Small Spaces, Crowded Emotions
Cal Lightman entered the building quickly. For the first time in months, or was it years, he wasn't late for work. Well, actually, as the boss, he could show up whenever he wanted. However, by Foster's standards...
She was always sitting at her desk at 8 am sharp. The only time he was there before her was when he spent the whole night in his office, working, pretending to work or sleeping on the not-so-uncomfortable couch.
Today was different though. Foster was pretty pissed and he had decided that he would try to be a good boy, at least for a couple of days, because, let's face it, he just couldn't help it... he had to infuriate people. He liked seeing their reactions. The shock, the surprise, … it was all over those their faces when they had to confront the unexpected. And what Cal Lightman had to say was often unexpected.
He didn't try to infuriate Foster though, she was just... collateral damage. He liked to please her more, even if she was sexy as hell when she was furious. The problem was, when an opportunity to be totally reckless showed up, he had to take it and he didn't think about Gillian, or even about his daughter. Cal Lightman was attracted to danger. Or danger was attracted to him.
He had almost died last night, once again. It was obvious from the start that the case was dangerous. You don't walk into a room with half a dozen of armed criminals and think that you're going to get out of there in one piece.
It wasn't the first time he did something that reckless and it wouldn't be the last either. Foster knew it. She wished he would slow down, stay away from trouble for a while, but she knew he wouldn't stop. She worried though. She worried a lot, each time it happened. She rarely showed him the tears but she cried each time; each time she thought about the fact that she had almost lost him, once again.
Cal knew how it worked. He would do something thoughtless, or just plain stupid, and then he would come back. He would see the fear and the relief on her face, even if she tried to only show the anger. She would be mad at him for a few days. He would walk on eggs, giving her time to cool off. And one day, they would be working late. She would walk to his office. They would hug. She would tell him that she was glad he was okay. They would have dinner. He would make her laugh, and they would be fine, until the next time...
This time was different though, he knew it. Not only had he been reckless, but he had done it for a case Wallowski had brought in. It was no secret that Gillian and Shazza were far from being buddies. Actually, Foster had even asked him to stay away from the policewoman. This had been a dangerous case, for Cal and for the firm, and they wouldn't get paid for it as Cal was working on it as a favor for Wallowski...
Gillian had picked him up at the ER last night. She had been there as fast as she could and she had talked to a doctor before looking for Cal. She knew he would be fine. She had driven him home without saying a word. That hadn't surprised him. They were both exhausted and probably still in shock. What had surprised him was that she had dropped him off, without coming in for the usual glass of scotch they would have. She had left, and the last emotion he had seen on her face was disappointment.
He knew what was coming. First, she had been worried, then scared. After realizing that he was physically alright, she had shown her disappointment for what he had done. After that would come the anger, and he would start working on getting back on her good side.
His thoughts were interrupted as he noticed that the elevator doors were about to close. Cal Lightman had really little patience and wouldn't wait minutes for the next lift. Instead he ran. He threw himself between the closing doors, before turning to look at the elevator's occupants.
"Oi." was the only sound that came out of his mouth when he saw that the only person in there was none other than Gillian Foster, in that red dress she shouldn't be allowed to wear at the office. If she was surprised to see him in the building so early, she didn't show it. However, he knew that she could clearly see a mix of fear and surprise on his face. He hadn't planned on bumping into her. He had counted on the time in the lift to think about how to approach her...
"Morning, Foster."
She raised an eyebrow at him, clearly meaning something along the lines of "That's all you've got?". She looked angry. It didn't worry him more though. He was expecting it. Before he could think of something else to say, the elevator came to a halt and the lights went off for a few seconds.
"Damnit" Gillian sighed. That elevator had been stopping a dozen times in the past six months. What was the maintenance doing ? She had luckily never been one of the people stuck, until now. When the lights came back on, Cal was facing her.
"Seems like we are going to spend some quality time together, Foster."
Cal was too busy thinking of what to say to his companion to be his usual self and bang at the doors while cursing. Gillian wondered if she should be thankful for that.
