there are different stories about it that have passed throughout the Chicago journalism community. People still talk about it to this day and that was 15 years ago. So I would think he may have a bone to pick with her.

By the end of the day, I got a lot accomplished. My column was done earlier than usual, Chris and I were having dinner tonight to catch up, and I didn't get bitched out by anyone. I even spoke to my mother and Theresa. I headed home to get ready and make sure my house wasn't torn up out of spite. When I got inside, a warm fuzzy body came up and rubbed my ankles.

"Good, you not pissed about earlier, Chubbs." I walked into the kitchen to feed my cat, Chubb Rock, or Chubbs for short. "I'm going to have to wean you off this food for a while." He meowed in protest.

"Fine, stay fat." After he was taken care of, I checked my messages.

"Max, I can't believe Chris Martinez is in Chicago. Does he still have the glasses? Call me when you get back from dinner."

BEEP. (Yeah, I have an old school answering machine. So?)

"Maxine, its Aunt Dee. I just wanted to remind you about dinner on Sunday honey. Call me back when you get a chance. Love you."

BEEP.

"Max! It's Margot, you know, your favorite person in the world, believe me. Great news; I have a release date and some artwork for your cover. It's almost time to get your book out there. Aren't you excited! I know you are. Call me!"

Oh snap, I am about to be a published novelist. And I have a date, which I should be getting ready for. Shit!

About 7:45, I was almost ready when my buzzer rang.

"Speak."

Deep chuckle, then "It's Chris." Still early for everything, I see. I have always liked that about him. I buzzed him up and continued looking for my shoe. I finally found it just as he knocked on my door.

I opened it and was pleasantly surprised. Damn if the man didn't look good; black button down shirt, dark jeans and loafers. Did he look this good in college? If so, was I blind?
"Hey Maxie." I watched as he gave me a very slow once over. I did a goofy twirl to take my mind off the way he was looking at me.

"Damn Chris, if you stare any harder, I might suddenly go up in flames. Come inside already." He laughed as I led him into the front room. "Let me grab a couple of things and we can go."

I took off in a quick sprint to my bedroom, grabbed my purse and glasses and headed back up front. When I got up there, Chris was sitting with Chubbs on his lap. He read the tag on Chubbs' neck and looked at me.

"Did you really name the cat Chubb Rock?"

"I did. What? ‘Treat ‘em right' was a great song and you know it. Besides, look at him; you can't tell me the name doesn't fit. But that's enough playtime.  Let's go because I'm starving." He put the cat down, I lint rolled him and we left. Once we got downtown, Chris parked and we started walking toward the restaurant.

"So what made you come back to Chicago and work?"  He asked as we walked up State St.

"Family. As corny as it sounds, I missed them, especially my mom. I was in Virginia, New Mexico and Montana, which was horrible by the way and realized how much I wanted to be here working. What brought you to the Chi, besides me of course?"

"Oh of course. I wanted to go to New York, but Chicago offered me a gig first. Mainly, I had to get out of Texas. Once I found out you would be working at the same publication, I jumped on the chance to come here."

"Well, I for one am glad you did." We continued walking. "Chris can I tell you one thing?" He nodded.

"Don't get offended, but I do not remember you looking this good. You are crazy handsome."

"Thank you. You're looking very good yourself." He leaned in to whisper, "But I remember you looking this good."

I could feel the blush creep up on my face. Damn me being light skinned. 

"Whatever.  The one thing I clearly remember about you was your giant, 80s Run DMC style glasses that you insisted on wearing everywhere."

"I still have those glasses, but I though contacts might be a better route."

"Why doesn't it surprise me you still have them." I was going to ask something else when I felt my purse start vibrating.

"Standby, it might be Theresa. Hello?"

"Maxine! Where are you!"
"Claudia? I'm on my personal time, as most people do when they leave work."

"Well I need you to come in and fix your column."

"Excuse me? Fix what with my column? What is possibly wrong with it?" I know I shouldn't cop an attitude with her, but I couldn't punk out in front of Chris. He shook his head as I listened to Claudia bitch me out. And I was doing so well today.

"Well Claudia, what do you want me to do?"

"Come in and fix it obviously!"

"What, come in right now?" Chris shook his head no. "I can't; I'm busy. I can come in later on tonight."

"Fine, whatever. Just get here." And with that, she hung up. All I could do was stare at the phone. Chris spoke and shook me out of my venomous thoughts about our boss.

"She wants you to fix it? I read it and thought it was hilarious."

"That's just how she is. Welcome to the Day Times. But damn that; I haven't seen you in years. She can wait a couple, two three hours. And look at that, we're here."

He and I ended up at Osa Saki Sushi for dinner. As we ate and talked, I realized that I have not had such a funny, witty, intelligent conversation with a man that I'm not related to in a long time. Then the relationship questions came up.

"So Maxie, where's your boyfriend? I know there's a man somewhere in Chicago that must be mad you're here with me."

"Nope. The only men in my life are my granddaddy, my brother and Chubbs; no boyfriends or nothing. What about you? Any girlfriends, wives, ex-wives, baby mamas?"

"None of the above. I'm still questioning myself about the last relationship I just got out of. The girl was dumber than a box of rocks."

"So she served her purpose in different ways?" I said as I stole the last Tempura shrimp. He laughed.

"You could say that. And you're lucky you're cute or else we would be fighting for that shrimp Baker."

"Aww, you think I'm cute? I knew it; dinner was just a ruse to get into my pants, wasn't it?"

"Yep." He answered with a smirk, so I hit him with my napkin. I guessed he was joking but let's be real; if he offered, I would definitely take him up on it. As I sat and tried to not get all hot and bothered by Chris, my purse started vibrating again.

"Shit, it's Claudia again. Hello?" I heard nothing. "Hello? Claudia, are you there?" Still nothing, just a weird sound like faint gurgling. "Claudia are you prank calling me? I'll be there soon, damn." While I was talking to thin air, I didn't notice Chris paying for dinner.

"Punk I would have paid half." I said as we got up.

