A Word For That
Scene:
Jamie has been dating Anna for about two weeks. They spend every possible moment they can together…in fact they're seeing each other pretty much every day. Renzulli is very pleased with himself for putting them together.
Monday; mid day-mid tour.
Jamie and Renzulli were on their meal break. They'd just finished their sandwiches and were heading back to their patrol car. Jamie noticed a flower shop on their way.
"Wait a minute, Sarge. I've gotta make a quick stop here."
Renzulli stopped and looked at the shop Jamie had indicated to. Jamie was already at the door.
"Flower shop? What d'ya wanna do in there?"
"I want to send Anna some flowers."
"You two have a fight? What'd you do, Reagan?"
"Nothing…I just want to ask her to dinner tonight…and I thought flowers would be romantic."
They stepped inside the store. Jamie went straight to the counter.
"What can I do for you Officer?" asked the clerk.
"I want a dozen long-stem roses…and can you do a rush delivery?"
"How rush?"
"By three-thirty?"
"That'll be an extra $50 delivery charge."
"Not a problem…" He reached for his wallet. "So a dozen long-stem red roses and can you put some ferns and baby's breath with it?"
"Sure thing…do you want to fill out a card?"
The clerk headed in the back to start the order and Jamie selected a card. He pulled out a pen and wrote "Dinner tonight?" on it.
Renzulli just watched…"Man, I sure can pick 'em…" her thought to himself. "I oughta go into business…"
"Wait a minute, Reagan…" he said. "Didn't you just have breakfast with Anna yesterday?"
Jamie was taken aback. How did Sarge know that?
"Yeah, brunch…after we went to Mass at St Paul. But I had to go to my family's for dinner."
"And didn't you go out Saturday night?"
How did he know that?
"No…we stayed in…we cooked, well, she cooked…then just spent a quiet evening at her place."
"And Friday…before our midnight tour?"
"I met her at school to help her move some stuff for her classroom…and then we grabbed a pizza. How do you all this, Sarge?"
Renzulli cracked a big smile.
"You know…the Reagans ain't the only family in New York that gets together for Sunday dinner. Marie and I had dinner at Anna's mom's yesterday…and my Baby Girl couldn't stop talking about you. Like I don't get enough of you as it is…but back to business, here. You, for all practical purposes, just spent the whole weekend with Annamarie. And now you want to take her out to dinner tonight…and instead of just pickin' up a phone and callin' her like any normal guy would…you drop two days pay on a bunch of flowers."
"You've really got a way with words…" Jamie shot him a dirty look.
He paid for the flowers and gave the clerk the address of Anna's school. And he and Renzulli headed out again.
Once they were out of the shop Renzulli put his hand on Jamie's shoulder.
"Ya know I'm just bustin' your chops…don't you?"
"Yeah, I know…"
"But you gotta admit…I got a point here…"
"I don't know Sarge…I just want to…spend every minute I can with her. And then as soon as I have to go, I start to miss her like crazy."
"They got a word for that, you know."
Jamie was still thinking about Anna.
"What's that, Sarge?" he answered distractedly.
"Love. You're in love with my goddaughter."
Jamie looked over at Renzulli.
"Yeah…I guess I am…" he smiled.
Renzulli slapped him on the back as they approached their patrol car.