Let’s Be Friends or Lovers

Since they meet at the Academy, they have been friends for several years. Beyond friendship they had been partners on the streets several times, but today was different. Caterina sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled on her pantyhose. Some how today's date felt wrong. She was tempted to cancel it again, but could not come up with a convincing reason. To call it off claiming a headache would not work because Amanak would tell on her without realizing it when Arms' questioned her.

Caterina thought about the way Amanak looked at Arms. It was the way she felt about Dannya. She wondered how many people could see how both ladies felt about these two men.

Caterina prayed her phone would ring and that it would her boss calling her saying he needed her to come in to work. But the phone remained silent as she pulled on as she got dressed. Her new burgundy sundress had white roses on the bodice looked magnificent on her. The strips were wide enough to hide her bra straps, and had a deep sweetheart neckline to show off her cleavage, but as she looked at her refection in the mirror she shook her head. It was the wrong type of outfit for this date. Going back through her closet again, she looked for a more appropriate dress for her date with Arms.

She could only think of him as a street partner. He was someone to get into trouble with; a big brother, a friend. None of her feelings she had for him fit the category of boyfriend or lover.* No, he's not that, * she thought. Finally she found a more appealing dress for the afternoon. She put on a navy blue dress with a scoop neckline. The dress had a print of white daisies with red centers plus a red trim incased a white lace at the empire waist line. It was tasteful yet flattering enough to make her feel very feminine. She topped off the outfit by slipping on her matching colored sandals and a chocker of red velvet and white lace that matched the trim on the dress.

With her make-up finished and her hair hanging down loosely around her shoulders, she did a final check when the doorbell rang. She looked out the bedroom window seeing Arms' car in the driveway.

"Time to face the music," she said to a Herbie her small terrier dog.

Herbie ran to the front door a head of Caterina and started to bark as the bell rang a second time. A voice was heard through the door. "Hello girl, tell Caterina to hurry up," Arms said with a chuckle.

"Hello Arms, was that fast enough? You look great. Com'on in," she said as she opened the door to see the tall Hawaiian in a white lace shirt with short sleeves that showed off his strong arms and his chest through the lace. He had on a pair of brown casual trousers.

"Thanks, you look wonderful yourself," Arms replied as he came into the house with a feeling of ill at ease. "Caterina?" he said questioningly.

"Yes," she said as the door closed behind them both.

"Can . . . Ah . . . ah . . . ah . . . I ask you for something?" he said shyly, something that was not characteristics for this gentleman.

"Sure . . . You want something to drink?" she asked, looking into an uneasy expression in his eyes. An experience she was not use to, for the first time that she could not see what was there.

"NO," he said, grabbing her hand as she started for the kitchen. He pulled her into a very smooth embrace. His mouth covered hers, brushing his lips lightly at first before deepening their kiss.

Before the kiss could be come more passionate, she broke it off to look up into his eyes in mild wonderment. "I'm . . . sorry, Arms . . . but this feels totally wrong," she said still tight in his embrace. He was many of the things she wanted a man to be; tall, well-built, tender, strong, and caring but the most important trait was just was not there.

"The kiss didn't knock your shoes off? Or make you weak in the knees? Or any of those other things you hear one should feel when you're with the right person?" Arms asked in earnest, not letting her go when he realized she was not forcing herself free from his embrace.

She looked down a little embarrassed. Her eyes met his when a finger lifted her chin up so he could see her eyes once again. "Sorry, Arms, but no you didn't knock my shoes off. I'm sorry . . . It's just that . . . all day . . . while . . . getting dressed . . . this date felt wrong . . . and the kiss just proved. Every time I think of you, I feel like I'm betraying two close friends."

"And you broke the kiss because you started to think of them, too?" Arms asked with sympathy in his eyes.

"Truth be known, I only want us to be friends. Have you as a big brother that I can count on, someone to help me out from time to time," she said in a firm friendly manner.

She tried to wiggle free or lower her head, but his grips were very firm, so she stopped. "Yes . . . I did . . . I thought you should be Dannya or I should be Amanak in our embrace."

He leaned his head forward again and kissed her lips lightly before he slowly released his hold to allow her to stand on her own. She felt nice in his embrace, but it did not arouse him the way Amanak did or even some other women he dated. She felt and tasted like a sister. "Maybe we should call this date off?" Arms suggested.

"I agree, but I think we should both get changed into something more comfortable like jeans. We then can paint the town blue," Caterina said more light heartily.

"Paint the town BLUE???? I always thought it was paint the town red?" they both laughed at the bad joke.

"NO, no, fire fighters paint it red. Cops paint it blue," she said between laughs.

"Okay, I have a pair of jeans in my car. I'll change in the spare room," he said with a chuckle as he headed for the front door.

"Great," she said as she went into her room to change. She heard Herbie barking outside in the front yard just before Arms called her back into the house when he returned with his change of cloths.

