Triangles, Part Fifteen

"Hello?"

"Hey, bud."

Lee glanced at his date to see her looking at him questioningly. He wanted to sag with relief on hearing Cass' voice, but with Kelly watching him, he dared not. Instead, he answered with the first line of a script he and Cass had written right after his children's show was first aired. "Speaking."

"I take it that means you need immediate rescue." Cass' voice was jovial as ever and Lee suspected he was in for a long night with or without his date.

"Yes?"

"Okay. Umm... something about you're the primary contact."

"That's right."

"You poor boy. Next line, the incident."

Lee took a second to call up an expression of concern before asking, "What sort of incident? What happened?"

The scripted phone call was Lee's only 'out' when it came to the dates he allowed himself to be talked into. If, by the end of the first hour, he hadn't hit it off with the woman he was with, then, when the call came, all he had to do was say the lines that would establish his end of the conversation and give him an excuse to leave dinner early. If, on the other hand, he had taken a liking to his date, then he had other lines to give Cass which would indicate whether she should call again later.

"You're gonna date someone eventually that doesn't require a break-in, right?" Cass asked in response.

"Shit! Have you contacted the authorities?"

"If they'd do you any good, you know I would."

"Okay. What do you need from me?"

"I need you to be ready to watch the new Adam Sandler movie. You owe me."

"All right," Lee answered, both to her comment and to the script. He owed her a lot. It was just lucky for him that his best friend hadn't been on a date since they started working on the show together. "Have you called Miss Rist yet?"

"I think that's my favorite line," Cass laughed. "So, where are you?"

"Okay, well, I can't use my car, so ask her to swing by Station Square and pick me up when you call her."

"I'll see you there."

"Good. Thanks for the call. Tell them I'll be there as soon as possible."

Now we see if Kelly bought the performance. Lee closed his cell phone with a grimace and looked across to his table-mate. He had to suppress the triumphant grin that wanted to bloom at the look of concern that fought the drink to transform her face. I guess I've still got it.

Summoning his most regretful tone, Lee spoke, "I'm sorry, Kelly. I have to leave."

"What happened?"

"Something happened at the studio. I need to go take care of it."

"Oh."

Lee pushed his chair back from the table. "I'm really sorry." Not really. "Why don't you stay and enjoy some dessert. I'll leave instructions with my driver to wait and take you home whenever you're ready to leave."

"But-"

Lee lifted a hand stave off her objections as he stood. "Don't worry about the bill. It's already taken care of."

He stepped around the table and paused to steel himself for the last act in the scene. After a second, he slid his hand down his tie as he leaned forward and gave his date a quick peck on the corner of her mouth. "I'll call you," he rumbled before pulling away.

After one last nod to his less than perfect date, Lee turned and wove his way toward the entrance as quickly as he could without giving the impression that he was actually fleeing.

~Continued in [an error occurred while processing this directive] Part Sixteen~
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