"A gentleman doesn't go out and have his date go dutch." We got outside. "You want me to go with you to the office?"

"You don't have to. I'll just go by and listen to her bitch me out. But thank you for dinner."

 I gave him a peck on the cheek and started heading toward the office. He stood there giving me the sad puppy dog look.

"Okay, stop with the face. Come on." He ran up to me and put his arm out for me to take it. We got to our building and headed up to the Day Times offices. While we were in the elevator, I couldn't help but notice the faint smell of his cologne filing the car. Damn, has it been that long since I've been close to a straight, attractive man? I was so lost in thought that I didn't even know we got to our floor. Chris got out, but I didn't.

"Maxie, you coming?"

"What? Oh, my bad."  Lost in my own world due to his sexy ass. Where did that come from?

"I'm going to grab my notes. I'll meet you back at your desk, okay?" I nodded and headed to Claudia's office. I'm glad I had a couple of drinks to deal with her.  I walked into the office.

"Claudia?" Her chair was facing the window, away from the door. How is she going to ignore me?  "Claudia", I said with a little more force. "I'm here now. What could possibly be wrong?" I got no response so I walked over to her desk. I'll be damned if she fell asleep.

"Claudia, wake up." I said as I spun her chair around to face me. That and screaming was the last thing I remember.

 Maxine Baker

Chris Martinez

 Angelo Riaz

  Theresa Lee

  David Neumann

 Eric Davis

 Claudia Ellis (I had to find the crappiest picture I could find)

When I came to, Chris and a paramedic were standing over me. There were also a ton of police officers swarming around the office.

"What happened?"

"Claudia's dead. You found her, screamed and passed out. You also hit your head on the corner of her desk."

I rubbed the spot where, I'm guessing, I cracked my head open. Great. The paramedic continued checking me out.

"You should be okay; it was just a bruise on your head. Take a few Tylenol when you two get home."  She turned to Chris, "if she starts feeling dizzy or lightheaded for a little while, that's to be expected. But if it lasts longer than about 12 hours or so, or she feels any other symptoms, bring her to the ER, okay?" He nodded and she packed up and left. I looked over at him. "Why did she say when we get home?"
"I told them you were my fiancée so they would let me near you." Chris said as he helped me into a chair. Just as I was getting my bearings, two men walked over to us.

"Ma'am, how are you feeling? Are you up to answering a few questions?" The younger of the pair said. I nodded and he continued. "I'm Detective O'Connell. This is my partner Detective Green. Can you tell us what you remember? Why were you in tonight?"

"Claudia called me a few hours ago to come in and work on my column but we were at dinner so I told her I would come in later.-Who's we?" Green interrupted. Obviously he was going for the "bad cop" in this scenario.

"Chris", pointing to him, "and I. We were headed to dinner when she called the first time. During dinner, she called again but didn't say anything. All I heard was faint gurgling."

"Can anybody verify this dinner date?"

"Um, besides the two of us and the restaurant full of people?" O'Connell and Chris were trying not to laugh, but Green obviously didn't find it too amusing.

"This is a murder investigation, ma'am so I suggest you cut the jokes."

O'Connell continued with his questions. "So she called twice and then you came up here about a couple hours later?" I nodded. "What happened when you got here? Do you remember seeing anyone?"

I thought back to when we got off the elevator. "I remember seeing a large shadow in the corner. But I thought it was the plant or something." He wrote as I went on. "Then I headed to Claudia's office to find out what the problem was with my column. Her chair was turned away so I called out to her. She didn't answer so I turned her around and...That's all I remember."

"Did you call out to her or yell at her?"

"I might have raised my voice to get her attention, but I wasn't yelling." O'Connell kept writing while Green was looking at me like he wasn't buying it.

"So you disliked Ms. Ellis?"

"Yeah, but almost everyone in the office did."

"Well right now, we're talking about you. She was stabbed with a pair of scissors from her desk. Are you sure you didn't get fed up and deal with your major problem?"

So Det. Green reads my column. But he's not going use my own shit against me.

"Look I may have not liked the woman, but I wouldn't kill her!"

"We'll be the judge of that. If I were you, I wouldn't make plans to go anywhere."

O'Connell shot his partner a look. "Miss Baker, it is Miss right?" I nodded and he smiled. "Well, Miss Baker, here's my card. If you remember anything else, please give me a call, alright?" Chris took his card from him. The two looked at each other oddly for a second then the moment passed. "We'll have an officer take your information in case we have any other questions." He patted my hand. "You get some rest okay?"  Maybe I'm still fuzzy from get hit on the head, but was Det. O'Connell flirting with me? And was Chris jealous?

"You ready to go? I'll take you home."

When we got to my apartment, Chris walked up to my front door with me.

"You don't have come in if you don't want to, I'll be okay." I said as I opened the door. Chris walked in right behind me.

"No, I don't want you to be by yourself. You have a mild concussion and might go into a coma or something. I can't have that; we haven't gone on our second date yet." He said with a sly smile.

"Oh so, this was a date? I thought it was just dinner to catch up?" I said as I sat on the couch. Chubb Rock was asleep on the coffee table as usual. Chris sat down next to me and started taking off my shoes.

"You didn't think this was a date? I am slipping."

"No, I just...It was a good date, minus the dead body and all. Who would murder Claudia?" We sat there quietly, then I shot off the couch scaring Chris and Chubbs both. I grabbed my notebook and started writing.

"What are you doing?"

"This would be a helluva story. I have to think of a catchy title. But the main question is: who would want to kill her?"

Chris looked at me like I completely lost my mind. "Maybe you should rest. I think the blow to the head is affecting you."

"What? I'm fine." I started to stand up again, but this time I almost passed out. Chris shot up and caught me before I cracked my head yet again. While he was holding me up, I really got a chance to look at him. I've seen the man one day and I want to jump his bones.

"You should lie down. Where's your bedroom?"

Ah, the words I want to hear. "In the back." He practically carried me back to my bedroom. Once we got there, he laid me down on the bed and tried to cover me up.

"Do you have any medicine?"

