Welcome to my new story, I hope you'll enjoy the little ride I'll be taking you on. Incidentally, this is based on real articles though I did make a few tweaks to ensure it fit my plot :)
It wasn't often that Nell Jones had time to take a break during the work day. Usually cases kept her and Eric busy in ops or at a computer station at the back of the bullpen all through the day and often into the night. But it was two in the afternoon and all was quiet. Hetty was at a meeting, Eric was messing around with one of the computers in ops trying to improve search speeds, and when she had enquired about the empty bullpen fifteen minutes earlier upon her return from the Archives room, Eric had told her the agents had all gone out to get lunch.
Making the most of the peace and quiet, Nell settled herself on couch at the back of the bullpen and sipped a cup of freshly made herbal tea. Glancing to the coffee table, she spotted a magazine she could only presume was Kensi's and with nothing else to read, she picked it up and began to flip through the pages.
Nell didn't normally read women's magazines, usually finding the articles pointless and the fashion ridiculous and impractical. Still, she found herself skimming over the articles on where to find the best manicurist in LA, the top five hippest restaurants in the city and why everyone should eat there at least once, and secrets to boosting your career. She found her eyes rolling at the inane advice given on how to tell if your boyfriend is cheating on you and was about to close the magazine when she flipped the page and an article caught her eye.
The Top 20 Traits of the Perfect Man
Nell immediately scoffed. How could someone possibly determine what traits all women looked for in the perfect man? And for that matter, what man could possibly be perfect? Even the best of them had flaws. As she scanned the introductory paragraph she learned that the identified traits were the result of a study of 2000 women. It was hardly a representative sample of the female population of the United States but as an analyst her curiosity was piqued and she continued reading.
This list is broken down into four categories, the physical, his personality, his character and the practical. If the guy you are in a relationship with or even just crushing on possesses these traits, you just may have found yourself the perfect man.
Chuckling at how absurd the article was, Nell tucked her legs under her, got comfortable and let her eyes drift down the page to the description of the first category of traits. If nothing, it might prove to be an entertaining read.
Our research shows the top physical traits of the perfect man identified by the women of the study are; that he is taller than they are, has dark hair, blue eyes and a layer of short facial hair. He will also be athletic and toned with well-defined muscles.
Nell stopped reading immediately, the parallels between the traits listed and a certain special agent she had had a crush on since the day she met him, were uncanny. Maybe the first trait wasn't difficult given that almost every man was taller than her, but the dark hair, blue eyes and short facial hair were G Callen's trademark. And while she had never been privy to seeing him without a shirt on (unless her fantasies counted), Callen's toned body and strong muscles were always evident through the jeans and shirts he wore.
Determined that it was purely coincidental that the first five traits of the perfect man just happened to match those of the man she was unable to get out of her head, Nell read a little further, curious about what else might be true.
Personality is crucial in determining the perfect man. The women of our study identified the perfect man as intelligent, confident, generous and passionate, with a sense of humour.
Once again Nell was surprised at how the traits matched him. Callen was most definitely intelligent – he spoke at least seven languages and that alone meant he was far from stupid. She was pretty sure he had never actually gone to college but he wouldn't have become the undercover legend he was without having the knowledge and ability to understand and make use of complex information, as well as interpret behaviour and body language. Callen was also one of the most confident people she had ever met. He had confidence in himself that never even came close to arrogance, and he had confidence in his friends and colleagues. He had shown himself to be generous when he bought Sam a 'new' old car when 'Charlene' was stolen. It hadn't been cheap and Callen had no reason to be the one to replace it, but he had, just to lift the spirits of his best friend. And he absolutely had a sense of humour, albeit on the dry side. But passionate? That one had Nell thinking hard. She knew he was passionate about his work but she was pretty sure that's not what the article was talking about.
Making a mental note to come back to that one, she carried on.
The women of our study identified five character traits of their perfect man. He is dependable, chivalrous and has moral integrity. He is sensitive to your needs, and he is kind and considerate to all but will defend your honour or life without a second thought.
