Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. I do not own any of the characters of Psych and am not affiliated with the show or USA Network.  The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

SPOILER ALERT:  Episodes "Tuesday The 17th" and major spoilers for the ending of "An Evening With Mr. Yang".  

WARNING: This story deals with some relatively mature subject matter but it's not graphic in nature.  No graphic descriptions are given.  Also there's a few cuss words in here, added for entertainment purposes only.

As promised, things get a little more intense in this chapter.  And try not to hate Juliet too much.  Remember, she's only human, after all.  We've all made stupid mistakes in life and said things wish we could take back.  

Read on.




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Juliet lifted her black suit jacket from the ironing board and inspected her handiwork.  The garment looked perfectly pressed and ready to wear.  She placed the jacket on a hanger and grabbed a lint roller for a quick clean-up of the matching black skirt she wore.  A red silk blouse completed the ensemble.  As she looked herself over in the mirror she heard a knock at the front door of her apartment.  

'Who in the hell could that be?' she thought as she glanced at her watch.  Juliet had forty-five minutes left before she had to be at the restaurant, and she wanted to leave with plenty of time to spare in case of traffic.  She grabbed a pair of black high-heel shoes by the straps and padded over to the door in her stocking-clad feet.  Juliet looked through the peephole to see who the visitor was.  

'Oh no...not now!' she thought to herself.  With an exasperated sigh, she opened the door to see her partner Carlton Lassiter standing in the hallway.  He was holding a piece of paper in his right hand.  "What do you want, Carlton?" she asked, knowing she didn't really want to hear the answer.  The tone of her voice clearly broadcast she had little patience for the Head Detective at the moment.

Lassiter stood in the doorway, his determined expression speaking volumes about the purpose for his visit.  "I have new information about that 'Rob' character."

Juliet rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration.  "What, did he run over a puppy on his way out of the parking lot yesterday or something?"

Lassiter pondered the scenario for a moment.  "If he did, would it get you to cancel your dinner date?" he asked hopefully.

"Carlton..." Juliet fixed him with an angry glare.  

"Oh all right, fine.  I went to the Morrison office building today after work.  I just wanted to know a little more about 'Rob' before you started dating the little creep."  

Juliet hated the way Lassiter said 'Rob'.  He always managed to load the word with so much disdain.  Juliet shook her head and resigned herself to hearing Lassiter's latest rant against her date for the night.  "Well?  What did you find?"

"He doesn't work there."

Juliet's brow furrowed in confusion.  "What?"

"He doesn't work there.  I don't know what he told you about his job, but the only Robert Smith working in the Morrison building is a large African-American gentleman that bears no resemblance to the man we met yesterday."  Lassiter handed her the paper containing the employee profile of the real Robert Smith.  "He lied to you, O'Hara.  See for yourself."  

She took the profile from Lassiter and stared down at the unfamiliar face in the picture with mild concern.  Her brow furrowed in thought as she dropped her shoes to the floor and slipped her feet into them.  "Thank you, Carlton.  I'll definitely ask him about this tonight."  She returned the paper to him and bent down to buckle the straps on her shoes.  

A look of pure astonishment crossed Lassiter's face.  "You'll what?!?" he asked, shocked at her apparent unwillingness to share his repugnance for her date.  "He lied to you about his job, O'Hara!  Doesn't that say something about his character?"

Juliet stood up and said with a sigh, "Carlton, I didn't tell the whole truth about my job, either.  Does that mean I'm a bad person?  Besides," she paused as she looked down to check her shoes, "maybe he has a reason like I did."  Juliet saw the stunned look on the Detective's face.  He stood in her doorway looking as if he'd just been smacked between the eyes with a baseball bat.  Juliet tried to reassure him that she hadn't dropped several IQ points since the last time he saw her.  "Carlton, it's just one dinner.  We'll be in a public place with lots of people around, I made sure of that.  And if I don't like what he says when I ask him about his job then that's the last time I'll ever see him."  She sighed and added, "You know I can take care of myself.  I'm a big girl, Carlton."  

True, Juliet O'Hara could do just that.  She was plenty tough and he welcomed having her by his side on the street during a fight.  He'd only seen her cry once before the night Mr. Yang was caught, and that was after another officer punched her the face during defensive tactics training.  Some big male cop deliberately took a cheap shot at her because he was pissed he "got beat by a girl."  The only reason she shed tears on that occasion was because she received a hard sucker punch to the nose and her eyes were watering involuntarily.  He remembered how proud he was when she immediately got back up and decked her opponent with a wicked brachial stun.  But right now Lassiter couldn't believe what he was hearing.  Was she insane?  She was still going to dinner with this jerk!  Couldn't she see the guy was a creep?  What the hell was wrong with her?  

