Danny looked at his watch and let out another sigh. Where the hell was she? They'd been just about to step onto the elevator together when Mindy had realized she'd left her phone somewhere in her office. Trying not to appear too eager, he'd told her he'd just meet her in the lobby, but now it was ten minutes later and she was nowhere to be seen. How long did it take to find a phone, for God's sake? He knew she could be a little scatter-brained, but with that bright yellow case on it, that phone could probably be seen from the space station. How could she have misplaced it so badly?

Danny took to pacing the floor of the lobby while he waited, pausing every time he heard the elevator ring and trying to assume a calm, unaffected manner, just in case Mindy was on that elevator. He didn't want Mindy to notice his nerves. He'd tried to make this sound casual, just two friends grabbing sushi after work, but if things went the way he planned, they'd end the night as so much more.

Ever since that night Mindy had spent at his place a few weeks ago, he couldn't get her out of his head. Which was weird, because plenty of women had stayed at his place before and he'd quickly forgotten about them. He couldn't remember the last time he'd spent days thinking about a woman he hadn't even gotten naked with. It was driving him crazy. Hopefully that would all change by the end of tonight, and then things could go back to normal.

Yeah, right, he thought to himself. There would never be anything normal about being with Mindy. Already things were so far from normal, because he wasn't just thinking about getting her into bed tonight. He was… actually thinking ahead. Long-term. Probably not as long-term as Mindy would… don't flinch if she mentions kids, he reminded himself… but considering his usual MO was to just operate on a night-to-night basis as needed to mitigate his loneliness, this was pretty huge for him. Even his relationship with Christina, hell, even his marriage, had been about trying to hold on to some elusive feeling of connectedness to avoid being swallowed by loneliness and a lingering sense of abandonment. His feelings for Mindy were so beyond that. It wasn't about just trying to stave off loneliness. It was about having her, specifically her, only her, in his life, because he… well, he… Damn it, Castellano, if you can't say it in your mind, how are you going to tell her? he thought to himself.

He shook his head. "I love her," he whispered to himself. "Mindy, I love you."

"Ugh, I always knew you were weird, Danny, but now you're talking to yourself? That's a new low," Mindy's voice said from behind him.

Danny practically jumped out of his skin. "Hey! How long have you been standing there? Why'd you sneak up on me like that?"

"You must have really lost it if you didn't hear her elephant feet pounding across the lobby," Jeremy said from beside Mindy.

Danny furrowed his brow. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, Mindy invited me. Said you two were going out for a casual coworker meal and suggested it might be a good bonding experience. You know, get the original 3 back together," Jeremy replied in his cheerful British accent, oblivious to Danny's glare.

"Yeah, come on, Danny, it'll be fun! Like old times, before we hired that obnoxious man-boy."

"I thought he was growing on you," Jeremy commented. "You're the one who promoted him to senior partner a few weeks ago."

Mindy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that was a few weeks ago, before he suggested that I start taking donations of used maternity clothes from our patients after they deliver because they might fit me better and help me class up my wardrobe."

"Some of our patients are very stylish," Jeremy observed.

"Jeremy!" Mindy shouted, smacking him on the arm. "You're going to make me regret inviting you. You don't deserve sushi."

Jeremy said something in reply, but Danny was no longer listening. He was trying to restrategize. Maybe after dinner, he could somehow manipulate it so he and Mindy ended up alone together. He could offer to split a cab with her or something. It would still work out.

After all, he was Danny Castellano. Danny Castellano always got the girl.