A/N: This just popped out while I was trying to get past my writer's block on my other story (What Do I Have To Do? - for those of you who don't know). I don't think very much of it, and I'm not entirely sure I'll do anything further with it. I guess that'll depend on the response. So if you like it and want to see more of it, you'll have to let me know.
It was an especially cold afternoon and the wind blew fiercely as Mai made her way to the SPR office. She clutched tightly the bag of cookies she had just bought. She did it out of habit. Naru never had any with his tea, and Lin only ate about one a month, leaving the greater portion of the rest to moulder. Still, it was a comforting thought, knowing that there was a jar full of sweet, love-filled cookies in the tiny kitchenette.
'There'll never be any love anywhere else in the office,' she thought to herself.
She knocked on the door to Naru's office when she got in. There was no reply. She knocked again.
"He's not here," called Lin.
Mai looked in on the Chinese man. "He's not?"
"No, he had something to do at the university. He won't be back today."
"Oh," she said quietly. "Did he leave anything for me to do?"
"Look on your desk. There should be some copying and filing for you," Lin replied, clearly very busy.
She went back out and started on the work on her desk. After an hour, the cold was too much for her, and she got up to make some tea. Once again, she called in on the quieter of her employers.
"Lin-san, would you like some tea?" she asked. "There are fresh cookies too."
"Thank you, Taniyama-san. That would be nice," he replied.
Mai smiled as she turned to leave. 'It's so nice to make tea for someone who actually appreciates it. Lin doesn't speak much, and I know he has no love for the Japanese people, but he shows me respect that Naru never does.'
"Taniyama-san?" Lin said almost inaudibly as Mai reached the door.
She turned to face him. "Yes, Lin-san?"
"Maybe..." he said with hesitation, his head down. "Maybe we could take our tea together today?"
"I'd like that," she smiled.
Lin remained staring at the non-existant mark on his desk, unable to look up while she was still there. His face was flushed and he didn't want her to notice. He couldn't see her smile, but he didn't need to. He'd seen it often enough, and when he heard it in her voice, he could imagine it.
He imagined it, and dared to hope that this time, just this one time, the smile that set his heart aflutter was all for him.