AU fic: Without you... (2/?)
TITLE: Without you…
AUTHOR: sapphicwarrior
PAIRING: Callie/Erica
RATING: NC-17 for mentioning domestic abuse (nothing overly graphic yet)
DISCLAIMER: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libellous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
SUMMARY: This is AU, it’s been in my head for a while. A famous singer falls in love with a woman. It’s a love that is looked upon and has to happen secretly until something happens…
AUTHOR'S NOTE 1: Thanks to my wonderful beta
mar_chel for beta'ing this fic :)
AUTHOR'S NOTE 2: We go now back in time for the next parts. How did they meet? What is Erica's job? You'll find out in this part.
WARNING: There's mentioning of domestic abuse in this part. Nothing graphic yet.
link to part 1: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/35601.html
Six months earlier
Erica Hahn couldn’t believe her eyes when she read her next assignment.
“You want me to go to LA to babysit some stupid celebrity?” she angrily said to her boss while waving the piece of paper she was holding.
“Yes,” he simply said.
“Yes? Is that all you have to say? Well, I’m not going; no way, sir,” she yelled and started marching out of the office.
“Agent Hahn, sit down… now”, the booming voice of her boss echoed the room.
Erica knew she had no choice and sat down.
“You are not going to LA to babysit some celebrity; you are going to LA to go undercover,” her boss told her.
“I’m sorry… undercover to babysit a celebrity?” Erica questioned.
“Yes, Agent Hahn. The boyfriend of the singer Calliope is a suspect in a drug investigation. Your job is to get close to both Calliope and the boyfriend, Jason Taylor, and find evidence of drug related cases. All the information you need is in the file.”
Director Max McKinney looked at Erica. “Erica, I know this is not something you like to do, but I gave this job to you because you are the best and because I have absolute faith in your ability to succeed and put that man behind bars.”
“I’ll do my best, sir,” Erica said and she left his office.
She sat at her desk, sighing, as she opened the file to gaze at the suspect’s photo.
“He’s hideous,” she said to herself.
She wondered how he managed to get a girlfriend as gorgeous as Calliope. Even though Erica would never admit it to anyone, she actually liked Calliope’s music and also found her rather attractive. But she’d rather die than admit she liked sappy love music.
She started reading through the file. Suddenly, she jumped up.
“Max,” she yelled while angrily marching to his office.
“Max, you can’t expect me to go undercover as a prostitute drug addict? Do you really think that Calliope will want to associate herself with a junkie hooker?” she angrily said to him.
“Erica, calm down. It’s the only way we can think of to get you close enough to them.”
“Really? You guys should be more creative sometimes. In Calliope’s file there’s something about her going to yoga classes. I’ll go to those classes and make contact with her like a normal human being, not looking like a junkie hooker. I think that’s gonna take me further.”
“Okay, but I want you to keep me posted about how your assignment is going. If you make any other changes, I want to know about them immediately.”
“Sure thing Max. I’m gonna head home now to pack as I read in the file that my plane leaves in 4 hours. How long do I have to bring him in?” she asked.
“Take all the time you need; don’t rush it - but don’t stretch it out, either. Give it six months”, Max said.
“Okay sir. I’ll do the best I can.” And with that Agent Hahn walked out of Director Max McKinney’s office wondering how the hell she would get into that yoga class. She had no agility at all and suddenly wondered if taking yoga classes to get close to Calliope was such a good idea…
***************************************************************************
Callie got ready to attend her weekly yoga class. It was the only moment of the week she had for herself and she fully took advantage of those few hours. Jason had asked once to go with her, but she had refused. She didn't want him to intrude on her “alone-time” as she called it. In fact, recently she had been thinking that she didn't want him to intrude in her life anymore. These last weeks she had been spending less and less time with him when he was in town. She had never been madly in love with him, but now she could hardly even tolerate his company. She knew she just stayed with him out of convenience. She looked at him in the bed.
“He's not even good looking,” she thought to herself.
She got out of bed, took her bag and went to her yoga class.
