Happy New Year Dr Reid
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds, still
'Auld Lang Syne'~ Robert Burns
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JJ felt a flush of excitement and she wasn't sure why. She was just having her friends over for a quiet New Years Eve dinner. It was Will's idea, for he really was the social butterfly of the family. The three of them had spent Christmas with her family and it was good to be home. The team all had a few days off; the other team was to fill in if anything came up.
Will came in from the living room with a big smile on his face. He loved company. Garcia and Kevin had already been there for an hour and were polishing off their second drinks. Will, the perfect host, always made sure nobody had an empty glass or an empty stomach at his parties.
Hotch had arrived fifteen minutes ago. It had taken some coaxing to get Hotch out of the house. He said he wanted to be with Jack for New Years. JJ understood and told him that Henry would love Jack's company and they had hired a sitter to watch the children. Jack could play in the next room with the sitter and Henry or he could sit in Hotch's lap all night long if he wanted.
Hotch was still the consumate professional at the office, but they all worried about him. David Rossi on the other hand turned down several invitations to parties. He was a celebrity of sorts and there were still many Washington women who considered him quite a catch. He turned them all down to go to JJ and Will's.
"I'm celebrating with family," he told them.
Morgan had not yet arrived and JJ was still a little nervous. He was bringing Tamara Barnes, a woman he had not so secretly been dating. She had seen the look of severe disapproval on Garcia's face when she told her. She wasn't sure if a little of it wasn't jealousy. Garcia maintained that Morgan and Tamara's relationship was a recipe for disaster. JJ reminded her that it was Morgan's choice, none of their business and to behave herself. Garcia promised.
"But I don't have to like it," she pouted.
"Let me remind you, that you and Kevin might have broken a couple of rules yourself," JJ had admonished.
The only two disappointments of the evening were Prentiss and Reid; neither one of them were able to make it. Prentiss told JJ she promised her mother that she would go to the New Years Embassy ball with her. She had put her off for several years. This time her mother would not take no for an answer. She told Emily that there were going to be several very important people there she needed to meet. Emily translated this as meaning that there were single men attending whom the ambassador thought suitable for Emily to date. JJ laughed when Prentiss told her.
"Hey, maybe you'll get lucky," JJ said.
"Oh please," Emily responded.
Reid on the other hand was an entirely different story. He stammered out some lame excuses that he was busy and couldn't make it. JJ persisted but Reid really stood his ground this time. He wasn't going to come. He politely but firmly told her no. JJ felt a little miffed. She was used to Spence complying with about anything she wanted him to do. Will laughed at her and said there must be a woman behind it, maybe Reid was going to have his own little private party. JJ merely rolled her eyes.
"Right," she said.
The doorbell rang. Will answered the door to an excited looking Morgan and his very nervous date.
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In the Embassy ballroom dinner was cleared away; the music had begun. The party was starting to get into full swing. Emily looked around the large round table at the party guests. She recognized some of them, long time colleagues of her mother and then of course were the three hopefuls her mother had invited. The first was a young successful surgeon. He was tall, handsome and knew how to converse intelligently on a variety of subjects. He was totally charming as her mother liked to say. He had sat beside Emily at dinner and seemed quite taken with her. Emily felt flattered. She could see her mother's approving glances. There was absolutely nothing wrong with this man. She just didn't feel that spark.
She also didn't feel that comfortable. Her dress was way too tight. She had gained ten pounds and it all seemed to land on her hips and chest. She blamed Spencer Reid for this. They had drawn names at work and he had purchased for her some very expensive chocolate. She was ashamed to admit she had eaten the entire box already, not to mention when he went for coffee he sometimes picked up her favourite muffins. She seriously began to wonder if he were trying to fatten her up for some reason. She suppressed a giggle at the thought of Reid as a secret chubby chaser. Her thoughts were interrupted by a deep male voice.
"Emily, would you care to dance?" He asked.
Emily looked up to see her mother's second choice. A young handsome up and coming polictitian.
"Yes thank you," she tired to suck in her gut a bit but her dress was unforgiving.
He held her closely on the dance floor and she could see he was making an effort to look her in the eye instead of her cleavage which was threatening to spill out of her low cut dress. She supposed he gained points for the effort.
