Mikael was waiting for Joey in the lobby.
He had actually slept a lot better than he had been expecting. The light wasn’t a problem anymore and the noise he could deal with.
This time he had knocked out before Joey. And, as expected, had woken up an hour before him too.
Two meals a day were included with the penthouse suite. There were also three restaurants in the hotel, and breakfast was complimentary at one of them.
But Mikael and Joey had decided that they would go eat breakfast at one of Joey’s favorite 24-hour diner’s nearby, Jodie’s.
They had never shared a bed before this trip, but they had crashed at each other’s places multiple times. So Mikael knew that Joey not only took forever to wake up, he also took forever to get out of bed, and took even longer getting ready in the morning.
But damn was the outcome worth the time.
Joey always looked great, even when he was dressed down in sweats and a baggy tee.
So Mikael kept his complaining to a minimum.
But minimum, for Mikael, was a relative term, especially when it came to Joey.
So, after complaining and come-on-ing one too many times that morning, he had been kicked out of the penthouse and sentenced to wait in the lobby.
Ten minutes later and Mikael was sitting in one of the big comfy chairs, contemplating whether he had enough time to go steal a whole grain muffin from the complimentary breakfast area, when Jamie plopped down on the chair next to him.
Mikael looked up, “Hey Jamie.”
“Mikael Angelo,” Jamie said it with the same mischievous smirk Joey had during their first year working together.
Mikael couldn’t help but grin.
Jamie leaned in close, like they were talking to an old friend. “Rumor is you two are mobsters,”
Mikael’s grin vanished, “What?”
“Amongst the staff. We’re great at rumors.” Jamie nodded. They counted off on their fingers, “Bets are: Two mobsters- either fleeing from the mob or doing their dirty work, witsec, FBI undercover, honeymoon, forbidden love affair-”
Mikael's brows quirked at that one.
Jamie, catching that, further explained, “One of you is FBI and the other a top mobster, or something, but you two fell in love and you’re here having a forbidden love affair. That's why the two of you are so on edge, and everything, with weapons, throwing lamps at staff. Like Romeo and Juliet, not meant to be and with a completely evitable inevitable tragic ending…”
"Lamps? Weapons? What-"
"Kyle," Jamie explained, "he said your partner threw a lamp at him" they narrowed their brows, "of course, then he said he caught it in a ninja move, but then that your partner pulled out more weapons to throw at him when you called him down and showed off your FBI badge."
Mikael couldn’t help but chuckle. “Wow, some imagination."
“Hey, none of those were my theories.”
"They were pillows," Mikael said, "Joey threw a pillow and I showed Kyle my cop badge. We're detectives, off duty, out of our jurisdiction, just here for some relaxation and... stuff... Joey's from here. We're visiting."
"Hmm," Jamie nodded their head, "sounds like the closest one is honeymoon then?"
Mikael shook his head, a disbelieving grin on his face. “Um… I guess. More like anniversary… but, for friends. It’s our friend-iversary.”
Jamie stared at him. “You mean… you rented out a penthouse suite-with all the bells and whistles-for a… friend-iversary?”
“It’s…” Mikael scratched his jaw, “Well, okay, it’s actually more of a company-ordered retreat thing. It’s-”
“Your company’s not picking up your tab.” Jamie cut in, “Otherwise, their name would be on all the payments, not yours.”
Mikael took too long to answer. “I could have a company card...” It came out more like a question than a response.
“Yeah, but something tells me that’s the case here.”
Mikael didn’t reply.
“Are you… are you hoping it turns into boyfriend-iversary?”
Mikael didn’t reply.
“Sorry," Jamie said, leaning back in the chair and holding up their hands, "I mean, it’s none of my business! I don’t mean to overstep! It’s your life. It’s just… it’s interesting is all.”
Mikael looked at Jamie and knew there were no ill intentions.
“What is?” He asked.
“Well,” Jamie shrugged, “We- in all the theories- we all thought you two were already together. I mean, maybe if you were undercover then maybe not for real, but at least that you were playing the part of a couple.”
“So that’s what you all do? Wager on the personal lives of the guests?”
“It’s quite entertaining.”
“I bet.” Mikael huffed, laughing. “And no, we’re not together. But… we do get that a lot…”
“Oh.” Jamie nodded. "I wonder why you get that a lot?"
Before Mikael could answer he spotted Joey walking towards them, looking handsome as ever.
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