Her horoscope had told her that she would have a positive encounter with a coworker. It seemed to have started off that way, but thanks to one Timothy McGee, it hadn't ended in the same manner. Instead, she had worked on two cases instead of the usual one that she was accustomed to. She'd taken on the roles of investigator, interrogator, and scientist on the case that hit a little to close to home. And in the end, McGee had been the guilty party. He'd been the one to rob her of the chocolatey, gluteny, goodness that she so desired.
The minute she'd unwrapped the delicately tied red satin ribbon, she knew that something special awaited her. And when she saw it, she knew her suspicions had been confirmed. She'd described it as scrumptious, but she had a feeling that the word didn't do it justice. Apparently, it didn't. McGee had said it was life changing, but at the end of the day, her life was still the same. He had violated her trust, and the fact that she caught him was of no matter to Abby. Bottom line was that he stole her cupcake. Her chocolatey, gluteny, life-changing cupcake.
Apart from his pathetic apology, and his "It looked so good" defense, he hadn't even attempted to seek forgiveness for his wrongdoing. She hadn't encountered him for the rest of the day. She had even gone back up to the squad-room to tell Ziva not to worry about getting her another one. She figured it was the perfect opportunity for him to grovel on his hands and knees for her forgiveness. But he wasn't there. Tony had said that he'd left and that made Abby even more angry. Whenever he'd done something to upset her in the past, it usually ate away at him and he pleaded for her forgiveness.
He'd once forgotten about a Habitat for Humanity project that they were to work on together, and the minute he'd seen how upset she was, he'd been out of his mind with worry. He'd rushed to her side to apologize sincerely and she could see in his eyes, that he was truly sorry. But today, he'd stolen her cupcake and eaten it. He'd taken a gift from Ziva and attempted to hide it from her. It wasn't that she was really mad about the cupcake, although she was pissed about that too, it was the fact that he hadn't seemed sorry at all.
She'd thought of several ways to maim him and decided that the wood chipper would be most suitable.
She turned the lock to the door of her apartment, thankful to be home after a long day. She walked in, placed her bag on the black wooden table with skull knob pulls on the drawers, and heard a sound coming from the other side of her apartment. She stood still for a moment, and heard something again. She was definitely not alone.
'Stupid horoscope,' thought Abby, as she looked around for anything she could use as a weapon to fend off this home intruder. She considered calling Gibbs, but she was in no mood to wait. If she had to bash someone's skull in, it would obviously be deemed self-defense. If that didn't work, she was sure she could come up with some statistics about how gluten withdrawal could cause violent outbursts. Plus, Abby thought it might be somewhat cathartic. Two birds with one stone, she decided as she unplugged the hand carved black wooden lamp that McGee had given her for her birthday one year.
The sound had come from the other side of her apartment, and as Abby slowly crept through her living room, she was thankful that she wasn't wearing any of her chains that rattled. She approached the kitchen, and saw that the intruder had the door to the fridge open, but from her position, she couldn't see him. 'Ironic,' thought Abby as she quietly crept into the kitchen.
She finally managed to get behind the creep, who seemed to be pre-occupied re-arranging the contents of her refrigerator. She was close enough, so she took a deep breath, raised the lamp high over her head and let out a Xena like warrior cry as she brought it down.
He turned just in time for her to stop the attack, but when she saw his face, she seriously considered hitting him anyway.
"Abby, what the hell's the matter with you?" he yelled, after he flew backwards against her fridge. A jar of pickles and a bottle of spaghetti sauce paid the price when they toppled off of the shelf they had been on and smashed against her floor.
"McGee!" she screamed, placing one hand over her pounding heart. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Currently, trying not to have a heart attack," he replied, still trying to get his breathing normal.
"You're lucky I didn't bash your skull in!" she said, putting the lamp down on the counter and reaching for some paper towels to clean up the mess he'd made. He stepped out of the way, allowing the fridge door to close, and grabbed a handful of paper towels himself. He tried to be gentlemanly.
"Abby, I got it," he began; as she knelt down to begin cleaning the mess. She looked at him menacingly and he knew to back off.
"You've done enough already McGyver. How did you get in here anyway?" she asked, as she dumped huge soaking wet clumps of spaghetti sauce and pickle juice drenched paper towels in the garbage.
"I, uh, picked the lock." He admitted sheepishly.
"You what?!" she yelled. She'd been so shell-shocked by his admission that she didn't even notice the large shard of glass until it jammed itself into the side of her finger. She winced in pain, and muttered a curse. She left the mess and made her way to the sink to wash the wound, quickly realizing that pickle juice stung. A lot.
"Abby, are you okay? Let me see." McGee demanded as he came to stand next to her at the sink.
