Secret Admirer

Zach approached his workstation at 7 a.m. on his birthday. A gaily wrapped box sat in the middle of the desk, a small card attached. He smiled, glancing around to see if the gift-giver might be lurking, but there was nobody. Pulling the card off the package and opening it quickly, his delight that somebody had remembered his birthday turned to puzzlement. 'Happy Birthday, Zach! From your Secret Admirer' the card read. Frowning, he looked around again, more carefully this time, but nobody was around. He shrugged and opened the gift. He had to sit down as he saw what was in the box.

It was a fine set of assorted forensics tools, brushes and the like, tucked into a soft leather zippered case. A delighted smile broke across his face. He pulled the tissue paper out of the box, hoping there might be a slip of paper to give a clue as to the identity of the person who had given him such a thoughtful gift, but there was nothing. He looked around again. He sighed and picked up the present, box, wrappings and all, and went to Dr. Brennan's office.

She barely glanced up when he stopped in front of her desk. "Hi, Zach. Getting an early start today?" she asked, turning a page in the file before her.

"Yes, I figured lunch at the diner might go a bit long, so I wanted to come in early to get a few things done." He paused, waiting for her to acknowledge his birthday. She completely absorbed in her file. "Dr. Brennan?" he asked hesitantly.

She looked up and finally noticed what he held. "What have you got there?" she asked.

Zach sighed. And people thought HE was oblivious. "Somebody left this birthday gift on my desk, but they only signed the card 'your Secret Admirer'."

"Oh, happy birthday, Zach. I'm sorry, I forgot it was today. Secret Admirer, huh? So, what did you get?"

Setting the box on her desk, he pulled the kit out and unzipped it to show her the contents. She smiled, impressed with the quality of the set.

"Who do you think it is?" she asked, intrigued. She never understood why anyone would send anonymous gifts and letters to somebody they were attracted to. If she was attracted to someone, she tended to be pretty forthright. Life was too short to waste playing games.

Zach shrugged. "I have no idea. I was hoping, since you're usually the first one in the lab, that you might have seen something."

She frowned, shaking her head slowly. "I've been in here since arriving at 6:15. As far as I know, nobody else has come in yet. Maybe they put it there late yesterday."

He picked up the gift and shrugged, mystified. "I hope whoever it is comes forward. I'd like to thank her. Will you be joining us at the diner?" he asked hopefully.

She smiled. "Of course. I'm looking forward to it."

He smiled too and dipped his head a little sheepishly. A moment later he was gone.

BBBBBB

He paid closer attention to those around him all day, but nobody seemed to be acting out of the ordinary and he was getting discouraged. He really wanted to know who his secret admirer was. He was shutting down his computer for the day when Sandy Marshall, one of the lab techs, came up to him. She was blonde and tall, but very shy and she'd never said more than a few words to him. He gave her an absent smile as he shrugged out of his lab coat.

"Zach? C-can I talk to you?" she asked after looking around to make sure they were alone. He paused in the middle of pulling on his sport coat, his heart suddenly in his throat. He nodded mutely and she smiled shyly. "I-I heard you really liked your gift," she said shyly. His mouth was dry and he tried to swallow as he realized it was her. He'd always thought she was pretty, but never dreamed she'd ever be interested in going out with him. Besides, he'd heard she was dating someone.

"Uh, you mean the tool kit?" he asked, just so there would be no misunderstanding. He'd gotten more than one gift, but only one had occupied his thoughts all day. She nodded, shifting from foot to foot anxiously. "You gave me that?" he asked, just to make sure.

Her eyes went wide. "Yes, I hope it was okay. I-I wanted to give you something useful and Angela thought—" she stammered, suddenly unsure of herself.

A grin spread over Zach's face. "Okay? It's great. I hoped you would come forward so I could thank you. It's the best gift anyone's ever given me."

She smiled suddenly, a huge, relieved smile. "Great. I'm glad." She fell silent and the smile faded. "So, w-would you like to have dinner?" she asked, coloring as she realized how bold that sounded.

Zach nearly dropped his jacket. "With you?" he asked stupidly. "Well, of course with you, I'm sure you wouldn't be asking for someone else, especially since your note indicated…" he stopped as he realized he was babbling as she waited patiently. "I'd love to," he said simply, and when she smiled this time, he noticed she had dimples.

Taking a deep breath, she clasped her hands together as though to keep from grabbing him in her excitement. "Really? Great! So, I'll pick you up at your place at seven?" she asked breathlessly.

Zach was getting lightheaded. A woman had actually asked him out! He suddenly realized she was waiting for him to reply. "Oh, yes, of course, because I don't drive, so you'll have to drive, so, yes, seven would be perfect," he babbled.