"There's some in the bathroom." He walked into my bathroom and then out the bedroom door. While he was gone, I slowly stripped down and threw on my huge Bears t-shirt and shorts. He came back a few minutes later with juice and pills.

"Here, take this." He watched me for a second.

"What?"

"I really don't want you to be alone tonight. Is it alright if I stay here-" yes, stay here. In this room.

In my bed....
"-on your couch?"

Son of a bitch. "Yeah, would you? There are blankets in the hall closet. My brother left some clothes the last time he was here if you want to change. They're in there too."

"Okay, I'll be up front if you need me. But you get some sleep okay?" He kissed my head and walked out.

I don't know if it's the mini concussion or the drugs, but it's official: I will jump his bones.

Where am I? Am I at work? Why am I in a designer dress? Is that David wearing a tiara? I started walking around the bullpen to see if Chris was here too when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and saw Claudia standing in front of me with scissors hanging out of her neck.

"Where's the column? You must write about this! Tell everybody who did this! I know who it was...."

"Who Claudia? Who killed you?"

"It was....it wasss....." I started shaking her and blood gushed all over my dress. Eww.

"TELL ME!!"

"Maxie? Maxie!" As I was shaking her, someone was shouting my name. It sounded like...

"Chris? Is that you? Where are you?"

"Maxine! Wake up!" I opened my eyes and I was back in my bedroom. Chris was on my bed shaking me awake. And wearing a gray wifebeater and pajama pants.

"What happened?"

"You were yelling at Claudia in your sleep. You were saying tell me, tell me. Tell you what?"

"She was going to tell me who killed her." I explained the dream to him. He thought about it for a minute or so then finally spoke.

"David was really wearing a tiara?"

"That's not the point jackass. She wants me to find out who did this and tell the world. I have to find out who did it." Before I could jump out of bed, Chris climbed in and wrapped his arms around me.

"That was real sneaky sir." I said as I got closer to him.

"I know, but it worked." Like a charm.

I could feel myself falling back to sleep. "Don't try and take advantage of me while I'm a sleep."

He pulled me closer. "I would never do that." Before I fell asleep, I swore I heard him say, "I want you to be awake and well aware when we...."

The next morning, I woke up to a splitting headache and strong arms wrapped around me. I turned to see Chris sleeping soundly. I moved as softly and quietly as I could, but the arms tightened around me.

"Mmmm, where are you going?" He asked as I felt his breath on my neck, which caught me completely off guard.

"I have to potty and we have to go to work." He let me go and I went to handle my business. Afterwards I headed into the kitchen to find Chubbs waiting on our usual morning routine. Every morning, when I make my coffee I give him wet cat food. This morning I did not disappoint.

"Really Chubbs, I'm gonna have to get you on a diet. Iams here we come."

"Are you talking to the cat?" Chris asked and in the process, scaring the shit out of me. I almost dropped my coffee beans. Almost.

"Fuck! I forgot you were still here. Thought I was dreaming that too."  I regained my composure and continued making coffee. Once it was done, I handed him a mug and we sat down.

"I should probably go home and get ready for work. How about I come by and we have lunch together?"

I looked at him confused, "Come by where?"

"Come by here. You're not going to work, are you?" Which came out more like a statement than a question.

"Yeah I am. I got to start finding out who could have done this."

"And I can't talk you out of it, can I?" I shook my head. "Fine, at least let me help you."

We had another cup of coffee together then Chris went home to change. I called Theresa to tell her about last night.

"Are you shitting me? You found your boss dead? While you were on a date? I don't know which is more outrageous."

"Shut up. Somebody did die, you know. But the dream I had was so weird. I wonder if that means somebody at work did it."

"Who Max? Betty, the nice lady from your Christmas party that baked the gingerbread men? She seems like a complete psycho. What I can't believe is that you finally realize how cute Chris Martinez is. He's been fine as far back as I can remember."

"Whatever." But I will admit the man is fine. "I need to maybe work up a list of people at work it could be. You know, help out the police."

"No I don't know. The police, who do this for a living, don't need your help. As your best friend let me tell you this in a way I know you'll understand: leave it alone Maxine. This has nothing to do with you."

That's what she thinks...

When I got to work, the entire place was a buzz about Claudia. An hour or so after I got there, we had a meeting with our new editor, Eric.

"Aright people settle down. As most of you already know, we lost our editor, Claudia Ellis, last night to senseless random violence. Today and tomorrow, we will be running a two-part introspective piece about Claudia; her life and work. It was a huge loss for all of us. Until the bosses tell who our new editor is, I'll be the acting editor-in-chief." He said that last part way too cheerfully for my taste. After that meeting, Eric Davis was my number one suspect. I was at my desk later working on my list of suspects.

• 1. Eric Davis

Motive-to become editor, prove Claudia wrong

• 2. Angelo Riaz

Motive-adultery, keep Claudia quiet?

• 3. Monica Clarke

Motive-?

"What are you doing?" Chris asked as he glanced over my shoulder. "Really Maxie, a suspect list? You weren't kidding?"

"Absolutely not. I should call Detective O'Connell and tell him my ideas."

"You won't have to." I looked at him as he pointed to Claudia's office. "Him and Detective Green are already here."

The duo headed toward Chris and I. Of course, Detective O'Connell spoke first.

"Miss Baker, I didn't expect you to be at work today, but you do look good, er better this morning." He nodded at Chris. "We came over to make sure you were okay."

Yeah, maybe O'Connell did, but the menacing look his partner was giving me told me something different.

"Detectives, I know you have your investigation started, but I may have an idea about suspects."

"Such as yourself? Are you giving us some names to take the heat off of you?"

Did Green really just say that? "I'm a suspect? Like I told you yesterday, Detective Green, I found her but I did not kill her!" I said as I shot out of my seat toward him. Chris gently grabbed my arm as O'Connell tried to diffuse the situation.

"No one is considering you as a suspect. I checked the restaurant and we have Miss Ellis' phone records which prove you were not here at the estimated time of death."

Ignoring his partner, I reached out to grab the list I started to give to O'Connell, but he held up his hand.

