Chris and Rita have been partners for over five years and I've been their Captain for three. I've watched them work the highest profile cases the world has ever known. They're the perfect pair as partners. Not only that, they're bestfriends. I've watched them laugh together, cry together and grow together. The only thing they haven't done together is admit what they feel for each other. I've watched them live in the land of denial for too long and now I guess it's up to me and Fran to clue them in on what everyone believes is true….that Chris Lorenzo and Rita Lee Lance belong together.
"Hey, Sam!" Rita said as she floated through the
swinging palm tree doors.
"Hi yourself, Sammy!" Looking up from a file Chris
grinned to himself. The woman never walked into a room,
she floated, glided or shimmied her way into a room. He noticed
that from day one and she never failed to amaze him. Was it his
fault that when those "Rita Lee Lance" hips swayed from
side to side he got a massive woody? Of course not! Chris knew
where the fault lay…Society! It was society that
said bestfriends make the best lovers, wasn't it? So there! It
was their fault…not to mention the fashion experts
who designed Rita's clothes.
Taking in the hotpink number she was wearing as a form of
business attire, Chris' mouth went dry. Was there no dress code
in this place? Not that he didn't like what Rita had on.
No. In fact, he loved what she wore every day. But did it have to
be THAT short?!?
As Chris pondered these things, he watched with barely suppressed
hunger as Rita sashayed her way over to the coffee machine. Her
movements caused the slit in the back of her skirt to open and
close as if playing a game of peek-a-boo. Allowing his gaze to
burn its way down her body, he took time to admire her well-toned
legs. Who could NOT look at Rita's legs? More often than a
little, he found himself wondering what it would be like to have
them wrapped around his waist as he…….. WHOA! DOWN BOY!
Chris mentally yelled at himself as he quickly turned his
attention back to the file in his hand. Get a grip on yourself,
son! This is your bestfriend you're foaming at the mouth
over. If Rita knew what you were thinking, she'd kick your
perverted butt!! Damn it was difficult having the hots for your
bestfriend. Especially when she carried a gun.
Giving himself a mental shake, Chris tried to concentrate on the
case. Let's see, he thought as he began reading the file again.
He gave every effort toward concentrating on that file. He really
did…..
…..Body found near Cloverdale, he read. Male.
Shot twice in the chest and once in the head. Okay. Completely
naked, probably dead for several hours. Okay, Lorenzo, you're
back on track. Completely naked…. Oops, read that part
already. Rita. No, won't go there! Rita naked. Umm, need to
concentrate. So close but yet so far, Lorenzo. Uhhhh, let's see,
let's see. What was I doing? Oh, yeah, the case. Okay. Body was
later I.D.'d as David Hard-on. No, no his name was David Harden.
That's it, David Harden, not Hard-on. What am I doing?….
"Reading a file, Sam," Rita said, answering the
question Chris had no idea he'd spoken aloud.
Looking at Rita as if he thought she must be reading his mind,
Chris swallowed hard.
"Uh, right, right. That's exactly what I'm doing, Sammy.
Reading a file. Absolutely," Chris babbled.
Rita grinned at him in that way that suggested he consider
therapy. If she only knew, Chris thought. If she only knew.
"LANCE, LORENZO! May I have the pleasure of your company in
my office? NOW!" Their captain bellowed.
What did we do this time? They both thought as they got
up and made their way to Cap's office.
"What's up, Cap?" Rita asked, her expression serious as
she sat down.
"You know, Cap, if you keep yelling like that, me and Rita
might start thinking you like us or something," Chris said,
ever the smart allek.
Cap gave Chris a piercing stare over his glasses and stood behind
his desk, hands on his hips. "Lorenzo, why can't you be more
like your partner and just take a seat in peace without the smart
remarks? For once in your life STOP BEING A WISE ASS!"
Chris grinned as he took the seat next to his partner. A quick
glance in her direction revealed that she was grinning. God but
she was gorgeous.
"Sorry, Cap," Chris finally said in mock-apology.
