White Collar - as an unofficial novel - part 6

Cape Cod

Neal had noticed something he was pretty sure Peter had not. The phone in which Edward Walker had his calendar had not only been brought out by the charming Whitney, as they both noticed, but also returned to her promptly. This was not Walker's private phone. It was not a too far-fetched guess that it was in Whitney's possession.

Neal knew Peter would go berserk if he found out by his anklet that he had been standing outside Walker's apartment waiting for a chat with Whitney. So he took a walk in the area, googling, and found that Whitney lived in Gramercy Park. This meant that she probably walked back and forth to work, and with a bit of luck stopped at a cafe along the way.

He called Mozzie, who agreed to keep his eye open for a pretty redhead leaving the building.

An hour later his friend called and told him that the woman in question was at a small restaurant. Ten minutes later Neal had walked there and squeezed himself past her, and just happened to stumble on a chair.

"Ooh!"

"Oh, sorry," Neal said, charm on. "God. These tables are so close to--"

"Hey," she said recognizing him.

"Whitney," he recognizing her in return.

"Mr. Caffrey?"

"Please, Neal," he corrected her, making it informal. "Neal."

"All right," she smiled at him.

"That's what I love about New York."

"Yeah."

"Small world." Did he linger too long? Her eyes were glued at him.

"Please, sit down," she said. "Join me?"

"Sure?"

"Yeah, sit down." She moved her bag and he sat down. He saw she looked in a catalog of real estates in Cape Cod.

"Cape Cod... What a relief to meet someone else who's over the Hamptons."

"I know," she said, on the same track at once. "I always felt like I was in a Fitzgerald novel. Maybe it's 'cause I'm not from New York."

"A kindred expatriate," he agreed and caught her eye again. She was definitely interested. "Would you like another glass of wine?"

He loved that look he got in return. Flirting was indeed good for your soul.

"Yeah," she agreed, with a coy smile. "Let's."

He rose and went to the bar and was soon back with two glasses of one of the better red wines they had.

"So which do you plan to buy?" he asked as he sat down. Her bag hung over the back of her chair, next to him.

"Oh, I'm just dreaming away. I cannot possibly afford it."

"I know that feeling," he said, putting his arm on her backrest. Not touching her, but enough to give her a feeling of closeness. She did not mind. "I was actually pretending to be a speculator of a house in Nantucket once, just to get a little food for dreams."

"You were inside?"

"Yeah. It was grand."

"Been to Martha's vineyard too?"

They got lost in talks about Cape Cod's best places all while the level of the contents in their wine glasses got lower.

"So, you actually prefer Nantucket over Martha's vineyard?" she asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's a sentimental thing." Neal saw Mozzie across the street moving towards them.

"Absolutely!" she said as he slid his hand into her bag without breaking eye contact. "Let's go international."