"It's okay Miss Baker. We have an idea on the suspect list, but thank you anyway."

Damn, he shot me down.  "Alright."

"If we hear anything, we'll give you a call okay?" O'Connell patted my hand again and gave Chris (who I forgot was standing there) the head nod as him and Green began to walk off. I don't know what made me do the next thing I did.

"Oh and Detective O'Connell? It's Maxine."

"I'm sorry?"

"You keep calling me Miss Baker, but you can call me Maxine or Max." He smiled at that revelation.

"I'll keep that in mind. Have a good day." I turned to a not happy Chris. "What?"

"'You can call me Max.' What was that?"

"Dude, I was trying to get in good so I can keep up with the case. Why are you jealous or something?" I said with a smirk.

"Whatever. I got work to finish."  He walked off before I could apologize. Before I could send him an email, Monica walked over to my desk and sat. She looked completely desolate.

"Monica are you alright?" As soon as I asked that, she started bawling.

"I can't believe she's dead! She was my best friend and now she's dead Max!"

Your best friend? "Monica, I thought you and Claudia didn't get along?" Actually I thought the woman hated Monica's guts. But I didn't want her to get more upset.

She blew her nose, loudly. "No, we may have had our differences but she was a really good friend." She pulled a picture out of her pocket. It was of her and Claudia, at a bar, smiling and looking normal. Claudia even looked happy, which was shocking. Who knew? Monica continued weeping.

"I have to plan her funeral. She didn't have any family that I knew of. Will you come Max? Claudia completely respected you."

Now that I really found shocking. "Sure I will; whatever you need."

"Will you deliver her eulogy?" What? Was she serious? I may not have totally hated the woman but I can't lie to people.

"Monica, being that you were her closest", and possibly only "friend, I think that you should be the one to give it. She would appreciate it coming from you."

She nodded, blew her honker loudly scaring Darren Cross in the desk next to me and went back to her planning. Okay, so maybe she's not a suspect. Back to the list.

• 1. Eric Davis

Motive-to become editor, prove Claudia wrong

• 2. Angelo Riaz

Motive-adultery, keep Claudia quiet?'

•3.      Monica Clarke

Motive-? (well not her I guess)

• 3. Betty Morgan

Motive-revenge

I wonder who else could be considered a suspect. Hell, who am I kidding? Everybody here is one, but I need to find out whom.

At about 6, I finished up my notes for tomorrow's column when a message popped up on my screen.

‘Mind your business.'

"What the hell?" I read it and quickly responded, ‘Why are you playing? This is not the time to joke around Chris.'

Immediate response, ‘Not Chris, but you should keep your pretty little nose out of my business. Before something happens to it.'

Was this a threat? ‘Who is this?'

‘Somebody you shouldn't worry about if you don't want the same to happen to you. ////'

Okay, that was not cool. I printed it out and headed to find Chris. When I got to his desk, Chris was entertaining some of our young female interns. They were laughing at something he said and I coughed to get his attention. All the interns looked over at me and scattered like roaches.

"You didn't have to scare them off like that." Chris said as I sat down. "I mean, what would Detective O'Connell say?"

I ignored his comment and shoved the printed text at him, albeit it with too much force. He cocked his eyebrow at me and took the paper.

"Excuse me for ruining your game, but I wanted you to see this. Before you read, answer me this; did you send me any instant messages in the last 10 minutes?"

His demeanor changed as he shook his head in the negative and he started reading the paper.  After he scanned it, Chris put it down and started looking through stuff on his desk.

"Chris, what are you doing? Didn't you read it?"

"Yeah I did and I'm calling O'Connell. This is a threat Maxie. You have to tell the police." I took the card out of his hand.

"This isn't a threat. Nobody knows I'm even looking for whoever did this. It's just me and you that know. But you wouldn't send me a message like this."

He started packing up. "You know I wouldn't. I would tell you directly to mind you own business. Stop before something happens." I began to argue, but he placed his hand on the side of my face. "Please Maxie; I don't want anything to happen to you."

The way he was caressing my face made me almost forget what I needed to do. Almost. He started to leave but I gave him an excuse that I had to get some things and that I would call him as soon I got home.  I need to start somewhere, so I figured the best place would be the scene of the crime. I grabbed some gloves from the cleaning closet and headed into Claudia's office. It was pretty clean, since the police took most of her things as evidence. I tried not to disturb anything as I looked around. I was going to the cabinet when a sliver of hot pink caught my eye from under her calendar. I pulled it out slowly and opened it up.

‘BITCH, if you continue on the path you're on, you will pay! Somebody will cut you down. Believe that.'

Everything on the letter was typed except the last line. Whose handwriting was this? And how did the police not notice this?  Luckily, Claudia hated leaving her office to do anything so she insalled a copy machine in the corner. I was about to make a copy of the note when I heard voices. Fuck! I didn't know where to go, so I had no other choice but to hide under the desk. I slid under as the voices got louder. 

"Aren't you done yet? We do have reservations, you know." That was David's voice. 

"Just a minute sweetie, I have to get something from my office. Calm down." Was that...Angelo? Did he just call David sweetie? I thought he was married and straight.

"It's just that I never get to spend quality time with you, smootchie poo."

"I know snuggly bear." Snuggly bear? Wow. "It's hard with what I'm dealing with right now."

"Oh I be it is." Eww, I would never say that to Chris. Chris? Where did I pull his name from? We're not even dating or anything. I need to stop thinking about Chris and what his naked body could be doing to me and focus on the present. I continued to listen to the pair talk all lovey-dovey and, my guess, make-out for about another 10 minutes. When they finally left, I quickly made a copy of the note, put it back and ran out of her office.

Once I got home, I fed Chubbs and checked my messages. The same people; my mother, Theresa, Chris, twice and Margot. I decided to call Margot first.

"Margot Daniels."

"Hey Margot, its Max Baker."

"Maxine! I'm so glad you called me back. So the date we're looking at is August 15th and I emailed the cover to you. Is everything okay? You usually call me right back."

