Tim McGee squeezed his eyes shut and slowly opened them again. Staring at the computer screen was beginning to make him see dots. The raid party was in place waiting for the monster to pop. Tim checked his pack and stats to make sure his avatar would be ready for the big fight. His eyes drifted down to the conversation box.
DraconisCura: I wish I could be there but I don't live anywhere near D.C.
Tim cocked his head to the side. What was going on in D.C. and why hadn't he heard about it?
Ferasythe: I do. I'm so gonna be there.
Tim smiled. Ferasythe was one of the best members of his guild. He had never known her to reveal any personal data about herself. But she was always joking around and making him laugh. He had a feeling that if he ever met her, he'd like her. His head cocked to the side again but this time an idea popped into his head. He opened a private message box and connected with Ferasythe.
Elf Lord: Hey Fera, what's going on in D.C.? I live near there.
Ferasythe: Big gaming/electronics convention at the Novelle Hotel this Saturday. I'm going with a group of friends. Hoping to find a graphics card for my new computer. Heard there will be booths selling all the new stuff.
Again, Tim was confused. How had he missed this? He shook his head. Must be this new case getting to him. The computer beeped bringing his eyes back to the private conversation.
Ferasythe: You going?
Elf Lord: I'll try. Might be working.
But Tim knew better. He just didn't want to sound desperate.
Ferasythe: Would be cool to see you there. Maybe you could help me not get swindled. I know jack about computer parts. I only just bought a new computer cause my old one still ran on XP.
Tim couldn't help but laugh. She may be an awesome gamer but she really didn't know much about hardware. She was always asking advice from him and other guild members.
Elf Lord: Wow. Yeah, I can help you with a graphics card. If I can get to the convention how will I know you?
Ferasythe: Red cap. Dodgeball: Duck or Die. But I won't be there till after three.
Tim's eyebrows came together. But before he could question her, the monster they had been waiting for had finally showed up.
Saturday afternoon Tim was slowly making his way around the convention hall of the Novelle looking everywhere for a red cap. Stopping near a booth selling cell phones, he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He fiddled with the zipper on his grey sweatshirt until he realized what he was doing and made himself stop. He checked his watch. It was twenty after three. Sweeping his eyes around the room, Tim sighed. Was she just messing with him when she asked to meet? A laugh made him turn to his left. His breath stalled. He couldn't blink.
She was walking towards him, laughing but looking away from him. She was on the edge of a group of three men and another woman. They all looked mid to late twenties. Tim's lips curled into a grin when he got a clear sight of her red cap. Dodgeball: Duck or Die was written across the front of the cap in bold black letters. She had chocolate colored hair spilling out of the back of the cap in a messy ponytail. She was newly tanned and he could tell it was a real tan, not that orange spray crap. That meant she liked the outdoors. Her black tank top under a dark blue sweatshirt had a picture of a twenty die set, with the words "The dice are trying to kill me," written below it. Tim held in a laugh, immediately understanding the joke. She clutched the strap of a tan messenger bag slung over her shoulder.
Her dark blue eyes looked right at him. She was still laughing about something. Tim couldn't believe how pretty she was. She wasn't model pretty, but she was a lot better looking than he would have ever dared to imagine. It probably had something to do with the fact that her online avatar was a purple-haired gnome. Tim made himself look away before she caught him staring. How was he supposed to walk up to her now? And did she have to travel with such an overprotective looking group? The dark haired woman with her gave Tim a "Ziva-type" vibe and at least two of the guys were definitely military.
Tim let the group pass him. Fera almost brushed him, she was so close. A subtle perfume scent floated up his nose. It was sweet and floral, but he couldn't identify it. He shook his head. It would not do to get all hung up on someone he barely knew. Taking a deep breath he slowly came up behind the group. They were stopped at a booth selling new gaming headsets.
"Ferasythe?" Tim hated himself as soon as he spoke. His voice came out all strangled, like a kid going through puberty. Immediately the whole group turned. The guy closest to Fera stepped forward, putting her behind himself. He was as tall as Tim and powerfully built like a westler with light brown skin and brown hair. Tim did his best to look past the guy to Fera. She smiled at him and stepped up.
"Elf Lord?" Tim heard one of the other guys snigger.
"Yeah." Tim hesitated. Big wrestler guy stepped forward again, glaring at him.
"Down Seth." Fera playfully shoved the guy back and he cracked a grin at her. "This is Elf Lord from my game." The other woman smiled at Tim. "This is Seth (she pointed at the wrestler), Mitch (tall with brown hair and glasses), Gavin (the other military looking guy who had dark hair), Gavin's wife Amelia (the woman was attractive but looked like she could kill you with one glance), and my real name is Alexia, but just Lexi."
"Um, Tim… McGee." He did a half-wave at the group. Amelia suddenly brought her cell phone up and snapped a picture of Tim. Lexi threw her a speculative look.
