Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Dulce
Nov 27, 2010 0:24:14 GMT
Post by Chris on Nov 27, 2010 0:24:14 GMT
Elle's straightforward declaration of Chris' dietary inclinations made him laugh a little. "I think that might be the first time anyone's called me a carnivore like that," he said to her, narrowing his eyes a little as he leaned back in his chair for a moment as though taking it in, studying something so simple in great detail. He cracked a smile and sat forward again to browse the menu afresh, paying extra attention to the things Elle had mentioned in particular; the fish, the beef and the pasta. There weren't all that many things Chris didn't eat really, perhaps that was a police thing; you learned to take what you could get on short notice and so ended up with a broad taste when it came to food in general. Still, he had his preferences like anyone else. "I might have to give the fish a shot if that's what you usually have. It must be good." His smile jokingly suggested that she had high standards and therefore the fish must be worth having time and again.
Honestly Chris didn't know how Elle handled the fame, such as it was. With the experiences she had had, many would have written off the pursuit of such a career altogether but instead of deterring her, it seemed to have made Elle all the more determined to succeed. It was hard not to admire her for that. Obviously Chris had no idea what that was like but he did know how it felt to be targeted in some way and that was never pleasant. They were at least alike in their defiance and stubbornness though; they hadn't allowed negative circumstances to chase them away from their chosen paths but instead stood their ground and defended what was theirs, namely their jobs and reputations.
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Dulce
Nov 27, 2010 1:07:54 GMT
Post by Elle on Nov 27, 2010 1:07:54 GMT
Elle was still smiling when he spoke, raising her shoulders innocently as she pored over the menu some more, glancing up conspiratorially. "Well, I suppose of we want to be accurate you're an omnivore," she added. "Take it from me; I watch the Discovery channel." Obviously Elle's diet was something she carefully managed and not for something as simple as counting calories or whatever else, she had to managed her salt and potassium intake, she avoided red meat totally these days and stuck to things like fish and salads and fruits; some people she knew would ask her how on earth she managed to have given up pretty much all the foods she really loved but it seemed simple to her, what was giving up a few foods compared to having a second shot at life? "Uh oh, it better be good now that I've recommended it," she was saying, closing her menu now that she'd made her own decision.
Architecture was all Elle knew really, she had take to it early and couldn't imagine doing anything different with her life, the things that had happened to her weren't enough to derail her desire to contribute something real and lasting to the landscape of a city like Los Angeles. It wasn't really about the television show, as much fun as that was, and it wasn't even about the books or the small amount of fame it brought her, she just really enjoyed her work, she loved buildings and their history and no one man or experience was ever going to be able to tear her away from that. If anything it made her realise how much she needed to make some kind of lasting architectural contribution to the world, her own mortality had been pressed upon her and if that made her more bold and outgoing then so be it.
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Dulce
Nov 27, 2010 1:21:29 GMT
Post by Chris on Nov 27, 2010 1:21:29 GMT
Chris knew very well just how seriously Elle took the condition that had almost claimed her life, from her diet to exercise to her medications and that was just another thing to respect about the woman sitting across from him now. So many people with serious health conditions from cancer to diabetes to those like Elle who had had transplants didn't take such things nearly half as seriously as they ought to which was ridiculous, it seemed so careless and indifferent and just ungrateful. With all the medical advances mankind had made there were still those out there who turned their noses up at the efforts of others, doctors and other professionals whose job it was to advise those whose lives had been changed by one condition or another; Chris couldn't imagine how it would feel to have it thrown back in your face in some way. Honestly he had enough of that sort of thing in his own line of work.
"I'm expecting this fish to change my life, just so you know." Chris flipped his own menu shut even as the waiter returned with their drinks, setting a glass down to the right of each setting, one on each side of the table. Thanking the man, Chris watched as the waiter set the tray on which he had carried the drink under his arm as he asked if they were ready to order. "Ladies first," Chris said to Elle, prompting her to go before him not only because the place was so new to him but because it was how he had been raised; ladies first, hold the door open for the person behind you and say please and thank you. The rules didn't always apply but as and where possible Chris minded his manners, especially when he was with friends.
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Dulce
Nov 27, 2010 2:03:46 GMT
Post by Elle on Nov 27, 2010 2:03:46 GMT
Elle laughed. "Oh my god the pressure," she said, touching a hand to her forehead in a faux stressed action that was belied by the fact she was still smiling, enjoying the levity of the conversation.
