Disclaimer: I do not own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.
Author's Notes: I realize now why I need to stop and smell the roses.
Burning Both Ends
"Yes….no…yes I know. Well let me look at my calendar." She leafed through her personal journal marking as she went. "Ok that date looks fine…but I can only give you three days." She sighed heavily not noticing her coworker leaning against the doorframe. When she finally reeled around he had his hands in his pockets. She waved to him as he struggled to find a smile. He listened to her for a few more minutes, and then looked at his watch. He caught her attention and held his arm up. She shook her head and waved him off. He sighed his unhappiness and looked on. When she was finally done, she smiled over at him. He looked like an innocent five year old begging for attention. Of course, that was the case, considering he had invited her out to dinner...and she was running late.
"Chance seriously, stop frowning. You know this is a busy time of year for me." He shrugged. "I know…it's just that…you are always going in a million different directions, and I hardly get time with you." Once again, she shook off his innocence and turned to gather her things. He couldn't help but notice her smooth cream-colored pants and ornately printed blouse. She always looked sophisticated. He accepted it as her way of life, but he also secretly wished she would let her hair down and relax. She gave him a sarcastic look and brushed past him. "Alright lets go!"
When they boarded the elevator, she pulled out her lipstick. Before it made it to her lips, he interrupted her. "Ilsa, you look fine. There's no need for any of that." She considered ignoring him, but gave him the benefit of the doubt. She patiently placed the lipstick back in her purse and shook her head. "Alright, alright. What's your problem today?" He looked at her in question. "I don't have a problem. I just wish you would take into consideration the little time that we have, and the fact that you need to slow down some on the activities in your life." She leaned against the elevator wall and crossed her arms. "Chance you know this is my life. I don't know any other way. I happen to like what I do and I think I do a good job. Why are you so worried all of the sudden anyway?" He looked down at the floor as if to find an answer there. "Never mind. Lets just go and enjoy ourselves." She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the doors opening. He walked out in front of her towards his car.
The valet opened Ilsa's door and assisted her. It wasn't in Chance's bag of tricks to head out to an upscale restaurant. But it was her favorite. They had all been busy and they knew when it was time to take a break. All of them except Ilsa. She was always on the go. Whether it was making plans, or attending an event or lending her services, she was running on some sort of high octane adrenaline, and Chance wasn't enjoying the ride.
Since the night she cancelled her flight and stayed in the city, he inched his way closer to her. It was no surprise that they were mildly attracted to one another, but they also wanted to take things slow. She was dealing with a murdered husband who had had an affair while he was dealing with the thought of never finding love. Plain and simple they were both stubborn.
When they entered the restaurant, the hostess immediately approached them. "Good evening Mrs. Pucci. The usual?" Ilsa looked at Chance. "Actually, the reservations were under Christopher Chance." The young woman beamed. "Oh yes! Right this way please." Ilsa looked puzzled as they followed the beaming blonde towards the back of the restaurant. Ilsa had a specific spot where she always dined so she was wondering what Chance was up to. When they finally rounded the corner, the hostess opened the door to the terrace. Ilsa's mouth opened slightly in awe as she took in her surroundings. The entire terrace was covered in flickering candles under frosted glass. Grapevines intertwined the lattice that screened the outside world. Before them sat a single table, covered in white linen.
They walked to their table and sat down. The waiter walked over and presented Ilsa her favorite bottle of wine and she obliged at his offering. Chance couldn't help but smile at her surprise. She took a long drink from her glass, then set it down. "Well. I must say that this is quite a surprise. Tell me though, how did you know a few of my favorite indulgences?" He leered over at her. "I do pay attention to the smaller things about you. Things that you think I might simply look over. Things like crisp white linen. Your favorite wine, and favorite food." She leaned back. "And what sir may that be?" He wiggled his brows. "Baked Chilean Sea Bass. Lightly seasoned with garlic, salt, pepper, basil and a squeeze of lemon. Of course with a side of mixed vegetables that include asparagus, squash and baby carrots. Marinated in balsamic vinegar, olive oil and a dash of sea salt. And for dessert …something you don't want too many people to know you indulge in… Tiramisu."
