Who: Dae Gamba-Issacs, Key Issacs When: November 9th, 2009 Where: Past Life Antiques Rating: PG-13
Summary: Dae wants to apologize for missing Halloween with her hubby and wants to make it up to him. Warnings: A few swear words used, but nothing too scandalous.
For the first time in what felt like years, Dae Gamba was genuinely nervous, even a little scared, though she'd never admit it to herself (let alone aloud for the world to hear). Hell, there wasn't a logical reason why she should be scared, but here she was, nearing a tiny shop walking at a snails pace compared to her usual no-nonsense stride. If her fellow police officers could see her now, they'd be laughing their asses off at "tough-as-shit" Dae Gamba looking as if she'd turn around and bolt at the slightest provocation.
Dae was not a fearful woman by any stretch of the imagination. She always remained utterly calm in a crisis, from armed suspects in a bank robbery to bomb threats at the station. Sure, if she gave herself time to think about the situations, she would have been afraid, but fear has no place in the police force. For years after she decided to become a defender of the peace, Dae trained herself to place any and all fear into a tiny corner at the back of her mind. Later in the day, when she was comfortable at home, she'd let her fear and stress release themselves, but never before then. Dae spent her life choosing to fight instead of cowering in fear.
However, her current situation left her feeling completely powerless and her mental tricks refused to work as she couldn't stop thinking of all the things that could go wrong. Sure, life or death situations were completely different than meeting her husband at his job, but the latter was by far more scary. In a stand-off, nothing could hold her back, but with matters of the heart, she felt paralyzed.
Key Issacs was a living, breathing problem she felt ill-prepared to handle. For nearly every newlywed woman, the prospect of seeing their husband after work brought on warm, fuzzy good feelings...not a physical illness. Sure, Dae and Key married under questionable circumstances but the fact remained that they were still legally married and Dae Gamba technically didn't exist anymore. To the world, her legal name changed to Dae Issacs yet in her heart, she still felt like a single woman. She still met guys at the bar and took them home, and while she didn't know what Key did in his spare time, she gave him permission to do the same. Honestly, she knew she might as well get a divorce as in the last few weeks, they spoke roughly a handful of sentences to each other, let alone great declarations of love.
She didn't want to, though. A divorce would be easy, but there was a reason she drunkenly married a stranger: she was lonely. At twenty-seven, Dae had a successful career which she loved, a large amount of money sitting in the bank collecting interest, and a freedom to do whatever she pleased whenever she wanted. However, she did have a tiny, nagging part of her that wished for something more, which only her drunken self managed to bring to the surface. She was a twenty-seven-year-old single, childless woman who had yet to be in a loving, committed relationship. Over half the women in her graduating class had two or more children, as well as their first divorce out of the way, but Dae had nothing. She didn't even have a pet!
Which is exactly how her marriage came to be. The tiny, lonely side of her decided to latch itself onto the first sympathetic man who came her way and, surprisingly, that man decided they should marry. The idea seemed brilliant at the time and even now a part of Dae wondered if whatever she got herself into with Key might actually work out. After all, he hadn't asked for a divorce either.
So, here she was, on her way to Past Life Antiques to try and have an actual conversation with her actual husband, and she was terrified. Rejection wasn't a part of Dae's life, as she never dated nor took a relationship beyond a casual one night stand. Talking to a man she could potentially have a relationship with brought on so many chances of rejection and failure. The only men she spoke with on a regular basis were her coworkers and she definitely didn't want to sleep with any of them, let alone date them for an extended period of time. Key was her husband, but he knew absolutely nothing about her, and she didn't know anything about him (other than the information she pulled up on his background check). For all she knew, he could be a bore of a guy with a stamp collection and an unhealthy relationship with his mother. On the flip side, he could also be a highly publicized scholar who had deep, philosophical conversations with everyone he met and to him, Dae would seem like an immature slut without a serious thought in her head.
Luckily, Dae had courage up to her ears and refused to back down from any situation, no matter how difficult it might be. She could walk into that shop, confidently invite Key to dinner, say something incredibly witty, and be home a few minutes later, mission accomplished. Now, if only she could force herself into the shop, she'd be set.