"Now we have a picture to give the cops if he turns out to be a psycho." She said. Lexi rolled her eyes.
"She actually has a point." Tim said. Lexi's warm smile spread across her face again and she nodded in agreement.
"Well," Amelia gave her husband an obvious nudge. "Let's let you two kids run off and play." She shot Lexi a knowing look but Lexi just cocked her head questioningly. Seth glared at Tim again and Mitch just smiled and shook his head.
"Take care of our little sister." Mitch said casually as Amelia began to drag away Gavin and Seth.
"Don't mind them." Lexi said stepping closer to him. She had to look up to make eye contact, being at least 6 inches shorter than him. "They like to think I'm completely helpless."
"Are you?" Tim asked.
"Sometimes." She chirped brightly. "But I like to think the fact I can admit that, says I need less help than they think." She and Tim both laughed.
"So you need a new graphics card?" Tim felt bad getting right to business, but he couldn't come up with any good small talk right then.
"Yes." She looked around. "I also just wanna look around if you aren't in a hurry. Is that okay?"
"You've got me all day." He said it without thinking. He was about to inwardly kick himself for sounding lame but Lexi's face lit up and she moved her arm in a victory pump. This could be going better than he thought.
They walked around looking at various gizmos. Tim couldn't help but show off his knowledge. Several times he thought his endless computer babble was annoying her. But every time he looked at her face she was actually interested and questioned him when he paused. She knew more than she thought she did, but seemed to have a low opinion of her computer skills. Someone had called this girl stupid more than once. Tim got the impression that she was very outgoing, just not very self-confident. But things were clicking between them nicely.
After making several purchases of his own and helping pick out her graphics card, they decided to get some food. Lexi had ridden in Amelia's car to the hotel. Tim offered to drive them to a nearby sandwich shop and bring her back. Lexi called Amelia to let her know what was going on, and the two of them left the hotel. On the way to the shop, Tim decided they had talked games and computers enough.
"So, what do you do when you're not causing massive damage with your cross-bow." Tim knew the guild made jokes all the time about her little gnome avatar with a cross-bow bigger than her head. Lexi laughed before she answered.
"I own and run a bakery." She seemed slightly uncomfortable in his small Porsche. At the convention he had noticed she fidgeted constantly. When she wasn't messing with the zipper on her sweatshirt, she had her thumbs hooked in her back pockets. Now in the car, she was twisting an amethyst ring around on her left index finger.
"I never would have guessed that."
"Why not?"
"I dunno… I guess I just didn't associate baker with…"
"A cross-bow toting gnome?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I don't have a hard time believing you're a cop."
"What makes you think I'm a cop?" He raised an eyebrow and grinned playfully. It was weird how comfortable he was starting to feel around her. It made him want to keep his guard up.
"Well, there's the way you constantly assess your surroundings, like you think something might happen. That says cop, or just paranoid. Then there's the way you stand."
"How do I stand?" She was incredibly observant. That unsettled him.
"Most people put their weight on one foot. You stand with your weight evened out. Only people who have had some kind of training do that. That says military or cop. And you can't be military."
"Why not?" He mocked being offended.
"Your haircut." She smiled. He nodded, she had him there. "But what really screamed "cop" was the fact that you have a badge clip on your belt." He looked down long enough to see that she was right. He never told people where he worked. He deliberated for a few seconds.
"I'm kind of a cop."
"Kind of? Okay... I'm leaving that alone."
"Sorry." He felt like an ass.
"It's cool. I get the whole "we just met" thing. At least now I can tell Amelia you're not a psycho. They make you guys do psych evaluations." He did not miss the fact that she made the conversation about him… Again.
"Just so you know, I have passed all mine." By now he was parking.
"Suuuure." She joked.
He planned on being a gentleman and getting the shop door open for her but she beat him to it. He let her ahead of him in line. Before he was even finished ordering she had already paid for her stuff. She was used to being independent.
"I would have gotten that for you." He said as they sat down in a booth.
"Gotten what?" She stopped unwrapping her sandwich and looked at him like she had done something wrong.
"Your food. I could've paid."
"Oh, sorry. Well, you can next time." Her voice was playful but her eyes were serious. Damn this was confusing. He wanted to ask if she was serious but he just started eating in silence. Halfway through her sandwich she stopped and giggled. She set her sandwich down and giggled louder. "Sorry, haha…" She said to him. "My phone, haha. Vibrate." She dug her phone out of her back pocket and looked at it. She laughed again and replied to the text.
"Are you in trouble?" Tim asked.
"Nah, Amelia just wants to know if I'm ready to go home yet. She has to be somewhere later. We are all helping plan another friend's wedding. "
"Do you have someone who can install that graphics card for you?"
"I hadn't even thought of that." She frowned. "I can get Mitch to do it later." She shrugged.