***************************************************************************
Erica was in the locker room getting changed into what she considered the most ridiculous outfit she had ever seen. If her colleagues could see her wearing this, she'd be the laughing stock of the entire Bureau for weeks. She sighed and put the outfit on. Just as she was finishing getting dressed, the door to the locker room opened and Callie came in. Erica just nodded her good morning and put her stuff in her locker. She had already decided to pretend she didn't know Calliope as a singer; it might be easier to make contact with her. She figured that most celebrities were reluctant to make new friends.
Hesitantly, Erica went to the main room where the yoga class would be held. There weren't many people. Maybe the early hour had something to do with it. It was barely 7am. Luckily, she was used to getting up early.
The instructor waited a few more minutes before she started the class.
“Good morning everyone, let's start our class. I see a new face in our group. Is this your first yoga class?” the instructor asked looking at Erica.
“Yes it is. I heard it helps to relax and I wanted to give it a try,” Erica said.
“You'll definitely find yoga very relaxing. I'm Nikita and you are?”
“I'm Erica,” she said.
“Welcome Erica. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them.”
The class started and Erica tried to copy the movements. They weren't as easy as they seemed. She was already sweating profusely after only 30 minutes.
“I do prefer my self defence class,” she muttered under her breath.
“You just need more agility,” she heard a voice next to her say.
She looked to her right and saw that Calliope had been the one saying it.
“I know, but agility doesn't really come in one class, does it?”
“No it doesn't, but believe me, even after a few classes, you'll feel the difference. You just gotta have a bit of patience.”
“Thanks for the advice.”
After one hour Erica was sweating like she had run 10 miles, which she would have preferred to do instead of yoga. She took her bottled water and gulped it down.
“It was really hard for you, wasn't it?” she heard Calliope say.
She nodded. “Yes it was. I think I'm gonna be in a lot of pain tomorrow and feel muscles that I didn't even know existed. But it was fun.”
“When I started a year ago, I thought it would hurt, too. But now it's really relaxing. I'm Callie, by the way.”
“I'm Erica, but you already knew that.”
They grabbed their towels and went to the locker room.
“You mentioned something about self defence classes during the class,” Callie said.
“I used to teach self-defence and karate classes.”
“Cool. I've always wanted to do that.”
“I could show you some day if you want.”
“You would? That would be totally awesome. Will you come to the class Thursday too?”
“Yes, if my muscles allow it. Damn, I can't believe I'm gonna be sore tomorrow.”
Erica saw Callie reach into her bag and take out a card.
“If it's too bad tomorrow, call me. I know a great masseuse to take care of all the pain. She had to help me out several times already,” Callie said, giving the card to Erica.
“Thanks Callie, that's very nice of you.”
“No problem, see you tomorrow or Thursday. Bye,” and Callie walked out of the locker room.
Erica looked at the card in her hand. She saw it was a private card, and not a card with the number of her manager on. Nope, this was the personal number of Calliope. It surprised her; she figured that celebrities would be more reluctant to share private information. But somehow Callie didn't seem like a celebrity. She seemed to genuinely care that she would be into a lot of pain tomorrow. She knew it was her job to get close to Callie, but suddenly it didn't feel like a job anymore. She really wanted to know the person behind the singer Calliope. She had gone undercover several times for her job and not once before did she really want to befriend someone and not only for the sake of the investigation. That thought scared her, for it wasn't professional. She was here to get close to Callie and her boyfriend on a professional level and not to make friends.
The next morning found Erica immobile in bed. From the moment she moved a muscle, her body tensed up.
“I must have stretched something,” she muttered, “damn this hurts. I mean, it's not like I never workout, I run three times a week, do karate and yet I'm sorer than ever.”
She sighed. She rolled to her side with great difficulty and took her cell.
“Thank God I always leave it near the bed.”
She dialled the number on the card Callie had given her.
“Hello,” she heard Callie say.
“Uhm... good morning, it's Erica from yoga,” she hesitantly started. She had no idea why she suddenly felt nervous talking to Callie.
“Oh, hey Erica, how's it going? Oh wait, you calling me means you're in considerable amount of pain, right?” Callie said.
“Yes, I can't even get out of bed. I've never been so sore in my entire life. It's awful. Really.”
“Don't move... sorry wrong choice of words. Where do you live? I'll come to your place and pick you up.”
Erica gave her address and ended the call. She felt excited to see Callie again.