I informed her about my last couple of days. She was shocked to say the least.

"Are you for real? Are you okay? Do you need anything sweetie?" I had to contain my laughter when she said that. She and I talked a little bit longer. As I was getting off the phone, she ended our conversation with, "You know; this would make one hell of a story."

I called my mother and Theresa back and was promptly bitched out by both (Theresa took it upon herself to tell my mother what happened). I was about to call Chris when my buzzer went off.

"I guess we got visitors Chubbs. Yeah?"

"Max, its Chris. Let me up." I buzzed him in and waited by the door. He came in like gangbusters.

"Well hello to you too."

"I thought you were going to call me?" I walked into the kitchen with him right on my heels. "Well?"

"I was just about to. Calm down. I'm okay, obviously." I went over to the fridge. "Do you want something to drink?" As I was reaching for a pop, I felt him move closer to me. When I turned around, Chris was standing directly in front of me. He was so close I could feel his breath.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes." I said, more breathy and sultry than necessary. His hand started caressing my face. I could feel myself leaning toward him. He moved slightly, sliding his hand from my face down my arm and took the can of Pepsi I had in it. As he did, he mumbled against my lips, "I'm glad you are" and walked out of my kitchen.  Are you fucking kidding me? He did not just do that. Once I got my bearing, I grabbed another can and tried not to chuck it at his head as I walked into my living room. He looked up at me, smiling at first, but once he saw the look on my face, his smile slowly faded.  I sat down to tell him what I found out.

"I think I know why Claudia was arguing with Angelo yesterday."

"Why?" he asked as he took a sip of his soda.
"He's having an affair with David Neumann." And Chris choked on his drink.

"What?" He asked between coughs, "How could you possibly know that?"

"I was still in the office when the two came back for something and practically made out while they were in there."

"They did that in front of you?"
"Well, not exactly."

"What do you mean ‘not exactly'?" I started playing with the throw pillow on my chair. "Maxie."

"I was hiding. Under Claudia's desk."

"You were what?! Please explain why you were hiding under her desk?"

"I was just looking around. Maybe get an idea who could have done this." I started to pull the note out as Chris rubbed his eyes.

"Maxine please, you have to let the police handle it. It's not your job to find out who killed Claudia, no matter what some dream told you. Just let this go. Look, it's about 8:30. Why don't we go and grab some dinner to take your mind off of this."

I started looking over some things I wrote down. "No, you can go ahead. I'm going to stay and figure this out."

"What is there for you to figure out? What if you do find out who did this? Did you ever stop and think that they might come after you? You don't know what will happen if you keep going down this road!"

I looked up at Chris. "Who's going to stop me? Are you going to do something if I keep down this ‘road'? You and I are journalists. We find the story and tell it. That's what we do. So I'm going to continue doing my job. You got a problem with it; you can leave."

"Wait, Maxie. I didn't mean to-" I got up to open the front door. "Bye Chris."

He looked at me as I gestured to the hallway and walked out defeated. I slammed the door and got back to work. I need to figure out whose handwritten this is. I know I've seen this before.  By the end of the night, I had a list of about 20 people. Damn. While I was trying to shorten the list, I thought about Chris. I shouldn't have been so short with him. He did have a point. Okay, so maybe I'm an asshole. I'll apologize when I see him at work.

All week, people were still talking about what happened, while I was buried in work. On Friday, I came in early so I can be done with the column and go home. I wasn't feeling all that great (and I was trying to avoid Chris, which wasn't hard with all the work I had). Once I got everything done, I went off looking for Eric to let him know I was leaving. I found him in our break room with his head down. Maybe everything is finally getting to him too.

"Hey Eric, I'm not feeling too well so I'm going to go home. Is that cool?" He didn't respond, so I tapped his shoulder lightly. Nothing. I started to shake him awake when his coffee mug fell out of his hands and shattered on the floor.  I lifted his head and noticed white foam around his mouth.
"Eric? ERIC! Help! Somebody help!"

Can I stop with the dead bodies already?

"This is not good for you, Maxie." Chris said as he walked over to me and placed his arms around me. All I could do was lean into him to stop myself from shaking. He continued holding me as Detectives Green and O'Connell walked over to us.

"I'm sorry we keep meeting under these circumstances, Maxine. What happened?" Chris let me go and I started telling them my story. The pair took in what I told them and Green finally spoke up.

"You seem to have a problem with dead bodies."

 Yeah, you think?

 "Finding two in less than a week; that's not good for you."

"Detective, I know that Max had nothing to do with any of this. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Twice? Well, we're going to need you to come with us so we can take your official statement."

"Can I grab my things?"

Detective O'Connell, noticing the way I was holding on to Chris, spoke up. "If you like, Mr. Martinez can come with you."

I got my bag and walked out with the detectives and Chris, giving everyone in the place something else to talk about.

Fucking great.

We were at the police station for three hours, which made me glad I finished my column earlier.  After finally giving a statement, Chris and I walked out to his car to leave.

"You want me to take you home?"

"No", I said as I got inside. "I have to go back for my truck." When he got inside, he didn't start the car right away.

"Maxie, I'm sorry about Tuesday night. I shouldn't have-no." I interjected. "You were right about it being none of my business and I shouldn't have been so short with you pointing that out. I know you were just trying to help." I leaned over to kiss his cheek to say thank you, but he turned his head quickly so the kiss landed on his lips.

"Trying to be sneaky again?" I said as his eyes went from mine to my mouth and back.

"I don't know, is it working?" I kissed him again and we headed back to the office.

"I really don't want to go back up there. I'm sure everyone is thinking I'm killing my way to the top of the food chain." I said as we got out of the car.

He laughed. "Probably, but you would have a lot more people to take out. That seems like too much work to me. Hey, there's this concert I have to go to tonight to review the band. Would you like to go with me?"

I stopped walking. "Is this fabled date number 2? I'd like that. Besides, I need the distraction."

As we headed into the building, Darren Cross was walking out. "Hey Max, Chris." He turned to me.

"Max, can I talk to you for a second?"  Chris stepped closer to me. I put my hand up to stop him.