"Much better, Lorenzo. I called you two in here because I
got word from Frannie that my detectives have not RSVP'd her
invitation to the Policeman's Ball. My question is WHY?" Cap
watched as his two sergeants cringed with guilt. Good! Let 'em
feel guilty. Frannie had worked her butt off along with Karen
Krane and many others to make this years Policeman's Ball a huge
success. Chris and Rita were the only officers who hadn't
answered the invitation. They'd both been to previous
policeman's' functions before, but that was when they were
involved with other people. It had been three months since Rita's
breakup with Eric, and Chris' breakup with Jillian. Cap
personally couldn't have been more happier when he'd heard about
it. He never did like Eric to begin with. As for Jillian, well,
she was "bitch" personified. The silly woman had the
gall to think she could turn Chris into "Mr. Dr.
Jillian" for Pete's sake. As far as Cap was concerned, it
was good-bye and good riddance to both of them.
Cap knew that Chris and Rita deservered happiness. They were not
only the best damn homicide team he'd ever worked with, but they
were his extended family. Chris was like the pain-in-the-butt son
he'd always wanted. Playful, kind-hearted, stubborn, yet strong,
protective and fierce when he needed to be. Especially where Rita
was concerned. Rita was the darling, sweet and affectionate
daughter he'd always wanted. She was one strong cookie and a
pleasure to be around. Yeah, both could be trusted no matter
what, but they were both two lonely souls, Cap knew. He also knew
that they were madly in love with each other and in serious
denial. And anything he and Fran could do to get them on the
right path, they would. Rules be damned! Both Cap and Fran knew
that the Duo of Palm Beach PD were destined to be together in
every way. So Fran thought, why not put both their names on one
invitation, thereby, causing them to have no choice but to come together.
Fran could always fib and say it was printed that way in error.
Chris and Rita had fallen for it, hook, line and sinker. However,
they failed to RSVP. Which meant they were stalling. Fran had
already anticipated this and told Cap to make them feel guilty
about the possibility of hurting her feelings. And it was working
like a charm. His Fran was a genius!
"Well?!?" Cap asked again in as impatient a tone as he
could muster without laughing. They looked like two lobsters
facing death by boiling. He had 'em right where he wanted 'em.
"Uhhh…," they said in unison.
They looked at each other, hoping the other would come up with a good
excuse. Neither one of them wanted to hurt Fran or Karen in
any way. They knew they had to find a way to beg off, yet neither
one could come up with a single, plausible reason.
Chris spoke up first. "Cap, we can't come to the party on
one invitation. People would think we're a couple."
Rita looked at Chris as if he'd said something profane. "And
what's wrong with people thinking we're a couple, Chris?"
Uh-oh, Cap thought, he's put his foot in his mouth. Hope he likes
rubber.
Chris realized that didn't sound right so he tried a different
approach.
"I'm just saying that if we were a couple the
invitation would be okay, but since we're not a couple,
then the invitation may mislead people."
"Mislead people into thinking that we're together?"
Rita asked.
"Well, yeah."
"Oh, give me a break, Chris. What you're really saying is
that you don't want people to insinuate that you and I like each
other. Or am I wrong?"
Chris looked at Cap, but Cap wasn't about to touch this one. He
watched the two with all the attention one would give a tennis
match. The ball was now in Chris' court. Cap hoped Chris wouldn't
hit it out of bounds.
What did he say this time? Chris thought.
"Uh, Sam, did I say something wrong?"
Rita had to admit that she was being a bit silly, but the idea
that Chris didn't even want to consider the possibility of them
being together bugged her.
"I'm sorry, Chris. It's just that I'm still sore about
Eric," she lied.
Chris was relieved and miffed at the same time. Relieved that she
wasn't upset with him; miffed because she still had a soft spot
for Eric Russell.
"It's okay, Sam. Forget it."
"Are you two done with your version of Peyton Place? 'Cause
if you are, we can get back to the matter at hand. Frannie is
expecting you two to be there whether the invitation was
erroneously printed with your names together or not."
Chris and Rita had no choice. They would never hurt Fran. Seeing
no alternative, they RSVP'd the party through Cap.
It was later on, as they were preparing to leave work, that Chris
realized what an idiot he'd been in Cap's office. There he was
using that dumb excuse about his concern with people thinking he
and Rita were a couple, and Rita was still hurting over Eric.
Didn't she deserve a nice night out? Didn't she deserve to be
pampered and treated like royalty after that piss-drunk boozer
left the way he did? The jerk had pretended he was dead, turning
Rita's world upside down, and then had the nerve to try to come
back into her life. The worse part for Chris was when Rita
thought she was pregnant by Eric. Thank God it was a false alarm.
He couldn't stand the thought of her carrying another man's
child.
