Meet Cute is a way to quickly introduce two characters and set up their burgeoning relationship. A meet-cute is almost always rife with awkwardness, embarrassment, and sometimes outright hostility. Reddington vs Mr. Kaplan.

Meet Cute

Her red hair was swept up in an elegant twist. One tendril of hair had escaped to fall down the side of her face.

Everything else about her – her clothes, her make up, her manicure, her jewelry, everything was absolutely impeccable. Staring at that wisp, Raymond decided it had to have been left out deliberately.

She was older than the last time he had seen her, but she looked just as breathtakingly beautiful as he remembered her.

He never should have agreed to come. He didn't know why he was here. He didn't really want to be here … but now, now that he was here, he was curious. Raymond looked around the room trying to find a photograph, but there were none to be found.

The house was bigger and nicer than his. It was in a far tonier part of town. From what little he had seen of the inside so far, it was immaculate – but then with a cream sofa and cream carpets it would have to be. The room's furnishings were tastefully selected – all but the art.

He didn't care for the paintings on the walls. Unless they were posters on a college dorm room wall, he always found reproductions of famous works of art no matter how well done - and these were absolutely exquisite – to be tacky. He would just as soon display an original piece from an up and coming unknown artist rather than a knockoff.

He turned his attention back to her as she spoke. "You look good, Red. I know it's been a long time -"

"- That's an understatement." Raymond practically snapped.

She tensed at his anger. Her hand tightened on the glass of wine she held.

She had poured them both wine when they had first arrived but neither had actually drank any.

Once he noticed it, he couldn't help but stare at the wedding band sitting on her left hand like a very bad joke.

He lamented. "I don't even know what to call you anymore."

She looked disappointed. "Whatever you're comfortable with, Red."

He wasn't comfortable with anything about the current situation.

When he shook his head, she offered. "How about Annie?"

"Annie." Raymond tried it out, but it didn't sound right. "Annie."

Picking up his glass, he took a sip of his wine as if it could wash out the bad taste of all of this.

He looked around the room again as if a photograph of their interloper might have suddenly appeared in the last few minutes. He knew that he had met her before but he couldn't remember her. He wasn't sure if it was because she was that unmemorable or if he just hadn't been paying attention. He would have paid more attention if he had known she was going to steal Annie from him.

When his gaze lingered on the full size concert grand piano, she asked. "Do you still play?"

Annie had taught him how to play.

Fearing she might suggest a duet, he lied. "No. Not really."

As the awkward silence stretched out between them, she again tried to break it. "Would you like to go see the set of paintings I have been working on?"

Annie's art. That was why he was supposedly here, why they had left the restaurant to come here. Raymond shrugged indifferently. He didn't actually have any interest in seeing her paintings.

He heard the backdoor open and indistinct voices in the kitchen. Sensing a trap, Raymond stood in alarm ready to bolt. "Is that her? You told me that she wouldn't be here!"

"No! It's not Kate! I told you – she's out of town until Friday."

"Then who is here?" Raymond demanded.

"I don't know." Annie seemed flustered, genuinely unsure.

He should have just left. He should have just gone out the front door, but his curiosity got the better of him. He pushed his way through the kitchen door that - like Annie - swung both ways.

"Are you going to be able to make the stairs."

"I know of one way to find out."

Watching the pair from behind, at first Raymond thought she was drunk. Her arm was around his shoulder, his arm was around her waist. He looked like he was all but carrying her – and he looked like he had been about to all but carry her up the aforementioned stairs.

Annie had followed right behind him. "Kate? What are you doing here? Why aren't you in New York?"

At Annie's voice, the pair turned around and Raymond and Annie got their first look at them.

Annie gasped. "Kate, what happened?"

Raymond grabbed Annie by the forearm to stop her as she rushed towards Kate.

He held her back. He wanted to get a good look at her – the woman who had taken Annie from him.

The man with her was inconsequential. He was just some uniformed driver.

Kate had her eyes on him, not Annie, as she answered. "It's nothing serious - just a touch of the flu."

She didn't look like she just had the flu.

"I thought I would come back early. I would have called to tell you, but I thought you were going to be out."

Kate with the assistance of her driver had made it to the base of the stairs before Raymond interrupted them. With a grimace, she took her hand off of the man's shoulder and moved it to the stair railing.

Gripping the handrail so tightly that her knuckles were white, Kate dismissed the driver. "Here is fine. You can get my luggage out of the car now."

"Okay." The driver propped her up against the wall of the staircase. Treating her like a china doll, he waited a moment to be sure she wouldn't tip over before he removed his arm and stepped away.

Annie was gorgeous.

This one was a plain Jane on the best of days – and this was certainly not one of her better days. Right now she looked like death just barely warmed over. She was pale and she looked clammy. Her hair looked stringy and unkempt. Her clothes were mismatched. Her light colored linen skirt was wrinkled and didn't pair with her black suit jacket. She had all the buttons done up on her blazer and she had her hand stuck in between two of the buttons like she thought she was Napoleon.

Annie was tall, elegant and ethereal. She had this Blanche Dubois quality about her.

This one was short, beady-eyed and insidious.

Raymond found it hard to believe that the two of them had ever gotten together. The age gap had to be something like twenty years. It was even harder to believe that they were still together.

Raymond couldn't understand the attraction. Annie was impeccable. Right now, this thing looked like something he would cross the street to avoid.

"Annie, I know you have company so I hate to ask, but I need you to go to the pharmacy to pick up a few things. I already called ahead the order."

Annie readily agreed. "Of course."

Glaring at Kate, Raymond asked. "Do you know who I am?"

Kate responded with no emotion just as the driver came back with her small suitcase. "I know who you are."

Annie looked torn between the two of them.

The driver put the case down, but eyeing the way Raymond was still holding Annie's arm, he made no move to leave. "Everything okay here, Mr. -"

The driver was clearly addressing Raymond as the only Mr. in the room, but Kate interrupted him. "- It's fine. You can go now."

When the driver still stood there, Kate's voice was oddly steely as she made a request. "Annie, could you get your wallet? I don't know if I have any cash to tip the man so he can leave."

Raymond let go of Annie's arm.

Annie left to retrieve her clutch from the foyer. Hurrying back, she didn't bother to count the money, she just handed all the cash that had been in it to the driver.

With a tip of his hat, finally, the driver left. Raymond turned to watch him until he was actually out the kitchen door.

Turning back towards the stairs, he discovered that while he hadn't been looking Kate had sat or possibly fallen. She was now sitting on the staircase with her hand still concealed in her suit jacket.

With him no longer physically restraining her, Annie - free to make a choice - rushed to Kate's side.

"Red, maybe it would be best if we did this another time."

Once again, she was picking Kate over him.

Bitterly, he responded. "I can show myself out."

Too busy fussing over her precious Kate, Annie couldn't even be bothered to look at him as she threw off another apology. "Red, I am sorry."

Going out the front door, Raymond wondered just what kind of crowd, what kind of trouble Annie had gone and gotten herself involved with since leaving him?

Kate wasn't merely pale. Raymond was Naval Intelligence, but he had on occasion volunteered for less cushy, temporary billets. He had been in combat situations. He recognized her coloring. He had seen it before out in the field in soldiers shortly before they finished bleeding out.

tbc

A/N Yeah? Nay? Meh? Do tell.