As she had come to expect of the restaurant the waiter was very prompt in returning with their drinks and Elle offered him a smile and a thanks before Chris prompted her to order first. Looking up at the waiter she shifted a little in her seat and picked up the menu to hand back to him, having already decided that she was indeed going to have fish as she did so often; "I'll have the Chilean Sea Bass, thank you," she said to him as he nodded, jotted it down and then took her menu from her and folded it under his arm along with the tray, turning his gaze to Chris expectantly.
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Dulce
Nov 27, 2010 2:28:13 GMT
Post by Chris on Nov 27, 2010 2:28:13 GMT
It had been too long since Chris had been out like this, so easily falling into a casual and comfortable conversation with someone who knew how he ticked and didn't judge him, whether it be for his lack of social life or his tendency to let his mind wander every now and then, usually back over some detail of an ongoing case that he had been assigned or perhaps even something from the past that still bothered him days, weeks, months or even years down the line. Elle let Chris be Chris and he appreciated that; even other people in his department didn't understand or accept him for who he was as much as he thought the woman across from him did sometimes. Strange, really.
"Make that two," Chris said when the waiter glanced to him and he watched the man make a note before reaching out and taking the second offered menu, tucking that under his arm along with the first before hurrying away to put in their order. "You should be used to this kind of pressure," he said to Elle as if there had been no break in their light-hearted conversation whatsoever. "Don't tell me you can deal with the masses of fans out there but not my opinion on a plate of fish." Shaking his head and offering her an exaggerated sigh, Chris could only hold back the smile for so long before it broke through his defences.
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Dulce
Nov 27, 2010 2:46:07 GMT
Post by Elle on Nov 27, 2010 2:46:07 GMT
A lot of dinners for Elle had been work over the years, she'd spent a lot of time going over production schedules and contracts over working lunches or just like tonight, so it was refreshing to actually be out as herself in a way, just enjoying dinner for the sake of it and not having to be thinking about her work timetable, where she had to be for this and when and who she needed to speak to about that. As for Chris it went both ways really, he didn't expect anything of her in terms of the way she represented herself publicly; they'd met on human terms, as people with somewhat rocky lives behind them and she liked the realness of their relationship, that they could just be themselves. Especially in a city like Los Angeles which could seem so false.
With the menus and waiter gone Elle picked up her drink, the colour of a sunrise and took a sip, tilting her head as she set it down again, apparently satisfied. "Oh right, the masses of fans," Elle echoed with a little good natured sarcasm. "I don't go out to dinner with my masses of fans, it's completely different pressure. Suppose you choke on a bone, how do you think I'd feel?" Giving him a long look she gestured with one hand, adding: "Awful, that's how." Apparently she was on a roll now, the food was ordered and she relaxed quickly and easily into the conversation, proving that she could, as quoted by Hannah, chat up a storm when given enough room to. "The most have to do for fans is sign something." Elle made a little signature gesture with her fingers. "Their lives are rarely in my hands." There was another entertained smile, an eyebrow raised in teasing.
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Dulce
Nov 27, 2010 2:58:15 GMT
Post by Chris on Nov 27, 2010 2:58:15 GMT
Work dinners for men like Chris usually comprised of paperwork strewn over any available surface with open take-out cartons dotted in between said papers. People in his line of work didn't go out to restaurants to discuss business, at least not those at his level or his pay grade and that was fine, he much preferred the easy-going albeit somewhat hectic responsibilities that came with the rank of sergeant in the Narcotics department of the Los Angeles Police Department, a position Chris intended to hold for many years to come. He had worked long and hard to get where he was today and he was proud of what he had accomplished, just as he liked to think -- or at least hope given that he wasn't really prone to bouts of arrogance -- that his father would be proud of him too.
"I like to think I'm past the point of choking on my food, but if it helps then I promise to be very careful." Picking up the glass that was already lightly beaded with condensation, he drank from the rim before setting it down again. "Remind me to get you to sign something before the night is out," he went on to add in a shameless taunt, wagging a finger her way as if it had been on his mind and she had genuinely triggered his memory. "Maybe if I choke on a bone that can be your way of making it up to me. You can autograph my napkin or something, if they'll let you."
