"Agent Keen, go home you look exhausted."
Liz looked up from the report she was working on and saw Cooper standing in the doorway to her office. "I will Sir, I just need to finish this first."
Cooper gave her a small smile. "It's been a long day catching this blacklister and the report will still be here in the morning. Go home and get some rest, you deserve it." He turned and walked out.
Liz sat back and sighed. She really was tired and the thought of a long, hot bath sounded very appealing. She saved the report information and turned off the computer, then grabbed her coat and purse and headed out the door.
She passed Aram walking back to his computer station and he called over his shoulder, "Night Liz, good work today!"
"Thanks Aram, see you in the morning" she replied. She made her way to the elevator and rushed to catch up with Ressler and Audrey as they were getting in. Ressler saw her coming and caught the doors before they shut. "Thanks." she said. Liz looked at Audrey and smiled. "Audrey I wanted to apologize for Ressler missing dinner last night. I really did appreciate him staying to talk to me though."
Audrey smiled back. "Oh, it's ok. When he told me why he was late I was so proud of him for being such a good friend." She looked up at him with adoration in her eyes.
Liz tried to bite back a smile as she watched Ressler's face turn a few shades of red. Audrey turned back to Liz, "We're going to dinner tonight instead." The elevator stopped and the doors opened, and as they were walked out Liz said, "Have fun guys."
She made her way to her car and headed home. She walked in the front door and was met by a very happy Hudson, "Hey boy, I'm glad to see you too!" She said as she bent down and gave him some attention, then stood back up and hung her coat and purse on the hook in the entryway. She slid her shoes off with a sigh, then walked into the kitchen with Hudson at her heels.
"Hungry, boy?" She asked him. His tail wagged in response, and she smiled as she grabbed his food from the cupboard and poured some in his bowl. "There you go, buddy."
After giving him some fresh water, she walked upstairs, unbuttoning her blouse as she went. She got to her room and shed her shirt and pants then grabbed a comfy t-shirt and a pair of yoga pants from the dresser. Putting them on and pulling her hair into a ponytail, she finally felt like she could relax.
As she walked back downstairs and into the kitchen, her stomach growled. She realized she hadn't eaten lunch; the current blacklister pursuit had taken most of the afternoon. She opened the fridge and groaned; all she saw was milk, cheese, and eggs. She shut the door and sighed, then looked around and reached to grab the lone bag of chips on the counter, when the doorbell rang. "Who on earth could that be?" She mumbled to herself.
She walked to the door and peeked out the glass. Red was standing on her doorstep holding two full bags of what looked to be chinese takeout. She opened the door and leaned against the frame, "What are you doing here?"
Red gave her a closed mouth smile and held the bags up, "I thought you might be hungry; I noticed you didn't eat lunch."
She stepped back to let him in. "As a matter of fact, I'm starving, though I'm surprised you didn't just walk in," she said sarcastically.
Red set the bags down on the entryway table and took his coat and fedora off. As he was hanging them on the hook he said, "I would have gladly used my key but my hands were full." Liz rolled her eyes as she shut the door.
He took the bags into the living room and started unloading the contents onto the coffee table. Liz grabbed some plates and napkins from the kitchen and came back in as Red was opening all the containers.
He grabbed a plate and started to take out some food and said, "I didn't know what you were hungry for, so I got all your favorites."
Liz took notice then of the food, "Red, how would you know what my favorites are?" He started to open his mouth to answer but she continued, "Did you have me followed? Which really wouldn't surprise me."
Red looked at her with narrowed eyebrows and asked, "Do you really want to know?"
"Yes, very much. The truth would be nice for once." She said as she crossed her arms over her chest.
He stared at her intently and said very seriously, "I asked the owner at the restaurant." She gave him a baffled look, and he continued, "The other day you told me they were on your speed dial, so I made the assumption you ate from there often, and I can see why, this food looks and smells delicious. They're actually quite chatty once you get them talking, and they didn't have a problem telling me what your usual is."
She started to apologize, "Red, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed-"
He raised his hand to cut her off, and said with a small smile, "Lizzie it's fine. Now let's eat I'm starved." They divvied out their food and ate in companionable silence for a few minutes. Red was the first one to break the silence, "It's awfully quiet in here, we need some music."