"So... what shall we do?" He went on. "Why do people do when they get stuck in an elevator? There is a popular belief that they... ya know..."
Gillian rolled her eyes. He could be so infuriating. He knew she was mad at him. He could be apologizing, or respecting her need for space, obviously not physical space though. She had never realized how tiny that elevator was. Since they could be stuck for a while, she decided to make herself as comfortable as possible. If she had to listen to Cal ramble for the next hour or so, she might as well not be standing in her high heels.
Cal watched her, amused, as she sat down while trying not to give him a free show. Damn, that dress was tight.
She could feel his eyes on her but pretended not to know that he was staring at her legs. She crossed her ankles and looked straight forward.
"You will have to talk to me eventually, darling. I could keep rambling for hours and that wouldn't be good for any of us."
She didn't flinch, didn't even roll her eyes or sighed.
"I'm already bored." Cal Lightman couldn't stand still for a minute. Gillian was used to it, but confine him in a tiny space and it was even worse.
"Come on, Gill... I even allow you to tell me to start thinking about my next book."
"Cal?" She asked nicely, finally looking at him.
"Yeah?" He waited expectantly.
"Just shut up." She said before opening one of the folders she had been holding. If she had to stay there, she might as well be efficient and get started on that paperwork. She had brought it home, thinking that she would work on it, but after last night's events... She had just taken a long shower before going to bed and crying herself to sleep.
Cal was almost amused. Gillian Foster rarely spoke this way. In another context, he would have laughed and teased her about it. However, on that moment, not commenting was probably the best idea. He didn't have too anyway. She glanced at him and saw everything there was to see. Surprise, amusement, arousal. It only took her a second to read him and to take note of those emotions. At that moment, she didn't want to see them, but later ? She could certainly use them.
He sat next to her. The silent wasn't as comfortable as it usually was between the two of them. Not able to wait any longer, Cal turned toward his business partner.
"Not forgiven yet, eh?"
She sighed, not looking up from the document she was studying. If this had to do with the budget, she definitely wasn't about to calm down. Anyway, she was back to giving him the silent treatment, so he just sat there, observing her while she was working.
There was something relaxing about watching Gillian Foster work. It probably had to do with the many little movements she would do. She would move to the sound of the music that only she could hear. She would lick her lips, frown; her hair would fall, hiding her face and he would want to put it back behind her ear. Something was missing though. It took Cal a few seconds to realize what... Her pen. She was always trying her not chew on it.
Gillian seemed to realize the same thing at the exact same moment. She needed a pen. Not being able to take notes was getting annoying. Reading all those documents was useless if she couldn't actually work on them. She seemed to hesitate. Should she keep up with the childish attitude and ignore her companion, or break the silence and try to get some work done ? She chose the latter.
"Do you have a pen?" She asked, finally lifting her eyes from her folder.
"Haha! You just talked to me." He grinned.
"What are you ? Five ?" She was clearly more exasperated than amused, but it didn't stop Cal.
"I don't have an appropriate answer for that question, love." He replied, taking a pen from the pocket inside his jacket and handing it to her.
Gillian went back to her paperwork, but she found it really hard to focus. She could feel Cal's eyes on her. She couldn't ignore the fact that she liked it. She loved those moments when he would focus on her and her only. He would study her every movement, observe, read her but without commenting. During those many times, he was respecting the line while making her feel like she was everything, like only she mattered.
But she was supposed to be mad at him and the fact that she was enjoying the way he was looking at her made her angry.
She hated that she once again thought she had lost him. She hated that he had been reckless, that he hadn't thought of her, of their firm, or even of his daughter before running towards danger. She hated even more that he had done it for her. She just hated feeling less important than Wallowski. And, more than anything, she hated feeling that way. She didn't even know if she was mad at Cal or at herself, probably both.