She pursed her lips. "So shall I rename you to the stalker as opposed to the assassin?" He chuckled. "No, no. I just pay attention to the little things in life. Believe it or not I work some of my brain muscles. In fact…." He was cut off by her ringing cell phone. "Damn Chance, hang on." She dug through her purse and answered. "Hi…Connie, this is a bad time. No, no…I will get back with them I promise...ok, bye." She ended the call then put it back in her purse. "Sorry about that." He nodded his acceptance and carried on with his conversation. They made small talk while waiting for the food to arrive. Chance was finally able to drag her away from her busy work schedule and enjoy some downtime. He didn't mind his work, but he was fully aware that slowing down was a necessity.
They were halfway through their meal when Ilsa's phone chirped again. He kept eating, not looking up while she reached into her bag. "I'm sorry, that was an email about..,oh nevermind." She punched at the device in mild frustration. He seemed to relax a bit more as their dessert came. As fate would have it though, her phone began to ring. She reached down without looking at Chance. "Chance I have to get that. It's for…" This time he interjected in a not so nice tone. "NO DAMMIT YOU DON'T HAVE TO GET THAT! IN FACT…" He stood up and reached out grabbing her phone. "It's time for a break. He clicked the phone off and then reached into her purse. "Christopher Chance! What do you think…" He gave her a stern stare while holding up her planner. "This Ilsa…these…are taking a vacation." He stormed off of the terrace while she followed. When he finally came across the restaurants manager, he held out the phone and planner. "Look here sir. I want you to go into your office and get an envelope. Then I want you to mail it to…" He leafed through her personal planner, landing on the address for the warehouse. "Mail it to here." Chance reached into his wallet and pulled out a credit card. "Please ring up the meal and something for your trouble." Ilsa looked at him astonished. Never had she seen him act this way. She was aware that he was upset that she had been doing business on the special dinner he had arranged, but she never expected him to put on this sort of performance. Before she could get a word out, their waitress trotted up. "Here you go folks. Tiramisu to go." She tried her hardest to lighten the mood, but even she noticed how angry Chance was.
They rode home not saying a word. When they finally reached the warehouse Chance decided to break the ice. "Your crap will be back at the warehouse in a few days. I want to just see how well you function without those things that keep you so damn wired. Hasn't been too hard when I'm around to stay abreast of everything. I mean Jesus, I can't get a word in with you unless I email or call!" She crossed her arms and waited for him to finish. "That was quite a show. Are you finished?" He took a few deep breaths and attempted to calm himself. She stepped closer. "Let's get something straight. If you ever, in your life, behave like that towards me, I can guarantee you will pay dearly." He raised his arms in the air. "So what? What could you possibly do to me Ilsa? Leave? Cut off my allowance? Fine..do it. I've dealt with worse!"
She shook her head in agreement. "Fine. If that's how you want it, then I can make it happen." She turned back towards the elevator. Before she could walk into the open doors, he grabbed her wrist. She reeled around and met his eyes. "Excuse me." He didn't let go. "So that's it. You have no explanation…nothing?" She stared at him sideways wondering how she was supposed to respond to him. He had all but yelled at her in public and at the warehouse and now he was questioning why she wasn't responding to him. "What exactly do you want me to say? I have a job that I have to tend to, I have a business that I am supposedly running poorly and I have a life that I am trying to live with a minimal stress level. Is that what you want to hear? Is that what will make you happy?"
He loosened his grip and his face fell into the boyish innocence that she saw on rare occasion. "Ilsa, don't you get it? All I want is a little of your time. For the last few months, you have been up, down, left, right and all I want is just…just a little alone time." He sighed heavily and let go of her wrist. "Just go. Do what you need to do." He turned without saying anything else and walked towards his loft.
She felt hurt inside. Not over the fact that he had yelled at her, but the fact that he was telling her he wanted more attention. It was in her nature to be the way she was. Burning the candle at both ends wasn't anything new to her, but Chance was having a problem with it. He didn't understand that she never had to give that much attention to Marshall. Her husband was on the go as much as she was, so it came naturally. She felt bad over the whole incident. Chance never raised his voice to her, so she knew this was something important to him. She wanted to walk away from the issue, but at the same time, her feelings were just as strong towards him.