"I don't wanna overstep any bounds, but I could do it for you tonight. I could take you home. If you're comfortable with that…"
"If you don't mind, that'd be great." Her face could've lit up a room. She sent Amelia another text and tucked her phone in her back pocket.
"So if it tickles you so badly, why do you keep it in your back pocket?" He threw the question out. Flirting was not his forte.
"Any girl who tells you she doesn't like to be tickled on the ass is lying." He fought to not choke on the bite of sandwich in his mouth. She smiled and started in on her own sandwich again.
They finished eating quickly after that. Back in the car, Tim suggested going back to the convention. Lexi agreed. Happy to have an excuse to spend more time with her, Tim felt the earlier tension fizzle away. Back at the convention, Tim suddenly ran out of small talk again. They circled the entire hall before Lexi finally turned on him.
"Did I scare you or something?" She almost demanded.
"Huh?"
"You've hardly said a word since I said I like being tickled." He realized she was right. He was about to apologize but she cut him off. "Sorry. The filter between my mind and my mouth is kinda broken. So I have a bad habit of blurting exactly what I think."
"That's okay. I like a girl who doesn't hold back. It's refreshing."
"Most people find it annoying."
"Most people can't handle hearing the truth."
"That is so true. You know the saying 'if you can't say something nice, don't say anything?' I don't agree with that. I say, if you can't be honest, don't speak."
"I like that better too."
"Sometimes it's hard to live with no inner monologue though. It gets me in trouble."
They continued wandering around the convention hall just talking. He gave her the basic short story of his family, mostly only talking about Sarah and his grandmother. Lexi started opening up more about herself. She was twenty-eight and single for over a year. Her last relationship ended without any drama after four months.
"We just wanted different things." She had explained, leaving something to be desired. Tim didn't go into to detail about his past relationships, and she didn't ask.
He found out they had a lot in common as far as hobbies. She loved playing paintball and running Pathfinder games on weekends. She talked about her friends and some of the crazy things they had done in college. She left college with a BA in Performance Theatre. She did community theatre for a year. It didn't exactly pay the bills. So she went on to culinary school. She mentioned her dad was a Marine but then slid away from the subject. Tim got the impression her dad was no longer among the living and didn't bring it up again. After about two hours of him not talking about work and her not talking about family, they both decided to head over to her place.
Her place turned out to be a two-bedroom apartment above her bakery. Tim pulled up in front of the brick building and realized he had been here before. It was barely a mile from the Navy yard.
"You own Crafted Confections?"
"Yup. I opened it four years ago. I always wanted to have a small café or a bakery. I think it started when my dad bought me an easy bake oven. But I love my job. It involves my two favorite things: art and cake," They went through a side door and up a set of stairs. There were two doors on the second floor. Lexi turned to the one on the right and knocked. Tim was confused. Why would she knock on her own door? The door opened and Mitch popped his head out.
"You wanted to know when I got home. I'm home." Lexi said while waving at him. Mitch took a second to glance at Tim. Then he just nodded at Lexi and shut the door. Lexi turned and smiled. "I own this whole building. Mitch does the business part of the store and I just bake and decorate. I don't have a head for numbers." She unlocked the other door and let him in.
"And he seems kinda protective." Tim looked around the apartment. She was neat, but not as obsessively neat as himself. Most of the décor was dark brown and blue with the exception of a red bean bag on the floor.
"He has three sisters, it's habit." She tossed her keys on the wooden coffee table and pulled off her cap. Her hair fell just above her shoulders. Crossing the room to the small kitchen area, she set her bag on the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room. "Well, here it is." Adjacent to the T.V. stand was a very old wooden desk with a new Dell desktop. It wasn't anything fancy but he could tell she had spent some good money on it.
She handed him the bag with her new computer toys and a small screwdriver set. He made himself comfortable in her leather desk chair and went to work. He could hear her rummaging in the kitchen behind him.
"Do you want some coffee or something? I also have some red wine."
"Uh, coffee would be nice." He called over his shoulder. She set up the coffee maker then joined him back in the living room. She sat on the couch on the side closest to him. He could feel her watching him. After several nerve wracking minutes the coffee maker finally beeped and she got up. He wasn't gonna let her wait on him like a maid. "I got it." He jumped up out of the chair and crossed in front of her. She had tied her hair up into a messy bun. For a second she looked surprised, then she just smiled and followed him.
"Cups are right above the microwave." He opened the cabinet and pulled out two cups. He filled both of them and took one back to the desk. Back in the chair he was determined not to look over his shoulder at her. He felt distracted as hell being in her apartment. He nearly jumped when he suddenly heard music. He spun around and saw Lexi messing with a small stereo on the counter. She looked at him for a second and stopped moving. "Sorry, is this bothering you?" She had a deer-in-headlights look on her face.
"No." He said quickly.
"Do you mind Coldplay?" She held up a CD.