Juliet jogged over to her bedroom to retrieve a necklace from a lacquered jewelry box on top of her bureau as Lassiter stepped into the entryway of her apartment.  He stood there watching her walk back and forth while putting the finishing touches on her appearance.  He was desperately trying to think of something to say that would make her see reason.  Something that would pull her head out of her ass.  Something that would prevent her from making what he could clearly see was a colossal mistake.  

Then Lassiter remembered the image of Juliet's tear streaked face just one week ago.  'She's not her usual self right now,' he thought to himself.  'She's vulnerable.  Otherwise she'd never make this obvious mistake.  Be patient and convince her to see the truth.'  Lassiter clenched his hands, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried one last time.  "O'Hara, listen to me," he said.  The serious tone in his voice and intensity in his eyes stopped her in her tracks.  She stood in front of him in the living room as she donned a pair of matching earrings.  "I know you've been looking forward to this, and I know you like this 'Rob' guy, but there's something...wrong about him.  Something very wrong.  I can see it, I know it, I feel it in my gut."

"What makes you think that, Carlton?"  A look of concern crossed her face.  As much as she hated to admit it, Lassiter's instincts about people were rarely wrong.  

To Lassiter's relief, O'Hara finally appeared to be willing to listen to him.  He swallowed hard as he looked down at the floor, then set his jaw and raised his eyes to meet hers.  "Past experience.  I've seen his type before.  Let's just say I doubt his motives."  He paused.  "Please don't do this."  

Juliet raised her eyebrows in mild shock.  Lassiter never used the word 'please' unless he felt he had no other choice.  She also found it mildly disturbing that he had decided not to elaborate any further about the 'past experience' he mentioned.  That usually meant the experience was not a good one.  Juliet sighed in confusion and ran her hand over her long, straight hair.  She closed her eyes, clearly frustrated.  "Carlton, I just...I don't know what to say..."  

'I'm finally getting through to her,' he thought.  'She's thinking about calling it off.'  He decided it was time she heard the truth about the reasons for her behavior.  'Be honest and don't hold back.  She's tough, she can handle it.'  

"Look, I know that crap with Spencer really hurt.  Believe me, I know, I've been there.  But rebounding by going out with the first guy that comes along isn't going to make you feel any better.  You're so desperate to put that bad experience behind you that you're doing something stupid out of pure stubbornness.  Admit it, you're screwed up, you're off your game.  Otherwise there's no way your cop instincts would let you go through with this.  Wake up, O'Hara, it's no coincidence that this guy looks like the exact opposite of Shawn Spencer in every way.  It's only been one week, it's too soon.  You're not over it yet.  You're not over him."  

Juliet stared at him, her mouth open in surprise.  She had been listening to him and accepting what he said quite well until he spoke those last four words.  "You're not over him."  As soon as he said them, O'Hara clinched her jaw and fixed Lassiter with an angry glare as color flushed her cheeks.

'Uh oh.'  Lassiter knew that look, realizing instantly that he'd gone just a little too far with that last sentence by telling her the one bit of truth she really didn't want to hear.  He'd seen 'the look' plenty of times on his ex-wife's face during one of her many heated rants.  It meant she was really pissed.  It meant that, yet again, he had screwed up and managed to say the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time.  'I guess she wasn't ready after all.'  He braced himself for the ass-chewing of the century.  He knew this was going to be bad.

"Carlton Lassiter, you are such an ASSHOLE!"  O'Hara's hands clenched into fists as her words rang throughout the room.  "From the moment you found out about Robert your behavior has been childish and inexcusable.  You never gave him a chance, you just assumed he was a jerk right away!  You only saw what you wanted to see about him!"

Lassiter stood his ground and listened in silence.  He was wise enough to realize that the anger O'Hara currently directed at him was actually a release of the pent-up rage she felt against Spencer.  The brat constantly flirted with her, and when she finally falls for him the guy flat out turns her down, leaving Juliet angry, hurt, and confused.  The so-called psychic was the one who should be receiving the barbs O'Hara was currently throwing his way.  But unfortunately for Lassiter, he was the only one in the line of fire at the moment.  He decided that if it helped his partner get back to her old self, then he would do his duty and take one for the team.  She was going to vent her anger at some poor bastard eventually, so he might as well be him.  'Just shut up and take it,' he thought.  'It will be over soon enough.'  Too bad it wasn't that annoying little shit Spencer catching hell.  How he would love to see O'Hara tear him a new one.   

