"Oh" Charlie commented.
"Do you know if Don is coming?" Alan asked with concern. He knew that Don would be quite suspicious of Abby.
"Maybe" Charlie said, knowing that his brother would, after finding out about their father's guest.
"Get me the lettuce would you?" Alan requested.
"Sure" Charlie got it from the fridge and put it on the kitchen counter.
."It's cool that you can cook."Abby commented to Alan. "Josh can only make deserts. Sometimes he likes to serve them on my.."
"Abby!" Alan interupted her and gave hera stern look, as he spilled something.
Stifling a laugh, Charlie discretly went to the living room, and called Don.
"Eppes"the agent answered his phone.
"Don, it's me"
"What is it Charlie?" .
"You know that woman dad's always playing scrabble with?"
"What about her?" Don asked impatiently and rolled his eyes.
"She's here!"
"I'm not in the mood for practical jokes, Charlie." Don's day had been hard andstressful.
"I'm not kidding."
"I've gotta go" Don curtly hung up the phone, still not believing his brother.
"Don't say I didn't warn you" Charlie muttered when he heard the dialtone.
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"This is delicious!" Abby complimented Alan at dinner. She enjoyed his company.
'Thanks" He felt that the meal was not as good as it could have been.
"Have you been to Los Angeles?" Charlie asked, noticing that the chicken tasted salty.
"Yeah. I drove cross country with a friend once." Part of Abby felt nervous.
"Do you have a place to stay the night?" Alan asked.
"Yeah." She knew how uncomfortable expecting to stay at the house would make Alan.
"Okay" Alan hid his relief.
"You know, on the plane a couple had sex in one of the bathrooms" she commented out of the blue.. "I heard them when I tried to go."
"Abby!" Alan choked on his food He then took a deep breath, tried to hide his fluster and continued with his most serious face. "We don't make it a habit to discuss such topics at the dinner table."
Charlie snickered and wished that Don was there. The look on his elder brother's face would have been priceless. Abby found Charlie to be good looking and smiled at his snicker.
"There are ah so many other things we can talk about." Alan continued and sipped his glass of wine.
"Like, what are we gonna do tonight after dinner?" Abby finished for him.
"What would you like to do?" Alan asked.
" How about bowling?" Abby suggested.
"Okay" Alan assented, being the good host."Do you wanna come with us, Charlie?"
"Sure" Abby seemed like a fun person to Charlie.
"Then it's settled" Abby said, as she sipped some more wine. "This stuff is good. Could you pour me more?"
"Sure" Alan did so.
They went to the bowling alley in Alan's car, after dinner and looking up the location of a nearby bowling alley. Charlie sat in the back seat, while Alan and Abby sat in the front. Quickly, she turned found a station with music she liked. To Alan, it sounded like noise, so he lowered the volume.
"Hey!" Abby protested.
"I need to focus on my driving"
8888
Quickly, Charlie figured out the physics behind the game and was in the lead, with Abby in second place.
"Charlie's really kicking our asses!" Abby observed.
"He sure is!" Alan agreed.
"At least I'm kicking yours" she teased.The bowling shoes mismatched with the clothes she wore.
"Not for Long!" he warned her. Both sighed when Charlie got yet another strike.
Soon, it was Alan's turn. Carefully, he threw the ball, but only knocked down half of the pins.
"You were saying?" she snorted. "Watch and learn" Abby grabbed a red ball, rolled, but got only three pins.
"I'm learning all right!" Alan counter snorted as a chagrined Abby joined him at the sitting area.
"Dad?" Don greeted his father with surprise. He just happened to be finished with interviewing an employee at that very bowling alley, when he saw Alan.
"Don? You're doing some work here?" Alan asked nervously and lamely. He noticed that the agent was still in a suit.
" You could say that." Don recognized Abby from the picture his father had shown them and he turned to her."You must be Abby"
"and you must be Don!" She put out her hand, as a suspicious Don took it. He kicked himself for not believing Charlie. His F.B.I senses were on high alert. For all he knew she could be some psychopath or a con artist.
Charlie saw Don just after he made a strike. Quickly, he joined what he knew was going to be a very entertaining show.
"You didn't tell me Abby was coming out to L.A." Don commented to his father.
"It was a surprise visit" She told Don, who found it interesting that she came just when Edna was out of town.
"How long are you going to be in Los Angeles?" Don continued his questioning.
"A few days because..."Abby paused for a moment "We're engaged!" She really wanted to get Don's goat and make fun of his paranoia.
"That's right!" Alan decided to play along. He didn't like the tone Don was using with Abby.
"I'm gonna be the best man" Charlie said.
All the color drained out of Don's face.
"Don, we're kidding" Alan quickly told his eldest as he gave Abby a look that said 'let's stop'. He hadn't expected such a strong reaction from Don.
"We were just pulling your leg, man" Charlie put a hand on his brother's shoulder.
Just then, David joined them. He heartily greeted Alan and Charlie, who introduced Abby to him.
"David, this is Abby. She's an online friend of dad's."
"Hi!" David said, as he realized why Don seemed upset.
Quickly, Abby went to get a small paper cup from one of the food stands and wrapped it in a napkin.
"Here" she gave it to Don with a sigh and much annoyance. "It's a paper cup with my fingerprints. Have someone run it through."
"I sure will" Don got it from her. "Well, David and I have things to do." Soon, both agents were gone.
"I am very sorry about my son's behavior" Alan said.
"I know that he didn't learn it from you" she replied gently.
"Let's ah continue with the game." Alan suggested.
The game ended with Charlie winning, and Abby getting second place.
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Back at the house, Charlie excused himself to prepare for the next day's classes, leaving Abby and Alan to talk in the living room.
"This is so surreal, actually getting to see you face to face." she said.
"It is." Alan sat in his easy chair.
"I had so much fun tonight" Abby told him.
"So did I, despite everything" Alan added the last part as a euphemism to Don's behavior. After the initial shock of her surprise visit had worn off somewhat, he had begun to enjoy himself.
"Like the fact that I kicked your ass?" she teased.
"But not by much." he reminded her.
"What do you have in store for me tomorrow?" she got comfortable in her chair.
"It's up to you. You're the guest"
"How about golf?" Abby had played a few times.
"Really?" his eyes lit up.
"Sure."
"You can borrow Charlie's clubs."
"It's a...deal" she smiled.
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Abby returned to the house the next morning in black golf clothes with a black parasol in her hand.
TBC
Author's Chapter Notes:
In this crossover with Numb3rs, Abby is now in L.A and gets to know Alan and Charlie over dinner. What of Don? how will he react?
Chapter End Notes:
I've got lots of chapters in this story, so I'll put a bunch at a time together.
Also, for most of the story, they are chatting online.
Also, for most of the story, they are chatting online.