Liz shrugged her shoulders, grabbed her Ipod off the side table, and walked over to plug it into her docking station and hit shuffle. Then sat back down and they continued to eat with the music playing in the background. After a few songs, the beginning strums of "Play That Funky Music White Boy" came through the speakers. "Oh, I adore this song", Red said as he started using his chopsticks to beat out the rhythm on the coffee table.
Liz just stared at him in silent awe; this man never ceased to surprise her, "I would never have pegged you for this kind of music" she said.
He winked at her, "I may be a criminal but I have good taste in music." He stood up and held his hand out to her, "Dance with me."
Liz looked at him with a grimace, "Red -
"Come on Lizzie, let loose and have some fun, it will relieve some stress."
She sighed as she reluctantly took his hand, and he pulled her up and led her to the middle of the living room floor. For the next few minutes they danced; he twirled and spun her to the fast beat. Liz realized she was having fun and Red was right, the exertion was making her feel better. He started singing along and she ended up laughing and singing with him. The song ended and he spun her one last time, then pulled her to his chest and stopped. They were both out of breath, but smiling widely. He started to look at her with a tenderness that was making her heart beat faster, so she slowly pulled out of his embrace, "That was fun Red, thanks."
He nodded and said quietly, "I don't know if I've ever heard you laugh like that. It's a very lovely sound."
She smiled softly, "It's been a while since I've actually had a reason to be able to laugh."
He brought his hand up to cup the side of her face, then moved his thumb back and forth slowly over her cheek in a gentle caress. She closed her eyes for a second, then ever so slightly leaned into his touch. She was starting to have trouble breathing, and she felt a flutter in her stomach. Her next thought was that she was still married and she really shouldn't be feeling this way about someone who wasn't her husband.
With a jolt, she then realized that this man, this criminal, had somehow edged his way into her heart. After a few seconds, his hand slid away from her face and she opened her eyes. A movement near the couch caught her attention, and she glanced over to see Hudson with his front paws up on the coffee table helping himself to their Chinese leftovers.
"Hudson, no!" His tail wagged as he stopped eating to look up at her with noodles hanging off the fur around his nose.
Red huffed a laugh as he turned to see what was going on, "It's ok, we were done anyway. Let him enjoy it too."
Liz laughed as she walked over to move one of the containers, "He's not getting the curry chicken, thats mine!"
Red walked over and said, "Oh, we almost forgot these." Liz watched as he picked up the fortune cookies that were still in the bag and handed one to her.
Liz smiled and said, "You first." Red nodded and he took it out of the plastic, then cracked it open, pulling out the little piece of paper and pausing to read it.
"Well?" she said.
"Every wise man started out by asking many questions." He looked at Liz and chuckled. "Where do they get this stuff? That's not a fortune." He looked at Liz, "Ok, your turn."
She took hers out of the wrapper and broke it open, then gently pulled out the paper and read the fortune out loud with her heart pounding loudly in her ears, "Love could be right in front of you; don't wait too late to take the chance." She was afraid to look at Red; she didn't know what she would see, and was afraid her eyes would give something away. She took a deep breath to get a hold of her emotions, then put the paper down on the table.
After a few moments she looked at Red, "Thanks for dinner." She said softly. "And the dance."
Red smiled gently. "Anytime." He glanced down at his watch, "I do need to be going though; I have a business call to make before it gets too late." She nodded, feeling strangely disappointed.
They walked over to the entryway and he took his coat off the hook to put it on. As he was grabbing his hat, it slipped out of his fingers and fell to the floor. Liz bent down and picked it up and admired it for a few moments, then reached up and placed it on his head. Red watched her with a smile, "Thank you."
She walked to the door and opened it for him, "See you tomorrow?"
"Bright and early", he said as he walked out to the porch, then turned back around to say, "I like to make sure I annoy Ressler first thing in the morning, even though I think he secretly enjoys it."
Liz laughed, "Good night." Red nodded, and then turned and made his way to his car. She leaned against the door frame and watched as he drove off, then stepped back inside and shut the door; leaning back against it, she let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding and starting walking upstairs. As she was getting ready for bed, she realized she hadn't felt this content in a very long while, and couldn't seem keep the smile off her face.
Suddenly she was very excited to go to work tomorrow.