It took her considerable effort to get out of bed and get dressed before Callie arrived. She knew Callie lived close by. She also checked her apartment again for any signs that might blow her cover, but she didn't find any. She was still putting on her shirt when the door bell rang.
“Hang on, I'm coming,” she yelled.
She opened the door slightly out of breath.
“Hey Callie, come in,” she greeted the woman in front of her.
“Hey, you okay?” Callie asked, noticing the sweat on Erica's face. She gently put her hand on Erica's arm.
“Let's say that I've had better days, I can't believe I'm so sore.”
Callie looked around the apartment. It was furnished with only the bare necessities and there weren't a lot of personal objects. The living room was small, but very cosy. The couch looked so inviting to just lay on it and watch some movie. The kitchen was small and didn't really look used. Maybe Erica didn't cook Callie thought.
“Is it really that bad?”
Erica nodded. “I'm feeling muscles that I didn't know existed. Is your friend any good?”
“She is. Are you ready to go? We got an appointment in 45 minutes.”
“Sure, let me grab my bag. Could we stop for a coffee along the way?”
“No problem.”
With difficulty Erica managed to get into the passenger seat.
“This is really nice of you to do, Callie. I hope you didn’t have to leave work for it,” Erica casually said.
“Really it’s no problem. I only have to be at the studio around 4pm, so I got plenty of time till then.”
Erica decided to feign ignorance about who was really sitting next to her.
“Oh, are you an actress?” she inquired innocently.
“No, I’m a singer.”
“Cool.”
“So what do you do for a living?” Callie asked her passenger.
She had the urge to ask her many questions as she seemed to want to know everything about the blonde woman.
Erica thought for a second. She couldn’t tell Callie the truth, but for some reason she didn’t want to tell her a blatant lie either.
“I worked in security, but right now I’m between jobs, just taking a few months to myself and then I’ll look for another job. I don’t know if I want to stay in the same line of work.”
“Security, so those self defence classes must come in handy now and then?” Callie remarked.
“Yes, they do.”
They continued to talk the rest of the ride. Both felt utterly comfortable in each other’s company and neither realized it. They talked about their childhood, their family, about everything that came to mind.
“I feel like I’ve known you for years”, Callie commented as they got out of the car.
“Same here. Is this where the masseuse works or lives?” Erica asked, looking a small shop that was squeezed between an internet shop and a hairdresser.
“Yes, come on,” Callie said while looping her arm through Erica’s.
They both ignored the fluttering in their stomach they felt at the contact, and the rush of warmth they seemed to feel.
***************************************************************************
The massage helped Erica a lot and after one hour she felt more relaxed already. At least she could walk around almost painlessly.
“I owe you Callie. Let me buy you a late breakfast or an early lunch. Really, without your friend, I wouldn’t have been able to get out of bed at all today,” Erica said.
She didn’t want the time with Callie to end just yet.
“That would be great; I know a great secluded place that I know you are gonna love!” Callie exclaimed, “Also, it’s unknown by the paparazzi so they won’t be bothering us.”
“Paparazzi?” Erica hadn’t thought about them. She didn’t really want to end up with her face in some glossy magazine.
“Yes and sometimes they bother me; but it’ll be quiet there.”
The early lunch stretched into early afternoon. Both were unaware that time had flown by until Callie got a call on her cell phone.
She seemed annoyed by the call, Erica thought. And by the look on her face, Erica guessed right
She closed her phone and sighed.
“That was my loser of a boyfriend, Jason, asking where I’ve been. I mean, he disappears for days without letting me know where he is and I can’t even spend the day with a friend without him freaking out about it.”
Erica didn’t know what to say. She wanted to tell Callie to break up with him, that he was a loser, but she realized this might be bad for her investigation. For the first time in her professional career, she felt uneasy during an undercover operation.
“If he is such a loser as you say why are you still with him?” she couldn’t help herself. Even though she only met Callie yesterday, she wanted to protect Callie from that man; not only because it was her job, but because she generally cared for her.
Callie looked up at Erica with sad eyes. “To be honest, I don’t know why I’m still with him. I don’t love him. He’s… convenient, that’s all.”
Erica felt a pain pierce her heart at the obvious devastation Callie was feeling. She took Callie’s hand into her own and looked into her eyes.