After changing, she headed back into the living room, putting her hair into a ponytail. She was not too surprised to see Arms changed and sitting in the chair going through the newspaper. He had made himself at home the way he did on other occasions. She was now beginning to feel totally at ease.

"I see Five-O is in the headlines . . . again. Some people get all the luck. HPD does all the dirty work and they get all the glory. Oh well," he said, teasingly as he put the paper down.

"So what else is new? I'm ready when you are," Caterina said as she changed from her formal handbag back to her everyday one.

They were off to the arcade where they played PacMan and few other arcade games before they headed to the movies to see the new 'Superman: The Movie' with Christopher Reeves. They both laughed and cried at the right times, but enjoyed themselves with a bucket of popcorn and a soda each.

After the movie they went to sit on her beach to watch the sunset. With their screwed up work hours, one's social life tends to take a dive. Starting a date at two in the afternoon, means you will be in bed by ten to make it to work on time at six. Of course, the plus side is there are no long waiting lines or be bothered by a lot of other people.

As the sunset, Caterina noticed Arms was several feet away from her playing in the sand with his toes. He failed the sunset test, but then again she knew he was not the one who would make her head spin.

"How about a swim? My trunks should still be around here some where," Arms commented. He knew he always left a pair of trunks there since his last day off.

"Yeah, in the same room there always in. Plus there's the other suits in the same place," she said as she rose to head into the house.

"Funny Catie, very funny. Should have known you still kept friend's suits around here," he said mischievously.

"Yes and no. I also just have some different sizes just in case a friend comes over and wants to enjoy the ocean. Let's change," she said as they entered the house.

They changed and went into the ocean for a nice swim. They went out about fifteen yards before returning to shore, tired from swimming. When they both got back to the beach, there was a couple that stood there stone faced.

"I think were in trouble!!!!!!!" she said in a playful manner.

"Why do you think that?" he said as he came up behind her and reached for a towel on the beach.

"I can't believe someone called out the fun cops," she said with a giggle.

"I see that. I wonder what the charge is this time. Having a day off? Or swimming in the ocean after sunset? Or just having a good relaxing time?" Arms asked the two that stared at them.

"Told you, Danny, give these two had the day off and they'd end up playing in the ocean," Amanak commented.

"I see that, Amanak. I guess the charges would be inappropriate dress code," Dan said.

"I object to that charge. A bathing suit is the appropriate dress code for my backyard," Caterina countered with a wicked smile.

"But not for a formal date," Dan said as he looked at the bikini she wore.* Damn woman why are you wearing something that sexy with this man? * His mind questioned with just a touch of jealousy.

Caterina saw a sign of danger in Dan's blue eyes as he observed what she had on and how close Arms was to her body. It pleased her to no end to see he was just a little jealous. "So why are the fun cops here to destroy one of my few good days off?" she asked.

"You forgot you had a meeting at four this afternoon in Manicot's office to discuss the Baron's robbery," Dan reminded her.

Caterina decided not to answer his questions as she looked at Dan to see how serious he was. So she lay down on the blanket. That was until Dan knelt down beside her to give her the evil eye for her behavior.

"I spoke with an ADA that is prosecuting the case this morning after I got off duty at six. If he didn't know I did that, than there is a break down in the DA's office communications," she said, continuing to lay there with her eyes closed. She had gone through those eye-to-eye contacts before and she had gotten stronger at not breaking contact, but tonight she just was not in the mood.

"Well Officer Caterina, the meeting was with Manicot this evening because Steve wanted to go over the facts at the same time as John did," Dan informed her.

"Well, Mr. Williams, when it comes to Manicot and anything he works on or wants, I really DON'T give a damn. I was told to go over my testimony with the DA's office and I did. Brandon didn't mind going over this morning, knowing what my working hours are," Caterina said. She opened her eyes just enough to see that this statement caused Dan's eyes to flare with anger.

"It doesn't matter what differences you may have with Manicot, but when we are preparing for a case, all the officers are needed to be there when Steve says so," Dan said in that second-in-command authoritative tone which just edged on unsympathetic.

"You can't bully me into going into the office now to deal with that incompetent jerk. He has all the information he needs from my transcript from this morning and Amanak being there this afternoon. Now if you want to join us for some fun, you are welcome to stay otherwise . . . leave," she said staring at him now.

Arms and Amanak just stood there and watched their friends go at head to head over these issue the way they had at other times.

The tension of the eye contact did not change when Steve call out "hello." But Caterina became extremely angry when she heard Manicot's voice. She got up and went into the house at a quickly determined pace. To everyone's surprise she returned with a muumuu on and a pair of cuffs in her hand. She walked up to Manicot, "You have two choices; leave without a word spoken, or get arrested for trespassing on private property. It's up to you slime ball. I'm counting and if you are not off my property by the count of ten you will be arrested. 1 . . . 2 . . . 3."

"Steve?" Manicot said with a pleading look in his eyes.

"4 . . . 5 . . . 6."