Although he knew his thoughts were going in a direction that
could cause problems in their relationship, Chris had come to the
point where he didn't care anymore. He loved Rita. Had from the
very first time he laid eyes on her. She was everything to him.
She was his world. He wanted to tell the whole world how he felt
about her. He just hoped she felt the same.
Rita slowly walked to her car, her thoughts jumbled and confused.
What was wrong with her? She was getting upset over the simplest
things these days. Especially whenever Chris was around. She
tried to act normal around him, as if nothing had changed, but it
had.
Several months ago, after Eric left for good, Rita found herself
alone and sad. Not because Eric had left. She'd come to a
conclusion long before he had pulled the "pretend
death" stunt that she no longer loved him (if, in
fact, she ever had). Somehow she had convinced herself that she
loved Eric when in actuality she loved Chris. Was in
love with Chris. And because she couldn't have the man she
wanted, she took the man she could get. Desperation made people
do some stupid things sometimes.
Chris was heavily into Jillian and apparently still was. Jillian
had invited Chris to come to Boston next week and Chris said he
would. This was the reason Rita was so negative. She loved Chris
and Chris loved Jillian. How was that for a twister? Jillian had
gotten what she wanted. Well, almost. Chris wasn't going to move
there like Jillian had planned, but he was going to visit her. He
was going to see her on his vacation the week before the party.
What if Jillian managed to convince him to come with him after
all and Rita lost him. There was no way Jillian was going to
allow them to maintain their friendship as jealous as she was.
Rita decided that if you love someone, let them go. She would
just have to go on without him, if that be the case. She hoped
not.
By Tuesday, Chris packed an overnight bag and headed out to catch
the flight to Boston. Jillian had had it in her mind that once
she was gone he would miss her. Kind of an
absence-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder thing. She didn't say as
much, but Chris knew the signs. Chris had no intentions of moving
to Boston. He was in love with Rita. He was only going to Boston
for one night and after that, he was flying right back home. Back
to Palm Beach. Back to Rita. Jillian wanted him to stay at her
new home, but he chose to make reservations at a hotel and rent
his own car. The farther away they were, the better. Not that
Chris couldn't control himself. He only had desire for Rita. He
trusted himself, he just didn't trust Jillian's intentions. Women
did some sneaky stuff when they wanted a man badly enough. He
wasn't about to fall into that trap. He didn't want to do
anything that could jeopardize his future relationship with Rita.
The less skeletons in his closet, the less he'd have to explain.
Yes, he had a future with Rita. Rita didn't know it yet, but
Chris was about to become her night in shining armor. Hopefully,
he could put the smile back on her face that Eric had erased.
Rita was going crazy. Chris had left for the airport that morning
to head to Boston. He had called her the night before to tell her
not to work too hard and that he'd be back soon. She wished she
could be a fly on the wall to hear what he and Jillian were going
to talk about. He was being so evasive these days that she could
only suspect that he may be thinking about staying in Boston.
Well, at least he hadn't resigned from Palm Beach PD…..yet.
No, she had to think positive. That was the only thing that kept
her going. If only she had told him how she felt about him that
day in the hospital after he'd been shot by Debra Bouchard. It
would have been worth the risk of him possibly rejecting her
advances than not ever having tried. There would have been no
Jillian and no Eric. Why did she wait so long to admit how she
felt? Hopefully, it wasn't too late. One thing was for sure, she
was not going to let the opportunity pass her by a second time.
Tuesday evening seemed to crawl by. By Wednesday evening, Rita
had expected Chris to call, but he hadn't. He was probably busy
with Jillian. She hoped not. It was during her musings when the
phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hey there, partner," the voice on the other end said.
Rita knew for sure it wasn't Chris.
"Derrick?"
"You sound surprised to hear from me. Don't tell me you
thought I'd forgotten about you?" Derrick McNeal said
jokingly.
"Hi, Derrick. How are you?"
"Great. Miami is treating me like a king. Hehe."
Rita laughed. Derrick had always been cool.
"Where are you? You sound like you're outside."
"I'm driving down West Palm Ave."
That was her block. "Derrick, what are you doing?" she
asked.
"Coming to your house. I know you weren't expecting me, but
I got this invitation from Captain Lipschitz's wife to come to
the Policeman's' Ball that I couldn't pass up. I'm staying at the
Palm Inn. Just thought I'd drop by and see ya. Is that
okay?" he asked belatedly.
