Andie McPhee ran out of Leery's Fresh Fish with a speed she hadn't had in years. Jack had been entirely too smug when he walked inside, informing her a cop was outside writing her a parking ticket. She hadn't even thought they had double parking laws in Capeside.
"Excuse me! Excuse me!" she yelled at the man, until she finally reached him. "Please, please don't give me a ticket. I mean, I was just a second, and I came back before you signed your name. I mean, that's gotta count for something, right? I mean, it would be an injustice if you were to write a ticket to someone who was just there for a second, and on her way out, gone for such a little time that you couldn't even finish the ticket. Right?"
With a few strokes of the pen, he signed the ticket, tore it off, and handed it to her.
She sighed, letting out a deep exhale of frustration. "Please don't do this to me. I've had a ticket already, and a second will really not look good on my driving record. Please, do me this little favor?" she asked, smiling brightly.
"You'll have to take that up with the Alderman," he said politely, moving on to the next car.
"Well, maybe I'll just tell the alderman about you!" she said. "Yeah! I'll just tell him that--" she looked down at the ticket, "I'll tell him that . . . somebody Witter is a complete asshole!" Then she processed what she'd said. "Oh, Witter. That explains it. You're part of Pacey's family."
He turned around, pulling his sunglasses from his face. "And just what in the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, you are a freaked up bunch of people," she said, shaking her head. "You probably have aggression issues that you take out on innocent people like me!"
He laughed, shaking his head. "You've got to be kidding me. You are clearly double parked! What part of that don't you understand?"
"That's not the point," she said, shaking her head. "Let's be serious for a second. I ran in for one second to get my paycheck and say hello to my brother. You had to be stalking me to be able to finish writing that ticket!"
"Stalking you? Stalking you? Have you lost your mind?"
"Getting a parking ticket might just get me in that sort of mood!" she spat back.
He laughed. "Okay, will you go peacefully or do I need to use the handcuffs?"
"If that's some sort of bad come on line--"
"Hardly. I'm taking you in to the station."
"On what grounds?" she asked indignantly.
"On the grounds that you're a moron!" he said. "Now, let's go."
"Look, I know my rights--"
"The car is right there," he said, pointing to the police cruiser parked right behind her.
"Dammit, tell me what the charges are!"
"Harassment of a police officer," he said proudly.
"You can't take me in on that, you . . . you . . . clown!"
"Clown?"
"You heard me!"
"Yes, I heard you," he said. "Let's go."
"This is a miscarriage of justice!" she said. "I won't stand for this."
"Well, sit for it, then," he said, leading her toward the door. "Watch your head," he said as he placed her in the back seat of the cruiser.
* * * * *
"Well, well, well. The rumors are true. Andie McPhee has landed herself in the big house," Pacey said, grinning widely as he saw Andie sitting in the corner of the cell, her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands.
"Pacey, spare me, please. I'm behind bars. Isn't that enough?" she mumbled in her most defeated voice.
"What have you gone and done, McPhee?" he asked curiously, resting his arms on the bars.
"Who was that guy anyway? Some distant Neanderthal cousin of yours who hasn't quite reached the level of homo sapien yet?"
"That's my brother," Pacey said dryly. "And how did the nice girl I used to know manage to piss him off to the degree that he's pissed off?"
Andie laughed nervously, running an absent hand through her blonde hair. "I don't know, Pacey. I mean, he gave me a parking ticket. And then it all just started going through my head. Another parking ticket means I lose my insurance. And if I lose my insurance, I can't drive. And if I can't drive, then I can't get to school. I can't make it to the library. My grades fall, and I get into a sub-standard college. I'm so stressed out about not being able to get into a good Ph.D. program that I fail my mid-terms, get kicked out of school, and end up on the street living in a cardboard box and begging for spare change in a paper cup."
He laughed. "Don't be so melodramatic, Andie. You're the only person in the world who would think getting a parking ticket will make her homeless."
"Well, it made sense at the time," she grumbled.
"So what are we going to do?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I guess it's too late to ask you if you can get me out of this."
"You're crazy if you think I have that much power," he laughed. "But I know he'll let you go if you apologize."
"It's not that I'm too proud to apologize," she began. "I'm more than happy to admit when I'm wrong. But your brother was smug. He wouldn't listen to reason."
"There are three things you need to realize, Andie. First, my brother doesn't understand reason. Second, if you're actually guilty of a crime, you can't talk your way out of it. Third, don't call the man giving you a ticket an asshole and a . . . clown, was it?"
She sighed. "So maybe I was a little out of control. But he was abusing his power. He knew better."
"So are you going to stay in jail on principle?"
"Maybe if the toilet wasn't so dirty," she scoffed.
"Apologize to Deputy Doug, pay your ticket, and we will pretend this never happened."
Andie looked at Pacey sharply. "I thought you were the one who was supposed to reject authority."
"I am," he said. "But I also learned that it's not worth my time fighting battles that I can't win."
* * * * *
Doug Witter wore a slight smile as he walked back toward the holding cell. "Miss McPhee, are you ready to get out of there?"
"Yes," she said, standing up and looking him in the eye. "I apologize for what happened. I lost control, let my temper get the best of me, and highly over-reacted." She finished her statement with a simple nod.
"I probably over-reacted too," Doug admitted. "I probably shouldn't have hauled you in here." He slid his key into the lock, turned it, and opened the door to the cell for her.
"Good point," she said, stepping through the opening, smiling at him victoriously.
Doug hung his head to hide his grin briefly before looking back at her. "Watch where you park, Miss McPhee. I'd hate to have to give you another citation."
"You won't have to worry about that," Andie nodded. "I don't plan running into you again, Deputy Witter."
He laughed. "Let's hope you keep those plans," he smiled, walking away from Andie slowly, a subtle swagger in his step.
Andie rolled her eyes as she left the police station. She didn't understand why she always ended up having run-ins like these with the Witter men. They both were fine and too damned cocky for their own good. That was just a murderous combination.
* * * * *
END