"Chris, give me a minute okay? It's fine." He nodded and backed off. Darren and I walked back outside.

"So what's up?" Darren shuffled slightly. He's a sweet, quiet guy that I always see doing his job, whatever that is.

"Well, I...um, I wanted...toknowifyouwouldliketogooutwithmetonight."

"What Darren? I missed all that last part."

"I said would you like to go out with me tonight? There's a nice Italian restaurant up north that I heard about."

"Thanks Darren, but I already have plans. I'm sorry, but maybe we can go another time?" As I said that, I noticed his whole demeanor changed. In a second, he went from shy and nice to cold and detached.

"That's fine. Goodbye Maxine" and he stalked off to his bicycle. That was really weird. I brushed it off and went back inside to where Chris was waiting.

"So what was that about?"

I pushed the elevator button. "Oh he was just asking me out." I said as nonchalantly as I could.

"Hopefully, you shot him down nicely." Chris said as we got on the elevator.

We go into the bullpen and people ran up to me, asking all kinds of questions. Before I could be smothered from all the attention, Betty Morgan came up and pulled me out of the throng of people.

"Give the girl some air. If she wants to talk, she can come to you."

I went to her desk to sit down. "So what's going on honey? They're not considering you a suspect, are they?"

"I don't think so. I just had to give my statement."

She patted my hand. "Are you okay? If you need something, or just an ear to listen, I'm here okay?"  Betty then noticed Chris standing nearby. "Well, it looks like you have someone waiting for you." She said with a smile. "I'll talk to you later."

I grabbed the rest of my stuff and finalized my plans with Chris. After what seemed like the longest day ever, I finally got home where Theresa was waiting for me outside.

"So were you going to call me back or what? How are you, after finding a dead body and all?"

I headed up the stairs with her behind me. "Now I'm up to two. My new editor was apparently poisoned this morning. I'm having one helluva week." I got up to my door and realized it was ajar. I stopped abruptly and Theresa bumped into my back.

"Heifer, you could have warned-SHHH." I interjected.

"My door is open." I whispered as I pulled out my pepper spray. Theresa pulled her stiletto off for a weapon. Times like this, I wish I had my gun. I started inside.

"Wait! Don't touch the door, they may have left fingerprints." Theresa whispered loudly.

"Good point." I nudged the door with my elbow and slowly walked inside. My whole apartment was trashed. Slashes in my couch, papers strewn everywhere, even the kitty litter was flipped over on the floor. Oh shit, Chubbs!
"Chubby? Chubbs?" I whispered loudly. He didn't meow, which means....

Before I could get worked up about what could have happened, I felt warm fur on my ankle. I snatched him up.

"Come on Maxie, we have to call the police." She and I ran out with Chubbs in tow. I sat down in the hall while she went to call. While she was gone, I called Chris.

"Hey, are you ready? It's a bit early, but I can come and get you."

"Someone broke into my apartment."

"I'm on my way over." I hung up and waited with Theresa. The police came about 15 minutes later. Detective O'Connell walked up to where we were sitting in the hallway.

"Maxine, are you alright?" I nodded and he continued to ask me questions. Theresa saw Chris walking up so she went to intercept him.

"Chris Martinez, even though these are unpleasant circumstances, how are you?" She asked as he gave her a hug.

"I've been good and I hear you have too."

"I guess. I'm glad you're here. I know Max is." She turned toward where I was sitting as Det. O'Connell walked to them.

"Miss Lee, I think my guys have cleared the apartment. Maxine wanted to know if you could grab some things for her." She walked off toward the apartment. I watched the two men standing there talking. Usually I would be completely nosy, but I could care less right now. O'Connell pointed to me and Chris walked to where I was.

"Hey you." I said as he sat down and put his arm around me. I just glanced up at him.

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know."

"Can you stay with your mom or Theresa?" I leaned against him.

"My mom is out of town and Theresa can't have pets in her place. I can get a hotel or something."

"Then you can stay at my house, if you want. I have extra space and my building doesn't mind pets."

"I don't want to be a burden."

He planted a kiss on my temple. "You're not. I want to make sure you're alright." Then he whispered, "Besides, I can't seduce you at Theresa's." I laughed and he laughed too, although I think (or hope) he was serious. Theresa walked up.

"Break it up kids; we're in public. Anyway, here are some clothes and the few things I could find for Chubbs." We stood and I put Chubbs in his kennel. Chris took my bag and headed downstairs. I spoke to Detective O'Connell once more and we walked outside.

"So you're okay? Where are you staying?"

"I'm going to stay at Chris' apartment until I can find a hotel or something." Theresa broke out a huge grin. "What? What did you do Lee?"

"Nothing, I just packed up a lil' something nice in case this particular scenario happened. But you call me as soon as you're there."

I reassured Theresa and made her promise not to call my mother before I did. Then I hopped into my truck and followed Chris to his place. We pulled up to a three flat about 20 minutes away from my apartment. When we got inside, I was surprised at how big the apartment was.

"How did you swing this place? It's huge."

"My boy's mother owns the building. She needed a tenant and I was more than happy to oblige."

I placed the kennel down and let Chubbs out. He found a corner and went to sleep and I went into his bathroom to change. I am so done with all this. As much as I want to find out who did this, I just want it to be over. As I changed, I could smell something wonderful coming from his kitchen. I walked out to find him standing over the stove.

"What is that?"

"Just some leftovers from dinner at my landlady's house. You know how mothers are, even if there not yours." He turned to me and was taking in what I had on; shorts and a tank top. I walked over to him as he continued watching me.

"Do you need help with anything?"

"What? No, you can just relax. I got this."

"Well, I'm scared of you."

He leaned over and whispered, "You should be." I shoved him playfully and went to the front room. We ate and watched movies. Chubbs came and laid out in front of the couch and went back to sleep.

"My attack cat. So I guess it's just me and you." I said as Chris pulled me closer to him.

"Maxie, are you sure you're alright? Do you want to talk about what happened?" I sat up to look at him and thought about what he asked. Do I want to talk about it? Do I really want to talk period?