Nell knew Callen was dependable – she saw him prove it each and every day. He does what he says he will do and apart from that one time he went lone wolf, he is always there for his friends and colleagues. Even to an independent 21st century woman like Nell, chivalry never went amiss and Nell experienced that on a regular basis with him. He held doors open for her, when the team went out for drinks he would make sure she had a seat even if that meant he had to stand, and each time she went out into the field with he and Sam and she had to sit in the back seat of the challenger, he would offer his hand to help her climb out. And there was no question that Callen had moral integrity. Despite the fact that he essentially lied for a living, where it mattered the truth always came first.
But as she re-read the last two character traits, Nell was perplexed. She didn't really know how sensitive he was. Sure, he always knew when something was bothering one of them but she had never been in a position to see first-hand how he dealt with it – if he was a guy who knew when to just offer comfort.
And the last trait of being kind and considerate to all; it was kind of hard to be kind and considerate to terrorists and murders so Nell decided that they didn't count; he was kind and considerate to everyone else. But the article talked about the perfect guy defending her honour or life, and that was something she had also never experienced. She had no idea what Callen would do if her honour or her life needed defending, and whether he would do it with or without a second thought.
She added those two traits to her mental list and moved on to the last category – the practical traits.
The perfect man listens, is self-sufficient and accomplished in his career. He can do everything from driving a car to playing sports and changing a tire. And finally, the perfect man knows how to romance a woman.
Nell smiled tp herself. Callen listened, that she was sure of. Even when she rambled and went off on a tangent he listened because sooner or later she would get to the point. He was also one of the most self-sufficient people she had ever met. She figured that came from spending his entire childhood in foster care and never having a steady family to look out for him. He had only ever had himself to rely on so he learned to do everything himself. And Callen was more than accomplished in his career. She didn't know much about his past but she did know he had been in the military and had worked for the DEA, FBI and CIA before coming to NCIS. The man collected acronyms like some people collected stamps. Callen knew how to drive, although sometimes a little too fast. He played and watched sports, and while she had never actually seen him change a tire, she was pretty sure if he could hotwire a car and pick almost any lock, he could turn a few bolts and switch out a punctured tire.
But that final trait; knowing how to romance a woman. Nell was pretty sure she would never find out if he possessed that one.
As she laid the magazine back down on the coffee table, Nell did a few quick calculations. Special Agent G Callen met sixteen out of the twenty traits. According to the article and the knowledge Nell had based the answers on, he was 80% of the perfect man. It was both hard to believe and entirely believable at the same time.
Approaching footsteps and the familiar sound of banter between the agents broke Nell from her thoughts. She looked up to see them returning to the bullpen with bags from a nearby sub shop.
"Hey Nell." Kensi greeted her as she slid into her chair and delved into her bag.
"You're back fast." Nell commented as she sipped her almost cold tea.
"Callen was driving." Sam laughed.
"Here, you weren't around when we left but I thought you might be hungry." Callen walked over and handed Nell a bag.
"Oh, thanks." She smiled at his display of being kind and considerate. "You didn't have to."
"No big deal." Callen shrugged and dropped down onto the couch next to her. "You taking a break?" he asked as he fished his sandwich out the bag.
"While I can." She replied before she bit into her lunch.
"You haven't been reading Kensi's magazine have you?" he asked, indicating to the magazine sitting out on the table. "You know those articles are utter nonsense right?"
"Right." She replied as a sly smile crossed her face. "Nonsense." she added. "Though Deeks, there is a great article in here about where you can get your nails done." She laughed.
For the next fifteen minutes Nell sat with the agents as they ate and chatted about nothing in particular and cracked jokes. But she wasn't really following the conversation. Her eyes kept drifting to the man sitting next to her and her mind was occupied with her unanswered questions from the article. If she learned if he had those last four traits, could it be possible that G Callen, the man she was falling for harder each day, was actually perfect?
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