Key Issacs would like to say that he lived a relatively simple life. He woke up every morning around nine o'clock, spent fifteen minutes or so stumbling around his apartment, running into walls and tripping over stacks of books, trying to get ready for work. He worked whatever shift he had, chatted up the antiquers, and then he got the hell out of dodge. A drink at the bar and then he was bringing some pretty little thing back to his apartment. Honestly he had never thought much past his life as it was and he did not want much else. Then one night he took things farther than usual and the next thing he knew he was married. Suddenly his life wasn't so easy.
He wasn't the kind of man who wanted to be married, hell he could barely say the word without breaking out in hives but here he was, a married man. He would have to say that this was the first time getting drunk had led to actual consequences. He could deal with a killer hangover, waking up to someone's pissed off boyfriend, or being arrested for public indecency, but married? Three weeks had passed since he and Dae Gamba had stumbled into city hall barely sober and stumbled out with a marriage license and he was still trying to figure out what the hell he had been thinking.
In the weeks since then he and Dae hadn't really spoken to one another other than 'Hey', 'How are you doing?', or 'Nice weather, huh?". Never before had he been reduced to talking about weather with a woman, at least in a way that wasn't 'It's kinda hot out here, maybe we should take something off'. He had no idea what to say to her, how to approach her in any way that did not end up being horribly awkward so he basically avoided any kind of real interaction with her. That didn't stop him from keeping an eye on her though. They lived on separate floors yet he sometimes found himself wandering down her hallway or feeling the urge to wash clothes when she happened to be in the laundry room. Those were the times that he wondered again what the hell he was thinking. It would be so easy to fix this bizarre situation, to take another trip down to city hall and get an annulment while they still could and then they could both go back to their lives without this thing hanging over their heads. He hadn't done it though. He couldn't make himself.
He just kept thinking that there had to be a reason for all of this. Why would he even suggest getting married of all things? Even if he had been more than a little intoxicated, it just wasn't something he would ever do. There had to be something about Dae that would make the thought even enter his mind. He wanted to know more about her (he knew next to nothing) and until he did, he wasn't sure if he would be able to end this 'marriage' of theirs.
Late afternoon found Key making the short walk from the Crevasse where he had spent his lunch hour back to Past Life. He had his earphones tucked into his ears, the mp3 player in his pocket blaring show tunes as he hummed and swayed his way down the sidewalk, not paying attention and so focused on reenacting random dance steps that he failed to notice the woman standing in front of the store until he had drawn just a few feet away from her. He drew to an abrupt stop, eyes widening in an almost comical way as he stared at who was no doubt Dae. He continued to do nothing but stare at her in what would have been silence if ABBA wasn't providing a rather awkward soundtrack. Gathering his senses, Key pulled the earphones out and tossed them around his neck, bringing out his best attempt at a charming smile.
"Hey...what brings you here?" He asked, nervous fingers scratching at the back of his neck. He was more than a little surprised to see her standing there, looking her usual gorgeous and wholly out of place.
Just as Dae started into her fourth round of mental encouragement of "Come on, Gamba, man up!" she heard Key's voice behind her, causing her to lose what little courage she had gained from her mantra. Of course he had to be right behind her instead of safely tucked away in the shop, oblivious to the fact she stood outside, too nervous to step inside.
Forcing herself to be calm, cool, and collected, she turned to face Key, smiling in greeting. Like she had been during their previous encounters, Dae was taken aback by his clothes. She didn't know much about him, but she definitely knew he loved his colors as at any given time he could he wearing two or three ridiculously bright colors, making it impossible for anyone to miss him in a crowd.
"Hey, Key," she said, easily. "I wanted to swing by and apologize for not being able to make the Halloween party at Crevasse the other night." Over their journals, they had made loose plans to meet up for the party, but Dae had drawn the short straw and was required to work throughout the night. She felt bad about missing their first official date, so she'd try and make it up to him. "Halloween is always one of our biggest nights and then add in a full moon? I didn't end up getting home until about four that morning. So...I'm sorry for missing it."
Key had returned her smile, sliding his hands into the front pocket of his red skinnies as his shoulders lifted in a shrug. "Eh, you don't have to apologize. I know that your job keeps you busy, especially with people out tryin' to reenact scenes from Scream or something. I figured you had a reason to stand me up."
That was only a half truth. He had waited for her for awhile, fidgeting in his seat and scratching at his tights and trying to convince himself he shouldn't be so nervous. Two or three hours later he realized that she really was not coming. At first he had been a little upset, feeling like an idiot and looking more like the Jolly Green Giant than Peter Pan like he had been going for, but yeah he had thought that there had to be a reason. He had hoped. At least now he knew he hadn't been totally abandoned.