"No talking. I honestly don't even want to think."

"So what do you want-" I reached over and kissed him before he could finish. Once I let him go to catch his breath, he blurted out, "Talking is completely out of the question." I nodded and he kissed me again.

How did I end up partially naked on his couch so quickly? Because this man is very good at what he does. We started in his living room, worked our way down the hall (when I realized he was strong enough to lift me the way he did) and ended up in his bed. When we stopped watching movies, it was about 8. By the time I was able to lift my head off his pillow, it was 2:45 in the morning. Chris was lying next to me with his forearm covering his eyes, slowly coming down from the usage of my voracious and impressive oral skills.

"I thought you had to see a band tonight?" I asked. He uncovered his eyes to look at me. "I guess the band can wait?"

"After what you just did, yeah." I turned and he pulled me closer. "But they're playing tomorrow night too. I just wanted to make sure you were taken care of." I looked at him incredulously. "That's not what I meant. But damn if it wasn't good."

I laughed, "You're right." We lay silently. "Can I tell you something?"

"Yeah."

I woke up about 9 and noticed the bed was empty. I left the bedroom and followed the smell of coffee and *sniff* bacon. When I got to the kitchen threshold, I heard Chris talking to someone.

"I can see why she talks to you. You like to listen." Then I heard a familiar meow. I smiled at the interaction and continued to listen.

"So it's wet food with coffee, right?" Another meow, "Okay, wet food it is."

"Do you see why I talk to Chubbs?" I asked and he jumped. "And how it's not cool to sneak up on people?"

"Well mornin' sunshine." I walked over to help, but Chris shooed me away. "I told you, I got this. I made some breakfast. It's not a lot, just bacon and eggs. I hope that's okay."

I stared at Chris for a minute, mainly in disbelief. Damn, he cooks too? "Can I keep you?"

He sat a steaming cup of coffee in front of me and gave me a peck. "As long as you want. Especially if you keep doing what you did last night." I hit him and he went back to the stove to grab the food.

While we were eating, my cell phone rang.

"Hello?"
"Maxine? It's Detective O'Connell."

"Hey Detective, what can I do for you this fine morning?"

He chuckled slightly into the phone. "Well, it sounds like you're in a better mood. I just wanted to give you an update on the break-in. We should be done in there and your apartment will be released so you can get some more things. Continue staying where you are right now and once we're completely done, you can go back."

"Well, that's good. Was anything taken? Is everything okay?"

"Well", he hesitated. Obviously, there was something he wasn't telling me.

"What's wrong?"

"I would have rather told you this in person. There wasn't anything taken, but there was something left there. It was a note and I shouldn't even be telling you that. But when you go back, let me know so I can have a patrol car outside in case..."

"In case what?"

"In case the intruder comes back." Well, there goes my good morning.

"Is there a chance they will come back?"
"There's a chance they could."

Great. "Detective, I need a little time to digest all this. Can I call you back?"
"Yeah, I understand. If you have any questions, give me a call, alright?" We said our goodbyes. Chris was watching me intently as I hung up.

"So what did he say?"

"Well the good news is I should be able to go back to my apartment soon. The bad news is that whoever it was that broke in left a calling card and may come back." 

I sat there thinking about this. I could go out like a sucker and wait or I can find out who the hell this is.

And if this is all connected in some way.

As I contemplated my next move, Chris looked over at me and immediately knew what was going on in my head.

"No. Whatever it is your thinking, no!"

"Relax, I just need to go back and let my landlady know what's going on. That's all." Okay, that's kinda true; I should let Mrs. Stuber in on what's happening. I can also ask her some questions. She's a sweet older lady who also is the nosiest person in Chicago and rarely leaves the building. So I know she saw something. I talked Chris into letting me go back by myself, hopped in the shower with him which got nothing accomplished but more sex, took one by myself, got dressed and headed off.

When I got back to my building, Mrs. Stuber was in her window tending to her flowers.

"Hey Mrs. S."

"Maxine! How are you hon? I heard all the commotion and was worried about you and your kitty. Come on up, I just made some peppermint tea."

You gotta love Mrs. Stuber; she's our neighborhood grandma. She bakes, keeps you updated on all the soaps and knows all the gossip. I walked into her apartment and sat down on her huge, floral couch.

"So did they find the bastard yet?"  She asked as she sat down a tray with cookies and tea. I grabbed a cookie and shook my head.

"Not yet but I know they're working on it."

"Not hard enough if you ask me. They asked everyone in the building if they saw anything and, of course, no one did. But you know I saw something."

I took my notebook out of my bag. "What did you see, Mrs. S? I can tell the police."

"Well I told them already, but who listens to an old lady?"

"I'll make them listen Mrs. S."

She patted my hand. "That's right honey, you make them hear you. You're just like my Hannah, tough as nails and gorgeous too. But you want to know what I saw. I was taking out the trash and was going to go over to see Mrs. Davis so we can talk about our soaps like we do when I noticed a bicycle sitting in the alleyway. I was thinking, who would throw away a perfectly good bicycle?"

"Did it have anything on it? Something that made you think it was still being used?"

"Yeah, it was locked. It was turquoise with odd black markings on it and it had a miniature license plate on it. I couldn't really see what was on it, but I think it said ‘Kris' on it. Chris with a ‘K', hon." She said as she watched me jot everything down.

"Did you see anything else Mrs. S?"

"Not right away, since I was headed to Vivian's. But I had to come back because I forgot the dish I was going to give her. As I was walking around the kitchen, I heard someone running down the front steps, like they were coming from your place. I know you're at work around this time so I went up to check and see who it was. I saw the door jimmied open so I rushed back down to call the police. But then I heard you and your friend heading upstairs and then I heard your friend calling."

Mrs. Stuber and I talked a little while longer. As I was heading out, she handed me a tin.

"What's this Mrs. S?"

"Just some more of the cookies I made hon for you and that cutie pie I saw you with a few days ago. He looked a bit skinny so I thought he might like them. He kind of reminded me of Mr. Stuber, God bless him."