"Not at all." She smiled and he spun the chair back around. She set the volume relatively low and went back to the couch. She fell silent again and the lack of conversation started to make Tim worry he was being rude. He was just about done installing everything when he heard Lexi giggle. He smirked when he heard her yoda ring tone.
"Yeah?" She answered the phone. "Oh yeah, I'll be there… Nah, I finished that cake earlier today. It's going out in the morning so I don't have to be in all day… I have an extra mask and jacket. The jacket has my name on it but it's camo… No I don't care, she can borrow them… Alright bright and early O 700... See ya."
"Work?" He asked when she hung up.
"Yeah. I do most of the special orders. I'm kinda weird about perfection so I don't really trust anyone with the special cakes, especially wedding cakes."
"You must have been the one who did the cake I bought here a few months ago. I requested a cake that looked like a murder scene. I have a goth friend and it was her birthday."
"I remember that!" She sounded excited. "That was actually really fun to decorate. Did she like it?"
"Oh yeah, she loved it." Tim closed up the computer tower and powered it up. "Okay, let's see if I did this right." He turned on the monitor. Then went rigid when he felt her stand right next to him and lean down. Forcing himself to relax, he reached for the mouse. The computer booted up quickly, but to Tim it took forever. She seemed to sense his discomfort and leaned away slightly. "Okay, I'm just gonna open up the game and test out the picture quality." He clicked the icon. The log in screen came up and before he could move to let her enter her email address and password to log in she blurted it out.
"Email is Ferasythe4662 at c-net dot com." He quickly typed it in. "Password is dark side cookies, one word." He slowly turned his head towards her and arched his eyebrows. "What?"
"Your password is dark side cookies?"
"What, you're not gonna hack my account are you?"
"Well, I could do that without your password." He said while typing. "I'm just wondering how you came up with that."
"It's a theatre joke. 'I've crossed over to the dark side. They lured me with cookies.' We used to say that when someone messed up a line or something."
"Ah." He turned his attention back to the computer. She was now logged in and the game was loading. He clicked on her avatar and entered the game world. He moved the avatar around, checking the refresh rate and picture. "This all looks good." He turned back to her. "You're all set from here."
"Thanks." She bent down and for a second he thought she was going to hug him. He would have welcomed it, but half way there she twisted and clicked the keyboard to log out. Damn!
"Um, I need to use the bathroom." He back the chair away from her and stood.
"Oh sure, just go through either bedroom." He crossed the room and went through the door that was open. He walked into a simple bedroom all done in dark blue with dark wood furniture. The bathroom was bigger than he expected. It had a standing shower and a large bathtub that looked like four people could fit in it. Another door led to the second bedroom. He peeked in long enough to see several boxes, two shelves full of books, a keyboard, and an old futon. He did his business and came back out through Lexi's room. When he came back into the living room, Lexi was sitting at the desk yawning.
"Sleepy?" He asked. Her body jerked as she turned to face him.
"Yeah, sorry, I was up early. I probly need to crash soon." She rubbed the back of her neck. "We've got a paintball war scheduled tomorrow." Her comments about a "mask and extra camo jacket" made sense now. A terrible thought came over him. Was she trying to get rid of him? Had she just used him to get her computer set up? It was all Tim could do to hold back the scowl he felt coming.
"Well I'll just go then." He did his best to be polite. The deer-in-headlights look came over her face again. Before he could change his mind he was already moving for the door.
"Okay, well…" She seemed at a loss. He abruptly turned and saw that she had followed him to the door.
"I'll see you online." This came out less polite. Her mouth fell open but he turned and walked out the door.
Once outside he cussed out loud at his naivety. How could he think a woman like that would waste time on him…
"Tim!" He dropped his keys at the sound of Lexi shouting his name. He had made it to his car and was about to unlock it. He cussed again and bent to grab his keys. When he stood back up she was standing just a few feet from him. He just looked at her warily. "Did I say something wrong?" She shifted nervously and hooked her thumbs in her back pockets.
"Of course not. I just didn't want to overstay my welcome." He knew he sounded rude. Hurt streaked across her face, then something that looked like regret. She took a step towards him.
"I was just… I mean, I thought… I was actually hoping you would ask me out… Or at least ask for my number…" Her eyes slid away from him. Tim immediately felt stupid. "But if you're just not interested."
"No!" He stepped back up onto the sidewalk so he was right in front of her. She jumped back a step at his outburst. "I am interested. I thought you weren't." Her eyes met his again. "I thought you just wanted me to fix your computer."
"Tim I told you I could get Mitch to do it. I was hoping you were just using this as an excuse to come over." She finally relaxed. "And for the record, I don't invite guys I just met to my place unless I really like them."
"For the record, I was just using it as an excuse to come over." They both laughed nervously. "Would you like to go out with me sometime?"
