Internal Affairs Ch. 14

Peter pulled Helen close only because she stirred. While he was busy caressing her from behind, Trish said, "I want pancakes." Helen and Peter both broke into laughter. Trish spoke again, "What?"

"Come on, let me take a shower and we can go to the IPD for pancakes," Peter suggested.

Half an hour later, Peter looked across the table at Trish. She wore the same jeans she had worn to Helen house. Helen loaned her a much to large sweat shirt for the skinny ass Trish. They were separated by a ten years difference in age. There body types were totally different and so was there attitudes.

While they ate their pancakes, Helen was all giggly and Trish was serious as a heart attack. Peter wondered again how he came to be sitting across from the two of them in a booth. Helen looked as if there might be something going on under the table. Trish looked as though she was enjoying the pancakes. She did make a quiet growling sound now and then. Peter had heard it before, so he realized she was sexually aroused.

The night before they had the 'boy was I drunk last night' excuse. Peter's had no excuse, except that he was just a dog

"Alright you two, one of you needs to drive me home." Peter said in the parking lot outside the pancake house. Peter had been the one to pay since he was the one with the most disposable income.

"I can do it," Trish said. She looked at Helen to see the disapproval in her eyes. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing, I just thought we would all hang out?" she asked.

"You two hang out, I have to stop in the office to clear my back log. If I don't Iva the terrible will have a hissy fit, and rightly so."

"You are right. I should go in as well. I haven't touched a file in almost a week. I would rather go to New York and I hate New York," Trish said.

"I have plenty of exciting house work to do," Helen said with her face all screwed up in pain.

"I should get some cleaning supplies and work on my tiny little place as well," Peter said, "But I choose to read files instead."

"Iva will appreciate it, I'm sure," Helen said. Your cubicle is over run with files, none of which has your signature pink post it note attached."

"Okay Trish drop me at my place and I'll vacuum while I have the energy," Helen stated with a smile.

"Tell me something Trish," Peter said as they drove toward his place with her trunk filled with his laundry.

"Sure what do you wish to know?" she asked.

"I have never been to your place. You live with your parents don't you?" Peter asked.

Trish didn't answer for a couple of seconds which seemed like minutes. "Yes," she said simply.

"You have a maid don't you?" he asked not letting it go even though she seemed uncomfortable with it.

"Yes the family has maid service. I don't have a maid," she said.

"Oh do you do your own laundry?" he asked thinking about the bags of his clean clothes in the trunk of her car.

"No someone on the household staff does it. Peter before you go on, I know you don't approve of our lifestyle. My father wouldn't approve of yours either," she said.

"That's fair enough," Peter said and stopped talking. That short Q&A did explain why he had never been to her place. Why she would make love oh a tiny cot rather than a larger bed at her place. She had no place of her own. She was the dorky nerd from high school who hadn't moved on, at least in her head.

She had rejected her parent's life style, as we all do, but she couldn't force herself to leave the comfort and safety of the lifestyle either. In other words she was just as fucked up as everyone else, he thought.

Peter managed to drop his laundry in a couple of minutes. Since Trish was waiting in the car. he simple didn't put anything away. Actually she was on the cell phone when he returned. He caught the last few words.

"Mother, I really have to go. I just wanted to let you know Peter isn't a serial killer." She gazed over at Peter when she said the last. "Love you to mother."

Peter thought that it was too formal even for the rich and famous, but he said nothing. The drive to the office was short once they were back on the road.

"Let's call it a night. I'm tired of reading police reports. Besides Helen's in basket runith over," Peter said.

"Good idea, I have finished reviewing all the files that Heckle and Jekyll didn't get around to reading," Trish said. "So when do we leave for the east coast?" she asked.

"I plan to give Iva another day tomorrow, while Helen works out the details, then we either head for Philly or The Big Apple," Peter said. "Is it time to rent a car yet?"

"Not unless there is something wrong with the Lincoln," she said.

"Not at all, I just didn't want to take anything for granted. So how about dinner?" he asked.

"I know you think I'm weird but how about take out. We can stop bye and pick up a pizza and a salad," she suggested.

"Sure," was his reply. He probable meant sure I think you are weird, but it wasn't what he said.

After dinner they watched a couple of week old TV shows streamed from the Web. Then they went to bed. They slept on the small cot all piled on top of each other.