"There is nothing I can do to help you, John," Steve said to his friend while looking at his cousin.

"All right, all right, I'm going" Manicot said as he stormed towards the front door to leave.

"7 . . . 8 . . . you better show him the way out, Steve. And you might as well go with him. You know how I feel about that jerk's inability to perform his job," she said with distaste and revulsion in her voice.

Steve knew better then to try to argue this point again with her, so he left without a word. It was an old sore point with his young cousin that he did not understand.

"You can also take your second-in-command with you," she shouted out behind him but he just kept walking with a wave of his hand. She heard him snap his fingers a couple of times before the door closed.

Dan got the hint and started for the front door himself when he was called back, "Dan . . . I'm sorry but there is a family matter that Steve is aware of and he knows that I never want that bastard in my home. This matter makes it hard to deal with the DA's office when he is on the case. I wish I could explain it better, but I can't and Steve won't either. He wouldn't even answer Manicots questions," Caterina told him.

He had a mix of feelings turning throughout his gut. One was as the second-in-command of Five-O, another as a friend who saw the pain coming from her eyes when she heard Manicot's voice and lastly as the woman he loves. "Officer Caterina, we will address your insubordination tomorrow when you are on duty, tomorrow," he turned on his heels. He knew he had to remain in his professional manner because of his jealousy of her dates other men and he would not show that to her now when there were others around. If he stayed he would have cuddled her to help ease whatever the pain she was feeling. This would give her advantages in their future encounters.

Caterina's heart was torn. There was a hard edge to his voice but knew he had no choice in this matter. He was correct about her insubordination to his position. She also knew they had to keep their professional and private life's separate if any kind of relationship was to remain in tack.

"He's not that mad at you, Catie. His just hurt . . ." Amanak trailed off from the look in her friends eyes that warned her not to go there.

"Why don't you just shove your attitude where the sunshine doesn't shine," Caterina said crying as she headed to her bedroom. She was there for a short time when the door opened with a knock at the same time. Arms came in and sat on the edge of the bed. He softly rubbed her back as the tears started to stop their flow.

"Am I crazy, or do I just care for him too much. That hard edge attitude hurts when it shouldn't," Caterina said muffled by her pillow.

"You know it's a good thing we decided earlier to just be friends, Catie, because a statement like that would otherwise send me right out the door with a 'so long baby forever'," Arms said with a smile and wink when Caterina turned over. "God you are beautiful. I've had dreams of you in bed and you looking the way you did in my dreams. Now, those dreams are replaced with another woman I rather see there. And I'm lucky one day she will be there for real. Just as one day it will be Danny sitting on the edge of the bed comforting you when you cry in the future."

"Arms, thanks for being here . . . Thanks for today. It was a blast," she told him with a tear streak smile.

"That it was . . . a true blast of fun and delight since we painted the town a nice shade of blue. Now I'm going since I have to be up early for work," Arms said as he got up to leave. "Hope you don't mind; I left my trunks on the chair on the patio."

"Where else would you leave them?" Caterina smiled as she walked him to the front door. Just as she passed Amanak's door, she called through the door, "Hey Arms is leaving and he's in need of a lover's kiss from his dream girl. You care to fulfill his fantasy?"

"What are you talking about?" Amanak asked in surprise as she opened the door. "I'm not the one he dreams about."

"You've got that wrong. He used to dream about me. Now-a-days it's you he longs for." With that statement both her friends turned nice shades of red.

Arms turned towards Caterina with a look of* how dare you? You're dead meat.' *

At the bedroom door, Amanak looked at Caterina with daggers in her eyes and back to Arms with regret. Caterina pushed Amanak into Arms tender embrace.

They both looked into each other eyes as Caterina retreated to her own room.

"Do you really?" Amanak asked softly with a twinkle in her dark brown eyes.

"Really what?" he asked teasingly.

"Dream of me, silly!!" she said with a shy smile and desirable hope in her eyes.

"Yes," he said sweetly as he pulled her in for a more passionate embrace before he planted a kiss on her lips. His lips teased hers into opening up so there tongues could play in a passion they both held back for each other. Their bodies just conformed to each other and his arms cuddled her in such a way that he was able to lift her off the floor before she realized it.

Caterina smiled at her friends and went to bed. "Friends for life . . . Lovers have been united at last," she said to the picture on her dresser. She changed into her nightie with red hearts on it. "Now for the other pair of friends to unite as lovers," she said as she turned out the light as he heard the engine turnover just before the car pulled out of the driveway.

"Night, Catie . . . You're a great friend, at times," came a soft call through the wall. Amanak had a big smile on her face, as her tummy was still jumpy from that embrace and kiss with the man of her dreams.

Caterina fell asleep to dream about the man she wanted; the man that would fill all her delights and needs.

Sweet Dreams, Everyone.

***************

Thanks for taking the time to read my story. Please leave your comment, vote or send me your comments about the story. I will answer those with return email address.

Copyright © 2006