"Yeah, that's cool. Since you invited yourself, why don't
you bring a pizza on your way. You remember that pizza place we
went to before, don't you?"
"Mario's Pizzas? Yep, I remember it. One pie, cheese, no
anchovies, right?"
"Right," Rita grinned.
"See ya soon."
Rita and Derrick were having a great time reminiscing about the
Debra Bouchard case and how much fun it was being
"short-term" partners. They laughed about how Chris
reacted when he'd heard about the shooting.
"I thought he was going to take my head off," Derrick
admitted. "I've never seen him that angry before in my
life."
"Well, he thought that George and I had gotten hurt.
Besides, he was probably more upset about not having been there
to watch my back than anything else."
"That amongst other things," Derrick said evasively.
"What do you mean 'amongst other things'?"
"Come on, Rita, you mean to tell me you didn't see the
signs?"
"What signs are you talking about, Derrick?"
"A man doesn't react the way Chris did unless they're more
interested than they're willing to admit."
Rita got up and started clearing the table. She needed to keep
busy for fear she would buy into this moment of false hope. Could
it be that Chris was more interested in her than he let on? Nah!
He was in Boston with Jillian as they spoke. No, he was where he
wanted to be.
Derrick kept silent. He knew it would be in his best interest to
remain quiet until Rita was ready to admit what he already
suspected. He wasn't about to play cupid, but that didn't stop
him from watering the seed just a little.
"Well, I'd better get back to the inn. I met this great
woman and we're going to bum around Palm Beach and see some
sights tomorrow."
Rita nodded in agreement. Derrick gave her a hug and a peck on
the cheek and was gone.
Thursday and Friday came and went with no word from Chris. Rita
resigned herself to the fact that he was where he wanted to be.
She wished him all the best.
It was Saturday, the morning before the night of the party and
Rita had just come in from her usual morning jog. She was
invigorated and in desperate need of a shower. After her shower,
she ate breakfast and went to the pet store to pick up food for
her fish. She remembered the first time she brought them home.
Chris had helped her with the tank. Funny how everything she did
reminded her of Chris. She never realized how much of a main
character he played in her life. It was hard to let go when
someone was that closely embedded in you. Hard but not
impossible.
Rita had gotten dressed an hour before she headed out to the
Odyssey Ballroom for the party. She wore a long, black evening
gown made of Satin with just a hint of lace at the bosom. It was
strapless and although she had a matching sheer shawl to go with
it, it still showed off her creamy, white, blemish free shoulders
and arms. Her black, strappy shoes complimented her feet causing
them to look even more delicate. Many a head did turn the moment
she walked into the room and by the time she made it to where Cap
and Fran were standing, her dance card had been completely
filled.
"Rita doll, you look absolutely beautiful, doesn't she
Heschy?" Frannie Lipschitz said in her usual gruff, but
gentle voice.
"She sure does, Fran. Rita, you look great," Cap said,
smiling at the woman who had become more of a daughter to him
than anyone else.
"Thanks, Fran. Thanks, Cap," she said. Looking around
to see if Chris had shown, she asked, "Guess Chris decided
not to come after all, huh?"
Cap and Fran had known Chris had gone to Boston, but they had no
idea when he would be back. They could only hope that he would at
least show up and tell, of all people, Rita what his next move
would be. It wasn't like him to leave her hanging. Maybe the rest
of the world, but not Rita.
"I'm sorry, doll, he never called to say a thing," Fran
said sadly.
Rita nodded, eyes downcast. "Well, I hope he's happy
wherever he is. I wish him all the best." She took a deep
breath and set all else aside. "Hey, this is a party. Let's
just enjoy ourselves, shall we?"
Rita danced the first four dances with a few of the men on the
force. She tried to enjoy herself, but her thoughts kept drifting
back to Chris. Had he decided to stay with Jillian? If so, did
that mean their friendship was over? Did he miss her the way she
missed him? Probably not. This thought made her all the more
depressed, but she kept up a good front that everything was
alright.
She chatted with Derrick McNeal and his date, Risa Taylor,
reminisced with Karen Krane and laughed and whooped it up with
her colleagues and friends. She'd only been there a good hour,
yet she was more than ready to leave. Things just weren't the
same without Chris. Would they ever be?
She was dancing with Kyle Sanders when she heard a familiar
voice.
