DISCLAIMER: Charlie's Angels and its characters are the property of Spelling-Goldberg Productions. No infringement intended.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Clichés never get old, even when you pack as many of them as possible into a single fic. At least, that’s my hope.
Special thanks to lovely mrswoman for the last minute beta and to Shay for the early morning chat. Written for eclecticfan’s 29th birthday. *g*
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Best Laid Plans
By Ann
Sabrina perched on the edge of the sofa and stared across the room at her two colleagues. Her face was etched in surprise, and she could hardly believe her ears.
"What do you mean you're not going? We've planned this for weeks."
Kris had the good grace to at least look guilty. "Sorry, Bree; Jill called and asked if I was available to come visit. It's been ages since we've both been free at the same time."
"What about you, Bosley? You've been talking about this trip for weeks." Sabrina still couldn't grasp why the two were giving up the opportunity for a week's vacation in the Bahamas. Charlie had surprised them with the all-expense paid trip, insisting that they take a well-deserved vacation. They'd all been looking forward to some time away from the agency.
"Well, um . . ." Bosley looked around sheepishly. "Remember the lady I met at my last Bird Watcher's meeting?" He waited for Kris and Sabrina to nod their heads before continuing. "Well, she's invited me to accompany her on a hunt for the belted kingfisher."
"Belted kingfisher?" Kris stifled a chuckle. "And where exactly will this hunt take place?"
Bosley wrinkled his brow. "You know, I never really asked her."
Kris glanced over at Sabrina and winked. "Something tells me you're more interested in the watcher than the bird."
Sabrina grinned for a moment, but the realization that their vacation plans had been changed took her focus once again. She sighed heavily. "Well, I guess we should cancel the flight and hotel rooms. We'll just have to find another time to go."
"No, no," Bosley began. "You and Kelly go on without us. Charlie would be very disappointed if someone didn't take him up on his offer." He paused; then added, "Hey, where is Kelly anyway?"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, Bos," Kris smiled in apology. "She took off early; she needed to pick up a few things for the trip."
"Okay, then that settles it. We wouldn't want Kelly's purchases to go to waste. Sabrina, you and Kelly go on ahead with the vacation plans."
"I don't know, Bosley; we should talk to Kelly. She may want to wait until everyone can go." Sabrina couldn't help but feel a bit of excitement at the prospect of spending a week alone with Kelly, but she couldn't be certain that the other angel would feel the same. The mixed signals Kelly was constantly emitting kept Sabrina off-balance and unsure.
"I don't think Kelly's going to care who goes as long as she's one of them." Kris smiled and turned her attention to Sabrina, wanting to see her friend's reaction to her next words. "She wouldn't want that string bikini she bought the other day to have to wait for another trip."
"Bikini?" A crimson flush of heat began in Sabrina's neck and quickly made its way up the brunette's sculptured cheekbones.
Kris was just able to keep her mirth in check. "Yes. It's actually quite revealing. We stopped by the department store after we checked out Johnson's alibi. Kelly looks amazing in the snazzy little number."
Sabrina swallowed hard as the redness continued to spread to the tips of her ears. "Um, well, maybe we should go then. I mean, we wouldn't want to disappoint Charlie."
"Good, good, then it's definitely settled." Bosley glanced at his watch. "Say, you'd better hurry home and finish packing; the jet leaves bright and early in the morning."
"Huh?" Sabrina had to push the image of a bikini-clad Kelly to the back of her mind. "Oh, yes, I probably should be on my way." Scooping her purse up from the couch cushions, she started for the door. "You two be sure and stay out of trouble."
"We will." Kris moved towards the door and opened it for her friend. "And you and Kelly have a good time. We'll see you next week."
"Okay, bye now." Sabrina called over her shoulder as she stepped through the door. Kris watched until the other angel had climbed into her orange Pinto before she shut the door and turned toward Bosley.
"Do you think she bought it?"
"I certainly hope so. If this vacation alone with Kelly doesn't do the trick, I don't know what will."
"Maybe one of us should have planned to go along just to make sure the two of them spend every possible moment together."
"Sabrina would never make a move if you or I were lurking in the background."