"Tomorrow after work we need to buy another one of those things," Trish said pointing to the cot. "I want one of my own."

An hour later they stood in front of the boss's desk. "Well I see you rose from the dead. You two look awfully good for Zombies." she said.

"What? Did you expected us to check in with you," Peter said just before Trish apologized.

"Well, it would have been nice. So, are you back to stay?" she asked.

Actually I am trying to make contact with a company in New York called QE2. Once I talk to them, I will try to run them to ground," Peter said it trying to keep Helen out of it.

"Can I assume from the files in Helen's basket, that you will catch up on them all before you leave again?" Iva asked.

"I will review what I can before I leave again. I'm getting faster at it, but I will do what I can even if I don't finish," Peter said.

"Well since it's more than we had before, I guess I can't complain," Iva said clearly biting her tongue.

Peter hardly spoke to Trish. He did managed to find her in the break room a couple of times.

"Helen found the production crew. She got the location from the TV network. Then called the QE2 office. They agreed to set up interviews in Trenton New Jersey for us. I didn't know that Trenton was across the river from Philadelphia," Trish said.

"I did. I think I read it somewhere. So when do we need to be there?" Peter asked.

"Wednesday Morning. Sylvia is even coming down from New York," Trish said.

"She is going to be there to make sure their stories match," Peter said.

"Why do you say that?" she asked.

"Because it is what I would do," Peter said.

"Yes I guess it is," Trish said.

"Helen wants us to have dinner with her tonight, since we will be leaving tomorrow." It was a simple statement of fact, since she knew I would not say no.

"Should we pack the car before we go to her place?" Peter asked. Trish nodded without showing the least bit of emotion.

It's going too be another nightmare of coordination, Peter thought. Trish dropped him at the thrift store first. He bought another cot, just like the first one. After walking it home in the cold he waited for Trish to arrive, then rode with her to buy an air bed before heading to Helen's for dinner. She had made a casserole from a good brand Mac and Cheese. Since her version had extra cheese and bacon, it was delicious.

After dinner neither of them pretended they needed alcohol to sleep together. Peter was sure that they had included him just so that he wouldn't complain. It was obvious that the two of them were experimenting. There was a hell of a lot of touching and feeling going on. He had to admit that it was nice to just stay turned on for several hours before falling asleep.

They made for a strange looking group. There was Trish the mid twenties skinny blond with hardly any boobs. Then there was peter early thirties male who was carrying about twenty pounds of soft living on his once junkie thin frame. Last but not least was the 'around forty' Helen with her barn red hair, and voluptuous body. They weren't traffic stoppers by any means, but they were each mildly attractive and if taken as a whole an interesting mix.

When they were finished using Helen's one shower, thank god there was a half bath in the older house, They left the house in two cars for the drive to a family style restaurant for breakfast.

"Nobody knows me here," Helen said when they were seated.

"Why does that matter?" Peter asked.

"I am definitely going to want to kiss you both goodbye in the parking lot," she said looking at Trish with one of those ' stupid men' expressions.

The drive to Trenton put them on the outskirts at 8PM. The motel was an economy version of a commercial traveler's motel. It might still be a bit below what Trish was used to, but Peter didn't care. She could check them into a fru fru place when she paid the bill.

Peter had the cell number for Silvia so he called to make arrangements. He had to leave a message. "This is Peter Sims of JustAct. I need to firm up a time for the interview of your production crew. Call me I think you have my cell number." Even so he left the number on her phone.

The call from Silvia at 10pm. "Hello," Peter said into the phone.

"This is Silvia from QE2. I think you want to talk to me?" the voice asked.

"Yes Ma'am," Peter said. "We would like a time that would be convenient to visit the Homefront location to interview your production crew."

"According to our schedule the father is going to be home at five tomorrow, but the wife will be in the row house all day."

"So what does that mean?" Peter asked.

"Jerri will be with the mother shooting all the things she does during a typical day. Mike will be at work with the father," Silvia informed him.

"I need an address for the father's work place. You could also warn the house camera person that we will be dropping in on her. We are hoping to finish with the two of them before noon."

"Certainly, but I was hoping we could get it all done before end of day. I know you want to talk to me as well as the production crew. If we arrange a meeting for say one, will you be finished by five. If no I will be forced to stay another day?" Silvia asked.

"I hope to be finished with the questions tomorrow as well," Peter said. "But we will have to wait to see."