"Hey, Sanders, who told you you could dance with my
partner?"
Kyle and Rita both turned around to see Chris standing there, his
grin a mile wide, his arms folded in that cocky fashion.
"Hey, Lorenzo, I didn't know your partner needed
permission," Kyle said jokingly.
He knew Chris and Rita's history and wasn't about to get in the
way. He considered this dance over.
"Like you said, she is my partner," Chris
said, pointing to himself to make his point.
"Wait a minute? Exactly which one of you cavemen do I belong
to? Try neither," she said, trying to sound bemused
when in actuality she was thrilled that he'd come. The thrill
dissipated once she realized it could be the night he says
goodbye. She decided not to expect too much.
The two men laughed as Kyle handed Rita off to Chris.
"Hey, Sam," Chris said with a smile as he gazed into
her eyes.
"Hey."
"You look stunning!"
"Thanks," she said, blushing a little. Compliments from
Chris always did this to her. "You clean up nice yourself,
Sam."
"Thanks."
He pulled her closer so that their bodies melded into each other
and began to sway as one. Song after song, as each melody played,
they danced. The men on her dance card realized that their
opportunity had been shot once Chris had shown up, but they
didn't mind. What could they say? Chris was one lucky
son-of-a-gun!
Chris had worn a Louis Vuitton suit and smelled of Drakkar. Mmmm,
Rita thought, he looks and smells delicious! The suit had been a
recent present from Benny Lorenzo; the cologne, a birthday
present from Rita two years ago. Funny he would wear it now.
Chris and Rita left the party together well after 2 a.m. and not
once during that time had Rita asked him a thing about Boston. He
understood why. She had probably come up with her own reasons as
to why he'd been out of contact with her. All of them wrong, he
was sure.
They had taken Rita's car because Chris had come to the party via
cab. She had decided to drop him off and then go home, but once
she got to his loft he refused to go in without her. Lord knows
she didn't want to hear what he possibly had to say about his
trip to Boston at this time of night when she was most
vulnerable. However, she was dying to find out what had happened,
why he hadn't called, and if he was going back to Jillian? The
thought of what Chris and Jillian may have been doing
together made Rita cringed. What was so wrong with her that
Chris couldn't be doing those things with her? These
questions did not help Rita in the least bit. She would just have
to hear him out and whatever the outcome, accept it.
They were sitting on the couch listening to Kenny G. Chris had
loosened his tie and kicked off his shoes. He was never really a
tie man to begin with. The things near bout choked the mess out
of him. He glanced over at his silent and very tense partner. She
was sitting on the far side of the couch. So far that he almost
had to stretch to reach her and pull her a tad closer. He noticed
the way in which she jumped when he touched her. Well, not
exactly jump but he could tell her nerves were on edge. Just as
his were. Just how did a man tell his partner and bestfriend that
he was in love with her? He guessed that the best way was to just
say it. So………
…… "Nice party tonight, eh, Sammy?" that was
rich, Lorenzo, Chris chastened himself. 'Nice party tonight' my
foot. Why don't you just ask her about the weather, idiot?
"Yeah," was her quiet reply.
Crash and burn! Lorenzo, come on! You've managed to romance more
women than you can count and you mean to say you can't even say
the right things to Rita? Chris kicked himself for sounding like
a teen out on his first date, but when it came down to it, he
loved Rita too much to just throw her a line. He had to be
himself. Something he hadn't been with the others. Rita was
better than that, therefore, she deserved better than that. He
tried again.
"I guess you're wondering what happened in Boston,
right?"
"Um, I guess I was wondering…….a little," she
said shyly.
Chris got up and began to pace. He'd never been so nervous in his
life. After a minute or two, he sat down next to her; closer than
he had been a moment ago. He could smell the scent of her
perfume. Mmmmm….White Diamonds. He had given that to her the
same day he gave her the friendship ring. She'd worn it many
times before and it had had the same effect on him then that it
did now. It drove him crazy. Was she the only woman who smelled
so good. Even Ivory soap smelled erotic on this woman.
"Just so you know, I never had any intentions of making up
with Jillian. I needed to talk to her. To get closure for her,
not me. There were some things that she needed to
understand."
He had her full attention now. She turned to face him.
"What kind of things?"
"Well, one, that I wasn't moving to Boston under any
circumstances. Two, my life is in Palm Beach…." He
said, letting the rest hang in mid-air.