“I don’t have much experience with relationships but aren’t you supposed to leave someone when you don’t love them?” Erica gently said.
“Yes, but it’s not that easy. Last… last time I told him I wanted to break up with him, he told me he’d break me and my career if I left him. And he’s capable of doing that,” Callie said in a shameful voice.
She had never told anyone this, not even her own family. It wouldn’t be the first time Jason would hit her when she did something he didn’t want. He had also threatened to hurt her family if she left him. She told Erica the entire story, everything he had done so far in the few months they had been together. She told her about the beatings, the times he raped her when he was too drunk or too stoned to remember, the threats, the verbal insults, everything.
When she was with Erica, she felt like she could tell her everything. Never before had she felt so comfortable in someone’s company. She had tears in her eyes when she finished her story. She shamefully looked to the table. She suddenly felt like such a fool for staying with a boyfriend who mistreated her and she was sure Erica would judge her.
“Callie. Callie, look at me”, she heard Erica say.
She didn’t want to see the look in Erica’s eyes and continued to stare at the tablecloth.
Erica put her hand under her chin. “Look at me, Callie.”
To her surprise, Callie saw that Erica had tears in her eyes too.
“Jason doesn’t deserve you. You deserve someone so much better than him, someone who loves you, who doesn’t beat you. I know it’s not easy to leave him, but one day he’ll destroy you, Callie. One day he’ll go too far and you’ll be the victim,” Erica softly said.
She had no idea that Jason was that type of guy. Her file hadn’t mentioned abuse and threats. He hid it very well what he did to Callie. She felt like hitting the guy for what he did to Callie. Suddenly she became determined to succeed in her mission and put Jason behind bars for a very long time, and if possible, not only for drugs, but for the things he had done to Callie too. She had seen too many of these abuse cases go bad in her line of work and she was damned if she was letting Callie be one of those cases.
Erica knew it was important for her mission to get close to Jason, but she couldn’t let Callie stay with Jason because her mission would be successful. Suddenly, an idea formed into her head. Maybe she could use her FBI-training to her advantage and offer protection to Callie and keep Jason close-by too…
.
AUTHOR: sapphicwarrior
PAIRING: Callie/Erica
RATING: NC-17 for mentioning domestic abuse (nothing overly graphic yet)
DISCLAIMER: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libellous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
SUMMARY: This is AU, it’s been in my head for a while. A famous singer falls in love with a woman. It’s a love that is looked upon and has to happen secretly until something happens…
AUTHOR'S NOTE 1: Thanks to my wonderful beta
mar_chel for beta'ing this fic :)
AUTHOR'S NOTE 2: We go now back in time for the next parts. How did they meet? What is Erica's job? You'll find out in this part.
WARNING: There's mentioning of domestic abuse in this part. Nothing graphic yet.
link to part 1: sapphicwarrior.livejournal.com/35601.html
Six months earlier
Erica Hahn couldn’t believe her eyes when she read her next assignment.
“You want me to go to LA to babysit some stupid celebrity?” she angrily said to her boss while waving the piece of paper she was holding.
“Yes,” he simply said.
“Yes? Is that all you have to say? Well, I’m not going; no way, sir,” she yelled and started marching out of the office.
“Agent Hahn, sit down… now”, the booming voice of her boss echoed the room.
Erica knew she had no choice and sat down.
“You are not going to LA to babysit some celebrity; you are going to LA to go undercover,” her boss told her.
“I’m sorry… undercover to babysit a celebrity?” Erica questioned.
“Yes, Agent Hahn. The boyfriend of the singer Calliope is a suspect in a drug investigation. Your job is to get close to both Calliope and the boyfriend, Jason Taylor, and find evidence of drug related cases. All the information you need is in the file.”
Director Max McKinney looked at Erica. “Erica, I know this is not something you like to do, but I gave this job to you because you are the best and because I have absolute faith in your ability to succeed and put that man behind bars.”
“I’ll do my best, sir,” Erica said and she left his office.
She sat at her desk, sighing, as she opened the file to gaze at the suspect’s photo.
“He’s hideous,” she said to herself.
