Erin stared at the email in front of her. It was hard to comprehend the words that she had just read, and she felt an icy chill wrap around her body as she felt the first tears begin to flow down her cheeks. "After twenty years of friendship?" she whispered, finally turning her face away from the monitor.
"Chief Strauss, Agent Jareau is here to see you."
Looking up, she saw Helen standing in her doorway, a concerned look on her face. "Give me just one moment, okay?"
Her assistant nodded and stepped back into the outer office, closing the door behind her. Erin swallowed the large lump in her throat, trying to will away any more tears from falling. Clearing her throat, she turned back to her monitor and blindly clicked over to another tab. "Chief Strauss? I, I needed to see you about getting some time off from work."
Erin nodded a little, still trying to control her feelings. "How long do you need be away?" Her voice sounded thick and phlegmy, and she knew that the other woman would know something was the matter. And then she heard a sound that she hated so much – the soft tsking of someone who was pitying her. "Agent Jareau?"
"Hmm? Sorry. I need to take about two weeks off. Henry and I are moving out, and I need some time to pack."
With those soft words, Erin turned her head, staring at the woman. "I'm sorry?"
"Will and I are getting a divorce. I caught him cheating on me with the nanny." Erin's eyes widened in sympathy, and she had to check herself before she reached out to touch the younger woman. "What's upset you today, Ma'am?"
She shrugged, looking up to the ceiling. "Life."
"Ah, I know that full well. I wish I could find something closer to here, something I could afford on my salary. So far, it's been nothing but dead ends or places that want more than I make in a month." Sighing, she slumped back in the chair as Erin nodded absently.
"Have you asked one of your friends if you could room with them for a time? I'm certain that Ms. Garcia would love to have you and Henry in her home."
"She has a one bedroom apartment. Not very conducive to two extra people. And before you suggest it, there would be no way I would ever, ever, consider living with Blake. She's just, I don't know, so overbearing. The guys are out, too. So that leaves me renting a hotel room and putting all our stuff into storage for the time being."
"I have the room," she whispered lowly, quickly looking down at her desk, her fingers caressing the soft wood. "Alan got custody of our children, so there are a few empty bedrooms in the house. And I have a swing set in the yard still. I could never bear to have it taken out when they outgrew it."
Erin cursed herself for being so foolish, so impulsive, and she knew that the woman would reject her outright. After all, it was what everyone seemed to be doing these days. "Why?"
That was not what she had been expecting, and she looked up into Jennifer's eyes. "Why?"
"Yes, why? Why would you open your home to us? I know things have changed since the Replicator killed Anderson. I know you've been trying to be nicer. But why would you do this?"
It took a few moments for her to answer. "I'm lonely." This time, she didn't try to mask the tears in her eyes, the sorrow in her heart. "I just got word that a friend I had for twenty some years decided that I wasn't worth being friends with any longer. I need to make amends for the way I treated people here. There are so many reasons I could give you and each of them would be true. The most honest of them all is that I am lonely. And if you were willing to put Henry in the daycare here, I could take care of him while you're away. There would be no need to find a new nanny, and you wouldn't have to worry about me screwing the one you love."
The woman tilted her head as she looked at her, trying to assess her. "Well, there is that. And it would probably be for a few weeks at most." A tender smile spread across her face and she reached out for Erin's hand. "So, I guess this is the part where I tell you that you can call me Jen or JJ." Erin nodded and clasped her hand, trying to smile a little. "So, do I still get my time off?"
"Of course, you're going to need time to move after all. Oh, and I'll get you a key by the end of the work day. I can take a long lunch." Her mind was racing as she thought about bringing two people into her home, preparing her life for the hustle and bustle of a young child. "I have to stay late tonight, there's some paperwork that I need to catch up on. Would you want to stay and follow me home so that you know where to head, or just come over tomorrow?"
"Or I could get the address from you and make us all supper." Erin nodded. "It's settled, then. When you drop off the key, give me your address as well."
"All right. I'll see you in a few hours, then."
Jennifer nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her. Once she was gone, Erin buried her face in her hands, shaking her head. She had no idea what she was doing, why she had opened herself up to the intrusion of another person in her life. She had just become accustomed to being without her children, without Dave, even, and now she was going to have two people in her home, living with her, disrupting her routine. Did she really crave having someone to talk to that badly?
Helen knocked heavily at her door before stepping inside. "I have the budget for you to look over. A.D. Crawford would like you to get this finished by four, if possible. I know that you have a lot of work to do already, would you like me to go out and get you lunch today?"
She took the sheaf of papers from Helen's hands, setting them in front of her. "If you don't mind running an errand or two for me as well."
"I can do that, Erin."
Nodding, she pulled out her keys from her purse, slipping the house key off the ring. "I need you to make two copies of this key. And then I need you to negotiate a place for Agent Jareau's son in our daycare. She's going through a transition in her life, and needs a safe space for her son."
"Not a problem! I'll be back with lunch and errands accomplished in two shakes of a lamb's tail." Erin smiled at her assistant's enthusiasm, suddenly glad that she had chosen someone younger as her assistant. She really needed that energy she exuded, or so it seemed these days. "Oh, and I'll make sure that Agent Blake knows nothing about the extra key. She's still a little touchy these days."
"But she's getting better. It's going to be baby steps, Helen, but as long as we move forward, everything will be fine."
She nodded and turned to leave. Pausing, she turned back, smiling widely at her. "I knew you weren't dead. I knew you would come back to us. Thank you for proving me right." The young woman blushed deeply before rushing from the room, as if she were embarrassed at having revealed that to her. Erin just shook her head as she bent back over her paperwork, a wide smile on her face.