Cold Case – New Year. In Theory and Practice

The things Kat Miller knows

In theory, there was nothing that could make her lose her calm demeanor.

Deeply annoyed, Kat Miller tapped the fingers of her right hand onto the smooth surface of the car window again and again, but the sound was drowned. Drowned out, as had been all her other attempts, her glowering looks or every other attempt using verbal and nonverbal communication to demonstrate how much the situation was getting on her nerves.

In theory, something like that wouldn't have gotten to her.

In theory, a simple and really acidic comment would have been enough to create a total silence, a silence in which she could have enjoyed the first sunrays of spring and during which the person on the other side – the person which was annoying her so deeply – would have been too shocked and angry to say anything else.

Theory and practice weren't too far apart for a woman like herself. She tended to be able to make quite clear what it was she wanted – and in practice, she mostly succeeded. But today didn't seem to be normal and it didn't seem to be a good day for Kat. Not even the shy winter sun, whose beams were softly illuminating the streets, helped to lift her mood. A new year had begun, cold and beautiful, and she would have liked to enjoy the first day of a new year.

She would have liked to.

But next to her, Scott Valens, Detective to the Philadelphia Police, was driving way too fast, humming loudly along with whatever antique song the radio was blaring. Now he even started to sing out loud, his face contorted into a maniac grin which made her shiver.

"I never knew you were the singer type, Valens," she tried to interrupt. Her voice was dripping poison and in theory, a person seeing her face would have shrunk back in fear. In practice, Scotty didn't even seem to notice. "I never knew you were the "I-hate-music-type", Miller," he shot back, grinning at her from the corner of his eyes. Kat leaned back into the seat, fuming with rage.

Today, theory and practice seemed to be miles and miles apart.

The entire day.

The entire day, Scott Valens, her colleague and friend and partner of Kat's best friend Lilly Rush, had been running around the bureau, grinning a grin that would have made any Cheshire Cat turn green with envy. As if he had won the jackpot, as if the best thing in his life just had happened – and as if it would stay that way for a long, long time. Normally, Kat didn't mind if people were being happy. But Scotty took it far too far.

"He was definitely laid," Vera said and grinned knowingly. "He has so been laid – it's actually embarrassing." His colleague Will Jeffries didn't even look up. "If he's always in this mood afterwards, it's worth keeping that girl. Not for him, but for us…"

Kat didn't agree with either of them.

Of course, Scotty's good mood was somewhat suspicious but it couldn't just be a girl. He'd had many girls since she had gotten to know him and no one ever had had this effect on him. Plus, she wanted to get to know the woman that was able to reduce tough Scotty Valens to a bunch of grinning, happy neurons. This guy just needed to blink and three women would be overwhelmed, one of them surely willing to share his bed, too. So why the heck should he actually be happy if a woman gave in to his advances? No, his horribly good mood had to have other reasons. And because Valens didn't even slip the tiniest bit of information, his behavior was really starting to get on Kat's nerves. Who could laugh about a joke one never had heard? Meanwhile, she felt ill every time she had to look at him. In theory, she didn't mind if someone was in a good mood. In practice the thought of not knowing what was actually going on made her feel uneasy. Made her feel really, really sick.

"Everything alright, Miller?" Valens asked at the same moment and threw around the steering wheel abruptly. Her sickness increased – today definitely wasn't her day. Why did the mood of men always directly affect their actions – in this case, their driving? Kat just wished to get out of the car and to return to the police headquarters by foot, but it was too late. She could already see the big, grey building through the front window, so she just pressed her lips together hard and concentrated on keeping her lunch with herself.

"You really do look pale," Valens said. "You should start to do some kind of sport, get out into fresh air or something like that… What do you think, Lil?" First he threw Kat a grin, then his partner.

Lilly Rush, who had been sitting in the back of the car, didn't move a muscle in her perfect face and just continued to look like a marble statue. Like every day, like this entire day. She hadn't smiled at all, and if anything was able to even increase Kat's bad mood concerning the black-haired detective next to her, it was the perfect stillness in her best friend's face. Always quiet, always calm, never more than a few words… Sometimes she wondered whether Lil was a human being at all. She just reacted with constant silence – nothing seemed to bother her. Not even her partner, who was making a fool out of himself today. Wasn't she even the slightest bit embarrassed? If Scotty had been her partner, she'd… She chased away the thoughts. It was just a theory.

But whatever feelings Valens' behavior triggered in Lil – she didn't seem to think it necessary to join a discussion about it and simply made a vague gesture by moving her shoulders in a half-shrug. She ignored both Kat's angry stare as well as her partner's annoying grin. In theory, Kat would have loved to kill her with her own hands that moment. In practice, Lil was her best friend.

Thank God, the car stopped a few minutes later in a small side street next to the government building, in an area designated as "No-Parking".