She held up the hand that was not bleeding as a warning for him to stop. He obeyed and retreated to her bathroom. He knew where she kept the bacitracin and the band-aids, so he gathered them and brought them back to her. Without saying a word, he left them next to the sink and picked up where Abby had left off with the pickles and spaghetti sauce.
He finished cleaning, just as she finished bandaging. He spoke first, as he stood and threw the final remnants of the mess in the garbage.
"You know, the spaghetti sauce seemed to have a little bit of a moldy thing going on. Good thing you didn't eat it."
He turned, smiling and saw Abby bracing herself against the counter. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her look that angry twice in one day.
"You still haven't answered my question, McGee. What the hell are you doing here?"
"I know I shouldn't have picked the lock but.."
"Your damn right you shouldn't have! What's the matter, didn't get enough satisfaction out of stealing from my fridge in the lab? Had to come here and break into my apartment?" she yelled, advancing closer.
"I thought you were going to be out longer," he stated, and Abby wanted to throttle him. Now he had broken into her apartment and he still hadn't even apologized. She gritted her teeth and decided to give him one last chance.
"You have thirty seconds to tell me WHY you're here or I swear to god McGee I will thread you on a skewer and rotisserie you out back and never leave a trace."
"Look in the fridge," was his only reply.
"What?" she asked, hardly believing that the answer to him invading her privacy was in her refrigerator.
"Abs, please, would 'ya just look in the fridge?" he pleaded.
So she narrowed her eyes at him, in the way that only she could, and made her way to the refrigerator. Trusting Timothy McGee was not something that was high on her list at the moment, but she appeased him anyway. It seemed to be that no matter how mad she got at him, she could never say no to those beautiful green orbs. And he could never say no to her eyes. It was a dangerous game of cat and mouse that Abby and McGee played, but each of them loved it.
Upon opening the door, the first thing she noticed was the white paper bag with the calligraphic insignia. The handles had been tied together with a black satin ribbon, and hanging from the ribbon was a note card, with the same insignia. She removed the bag and placed it on the counter, but chose not to read the card. Instead, she untied the ribbon and opened the bag. It was then, when she spied the mother of pearl spoon that she recognized where she had seen the logo before.
"McGee, what is this?" she asked, even though the spoon and the insignia had told her exactly what it was.
"Beluga caviar, from the Ritz Carlton. I remembered how much you said you loved it and I felt terrible about eating your cupcake. So I placed a special order, and left work a little early to go get it. I asked them to put in some gluten-free crackers, and they even added some gluten free bread so you can make toast." He explained.
Abby was in shock. This had to have been one of the most romantic things that anyone had ever done for her, and it wasn't even meant to be taken that way. She remained silent, so he continued explaining.
"When we talked last week, you seemed really excited about going gluten-free, and I wanted to get you something that would help you stick to your guns. You may not ever be able to quit caffeine, but this gluten thing is only for a week and I know you can do it."
"Are you still expecting me to believe that you ate my cupcake because you were trying to save me from myself, McGee?" she asked.
"Oh no. I already explained myself for that one. But there's a cupcake in the fridge, too. I don't know if you noticed it when you took out the bag." He answered.
"I didn't even know you could do a take out order at the Ritz Carlton." Abby said, tempted to open the caviar and crackers at that very moment.
"You can't. Most people can't. I had to bring in the big guns for this one." McGee explained.
Abby knew exactly what he was talking about. "You mean…"
"Yep. The caviar, and the gluten-free crackers and bread are courtesy of Thom E. Gemcity. Check out the card."
She did as he suggested and unfolded the card. She couldn't help but laugh when she read the message.
"Gluten- Free's the Way to Be! Love, Thom"
Abby smiled and hugged him. McGee always managed to make her smile, and she could never stay mad at him for long. He was the exact same way with her. She'd once ruined a two thousand dollar Armani jacket of his, and though he'd been extremely upset at losing the expensive piece of apparel, he never showed even the slightest hint of anger towards Abby. And the next day, it was as if nothing had ever happened.
"Thanks McGee. And the cupcake?" she asked, pulling back from the hug.
"Choco-holics choice. Same one that Ziva got you. Trust me Abs, stay off the gluten and save yourself for that cupcake. It's well worth it."
Abby smiled and turned her attention back to the luxurious treat that he'd brought her. McGee thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take his leave when she began to unpack the contents of the bag.
"I better get goin'. Enjoy the caviar Abs, and I'm sorry for breaking in." he said, turning on his heel
"Thanks again, McGee. And all's forgiven for eating my cupcake. But if you ever steal food from me again…" she said, her voice growing louder as he got further away from her.
"I know," he yelled back towards the kitchen. "You'll skewer me like a shish kabob."