She walked into the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea while pondering how she was going to approach the subject. Chance wasn't a difficult man to deal with, but when he got emotional, he could be stubborn. She thought about her meeting with him at the airport when her so called London flight was about to take off. She was beyond nervous simply because she never thought he would call her bluff. But he showed up. He showed up and expected her to stay. To his luck, she had already made that decision. She smiled at the thought.
Upstairs, Chance was busy playing video games and being upset that he was in competition with her social life and job, and that she couldn't drop it all for a few moments of time with him. It was frustrating, because for the first time, he had found someone that stole his heart. He had described her once to Winston as "amazing" and wanted to discover more about her. Of course, when he did admit he had feelings, it also came with her all too busy life.
He eventually got bored playing the game and turned on a movie, then laid back into the sofa. He didn't hear her coming up the stairs. She was holding a Styrofoam box in one hand, and a fork in the other. Chance didn't acknowledge her until she walked directly into his field of vision. She reached down, grabbed the remote and turned off the television. He finally looked up at her still with no expression. "Go home Ilsa." She didn't move as he reached for the remote. Before he got his hand to the table, she stepped to block him. He looked up wondering why she was still there.
She carefully placed her knee across his waist and settled over top of him. He wasn't going to object at her current position. "Do you know why I keep my schedule so full?" He shook his head. "It's for two reasons. For one, I love helping people...and two..." She hung her head and stared at his chest. Sensing her hesitation, he placed his hand on her thigh. When she looked back up he was staring intently at her. "It's because I don't want to have any time of my day available to think about the negative things in my life. If I can stay occupied, I can forget it all." He kept his gaze on her and was beginning to understand why she did it. Chance had never had the sort of life Ilsa did, nor did he want it, but he also knew that she deserved more personal time.
"I'm really sorry I acted the way I did. I was really upset. I just felt like you forgot about me." She managed a smile. "How can anyone forget about you? I'm surprised that you didn't just blow something up to get my attention." He finally smiled back at her. "Well…the day isn't over yet." They both shared a laugh, which lightened the mood. They had realized that their personal lives would only prosper if they learned to give and take. Ilsa would need to give a little of her time, but Chance also needed to let her be herself and do what she knew how to do best.
She opened the Styrofoam box to reveal their uneaten tiramisu. His attention zeroed in on the dessert. "You're going to share that aren't you?" She shrugged. "I don't know. You didn't have any issues leaving it back at the restaurant." He frowned at her then curled his bottom lip. Something she could never resist. After taking her own taste of the delicious treat, she forked him a piece. "I suppose if I get to indulge." He gave her a sinister smile in return. They continued the exchange until she came to the last piece. He nodded for her to take it. When she did, a small crumb fell down into her shirt. He was fast to act. "Oh…jackpot."
He took the box and fork from her and set them on the table. When he reached for the bottom of her shirt, she grabbed his hands. "And what do you think you are doing sir?" He tried pulling again. "You don't want that stuff to ruin your shirt." She shook her head. "I think I can just shake it out." He took advantage of his strength and kept pushing her shirt up. "No…it looks like an expensive shirt, I'll help you." She knew he wasn't going to give up..therefore she gave in. He got the shirt off of her and noticed the small crumbs that fell on top of his shirt. "Ok, I got em…but since your shirt is off….well…" She shook her head and leaned down to him. Christopher Chance, you are too much for me to handle." He gave her another signature Chance look. "But you do such a good job."
She placed her hands on his cheeks and kissed him. He was feeling much better, knowing she was more understanding in the situation. He had acted inappropriately, but was overly frustrated that she wasn't giving him enough attention. When she finally broked the kiss, he stared deep into her eyes. "I am really sorry. I just hope I can get more Ilsa-time in the future." He moved his hands up and down her bare back as she nuzzled his cheek. "I promise. I will make more time for you. You truly do deserve it." He leaned her back. "Hmmm, are you trying to seduce me?" She chuckled. "If I wanted anything more…trust me…I'd take it."