She wondered how he managed to get a girlfriend as gorgeous as Calliope. Even though Erica would never admit it to anyone, she actually liked Calliope’s music and also found her rather attractive. But she’d rather die than admit she liked sappy love music.
She started reading through the file. Suddenly, she jumped up.
“Max,” she yelled while angrily marching to his office.
“Max, you can’t expect me to go undercover as a prostitute drug addict? Do you really think that Calliope will want to associate herself with a junkie hooker?” she angrily said to him.
“Erica, calm down. It’s the only way we can think of to get you close enough to them.”
“Really? You guys should be more creative sometimes. In Calliope’s file there’s something about her going to yoga classes. I’ll go to those classes and make contact with her like a normal human being, not looking like a junkie hooker. I think that’s gonna take me further.”
“Okay, but I want you to keep me posted about how your assignment is going. If you make any other changes, I want to know about them immediately.”
“Sure thing Max. I’m gonna head home now to pack as I read in the file that my plane leaves in 4 hours. How long do I have to bring him in?” she asked.
“Take all the time you need; don’t rush it - but don’t stretch it out, either. Give it six months”, Max said.
“Okay sir. I’ll do the best I can.” And with that Agent Hahn walked out of Director Max McKinney’s office wondering how the hell she would get into that yoga class. She had no agility at all and suddenly wondered if taking yoga classes to get close to Calliope was such a good idea…
***************************************************************************
Callie got ready to attend her weekly yoga class. It was the only moment of the week she had for herself and she fully took advantage of those few hours. Jason had asked once to go with her, but she had refused. She didn't want him to intrude on her “alone-time” as she called it. In fact, recently she had been thinking that she didn't want him to intrude in her life anymore. These last weeks she had been spending less and less time with him when he was in town. She had never been madly in love with him, but now she could hardly even tolerate his company. She knew she just stayed with him out of convenience. She looked at him in the bed.
“He's not even good looking,” she thought to herself.
She got out of bed, took her bag and went to her yoga class.
***************************************************************************
Erica was in the locker room getting changed into what she considered the most ridiculous outfit she had ever seen. If her colleagues could see her wearing this, she'd be the laughing stock of the entire Bureau for weeks. She sighed and put the outfit on. Just as she was finishing getting dressed, the door to the locker room opened and Callie came in. Erica just nodded her good morning and put her stuff in her locker. She had already decided to pretend she didn't know Calliope as a singer; it might be easier to make contact with her. She figured that most celebrities were reluctant to make new friends.
Hesitantly, Erica went to the main room where the yoga class would be held. There weren't many people. Maybe the early hour had something to do with it. It was barely 7am. Luckily, she was used to getting up early.
The instructor waited a few more minutes before she started the class.
“Good morning everyone, let's start our class. I see a new face in our group. Is this your first yoga class?” the instructor asked looking at Erica.
“Yes it is. I heard it helps to relax and I wanted to give it a try,” Erica said.
“You'll definitely find yoga very relaxing. I'm Nikita and you are?”
“I'm Erica,” she said.
“Welcome Erica. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them.”
The class started and Erica tried to copy the movements. They weren't as easy as they seemed. She was already sweating profusely after only 30 minutes.
“I do prefer my self defence class,” she muttered under her breath.
“You just need more agility,” she heard a voice next to her say.
She looked to her right and saw that Calliope had been the one saying it.
“I know, but agility doesn't really come in one class, does it?”
“No it doesn't, but believe me, even after a few classes, you'll feel the difference. You just gotta have a bit of patience.”
“Thanks for the advice.”
After one hour Erica was sweating like she had run 10 miles, which she would have preferred to do instead of yoga. She took her bottled water and gulped it down.
“It was really hard for you, wasn't it?” she heard Calliope say.
She nodded. “Yes it was. I think I'm gonna be in a lot of pain tomorrow and feel muscles that I didn't even know existed. But it was fun.”
“When I started a year ago, I thought it would hurt, too. But now it's really relaxing. I'm Callie, by the way.”
“I'm Erica, but you already knew that.”
They grabbed their towels and went to the locker room.
“You mentioned something about self defence classes during the class,” Callie said.
“I used to teach self-defence and karate classes.”
“Cool. I've always wanted to do that.”
“I could show you some day if you want.”
“You would? That would be totally awesome. Will you come to the class Thursday too?”