"Yeah." Tim pulled out his cell phone and handed it to her. She laughed and gave him her phone. When he touched the screen the picture he saw made him pause before putting his number in the phone. There was Lexi, maybe a little younger than now. She was hugging an older man wearing a Marine dress uniform. The resemblance between them told Tim this was her father. They exchanged phones back and Tim just stood there for a second, not sure what to do.
"Well," she finally broke the silence. "I guess I'll hear from you later."
"I shouldn't be busy tomorrow afternoon. I'll call you then." He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her temple. When he pulled back, she was beaming again. As he drove away she waved at him. All in all, he would call this a pretty good day.
Sunday. It was four in the afternoon. Tim had finally finished all the paperwork that he had planned on doing yesterday. The smile on his face had earned him several suspicious glances from other agents passing his desk. In the back of his mind he knew he probably looked weird, smiling while doing paperwork. But the prospect of a phone call from Lexi was all he really cared about. He had made himself refrain from calling her about a dozen times. He didn't want her to think he was clingy. Thank God Tony hadn't shown up. For the fiftieth time he picked up his cell and checked for any missed calls. There were none. He was about to set the phone back down when a text popped up.
Message from Alexia Jansen : Hey Tim. Are you busy?
No, just finished up. What are you up to?
At a dress fitting. Remember I'm helping plan a wedding? Well, I'm also in it. Luckily the bride let me and Amelia pick the bridesmaid dresses. So this is only gonna be slightly humiliating.
Don't like to dress up?
I used to do theatre. I love dressing up. But I mean, the actual wedding will only be slightly humiliating.
Why?
Stacy, the bride, is making all the unmarried girls wear ribbons around their wrists. Marking them as available for the unmarried guys at the wedding.
How diabolical.
YES I KNOW! She's evil!
When is the wedding?
One week from today. She's kinda doing everything last minute. Her husband-to-be is due to ship out in a month.
Navy?
Yeah. But don't hold it against him. He's cool… ish.
LOL. Hey, if you want to dress up again tonight, I'd like to take you out to dinner.
Love to. What time?
How's 7:30?
Perfect. I'm being yelled at. Bridezilla. Talk more later. J
Have fun. Tim laughed to himself and put the phone in his pocket. Still smiling like an idiot, he picked up his stuff and left the office.
By 7:25 he had showered, shaved, and changed into his dark blue pinstripe suit and a black button shirt. He thought about wearing a tie but discarded the idea. This was dinner, not a business meeting. He cleared his throat and popped his neck before knocking on Lexi's door. Just as the door opened he remembered something.
"Dammit." He swore quietly.
"Dammit? Do I look that bad?" Tim froze. She was wearing a simple black halter dress that hit her knees. The clingy material showed off her hour glass shape. The only jewelry she wore was her amethyst ring and a silver chain with a tiny dolphin pendant. Her hair was down but swept out of her face. "Seriously, am I hideous?"
"Huh uh. No, absolutely not." He shook his head. "I just remembered I was gonna bring you flowers…"
"Oh, well it's a good thing you didn't." She turned and grabbed her coat and a small black purse. "That would have set off my allergies. And possibly sent my spinning into an asthma attack." She turned back to him. "Ready?"
"Yeah." He waited for her to lock her door. Then he made sure to head down the stairs in front of her so he could hold the door for her. When they got to the car, he unlocked her door first before getting in.
"I've never been out with such a gentleman." Her voice was light, but he knew she was serious. "So where are we going?"
"Have you been to Alfonzo's Steak House?"
"Nope. Gourmet food for me usually has a drive through." Tim chuckled.
"Well, I'm gonna spoil you tonight then." He glanced at her. Then did a double take. She was sitting relaxed with her hands in her lap. She wasn't fidgeting or squirming like she had done in the car yesterday. She just sat there, smiling at him.
"Can I get something out of the way?" She rushed it out.
"Sure." He tensed.
"I know I dodge around some topics. One being my family…"
"You don't have to explain anything you don't want to." He tried to reassure her.
"It's not that I don't want to. I just can't stand pity. So I don't bring it up a lot." She paused. "Short version, my mother left when I was five. Haven't heard from her since." She paused again, longer this time. "My dad was killed in Afghanistan when I was nineteen."
"I know you said you hate pity, but I really am sorry." They rode in silence for almost ten minutes before it became too much for Tim. He felt like he owed her for confiding in him. "Do you mind if I get something out of the way?"
"Not at all." Her voice was light again.
"I haven't exactly had the best dating experiences lately." She waited for him to explain. "One girl took my credit card and nearly ruined me. Another dated me and then trashed me all over My Space when I broke it off. She was just too obsessive. And the last one actually tried to kill me." He looked at her long enough to see her staring wide-eyed.
"That would make for some very understandable trust issues." She nodded. He was surprised she didn't ask about his job. It was the other subject he had been dodging. But she just contended to talk about her latest Pathfinder game.