"And three?"
"And, three. Well, three isn't something I can just tell you
about, Sam," he said with a shy look.
"I don't understand. Why can't you tell me? I thought we
could talk about anything. Look, Chris, if you're still in love
with Jillian, it's okay. I'll just have to accept that and go on
with my life. Long distance relationships don't last very long in
my opinion, but if you and Jillian want to do this thing, that's
fine."
"That's not what I meant, Sam. Jillian and I-"
"Besides, what business is it of mine. If that's what you
want, I'm behind you 100%-"
"-are over. I was never in love with her
because-"
"-no matter what you decide. If you want me to be happy for
you,-"
"-I'm in love with you," he said on a goofy grin.
"-then I'm happy for you. You deserve to be happy. You're a
great guy, I mea-" she was cut off once Chris' lips
descended on hers
It was the only way he could think of to stop her ranting. She
was obviously nervous and sometimes Rita had a tendency to go on
and on without conclusion when that was the case. So, Chris
kissed her to shut her up and allow what he'd just said to sink
in.
What should have been a means to relieve Rita's nerves became a
soul searing, heart stopping kiss. Chris couldn't stop and Rita
couldn't think. Before either one could stop themselves, they
were lying on the couch: Rita on top of Chris. Their lips only
parted long enough to get some much-needed air, but they were
right back in place once that necessity was taken care of.
Chris' hands roamed all over Rita's body causing a chill to
coarse through her. A hot chill. Her shawl had fallen to
the floor and Chris was slowly unzipping her dress at the same
time nibbling one exposed shoulder then the other. She kissed the
length of his jawline and the corners of his mouth. She could
feel his arousal pushing at her, beckoning her to free it. It was
this realization that caused her to jump off him to the other end
of the couch.
Chris groaned in agony, missing her presence.
"Sammy, what's wrong?" he asked as he sat up.
She was sitting there holding the dress in place to keep it from
slipping down since it was no longer zipped. Her hair was down
around her shoulders and some hung in her face. She looked as if
she'd just been thoroughly made love to. She looked ever so much
the seductress, yet she also looked like an innocent. This caused
him even greater discomfort in his slacks. Thank God they were
loose, for now.
"Did you say you were in love with me?" she
asked, her heart hoping. She didn't want to go any further until
she was sure.
Chris visibly sighed a sigh of relief. For a minute there, he
thought something was wrong.
"Yup, that's what I said." He moved closer until he was
a hair's breath away. "Sammy, I've loved you since the first
time I laid eyes on you. I cared about Jillian. I may
have even liked her, but I knew after our second date that I
couldn't let go of my feelings for you."
"Are you saying that it's because of me that you broke
up?" Rita wanted Chris but not at the expense of someone
else's feelings.
However, Chris reassured her, "No. I felt a modicum of
gratitude for what Jillian had done by saving my life. I confused
gratitude with love when the love for another woman just wasn't
there. The only woman I've ever felt this kind of love for is
you…and my Grandma Rose before you. Don't think for a minute
that you did or said anything to break me and Jillian up. That
ended before it began. Understand?"
She smiled that smile he loved so much. "Yeah, I
understand." Then she grinned and said, "A modicum of
gratitude, eh?"
"Yep. I've been known to toss around a big word or two on
occasion."
They laughed. Everything was going to be okay.
"I love you, Rita." Chris' serious tone and expression
told her he was being completely honest.
"I love you, too, Chris," she said, relieved she'd
finally said it.
So…" she said, head cocked to the side and giving him
the beguiling look that spoke volumes.
"So…," he said with a grin as he moved closer and
closer.
Their lips touched and the spark ignited into a
fire….engulfing them both in its inferno of love as the Sams
went out in a blaze of glory.
Chris and Rita just left my office not two minutes ago with great news. Seems Fran's plan worked to a tee. They just told me that they're in love and seeing each other. I told them to lay low until I can make "special" arrangements for them to stay partnered. I also told them how happy I am for them. Well, if you'll excuse me, I've got to call Frannie. She'll be thrilled! What, did you expect me to sit here and talk to you all day? I have a department to run. Out! Out!
You can email DJ at DeShoneJohnson@webtv.net. Also, our dear friend DJ forgot the most boring part of all fanfics... the disclaimers. DJ doesn't own Chris, Rita, Cap, and Frannie. They belong to USA, so have mercy and don't sue her :-)