“Yes, if my muscles allow it. Damn, I can't believe I'm gonna be sore tomorrow.”
Erica saw Callie reach into her bag and take out a card.
“If it's too bad tomorrow, call me. I know a great masseuse to take care of all the pain. She had to help me out several times already,” Callie said, giving the card to Erica.
“Thanks Callie, that's very nice of you.”
“No problem, see you tomorrow or Thursday. Bye,” and Callie walked out of the locker room.
Erica looked at the card in her hand. She saw it was a private card, and not a card with the number of her manager on. Nope, this was the personal number of Calliope. It surprised her; she figured that celebrities would be more reluctant to share private information. But somehow Callie didn't seem like a celebrity. She seemed to genuinely care that she would be into a lot of pain tomorrow. She knew it was her job to get close to Callie, but suddenly it didn't feel like a job anymore. She really wanted to know the person behind the singer Calliope. She had gone undercover several times for her job and not once before did she really want to befriend someone and not only for the sake of the investigation. That thought scared her, for it wasn't professional. She was here to get close to Callie and her boyfriend on a professional level and not to make friends.
The next morning found Erica immobile in bed. From the moment she moved a muscle, her body tensed up.
“I must have stretched something,” she muttered, “damn this hurts. I mean, it's not like I never workout, I run three times a week, do karate and yet I'm sorer than ever.”
She sighed. She rolled to her side with great difficulty and took her cell.
“Thank God I always leave it near the bed.”
She dialled the number on the card Callie had given her.
“Hello,” she heard Callie say.
“Uhm... good morning, it's Erica from yoga,” she hesitantly started. She had no idea why she suddenly felt nervous talking to Callie.
“Oh, hey Erica, how's it going? Oh wait, you calling me means you're in considerable amount of pain, right?” Callie said.
“Yes, I can't even get out of bed. I've never been so sore in my entire life. It's awful. Really.”
“Don't move... sorry wrong choice of words. Where do you live? I'll come to your place and pick you up.”
Erica gave her address and ended the call. She felt excited to see Callie again.
It took her considerable effort to get out of bed and get dressed before Callie arrived. She knew Callie lived close by. She also checked her apartment again for any signs that might blow her cover, but she didn't find any. She was still putting on her shirt when the door bell rang.
“Hang on, I'm coming,” she yelled.
She opened the door slightly out of breath.
“Hey Callie, come in,” she greeted the woman in front of her.
“Hey, you okay?” Callie asked, noticing the sweat on Erica's face. She gently put her hand on Erica's arm.
“Let's say that I've had better days, I can't believe I'm so sore.”
Callie looked around the apartment. It was furnished with only the bare necessities and there weren't a lot of personal objects. The living room was small, but very cosy. The couch looked so inviting to just lay on it and watch some movie. The kitchen was small and didn't really look used. Maybe Erica didn't cook Callie thought.
“Is it really that bad?”
Erica nodded. “I'm feeling muscles that I didn't know existed. Is your friend any good?”
“She is. Are you ready to go? We got an appointment in 45 minutes.”
“Sure, let me grab my bag. Could we stop for a coffee along the way?”
“No problem.”
With difficulty Erica managed to get into the passenger seat.
“This is really nice of you to do, Callie. I hope you didn’t have to leave work for it,” Erica casually said.
“Really it’s no problem. I only have to be at the studio around 4pm, so I got plenty of time till then.”
Erica decided to feign ignorance about who was really sitting next to her.
“Oh, are you an actress?” she inquired innocently.
“No, I’m a singer.”
“Cool.”
“So what do you do for a living?” Callie asked her passenger.
She had the urge to ask her many questions as she seemed to want to know everything about the blonde woman.
Erica thought for a second. She couldn’t tell Callie the truth, but for some reason she didn’t want to tell her a blatant lie either.
“I worked in security, but right now I’m between jobs, just taking a few months to myself and then I’ll look for another job. I don’t know if I want to stay in the same line of work.”
“Security, so those self defence classes must come in handy now and then?” Callie remarked.
“Yes, they do.”
They continued to talk the rest of the ride. Both felt utterly comfortable in each other’s company and neither realized it. They talked about their childhood, their family, about everything that came to mind.