She couldn't seem to stop smiling at him. "Okay, see you later," she said, scooting out of the room before he could change his mind. Zach stared after her, stunned.

BBBB

Dinner had gone remarkably well once they got past their initial shyness. The conversation naturally turned to science, more specifically bone anomalies. In no time at all the check had arrived and they lapsed into an awkward silence as they waited for the server to return with the credit slip to sign.

Sandy's lips quirked into a shy smile as they got up and headed for the door. "What do you want to do now?" she asked softly, unable to meet his eyes.

Zach glanced at his watch, surprised to find it wasn't quite nine. "Uh, I don't know, it is kind of early to call it a night. Maybe we could go to the park?" he asked tentatively as they paused on the sidewalk.

Her eyes widened and shot up to meet his and he immediately thought she'd assumed he just wanted to go there to—"Wait, not for what you think," he protested. "I—I just know this park where there's this clearing with a hill in the middle where I like to go sometimes to look at the stars, but I totally understand if you think it's too soon in our relationship to do something quite that intimate—" he said, speaking so quickly that the words nearly ran together.

Suddenly she leaned up and kissed him, freezing him in place. "That sounds wonderful," she said softly, then turned to lead the way to the car. Zach followed like a man in a trance.

The park was deserted at that hour and the posted signs told them they only had an hour before running the risk of being thrown out. Zach headed for the hill, his heart leaping as she slipped her hand into his before they'd taken five steps.

Reaching the crest, there was a moment of awkwardness as they worked out their relative positions. Zach was afraid to rush things and she was afraid he might think she was a shameless flirt, so they ended up lying side-by-side, not touching. They lay staring up at the breathtaking array of stars, intensely aware of each other, occasionally pointing out different clusters that they recognized.

"There's Cassiopeia," Sandy murmured, pointing.

"Where?" Zach asked. He couldn't seem to get his brilliant brain to work with her so close.

She leaned up on an elbow, moving closer, pointing up. Zach was overwhelmed by her scent, which was citrusy and a little musky, and he had to force himself to focus on where she was pointing.

"I don't see it," he said huskily. She scooted a little closer and pointed again. Suddenly she turned her head to laugh at him and they were both startled at how close they were. The laughter died and she leaned down and he leaned up and their lips met in a sweet kiss. Zach's heart threatened to slam right out of his chest as her tongue probed at his lips and he opened his mouth to let her in. His hands came up to thread into her soft hair and he groaned as her arms slipped around his neck to pull him close. Her fingers stroked the hair at his nape and little thrills sprang to life as her body pressed close. Feeling emboldened by her obvious enjoyment, he rolled her under him and deepened the kiss. Bending her leg, she hooked it behind his, moaning a little as they pressed closer.

Breathing heavily, Zach pulled back to looked down at her with wonder. Her pretty face was flushed and her eyes were slumberous with desire. "Wow," he managed to say, and she smiled shyly.

"Yeah," she said huskily. "You know how long I've wanted--?" she began hesitantly.

"I have no idea," he admitted. "I'm generally pretty oblivious to subtle body language, so if you ever gave any indication, I totally missed—"

"No, it's okay, I never—never thought you would be interested—" she protested.

Zach leaned down to kiss her again. "Never mind. I am definitely interested," he said tenderly. She pulled him down to show him just how much she returned his interest. Moments later they sprang apart as somebody cleared their throat close by and a flashlight beam played over them. They looked up at the police officer standing there.

"Sorry to interrupt, but the park closed ten minutes ago. You're going to have to move along," he said.

They blinked up at him, then looked sheepishly at each other, deeply embarrassed. Zach got up and helped Sandy rise and they straightened their clothes.

"Sorry, officer, we must have lost track of the time," Zach said, studiously avoiding Sandy's gaze. "We'll just leave now."

The policeman was already playing the flashlight elsewhere. "Okay, have a safe evening," he called as he move on.

Sandy took his hand as they headed for the car and Zach's heart started slamming again. He debated the wisdom of asking her in when they got to his place. He thought she might say yes, but he wasn't sure and he didn't know if he could take the disappointment if she said no. She took the decision out of his hands.

"Well, I had a wonderful time, Zach," she said as she pulled up in front of the garage. She turned toward him, making no move to get out.

"I—me too. So—" he stammered, but she interrupted before he could humiliate himself.

"I'll see you Monday?" she asked with a soft smile. Zach's mouth shut with a snap. Looking into her lovely blue eyes, his heart calmed. He saw there a promise of more to come and he smiled and leaned forward to kiss her lingeringly.

"Yes, Monday. Drive carefully," he said. After another long look, he got out, then stood on the curb and watched her drive away. A delighted grin broke over his face and his step was light as he climbed the stairs to his apartment. He had a new reason to look forward to returning to the lab. He had a girlfriend.