Alec Foster's blood runs through my veins. And Kelsey makes excellent floor plans.
A tap-tap-tap at the door startled Cal from his out-of-character perusal of paperwork. "Dr. Lightman?" Anna's voice was hesitant. "Heidi told me to tell Dr. Foster wants to see you."
Cal squinted at her.
"It's kind of a big deal..." Anna ventured.
Cal tipped his head at her, scrutinizing her face. "You seen Foster?"
"No, Heidi sent me to get you, said you were in your office."
"What kind of a big deal we talking about?"
"Will you just go find her, Dr. Lightman?" Anna turned and ducked out of the room.
Lightman heaved himself up out of his chair with a sigh. Something was going on. His hallway was strangely empty for four o'clock.
Striding down the out of his office, he noticed Heidi was missing from her post. Odd. And then he rounded the corner.
Oh no. Not today. When she'd scheduled a staff party, he'd briefly entertained the hope it would involve a bar, then thrown the memo in the shredder. Clearly, that was not enough.
The entire staff was gathered in the hall, some clasping brightly colored packages, some with party hats of glitter, and Loker sporting a plump blue balloon tied around his wrist. Then, horror of horrors, up on the wall, he spotted an enormous banner, proclaiming in moronic colorful glee "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EVERYONE." What happened to a small party? He was going to conveniently misplace her pudding for a month.
He scanned the crowd for Foster, finally locating her near the food. Where else? She hovered near a chocolate monstrosity of a cake, all fudge swirls and strawberries, stacked two tiers deep. Who needs a two-tiered birthday cake? But of course she'd be there, probably standing guard or something, sneaking a finger-full of icing when she thought no one was watching. She caught his eye and grinned, beaming and beckoning him over.
Lightman shot her a glare and fought his way down the hall, ducking the handshakes and veering away from gift exchanges. "A Christmas party isn't enough for you? We need a company-wide birthday bash, too?"
Just as Gillian opened her mouth in defense of her infernal idea, disaster struck. A wobbly intern whose name he'd never bothered to learn backed into the punch bowl, over-corrected himself, and landed on the floor in the other direction, taking Gillian out at the knees.
"Oi!" Lightman yanked the man up by the collar and tossed him aside in a trembling heap of nerves as he turned to assess the damages.
Somehow—miraculously, Lightman decided, given the height of her shoes—Foster had managed to avoid sprawling across the floor...by pitching right into the cake. Frosting plastered the front of her shirt—her chest had taken the brunt of it, but there was a strawberry creeping up her lapel and a smear of chocolate on her nose.
The whole room gaped at the spectacle of their boss covered in dessert. Gillian recovered faster than Cal. Turning to the intern she smiled broadly. "Looks like I don't have to wait any longer for my share."
The poor man started to shake his head, reconsidered, nodded, reconsidered, and finally settled for a gulp and a dash to the restroom. Gillian turned back to Cal, whose gaze was still fixed on her be-chocolatized bosom. "Eyes up here." She motioned to Heidi, who quickly began calling out directions for the gift exchange. When the crowd looked away, Foster grabbed Cal's bicep and hustled him down the hall.
"I'd rather give you my present in my office, anyway."
He cocked an eyebrow. She smirked. "You'll see. Let me get out of this first." And she swabbed a finger up the buttons of her blouse, popping a dollop of frosting in her mouth and sucking her finger clean.
As she swung through her office doorway, Cal swiped the strawberry perching near her collar. "More wholesome, that. Be a good girl," he called out as her hand on his chest kept him on the other side of the quickly closing door and the blinds began to close. Gillian just smirked again.
Cal sauntered back to his office, reappearing quickly before her door, swinging it open and swaggering in.
"Cal!" Gillian cried out, buttoning her sweater a little higher before turning from her closet. "Will you never learn to knock?"
"Nah. If you really wanted me out, sweetheart, you'd lock the door." Cal sprawled into her chair, shifting her soiled blouse to her desktop. "You keep spare clothes here, love?"
A faint pink spread to Gillian's cheekbones. "No, this is just here in case I get cold. But it's better than spending the day wearing that waste of chocolate."
The implications of the situation settled into his mind, and Lightman waggled his eyebrows lasciviously at his partner. "So, love, you said you had a present for me..." His grin bared teeth.
Gillian shook her head and rolled her eyes, then leaned across him and stuck her hand in a drawer under her desk. "I didn't have time to wrap it. Here. It reminded me of you." And she plopped something heavy on his lap.
"What, I'm a pineapple? Bit of a stretch, dontcha think?"
Gillian leaned back against her desk. "You're prickly. And acidic. You can be sweet, sometimes, but have you ever tried to eat a pineapple core? It's not pleasant. Possible, and some people like it, but not pleasant. Just give it to Emily. She'll understand."
Cal regarded her, eyes narrowed, head tilted. "That so, love? You've got an empty canister on your desk."
Gillian looked sorrowfully at the jar. "I ran out of pixy stix last week."
Reaching in his pocket, Cal pulled out a sizable bag of gummy bears. "Head or feet first?"
"Heads, of course. So they can't feel pain." With a clap of glee, Gillian descended upon the bag, pausing only to sweep an orange bear through the chocolate mess of her shirt, still heaped on the desk next to her.
"Of all things, that, love, is disgusting."
"It's delicious, Cal. Aren't giant birthday parties fun?"