A/N Another City Homicide story. My first attempt at Matt/Jen fluff :P the fluff is choke worthy later on...i wanr you now :P
Disclaimer: Don't own anything.
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Matt Ran walked slowly down the carpeted corridors of the Homicide squads head quarters. His head, light brown hair falling between his eyes, was cast downwards, keeping his gaze focused on the patterned floor and the muffled thud heard when ever his feet hit the ground.
His mind was centred far from his footsteps, balanced somewhere between a yesterday long since jumbled in the past where a woman sang softly in the kitchen, tossing a salad lightly while muttering about the lack of dressing and a yesterday not so long ago where a blonde haired woman had invaded his mind quite literally, and hadn't left it since.
Without warning he found himself at his desk, sighing in annoyance as he realised his mind was still far from his job though he'd have to reel it back in and get to work. He collapsed unceremoniously into the springy material of his desk chair, letting it swivel to the side slowly as it adjusted to the sudden weight of a human being. The thick material of his suit jacket tugged slightly at his back so he shrugged it off, flinging it over his shoulder with a light, muffled thump. He looked around at the empty desks surrounding him, wondering briefly why he had come to work on such a quiet day. The hushed sound of stifled footsteps echoed through the building as someone walked down the hall and into the elevator, the scrap of the metal doors ringing loudly before the office was plunged into silence once more.
'Of course no one is here' he thought unexpectedly, realising for the first time that he had no case to work on, no pressing matter that need fixing or solving, no one to save or help.
He laughed weakly, rocking back in his squeaky chair to run a hand through his unruly brown hair.
Duncan would be with Clare, enjoying another free weekend together while they could, Simon was probably trying to recover from the night before and Jen, well, he didn't know where she would be. Suddenly he realised that he didn't know very much about her at all, only that she had been on his mind for the past few weeks and he didn't know how to get her out. She'd gotten herself to a place that no one had ever been before and it was beginning to scare the hell out of him. He'd promised himself no one at work would know about his mother, yet he hadn't hesitated in telling her about the disappearance, or his birthday for that matter. Every rule that he applied to himself seemed to dissolve when ever she was around, and that was quite a frightening thing for a man who had vowed away from women indefinitely.
'Oh god' he realised with a harsh intake of breath 'I'm falling in love with Jennifer'. He screwed his eyes tightly, trying to rid himself of the thought. Well, maybe love was a bit over dramatic, but he'd never felt this way about someone before and he was quite sure that if he didn't put an end to it, it could turn into that very four lettered word.
He glanced over at her desk quickly, images of her smiling at him while they sifted through mountains of paperwork, drifting through his mind before he slammed his hand up against his forehead and shook his head hastily, trying to rid himself of those thoughts.
'You can't do this' he reminded himself, singing the mantra over and over. 'You promised yourself, no more women for a while, you promised work would be the most important thing' he continued, humming along while desperately trying to reverse the track his heart was taking.
"Why me" he murmured, collapsing once more in his chair before laying his head in his hands, unknowingly pushing a pile of forms onto the floor beside him. He looked at the papers, trying to extract some meaning from their smooth, white texture before leaning back once more with a sigh.
"You're doomed mate" he told himself with a nervous laugh "Only you could manage to fall for someone at work" he nodded along, mentally kicking himself for allowing such a thing to take hold.
His phone let out a shrill beep, causing him to jump in surprise before he lounged on the offending piece of technology. He glanced down at it once before flicking it to the side, not in the mood for conversation with the whirlwind of thoughts parading through his mind. On an after thought he looked back down again, noticing the black text standing out against the neon green background.
'1 new message' it read, and underneath 'Jennifer'
His heart skipped a beat as he grabbed for the phone once more, flicking it open before punching at the buttons with force, racking his brain for any reason as to why she would have left him a message. It's probably work he realised with force, stopping for a second to glance around the silent office; surely he would know by now if there was a new case. Then again, maybe that was why she was texting in the first place. He glanced back down again, weighing the possibilities before resuming his attack on the phone, deciding that the chance of her calling for social reasons was just as high as the other and desperately hoping it was for that reason at which she had left a message.
"Finally" he murmured with a sigh, watching the message appear before his eyes.
'Check your desk' read the cryptic message, confusing the poor man on the receiving side to no end. He glanced up at his desk before starting a raid on the furniture, digging through files and pens and folders and papers before finally settling on an unfamiliar note stuck ceremoniously to the front of yesterday's paperwork.
Good morning Birthday Boy
I'm sitting outside the office now (with coffee)
And if you don't come out within the next five minutes I will have to drag you out myself
Today is not the day to be at work!
And you know it
Plus, the rest of your present is with me and I don't want to bring it upstairs.
Jen
His heart was beating madly against his chest as a silly grin spread across his face. Pushing his desk back to some sense of order before placing the note softly a top the pile, he grabbed at his jacket and spun out of his desk chair, not noticing the offending squeak that would have usually annoyed him.
As he walked happily towards the elevator, mind at full speed to analyse the message, he realised that he hadn't celebrated his birthday in 16 years. With a small smile he watched the metal doors screech open before jumping inside, punching at the ground floor button while whistling happy birthday to himself.
"Maybe I won't fight it" he muttered as the elevator came to a holt and slide open. He spotted Jen's car across the road and the familiar smiling figure sitting inside "After all, it is my birthday"