Kris sighed. "You're right, Bos. It's just too bad we can't do something to push things along further like maybe arranging for the two to share a room, but that would surely arouse Sabrina's suspicions."
Bosley smiled and reached for the phone. "Not necessarily."
"My apologies, Ms. Duncan, but there's a slight problem with one of the rooms. The previous guest accidentally left the Jacuzzi on and flooded the bathroom and adjoining room. The carpet is ruined."
"Oh, that's okay; just put me in one of the other rooms we'd reserved." Sabrina glanced over her shoulder and flashed a smile at Kelly.
"Um, well, you see, Mr. Bosley called and cancelled the other two rooms yesterday; they're both occupied."
"O-k-a-y," Sabrina drawled out the word to three syllables. "Just check me into one of your vacant ones then."
"There are no vacancies." The clerk shrugged his shoulders slightly and offered an apologetic smile. "We've just the one room. It is a suite though."
"How many beds?" Sabrina asked, nervousness creeping into her voice.
"Just one, but it's a king. Two people should be able to sleep comfortably."
"Is there a couch?"
"Yes, ma'am; it even makes out into a bed."
"Sabrina, you are not sleeping on a foldout bed." Kelly broke her silence and stepped next to her friend.
"We'll see," Sabrina said, taking the pen to sign in. "Let's just get checked in first."
Kelly narrowed her eyes slightly, knowing she'd have a fight on her hands later. Sabrina was the most stubborn person she'd every met; beautiful, but definitely stubborn. The clerk's voice brought Kelly's focus back to the present.
"I'll have a bellman bring your luggage to your room."
"That won't be necessary," Sabrina said with a smile. "We only have the two cases."
"Whatever you wish, Ms. Duncan." The man returned the smile. He'd already won the first round.
Sabrina nodded at the clerk and turned towards the bank of elevators. "C'mon, Kelly; let's go unpack."
Following Sabrina's lead, Kelly dutifully rolled her suitcase behind her. She could have sworn the clerk had winked at her before she'd turned to leave. Shaking her head, she stepped into the open elevator. The doors were almost closed when a hand slid between the narrow opening, triggering the automatic sensor on the elevator doors. They slowly slid back to an open position, and two women eased into the car.
"Sorry," said the taller of the two. "Didn't mean to hold you up."
Kelly smiled. "Oh, no problem."
The second woman looked down at the two suitcases. "Just checking in then?"
"Yes, we thought we'd unpack and . . ." Kelly's words were cut off by the lurch of the elevator. She quickly reached out toward the wall to steady herself.
"Whoa!" The taller woman almost lost her footing. Automatically, she pulled the other woman to her side. "This damn elevator is starting to get on my every last nerve."
Sabrina finally joined in on the conversation. "Does it do this often?"
"It's happened once or twice. I've told the clerk about it. He said that he'd have it checked out."
"Great, maybe we should take the stairs next time." Sabrina muttered under her breath. She glanced over at Kelly to find her friend focused on the other two women. Slowly, Sabrina moved her gaze to the front of the elevator to see what was so interesting. Her eyebrows rose slightly at what she found.
The shorter woman was being held in a loving embrace. Her head was nestled against the other woman's chest, and her arms were wrapped tightly around the taller woman's back. Sabrina watched as a kiss was bestowed on the top of a blonde crown.
"Hey, we're moving again. No need to be frightened." A quiet voice whispered her reassurance.
Kelly marveled at how soft the confident sounding voice had become. The taller woman was practically cooing in the other woman's ear. Sabrina and Kelly continued to quietly watch as the petite woman slowly relaxed in the other woman's arms. The chime of the elevator broke through the loving moment as the two women stepped away from each other as the doors opened.
"Here's our floor. Maybe we'll see each other again later." The tall woman smiled and guided the other woman from the elevator as the doors slowly closed on their exit. Neither Kelly nor Sabrina uttered a single word as they watched the lights of the elevator count off the different floors. Finally, the doors opened, inviting the two angels to exit. Sabrina motioned Kelly forward, and the pair made their way down the corridor to their room, completely lost in their thoughts.
Kelly hoisted her suitcase onto the bed and took a moment to gaze around the room.