"Oh, you're damn right I'm trying to put last week behind me, I'm trying as hard as I can to forget one of the most embarrassing nights of my life," she lamented. "But at least I'm trying!  I'm trying to be happy!  I want to be happy!  Unlike a certain Head Detective!"  

Ok, that was a new one.  At least O'Hara was being original with her insults.  "And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked calmly.

Lassiter's apparent lack of emotion in the face of her anger antagonized her even more.  O'Hara damn well wanted him to know how she felt, and his standing there as passionate as a dead tree certainly wasn't helping.  "I'm not like you, Carlton.  I can't stand being unhappy.  You are pissed off all the damn time!  As a matter of fact, I think you actually like being unhappy at this point in your life!  Otherwise, you'd actually make an effort to pull that stick out of your ass!"

Wow.  Lassiter was mildly shocked.  Did O'Hara really think of him like that, or was it merely her emotions talking?  He expected the ass-chewing to be bad, but he never thought it would actually hurt.  "Ok, O'Hara.  That's enough.  You've had your fun," he tried to dismiss her comments.

But O'Hara wasn't finished yet.  'FUN?' she thought incredulously.  She was allowing her pent-up emotions of the last week to boil over whether Lassiter liked it or not.  "And you know what?  I think you're jealous that I'm going out tonight.  You're jealous that I'm trying not to be a miserable jerk like you are!"

"O'Hara, get a grip now..."

"You know what they say, 'misery loves company'.  Maybe you just want to kill my date with Robert so you won't feel so alone..."  

"O'Hara!"

"You may be a great success at your job, but you're one hell of a failure in your personal life!  That's right, Carlton Lassiter, you are a failure at being a happy person because, unlike me, you quit trying a long time ago!  And now you're like an anchor trying to drag others down along with you!"

"O'HARA!"

"Jesus Christ no wonder your wife left yo-" her eyes flew open in surprise and her hands clamped over her mouth as she finally realized what she was saying.  As angry as she was at the world, as much as she wanted someone else to feel her current pain, she had never meant to be downright cruel.  She never meant to go that far...

She watched in mortified silence as a strange mixture of emotions crossed Carlton Lassiter's face.  And for a brief moment, Juliet saw the one emotion he had never allowed her to see before.  Pure, raw pain.  His eyebrows came together slightly as he stared at her, the hurt he was experiencing clear and unmistakable in his deep blue eyes.  Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the pain was replaced by a mask of furious anger as he lowered his eyebrows and clamped his jaw shut.  He fixed Juliet with a withering glare as his steely blue eyes turned ice cold.  

"Oh, Carlton, I am so SORRY...I didn't mean to-"

Lassiter spun on his heels without acknowledging her attempted apology and stormed out the front door at a brisk walk.  Juliet ran to the doorway and called after him.  "Carlton, I'm sorry!  Please don't..."  Her heart sank when Lassiter didn't bother looking back.  Juliet closed her eyes and rested her head on the door frame.  "I didn't mean it, Carlton," she said out loud to herself.  "You're right, I'm not myself.  I just hope you can forgive me."  A feeling of profound regret settled in her chest.  The man was only trying to help, after all.  "Holy crap, I am such an ungrateful ass..."

Lassiter stalked to his car as fast as his long strides would allow.  He felt as if he'd been stabbed in the chest with a knife.  And he actually had been stabbed on at least one previous occasion, so he knew from personal experience that what he currently felt was quite similar.  But the worst part was definitely the betrayal.  He expected those types of personal insults from anyone else but his partner.  His partner, for chrissakes!  Partners are supposed to protect each other no matter what.

O'Hara knew damn well that he'd received those divorce papers from his wi...correction, ex-wife, only two short weeks ago.  Yet O'Hara had used that knowledge as verbal ammunition against him knowing it would cut to the bone.  All he had tried to do was help her, and how had she repaid him for his efforts?  By using personal information against him in an effort to cause maximum damage.  Even after experiencing countless fights with his now ex-wife, after years of separation and the resulting heated arguments as Carlton tried to save his marriage, he never thought words alone could hurt this much.  Until now, that is.  

Lassiter reached his car, dropped into the driver's seat, and slammed the door shut.  'Fuck her,' he thought coldly as he threw the car into drive and angrily sped out of the parking lot.  'I did my goddamn job.  Whatever happens tonight, she damn well deserves it.'