When they got to the restaurant she seemed impressed by the fact that there was a valet. Tim felt good about racking up points with her. She held back and purposely let him open the door for her. At the table he waited for her to sit down first. Then let her order first.
"You are spoiling me." She laughed. "You better be careful. I could get used to this."
"I'm hoping." He smiled.
The rest of dinner flew by. Tim couldn't remember the last time he felt so comfortable just talking to someone. Only Abby made him this relaxed, but she was his best friend. Tim talked about his coworkers without actually revealing exactly what he did. And again, she didn't ask. He talked about working for a Marine and she asked if he had the "stare?"
"It was a joke between me and my dad. I used to call it the steely-Marine-glare-you-down stare."
"Oh, yeah, he definitely has that." Tim laughed.
She got excited when he told her about his book. She had read Deep Six and was waiting for the sequel. Her phone buzzed inside her purse as they were finishing dinner and scanning the dessert menu. At first she ignored it, but it buzzed again two more times.
"I don't mind if you get that." Tim had noticed she had a thing about not being rude. She would always ask if things were "okay" with him. She smiled and pulled her phone out. As she read the texts her face went from surprised to confused. When a deep frown crossed her face, Tim got worried. Her eyes narrowed and she punched in a reply and put her phone down on the table. She plastered a smile on her face when she finally looked back up at him. "Everything okay?" He tried not to sound as worried as he felt.
"Yeah, just people being stupid." She picked up the menu. "Well, one person." She rolled her eyes. They decided to share a piece of chocolate cake. Just before the cake got there her phone buzzed again. Tim's eyes shot to her phone. "I'm so sorry." She said to him before picking up the phone and checking the message. "Ugh." She growled. "I'm ignoring this." She let the phone drop onto the booth seat. "I'll be right back… I need to… Go." He smiled up at her and nodded.
As soon as she left Tim felt temptation flood through him. He knew the restrooms were on the other side of the restaurant. It would only take a second to skim over her messages. She never needed to know… Just as he was about to give in, something dawned on him.
Tim shook his head. She asked permission for every little thing. She constantly apologized. She went out of her way to accommodate him without thinking of herself. She had an extremely low opinion of herself. All that topped with the constant fidgeting told him more than he needed to know. Some guy, or more than one, had abused her. Maybe not physically, but it was there. And now he had gone and almost invaded her privacy on their first date. When she finally got back to the table, Tim almost confessed everything. But the thought of her storming out on him kept him from it. Dessert came and she was halfway through her share of the cake when she noticed him not eating.
"Not hungry?" Her question made his head pop up. Looking into her incredibly innocent eyes made him hate himself more.
"Uh, I guess I ate more than I could handle."
"I'm sorry." He sighed inwardly. There she went again, apologizing for something that could not have possibly been her fault. "Do you want me to hurry?"
"No." He smiled. "Take your time. I'm in no hurry to part ways." She smiled but still ate a little faster.
Tim was still deep in thought when he slid into the driver's seat of his car. He desperate wanted to know what had upset her in those texts. But asking her was out of the question. The night had gone more perfectly than he could've planned. Why mess that up?
"Something's bothering you." She accused him as soon as he hit the first red light. It was a good thing he was stopped. Her sudden question made him jerk in his seat. "Sorry…" She muttered. That was it. He'd had enough.
"Why do you do that?" He looked her in the eyes. The deer-in-headlights look came back and she blushed. He watched her right hand slowly grab the ring on her left hand and twist it. As soon as the light turned green he headed in a different direction than he originally planned. When the car finally stopped, they were in a parking lot near the water front. Tim cut the engine and turned in his seat to face her. He reached for her left hand and held it.
"Look at me." He made his voice as gentle as possible. Her eyes came up and she shifted to face him. He sighed and rubbed his thumb across her hand. "I can tell you've been hurt." Her eyes shifted for a second then came back to him. "I don't wanna hurt you Lexi. Frankly I don't see how anyone could. You are the sweetest and most sincere person I've met in a very long time." Her blush deepened. "I know your friends think you're naïve. But I think you are just unabashedly honest. And despite what you may think, you've done nothing wrong. So you don't have to apologize for anything… Ever."
She stared at him wide-eyed. No one but Amelia ever called her out on her constant apologizing. But she knew he wasn't being cruel. She opened her mouth then shut it. What could she possibly say?
"I…" She squirmed in her seat.
"I told you earlier. You don't have to explain anything you don't want to." She relaxed and smiled.
They sat in the car and talked for another hour before Tim caught her yawning. He kept hold of her hand the entire drive back to her apartment. When he found himself back at her front door, she hesitated before puling out her keys.
"Are you a kiss on the first date person?" She asked.
"I usually leave that up to the girl." It was the truth. "Are you?"
"Only if I want to encourage a second date."