"This place is huge. Do you think Charlie reserved us each a room like this?"
Still lost in thoughts of how wonderful Kelly would feel in her arms, Sabrina started at her friend's words. "Huh?" She forced herself to take in the room. "You know Charlie; nothing but the best for his angels." She smiled at the thought. There were times she cursed Charlie for the different cases he got them involved in, but he always made up for it afterwards, one way or another.
Oblivious to Sabrina's thoughts, Kelly moved toward the bathroom and flicked on the light. Her gasp had Sabrina walking over to peer inside. The room was huge.
"Would you look at the size of that Jacuzzi?" Kelly stepped further into the room. "We could both easily fit inside of it."
Sabrina was so very thankful that Kelly had her back to her. Coming so close on the heels of the image she had of Kelly in her arms, Sabrina was certain that her expression could only be described as lust-filled. Now, she had the image of the two of them stretched out in the Jacuzzi; Kelly, with her eyes closed, lying back against Sabrina, with only a layer of sweet-scented bubbles covering their nakedness.
"Um, well, it certainly is big." Sabrina eased back into the room and glanced over her shoulder at Kelly. "Why don't you finish unpacking while I go down and pick up some of those pamphlets we saw by the check-in desk?"
"Don't you want to unpack, too?" Kelly called out, but her question went unanswered as Sabrina had already made a quick exit, a very quick exit. Shrugging, Kelly took one last look at the Jacuzzi before returning to the room to unpack. She certainly wouldn't mind testing her theory about the size of the large tub.
Outside in the hallway, Sabrina rested her head against the door. She was in absolute hell. Here she was on vacation with Kelly, and just Kelly, staying in the same room, with only one bed, and a gigantic tub that would fill her every fantasy for the rest of their vacation. Not to mention the fact that they were sharing the same hotel with two women that were obviously a couple, and she was going to have to carry on as if she only held friendly feelings for Kelly. Pushing off the door, she headed for the lobby. Maybe if she found plenty of activities for her and Kelly to engage in, she'd be too busy to obsess over what she couldn't have.
Thirty minutes later, Sabrina returned to the room with a stack of pamphlets and a calmer mood; however, the entire stack slid to the floor when she got her first glimpse at Kelly.
"Oh, hey Bree, I was wondering when you'd return. I was thinking about taking a walk on the beach." Kelly had turned from the window to face her friend. Sabrina never noticed the gorgeous blue sky or the crystal clear waters in the background; instead, her focus was solely on the sexy black bathing suit Kelly was wearing. The slinky, string bikini left absolutely nothing to the imagination, and until that moment, Sabrina had thought she had quite the imagination. The evidence before her eyes proved without a doubt that she'd been wrong, so very, very wrong.
"Um, now?" Sabrina's mind was racing with various scenarios, all of which involved Kelly unfastening the three strings that held her suit together, and she began to wonder if this was how a hormonal teenaged boy functioned on a daily basis.
Kelly chuckled and looked down at herself. "That's what I had in mind when I changed into my suit. So, are you game?" She glanced back up at Sabrina, holding back the grin that threatened to escape. Kelly hadn't wanted to pay the exorbitant price for such a small amount of material, but Kris had assured her that it would be worth its weight in gold. Judging from the look in Sabrina's eyes, Kris had been right on the money.
Sabrina bent down to retrieve the fallen pamphlets. She definitely needed something else to focus on. "Okay, just let me pick these up, and I'll get changed." She never noticed Kelly make her way over until a hand touched her own.
"I'll get these. You get changed."
Barely lifting her eyes, Sabrina glanced forward and found heaven in the form of the creamy white slopes of Kelly's cleavage. Choking on her next words, Sabrina wheezed, "Um… I'll… um… yeah." Quickly pushing to her feet, she moved into the other room.
Kelly smiled brightly. All those mixed signals Sabrina had been sending were now coming in loud and clear.
Sabrina closed and locked the door to the room while Kelly waited in the corridor. They'd both slipped on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and Sabrina was eternally grateful that Kelly wouldn't be walking through the hotel half-naked. She didn't think she could stand idly by while Kelly was ogled by anyone with a pulse. Smiling, Sabrina gestured towards the elevators, but just as the doors opened, she realized she'd forgotten her sunscreen.
