Disclaimer: I do not own any characters associated with The Mindy Project.
There were few things that could be heard from Dr. Daniel Castellano's office on a typical work day: the shuffling of papers, the clicking of fast fingers against a keyboard, the crinkling of the butcher paper used to wrap his favorite deli sandwich, or possibly the stern, intimidating tone of voice he used on the rare occasion that he had to talk to an especially incompetent insurance adjuster. On most occasions it was fairly silent (if he was alone, that is, and not loudly kicking one of his annoying employees out of his quarters). He liked it that way: he liked that his office was mainly associated with business, hard work, and very little nonsense.
This particular Tuesday, however, was glaringly different. On this Tuesday, his office was filled with music.
It caused some concern among the others.
While music playing from an office should seem fairly innocuous, music from Danny's office was pretty ironic considering that, in the past, he had accused some of his colleagues of treating the practice as their "personal discothèque" ("Who has even heard of a discothèque in 2013?! Seriously, Dr. C," Morgan once teased through his unabashed laughter).
But Danny's felt a little trapped in his own head for a while. For one day he needed a melodic distraction from all the other distractions that seemed to keep him from getting any work done. His only other option was to take the day off, and Danny Castellano refused to skip out on work just so he could sulk or scream or laugh maniacally or any of the other hundreds of little quirks he felt weirdly drawn to these days. Lately, he felt crazy. Like millions of other people in the world, music made him feel a little less so.
He was in the middle of reviewing Mrs. Eddleson's patient file (efficiently, he might add, thanks, in large part, to The National) when his loud, bespectacled, Indian colleague burst into his office with a worried look on her face. The sudden intrusion caught him off guard, causing him to slam the file shut as if he were caught with contraband.
"What the hell is happening here?" Dr. Mindy Lahiri asked with a hint of a bark. "Are you playing music during work hours, Danny?" She crossed her arms indignantly as the door closed behind her. "Funny, you seemed to have a lot to say last week when I felt like playing the Kelly Clarkson Christmas album. It was for the holidays!"
Danny leaned back in his chair with a sigh. Her presence in his office, he thought, was the last thing he needed right now, not when he was doing so well. Still, he didn't have the heart to kick her out. Nonetheless, it didn't stop him from putting up a little resistance.
"Thanks for knocking and respecting my space, rudeness," he retorted sarcastically. They both knew he wasn't too put out by her, as their friendship had come far enough for her to feel comfortable dropping by his office at whim and vice-versa. "And, for the record, her wailing could be heard throughout the practice, Mindy. My music is at a respectable, considerate," he emphasized with a point of his finger, eliciting an eye roll from his counterpart, "volume, so I really don't see a reason to make this a whole thing."
Mindy threw her hands up and shrugged her shoulders, appearing less alarmed. "I don't know, man! I didn't know if it was a sign of a mental break or a requiem for a really weird suicide…who knows, alright?"
He mused at how accurate the suspicion of a mental break was, but this certainly wasn't the time or place to open up that can of worms. Keep it light, he thought to himself. He reopened the file in front of him and leaned forward, as if he were preparing to dig back into his work. "Look, everything is fine. Don't you have work to do?"
Mindy placed her hands on her hips and shook her head with a tsk tsk. "Work, work, work. I should have guessed that the music wasn't a sign of you lightening up at all, Danny. Don't worry so much about my work, okay? It's handled, Olivia Pope-style." She smiled with an air of satisfaction.
"I have no earthly clue what that means, but I'm happy for you." Danny smirked, looking up from his file momentarily.
Mindy groaned, raising a hand in defeat. "Of course, because it's not something that can be found on the History Channel, so…" With that, she turned towards the door and began to head out.
Danny couldn't pass on the opportunity to say something friendly to her. It was a side effect of this…evolved…friendship with her. He may have been satisfied with useless bickering in the past, but nowadays he felt it important to have her know that he cared about her well-being outside of the workplace as much as inside…more so, to say the absolute least, but that couldn't be helped.
"Hey," he called out, keeping his eyes downward, "good luck on your date tonight."
"Oh," Mindy uttered casually. She turned around and pushed her glasses off the bridge of her nose. "I'm not going on that anymore."
Danny looked up with raised eyebrows. "Really? What happened? Was he a jerk? You alright?"
"No, I'm fine, I'm fine, I just…I dunno, I could already see where it was headed and I figured I'd better not waste my time and before you give me flack about how picky I am with men," she glared at him in an effort to prevent any interjection from him, "I feel like my pickiness was quite warranted in this case, considering that he referred to me as Miss New Booty in his last text to me, so clearly –"
"No, Min, you definitely did the right thing," Danny assured her. "And just so you know, I'm sockin' him in the eye, if I ever run into him."
