It was just like any other evening at the Wright Anything Agency… And by that, I mean that Mr. Wright had left Athena and I to do all the paperwork while he went home early to sleep.
Widget had remained a steady shade of red as Athena mumbled about the copious amount of work in front of her. I'd gotten used Mr. Wright's annoyances, but Athena still had a ways to go. "Why can't he stay up with us?"
"Trucy has a show tonight," I replied, typing something on the computer. "He's got an excuse, at least."
We continued working on our paperwork for a few minutes before she spoke up, "Hey Apollo, do you want some coffee?"
"You just want to leave, don't you?" I laughed. "Sure."
"Hey! You looked tired!" I didn't bother pointing out that my bracelet felt abnormally tight. "What do you want?"
"I don't know… Just don't get me black coffee."
"I won't. All right, I'll be back soon."
"You'd better be," I laughed.
She grinned before disappearing out the door of the dim-lit office. I looked over at the sheet of paper she was working on. Ugh, an evidence log. No wonder she was grumpy. I decided to finish it for her, and I left a slightly more interesting paper on her desk regarding the defense's argument about how a murder was carried out.
I found myself humming a familiar tune, and I had no idea where it came from. I made sure the door was shut before I began to sing softly, the sweet words both soothing and life giving.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away
(O)
I stepped carefully out of the elevator- Apollo would never stop making fun of me if I spilled our coffee. I reached for the doorknob, only to pause as my ears picked up a soft voice. 'Is that Apollo…?'
He was singing a familiar song… One that Simon would sing to me when I was a little girl. It brought back sweet memories, and I couldn't say that Apollo's voice was bad. I guess his Chords of Steel were useful for more than yelling.
I remembered that Apollo had accused me of slacking off, and I opened the door somewhat suddenly at the thought. "Hey, I brought your coffee."
"Thanks." He took the cup from me with a warm smile.
His voice was filled with an incredible amount of joy… I hadn't heard him so content for a while. There was also a trace of fear, probably since he was embarrassed about his singing, and hoped I hadn't heard him.
"Hey Apollo, can I do a short therapy session for you?"
"W-why?"
"Because… I don't know. You seem abnormally happy, even though you've been doing paperwork alone for the past fifteen minutes. It's interesting." I didn't mention the part about the fear… I could use that to pester him later.
"...I'm just happy to get the coffee, really. I don't know if that's a big enough deal for you to do a therapy session. I mean, I'm not scared or anything like you'd normally need therapy for."
"LIAR!" Widget blurted out, flashing red. I blushed. I didn't mean for that to come out.
"Athena, I'm not lying." He looked sincere, but his heart said otherwise.
"Even if you can't feel it, I know there's something there that you're so happy about! Please, just five minutes? I brought you coffee," I pleaded.
"...Five minutes, that's all," He groaned. Would you rather do paperwork?
I tapped on Widget and a familiar holographic screen popped up with Apollo's emotions and past statements.
"I'm just happy to get the coffee, really."
"I don't know if that's a big enough deal for you to do a therapy session."
"I mean, I'm not scared or anything like you'd normally need therapy for."
"Actually, you were scared a little bit. I'd guess that was because of your American Idol performance."
"W-what?! I-I wasn't singing!"
"I don't need a fancy bracelet to tell me if you're lying. I heard you from outside."
He turned away from me, but I could tell he was blushing slightly. "Apollo, I liked your singing, it was beautiful."
"Oh… Thanks, I guess."
"It was a strange song choice, though."
"I wasn't thinking when I started singing it, really."
"Huh. That's an interesting bit of psychology there! Were you thinking of someone when you started singing it?"
"Uh… Yeah."
"Was it Junie? Or Robin?" I tried to surpress my grin, knowing full well who he'd been thinking about.
"There's one person you didn't guess." He replied nonchalantly.
My smile widened and I could hear his heart, still beating with joy. Well, third time's a charm, right? And actions speak louder than words. Grinning, I made my third guess by pressing my lips against his. The taste of coffee was not surprising, but not unwelcome, either. His heartbeat quickened, and even without hearing his voice I could hear the joy in his heart. When we broke apart, he remained dazed for a second before regaining his composure.
"You're good at coming at the right conclusion… After you've guessed all the wrong ones." I knew he was trying to be mean, but the feelings of shock and joy coming from his heart softened his words.
"Hey!" I punched him lightly on the shoulder and grinned. "I knew it was me the whole time."
"Sure you did," he laughed. "Now go finish your paperwork."
"I don't want to."
"Come on, you've only got a few papers left."
"But one of them's an evidence report," I groaned.
"Really? I thought I did all of those already."
"No, I was working on it earlier." I walked over to retrieve the paper as evidence, but found nothing. "Ahh! Where did it go?" Apollo replied by waving it in my face.
"I told you I did it all."
"You finished my evidence report for me?" I gasped, breaking out in a grin. "I love you." I wrapped my arms around his chest, trying to distract him as much as possible.
"You… You still need to finish… your work…" Aww, my distractions weren't quite good enough.
"Fine."
But once I finished those papers, you can bet that my distractions were a lot more distracting.