"So, you came all this way just to say that? I mean, its completely fine, but we do live in the same building." He was rocking back on forth on his heels, eyes flickering over to the door of the antique store and then back to Dae's face. He wasn't in a particular rush to go to work of course, but his lunch hour ended three minutes ago and his boss kept a close eye on these things.
Stepping towards the door a bit, he smiled at her again. "Do you want to come in for a bit? I don't want to keep my costumers waiting. Those ladies get real antsy when I'm not around for a little eye-candy."
Dae grinned and nodded her head at his question. "You make such good eye-candy too, dear." He really did, though she wouldn't exactly say that he was her type. She went for guys more broad in the shoulder with at least a hint of muscles. Key looked about as strong as a child and she could have probably fit her hands around his waist with her fingertips touching. He was attractive, though, and at least he was taller than she was. Dae hated feeling like a giant next to her potential conquests, and she silently congratulated her drunk self for managing to find a guy taller than her. Skinniness and lack of muscles could be fixed, but height was permanent.
"I'll come in, if you won't get in trouble for entertaining a woman who isn't a customer. I was just on my way home from work." She hated early morning shifts, especially when she was on traffic duty. There was nothing quite like sitting in a car for hours on end trying to catch speeding motorists on their way to work. She might as well take a look around the antique store, since she didn't have much else to do. Besides, he invited her in, which must surely be a good sign, right?
Key's smile widened as he began walking backwards up the stairs. "Don't I know it, darlin'. I'm surprised I haven't been fired yet considering how I outshine the merchandise." He was already halfway inside of the store when he spoke to her again, "Catch any bad guys? Bust some heads?"
He had never imagined himself married to a cop, as a matter of fact he tried his best to avoid them as a whole. He wasn't the type to go around committing crimes or anything but he had been arrested or detained for various acts of public drunkenness just enough times to make him wary of them. He moved into the shop, expecting Dae to follow after him as he stepped around shelves and displays and moved to the counter.
"You can look around if you like. Or I can give you a tour."
Dae did follow him into the shop, paying more attention to the beautiful items around her than where she was walking. Antiques weren’t really her style, as she preferred more country living-esque designs. If truth be told, antiques made her a little nervous, as old things had a greater chance of being more valuable and more easily breakable. Dae was far from being clumsy but being around things with such a history still made her a bit nervous.
“I’ll just stay here…I don’t want to take you away from your work.” She placed her hands against her legs, subconsciously creating less physical space inside the shop. “I didn’t bust any heads today, but I could bust some if you needed me to. Your adoring fans might get a little out of control since you’re back in here.” Humor always put her more at ease and the more awkward and uncomfortable she felt, the more she cracked lame jokes.
"Take me away from my work? Please, I spend most of the time here either standing around, climbing up ladders. or following customers all over the store." Key slipped his blazer from his shoulders, slinging it over the back of a chair behind the counter. "I might just pay you to take me away from my work."
He leaned against the side of the counter, fingers drumming a disjointed pattern of the glass top as he looked back at Dae. She was standing very still, her posture stiff even though little discomfort showed on her face. Key was feeling uncomfortable himself, suddenly very aware of the fact that there was barely anyone else inside of the antique store but the two of them, that they were married, and that neither one of them had really spoken to the other in three weeks. His throat started to feel dry and he swallowed, tongue darting out to wet his lips.
"I'm not sure it's in your job description to beat up antiquers." The words came out more awkward than he intended and after a full five seconds of silence. "Er, you don't look too happy to be here." He said, chuckling once as he gesture vaguely around the store.
"Honestly, I'm not," she said, smiling. "Not because of you since I wouldn't have come in here if it was because of you, but I just don't like old stuff." Wow, she sounded terribly dim, even to her own ears. "That didn't come out right. Antiques aren't my kind of thing and I don't feel comfortable being in a shop that has such nice stuff." She still didn't sound like the brightest person in the world, but at least she didn't feel like such an idiot. "I prefer to surround myself with more...affordable things."
God, she should get out while she still could. "Anyway. I wanted to come by and ask you over for dinner since I don't have your phone number and I want to make it up to you for standing you up. I tried to get ahold of you, but like I said...I don't have your number." Dae didn't think it would be wise to add that she didn't want to call the number she found on his police record. That would have been even more awkward.