Mindy gave him an appreciative grin. It was a grin that had a tendency to cause a warm feeling in Danny's chest. "Your macho, mob-esque promises –"
"Offensive," Danny added, flatly.
"-though appreciated, are not necessary," Mindy continued, undeterred. "I'm learning not to let my desperation overshadow my worth, and all that empowerment jazz."
Danny gave her a genuine smile. "Good."
Mindy sighed. "Dates are overrated, anyways. I'm just going to go home to a nice glass of wine and…"
She suddenly trailed off as the song that previously surrounded them was replaced by a gentle acoustic introduction, of which Danny knew Mindy was very familiar. Her eyes grew large and betrayed a brief excitement, then narrowed into another judging glare at her friend, who looked visibly panicked. He started pulling out the drawers of his desk purposefully.
"Oh, really, Danny?" Mindy hissed. "REALLY? You gave me soooo much crap –"
"Okay, calm down, drama queen," he spat, still looking around one of his desk drawers.
"No!" Mindy stepped forward with a point. "No, because you got on my case so hard about my love for Justin Timberlake only to harbor a secret fandom, you hypocrite!"
Danny groaned in frustration as he pulled out a small remote and pointed them towards the Bluetooth speakers on the shelf to his right. He pressed a button repeatedly and when the song didn't mute as he intended it to, he tossed the remote to the side and stood up mumbling "piece of junk" before walking to the front of his desk and leaning against it, his arms crossed protectively across his broad chest as he effectively squared off with the brazen woman before him.
"Okay, first off, I gave you a hard time because there's no such thing as 'bringing sexy back,' okay? That's a presumptuous, ridiculous claim to make," he ranted. "This song is different, it has a very…James Taylor feel. I can appreciate it for what it is. And secondly, one song does not a 'secret fandom' make!"
"Oh, suuure," Mindy taunted as she took another step forward, placing her self about a foot away from where he was standing. "I've got your number, buddy. You can pretend that you can't stand JT aaaall you want, but I've caught you red-handed." She punctuated her last two words with a firm jab to his chest. He fought to ignore the pleasant feeling coursing through his body that came with her crossing into his personal space, despite the smug expression on her face.
"Listen, don't try and pin some scarlet letter on my chest just because I like a simple song, alright? It's not a big deal and you're not the only one allowed to appreciate it, so take it easy." He looked down at his crossed forearms as he began to feel a little uncomfortable. "I dunno, it's…it's nice."
And then I could save you from the troubles of the world,
And all you'd have to pack is your heart to bring,
And there we are, you and me, flying on a big ol' pair of wings.
"Besides," he continued with a shrug, "It reminds me of you."
The first time he had ever heard the song was at a mutual friend's engagement party. As it played on the sound system his eyes never left Mindy, who was sitting on the couch contentedly by herself. She sat with her arms crossed over her midsection, a shallow glass of blush wine held gracefully in her right hand, her head tilted to the side and her eyes closed, seemingly lost in her own world. When her lips weren't reciting the lyrics (apparently on their own accord), they were curled in a gentle smile. Her hair fell in gorgeous waves and framed her face angelically. He imagined a scene of grand romance playing in her head for her own enjoyment with the song serving as an appropriate back drop. She looked…lovely. He had never understood the usefulness of the word until that night.
Now whenever he hears the song he's reminded of her shimmering red lipstick, the rose-colored wrap dress that complimented her signature curves, her lipstick-stained wine glass, and the peaceful expression on her face, for which he wished he could take full credit. She didn't know it, but it was their song.
At least, he thought she didn't know. The look she wore on her face currently led him to believe that she may have stumbled upon a significant realization, thanks to his uncharacteristically big mouth.
Mindy's eyes immediately found his, her eyebrow knitted together in confusion while her mouth hung slightly open. A Speechless Mindy Lahiri was a very rare sight, so Danny didn't know how to deal with it other than maintaining this very tense eye contact with her. Something told him that throwing out a playful jab or brushing this moment off with a smartass observation wasn't going to work in the way it might have before. He realized that he had inadvertently exposed his soul in a major way, and seeing her eyes flit back and forth from confusion to clarity made him anxious. While he hadn't meant that the lyrics themselves reminded him of her, she thought that's what he'd meant – and there was no way he could deny it because, well, the lyrics truly did remind him of her, anyways.
If I had a pair of wings, I'd pick you up and fly you far away from here,
And we'd fly so high up in the sky, where the stars are so clear…
Suddenly, the anxiety and embarrassment felt unnecessary. The jig was up, he had been divested of his armor, and he was already stranded on this limb he had managed to walk out on. If he were honest with himself, his feelings for her had always been somewhat known. The only thing he had going for him was that he had never made a fool of himself and talked to her about them. This admission, however, didn't require too many words. No, his desires were fairly clear, thanks to a brief moment when he allowed his heart to pipe up and speak on his behalf.