"Damn it, I need to go back to the room. Can you hold the elevator?"
Kelly stepped inside the elevator and smiled. Placing her finger on the 'door open' button, she said, "Sure. I'll wait right here." Nodding, Sabrina turned and jogged back towards the room.
A few moment's later, Sabrina returned to a set of closed elevator doors. She chuckled at Kelly's lack of patience as she hit the button to recall the elevator to her floor. A loud screeching alarm greeted her instead. She immediately began to shout and beat against the door.
"Kelly! Are you in there?"
A very small voice yelled back, "Bree! The elevator's stuck! Please, get me out of here!" The panic was evident in Kelly's voice.
Sabrina remembered a conversation they'd once shared about Kelly's fear of being locked in a small space. The memory made Sabrina's heart lurch at her friend's predicament; she didn't know why Kelly's fear was so strong, but she could hear the terror already. She called out in as calm a voice as she could manage. "Sit tight, Kelly! I'll be right there!"
Racing for the stairs, Sabrina took them two at a time, and reaching the lobby, she headed directly for the clerk.
"Hey! My friend's stuck in the elevator. You've got to get her out of there!"
"What?" The man was clearly surprised. "I just had that elevator fixed. Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure!" The usually calm Sabrina was beginning to panic. "Call the repairman, now!"
"Okay, but it'll be a little while. He was heading across the island on another call."
Sabrina glared at the man. "Well, tell him to hurry!" Turning, she sprinted back up the stairs to try to calm Kelly. By the time she'd made it to her floor, Kelly was beyond panic.
In a hollow cry of abject fear, Kelly cried, "Bree! I can't breathe in here. Get me out! Please, get me out!"
"You can't do that, Ms. Duncan!" The clerk stood beside Sabrina, trying to talk her out of climbing down to the stalled car.
"Oh yes, I can. You just keep calling that repairman." Sabrina stepped through the small trap door and placed her foot on the first of the ladder-type rungs that lead down to the elevator. Carefully, she moved rung by rung until she was directly above the stalled elevator.
"Kelly! Can you hear me?" Sabrina eased her foot onto the top of the car and moved to the door located on the far side. There was no answer from inside the car.
"Kelly, I'm here." Sabrina slid the door open and peered down into the poorly lit car. She could just make out Kelly huddled in the car. Without a hint of hesitation, Sabrina lowered herself into the elevator.
"Kel? Honey, are you okay?"
Dark tear-filled eyes looked up and latched onto Sabrina's. "Bree?"
"Hey, yes, it's me." Sabrina inched forward not wanting to frighten the already terrified woman. She was almost bowled over when Kelly launched into her arms.
"Oh, Bree." Light sobs filled the small space as Sabrina's shirt became saturated with Kelly's tears.
"Shh, it's okay. I'm here now." Sabrina slid to the floor and pulled Kelly into her arms. Drawing soothing circles on Kelly's back, Sabrina continued to whisper reassurances into the other woman's ear.
"I was so scared. It was just like when I was little." Kelly's voice was small and childlike.
"What? What happened to you?" Sabrina kept her tone gentle.
"Beamish used to lock me in the closet. I was so afraid of the dark, but she didn't care. She'd leave me in there for hours and hours."
"Oh, Kelly; I'm so sorry. But you're okay now, Beamish can't hurt you anymore."
Kelly nodded her head in understanding. "Thank you for coming to save me, Bree."
Sabrina pulled away and gently lifted Kelly's chin until eye contact was made. "You don't have to thank me, Kelly. I'll always be here for you."
Licking her lips, Kelly slowly inched forward until the two women were breathing the same breath of air. Her words were soft and pleading. "Will you kiss me, Bree? Please? I just need you so much right now."
Sabrina's reply was to close the final distance. Very softly, she made contact with the lips she'd only dreamed about. In that moment, everything in Sabrina's world clicked into place. Deepening the kiss, Sabrina unleashed the desire she'd held pent up for so long.
In the darkened space inside the stalled elevator, the two angels finally cast their fears aside and fell into the heaven of each other's arms.
The End