“I feel like I’ve known you for years”, Callie commented as they got out of the car.
“Same here. Is this where the masseuse works or lives?” Erica asked, looking a small shop that was squeezed between an internet shop and a hairdresser.
“Yes, come on,” Callie said while looping her arm through Erica’s.
They both ignored the fluttering in their stomach they felt at the contact, and the rush of warmth they seemed to feel.
***************************************************************************
The massage helped Erica a lot and after one hour she felt more relaxed already. At least she could walk around almost painlessly.
“I owe you Callie. Let me buy you a late breakfast or an early lunch. Really, without your friend, I wouldn’t have been able to get out of bed at all today,” Erica said.
She didn’t want the time with Callie to end just yet.
“That would be great; I know a great secluded place that I know you are gonna love!” Callie exclaimed, “Also, it’s unknown by the paparazzi so they won’t be bothering us.”
“Paparazzi?” Erica hadn’t thought about them. She didn’t really want to end up with her face in some glossy magazine.
“Yes and sometimes they bother me; but it’ll be quiet there.”
The early lunch stretched into early afternoon. Both were unaware that time had flown by until Callie got a call on her cell phone.
She seemed annoyed by the call, Erica thought. And by the look on her face, Erica guessed right
She closed her phone and sighed.
“That was my loser of a boyfriend, Jason, asking where I’ve been. I mean, he disappears for days without letting me know where he is and I can’t even spend the day with a friend without him freaking out about it.”
Erica didn’t know what to say. She wanted to tell Callie to break up with him, that he was a loser, but she realized this might be bad for her investigation. For the first time in her professional career, she felt uneasy during an undercover operation.
“If he is such a loser as you say why are you still with him?” she couldn’t help herself. Even though she only met Callie yesterday, she wanted to protect Callie from that man; not only because it was her job, but because she generally cared for her.
Callie looked up at Erica with sad eyes. “To be honest, I don’t know why I’m still with him. I don’t love him. He’s… convenient, that’s all.”
Erica felt a pain pierce her heart at the obvious devastation Callie was feeling. She took Callie’s hand into her own and looked into her eyes.
“I don’t have much experience with relationships but aren’t you supposed to leave someone when you don’t love them?” Erica gently said.
“Yes, but it’s not that easy. Last… last time I told him I wanted to break up with him, he told me he’d break me and my career if I left him. And he’s capable of doing that,” Callie said in a shameful voice.
She had never told anyone this, not even her own family. It wouldn’t be the first time Jason would hit her when she did something he didn’t want. He had also threatened to hurt her family if she left him. She told Erica the entire story, everything he had done so far in the few months they had been together. She told her about the beatings, the times he raped her when he was too drunk or too stoned to remember, the threats, the verbal insults, everything.
When she was with Erica, she felt like she could tell her everything. Never before had she felt so comfortable in someone’s company. She had tears in her eyes when she finished her story. She shamefully looked to the table. She suddenly felt like such a fool for staying with a boyfriend who mistreated her and she was sure Erica would judge her.
“Callie. Callie, look at me”, she heard Erica say.
She didn’t want to see the look in Erica’s eyes and continued to stare at the tablecloth.
Erica put her hand under her chin. “Look at me, Callie.”
To her surprise, Callie saw that Erica had tears in her eyes too.
“Jason doesn’t deserve you. You deserve someone so much better than him, someone who loves you, who doesn’t beat you. I know it’s not easy to leave him, but one day he’ll destroy you, Callie. One day he’ll go too far and you’ll be the victim,” Erica softly said.
She had no idea that Jason was that type of guy. Her file hadn’t mentioned abuse and threats. He hid it very well what he did to Callie. She felt like hitting the guy for what he did to Callie. Suddenly she became determined to succeed in her mission and put Jason behind bars for a very long time, and if possible, not only for drugs, but for the things he had done to Callie too. She had seen too many of these abuse cases go bad in her line of work and she was damned if she was letting Callie be one of those cases.
Erica knew it was important for her mission to get close to Jason, but she couldn’t let Callie stay with Jason because her mission would be successful. Suddenly, an idea formed into her head. Maybe she could use her FBI-training to her advantage and offer protection to Callie and keep Jason close-by too…
.