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Juliet sat at the candlelit table, quietly staring down at her plate while resting her chin on her hand.  She absentmindedly poked at a piece of sauce-covered chicken with her fork.  

"Um, is something wrong with the food?"  

Juliet looked up at her date.  Robert's face brightened with his trademark smile as their eyes made contact.  "Oh, no, it's not the food.  This chicken marsala is great."  She looked around the upscale Italian restaurant, noting the pleasing decor.  She had to admit that Robert picked a great place to eat.  He had even tipped the hostess an extra forty bucks to seat them in a quiet little alcove at the back of the room away from prying eyes.  The setting was actually quite romantic.  It should be the perfect date, but she was obviously not enjoying herself.

Robert watched Juliet as she went back to pushing her food around her plate, apparently not the least bit interested in eating it.  She looked as if she bore the weight of the world on her shoulders.  He fixed her with a knowing look.  "Okay, what's wrong?"  

"Hmm?  What?"  Juliet looked as if she had snapped out of a trance.

"What's wrong, Juliet?  You've only eaten two bites of your food, and you seem, well...distracted.  Is...are you okay?"  He paused in thought, then added, "Is it something I did?"

"Oh, no, Robert!  No, it's not you!  I mean, this place is great!  I really like it!  The food is good, the house wine is fantastic..."  She raised her glass and took another sip of the dark red liquid as if to prove her point.  

"Then what is it?" he asked with mild concern.

"It's just..." she looked at Robert, then sighed.  "I had this big fight with a good friend tonight, and I just can't get it out of my head right now.  I said some things I shouldn't have, and I just feel really bad."  

Robert's brows creased with worry.  "How bad was it?"

"The argument or what I said?"

"Both."

"Bad.  I mean, I just feel awful about it..."  

"Have you tried to apologize?" he asked.  

"Yeah.  Wouldn't accept it.  I've tried calling several times, but my friend won't answer the phone."  She stared down at her hands with a remorseful look on her face.

"Oh, I see."  Robert genuinely seemed concerned.  "Well, just give it a few days to let your friend calm down, then you can try again.  If she's as good a friend as you say, they'll accept your apology later."  He produced yet another willing smile and reached across the table to gently clasp her hand.  "Just give it a little time.  You'll see, it will be okay."

Juliet looked into his soft brown eyes and smiled warmly.  "Thank you, Robert.  That really does help."  Robert's attempts to cheer her up were actually working, and she was starting to feel a little better.  It was nice to see that he really did care, that he was the sensitive type of man she liked.  So what if he looked like the exact opposite of Shawn Spencer.  Wasn't that what she was looking for, after all?  Maybe Carlton's instincts about 'Rob' were totally wrong?

Carlton's instincts.  She thought about what Lassiter had said in her apartment right before her vicious rant sent him storming out the door.  'There's something...wrong about him.  Something very wrong.  I can see it, I know it, I feel it in my gut.'  Juliet remembered her promise and decided to broach the subject of Robert's employment.

"Um, Robert, I want to ask you something.  And please do me a favor, I just want you to be honest."

"No, that skirt does not make you look fat.  The exact opposite, I'd say..." he answered with a grin.  "And you don't have spinach in your teeth, either."

Juliet laughed.  He was funny, too.  So far she really liked her date.  "No, no, nothing like that.  But I wanted to ask you..."  Juliet decided to just put the subject out there.  "I know you don't work at the Morrison building.  A concerned friend of mine found out and told me."  She stared directly into his eyes.  "Why did you tell me that you worked there?"

Robert sighed and looked down at the table.  "Okay, I owe you the truth.  I'm sorry, but it's not a comfortable subject for me."  He adjusted himself in his chair and returned Juliet's gaze.  "A few years ago I started dating this woman from one of those online dating web sites, and it turned out that she was...you know, a little bit...off."

Juliet's brow furrowed.  "Off?  You mean crazy."

"Yes!" he hissed.  "She told me she wanted to marry me after only two dates!  So I freaked out and tried to break it off, and that's when she started stalking me.  She kept showing up at my house, called all the time, I mean..."  Robert looked away and dropped his hand into his lap in frustration.  "One day she showed up at my job and caused this huge scene right in the middle of the office.  I was in a meeting with my boss and the company's board of directors, and she just barged right in and...well...I got fired over the incident.  Took me almost six months to find an equivalent job."  He looked at Juliet with sincerity.  "I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth, Juliet.  No offense, but even though I really like you and want to go out with you, I don't know you very well yet.  I don't want the same thing to happen to me again.  I just wanted to get to know you better before giving out my personal information, that's all."