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Dulce
Nov 27, 2010 3:19:17 GMT
Post by Elle on Nov 27, 2010 3:19:17 GMT
"Fish can be tricky. Don't say I didn't warn you," Elle warned with a jubilant tone and a slight sing-song voice that brought out the French inflections of her voice, things that were unnoticeable after such a long time spent living in America but that surfaced every so often, when she was tired or stressed, or equally when she was most at ease or affecting a playful tone as she just had been, they were little hints to her early childhood disguised in her voice by the harsher sounds of the native accent she had picked up courtesy of her teenage years spent there. No doubt that were she to return to France her accent would come back in full force.
When he wagged his finger at her teasingly she shook her head lightly and her nose wrinkled with an amused expression that was partly as if she were telling him silently he was utterly ridiculous, but that she didn't mind. "Oh dear, you'll make me think you're just here for my fame if you're not careful," she laughed.
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Dulce
Nov 28, 2010 0:08:21 GMT
Post by Chris on Nov 28, 2010 0:08:21 GMT
"I've handled all kinds of criminals and suspects. I think I can handle a dead fish." There was a smile on his face as he said the words, brows quirked upward slightly to add to the light tone. Given how grim his job could be it was nice to have this kind of conversation, free of weight and seriousness, something almost juvenile and utterly harmless about the way they carried the back and forth. Chris was more grateful for that than he thought possible. He had seen men and women in his line of work lose themselves to the job in one way or another; they let themselves go and involved themselves so deeply, too deeply in the cases they investigated. Even beat cops, the ones who wore the uniform and went out in the cars or to walk the streets could lose their grip, lose sight of the line an officer of the law should never cross. Chris never wanted to be that way.
With a laugh he leaned forward comfortably, arms propped on the covered surface of the table with his hands knitted in front of him. "Maybe I am," he teased, going on to pick up his glass and drink from it, setting it down just as casually as he had lifted it. "Maybe I only agreed to come out with you tonight in the hopes that my picture would end up in the paper. We all like a little attention from time to time, you know." Nothing seemed more absurd to Chris but she was the one who had started them down this path, so why not continue right along with her?
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Dulce
Nov 28, 2010 0:46:04 GMT
Post by Elle on Nov 28, 2010 0:46:04 GMT
At that she had to concede that he had her. "Touché," she commented with a laugh. It was actually good to see him relaxed now that she thought about it, it was reassuring. They had actually met under very serious circumstances, she remembered the interview very clearly, the panic that had clawed up her throat upon finding out that her attacker had managed to escape and evade capture and to have come all this way to actually be friends able to enjoy banter while eating out was both something she was strangely proud of and comforted by. In a way she had come to trust Chris more than almost anyone else she knew because of that first meeting, because he had been persistent and dedicated to his job, because he had never treated her like a victim, like she was fragile. It was good to spend time with him when he seemed at ease.
"I see how it is," Elle said a moment later, taking up a mock affronted expression and pursing her lips as if she were giving a very serious warning, though the fact that she was joking was obvious, especially to someone she knew as well as Chris. "You won't be half so cavalier when we end up in the gossip column, Sergeant." Of course Elle hadn't actually ever been in the gossip column of any magazine, they had plenty of people to gossip about in LA and she wasn't one of them. "I feel so used," she sniffed and then picked up her drink with a smile.
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Dulce
Nov 28, 2010 1:06:44 GMT
Post by Chris on Nov 28, 2010 1:06:44 GMT
That hadn't been fun for anyone involved, their meeting; Chris actually wished now years after the fact that they had been able to meet under better circumstances but he was genuinely touched by the fact that Elle had seen fit to keep him in her life. Chris hadn't been expecting it in the least, not even after he had made the effort to go back and see her to apologise for causing her emotional distress during their first interview with her; to still know her now long after that meeting and to be able to call her friend, one of his closest if he was going to be honest -- though to be fair it wasn't as if Chris' social circle was exactly large -- meant a lot to him. He liked that he could be himself with Elle and it felt comfortable and natural. It came easily, and that was something he needed, something no one else could really help to provide for him.
"Oh, throwing my rank at me now?" He leaned back in his chair as if affronted when nothing could be further from the truth. "Well played." At that though he decided to let up on the joke, it had played its course and provided them both with a nice release. Getting comfortable again, elbows propped on the table he considered the décor and layout once more as if suddenly able to see it from a new perspective. "You know, I can't remember the last time I ate out," he admitted as though it were some great surprise to anyone who might hear it when really it was probably rather obvious. He just wasn't the type to go out for dinner and anyone who heard what he did for a living assumed that right off the bat. With some cops it was far from the truth but not with him.