She wasn't in denial anymore. Her divorce had ended that. She knew that she was in love with her business partner. Would she act on it? No, not if he didn't. She didn't want to risk losing what they had, the group, their friendship. If he didn't feel the same way, things would just get awkward. If he did feel the same way, if they started a relationship and if it didn't work, then, it would just be messy. Yes, Gillian Foster had put a lot of thoughts into this.
Realizing that she had read the same sentence 10 times without paying any attention to it and that it wouldn't get better, she gave up. She finally looked at Cal. It seemed like he wanted to talk but couldn't quite decide where to start.
"Cal," she started. "I know."
He was confused, but she spoke again before he could say a word.
"I can see it on your face." She pointed at him with his pen.
"What, love? What do you see?"
"Remorse... But it's not enough. Not this time."
"I know, Gill. I really screwed up this time, didn't I?"
She nodded. Her vision blurred as she fought back the tears. She hadn't thought that she would get emotional so quickly.
"Listen." He started, moving closer to her, but knowing that he couldn't touch her yet, that he wasn't done graveling and that she needed her space. "I won't lie to you. It would be pretty pointless, wouldn't it?" He smiled. "I can't promise that I won't do something stupid again, that I won't find myself in some dangerous situation. But I know... I know that I went too far. I know that, this time, it wasn't worth it, that I could have lost you and for what ? For... a professional relationship. Because that's what it is, Gill. I hope you know it. Wallowski, she really is a cop that I like to keep around. And that's it."
Gillian looked for signs of deception. This couldn't be the exact truth. They had other contacts, even if a lot of cops tended to avoid Cal, both because of the science and of his infuriating personality.
"Ok, ok, I admit it." He told her, even if she had been unable to read anything on his face and to accuse him of lying. "I also like having her around because you don't like her."
She rolled her eyes but didn't say a word.
"Eh, it's not every day that the great Dr. Foster dislikes someone openly. It's interesting to observe. And also, you look pretty hot when you're jealous."
At that point, she couldn't help it. She slapped him.
"Oi. What was that for, Foster?"
"You know you deserve a lot more, right?"
The look on his face was serious again when he answered her.
"Yes, I know. I will keep a low profile for a while. I'm going to do all my paperwork. I will try to stay away from trouble . And... I will keep Wallowski away from here... and myself away from her. How does that sound?"
"Depends." She teased. "What do you call 'a while'?"
"Depends." He replied. "How long do I have to be a good boy for before I get a reward?"
Her smile was genuine, and that was all that mattered to him. He meant what he said, and that was all that mattered to her.
"Now, we are still stuck in this bloody elevator, Foster. We should take that opportunity and do what the main characters in your trashy romance novels would do."
She shook her head, amused. The elevator started moving again. She looked back at him. She was pretty sure that she had been about to say something but the words just disappeared as she saw him staring at her lips. He leaned forward...
"Nice try, Cal." She laughed. "But this is not going to happen."
"Next time we get stuck?" He asked, standing up.
"If I answer 'yes' to this, are you going to pay someone to stop that elevator tomorrow?" She teased. He moved closer to her, took her hand and helped her up.
"Tomorrow? I was thinking about doing it this afternoon."
The doors opened and they were finally free. Loker was there, waiting for them. He opened his mouth, but closed it again, before saying anything. His bosses were staring at each other. They were always doing strange things but, even on the Foster-Lightman scale, this ranked pretty high.
Cal finally let go of her hand and started walking toward his office, before turning around and breaking the silence.
"It was a pleasure being stuck with ya, Foster." He winked. She smiled at him, and nodded. He knew exactly what that nod meant. They were okay.
"I was about to ask if you were okay..." Loker started. "I mean, spending hours with him, alone, stuck in a confined space... Not many people can survive that. You seem pretty alright though. You even look hap..."
"Loker?" She cut him.
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
She left quickly, trying to catch up with an obviously amused Cal who had missed nothing of the scene. He chuckled, remembering how she had used those words with him not so long ago, and he slowed down, waiting for her to be by his side.
Eli just stood there, mouth agape, wondering what had happened in that elevator but not really sure that he really wanted to know...