Well…that, and of course, Justin-damn-Timberlake.
Mindy stood absolutely still for a couple seconds more, before blinking her eyes rapidly.
"My – eherrm –" She cleared her throat in an attempt to free some of the words stuck in her throat. "I have, uh, ladies…patients…"
Something about being revealed made him feel stronger, more capable of sustaining this moment. The fact that Mindy did not immediately recoil in disgust also boosted his resolve. Something was keeping her there, and he wasn't ready for her to go just yet.
"They'll be fine for two minutes, Min," he said in a hushed tone. Both of his hands gently tugged on her lab coat, coaxing her to stand closer to him. She now stood mere inches from him, his hands remaining on her coat, looking up at him. He kept his stance against his desk, afraid that any attempts to stand straight would lead to his knees buckling and him falling forward. Instead, he kept her close, maintained eye contact, and allowed himself these few precious moments of vulnerability.
"Stay," he whispered, more of a plea than a demand. Mindy didn't respond with words. Instead, she just kept their gaze as one of her hands somehow found the side of his knee.
If I had once wish, I know what I'd wish for,
There's only one thing that will do,
I'd fly away, on this pair of wings with you.
Danny wanted just a brief glimpse of Mindy's lips, but he remained locked onto her eyes. He knew, innately, that any words have been rendered useless by this point. She knew, and he felt that every second he looked into her eyes equated to another admission. He felt as if he were telling her every little secret he held near and dear without having to interrupt this very pregnant silence. He didn't mind, though – he wanted her to finally know everything, even if he couldn't quite verbalize it as eloquently as he wished.
The atmosphere eventually became a little too heavy for Mindy, for she closed her eyes with a shaky blow of her breath and dropped her forehead on Danny's shoulder. He didn't mind the loss of eye contact, though. He pressed his cheek against her temple, taking in the scent of her lilac scented hair. His right thumb had wandered from her coat and began to lightly graze her stomach, which satisfied his strong desire to touch something more solid – more her – even if that touch were obstructed by multiple layers of fabric.
Danny wished he could do something more, something grander, than standing motionless with the woman he had inexplicably fallen for. He wanted to kiss her, dance with her, pick her up and spin around with her in his arms…he wanted so much to give her a fairy tale moment, no matter what the setting. This seemed like the moment to carry out something like that.
This, however, seemed appropriate, too. Just the two of them, Danny and Mindy, quietly absorbing the moment that would forever define this new dynamic between them and dissolve whatever barrier kept it from manifesting sooner. Good riddance, he thought. I don't ever want to feel that kind of distance between us ever again.
The song was nearing its end. Danny wished he could will the song to repeat itself with his mind. He looked down and thought he saw a teardrop fall onto his jeans.
If I had once wish, I know what I'd wish for,
There's only one thing that will do,
I'd fly away, on this pair of wings with you.
With a few last tinkling notes of the acoustic guitar, the song ended. Danny suddenly felt the weight of the moment. The song kept them in their bubble. Without it, they had to deal with this somehow. He felt Mindy stir and take a half step back. She kept her head ducked down as she straightened her jacket and lifted her glasses in order to wipe both of her eyes. She looked up at Danny resolutely.
"We, sir," she addressed as confidently as she could, though her voice was thick, "will definitely need to address the subtext of all…" Failing to find a word to accurately encompass what they just shared, she opted to wave her finger around, indicating the two of them and the speakers. "Yeah. Big time. Ad nauseam."
Danny blew out a shaky chuckle as he rubbed the side of his shaven cheek. "Yeah, I wouldn't expect anything less."
Mindy gave him a small smile. "Good, Danny…because it's unavoidable."
"I wouldn't dare," he responded immediately. Mindy nodded and turned around to exit his office. Danny swallowed hard, and then stood up straight.
"Mindy," he called out wistfully. He was happy to see her turn around with a hopeful expression.
"After work," he continued. "Can we take a walk and just talk? Get something to eat, too, perhaps?"
Mindy gave him a soft smile. "I hope you're prepared for a loooong walk, Castellano." She finally turned the knob and opened the door, making sure to catch one more favorable glimpse before disappearing.
Danny released a breath that he felt like he'd been holding since she had first burst into his office. He leaned against his desk once more, stumped as to how he'd be able to keep his feet on the ground long enough to walk when he felt so much like taking flight.
Song Credit: "Pair of Wings" by Justin Timberlake
A/N: Thank you so much for taking the time to read my first Mindy Project fan fiction! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm hoping to develop another project under this fandom soon. :o)
Please feel free to take a moment to leave a review. I would love/appreciate hearing from you!
Have a wonderful day and Hollaatchyagirl,
Phunky