Juliet looked into Robert's eyes, searching for any hints of deception.  She found none.    His explanation seemed perfectly reasonable, too.  After all, didn't she want to wait until she knew him better to tell him she was a cop?  She felt relieved that their motives were apparently quite similar.  Juliet smiled sweetly and took his hand in hers.  "It's okay, Robert.  I understand.  I want to get to know you better, too."  

Robert returned her smile and interlaced his fingers with hers.  "So...you ready to eat now, or what?"

The tension was broken between them, and their evening finally began in earnest.  The conversation flowed easily and they were starting to really enjoy each other's company.  To her pleasant surprise, Juliet found that Robert was as funny and smart as he was handsome.  'Looks like Carlton was wrong this time,' she thought to herself.  'I think he really is a nice guy.'  She was even thinking of several ways she could apologize to Carlton.  Robert was right, she would give him a little time to cool off, then do something really special for him to show just how sorry she was.  Maybe she'd gift him with chocolate ice cream (NOT double chocolate fudge brownie!) and a Blu-ray disc of that God-awful Sylvester Stallone action movie Cobra he liked so much for starters.   

Juliet was almost finished with her chicken marsala and had just received an iced tea to go with her second glass of red wine.  Two glasses of wine slowly consumed with dinner and dessert was her limit, and even though she liked Robert a lot, she was going to keep her promise to Lassiter and drive herself home.  

Robert asked her how her food tasted.  "It's fantastic, thank you!"  she beamed.

"I'll bet it's not nearly as good as my shrimp alfredo.  Here, try one!"  Robert picked up a shrimp with his unused salad fork, dipped it in the rich cream sauce, and playfully held the fork up to Juliet's mouth.  As she leaned over to eat the morsel, the shrimp fell off of his fork and landed in her lap with a small 'splat'.  "Oh damn!  I'm sorry!"  Robert looked truly mortified, but couldn't quite suppress a small laugh.  

"Oh, it's okay, don't worry about it," Juliet replied casually, retrieving the shrimp in a napkin and looking at the spot of off-white sauce on her jet black skirt.  She accepted another napkin from Robert and dabbed at the excess moisture.  "This should come out with a little bit of water.  Back in a minute."  She rose from her chair to start to walk towards the restrooms.  

"How about I buy you some dessert to make up for it, then?"  Robert asked apologetically.  "What would you like?  I know their strawberry cheesecake is absolutely fantastic."

Juliet smiled.  "Sounds good!  I'll be back," she replied over her shoulder as she exited their secluded little alcove at the back of the dining room.  

Robert watched Juliet as she walked across the dimly-lit dining room.  'They always fall for the shrimp trick,' he mused to himself.  As soon as she disappeared into the hallway leading to the restrooms, he began looking around to make sure nobody could see him.  Having confirmed his privacy, Robert produced a tiny glass vial and poured a small amount of a white powdery substance into Juliet's wine glass.  He paused for a second, then poured some more into her iced tea as well.  'This way I'll get her no matter which one she drinks.'

He put the vial back into his pocket and stirred both drinks with his spoon until the powder dissolved completely.  He carefully examined the glasses to make sure the substance was undetectable to the eye, then wiped of the spoon with his napkin, and waved the waiter over to his table.  "The lady didn't look like she was feeling too well, so I think we might have to go soon.  I'll just pay the bill now in case we have to leave in a hurry."  He handed the waiter a large amount of cash, then added with a wink, "Keep the change, too.  The service was excellent tonight."  The waiter thanked him graciously and left Robert alone to his thoughts.  'Wow, it's been a while since I had to work so hard to catch one.  Thought she busted there me for a minute with the work thing.'  He frowned for a moment.  'Bet she has a friend that's a cop or PI or something.  I'll have to be more careful next time.'

A few minutes later, Robert watched Juliet as she made her way back to their secluded table.  She motioned to her skirt and showed him that the spot was completely gone.  "See?" she said with a bright smile, "I told you it would come right out.  So how do I look?"  

Robert smiled up at her with his soft brown eyes.  "Beautiful."  He picked up his wine glass as she sat down across from him.  "I can hardly wait for dessert."

Juliet picked up her own glass of wine and raised it in a toast.  "To dessert, then!"  she said with a sweet smile.  They touched their glasses together with a soft 'plink', then she began drinking the tainted liquid.




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