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Dulce
Nov 28, 2010 1:39:24 GMT
Post by Elle on Nov 28, 2010 1:39:24 GMT
Chris and his partner hadn't been informed of her medical situation at the time and when she had eventually calmed down she certainly hadn't blamed him for the shock to the system the news had brought her -- the fact that she had been in the ICU had, it seemed to the doctors, been a negligible piece of information, it wasn't an injury that had been done to her by her attacker, just a situation triggered by the stress and anxiety of the crash. It was the assurance that they would find her attacker eventually, that he would be held accountable for what he'd done that had sustained her through the long wait for a new heart to replace her broken one.
"It's not like you have a job that makes it easy though," Elle replied supportively. "Always so busy, never knowing when you might have to be called in..." She trailed away to take a sip of her drink, laying her free arm across the table with her wrist at the edge, her hand dangling off casually as they slipped into equally casual conversation. "Who has the time for anything these days, it's all go go go."
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Dulce
Nov 28, 2010 1:53:20 GMT
Post by Chris on Nov 28, 2010 1:53:20 GMT
Elle might not have blamed him but that hadn't negated the fact that Chris had felt extremely guilty and determined to put things right. He had wished on more than one occasion that the first interview could have been redone but that being impossible, well beyond reach, he had settled instead for apologising and returning to the hospital to ensure she was all right and they hadn't upset her too greatly. Perhaps if he hadn't gone back to the hospital the way he had they wouldn't have ended up forming a friendship that he now considered strong and bonded. Chris had told her once that he would do everything in his power to find the man who had done so much damage, mental and emotional as the majority of it had been, and years later he still meant them.
Turning his glass on the table, he considered her quietly as she sipped her drink. "Well you make time for it, don't you?" he countered, deciding quite abruptly to leave the beer alone in case he somehow managed to tip it over. He wasn't at all uncoordinated -- you couldn't stay in the game if you couldn't even manage the little things around you -- but accidents happened and the night was going pleasantly so far; he didn't want to upset it at all. "I ought to be taking notes, your life is a lot busier than mine and you still manage to have one of those illusive social lives on top of it all."
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Dulce
Nov 28, 2010 2:14:15 GMT
Post by Elle on Nov 28, 2010 2:14:15 GMT
Elle gave a short laugh, playing with the edge of her napkin absent-mindedly. "You'd probably be surprised. Half the time I end up eating out because I literally have no food in the house-- if you go to Maine for seven days and then to Washington State for three you come home to bad milk." Non perishables were the key there, but her diet didn't exactly lend itself to her eating a lot of processed foods, it wasn't that she never had take-out but she erred on the side of caution always, she would get tofu and ginger with a side order of bean sprout salad as opposed to kung pow chicken. It seemed like one of those weirdly pretentious diets she was always hearing about, the fads that celebrities went through, but she had good reason for her eating habits.
Despite her self-deprecating tone she shrugged a little, considering what he'd said properly; it was true she did make time to go out and enjoy herself, to meet up with friends when and where she could and her schedule could go from nought to hectic in about ten seconds flat it sometimes seemed. "I guess you're right though, I do make time for things outside of work, I figure I have to. You're only meant to get one shot at life and I'm already on my second, so why waste it?"
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Dulce
Nov 28, 2010 2:33:48 GMT
Post by Chris on Nov 28, 2010 2:33:48 GMT
Right on cue Chris pulled a bad face at the notion of bad milk. He hadn't thought of that, how Elle's frequent travels would affect just what she could do in her own home, and of course food would be one of the key issues there. Chris' problem was that he often forgot to buy groceries so he had to order in because there was nothing but mustard and stale bread and that hardly made a decent meal. Honestly if he didn't work the long and busy hours that he did, Chris suspected he would be at least a little overweight by now given his diet and how poor it had to be. Take-out was hardly healthy, or at the dishes that he ordered weren't.
His smile was gentle and understanding -- at least as understanding as someone on the outside looking in could be -- at what she said, his nod subtle. Chris' closest brush with death had been when he'd been shot earlier in his career, several years ago now, and even then it had just been a deep graze rather than a severe gunshot wound of any kind; he still had the scar to go with the story but his life hadn't really been threatened. All things considered, he was extremely lucky as police officers went and he knew it. "Well, for what it's worth, you certainly don't seem to waste a second." His smile grew, and he hoped she caught the sense of admiration it was intended to carry across. "I mean that as a compliment, in case that wasn't clear."
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