Howdy and welcome to a new fic. I hope this one will be a bit better than my last New York. It's just gonna be a fun little piece. And yes, it's all about Danny and Lindsey.
"Hey, Montana," Danny Messer called out. Lindsey Monroe glanced over her shoulder and slowed her pace so that her co-worker could catch up with her.
"Hey, Danny, what's up?"
"Oh, nothin' much," Danny said, falling in step with her. "Don't you have some vacation time comin' up?"
"Yeah, Mac's making me take some time off." Danny nodded. Lindsey watched as her stuffed his hands into his pants pocket. "Why do you ask?"
"No reason, really," he answered. They walked along in silence heading toward the locker room. "Mac's makin' me take some time off too. He said that with what happened to Louie and everything, I needed some time to heal."
"Well, you have been through a lot, Danny," Lindsey said, walking into the locker room.
"Hey, I'm not complainin'," he told her, giving the room a quick look over to make sure nobody else was there. "So, um, what'cha doin' durin' your time off?" Lindsey shrugged.
"I'm not sure. I thought about maybe cleaning, and then catching up with my friends back home. I guess you could say I was planning on bummin'." Lindsey opened up her locker and pulled out her purse.
"How far south have you been?" Lindsey closed the locker door and turned to face Danny, who was leaning against his own locker.
"Um, DC," she told him. "See you tomorrow."
"So you've never been 'down south'?" Danny asked hurrying to catch up with her.
"What's with the weird questions?"
"Oh, nothin'," Danny said. "I was just wonderin', ya know." Lindsey cocked an eyebrow at him, but said nothing. She pushed the button for the elevator and stepped back. Danny put his hands back into his pockets and rocked up on the balls of his feet.
"Danny, just go ahead."
"What?" Lindsey stepped into the elevator as the doors opened. She turned back to Danny and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I know you well enough to know that you want to ask something. So go ahead and ask." Danny reached out a hand to hold the doors open and stepped in the small box. He cleared his throat.
"What do you say," he begun, and then cleared his throat again. "What do you say to spending your vacation with your favorite co-worker?" He flashed her his best smile.
"Um, well, that could be fun, but Stella still has to work," she joked.
"Ha, ha, Montana, very funny. I'm serious."
"Danny, why on earth would I want to do that?" The doors opened in the lobby and Lindsey walked off. Danny following close behind.
"Well, Mac's always sayin' that we're all like a family. And that we need spend time together. To bond." Lindsey shot him a look to let him know that she didn't believe him. "No?"
"No." Danny opened the doors that lead outside and let Lindsey precede him. He squinted against the brightness of the sun.
"Ok, truth is," he started, as they walked down the steps. "I'm heading down to South Carolina to visit a buddy of mine, and Bobby's favorite thing to do is…tease me about not being married. Or even having a girlfriend."
"Wait a minute," Lindsey said, turning to face him. "You want me to pretend to be your girlfriend?" Danny nodded. "No." She began to walk again.
"Now just think it over, Monroe. It's a free vacation for ya. And you get to get some…Southern culture."
"No, Danny. Get someone else to play along. You know enough girls."
"Don't you see?" Danny grabbed her arm to stop her. "Nobody else will do."
"And just why not?"
"Because for them, for Bobby, the only thing that comes close to a southern women in a western woman." Lindsey crossed her arms and titled her head slightly.
"So let me get this straight. You want me to go down to South Carolina pretending to be your girlfriend because I'm from Montana?"
"Yeah," Danny answered with a nod. "That and your cute." Lindsey rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"No, Danny." Danny had to run to catch up with her again.
"Come on, Linds, you've got to do this for me." When she didn't even slow down, he tried another angle. "Tell ya what. You do this for me and I'll do anything for you." That got Lindsey's attention.
"Anything?"
"You name it." Lindsey drew her bottom lip between her teeth in thought.
"If I do this favor for you, then you owe me. You owe me a favor, anything at anytime, anywhere, without notice."
"Agreed."
"And."
"And?"
"And you have to take my two next weekends after we get back." Danny nodded. "And you have to clean my bathroom for a month."
"Your bathroom, Montana?"
"Yup, and you have to stop calling me Montana." Danny thought about her demands.
"Ok, I can….agree to all of those except the last." Lindsey held her hand out.
"Deal."
"Deal," Danny said, shaking her hand.
I choose Couth Carolina because I've been there. I've also been to Alabama...but SC won because of Myrtle Beach! Random fact: They just had Bike Week there.
Anyhow, tell me what you think so far.
TBC...
Happy writing and blissful reading!
Wolfy and Branwen