"I'll keep that in mind for the next five seconds." She smirked and unlocked the door. He stood there not really knowing what to do. She took a step inside the apartment before turning to him.
"Well, goodnight." She smiled and shut the door. His jaw dropped.
"Huh…" He blinked several times. Okay, he deserved that. He was turning to head back down the stairs when he heard laughing. Lexi's door opened and she was still shaking from the laughter. She stepped forward and put her hands on his cheeks. He let her pull him down into the kiss. For a second he saw stars. She pulled away and without a word slipped back into her apartment. Yeah, he should have seen that coming.
The couple days went by slowly but Tim didn't mind. He hadn't seen Lexi because they were both working constantly. But they would text each other throughout the day and night. Apparently spring was the busy time around the bakery. Lexi called it "wedding season." She had four wedding cakes on top of her regular orders, and helping plan Stacy's wedding, plus doing Stacy's cake (which Lexi had called a monster) and all the desserts for the wedding.
Tim learned on Wednesday not to call Lexi while she was decorating. Being the perfectionist that she was, she didn't handle distractions very well. He could relate. He had called late that morning to see if Lexi could meet him for lunch. Amelia had answered her phone. He knew Amelia sometimes worked the front counter of the bakery.
"Lexi's phone." Tim recognized the voice.
"Uh, this is Tim. Is Lexi busy?"
"Yeah. She gives me her phone when she's working. She's piping a three tier." Tim had no idea what that meant.
"Oookay. I was just trying to see if she wanted to have lunch today?" Tim regretted not checking to see if he was alone. Tony and Ziva immediately flew to his desk. So far Abby was the only one he had confided in about Lexi. Ziva suspected, but didn't ask. The lack of privacy in this place was just sad. Tim glared up at Tony.
"Let me ask." He could hear Amelia walking. "But if I get a spatula thrown at me, it's your ass." A door opened and he could hear Coldplay.
"McGoo has a McGirl he hasn't told us about." Tony crossed his arms.
"Shut up." Tim wanted to throw something.
"Excuse me?" Amelia's voice sounded irritated.
"No, no, no, not you!" Tim jumped out of his seat and moved towards the elevator. Amelia laughed.
"Darling!" Tim heard Amelia call out over the noise of the kitchen.
"What!" Saying Lexi sounded annoyed was an understatement. Her yell made him jump slightly.
"Timmy wants to now if you're free for lunchy-poo." Tim had a feeling Amelia was the only one who could get away with baby-talking Lexi when she was busy.
"Oh." Tim smiled at Lexi's voice change. "Hang on." When he heard her voice again he could tell he had been put on speakerphone. "Hi, Tim. I'm really sorry but I'm kinda in the middle of something."
"That's okay. I just thought I could bring some sandwiches by, or something." Tim looked over his shoulder to see both Tony and Ziva staring to him just out of earshot.
"Oh I would love that, but I really don't know if I'm even gonna get a lunch break. I'd have to eat then get right back to work. I don't think it'd even be worth the trip over here."
"Trust me, you're worth the trip."
"That is soooo cute." Amelia squealed in the back round. Tim heard a smacking sound. "Hey! My arm!"
"Serves you right." Lexi said. "Sorry, Tim. If you really wanna come by I'd love that. You can come back into the kitchen."
"Okay, I'll see you in about an hour." Tim turned around in time to see that Tony had been attempting to sneak up on him. "Sneak attack, epic fail dude." Tony's eyes narrowed. Tim went back to his desk grinning.
"So how did you meet?" Ziva asked when Tim sat down.
"She owns Crafted Confections." No need to tell them too much.
"I love that place." Ziva perked up in her chair. "They make the best chocolate éclairs." She stood up and walked over to Tim's desk. He tried to ignore her but she leaned over his paperwork. Tony was by her side in a second. "So, you are meeting for lunch? Is she coming here?"
"No. She's busy decorating wedding cakes."
"You're dating someone who makes wedding cakes? So she has weddings on her mind all day? Are you insane?" Tony reached over to head-slap Tim but he dodged it. He was getting good at that.
"She's also helping to plan a friend's wedding." Tim smirked at Tony. "And weddings don't terrify me like they do some people." He grinned and cocked his head to the side. Tony just glared for a second and walked away.
"So her name is Lexi?" Ziva was still interested.
"Yeah, short for Alexia." Tim spoke without even thinking.
"And her last name?" Tim paused and looked at Ziva.
"Why do you wanna know?"
"Just curious." Ziva shrugged.
"You know for a trained assassin, you suck at lying." Ziva feigned shock. "Tell me why you wanna know."
"I just think it would do good to maybe…" She paused as if trying to think of the right words. "It's just, after the last one… Don't you think it would be a good idea to maybe run a back round check on her?"
"Last one, try last three." Tony quipped from his desk. Tim thought back to the moment he almost checked Lexi's phone. Something inside him snapped.
"Look, I just met this girl and I really like her. Right now, that's all I care about."
"Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?" Ziva dropped the subject after that. But Tim couldn't get her comment out of his head. His fingers twitched over his keyboard. But he went back to his paperwork. If he was going to try to trust her, he better stop giving her reasons to not trust him.
When Tim stepped into the front lobby of the bakery he spotted Amelia sitting behind the counter typing away on a laptop. She looked up when the tiny bell above the door jingled, announcing his arrival. Her grin set him on edge for a split second. She looked like someone who was plotting something.
"Hi." She chirped.
"Hi." He replied cautiously. Amelia's eyes dropped to the sandwich bag in his hand.
"I hope you made sure to hold off on tomatoes and onions. She hates them."
"It's crab salad." Tim had remembered that she had ordered crab salad on wheat the first time they ate together.
"Good choice." She jumped down from the stool she had been perched on. "Come back this way." Tim made his way around the counter quickly. They passed what looked like a storage area and an office before reaching a swinging door that had a port-hole window. Tim could already hear music playing. Amelia opened the door halfway and poked her head in. "Sweetie, your sweetie is here."
"Kay!" He heard Lexi shout back.
"Okay, is safe." Amelia said heading back towards the front.
"I hope so." Tim muttered before pushing the door open and stepping through.
Like her apartment, the kitchen was neatly kept. A large steel table sat in the middle of the kitchen. There were four other people all working on various projects. Each of them looked up long enough to size him up, then went back to work. Everyone was dressed in casual street clothes and long white aprons. The entire back wall was lined with ovens. To his left was a walk in freezer and walk in fridge. To the right was a set a double doors that he suspected led out to the alley. There was another table set up in a corner near the double doors. A cake, easily four feet tall, took up almost the whole table. Lexi was circling the cake holding an icing bag. She glanced at him.
"I'm almost done piping, just one sec." So that's what "piping" meant… It looked meticulous. No wonder she didn't like being interrupted. His head fell slightly to the side while he watched her. She looked so adorable with her face all scrunched up in concentration. Finally, she set the bag down and looked at him. "What?"
"Nothing, that just looks… Difficult."
"Tedious is more like it." She smiled. "We can eat out in the front lobby." She untied the long white apron she was wearing and hung it up. Tim led the way back out to the lobby and they sat down at one of the small tables by a window. Amelia stopped typing long enough to send him an evil looking grin. Lexi, with her back to Amelia, missed it. "Thanks for lunch." Lexi brought his attention back to her. She unwrapped her sandwich and smiled when she saw what it was. "My favorite. How'd you know?"
"I have skills." He grinned and glanced back at Amelia in time to see her roll her eyes. Tim's gaze fell back to Lexi. "I forgot drinks…" He slapped his own forehead.
"It's cool." She stood and went behind the counter. There were three fridges with glass doors filled with drinks. Lexi grabbed a bottle of sweet tea. "What do you like?"
"Uh, just water." Tim started to pull out his wallet but she waved him off.
"Don't worry. You got food, I get drinks." She smiled and rejoined him. He could see how hungry she was. After digging into the sandwich she got up and grabbed them each a piece of cake that had been on display. Tim had never had orange velvet, but it was good.
Amelia spent the whole time sending him glances and smirks. He couldn't tell if she liked him or wanted to beat him up. It was very nerve wracking. Lexi on the other hand seemed completely at ease. She didn't fidget, or squirm, or apologized once while they ate. She didn't rush through the meal either. He could tell she was stalling to spend more time with him. It wasn't until Tim's phone rang that he even thought about work.
"McGee." He answered without even looking at the number.
"Get your butt back here. Abby needs you." Tony's voice sounded annoyed. That told Tim that Gibbs had probably made Tony call him.
"On my way." He looked up at Lexi. "Sorry, work."
"Now who's apologizing." She crossed her arms and smiled playfully. He couldn't help but laugh.
"Hey, do you have any of those chocolate éclairs? One of my coworkers really likes them."
"Yeah, I made a bunch this morning." She got up and went back into the kitchen. As soon as she left Amelia turned to him.
"She loves Shakespeare quotes, cuddling, and comedies. Hates mushy chick flicks, is allergic to flowers and cats, but still loves animals. Take her on fun dates. She likes being outdoors and her favorite things to do other than gaming are hiking and mountain biking." She rushed it out so fast Tim almost didn't catch all of it. "Oh, and kissing her neck is the fastest way to…" The kitchen door swung open. Lexi came out carrying two white cardboard boxes.
Fastest way to what?
"Here, I figure they'll go fast." Lexi held out the boxes. Again, Tim reached for his wallet. "Don't worry about." Lexi shook her head.
"Are you sure?" Tim reached for the boxes.
"Kiss me and we'll call it even." That sounded like a plan!
Twenty minutes later both Ziva and Abby were surprised when they each found a box full of éclairs on their desks.