Spoilers: None.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my inspiration.
AN: For Grace.
She was mad at him. She was. She was very mad at him. He was not nice to her today, and she was only trying to help. In fact, Ainsley was well on her way to furious when she got back to her office.
Then she saw the date.
It was ten o'clock on a Tuesday night, and it was the first time it had hit her what today was. And then she was mad for forgetting that it would have been her father's 64th birthday.
And so if she should have heard him walk into her office behind her bumbling an apology, if she should have given him some kind of thank you, he would just have to excuse her because the tears wouldn't stop rolling. When he came up behind her and she felt his hands gently squeeze her shoulders, all she could do was turn around and let him wrap his arms around her.
There in the Steam Pipe Distribution Center, she let him pull her in tight next to his chest. She hadn't even told him what was wrong, but he whispered all the right words and kept her close until the flow of tears stemmed.
When her breathing had returned to normal and she stepped away and wiped off her cheeks, he didn't ask what was wrong or make a joke about being her knight in a wet button up shirt. He just smiled a small smile and asked, very seriously, if she wanted to know where Josh hid his secret stash of donuts. She laughed; he grinned and told her if she'd do that again, he'd throw in a cup of coffee.