Disclaimer- Saban owns the Rangers, I don't. Lita Kino is MINE,
however. You're
welcome to borrow her, just ask first. The song "All the Good Ones are
Gone" is
by Pam Tillis, and is used without permission. Duh. This is in the
Personality
Conflicts series, set after "AGPD Blue." Just a little songfic, but
trust me,
there's a point. Eventually. :) (By the way, this puts Lita's birthday
in the
first half of December, which makes her a Sagittarius... ruled by
Jupiter!)
She'll turn thirty-four this weekend,
Go out with her girlfriends.
They'll drink some margaritas,
Cut up, and carry on.
"Sure, Margaret," Lita Kino agreed, leaning back in her office
chair.
"Friday sounds good. But if you think I'm letting YOU pick the
restaurant,
you're insane. I remember what happened the last time."
She listened for a moment. "Hey, I wasn't the one we had to
carry
out to
the car afterwards. You simply CANNOT have that many frozen drinks in a
three-hour period and hope to walk straight. It's a medical
impossibility. And
yes, I am a doctor."
Idly, Lita began twirling the cord around her finger as she
listened to
her friend. "Sure, I'll let Julia chose the place. Just make sure I get
directions, okay? The last thing I need is the two of you kidnapping me
from my
office like last year. Because I have commitments, okay? No, I don't
expect you
to understand... it comes under confidentiality. Just trust me. Yeah,
I'll see
you there, Margie. Thanks."
With a sigh, Lita rubbed her temples. She wasn't sure exactly
WHY she
was allowing her friends to talk her into another birthday dinner. She
liked
them, sure, but frankly, she wasn't sure that the passing of another
year was
necessarily something to celebrate.
_On the other hand, surviving this year was in doubt at
points... so
maybe a celebration is in order,_ she thought wryly. The question was,
would
she survive Julia and Margaret's version of a party?
There'll be guys and there'll be come-ons,
She'll probably get hit on.
But she thinks that all the good ones are gone.
She knew the drill. They'd drag her out to dinner, and she'd
have a
good
time, she really would. Then Margaret would start flirting with the
nearest
cute thing in sight, whether she was drunk or sober. Unfortunately,
Margaret's
flirting only served to remind Lita of the fact that she wasn't dating
anybody,
and hadn't had a long-term relationship in years. Her mind
instinctively shied
away from exactly how long it had been since she'd had a serious
romantic
relationship. Even with Max, it had only lasted ten months, and in all
that
time, it had never really gotten serious. She hadn't let it.
Part of that, of course, was her work with the Rangers. It was
hard to
get involved with somebody who wasn't in on the secret. There were too
many
jokes, too many odd perspectives, and too many broken commitments and
missed
meetings for it ever to be a smooth ride. It wasn't impossible-- Richie
and
Trini seemed to be managing-- but it wasn't a walk in the park.
The other part of it was that she just couldn't find someone
she wanted
to open up to. The men she met seemed to alternately be taken, jerks,
or just
absolutely wrong for her. Even Max, one of her closest friends had in
the end
admitted he was married to his work. _Just like me,_ she admitted.
She's got friends down at the office,
And she can't help but notice
When the day is over,
How they all hurry home.
Sighing, Lita shot a glance out at her front desk. As usual,
her
secretary Serena was on the phone, happily chatting away with Darien,
her
boyfriend. The two of them had been dating for almost four years now,
and Lita
was just waiting for the man to pop the question-- or maybe for Serena
to do
so. She'd seen them together on enough occasions that she knew the two
of them
would be quite happy.
_God, am I in a black mood or what?_ Still, her old house
seemed quite
lonely sometimes, when the end of the day rolled around.
Each day, there's guys she works with
And even some she flirts with,
But it seems like all the good ones are gone.
It seemed as if all the men in her life were divided into two
categories-- clients and casual acquaintances. Well, and then there
were the
Rangers, but they didn't really count. Lita frowned, trying to remember
the
last time she'd even flirted with a man. Well, there had been a couple
of
occasions with Peter Venkman, back during the Shadowborg siege, but
that hardly
counted. Those exchanges had little to do with attraction; instead,
they were a
combination of conditioned response (on Peter's part) and an attempt to
keep
the assorted heroes from really thinking about the situation.
Distraction, the
Ghostbuster was fond of saying, is the best way to avoid panic. No, she
liked
Peter well enough, but there wasn't any romantic attraction there.
There hadn't
been any, with anyone, for a long while.
And her mama called this morning,
Said, "I'm worried about my baby.
"I wish you had a family of your own."
To make things more oppressive, her mother had called that
morning, to
wish her a happy birthday. However, the conversation had, as always,
swung
around to the subject of grandchildren, and why there weren't any yet.
Lita
knew her mother meant well; Helen Kino truly wanted her daughter to be
happy.
She simply couldn't fathom that any woman COULD be happy unless married
with a
boatload of children under foot.
She said, "Mom, it's not that easy.
"You make it sound so simple."
She can't take the first man that comes along.
But Lita wasn't about to repeat her parents' mistakes. They had
married
early, and over the years had drifted apart. Her father had sacrificed
everything to his work, including his marriage and his relationship
with his
daughter. And her mother had accepted it all without complaint, as the
two of
them became strangers living in one house. No, Lita had no intention of
winding
up like that.
Once she had someone to love her,
Back when she was younger,
And she wonders if she held out
A little bit too long.
Back then, there were so many,
But now there just aren't any,
And it seems like all the good ones are gone.
_Were my standards TOO high?_ Lita wondered, her gaze drifting
over her
awards and diplomas. _I spent so much time focusing on my career...
maybe I let
my chance pass me by. I didn't used to have such trouble finding men I
liked.
Of course, that was college, and I didn't have QUITE as much taste
then. But is
it too late for me to find someone? For me to have a family?_
And her mama called this morning,
Said, "I'm worried about my baby.
"I wish you had a family of your own."
She said, "Mom, it's not that easy.
"You make it sound so simple."
She can't take the first man that comes along.
Continuing on, Lita's gaze fell first on her wall of dartboards, then
the large
framed picture from the post-Shadowborg party. Somehow, (Lita hadn't
wanted to
ask,) Tyler Steele had managed to find a camera that would manage to
fit all
forty-some partygoers into one frame. It was crowded, and people were
falling
all over each other, but everybody seemed to be having a good time. A
number of
Rangers were squashed up against significant others, and had quite
large smiles
on their faces. And-- yep, there it was. Peter Venkman was giving Art
Fortunes
bunny ears. That was, Egon had informed her, an almost Pavlovian
response to
being photographed.
Lita grinned, thinking of the gift that the Rangers had sent
her
for her
birthday. They'd pooled their resources, she'd been told when Tommy
dropped off
the present. Inside the box was a T-shirt, green with white lettering.
The
front side read, "I psychoanalyzed a space alien." On the back, it bore
the
legend, "What did YOU do today?" Beneath the shirt were two tickets to
the
Jimmy Buffett concert next week in Los Angeles.
Those kids certainly knew her well... and cared enough to pick
something
out that she'd enjoy. A smile spread across the psychiatrist's face.
You know,
maybe she hadn't missed out on a family after all. Not that she
intended to
stop looking for a date, but...
Whistling, Lita turned to her paperwork with a much lighter
heart.
Suddenly, an evening with Margaret and Julia wasn't looking bad at all.
She'll turn thirty-four this weekend,
Go out with her girlfriends.
They'll drink some margaritas,
Cut up, and carry on.
The End
