The room was barely lit as Jenny Shepard struggled to fight off not a headache, not nausea, not an upset stomach but rather the loneliness she was feeling. Today was her birthday and she had no one to spend it with. The Director had prayed all through the day that Abby would take it upon herself to throw a surprise party for her and convince Jethro to go. Ok, so maybe it wasn't that she was lonely as much as she wanted Jethro with her. She wanted him to acknowledge her birthday. She wanted to be the one he paid attention to tonight not his current redheaded bimbo of a girlfriend.
Jenny let loose a sigh and took a sip of the bourbon in her hand. Oh, what the hell, She thought before knocking back the entire glass. The redhead poured another glass and knocked that back too. The process was successfully completed once more before she was interrupted in her attempt to knock back the fourth glass in the form of a hand closing over her wrist.
"Enough, Jen." Jenny's hand shook as she did as the man instructed in her ear and put down the tumbler. She wasn't afraid of Gibbs in the slightest but what she was afraid of was that this was just her imagination.
"Shouldn't you be with Maggie?" The redhead cut in as he opened his mouth as though sensing it since she couldn't see him with her back turned.
"Maria. Are you really that drunk?" Gibbs questioned softly, he turned her to face him.
"No, I just don't care what her name is." Jenny didn't add –because either way you're dating her and not me—as much as she may have wanted to, however.
"Jen, something's up. I don't know what it is but I do have a purpose for coming here."
"Are you sure it wasn't just to flaunt the redheaded riot?"
"We broke up. It wasn't working out. She said I was too distracted and I have to agree. I've been thinking about someone else since before Paris."
Ouch, that stung. Jenny knew he still frequently thought about Shannon but to know he'd probably thought about her during their whole lucid affair was a major slap to the face. Perhaps she resembled the woman? No, that wasn't it. Jenny had managed to find a picture when she'd been over before the Colonel had dumped Jethro. They hadn't even flirted then.
"Jethro, I know you need to talk about Shannon sometimes but I really can't do this today."
"I'm not talking about Shannon. Granted, you did find a woman I loved but I'm looking for love in the present tense." Gibbs shook his head and used his hand to lift her chin, bringing her watery emeralds to meet his blue eyes. "I love you." With those three words, he kissed her softly. Or it started softly before it began to escalate to something more.
He pulled back despite her protests and enveloped her in his arms. "As much as I like where this is going we have a party courtesy of Abby to attend so we're gonna have to pick this up later."
Jenny grinned at him and nodded, resting her head on his shoulder for a minute before worming from his grasp and grabbing her coat. He grabbed her hand as she started to hurry forward.
"Hey, Jen, Happy Birthday."
*******Author's Note******
Erm, I'm bored? This was what I came up with. since I seem unable to occupy my time with already started stories. Hope you enjoyed and remember it's R & Rnot just Read.
-C.E.S.