"Thanks Mrs. S for everything."

As I drove back to Chris' apartment, I was trying to think why that bike description sounded so familiar. I racked my brain and as I walked up the front steps, it hit me. I've seen that mini plate before. ‘Kris DC' is on Darren's bike, which fits the description Mrs. S gave. Kris DC; Kristopher Darren Cross. Son of a bitch! It's Darren!

I ran back down the stairs and headed to my car to grab my cell phone. I tried calling Chris but I got his voicemail.

"Why do have a cell phone if you're not going to answer? I know who it is so when you get this, meet me at the office. Oh and it's Max, by the way."

After trying to call Detective O'Connell and leaving a message with the desk sergeant, I drove to the office. I got there and there were only a handful of people there. Our bullpen area was completely empty, which was odd. I walked over to my desk to see if I could put all this together and gather some information. Before I could sit, something heavy connected with the back of my head. Then the room went black.

When I woke up, I realized I was tied to a chair in Claudia's office. I started to yell, but my head wasn't having it.

"Yelling won't really help. No one's on this floor due to the recent rat infestation so everybody's three floors down. It's just you and me."

"Darren", I said as I tried to get my bearings, "why are you doing this?"

He walked out of the dark corner and began speaking. "Why? Because no one ever notices me, that's why. Claudia never noticed all the work I did here. So when I went to her to talk about a small raise, she laughed and told me to get out. I came back later and made her notice me. Then Eric stepped up and I thought he would notice; he always does. But Eric told me this wasn't the right time. ‘Not right now Darren. We have bigger things to worry about.' I thought I would try one more time, but he yelled at me. So when he had his coffee, I knew that was the right time for me to be noticed."

As he spoke, he pulled out a small black bag. He started pulling out small knives and setting them on the desk next to me. Maybe if I keep him talking, I can buy some time.

"So why me? I can't do anything for you. I can't even get myself a raise." He continued removing knives, not looking at me.

"You were always part of the plan; get the raise and get the girl." I moved my hands and realized he didn't tie the tightest knot. I tried to keep him talking while I loosened my hands.

"I don't understand."

"You always noticed me. You spoke to me, telling me jokes and stories, making me think you really liked me. I sat in the desk next to you, waiting for the perfect time to ask you out. Then Mr. tall-dark-and-handsome Chris Martinez shows up and you're all over him like a cheap suit. But I though I would try anyway because you were different from everybody else." He picked one of the knives up. "But you're not different. You're just like everyone else. I planned everything to say to you, but you cut me down before I could even try." He finally turned toward me. "You never gave me a chance. You cut me down, so now, I'm going to cut you down!"  Just as he reached out to grab me, I was able to untie my hands and stand up. I stomped down on his foot and kneed him in the balls. As he groaned, I took off running out of the office. I got to the door for the stairs when the elevator doors opened, revealing Chris and the two detectives.

"Maxie!"

"It was....it was..." Before I could get the name out, Darren appeared from nowhere with a large bowie knife and lunged for me.  Detective Green shoved me out of the way and sucker -punched Darren, knocking him out cold.

Once all the commotion died down slightly, I called my mother and told her everything that happened. She cursed, cried, consoled and yelled at me all at once. After she got it together, she said, "And when I get back in town, bring Chris over for dinner. I would like to see him again."

After some time at the police station, I was able to go home. As I walked out, Chris was standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting.

"Aren't you glad this is all over?" He asked as I hugged him.

"God yes. Besides you owe me." He let me go, looking at me oddly.

"Owe you what?"

"A second date, that's what. After everything that's happened, I think it's fair."

Chris leaned in and kissed me. "Who am I to deny a beautiful woman?"

Epilogue

It's been a few months since everything happened and things have turned around completely. I date again, although exclusively with a certain hunky reporter (I had to keep Chris around. He finds bodies with me and cooks). I am now a published, book-out-in-stores novelist. I even went on a mini book tour (mind you, it was in Chicago and only a couple days, but a tour nonetheless. Margot's good at what she does).  Okay, so I still don't talk to my best friend and mother as often as I should but I have slightly improved (I don't get bitched out as often as before).

As for work, Darren was arrested and charged with the first-degree murders of Claudia and Eric, assault, breaking and entering and kidnapping. So his ass is definitely going to be noticed now. David became the editor-in-chief (which now totally explains the tiara) and Angelo left his wife to be David's personal "bodyguard".  Monica's gotten better with her mourning. She left the paper to become a poet. All this will be explained in detail in my second book, whenever I can start it. Something else happened, which I did not expect at all.

"So what are we doing today sir?" I asked Chris as we headed out of my apartment building to the coffee shop around the corner. I reached the bottom of the stairs expecting him to be right behind me, but he was still standing at the door. I walked back up to him.

"Are you okay? What are you thinking about?" He finally looked up at me, as if for the first time.

"You."

"What? You were thinking about little ole' me?" I said as I batted my eyes.

"I was. I was thinking about you and me, doing this every Saturday. I was thinking about when we take our kids out on Saturdays like this."

"Kids? What brought all this on?" Chris pulled a box out of his pocket. Oh hell, is that what I think it is? No fucking way! Can it?

Once he got the box out, he noticed that I was standing on the step below him. So he switched places with me.

"I know we've only been dating a few months, but I fell hard for you. Actually, I fell for you years ago, but that's not the point and this is not going like I thought it would. Especially with me and all this babbling. I really had a speech planned and in my head, it sounded right. Now I can't even remember what I was going to say. I'm sorry-Chris?" I interjected.

"Yes?"

"Spit it out man." I said with a grin. He got down on one knee.

"Will you marry me?" Before I could answer (and publicly jump his bones in the street), Mrs. Stuber's voice rang out.

"Say yes hon before someone snatches him up!"

"Yes." He gave me the biggest smile I have ever seen and slipped the ring on my finger. As soon as he stood, I kissed him.

"Do you still want coffee?" I asked. He pulled me closer and started walking me back into the doorway.

"I'll take that as a no then."