By A.M. Glass
Ratings: (USA) T/M | (UK) 15 | (AUS) M
Copyright: Nov. 29th — December 3rd, 2002.
Second Revision: December 15th, 2002.
Third Revision: Feburary 2nd, 2003.
Fourth Revision: December 10th, 2004.
Spoilers: For “Scared Straight” and “Don’t Look Back”.
Disclaimer: Jordan Cavanaugh, Lisa Fromer, et al belong to Tim Kring, Tailwind Productions and NBC Studios. No copyright infringement is intended or inferred. The story along with any/all original characters are the sole property of the author and cannot be used without expressed permission first.
Pairing: Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh and Dr. Lisa Fromer.
Notes: This is the fourth story based around the episode “Scared Straight” the first being “Easy”, followed by “The Call” then “All Yours”.
Author’s Disclaimer: Let’s face it, I don’t own “Crossing Jordan” or any of the characters, back story, etc. I’m not making a cent from it – if I did, I’d buy a new computer and some other things. The story; along with any original characters are mine though… I think. Pesky copyright laws.
Thanks To: Gatekeeper for going over the story and making sure I wasn’t butchering Jordan’s character too much as well as the gentle shove that made me strive for more .
Feedback: Would be nice.
“Jordan.”
“Garrett,” she replied as they bumped into each other on their way into the office.
“How was your weekend?” he asked as he took a sip from his coffee cup.
“Great… yours?”
“Good. Funny thing happened though on Friday night.”
“Really? What?” she asked as they continued to walk down the hallway.
“I was in the car, and I happened to catch Dr. Fromer’s program. You remember her don’t you?”
“The Goodman case right?”
“Exactly. As I was saying, I happened to catch her program… and,” he stopped and turned in her direction. “I could have sworn that I heard your voice.”
“You’re joking right?” she asked feeling a sense of panic rising in her.
“No.”
“Come on Garrett, I’ve got better things to do than to call some radio program,” she told him trying to keep the defensiveness out of her voice.
“I never said it was you. I only said that this person sounded like you Jordan,” he replied quietly.
“I’m sure that’s happened to you…”
“Granted, I’m just saying it was funny that’s all.”
“I’m sure that whoever it was appreciates the fact that you thought her situation was funny. See ya around Garrett,” Jordan said as she left him and headed towards the break room.
“Hmm… me thinks thou protest too much,” he muttered under his breath as he watched her walking away.
“Where are you?” Jordan said out loud as she searched for a file. “Come on… come on.”
Her eyes lit up when she found the file in question, opening it, she began her search. It only took a few minutes to find the information she needed. Closing the file, she replaced it and went to her office.
She went to her desk and dialed the number she had taken from the file. Although they had gone out, Jordan hadn’t been to Lisa’s apartment since she told her about the arrest in Stephanines murder — nor did she know her home phone number. She’d either call Lisa’s private line at work or her cell phone. By the fifth ring, Jordan was getting nervous. ‘Pick up,’ she thought as the phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Lisa?”
“Can I help you?”
“It’s Jordan,” she said, breathing a sigh of relief that she had caught the other woman at home.
“Jordan, is there something wrong?” Lisa asked, having heard the agitation in her voice.
“I need to talk to you.”
“Of course. Would you like to come over now?”
Jordan’s first reaction was to say yes and rush right over. “Could I come by after work?”
“Hold on,” Lisa replied as she grabbed her PDA and checked her schedule for that evening. She noticed a few things that she knew she could put off for another day. “I’m free.”
“What about your show?” she asked.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll just call the station and let them know I won’t be in…”
“I can’t let you do that…”
“You’re not, Jordan,” Lisa said firmly. “I am.”
Jordan smiled to herself as a warm feeling settled over her, momentarily taking the anxiety she was experiencing and pushed it to the background.
“I’ll see you later Jordan.”
“Thanks.”
“Bye.”
Jordan rubbed her suddenly sweaty palms on her khakis as she stood in front of Lisa’s door. Reaching out, she knocked on it, all the while looking around and vaguely wondering what Lisa’s neighbors were like.
“Jordan?”
Turning her head quickly, she smiled. “Hello.”
“Come on in,” Lisa said as she stepped aside, allowing the other woman to enter.
“Thanks.”
“Would you like a drink?”
“Nah, I’m okay.”
“Have a seat. What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?” Lisa asked as they sat down on the sofa.
“Garrett heard my voice on the radio,” Jordan started out saying as she looked down at her hands.
“That’s your boss right?” she asked, trying to recall the people Jordan spoke about.
“Yeah.”
“What happened?”
“I told him it wasn’t me… that I didn’t have the time to call into a radio show…”
“You didn’t want him to know,” Lisa stated softly, barely restraining the hurt she felt inside at Jordan’s careless words. She knew she had grown to care for the brash young woman sitting next to her, but she wasn’t sure if Jordan had decided what she wanted.
Jordan leaned back, rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands. “No,” she sighed.
“And why is that?” Lisa asked, wanting nothing more than to embrace the other woman — to offer comfort in an obvious moment of crisis in Jordan’s life.
“Look… I don’t need you to analyze me,” Jordan said as she abruptly stood up. “This was a mistake.”
“Jordan… wait!” Lisa called out, quickly reaching the brunette before she could get to the door. “What exactly do you want from me? Friendship? Fine, you’ve got it. But don’t jump down my throat for asking a question. I won’t stand for it and neither would you.”
“I kissed Woody,” Jordan whispered.
“What?” Lisa asked shaking her head slightly, confusion coloring her voice. She suddenly found herself needing to sit down.
“Woody… Detective Hoyt. I kissed him.”
“When?”
“That case,” she looked in Lisa’s direction before turning away. “The one that took me to Los Angeles…” Jordan could not figure out why she felt as if she had let Lisa down in some way.
“Oh,” Lisa replied as she turned around, walked back to the sofa and sat down slowly.
“Nothing else happened, you’ve got to believe me,” Jordan pleaded.
“Jordan,” Lisa said as she looked in her direction. “We’re not involved. You don’t have to explain anything to me,” she told her.
“That’s just it — I feel…” Jordan placed her hand on her chest, “As if I do. I mean, here we were, in the middle on the desert, on a case, and I kissed him…”
As hard as it might be to listen, Lisa decided it would be in her best interest if she let Jordan talk it out, rather than interrupt.
“We kissed twice… and Woody… Detective Hoyt… we both thought it would be best if we just forgot it ever happened. But before we came back, he changed his mind… he thought that maybe we shouldn’t forget about it. I told him that I could think of plenty of reasons why we should leave it the way it was,” Jordan paced the living room floor. “He asked me what they were… and I blew it off. I told him that we should put the walls up now, before either of us got hurt. He agreed, and then we kissed, for the second time. “One for the road,” he called it. But Lisa…” Jordan stopped in front of the blonde. “I did have a reason… a damn good one.”
“What was it Jordan? What was the reason?”
Lisa knew that whatever Jordan said next would change their friendship, one way or another.
The End
To be continued with The Invitation.