"Last stop, Ladies, please leave the train!"

Lil left the car without further comments, Kat fled more than obviously, while Valens yanked down the gas pedal again hard and drove off to the official parking garage. Relieved, Kat exhaled and threw her best friend a nasty look while she tried to take in as much of the fresh spring air as possible.

"Do you know what happened to that idiot?"

Lil just shook her head quietly. "Maybe he's just in a good mood today," she finally offered and began to climb the long flight of stairs which led to the main entrance of the building.

Kat followed, shaking her head vigorously. "That's so not normal. And it's terribly annoying!"

„But it's not forbidden." Lil always managed to sound calm and realistic – and never took a position. "Maybe just stay out of his way for the rest of the day."

"Unfortunately, it's not forbidden," Kat murmured angrily. "Couldn't the Boss create a new rule for the books? Nobody is allowed to have a better mood than the person with the most terrible mood… Or something like that."

Lil almost smiled. „You could suggest it," she answered. "It doesn't cost to ask."

The elevator opened its doors with a ring of the bell and Lil turned pale and began to search her pockets.

"My gloves," she said, searching her bag next and not finding anything. "They're gone!"

Kat watched her checking her pockets again. „When did you have them last?" She asked. „In the car?"

Lil nodded. „I probably lost them when we got out." She turned on her heels and headed towards the main entrance again. "I'll be upstairs in a minute," she called back over her shoulder. "Don't wait for me!"

Kat nodded and got into the still-waiting elevator. Only 2 hours more to go.

The thing that Kat Miller doesn't know

Lil found her gloves exactly at the point Scotty had dropped her off. The lay there, waiting for her – black and grey on the grey asphalt, the last remnants of a long, cold Philadelphia winter which was just now releasing the city and her inhabitants into a shy spring. Relieved, she picked them up and started to brush some dirt of them when a strong hand grabbed her arm and spun her around. Immediately she tensed, then recognized who was holding her arm: Scotty was standing in front of her, his hair messed-up from a jog through the streets, his eyes glittering.

"Hey, Lil," he said and his smile made her shiver all over. The touch of his hand seemed to burn through the material of her jacket, hot and strong, and sent electric impulses through her whole body. Her heart started racing the moment she noticed him standing so close to her and the memory of how it was to be touching him made her ache with want. It had been so hard not to touch his soft, black hair in the car, so hard to remember how it was to be kissed by him and at the same time to hold back from kissing him, knowing it was not allowed while they were working…

Breathless, she watched a smile spread over his whole face, a flame dancing in his eyes. Scotty pushed her back a bit until she was standing with her back to the rough wall of the houses lining the deserted, small street, then he pressed his lips to hers. Her whole body went fluid, melted against his, pressed herself against him and bathed in the smell of his aftershave and his warmth. The heat was nothing compared to anything she had ever felt and she heard her blood rushing wildly in her ears. She kissed him back the same way he had first kissed her: breathless, hungry, full of want and need.

Only when the need of oxygen became overwhelming, Scotty let go of her. Lil tried to take a deep, calming breath to slow down her pounding heart. She still could feel his lips, his hands, she could feel Scotty everywhere. She did not only want him, she needed him, needed him like she needed oxygen. Needed him to kiss her, to touch her, to touch every part of her body… Slowly she raised her eyes, fighting the emotions she didn't want to accept, just couldn't accept, and met two sparkling, black irises watching her with an expression that made her body tingle all over again. She could lively remember how it felt when he kissed her, when his hands were all over her body… Again, her breath caught in her throat as memories of the past night washed over her.

As if the sound of her gasping had shattered his self-control Scotty kissed her again, this time even harder than the last time. His hands knotted into her hair and Lil closed her eyes and pressed herself against him as hard as possible.

Scotty's lips moved down her neck and up again, found her lips and continued to her hair. When he reached her ear, she felt him grin against her hair. Through the mist of desire she heard him whispering: "And everyone is actually wondering why I'm in such a damn good mood!"

Kat Miller in the office on the sixth floor took off her jacket and wondered for the hundredth time this day what it was she didn't see. Lost in her thoughts, she looked out of the window and saw her friend and Scotty climb the stairs to the main entrance. For a moment, an idea sparked in her mind and Kat paused and looked closer. But Lil and Scotty disappeared from her view before she could have a closer look. Estranged, she stared at the spot she'd seen them last, then she shook her head decidedly.

No.

It was impossible.

But what was it then she wasn't seeing…

Sighting, she sank into her chair and started sorting through the piles of paperwork. In theory, she could have imagined Lil and Scotty having an affair. In theory. But in practice...

In practice, it was impossible. They'd never have an affair. Never.

Lil and Scotty really were lucky theory and practice were unbelievably far apart for Kat Miller today.