Both of Key's brows rose as Dae launched into a sort of half-rant or speech about her dislike of the store, a smile beginning to tug at his mouth by the time she finished. Dae did not seem like the type to ramble but here she was, doing just that. Maye he wasn't the only one feeling a little on the nervous side.
"I get what you mean. I work here and I can't afford half of this stuff. Probably more than half." Maybe it was not such a good idea for him to be telling this woman who had ended up married to him that he didn't have much money. Or is that a conversation you have before marriage?
The smile on his face froze when she invited him to dinner, his expression rearranging itself into one of shock. He hadn't been expecting that one. With a warm feeling spreading across his chest, Key grinned a nodded. "Dinner? That sounds like fun, yeah. You plannin' on cooking for me?" He reached into the back pocket of his pants for the notebook he always kept there, having to tug at it to get it out of the close-fitting fabric along with his favorite Scooby-Doo pen. Quickly he scrawled his number there, tearing it out and handing it to her.
"What time do you want me there? I could bring a bottle of wine. Or some dessert. Or some schnapps! Best of both worlds."
“You can come by around eight, I guess. Whenever would be best for you,” she said, reaching out to take the paper. “…Is that a Scooby pen?” Oh, good Lord. What type of man carried around a Scooby-Doo pen? All thoughts of her new husband being a serious scholar flew out the window when she saw that pen. Serious scholars or serious anyone didn’t carry cartoon characters around in their pockets. She blinked up at him, putting the paper with his number on it in her pocket. “How…sweet?”
Keeping her lips in a tight line to keep from laughing, Dae looked into his eyes and kept a straight face as she asked, “Are you sure you’re even old enough to drink? I’d hate to arrest you on our first sort-of date.” Or real date? Did it count as a dating type of date if they were already married? She never had any reason to wonder about that and none of her friends were married, so she really had no idea. Most women in the year 2009 didn’t worry about things like that, considering more often than not, they went on several dates prior to engagements and marriage.
“If you are old enough, feel free to bring whatever. It’s not going to be a fancy dinner or anything and I promise not to poison you from foul cooking.” Dae wasn’t the type of cook who did amazing presentation in fancy dishes. She knew how to cook, but it usually didn’t look very pretty. After a long day at work, the last thing she wanted to do was concentrate on adding garnishes or any such things.
"Eight it is then." Key answered, giving her a wide grin. He was just about to ask her if she wanted him to show up in something particularly sexy when she pointed out the pen still in his hand. Dae looked almost incredulous as she stared at him and he felt the embarrassment burn at the back of his neck. He laughed a little, twirling the faded pen between his fingers. "Oh, this? I've had it for a few years now. I found it on the ground and I swear right after I found a quarter. It's my lucky pen."
He wasn't all that sure that it was lucky, or why he had kept the pen for so long but in the years that he had it, never once had it run out of ink, he had never been short on change, and he rather liked Scooby. Meeting Dae's eyes, Key could clearly see the amusement sparkling there despite the seemingly nonchalant expression on her face. "I am very much an adult, thank you very much darlin'. I might just let you arrest me though." He said with a wink, keeping his gaze steady as he stared back into her eyes.
After a few seconds he dropped his eyes, reaching up to stow his pen behind an ear. There was something very strange about discussing dating with a woman he was already married to, especially when the thought of it gave him the same flutter of nervousness that a very first date did. He was going to have to stop comparing their situation to normal relationships, what they were going through just was not on the scale of normal.
"I'm not one for fancy so that's alright. As long as I can eat it and it doesn't kill me, I'm perfectly happy. So, see you later tonight?"
Dae grinned, happy and relieved that he actually agreed to come over. God, now she had to think of a menu and go shopping, not to mention pick out the appropriate outfit. What DID someone wear on a first married date? She supposed the better question would be if she wanted to seduce him tonight or not. Their first night together was a fuzzy memory and if they were going to try and get something started, then she at least needed know if he could properly sex her up. No use being with a guy if he was lousy in bed, especially for a woman like Dae who needed the physical aspects in a relationship.
"Yeah...I live at 410 if you didn't know that already. I'll see you then!" She turned a little too quickly away from him and in her haste, nearly knocked over a rack of earrings. Blushing, she left the shop quickly, mentally banging her head against a thick wall for her stupidity. For all of that conversation she didn't spaz, but in the last few seconds, she just had to make an idiot of herself. Good lord.