"I believe you might be the most beautiful woman in the room," he said, looking her directly in the eye, smiling at her with his blindingly white, almost shark- like teeth.
He was smooth, too smooth, almost oily. This man was definitely not for her. Didn't her mother know by now how she felt about politicians?
"Thank you," She said politely and wondered how many women he had said that to. Once again she caught an approving glance from her mother. 'At least mother's having a good time' she thought.
The song ended; Emily thanked the man for the dance and made her way back to her table. No sooner had she sat down when she felt a hand touch her on the back. She turned and looked into the winsome eyes of bachelor number three.
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Reid tried to concentrate on his text, but it was no use. He was bored and alone. He couldn't watch tv for all that was on were New Years Eve specials, countdowns and various lists of events that took place over the past year.
Reid hated New Years. It was not the day itself. It was the pressure to be having fun at some party somewhere. He did not have fun at parties. Usually, because of work, he had been able to avoid going anywhere. Though there were two times that New Years had made an indelible impression on him. Once during his first year at the BAU, the entire team celebrated at a bar together, midnight hit and a strange sloppily drunk woman grabbed him and stuck her tongue down his throat. This amused the team to no end. He had wanted to gargle with lysol. Another time, the situation was just odd. They were a party at Hotch's place when the clock struck twelve, a slightly buzzed Elle suddenly pushed him into a corner and kissed him. Her kiss was hard and urgent and exciting. He kissed her back and felt the embarassment of his body responding to her lips on his. Elle had pulled away. She had stared at him with those large hazel eyes of hers. Spencer was speechless.
"I watched you kissing that actress in the pool. I wanted to know if you were as good a kisser as you looked," she said. She started to walk away, then turned and looked back at him.
"Oh, by the way, you are."
Either way, the New Years kiss was fraught with pitfalls. He was not about to be left standing at JJ's house at midnight watching couples smooch. He decided the best thing to do was to go to bed and when he woke up, New Years would be over and everything would go back to normal. He changed into his pyjamas, brushed his teeth and laid down on his bed.
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As it turned out bachelor number three didn't measure up to the first two men. He was handsome enough and rich and successful. He was also a bit of a dog. He stared openly at Emily's chest and when he let his hand slide down to rest on her ass when they were dancing, Emily had to resist the urge to twist it up behind his back. Instead she firmly removed it from her backside with a subtle warning.
Not soon enough, the dance ended and Emily pretended to see her mother waving at her.
"Excuse me," she said and scuttled over to her mothers side.
Her mother gave her a wide generous smile, it scared Emily a little.
"Oh Emily, I'm so happy to see you're mingling with the guests, are you having a good time?"
"Um, yes," she lied.
"I also see you've met my guests" she said nodding toward the three men. "What do you think of them.?"
"They're very nice," she said smiling. Emily didn't want to burst her mother's bubble.
The ambassador reached over and took her daughter's hand. "See, there are lots of wonderful men out there. You just have to give them a chance."
Emily felt this gloom descending over her. In one way her mother was right, in actuality there was nothing wrong with any of these men, with the exception of the ass grabber. It was her, there must be something wrong with her. None of these men attracted her in the least.
Her mother mistook her daughters reverie as a sign she wanted to get back to her men.
"Don't let me keep you dear," she frowned as she surveyed her daughter's opulent figure.
"Emily dear, you and I should go shopping soon, they have these new things called Spanx," with that parting remark the ambassador turned back to her friends.
Prentiss merely shook her head and returned to her table. She saw the surgeon putting his cell back in his suit pocket. He looked up at her.
"Duty calls, I have an emergency surgery," he explained. He stood and held out his hand. "It was a pleasure meeting you Emily. I hope we can meet again under less formal circumstances."
She shook his hand and merely nodded. Emily sighed and sat down. The best of the bunch was leaving. She silently wished she had a excuse to leave and get out of this skin tight dress. As if on cue her cellphone rang inside her evening bag. She thought it odd since none of them were on call that night. She picked up her phone and flipped it open.
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Fin
A/N Part two will be coming up soon. This was meant to be a oneshot, but it took on a life of it's own Please read and review. Part 2 may contain excessive fluffiness.