Serious Snafu

Chapter 11

News of the Hatchet Hannah hoax rippled through the town garnering reactions that ranged from disgust to awe. Eventually, the public collectively laughed. In a city that had been to hell and back, a few mutilated mannequins seemed minor in the grand scheme of things. Plus, New Orleans loved a good prank. However, the various police organizations, including the NCIS team, didn't find it amusing. They protested the waste of manpower and resources.

Ever pandering to the producers so they would continue to bring their film-making dollars to the city, Mayor Douglas Hamilton appealed to the police chief and his old frenemy Dwayne Pride. In the end, the producers schmoozed them with swag including tickets to the premiere.

The event was held at the Pegasus, a refurbished movie palace. Pride, Brody, and Loretta graciously declined, but Sebastian conjoled Chris and Sonja jnto going with him. The tickets included a meet and greet with the actors, one of whom was Eve Grant, a comely actress who first achieved success on TV as the sexy, but brilliant forensic scientist on "Gotcha!" She also turned out to be Sebastian's secret crush (besides the agent from Michigan).

Chris and Sonja saw this as the perfect way to have a date out in public without anyone catching on. After all, they were just three friends going to the movies. Once they got in, Chris used his persuasive charm to procure the seat next to the lovely Miss Grant, which he graciously gave to the star-struck lab rat. Once Sebastian was taken care of, LaSalle and the lovely Miss Percy scampered to the balcony.

In the great tradition of the theatre, a velvet rope was drawn across the stairs with a "Closed" sign.

"Seriously?" Percy said, her smile disappeared.

"Watch this," LaSalle said. He looked quickly left to right, then clicked the rope open and motioned to Percy.

"Didn't know I had super powers did yah?" he grinned. He replaced the rope, and they tore up the stairs as if the devil himself was after them.

With Sonja on Chris's lap, they sprawled across two seats munching the popcorn that Sebastian insisted on getting. They listened patiently to the speeches before about the history, the hoax, yada, yada, yada. But, once the lights went down, Percy threw her arms around LaSalle and ...

Sorry, what happens in the balcony stays in the balcony.

Once in awhile, they did give watching the movie the old college try (Roll Tide), but just gave up by the second murder. As the lights went up, they reassembled themselves. Sonja worried that Sebastian would notice they were gone.

LaSalle smiled, "Darlin' don't worry. He won't remember his own name."

Sure enough, Sebastian was so enthralled, he barely acknowledged them when they met up at the after party. It turned out the actress had been a biology major in college with a thing for nerds-tall, skinny ones with glasses.

When queried later by the team members, the three together could not produce a coherent summary of the film's plot.

XXXXXXXX

"What'cha readin'?" Chris peered over Sonja's shoulder as she focused on a crumbled piece of paper. She was sitting crossed-legged on his bed, leaning against the headboard, and wearing his favorite UA t-shirt. He loved how she stretched it out in all the right places.

They had just celebrated their six-week anniversary, in much the same way they celebrated their first, second, third and subsequent week anniversaries - making love followed by intimate conversation. Neither would admit it, but each cherished the times when they put aside the clever quips and innuendo. They spoke of inner fears and dreams, moments when they discovered truths about the world, stories they never shared with anyone else. It was as if combining their bodies created a open space of unconditional acceptance.