Pride Falls

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective copyright owners, i.e., CBS. I had nothing to do with their creation, nor profit from their use. But, I did create some characters and they are mine. No copyright infringement is intended, this is just for fun.

Chapter One

NCIS Special Agent Dwayne "King" Pride stood at the kitchen island and sipped his morning coffee. He had slept well and his health was good; still, he felt off-kilter. Unsure of the source, he made a mental rundown of his usual concerns. The last time he'd spoken to his daughter Laurel, she sounded happy; his finances were in good order; the bar was humming along; and the NCIS office had no new cases.

Then he remembered a new addition—his love life —and felt a sting.  

His ex-wife Linda had initiated their separation about two years before with the deceptively benign decision to "take a break." She had told him that she was tired of taking second place to his job and he reluctantly conceded her the point. They spent many hours with a counselor and Pride made determined efforts to change his behavior. But, as time went on, he began to realize that she had no intention of getting back together.

During sleepless nights, he forced himself to consider that she had moved on.  Any wisp of reconciliation disappeared when she took a vacation with her new boyfriend.

The idea of taking a trip with another person or even dating was as foreign to Pride as serving TV dinners on Thanksgiving. The prospect of going out with a woman for the purpose of romance made him break out in a cold sweat.  Hell, it took him two months after the divorce to take off his wedding ring, and then, only because he was going undercover.

The last time he was unattached there was no Internet, no cell phones, and no email. To his chagrin, Laurel and his friends were all too happy to drag him into the 21st century dating scene.   Apparently everyone had an eligible friend, relative, or acquaintance who would be "perfect." He got e-mails and texts with numbers, names, and, sometimes, photos. He also had a fair number of business cards, usually with a handwritten note like "loves cops!" 

They even went as far as setting him up on a dating site, without his knowledge. Twice.  The worst was Special Agent Chris LaSalle who was majoring in Getting Pride Laid 101.

"You'll feel better after a little gland-to-gland combat," he'd said with a smirk.

Pride would throw him a sour look. First, he did not like discussion of his personal life; and second, if he did begin a relationship, it wouldn't just be about getting some. Sure, he missed sex—one of God's greatest gifts—but, he needed a strong emotional attachment. Between dating and marriage, he had been faithful to Linda for 30 years. Even before, he never had more than one girlfriend at a time. Well, there was that beer-fueled, one-night stand back in college, but it caused him such guilt, he swore never to do it again.

He was a one-woman man—always would be.

Still, he knew deep down that he had to start somewhere. He had chided LaSalle and Patton Plame for putting up his profile on a dating site. He took it down, but kept the one his daughter had set up. After several weeks, he finally got the nerve to connect with a CPA who appeared to share his interests of cooking, jazz, and hiking. When they communicated the night before, she was going on a cruise, so they set a date to meet for coffee two weeks in the future.

And this scared the shit out of him.

At this realization, his cell phone rang.